Round 4: Day 90: Yoga

It was delayed by a week, but Day 90 has finally arrived, marking the official end of Round 4. As always, the Round wraps up with an invigorating session of yoga, focussing on the importance of stretching to improve strength, balance, coordination, and mental fitness.

This Round, I feel that I gained more muscle tone, lost a bit of fat, leaned out a bit, and made moderate improvements in strength. There's still more work to be done.

In preparing the schedule for Round 5, I've decided to stick with a hybrid of P90X, P90X+ and One on One with Tony Horton. I really enjoyed the variety that these three programs have to offer and, with some exceptions, no single workout is repeated too frequently for my taste. Round 5 will see an increase in intensity in cardio workouts, with Interval X + substituting for Cardio Intervals, as I felt that Cardio Intervals wasn't giving me the cardio burn I was looking for. As Tony says, "Do what makes you uncomfortable". In other words, I want to place myself just slightly out of my comfort zone to ensure that I continue to challenge my body to grow and change. Muscle confusion is the principle, after all.

I'm going to include Mammoth UML as part of Recovery Weeks. I'd like to pick up another ab workout (or two) because I'm getting tired of ARX. I might use 10 Minute Trainer Abs every now and then as a change of pace. I recall that I used to find that workout challenging, and I'd like to get back to it to see whether it remains so.

Lastly, I just purchased a heart rate monitor, to give me a better idea of whether I'm in the zone during cardio workouts. It should give me more information, which hopefully will be helpful as I continue my fitness journey.

Looking forward to Round 5.

Namaste.

Round 4: Day 89: Mammoth UML

Review of the archives reveals that I've only done this workout twice previously. That makes sense, as I didn't remember too much about it, other than Tony getting excited about a couple of things. He's relaxed and funny during this workout, which is one of the things I like best about Tony and about the One on One series in particular. There is also a change in focus in this workout: Tony doesn't make claims that this workout will increase your size; to the contrary, he clearly states that your objective when exercising away from your home or gym (without access to weights or equipment) is to maintain your condition. He demonstrates that it's possible, using only various pieces of furniture, body weight and gravity, to get a decent workout when on the road.

The workout consists of 6 sets of three exercises. Each set addresses the Upper (arms / shoulders), Middle (core) and Lower (legs). None of the exercises are particularly strenuous (with the exception of a bouncing, plyometric stiff-arm push-up move and jump-knee-tucks to end the workout) and the pacing is light and easy. Of course, one can always increase the intensity level by doing more repetitions, which is what I did during jump-knee-tucks, but it is Day 89 after all, and I should have some energy after all this time working out.

I really enjoy this workout. Although it's not as strenuous as Core Synergistics, I find it more enjoyable. I'm definitely keeping it as part of Recovery Week.

Round 4: Day 88: X Stretch

There's not much to be said about X Stretch. An hour of gentle stretching, coming in the middle of Recovery Week. It's not strenuous, but it gave my body the stretch it needed in all the right places at the right time.

Round 4: Day 87: Kenpo Cardio Plus

This can be an invigorating workout, depending upon how much effort you put into it. Today, I put a lot of effort in, and was rewarded by working up a great sweat and developing a nice, warm feeling in my arms and legs.

I enjoy the pacing of this workout. There's never really a break for the entire 35 minutes. The breaks between sets are filled with running in place, jumping jacks, and a type of backwards hammer move while pivoting on alternating feet. There are four moves in each set, which run immediately one after the other. If you invest energy into the exercises, you can get your heart rate reasonably high and keep it there. This is a major improvement over the original Kenpo X, which suffered from the block sequences.

This is a good workout for a Recovery Week. It moves quickly and is fun. I'm going to keep it in this location during the next Round.

Round 4: Day 86: Core Synergistics

Core Synergistics was the workout I missed last week when I was ill. "Missed", not in the sense of yearned for, but in the sense of "was absent". I wouldn't ever say that I miss this workout, like I would miss 30-15, or Chest and Back. This workout still challenges, in that it is quick-paced and very focussed. I definitely had an elevated heart rate, and the sweat was rolling.

I don't do this workout frequently enough to really see improvements. There are small improvements certainly, but I don't believe I've ever felt that I was so fit that I just breezed through the entire workout and was left with the feeling that I wished there was more. I'm always really happy when this workout ends, because I doubt there's ever enough gas left in the tank to really attack another round. I suppose that's a good thing, when, at the end of a workout, you've left everything on the floor.

Once again, my nemesis was the combination of Plank-to-Chataranga Run and Walking Pushups. That's just a nasty twosome. During the Walking Pushups, I took a page from the Plyometrics handbook, convincing myself that "you can do anything for 30 seconds". Unfortunately, the exercise is one minute in duration, so I had to convince myself twice. By the end of that exercise, my core is really sore. Objective achieved.

Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to Kenpo Cardio Plus as a break. Some Recovery Week.

Round 4: Day 85: Yoga

Due to a brief illness last week which resulted in my missing a couple of workouts during Recovery Week, I've decided to reset Week 13 and start it again. So, once more, Yoga.

I was speaking with a friend the other day, discussing all the negative comments I see on the internet about Yoga X, and yoga in general. My friend was incredulous, stating that there are three fitness objectives behind P90X: muscular strength and endurance; cardio strength and endurance; and flexibility. Yoga, obviously, is the key plank in the latter category. It seems ridiculous to me that someone might want to excel in the first two categories, while omitting the flexibility component. If you aren't flexible, I don't see how you can succeed in becoming stronger or more fit. Essentially, I am unyielding when it comes to practicing yoga: do it. Even it you don't succeed in achieving all the poses, keep at it. Eventually, over time, improvements will be realized. I suppose that's why yoga is called a practice, not a workout. Just keep at it, keep practicing. Like the piano lessons you hated to take.

Namaste.