P90X+: Round 3: Day 41: Kenpo Cardio Plus

It didn't take long to work up a good sweat this morning, despite the fact that the windows in my basement were thrown wide open and the cool morning air was drifting in, wafting over me. This workout really moves. It's a different type of cardio exercise from Interval Plus and Plyometrics, as there's not really as much total body movement involved, but the punching and kicking, along with the bending over at the waist, the almost constant engaging and disengaging of the core and the speed of the exercises manages to keep my heart rate up, the sweat flowing, and the blood flowing.

It's a very engaging workout and moves along at a good clip. Much like Kenpo X, before I know it, the workout's over and I'm plumb tuckered out. Interestingly, this is one of two workouts (the other being Abs/Core Plus) where I never pause the DVD at all. I hope to get to that point with the other workouts.

End of week 6. Week 7 won't be the standard P90X+ workout, as I'm taking my act on the road for a few days. I've decided to pound out some cardio routines, as I won't have access to a DVD player, so I downloaded some routines from Mark Briggs' website, printed them out, and will do them in the great outdoors. I'm looking forward to it. I'll likely repeat week 7 upon my return to civilization.

P90X+: Round 3: Day 40: Upper Plus / Ab Ripper X

Upper Plus

This is about the closest I've come to crushing this workout. I'm improving in stamina, pausing the DVD only once, after 10 exercises. I took a short, extended break (is that an oxymoron?) of about 2 minutes, rather than 30 seconds, before commencing the final 10 exercises. I ran through the last 10 without pausing, so, this was the shortest time I've taken to complete the workout. In addition, I improved my numbers on some of the exercises. The next thing to do is increase the resistance band level.

I'm starting to focus more on maintaining good form throughout each individual exercise. I'm concentrating on which part of my body is supposed to be working, and isolating that part to ensure that it's getting its maximum pounding. On several exercises, I'm struggling mightily as the time clock is running out (most of the shoulder exercises) but I am seeing some small improvements and am reluctant to switch to a lower level resistance band (in some cases, I'm using the lightest band I have) or lighter weights, because I only have a pair of 10 lb dumbbells. I'm sticking with what I have. This workout in particular is identifying my weaknesses: shoulders, specifically, left shoulder. No problems with any form of push-up or pull-up, but I really notice it when doing the flys in the lunge position, and circle flys.

Ab Ripper X

A funny thing happened on the way to ARX: I was supposed to pick up my daughter on her return from camp, and received a call from her that the bus would be about 45 minutes late. I was in a parking lot which was bisected by a stream, with trees, shade and landscaping along the perimeter. What better place to get down and do ARX in the great outdoors? So, I emptied my pockets, pulled up a level piece of ground, and cranked out the workout. It was fantastic. The shade was sufficiently cool, there was a nice little breeze blowing, the ground wasn't particularly hard-baked, and 6 Canada geese nestled into the grass nearby, bemusedly looking on as I wrestled with Mason Twists. I felt so good upon completing the workout, that I launched into 50 pushups, followed by some upward and downward dog, side stretches and child's pose. Who says you need a DVD and a mat? Get outside, people!

P90X+: Round 3: Day 39: Yoga

I am guilty of being the laziest person on the face of the earth. OK, perhaps I exaggerate. One of the laziest. I rode home from the office yesterday, and really pounded the pedals. It's pretty much uphill all the way, and by the time I was halfway home, I was huffing and puffing pretty well. By the time I reached home, I was really tired, and not at all in the mood for an ab workout. So, I skipped it.

I am a creature of habit. I've been really good at keeping to the P90X schedule during Rounds 1 and 2. I only missed ARX twice during those rounds, and both times I made up the missed workouts. Similarly, I've been faithful to the P90X+ workouts, not missing a single one since I started, or, if I did, I've made it up. The problem with me is that I stick rigidly to the workout schedule. There's no ab workout scheduled for Day 3 of P90X+. I've been trying to convince myself to add one on that day, because I feel that my abs could benefit from the extra work; however, if it's not printed on the schedule, it doesn't seem to get done. The funny thing about this is that if it were printed on the schedule, I would absolutely do the workout. My motivational difficulty is clearly between my ears. It's all mental. I wish I could jolt myself out of this and just get to the additional workout. I'd likely feel much better about myself.

Yoga: it's the fountain of youth boys and girls. I felt a bit of a twinge in my left ankle last night, from I-don't-know-what. I was hoping that a session of yoga would cure that ill, and it seems to have done the trick. I've also still been experiencing some tightness in my left hip flexor. I suspect that this may actually be resulting from all the bicycle riding I've been doing, but I'm not going to stop that because I enjoy it too much. So, I look forward to yoga, especially down dog, crescent pose and warrior 1 to stretch out my tightness. It works. I really enjoy this workout.

P90X+: Round 3: Day 38: Total Body Plus / Abs-Core Plus

Total Body Plus

This workout, like Upper Plus, also still takes about 1h to complete. I tried breaking up the workout into three segments of 7 exercises each, which worked for a while, but I still had to take a pause after exercise 17 to catch my breath a bit. I didn't bother wearing a shirt today, which made for more comfortable exercising (not to mention infrequent glances into my tiny mirror to see my heart practically beating its way out of my chest -- not a comforting sight), and I didn't have to contend with the discomfort of a dripping wet shirt clinging to my body during the various moves. It's warm in the basement and I tend to sweat a lot, especially during these hot August days. Even the grips on the PowerStands are pretty much soaked by the end of the workout. It's not particularly fun to hang onto those grips during the Spiderman jumps. Squishy and yucky. Overall, a nice workout, although I could happily dispense with at least three of the moves. Perhaps I'll modify and insert a few toughies from Upper Plus, or Chest and Back, to liven things up. Of course, I say this from the comfort and distance of my keyboard. Let's see how things play out when the workout is in progress.

Abs / Core Plus

Later.

P90X+: Round 3: Day 37: Plyometrics

Unlike yesterday's workouts, I bring a completely different attitude to Plyometrics. Some of that may have to do with location. When I do Plyo, I work out upstairs. The Plus workouts, with the exception of Interval Plus, are conducted downstairs, in my cramped little basement. It's not the most motivational space in the world, actually, it may be amongst the least motivational spaces in the world, but it's what I have.

I was really into Plyometrics today and worked my butt off. So much, in fact, that I felt that I would burn out before the end of the workout. I had some difficulty with the Sports Bonus because I had expended so much energy leaping and squatting. By the end of the workout, I had nothing left to give. Good. That's the way it should be.

P90X+: Round 3: Day 36: Upper Plus / Ab Ripper X

Upper Plus

I'm still not able to complete this workout without pausing the DVD. I'm getting through the first half, but am gassed before engaging in Spiderman push-ups, so I've been taking a longer break. Overall, it's taking me about 1h to complete the entire workout.

Ab Ripper X

I did this later in the day, and was not at all in the mood. Still, I managed to push through the exercises. Completing the workout felt like a minor victory. I like when I'm able to stick with the schedule, work out whether I want to or not, and finish up. It's a good mindset to have.