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.

Round 6: Day 6: Insanity: Pure Cardio

I was looking forward to this workout because it's the only Insanity workout I can complete (so far) without pausing the DVD. At least, it was the only Insanity workout I can complete (so far) without pausing the DVD. I regressed again, slightly, and had to take a couple of mini-breaks during Frog Jumps and Suicide Jumps. Frog Jumps burn my quads and glutes like crazy, and, coming at about the half-way point in the workout, my quads are looking for a little relief. The Suicide Jumps, at the end of the workout, are tough because I'm really drained of energy by that time, and jumping back and jumping up aren't exactly my favourite items on the agenda.

The other reality for me is that I'm finding it more difficult to work out at this time of the year. During the winter, I'm working early in the morning out when it's dark outside, and completing my workouts when it's still dark. The benefit is that the air is cooler and there's no humidity. Now, we have 24°C weather first thing in the morning, with a ton of humidity. Sure, the sun is shining, but there's no breeze blowing through the house, the humidity is high, and the combination results in a severe energy drain. Not to mention the increased amount of perspiration. When Shaun T advertises that you'll be working out in a pool of your own sweat, he isn't kidding. The sweat is dripping off my body and getting flung off my hands and elbows at each movement. It's rather disturbing. Fortunately, I'm working out alone, and have ample time post-workout to clean up the evidence. I'm still sweating following my shower. It's the gift that keeps on giving. Pros and cons, I suppose.

This marks the end of Week 1. It's been a bit of a down week, with results that didn't quite match those that I posted at the end of Round 5. I'm looking forward to getting more into the rhythm of things with Week 2.

Round 6: Day 5: Just Arms

A ray of sunshine broke through the clouds today. For the first day this Round, I didn't show any regression from the previous time I had done a workout. Today, I actually made an improvement over my previous effort. I would say that the improvement was marginal, well, extremely marginal, but the point is that I more than held steady, and didn't do worse than before. That was no mean feat, as I felt a small twinge in my right elbow during the opening exercise (seated curls), which gave concern to whether I'd even be able to do the workout at all. I was extremely mindful of not pushing myself to injury, and paid strict attention to form to ensure that I could continue injury-free.

The results were pleasant. I'm still doing 8-10 reps on the exercises, with the exception of some of the forearm exercises, where heavier weights really limit my rep count, so I use lighter weights and do more reps, typically, for forearm exercises. Strong forearms are nice, but I don't really want to become Popeye.

As always, I enjoy this workout. I recall hearing Tony say that it's important to enjoy what you're doing. That leads to continued success. If you don't enjoy your workout, you'll likely stop doing it, which obviously frustrates your fitness objectives.

It took 5 days, but I now feel that I'm starting to get this Round on track.

Round 6: Day 4: Yoga

Since I've been sore for the last few days, I was really looking forward to stretching out with yoga. I was about half-way through my routine when I was interrupted by a phone call, and had to quickly leave the house to deal with something. It was a shame, because I was really enjoying the session, and could feel my body start to loosen up. I'm going to have to get back to it, perhaps later tonight, to ensure that all the kinks are properly worked out. I want to make sure that I'm nice and loose for a resistance day tomorrow.

Namaste.

Round 6: Day 3: Diamond Delts

My shoulders and chest were still sore from the 30-15 workout I did two days ago, and I was wondering whether to pursue this workout or Just Arms. I didn't really feel like spending an hour doing curls, so I thought I would suck up some minor pain and get on with Diamond Delts. The warmup to this workout was really helpful, as it included a few shoulder warming exercises like arm circles and stirring the pot. The rotation of the arms from the shoulders really helped to dissipate the pain and to prepare me for the exercises.

I'm still adding additional exercises to the end of the workout, for a total of 12 exercises, each done twice. By the end of the workout, I can barely lift my arms at all. I've made some notes to myself to increase the weights for the next workout, as I've now reached 12 repetitions on some of the exercises, and don't really want to do more than 10, in order to add a little more bulk.

Round 6: Day 2: Insanity: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

As with yesterday's workout, I felt slightly out of shape and a little out of breath during today's workout. It wasn't like the first time I did Insanity; I haven't regressed too much. I'm still struggling during Ski Abs and In and Outs, but I'd say that overall, it was a reasonably successful workout. I'm looking forward to making improvements in the Insanity workouts this Round, but will likely use Week 1 to work out the cobwebs from my system and prepare my body for the weeks to come.