P90X+: Round 3: Day 55: Yoga

I've got to start eating more. I feel like I'm losing energy, especially late in the day. Also, it's becoming harder and harder to wake up and get out of bed, even after having 7.5h of sleep. This morning, the alarm sounded at 6:15AM, and I managed to drag myself out of bed at 6:35. I goofed off for awhile, delaying the start of my workout, and it wasn't until 7:10AM that I finally got around to pressing play. And today was Yoga, not exactly the most demanding workout of the series. In fact, I really like yoga and look forward to the stretch and sweat. What's my problem? Overtraining? I doubt it. So, check the calorie intake, and make adjustments.

Yoga was really enjoyable again, although I'm getting the feeling that during Fountain of Youth, Tony is gabbing a bit too much. I'd like to have a little more peaceful head time and a little less chatter. Today, I found that Tony is issuing a new yoga disk in the One on One series, "Patience: Hummingbird Yoga", or something to that effect. The brief video trailer leads me to think that this yoga has less talk, more introspection. It seems that Mason Bendewald is joining Tony for some part of the routine, and whenever Mason talks, Tony hushes. And that's a good thing, from my perspective. The disk isn't available yet, but I'll give it some serious consideration when it is. It would be nice to have more variety in my yoga workouts. It seems that some of the moves are familiar from Yoga X or Fountain of Youth, but still, it's a different sequence of positions and a different atmosphere.

I really focussed on breathing today, and straightening out my left leg, especially during Crescent Pose and Warrior 1. I love the stretch I get when I straighten out my body and stretch out my left hip. Just what the doctor ordered. Namaste.

From a health perspective, overall I feel as though I've recovered from my sniffles. I'm currently suffering from a bit of a stomach ache as I write this, but that will pass and I don't believe it's anything serious. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to a rest day tomorrow. Tonight, I'll cap off the week with a round of tennis with my son.

This ends week 8 and Phase 2. This weekend I'll take some new interim photos, and jump into Phase 3, week 9. Now it's time to really Bring It.

P90X+: Round 3: Day 54: Legs and Back

OK, I now admit that I totally suck. Yesterday when I returned home, I felt so tired that I again skipped abs. That NEVER happened when I was in Round 1 or 2 of P90X. Now, I'm just a complete slacker. I'll use the feeble excuse that I'm still feeling slightly under the weather, with a bit of a runny nose and a slightly scratchy throat, but that's not enough for me to curtail my morning workouts, so really, it shouldn't be a crutch to ditch the afternoon exercises. I've fallen off the ab wagon a bit, so I'm just going to have to climb back on.

I decided to delete X Stretch from the week's workout schedule. Although I enjoy it, I think that substituting Yoga tomorrow should be sufficient. So, I'm adjusting the workout day number again, making today's workou Day 54. Technically, I suppose that's a bit of a cheat, but at this point in my commitment to fitness, there's no day 90, or day 180: this is for life. With that attitude, the specific day numbers really don't matter. Technically, since I started daily exercise a year ago, does that make this day 365? Really, who cares, as long there is a commitment to regular exercise.

I was very nervous about Legs and Back today, as I haven't done this in a long time, and the leg exercises in P90X Plus are really lacking. Also, I didn't feel great when I woke up. Regardless, I pretty well crushed the workout. Perhaps it's the tennis I've been playing (although, the way I play, you couldn't really call it "playing") or the intensity I'm bringing to Plyometrics, but the old gams are still in pretty good shape.

I improved somewhat in the number of pull-ups achieved. I also didn't feel the ridiculous burn I've always felt from Legs and Back, which started in my dinky little calves and rode all the way up my legs to torture my glutes. I even rode my bicycle into the office, and haven't felt any abnormal side effects. I'm loving this feeling. 49 years old, and in the best shape of my life.

P90X+: Round 3: Day 52: Shoulders & Arms / Ab Ripper

Oooh, it was tough waking up today. I was up around 5:30AM, concerned that I had to complete my workout early, shower, and attend an early morning meeting out of town. There's motivation for you.

I haven't done this workout in months, and was really looking forward to it. Similar to Chest and Back (earlier this week), I was slightly nervous that I would have difficulty with the workout, as I hadn't done it recently. Again, there weren't any serious problems. I never had to pause the disc, and I enjoyed the extra time Tony gives you to write down your results. I used the Round 2 numbers as a benchmark, and managed to match all of them. I increased the difficulty level in the curls by standing on the resistance band with both feet, rather than on one foot, as Daniel Haas demonstrates. That puts added tension into the band by stretching it out farther, before the curling action starts. That's something I remembered Tim doing in the Back and Biceps workout.

Tonight, I'm really going to try to get to Ab Ripper X.

P90X+: Round 3: Day 51: Core Synergistics

I can't believe how lazy I am. Either lazy, or still recovering from my sniffles I picked up over the past weekend. Yes, that must be it. I returned home following work, and just couldn't bring myself to do ARX. Weak. Literally. My body felt tired and I thought that rest would serve me well, so I skipped abs. Now I have extra work to do to try to make up my missed workouts. Not impressive, considering the week I have ahead of me. Well, do your best and...

I still felt a bit weak this morning when I popped in the Core Synergistics DVD. It took me awhile to work up my motivation to get started, and I didn't commence until about 7:00AM, well after my normal start time of 6:15. I found many of the moves to be easier than I recalled, again, due to the results I'm achieving from P90X Plus. That's not to say that I didn't find the workout challenging, because it certainly still is. Some of the moves (staggered hand pushups, jail cell pushups, plank to chataranga run, walking pushups) were less difficult that previously, likely due to a modest increase in upper body strength. I still huffed during the loading dock and the lunge sequences. I skipped the Dreya Roll (wasn't in the mood) but still worked up a great sweat. I really enjoyed Tony's banter, especially with Adam and Pam (the Blam). I've been missing that during P90X Plus. I think Tony is a little more humourous during P90X.

P90X+: Round 3: Day 50: Chest & Back / Ab Ripper X

Chest & Back

I'm back.

I was away for awhile, enjoying some time off with the family during these waning days of summer. Whilst away, I was denied access to a DVD player and equipment for some time. During that time, I exercised outside, using some routines that I picked up from Mark Briggs' website (www.markbriggsfitness.com) which completely crushed my body (but not my spirit) and were as tough as any P90X routine. It took me about an hour to destroy myself, including warm-up and cool-down, and I ended up losing weight while away. That was quite a shock.

Upon my return, I had access to my discs and player, and completed the standard schedule for week 7 of P90X Plus. That brings me up to date, with the exception of day 1 of week 8, which I missed yesterday due to driving home from a wonderful weekend in Detroit. So, I'm a day off my regular schedule, but will try to make up an extra workout sometime this week by doing doubles.

I considered today as day 1 for week eight and didn't count my Mark Briggs workout week at all; hence, Day 50 on the schedule. Today brought Chest and Back, which I consider to be one of my favourite P90X routines. I haven't been feeling too well for the last couple of days, with a little sniffle and some congestion, but that wasn't enough for me to consider cancelling the workout. I was a little nervous about performance, because I was concerned that I've been losing some muscle and strength while doing the P90X Plus workouts. No need to have worried. I was able to match my numbers from the end of P90X Round 2 for push-ups and increase them slightly for pull-ups. I also had more energy, and was able to jump from one exercise to the next without taking breaks or pausing the DVD. Further, all push-ups (when possible) were done using the PowerStands, whereas previously, I did them without the benefit of stands. I guess that all the different varieties of push-ups from P90X Plus have been keeping my upper body in shape after all, which is a nice testament for the program.

Ab Ripper X

Later.