14 July, 2012

P90X Day 78: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps

Another milestone. Last time for this workout. I’ll be saying that several times this week. This is the last “real” week of P90X. Next week is another “Recovery and Ab Focus” week.

This is one of the workouts where you can really tell at the end if you’ve put it all on the mat or not. During the cool down, you do some stretches that start with overhead stretches, putting your hands up as high above you as possible. Today, when I did that I could barely get my hands up there. Not because I was in pain, but because my arms were just too heavy to lift up that high.

It’s funny. I increased my weights on a couple of the exercises in this workout this week. On the first one, my form went straight to hell, and I immediately knew I had to go back to the lesser weight. The others went ok, but they were definitely much harder. It’s amazing the difference 5 pounds can make sometimes. You have a weight, and it seems like it’s too light. You add 5, and suddenly it goes from too light to no longer doable.

While I’m moving on to Insanity in a couple weeks, I know that I’m going to be coming back to P90X at some point. I’ll be doing some sort of maintenance workout in October-December, and at this point I’m planning on another round of P90X starting in late December or January. I’ve already decided that I’m going to keep track of all my weights that I’m currently using. Next time, I’m going to start with the next weight down for most of the exercises. Will be interesting to see how that works.

For this first round of P90X, my goal has really been to just get through the thing, and to improve on a week-to-week basis. Next round, I really want to concentrate on form, on doing every exercise as perfectly as I can possibly do it, even if that means doing fewer reps than I’m doing now, or going to a lower weight, or whatever. Not that I slack off now, but I am constantly noticing even still that there’s room for improvement on my form. I think some of that is just a learning experience. And, in the case of a few things, such as in Yoga, or even Plyometrics, I was totally incapable of doing the exercise perfectly on day one. My body just wouldn’t do that. Now, I’m doing better, and I can. And I want to put that to the test next time around.

Anyway, tomorrow is the last time for Plyometrics. I’m so disappointed. My friend is slacking off. He says he’s skipping the last Plyos. Something about a 100 mile bike ride or something. I think he’s just wimping out on me, don’t you agree?

P90X Days 76 & 77

Day 76: Kenpo X

The only bad part of this workout is that the side kicks are a constant reminder of my flexibility issues. I can tell that I’ve gotten much better over the last 11 weeks, but I constantly wonder if I’ll ever be able to regain any kind of real flexibility at my age. All I can do is keep on plugging and see where it goes, I guess.

Day 77: X Stretch

And speaking of flexibility…

Well, I pushed a little harder on all the stretches today. After talking with my friend at work who’s also doing P90X, I got a reminder once again of just how poor my flexibility actually is. That encouraged me to try even harder during the workout. Made it much more painful, but I still felt great at the end.

Insanity has an off day each week. Pretty sure I’m going to continue to do this workout on the Insanity off day.

11 July, 2012

P90X Day 75: Legs & Back

Nothing much to say about this workout. Pull ups, lunges, and wall sits. Oh yeah, there is one thing I'd like to say.

Ow.

But I did increase my pull up count. In fact, I'm quite proud of my pull ups. I can now do 15 pull ups in each of the exercises. That's a far cry from the 2 and 3 I was doing 11 short weeks ago.

And, Ab Ripper X was actually almost enjoyable today. I did better during Ab Ripper today than ever before. I'm almost sad there's only three of these left. Almost. I don't think I'll ever miss Ab Ripper X.

Just one more time for Legs & Back. Tomorrow, Kenpo X. See you then.

10 July, 2012

P90X Day 74: Yoga X

Of course, right after I decide to not do another round of P90X, I start really enjoying the workouts. Today, I think I enjoyed Yoga X more than ever before. I feel like I'm making some real progress on this workout. I'm reaching farther than ever on the hamstring stretches, and I've made significant progress on the movement pieces of the workout. I still look ridiculous during the Half Moon and Twisting Half Moon poses. But I think you could actually look at me and tell what pose I'm attempting.

