P90X: Round 2: Day 68: Legs and Back

This was a great workout today. I'm still feeling stressed from a major presentation coming up on Monday, and had lots of nervous energy to burn. Legs and Back is the perfect workout for burning nervous energy. It's non-stop work: 2 hits on the legs, then pullups; then repeat that pattern. I like the mixture of circuit training (pullups) with straight exercising (legs) this program achieves. The design of this program is unlike all the others, which are either straight series of exercises or circuit training. The blend is nice.

I ran through the entire workout today without any pausing of the disk. I'm not sure, but I believe that's the first time I've done that. The second half of the workout, which I find easier than the first, wasn't as easy when there's no pausing of the disc.

I've been diligently taking my home-brewed recovery formula, and since the weather's been rainy lately, I haven't ridden my bike in the past few days. We'll see whether that makes a difference in my overall energy level today.

Favourite move today: calf raises.

Toughest move today: balance lunges.

Tony line of the day: "Find your intensity level."

Later: Ab Ripper X

P90X: Round 2: Day 67: Yoga X

I had some difficulty maintaining focus today, as work has been busy lately (thankfully!) and there's so much on my mind. I've got some deadlines in the next few days, and all I've been thinking about is how to budget my time so that all deadlines are successfully met. That made it difficult to stay in the present, forget about what's coming up and clear the mind. I found myself occasionally wandering into thoughts about work, about lining up my calls, organizing my day and, as a result, was distracted somewhat from some of the moves. I didn't end up working up a real sweat during the moving options like I normally do, although, I did feel really relaxed and stretched out by the end of the workout.

I recently placed an order for One on One with Tony Horton: Fountain of Youth. It's the yoga program from Tony's new series, and the disc is about 45 minutes in length. I've heard that it's a great workout, and as I'm nearing the end of Round 2, I'm looking forward to the future, and Round 3. Although I love the P90X program, I've become really familiar with all of the moves and the vocals from the workouts, and I'm looking to change things up a bit for Round 3. That's why I purchased the P90X+ series and decided that with the new 40 minute workouts, perhaps a new yoga workout would be what the doctor ordered as well. We'll see.

Overall, the workout went well. I had some difficulty on some of the balance postures, likely due to lack of focus. I'll try to bring a better attitude next time. I can clearly see that the mental approach really affects the physical results. I'll learn from this lesson for future workouts.

Minor victory today: held Wheel for 34 seconds. I'm determined to make the full minute eventually. I'm working at straightening my arms, which for now, are slightly bent at the elbows. I have to study the kids a bit to improve my posture.

Favourite move today: right-angle pose with grab. Really opened the chest, didn't have any difficulty achieving the pose.

Toughest move today: half-moon / twisting half-moon: didn't really bring it.

Tony line of the day: "They do those crazy 'oms' at the end...what you need to do is open your mind a little bit..."

P90X: Round 2: Day 66: Ab Ripper X

Tip of the day: if you're having a super-intense day, do ARX; It'll take everything out of you. I had a very stressful day today and, thankfully, I left ARX to when I arrived home. It also helped that I had left the windows open in the house and, with a 15° high temperature, the room was cold: another incentive to really push the workout and warm up.

The hand position that I discovered on Sunday really makes the first three exercises tougher, especially bicycles. The farther back your hands are, the more you can lean back, and the less engaged your core is. The closer your hands are to your sides, the more you can keep your chest up, and the more your core becomes engaged. I feel like I've been cheating for months, making the exercises easier. No more. Now, I'm going to be Johnny Intense.

By the end of the workout, my stress was (mostly) relieved, and my body warm. Mission accomplished.

Favourite move today: mason twists. Really strong.

Toughest move today: VF rollups. A little struggle on the pulse-ups, and some timing issues on getting up on my butt with the pulse-up when my legs were in the air. What a klutz.

Tony line of the day: "I know it burns!"

P90X: Round 2: Day 66: Back and Biceps

This is one workout where dumbbells would be helpful. It would be nice to know exactly how much weight is being curled and coloured resistance bands, while somewhat informative, don't provide full information. It's because of workouts like this that I'm interested in picking up a set of PowerBlocks. Some day, hopefully. Until then, I stretch the bands.

