P90X Week 1 1/2 Day 4

Funky title for today's entry, right? And you're probably thinking, "Hey, what happened to days 1-3?" Rewind back to my last entry. I had Kenpo X on Saturday and afterwards was feeling fantastic. However, that evening I had a huge knot in my right glute and felt some tweaking in my back and legs similar to what I experienced when my disc herniated. That had me concerned, especially because my wife and I were spending two nights with my in-laws and would be sleeping on an air mattress that has historically not been the best for either of us. Thankfully there was a foam pad to put down. On top of that, Abi made sure to pray for me, and I woke up Sunday morning without any pain at all.

We didn't get home until Monday night, and I had decided by that point that I wasn't going to try to change my workout schedule. If I'd been on track, that would have been Day 2 of this week. Not wanting to stress my body more than I had to, I opted to not do my exercises that night. Then Tuesday night I didn't do them, either, knowing I had a chiropractor appointment on Wednesday and figuring the adjustment would help me exercise better the rest of this week.

So tonight I got into the Yoga X workout. If you remember last week, I only made it just a few minutes in before feeling I needed to quit. Tonight was better, though it was still only 15 minutes (out of 1 1/2 hours!). It's going to take some time to work up to doing the entire session as the workout utilizes a lot of muscles that just aren't the strong and/or flexible for me. Again, I'm looking forward to seeing how I'm doing by the end of the program.

I hope you've managed to stay a little active this week. I know I haven't been the best about it, but all I can do is get up tomorrow and try again. Abi and I are planning to hit the gym on Friday for some walking and probably jogging, hopefully a MWF deal for us again.

P90X Week 1 Day 6

Ah, it's the end of the first week of P90X and I'm feeling fantastic. Because of a variety of schedule issues revolving around today, I decided to do my final workout this morning instead of last night because I needed to be up earlier than normal. It's amazing how sore my glutes are from my previous workouts, so I was a little concerned about how today would go, but I sat on a heating pad for a little while to help loosen things up and took it slow.

Cardio day today with Kenpo X. One of my coworkers asked if there was actual martial arts training involved, and in my expert opinion I'd have to say...maybe. The moves seem legitimate, but since the focus is on keeping the heart rate up, the speed at which the moves are performed doesn't seem (to me, with no martial arts experience) to foster actual training. However, it's a fun workout.

I'm going to be out of town this weekend, possibly through Monday since I have the day off, so I might have to adapt my workout schedule. I'm not totally sure how I'll adapt, so I'll be playing it by ear and seeing what happens.

If you get a chance, get out and move yourself today. I highly recommend it!

P90X Week 1 Day 5

Back to strength training today with Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X. I have to say, I'm not a fan of wall squats, but that's mostly because I can't do them for very long. There were two variations in this workout. The first set of wall squats lasted for 90 seconds. You start with your thighs a little higher than parallel to the ground and hold for 15 seconds, then switch to thighs fully parallel with the ground, back and forth. The second set of wall squats lasted 60 seconds, and you had to raise one leg out in front of you for 10 seconds, switching back and forth. Neither one was very easy, and even should I get into "X" shape, I doubt they'll be a cake walk, but I'm excited about getting stronger.

Abs...well, they're abs. I'm happy to see that my reps are increasing for most of the exercises and that I'm maintaining good form at the same time (that's key; there's no sense in gaining reps if you're going to be sloppy about it). It'll take a while, but I'm confident I can get to the slated 25 reps per exercise by the end of this program.

It definitely made a difference even in the warm-up stretching tonight that I'd been up all day moving around. That's a pretty big clue that I need to be doing this workout after I get done with work, not right after getting out of bed.

Have you made time to get some movement in today?

P90X Week 1 Day 4

Well, not much to report here. This session is the Yoga X workout, and I didn't get more than a few minutes into it. Part of my problem was likely not doing it last night after work when I'd been up all day and my muscles were already somewhat warmed up. I'll have to keep that in mind for subsequent weeks.

Oh well, not everything is easy at first. I'll just have to work harder next week on getting through it.

Hope you've found something active to do today.

P90X Week 1 Day 3

I was seriously bummed out earlier because I left work at 7:45 PM not feeling well and thought I wasn't going to be able to do my workout tonight. After getting some food in me, a mug of peppermint tea, and a good deal of water, I finally felt pretty much normal around 10:30. I'd been dealing with a pretty good headache that was leaving me weak and semi-nauseous. I was--and still am--pretty sure this was the last hurrah of my caffeine withdrawal (I had two travel mugs of coffee Sunday morning and two glasses of Coke while out to eat with some friends). I'm happy to say that I should be through the worst of it, and I am thrilled I was able to get my exercising in tonight!

