P 90 X, Week Three Summary

Week 3 was the most challenging so far; traveled quite a bit, lack of sleep (averaged ~5 hours of sleep/night), and a funeral (was a tough week). I've found out though (maybe more accurate is that I was reminded) that when I'm focused, I just get the job done.

Also, I'm very sore today (Sunday), and I'm relieved to have a recovery week. Arms, legs, and glutes are fried, and if I had another tough week, there's no way I'd be as successful.

Tuesday - Chest & Back, Ab Ripper
First that I felt I got a serious pump with this workout. Garage was warm (do nearly all the workouts in the garage), and that’s not happened in a lifting session in a LONG time. Dive Bombers, especially at the end, are darn near impossible for me to do more than 5 properly. I really upped the intensity in the first set, maybe too much, as I about petered out the last two push up sets, and really failed in the pull up sets. Used a chair to assist on pull ups, and it was needed. Was dripping with sweat when done. Progress made on push ups, I think progress was made on pull ups.

Had a major nutritional breakdown as I ate 5 pieces of pizza. Just didn't have the will power today to fight against it.

Wednesday - Plyometrics
This is such a tough workout, and I went as hard as I was able to. I'm fried after this workout every time. Anyone that thinks p90x is a gimmick needs to give this workout a shot. Very tough and challenging. Traveled to Charlotte that day for F.I.L.'s funeral.

Thursday - Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper
Was in Charlotte and got a free workout. Folks were looking at me oddly as I had my iPhone in front of me guiding me through the workout. As I write this (Sunday), my arms are still sore. Very challenging workout here. F.I.L.'s wake.

Friday - Yoga X
Again, thanks to a suggestion by another poster, I combined two workouts to shorten the yoga workout and make it a bit simpler. Back still hurt, but not as much. Will give this workout one more shot. F.I.L.'s funeral.

Saturday - Back & Legs
This is, in my opinion, the second hardest workout of the plan that I've done (Plyometrics is one, Chest/Back is tied for #2). Did this also in the early AM in Charlotte, just before I left to drive back to Tampa.

Sunday - Kenpo X, Ab Ripper
I must be doing something wrong...they get their HR up to ~160, and while I don't have my HRM on me, I'm no where near 160. I'm working though, as I'm sweating my tail off. This is a fun workout. Followed up with Ab Ripper, since I skipped it on Saturday.

Progress made on all workouts, and was very pleased with my effort.

NUTRITION
Day of Wake and Funeral were, for the most part, nutritional wastes. But given the circumstances, no big deal. No sense in posting Summary info, since it is incomplete. But since clothes are fitting better, I'm confident that things are heading in the right direction. These posts are definitely making me accountable.

P90X, Week 2

P90X, Week Two Summary (don't know where my original post, with Week 1, went!)

What a crazy week it’s been. The Wife is out of town, and I’m playing Mr. Mom. So that’s meant that I need to get up at ~4:45AM to workout before the kids wake up. It’s been tough, but doable. On to the daily review…

Tuesday - Chest & Back, Ab Ripper
Went all out today, did more pull ups than I thought (did most sets of 5…and did like 6 sets). Push Ups have never been so difficult! Those last few Dive Bombers were painful…really painful. After, the Ab Ripper was brutal. Thought I could do 25 reps of all, and did at first. By the end, I was barely able to do 15 reps for the final sets. Progress made.

Wednesday - Plyometrics
Almost threw up twice. Worked very hard here. I think this is the toughest day of the week, followed by Chest/Back. Very relieved when this day ended. Progress made.

Thursday - Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper
This day is tough, and I was sore, but it’s no Chest/Back. Jacked the LBs up significantly, which felt nice. And decided to taper my enthusiasm for Ab Ripper…consistently did 20 reps for each set for the whole thing. Progress made. Still hurt like heck.

Friday - Legs & Back
Had to switch it up, as I had to travel for the weekend. Legs/Back day hurts. Hardly any weight on the leg exercises, and it’s a burn. Bad. Making okay gains on pull ups. Didn’t necessarily do more than on Tuesday, but felt good about my effort. Legs hurt bad. Progress made.

Saturday - Yoga X
Did abbreviated yoga at the in-laws house, very early in the AM. If they saw me doing that stuff, they’d think I was certifiable…they already think I’m a nut. Back still hurts after doing Yoga, so I think I’m going to give it just one more shot and if I’ve got back pain, no more. Not that much progress here.

Sunday - Kenpo X, Ab Ripper
Favorite workout. It’s not that it’s hard, but you work and sweat your tail off. They keep saying that your heart rate should be high before jumping jacks, but mine isn’t really that high. But that might have to do with my background in endurance training. Fun workout, followed by the hell that is Ab Ripper. I definitely hate it…but I love it. Progress made.

