How'd I miss yesterday's update??

So it would seem I forgot to post yesterday... Well, not so much 'forgot' as 'put-off-until-it-was-2am-then-fell-asleep'... I'll try to not let that happen again.

Let's start with yesterday's update: Ploymetrics. Plyo, plyo, plyo! I ever mention how much I love this routine? Seriously, I could do it every day if it wasn't for the fact that it literally does NOTHING for my upper body. I would like to report that it would appear that my stamina is returning. I've been able to finish the routine without fail, but yesterday I wasn't completely exhausted when I finished! I have a feeling that I'm going to be back in my post second-round condition by the end of the first month! I'm stoked!

As for today, I decided that, rather than kill what scant few hours I have in the evening doing my primary (today's being Shoulders and Arms), I would do my primary in the morning when I have a bit more free time. Yeah, that worked out great until work called. Over and over again... Forcing me to pause longer than I really wanted to until I was out of time. Friends, I didn't even get to finish the routine. I made it through four of the five sets before I was forced to stop to leave for the office.

I had contemplated a redo this evening, but my Beachbody coach, Vicki, said that, since I did the majority of the routine already, I should just do the Ab Ripper and give my arms a chance to recover. It makes sense, but I still feel like I only half did the job. But I'm not going to dwell on it. I'm going to do my Ab Ripper, eat something healthy (as opposed to the pizza I had for lunch), and get to bed at a reasonable time tonight. (2am is NOT a reasonable time...)

Oh, I found a new technique for doing the Crouching Cohen Curls. See, I have two adjustable barbells and, when I'm doing the curls, I can't get the angle right and they keep clunking into each other. It makes my overall workout kinda sloppy. What I do now is I load ONE bar with the weight I would be doing on both arms (presently 20lbs per arm, so 40 on one bar) and grip the edges of it to curl. MUCH cleaner sets. I just wonder if doing it this way makes it a different exercise...

But where's the rubber band??

Wow... Last week's Chest and Back went better than this week's... At least the "back" part... Man, I had the HARDEST time doing pull-ups this time around. Of course, my back has been a bit iffy the past couple days, so it might not have healed completely. (However, it's mostly lower-back pain I'm feeling. Not many 'pull-up' muscles down there.)

I did my Ab Ripper in the morning again. I'm thinking I'll go back to my original arrangement of primary in the AM and Ab Ripper in PM. Doing an hour plus workout in the evening eats up all my free time and my poor dog doesn't get to spend as much time out.

The way I'm feeling right now gives me mixed feelings about Plyo tomorrow. I'm hoping a good night's sleep will help me get over my anxiousness about it.

For now, though, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm tired, I did well, and I genuinely believe I'm putting more muscle on this time around. I realize P90X isn't exactly a program to get 'ripped,' but maybe when I'm done, I can join a proper gym and work on bulking up. (Not TOO big. But I would like to be able to bench 100 lbs.)

Day 6, Part 2

Alright. I wanted to just take it easy, but I couldn't sit by and not do anything. Especially since Kenpo today was a big disappointment. I also wasn't really feeling up to an entire round of Plyo. So, I made a compromise; Cardio X!

Yes, friends. The "mini-workout" for people who can't quite muster the oomph to do Plyo, but still feel a need to do SOMETHING. It's not terribly hard core, but there's a few moves that get you going. And boy-howdy, do I feel better!

Also, I'm glad I didn't do a full-on Plyo because my left knee started giving out on me when I was doing the Plyo section of Cardio X.

Not even the first week and I slack?? Wha??

Well, I didn't exactly 'slack'. I took my dog over to a friend's house and spent the day catching up and doing some fun stuff. I also got a pretty nasty sunburn, so I wasn't too keen on hopping around when I got home last night...

I did, however, do my Kenpo this morning. I forgot how easy it was. Almost seems like a wasted hour. I'm kinda glad I'm planning on doing a round of Plyo this evening to make up for my perceived laziness of yesterday.

Also, and don't let on that I know, I think my left ankle is out to get me... While doing the jumping jacks between sets today, my left ankle acted like it wanted to roll on me. That, or just in general didn't want me to hop around on it.

