Round 6: Day 13: Insanity: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Breakthrough day! For the first time, I managed to force my body to endure the entire Plyometric Cardio Circuit workout without pausing the DVD. The second series of circuits had been dogging me since I first started the Insanity workouts, at the start of Round 5. It took me this long to finally prevail. This is the same feeling I had when I was first able to complete the P90X Plyometrics workout without having to pause the DVD. There's a tremendous sense of satisfaction in knowing that you've made improvements in strength and endurance.

Having said that, I'm not ready to move on to the Max Plyometric DVD. I'm still struggling with the pushup / ski abs / in-out sequence. When I can do those competently for three circuits, then I'll be ready to move on. Alternatively, if I can grab the stone from the master's hand...(Kung Fu reference, for those too young to recall).

It's been a really tough week. It felt unrelenting every day, with the possible exception of yoga, which was welcome relief thrown into the middle. I'm really looking forward to taking a day off, then hitting Chest and Back hard, which is one of my favourite workouts.

Bring on Week 3!

Round 6: Day 12: Shoulders and Arms

Some days you crush the workout; some days the workout crushes you. I got beaten up today by this workout. Not completely humiliated, just humbled a bit. It seems that I'm still playing a bit of catch-up in the numbers department, as I wasn't able to quite match the numbers I put up the last time I did this workout, in the third week of April. It wasn't for lack of willpower or lack of trying. I was busting my gut on each exercise. My arms are still sore as I write this, and I'm sure that there'll be more pain tomorrow.

Having griped about that, I must say that the workout was terrific. I was able to increase my weight on a couple of exercises. On others, I felt like I was really struggling with the weight the first time through, so at the second opportunity, I decreased my weight, but increased my reps. It was a little disappointing having to do that, but I was concerned about not only preventing injury, but also ensuring that I derived benefit from the exercise. I'd rather do 12 reps at a lighter weight, than squeeze out 6 at a heavier weight. The discrepancy between the number of reps was just too great to justify using a heavier weight today. Hopefully, next time I'll be up to handling the heavier weight. That's the funny thing about working out: you just have to take it day to day. It's all based on how you feel at the time.

On the other hand, I'm looking forward to giving my arms and shoulders a break, and getting back to cardio tomorrow.

Round 6: Day 11: Yoga

For the last month or so, I've been feeling that my body is less flexible than it used to be. Perhaps it is that I took a couple of weeks off from working out, either due to illness or to taking some extra time between Rounds. I do know that towards the end of Round 5, I tweaked something in my back (during a Shoulders and Arms routine, I believe) and my left hamstring has felt tight ever since. My hope is that yoga will help soothe that condition and restore my previous state of flexibility.

Today was back to the basics, with Patience "Hummingbird" yoga. I practiced the essential poses: warrior 1 and 2, chair pose, lots of upward and downward dogs, triangle pose, side arm balance (with leg raise) and some hamstring stretches. Each pose is held for a fairly long period of time (about a minute or so), allowing you time to breathe, relax, and to clear your mind. By the end of the workout, I felt as though the stresses of everyday life had left my body and I was ready to face the day.

It will likely take another couple of weeks to regain my flexibility, but I know that yoga will be an important element in doing so.

Namaste.

Round 6: Day 10: Back and Biceps

I'm a little tired. Not sick and tired, just tired. It's been hot and humid here in sunny Toronto recently, and several days of that can suck the energy out of you, no matter how much you're staying in the shade (which I'm doing) and regardless of the volume of water you drink (I've been drinking plenty). Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I live for this weather. It can be a long winter here, and I look forward to being outside and being as active as possible. These days are fleeting (that's a metaphor for life, folks) and one must take advantage of one's opportunity to live.

So, in the spirit of extending life, I got around to Back and Biceps today (following a review of the baseball scores and highlights, of course - one must have priorities in life). The DVD features a good-natured group who enjoys Tony's banter and company and there's a bit of wit throughout. That doesn't mean that the kids aren't working out hard - they are - but it shows that a workout doesn't have to be all sweat, brow-furrowing and grit. There should be opportunities to kid around, relax a bit, and enjoy. The result is that this is an enjoyable workout which also motivates.

This workout is different from Just Arms in that it includes back exercises. Also, I find the pace of this workout to be brisker than Just Arms, so I find myself a little more exerted (and sweaty) during Back and Biceps. As always, I have my workout sheet to guide me, and I was pleased to see that I was able to increase the weights on some of the exercises, with a resultant decrease in repetitions, in some cases. In one exercise, I was not able to match the number of repetitions from the previous workout. C'est la vie. I'm not the same person I was several weeks ago, so I guess my results shouldn't always be identical. Moods change, the body changes, the temperature changes; there are lots of variables at play.

Nice workout, and so far, Week 2 is rolling along well.

Round 6: Day 9: Insanity: Cardio Power and Resistance

I was really active yesterday and, as a result, wasn't sure how much energy I would have for this workout this morning. The point of all these workouts, of course, is to raise my energy level and train my body into shape for all the other things I want to do in life. The irony would be if working out hard prevented me from doing other activities. So, with that in mind, I tossed aside any feelings of fatigue this morning, jumped out of bed, checked on the baseball scores (although I'm Canadian, and enjoy hockey, baseball is my first love), and hit Insanity. Hard.

This workout has frustrated me so far in that I've never been able to complete it without pausing the DVD. Until today. Usually, I find that I require extra breathing time between the circuit sets. Today, although I was fatigued by the running in plank position at the end of the first circuit, I had sufficient gas left in the tank to do the second circuit. I wouldn't say that everything was pretty, but I did manage to make my way through the workout. Now that I know it's possible (hey, it only took me 7 tries before I met with success!) I'm looking forward to further improvements.

Following the workout, I rode my bicycle to the office. I still don't feel weak-kneed. So far, Week 2 continues to impress.

Round 6: Day 8: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

It always takes me some time to complete this workout, as I find the pace is too quick to race through it without pausing the DVD. That posed some challenges today, as I had to complete the workout by a certain time, then race out of the house for a community event. That meant waking up early (on a Sunday!) and really focussing on the task at hand.

Every time I do a P90X workout, I appreciate that the system is designed to record information. A lot of time elapses between my P90X workouts now, due to the great variation I have in my schedule, so there's no way I would be able to recall my results over a four week span, had I not written them down. Fortunately, I've been meticulous about keeping track of my workouts, so it's easy to pick up again where I left off. I frequently make notes to myself, advising that weights should be increased, or decreased, or whether an exercise was too difficult using a specific weight, or even tips about body position and form. That has really helped to make exercises beneficial and safe.

I did manage to get through the workout pretty much according to schedule. I struggled through the one arm balance push-ups. This is not normally a difficult exercise, if done when you have strength in your body. Coming at the end of this workout, however, this exercise becomes very tough. My arms shake like crazy when I'm balancing on them, and balance really does become an issue. The last exercise, alternating cross body punches, was extremely difficult, as I decided to increase my weights over the previous time. I stopped when I felt that one more lift would result in a weight landing on my face.

Great start to Week 2.