It was a good night, too. Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X. So far, having done three workouts, the two strength training workouts have been considerably easier than the cardio, probably at least in part because I can adjust the weights down, which I'm doing to ease into this and prevent injury. When it comes to cardio, jumping around and such and utilizing my own body weight, I can't really do much about that in the short term without drastic measures like liposuction. I know that historically I've not been good at high intensity output over long periods of time, so it's not surprising that I struggle with the cardio workouts in this series. Going to the gym and running 4 miles doesn't sound like that big of a deal at all in comparison.

Anyway, halfway through my first week, and I'm remembering just how much I love P90X. Yes, it's tough, and I have to dig down and push through sometimes, but it really is a fantastic workout. I'm not following the eating plan, so I'm not necessarily expecting to shed the 35-60 pounds I'd need to lose in order to see definition in my midsection, but that wasn't my goal in the first place...it'd just be a nice bonus if it happened. Rather, I want to have total body health and be in the best shape I can be.

If you're not participating in some sort of regular exercise, I encourage you to start. Find someone to do it with you so you have that added incentive. You won't regret it!

P90X Week 1 Day 2

Tonight's workout was Plyometrics (jump training), and it is a killer. I was only able to make it about 2/3 of the way through before I was toast. It's frustrating in a way, but at the same time, I'm happy that I was able to do that much of such an intense session.

Could I have gone longer? Sure. Would it have been smart? That's trickier to answer. Because this workout shows up throughout the entire program, though, I have time to improve. Besides, as I've stressed before, I don't want to push so hard that I risk injury to myself again.

At any rate, I'm glad to be moving. I hope you're finding time in your life to get some activity in, too. Even a walk around the block is better than nothing. Start small if you haven't been doing anything lately. Results come with time, benefits start immediately.

P90X Week 1 Day 1

Well, I took things slow, but that's okay, because I made it through the workout. Today's session was Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X. I can definitely tell there are several muscles I haven't used in a while, so being deliberate and taking my time is going to be highly important. Sure, it's frustrating to be doing so few reps with so little weight, but all that will come with patience.

Now, I haven't told any of you this before, but I have discovered the secret to time travel. This has allowed me to obtain my before and after pictures from P90X today, and you can see them now, too, instead of waiting several months.

Are you ready?

No, seriously, are you really ready?

Okay then, here you go. Don't faint.

That's right, baby! I am a beast! RAWR!

Pre-P90X

As I mentioned last week, I have decided to get into P90X again. Tonight will be my first night into it this time around. I will be taking it SLOWLY so as to not injure my back again. I don't know if P90X was the cause of my disc herniation or if it was what pushed me over, but in any case, I don't want to risk that sort of hurt again. I'm going to keep the weight light and the reps using the band minimal for this first week as my body adjusts. As great as I think this program is, I am not wanting to use it as a once-for-all solution to my weight management goals. Rather, I see this as a way to get into the best possible shape I can over the next three months and then go from there.

I am hoping to manage 2-4 days a week of some light running, too, to keep up with that end of things. Abi wants to be able to get out and do some walking so she can continue to feel well, too, especially as she is in the third trimester now.

I weighed myself tonight, and I came in at 223.6 pounds. That's only 2.4 pounds heavier than my last update on July 23rd. I had feared I had gained more than that, so I'm quite happy, especially considering I didn't do nearly so well with healthy food choices the three weeks I was on the overnight shift.

I had Abi take some new pictures today, too, for a bit of a baseline.

The shorts I'm wearing in these pictures are different (and smaller) than the ones from my previous updates. These are a 36-inch waist while the others were 38-inch. I thought they would make a better dramatic presentation for comparison a few months from now.

Well, I need to get the spare room in order so I can do my exercises, and I want to try and get a thermos of water finished an hour before I get started on the program, so I'm going to have to go for now. I'll be back to let everyone know how it went.

As always, I hope you're finding time to get some movement in your days!

My absence...

Hello all! I realize it's been quite a while since I last posted here. August 13th-September 2nd I was working the overnight shift (Midnight-8 AM) and was so wiped out by it that I really didn't do anything by way of exercise other than a couple of walks with my wife. Last week I was back on my normal 3:30-Midnight schedule, but even still I'm not fully adjusted to it. This week will likely be very light by way of activity, also due in part to some appointments. I am hoping next week to be back on track with at least some form of activity.

I am debating what I want to do. I still want to run a 5K this year, so I'm going to have to work in some running to at least maintain my ability. On top of that, though, I'm thinking to start up with P90X after work Monday night. I'd need to take it easy for the first couple of weeks as my body adjusts, but I definitely want the whole-body workouts provided by that program (running is great, but I don't want to fall into the trap of doing only that).

Anyway, I'm looking forward to starting something again next week, and I will be keeping you posted with what develops.

Have a great day!