In under the wire!

Ha! Thought I wasn't going to post today, didn't you? I just barely made it!

Fridays are weird days for me. I go to work at 9:00 and get off at 5:30. It works out well, by that count, that I've been doing the Ab Ripper in the mornings and my primary workout in the evening. However, today I took my dog up to the dog park for almost two hours and didn't get back until an hour AFTER I would have gotten home on a normal work day... As such, my workout ran later than normal.

That workout being Legs and Back; the one workout that's consistent through all three phases of P90X. I'm glad I did the occasional Plyo during my off-months. It kept my legs in shape for THIS. And boy, do my legs hate me right now. My back, however, bounced back HARD from Monday's Chest and Back! I still wasn't able to crank out more than eight pull-ups at a time, but I WAS able to do more unassisted pull-ups overall than I was ever able to before! Either my body is returning to a more fit state faster than I expected or the protein supplements I'm taking are making a HUGE difference. We'll find out if it's the latter when I get to Shoulders and Arms again.

Yoga? I don't think so.

According to the classic P90X guide, I'm supposed to have done Yoga X today. But I made an executive decision to do Stretch X instead. Two reasons. First, I don't have 90 minutes to devote to a routine in the morning. Second, I decided a while ago that I much rather prefer the stretching exercises.

My ORIGINAL plan was to get another round of Plyo in, but considering tomorrow is Legs and Back, I opted to do the easier Stretch X.

As far as performance, nothing to report out of the ordinary. My back's been a little sore since I did Ab Ripper yesterday, but it didn't really impact my performance today. I just hope everything works out before tomorrow's routine.

How about I take a few moments to talk about my diet. As with my first two runs through P90X, I haven't really made many modifications to my eating habits. The exception this time, however, is I will drink a protein shake as a meal replacement on most days. (Plyo and Kenpo days, I'll drink the shake for breakfast. The resistance routines, I drink the shake as a dinner replacement.) A typical breakfast for me is a banana and a bowl of cereal with soy milk. (Usually whatever cereal was on sale the last time I went shopping. Currently, I have a box of Apple Jacks and Pops. Not the healthiest choices, but Cheerios weren't BOGO.) My lunches, for the most part, have been a bologna sandwich, fruit cup, and fat-free, sugar-free yogurt. I still plan to treat myself to the occasional lunch at Firehouse or Subway. For dinner, I picked up a bag of pre-made salad, couple of soups, bag of ramen, and several meats and vegetables.

I should probably make a proper menu, but I don't think I'd stick to it very well.

Ze armz! Zey do nosink!

Oh man... My arms are tired... I'm lying down, typing this out on the floor because that's the only way I can get comfortable.

So yeah, Shoulders and Arms. Wow. It's been a while. I was looking over my old sheets and comparing what I did my last go-round verses what I did this round and I am WAY behind. However, I didn't let my ego get in the way. Nor did I focus my stress into my workout. I kept a level head and picked the weight that worked best for me. I'm a ball at the top of a hill right now. I just got nudged off the edge and I'm only going to gain momentum from this point on.

Today was a backwards day, too. I did Ab Ripper in the morning before I left. (I had to leave home two hours early, so there was no way I could have squeezed the primary routine in.) I have to say, though, I kinda like the Ab Ripper mornings. When I do my workout in the evening, I get to drink my protein shake and hop in bed, going straight to that 'rest' period where your body repairs muscle tissue. The only caveat is I don't get to go out in the evening as a result. Tough trade-off. But I have to come home in the evenings to take care of my dog, anyway, so...

Anyhow, I think I'm going to hop in the shower now... I'm a little ripe!

Jumping up and down like a Jack Russel Terrier...

Ahh, Plyo. My favorite workout of all. The burning means it's working!

I'd done Plyo a few times over the past few weeks just because it is my favorite workout. I always feel like I've accomplished something after having done it. The sweat, the burn, the achy body. feelsgoodman.jpg

My back was a little twitchy after yesterday's workout, so I was being extra-special cautious about the squats just to make sure I didn't tweak myself the wrong way. Oh, and my left ankle was out to get me, too. It almost rolled on me during the Rockstar Hops, but I was on to its wily ways and nothing bad happened.