My complaint in using the bands for these exercises is threefold: one, the actual "weight" used is unknown. It's all feel. Two, the posture assumed when using the bands is different from that used for curling dumbbells, which I believe is a little tougher on the back. When using the bands, legs are about shoulder distant (or more) apart, but even with each other; when using dumbbells, frequently one leg is slightly in front of the other and legs are slightly bent. Three, the handles of the bands press against my wrists a bit when my fist is near my shoulder at the top of the curling motion. This creates some discomfort. That wouldn't happen with dumbbells.

At any rate, the workout went OK. I don't break too much of a sweat during this routine, but my arms are still exhausted afterward. Overall, pretty reasonable.

Favourite move today: one-arm cross-body curls. This move feels good.

Toughest move today: in-out hammer curls. Hard to do, especially with bands, and this late in the workout.

Tony line of the day: "I've lost track...of life."

Later: Ab Ripper X

P90X: Round 2: Day 65: Plyometrics

Yes, I really enjoy Plyometrics. Yes, it still kicks my butt. Yes, I can get through the entire disk without pausing. No, I do not enjoy doing all of this at 5:30AM. That's when it all started, because I had to be elsewhere at 7:30AM. There's something about seeing Tony, Pam and the guys all fresh-faced and excited about Plyo at 5:30AM. It all seemed quite surreal and a bit obsessive. Of course, I was the obsessive one, not them. They were probably all sleeping at the time. That's what it's like to be a dedicated Xer. Wake up really early when necessary and press play. I can't stand missing a workout, and I'm not interested in Plyo after work or dinner, when my energy level is low. So, 5:30AM it is.

It took awhile to get into the workout. It was probably jump knee tuck time when I finally found my rhythm. Prior to that, I felt a little fatigued. Following the jump knee tucks, I was able to find my intensity.

Cycling to the office was interesting. I still had great energy and was able to really push it.

Favourite move today: sports bonus.

Toughest move today: leapfrog squats. Had difficulty maintaining a really low squat.

Tony line of the day: "Eric's going to be performing on one leg today. That's a prosthetic leg on the right side. So don't let me be hearing any excuses from any of you." Indeed.

P90X: Round 2: Day 64: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps / Ab Ripper X

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

This workout has always been one of a love/hate relationship. I'm happy to say that it seems that love is overcoming hate. I woke up early (on a Sunday - if that's not love, what is?) to do the workout, starting shortly after 7:00AM. It still takes me about 1:15 to complete the workout, because I have to pause the disk to take longer and more frequent breaks than Tony allows. I don't think that I could keep up with the workout otherwise.

I'm very conscious of where I am in the program: week 10. With the end in sight, I want to make the most of each remaining workout. Further motivation came from my sister-in-law. When I saw her on Friday, she advised me that I was looking too "skinny". That really hurt, as I've been considering myself looking somewhat buff. I felt like I was at the beach, and someone had just kicked sand in my face. I was determined to really work hard during CST to rid myself of the "skinny" moniker. I needed to make a man out of Mac.

So, I really brought it during CST. Pounding away at each exercise until exhaustion. Racking up better numbers than ever before. Great workout.

Favourite move today: side-to-side push-ups. I miscounted, and did more reps than ever. It's a great feeling to exceed your goals.

Toughest move today: pour flys. Still have trouble doing two sets. My weights (10 lbs) are too heavy, and it's really awkward doing this move with resistance bands. So, I stick with the weights. Eventually, it will come.

Tony line of the day: "I don't like it when Phil has a funnier line than me."

Ab Ripper X

As usual, I got to ARX later in the day, around 4:30PM. I had had a really full day: morning workout, 8km walk, gardening (mowing the lawn, pruning, digging), so by the time I started ARX I was pretty toasty. For the first time, I noticed that during the first 3 moves, Tony and Audra had their hands right beside their butts when supporting themselves. For months, my hands had been farther back. Moving my hands to match theirs gave me a more upright position and made the exercises a little more tough. That was a bonus I wasn't expecting. Now, ARX will be even more difficult. Great.

With all of the exercise I got today, I found the workout difficult, particularly in the last few moves, when I even found it a bit tough catching my breath. I committed the sin of holding my breath a bit today, which doesn't help things. Tip of the day: remember to breathe. Overall, it was not the greatest workout, but I was proud of myself for being motivated enough to slip in the disk and press play. Pat on the back for me.

Favourite move today: in-and-outs / bicycles. New hand position, whole new ballgame.

Toughest move today: cross-legged sit-ups. My back was a bit stiff, making this move more difficult and laboured than usual.

Tony line of the day: "Hit my hand...HIT MY HAND..."