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.

P90X+: Round 3: Day 41: Kenpo Cardio Plus

It didn't take long to work up a good sweat this morning, despite the fact that the windows in my basement were thrown wide open and the cool morning air was drifting in, wafting over me. This workout really moves. It's a different type of cardio exercise from Interval Plus and Plyometrics, as there's not really as much total body movement involved, but the punching and kicking, along with the bending over at the waist, the almost constant engaging and disengaging of the core and the speed of the exercises manages to keep my heart rate up, the sweat flowing, and the blood flowing.

It's a very engaging workout and moves along at a good clip. Much like Kenpo X, before I know it, the workout's over and I'm plumb tuckered out. Interestingly, this is one of two workouts (the other being Abs/Core Plus) where I never pause the DVD at all. I hope to get to that point with the other workouts.

End of week 6. Week 7 won't be the standard P90X+ workout, as I'm taking my act on the road for a few days. I've decided to pound out some cardio routines, as I won't have access to a DVD player, so I downloaded some routines from Mark Briggs' website, printed them out, and will do them in the great outdoors. I'm looking forward to it. I'll likely repeat week 7 upon my return to civilization.

P90X+: Round 3: Day 40: Upper Plus / Ab Ripper X

Upper Plus

This is about the closest I've come to crushing this workout. I'm improving in stamina, pausing the DVD only once, after 10 exercises. I took a short, extended break (is that an oxymoron?) of about 2 minutes, rather than 30 seconds, before commencing the final 10 exercises. I ran through the last 10 without pausing, so, this was the shortest time I've taken to complete the workout. In addition, I improved my numbers on some of the exercises. The next thing to do is increase the resistance band level.

I'm starting to focus more on maintaining good form throughout each individual exercise. I'm concentrating on which part of my body is supposed to be working, and isolating that part to ensure that it's getting its maximum pounding. On several exercises, I'm struggling mightily as the time clock is running out (most of the shoulder exercises) but I am seeing some small improvements and am reluctant to switch to a lower level resistance band (in some cases, I'm using the lightest band I have) or lighter weights, because I only have a pair of 10 lb dumbbells. I'm sticking with what I have. This workout in particular is identifying my weaknesses: shoulders, specifically, left shoulder. No problems with any form of push-up or pull-up, but I really notice it when doing the flys in the lunge position, and circle flys.

Ab Ripper X

A funny thing happened on the way to ARX: I was supposed to pick up my daughter on her return from camp, and received a call from her that the bus would be about 45 minutes late. I was in a parking lot which was bisected by a stream, with trees, shade and landscaping along the perimeter. What better place to get down and do ARX in the great outdoors? So, I emptied my pockets, pulled up a level piece of ground, and cranked out the workout. It was fantastic. The shade was sufficiently cool, there was a nice little breeze blowing, the ground wasn't particularly hard-baked, and 6 Canada geese nestled into the grass nearby, bemusedly looking on as I wrestled with Mason Twists. I felt so good upon completing the workout, that I launched into 50 pushups, followed by some upward and downward dog, side stretches and child's pose. Who says you need a DVD and a mat? Get outside, people!