I was interrupted just before starting the 'Sports Bonus' leg... Work called and I had to attempt to put out a fire from my house and ended up cooling down a lot more than I had intended before getting back to the last few minutes of the routine. I felt it, too. So a word of advice; if you're working out and in a good rhythm, don't stop! If you have to stop, then you should either re-warmup or just end your workout there. Jumping back into it isn't exactly the best course...

For breakfast, I enjoyed a protein shake + banana! Delightful choco-nana shake made with soy milk! (Beats the heck out of the Rice Krispies I was going to eat!)

Ahh! After 10,000 years, I'M FREE! Time to conquer... Wait...

Maybe it hasn't quite been 10,000 years, but I'm back! Yes, friends, I'm dusting off my old blog for my third go through P90X. I've decided I want to get one more solid run through before MC2 comes out and, while my 90-day mark may fall after MC2's release, I'm going for it.

Today, I've finally decided to make this thing happen! As added incentive, I decided to start blogging again. It helped me stay motivated before and I'm hoping it'll keep me going this time.

Things different this time through:
I'm starting closer to my ideal BMI. Last time, I was pushing 180 and 25% body fat. This time, I'm starting at around 145 and 17%. My previous goal was to lose weight and I did just that. This time around, my primary goal is to add muscle. To that end, I've procured a protein supplement. (Mmm... Chocolate...) And finally, I'm doing this to help me focus on something OTHER than what's been bothering me lately. (Those of you who follow me on facebook know what I'm going on about.)

So, without further ado, let's get to the summary for DAY 1 PART 3: The Return!

I learned from my first two runs through P90X that, on resistance days, it's better for me to do the primary routine and the Ab Ripper at separate ends of the day. Typically, I'd do the primary in the morning and the Ab Ripper in the eve. Today, however, I did Ab Ripper in the morning. (Mainly because I had showered last night and really wasn't in the mood to take another full-on shower this morning.) Kinda threw me off, but hey, no big deal. I'd done Ab Ripper a couple times in the past few weeks (trying to do SOMETHING rather than nothing during my down-time), so I was prepared for the workout. That didn't make it any easier, however. After putting off and putting off for three months, trying to jump back into it is ROUGH. I did, however, manage to finish the entire sequence. Every agonizing rep. Totally worth it.

This evening, I did the routine for day one: Chest and Back. Pull-ups and push-ups. Now, in my old apartment, I had my pull-up bar in the bedroom door and, every time I walked past it, I'd do eight or ten pull-ups just because I was stoked by the fact I COULD. When I moved to this house, however, my lazy kicked in and even though the bar was in a convenient location, I would simply walk past. A few weeks ago, I tried to do Chest and Back in an effort to get back on the horse and was very, VERY disappointed when I could only manage FIVE pull-ups before I choked. And the push-ups were no better! Time was, I could do thirty at a time! I was struggling at eighteen! HOWEVER, I was preparing myself for today. The past two weeks, I've been doing push-ups every morning, adding one to my previous day's total until I was doing thirty-six by the time I moved back into this house. Pull-ups, I haven't been able to practice as readily as the push-ups, but I have the bar mounted in a place where it's easy to access and I've been doing those random sets when I walk past it. To that end, I am VERY happy with how I performed on today's Chest and Back routine! I didn't have the foresight to write down my results, but where I was struggling with twelve and thirteen, I was doing twenty! WITHOUT falling to my knees!

I _did_ choke on the second round of Diamond Push-ups, however. Not because my arms gave out, but my thigh, believe it or not. (For those of you not in the know, Diamond Push-ups are done with your legs wide and your index fingers and thumbs touching, creating a diamond shape that, when you go down, is supposed to touch your chest.) I had tensed my legs as I was going down and just as I got to the floor, my right thigh shouted, "CRAMP TIME!" and I collapsed. Live and learn, eh? The rest of the routine was great and no other problems to report. My morale is high and I'm REALLY looking forward to Plyo tomorrow!