Nutrition:
Not to get into details, but I’ve at least pinpointed my weaknesses. I’m eating fairly balanced, with a strong lean towards more protein. Don’t know if I’ve lost pounds, but the pants fit better and that’s more indicative that this is working vs. scale weight. Hopefully, I’m gaining muscle to offset the pounds lost in fat. If I keep this eating plan up for a couple more weeks, I’m anticipate that I’ll lose much more weight.

I almost NEVER hit my total calorie goal of 2000, but the proportions (45% pro, 30% carb, 25% fat) is close enough to say that I’m hitting my goals. Got to figure a way to up the calories though. Progress made though.

Ready for Week Three!

P90X, Week 1

I've decided to post my weekly progress in the p90x plan here for a couple of reasons. First and most importantly, it will keep me accountable. Second, there have been a few threads/questions on the program, and maybe this will help to answer those questions.

A quick summary: p90x is a 90 day workout program, fairly intense, and structured. In a week, you're doing every other day of resistant-type training, and three days of cardio-type training. All that's needed are dumbbells and a pull up bar. The rest of the workouts can be done in your garage/living room. It also provides a nutritional plan (won't post the details of that though). It's a three step process...train one way for a month, change it up for month two, change it up for the final month.

I'll be posting my progress with the workouts as well as nutritional information (when I keep track of that). Here we go:

Tuesday - Chest and Back.

I decided to start very cautiously and conservatively. So, when they're doing 30 push ups, I'm doing 15 or so. Push up/pull up alternating for about 1 hour, so you end up doing 8-10 sets of various push ups, and 8-10 sets of pull ups or rows. I can only do 3-5 reps of pull ups, so while they were pounding out 15-20 pull ups...I'm doing three. it's always great when a woman can beat you to oblivion (one of the 'models' in this workout is a female). Was pretty sore in the chest the following day, and am looking forward to going 100% this week.

Wednesday - Plyometrics.

Again, I went with a very conservative plan here; I hadn't done plyometrics since 10th grade, so I knew I'd be in trouble. They did a certain exercise for 45 second, I did it for 30. Had trouble walking the next day with this. Very challenging. One of the models had a prosthetic leg, so that made me feel like a real loser. Tough day.

Thursday - Shoulders and Arms.

Conservative plan, maybe too conservative. Again, alternating between arm exercises and shoulder work. Shoulders were sore the next day, arms not so much. Probably left too much on the table this day, but just wanted to get through the workout, not knowing what to expect.

Friday - Yoga X.

Most frustating day of the week. I am as flexible as a 2x4, and their 'models' all have at least average flexibility to perform the movements. I am well below average, and ended up hurting my back a bit, and quit 1/2 way through this workout. Thanks to a suggestion by a poster on the TC-CL, I'll be making some adjustsments to this workout and try it for the entire first month. Got to be careful of my back though.

Saturday - Legs and Back.

Easily the most challenging resistance day of the week. Probably because I pushed it more than the other days. All the leg workouts (except one) use no real additional weight. You're using your body weight, which is tough. All back exercises were pull ups, so I had the same issue as Tuesday...I just can't do that many. First set through, I did three pull ups. Second set, I did 4. Very tough day, and glutes were very sore.

Sunday - Kenpo X.

The third of the 'cardio days'. Since I was a yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do when I was 9, I should have no problems here. (sarcasm). This isn't a high impact day, but high sweat day. Lots of punching combos (jab, cross, hook, upper cut) which I got all mixed up, but all in all, a fun day. Went probably 95% this day.

Nutrition:

Total calorie goal is 2400/day. I weigh ~190 or so (maybe a couple of pounds less) and am a banker (sedentary) so I needed to monitor this. So, for the first time, I have been tracking religiously my diet using thedailyplate.com. This first month, diet should be 50% protien, 30% carbs, 20% fats.

My averages for nutrition are (if all has been calculated correctly):

Total Calories: 1846 (needs to be 2400)

Sugars: 74

Carbs: 128 (need to be 180)

Fat: 47 (need to be 53)

Protein: 136 (need to be 300)

These proportions are WAY under what I need, and WAY out of whack. If I want to succeed with this plan, I'm going to have to make major adjustments to my diet. (And the numbers above are a little out of whack (actual, not "need to be"); I went to an all you can eat buffet and just pigged out.) I'm not training for a triathlon any more, and need to adjust accordingly.

So, I'm sore, I'm looking forward to going 110% next week, and really focusing on my nutrition. Will update at least every week, maybe more if I have a breakthrough.