As for the rest of the workout, it actually goes pretty well. After about the first 25 minutes, I'm in near constant pain, but it's a good pain. I'm still having problems with the first of the balance poses. This was the third time in a row, I think that I had problems.

I have a theory about it now, though. The three balance poses are Tree, Royal Dancer, and Standing Leg Extension. Tree is by far the easiest of the three, but it's also the first one. And it's immediately after the Warrior Three, Half Moon, and Twisting Half Moon segment. I think my legs are just too tired and sore right then, and I need a little break before moving on. I had no problems at all today with Royal Dancer or Standing Leg Extension, just Tree. I've been doing Tree for six months now with little to no problems. I attempted Tree again later, and had no problems with it. I just think at that point I'm too tired. So, next time I'm going to interject a little break between the moving section and the non-moving section. I think that will solve the problem nicely.

I'll find out next week, and let you know.

Tomorrow, Legs & Back. Day 75. The end is near.

09 July, 2012

P90X Day 73: Shoulders & Arms

Another milestone. Today was the last day for Shoulders & Arms. I'll miss this workout. It doesn't have any pull ups, and it works the "show" muscles. All men want to have bigger biceps. And, while I'm never going to look like a super hero, I'm thrilled to finally have some muscles on my arms that are a step above non-existent.

But the real reason I love this workout is that there are a few exercises where I do better than the trainers. That kind of thing always brings a smile to your face. I do very well at the Chair Lifts, and Side Tri-Rises. I particularly enjoy those, as it's a little bit of a show off exercise for Tony and Dreya, and I pass both of them. Tony eventually gets to 25 and then demands that everyone stop, saying that "if anyone at home does 26, I'll come to your house." Well, by that time I've finished my 30 and am waiting for them. :)

It helps to be lean. Less weight to lift when your lifting yourself. I notice this on quite a few of the lifting exercises, including even the pull ups that drive me so crazy. As much as I complain about them, I can't imagine doing them if I was 20 or 30 pounds heavier.

Fortunately, I don't have to. I get to lift my light weight up over the bar, and not have to worry about such things.

Ab Ripper X was at the end, of course. Is there anything to say about that workout that I haven't said before? Yes. Don't drink a lot of water before hand. Today I was thirsty during Shoulders & Arms. I didn't drink all that much, but I did have a little sip during nearly every break. Then I got to feel that water sloshing around during Ab Ripper. Let me tell you that didn't make the workout anymore pleasant, and I actually was a bit nauseous at the end. That's the second time I've done that. Hopefully this time I'll learn.

That's the last of the "last times" for this week. There are 10 different workouts as part of P90X Classic. 8 of them I'll still do at least once more, most of them at least twice. But, I'm definitely closing in on the end.

Tomorrow is Yoga X. My poor calves and hamstrings may start rebelling against me soon.

P90X Day 72: Plyometrics

Posting this in the morning of day 73, rather than the evening of day 72. Sue me.

Plyometrics is brutal. And it doesn’t get easier. In fact, this is one of the workouts that might actually get a little harder. I know I talk about this a lot, but the first few weeks my form was awful. It was awful because I was so pooped. I couldn’t do 30 seconds of Rock Star hops. I could do about 10-15 seconds, followed by 15-20 seconds of “pretend” Rock Star hops. Now, I’m doing the full 30 seconds. Of course, this means that I’m even more worn out than before. At least I kept my heart rate from approaching the danger zone this time. Last time I was pretty close throughout.

Still, this workout goes by pretty fast. It’s a rush when you get to the “bonus sports set”, because you suddenly realize that “hey, this is almost over”.

Today is Shoulders & Arms.

Oh, and I already did Cardio X this morning, too.

Why? Well, the wife and I are going out for dinner and a movie later. Thought it would be good to burn a few extra calories.

I’ll do another post later after Shoulders & Arms. See you then!