Round 6: Day 40: Shoulders and Arms

It took a long time to get moving this morning. I awoke at the customary 6:15AM (even though it's Canada Day, fitness doesn't take a holiday) and lounged around for almost an hour before getting in the proper frame of mind to exercise. It seems that my mind wanted to take a day off, and needed convincing. It just goes to show you that much of exercising is dealing successfully with the mental aspect. Once you've gained the ability to control your mind, the rest just seems to flow.

Once I got my mind straightened out, the workout moved really quickly. I needed to pause the DVD a couple of times just to adjust the weight of my dumbbells. I noticed that just prior to several exercises, there's an edit in the tape, because at times, Joe is writing something down, or looking for his weights, when all of a sudden he' s standing up ready to do the exercise. I think there's a bit of judicious editing here and there to keep the workout under the mental barrier of 60 minutes. Working out for longer than 60 minutes seems to be too much; less than 60 minutes seems manageable. These BeachBody people really know what they're doing.

I was able to increase the weight on a couple of exercises but, on others, I decreased my weight for the second round. I just found that on some exercises, I really struggled with what I was lifting, so eased up a bit when I had the opportunity. I don't want to sacrifice form for numbers. Also, strangely enough, the tip of the day (don't forget to breathe) really came in handy today. I actually found myself holding my breath a couple of times when I was struggling to get the weights up (shoulder flys, bicep curls). Breathing helped me not only maintain my lifting rhythm, but also seemed to increase my strength.

I'm going to keep up with my workout schedule, but I'll be taking to the road over the next few days, so I won't be posting daily. I'll be bringing resistance bands and power stands with me, as well as a yoga mat and my case of DVDs, so even though I'll be away from home, I'm planning on being a workout road warrior. I'll try to summarize what I did upon my return.

Bring It!

Round 6: Day 39: Yoga

Since I've been increasing the amount of stretching over the past week, I've noticed that I'm starting to feel that, in addition to feeling more supple and flexible, I'm also feeling a bit stronger. During today's yoga practice, I felt really strong during the upward dog and downward dog sequences. Now, when in downward dog, my heels are pretty much in contact with the floor, so it's time to put a little more distance between my hands and my feet so I can more fully engage my legs during the stretch. I'm feeling that my calf is healing, as there's no pain in downward dog during the moment when my left foot is on the floor whilst my right leg is raised. I'm encouraged, and cautiously optimistic that I'll be able to return to cardio routines soon. Still, I don't want to return too early.

I've really been enjoying the practice of yoga, and I can't emphasize enough how much benefit I derive in terms of feelings of well-being both in mind and in body. Today, I really concentrated on synchronizing my breath with my movement, and felt that I moved much more smoothly as a result. Also, when I stretched, I focussed on the muscle that was enjoying the stretch. Further, I was a stickler for straight lines, keeping my arms and legs in good alignment during the poses. Everything seemed to be working for me today.

Namaste.

Round 6: Day 38: Back and Biceps

It's tough to stay motivated without cardio workouts as part of the schedule. There's a mental lift I get when doing cardio; my mind wanders off somewhere and, before I know it, I'm sweating buckets, the routine is done, and I feel energy coursing through my body and my mind. I really miss that feeling.

But there's nothing I can do about that for the time being, while I give my leg a chance to heal, so for now, I'm in "do your best and forget the rest" mode.

Today's workout saw a couple of minor improvements over the last time. I'm getting a little mad at myself for being somewhat complacent in my lifting. There's an advantage to working out with a partner, as they tend to push you to lift heavier, or to do more reps. Also, if you're a competitive type (I am) you'll want to try to keep up with your partner, or to outdo him (or her). Working out in my home, I lead a solitary life in pursuit of fitness. All my workouts are done alone, and at times, I miss the camaraderie of the gym and the competitive edge it can bring. On the other hand, I don't miss the drive to the gym, the sweaty machines, the grunts, and lining up to use equipment. Come to think of it, I'm doing all right being alone in my basement. I'll have to work a little harder on my intensity, bump up the weights, and try a little harder.

Sometimes, I get a little caught up in just completing an exercise, rather than considering the process and reason for the exercise itself. I should realize that failure does not equal bad. As an architect, I go through many designs before landing on the final one. The fact that you don't get it perfect the first time doesn't mean that you've failed; rather, it's a necessary process you undertake to ultimately achieve success. The same thing applies to personal fitness. You go through a lot of changes and revisions before you get to where you ultimately want to be.

Every now and then, I think I should listen to myself.

Round 6: Day 37: Yoga

To replace today's regularly scheduled cardio workout, I was looking for something which would present a challenge, but not involve any impact on my legs. Yoga seemed like a reasonable alternative, as I would also benefit from a good stretch. It's always a good time for yoga, it seems.

Today's workout, Patience Hummingbird, really got me sweating. I worked hard at maintaining good form on each pose, and was very conscious of the objective of each stretch. The sweat started to roll early on, and I found the workout difficult, even though it's short and I was really intent on focussing on my breathing.

I'd say that I got out of the workout what I was looking for, but I do miss the joy of a strenuous cardio workout. I'm looking forward to a full and complete healing of my leg so I can get back to that. It's difficult to be patient in this situation, but I'm sure that trying to get back to cardio too soon will only aggravate the condition, and lay me up for a longer period of time.

Namaste.

Round 6: Day 36: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

Week 6 began with a blast. I've always found Chest, Shoulders and Triceps to be one of the hardest P90X workouts, and it continues to challenge. Because of the pace of the workout, there's a cardio component involved, as well as the strength component. As a result of a bit of huffing and puffing building up, I had to pause the DVD as several points to catch my breath and give my muscles a chance to recover before engaging in the next exercise. The workout is unrelenting: there's not really a single exercise I can think of which might be considered a bit of a breather.

I do more grunting during this workout than any other, because I really strain to push out the last few repetitions of each exercise. I end up really exhausting myself, which is why it takes me a little more time to recover for the next exercise.

It's a good start to Week 6; however, this is going to be a week of modifications, where I'll be looking to substitute something for the cardio workouts, while I nurse my sore leg back to health and allow it sufficient time to fully recover, rather than risk a serious and prolonged injury.