Rippin' it up!

You might be thinking to yourself, "Whoa! Two blog posts on the same day? What is this madness?" No, I haven't gone crazy (just ask my psychiatrist). It's Saturday, and that means church in the morning. That also means I really don't want to be getting to bed at 2 AM like the rest of the week, so I put my strength-training workout in this evening.

Tonight's routine was Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X. Let's talk about Legs & Back a little bit. First, oh my goodness! Running in no way has prepared me for this particular session. Probably my least favorite exercises were the wall squat and single leg wall squat. I was never good at wall squats growing up, and they've come back to haunt me in new and terrible ways. I'm not going to give in, though. Eventually I will conquer the beasts and be able to maintain for the full time period.

Second, I'm glad this was modified after being put to the test group to include back exercises and give the legs a break. Granted, all of the back exercises were pull-ups in one form or another and I don't have the upper body strength to do the real deal, so I'm using the resistance band looped over the door-frame pull-up bar for now. I also don't have an ideal set-up for using this bar (it's currently in the closet door frame and I would have to be in the closet to use it). Pull-ups are something else I was never able to perform, so I'm looking forward to overcoming that someday. Strengthening my upper body and losing weight at the same time will go a very long way to accomplishing that goal.

Something you'll hear over and over throughout P90X is to set goals for yourself. Maybe today you only did 5 reps for one exercise; next time shoot for 6. Or maybe your goal was 10 and you only did 8. Don't beat yourself up over it and push to do better next time. I've put it to people this way: It took me 32 years to get my body into its current condition, so I can't expect it'll take a month to reverse my bad decisions. No matter your ultimate goal, be it reducing body fat, increasing muscle mass, seeing a specific strength gain, or what have you, you can't shortcut the process. Stick with it, have someone hold you accountable, pick yourself up when you fall down, and you'll see results.

That's it for my pep talk tonight. Have a great day tomorrow, and be sure to thank a Vet for his or her service to this great nation of ours.