Day 9 - P90X - Plyo X

The Mother of All X Workouts! This workout is a killer. I can see why people say the puke during this one. I burned exactly 900 calories and with a few extra breaks it took me 68 minutes to complete a 60 minute workout. I pushed a little harder in several moves and left the ground. I still did modified versions of several of the jumps but. Did some jumping! Bonked out just after the first set of Rock Star Hops. Decided to drink just a little waxy maize for some fast carbs. Will probably do that next week for just a little oomph. Can't wait to see how I bring it next week!

Day 8 - Chest & Back

Just a short entry today. Did Chest & Back and increased my pushups to 12 per set and pulled 15 per set of pull ups (1st time through like a row and 2nd like a lat pull down). Need more resistance for these already. Ready for tomorrow.

One Week

"It's been one week since you looked at me..." What a catchy tune. The rest of the song has nothing to do with what I am thinking but that first line is such a hook.
So... I've been doing P90X for one week and I've brought it everyday except Yoga day. For some reason that I cannot explain - even though I LOVE to do yoga - I am intimidated by the length and the extremity of that particular DVD. I have done similar power yoga in heated rooms where the temperature and humidity are purposely raised to 95 degrees and similar humidity. I have done Bob Harper's Yoga for the Warrior From the Inside Out Series (check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irLDil1MC70&feature=related). I have done Rodney Yee Power Yoga. But I have never been intimidated by a Yoga class or workout until now.
Over all I has been a great week - I worked out everyday and even added an additional workout yesterday when I did Cardio X later in the day. I can feel my muscles rebuilding themselves and I can feel my clothes fitting better already. I have decided to wait until after my first recovery week to weigh and check my Body Fat Percentage (BF%). So the only results that I will be able to measure is how hard I bring it, what my heart rate range is, calories burned and mastery of the moves.
Ab Ripper X - Improvements needed/goals for next week: Goal 1- Make it through both sets of bicycles before I pause the video. Goal 2 - begin doing crunchy-frog instead of another set of in-and-outs. Goal 3 - Make it to 15 reps of every exercise before pausing (I currently pause after 10 on several of them). Goal 4 - Begin to lift legs during Mason Twists
Yoga X - Goal this week - Complete the asanas, which take 45 minutes and then skip to the cool-down and relax. I can do this this workout will NOT get the best of me. I am half-tempted to replace Yoga X with Yoga For the Warrior but I want the next 90 days to be all Beachbody. Maybe if I have some extra $$ - ha! What is that? - I will buy Fountain of Youth from the one-on-one series. Currently any extra $$ I do have goes towards supplements. I am using 2 servings of protein each day, plus waxy maize to make a recovery drink (I actually probably have enough to last until almost the very end of my program since I only use it 5 times per week and there are 50 servings - not sure if I will use it at all during recovery weeks). And I am cyclying Creatine right now for the first two months. Once I complete the loading cycle it shouldn't be much more than $15/month. But add to that $50 for protein and $30 for protein bars, plus I want a Pre-Workout ( I am enjoying my sample), it sure does add up.
Been a REALLY good week for nutrition. I have stuck to my nutrition plan 100%. The end of the week tracking at myfitnesspal shows that I have maintained the 50/30/20 ratio for the fat shredder plan.

Cardio X

Did Cardio X this evening and burned an additional 740 calories. What a great workout. Seems like I burned more calories tonight than other times I have done this workout. I think the last time I did this I e I only burned 550 calories. It was hard to do in front of the tv in the evening while other people were eating. But... My net calories is less than zero and that is really good.

Day 5 - P90X -Legs & Back

Today I was raring to go! Started with Ab Ripper X. Still doing in-and-outs instead of crunchy frog and not lifting my legs for mason twists. Made it through the first set of bicycles before I took a break. I can do all of the oblique v-ups laying on my left side that use my right obliques but not the first set. Next week I am setting a goal of not pausing until the 15th rep in any exercise. I can tell that my weak spot is being able to balance with my hands off the ground (only 2 modified moves involve the same form). Need to figure out how to work on that.
Legs & Back - Wow! That is a workout. If I hadn't been doing an all legs workout prior to this I wouldn't be able to do it. Had trouble with wall sits - both of them! Other than that I think I already need to up my resistance for bands on the pulls. First time through I did them as rows with my body perpendicular to the pull and the second time through I did them as lat pull-downs similar to a pull-up with my back in line with the resistance. I went to the sports store and had a discussion with. The "fitness expert" Ted, who let me in on the idea that the closer I get to my own weight in resistance the more likely it is that I will not be able to hold myself down and will need to work into the pull-up. Today I burned 915 + 240 = 1155 calories. Way to bring it!

Day 4 - P90X

Had trouble with Yoga X this morning. I love yoga but I haven't done any in quite a while - at least not much. Made it through the first 30 minutes a d did my own cooldown and corpse pose. Actually tried to do more than the 30 minutes but after the first extended angle pose and they started to reach under their legs for bound-angle pose I stopped. I think the length is intimidating. I'm used to doing yoga for 30-60 minutes (I even have some podcasts that are called 20 minute yoga downloads) but to be this worn out and still have an hour left was difficult. Wondering about "Fountain of Youth.". I could just do some other yoga that I have but I want the next 90 days to be all Beachbody. Well next week I will make it through the asanas, then maybe through the stretching. Hopefully, by the recovery week I can make it through the entire thing. Today I will forget the rest.

Day 3 - P90X

Whew - what a good workout. Did Shoulders & Arms + Ab Ripper X this morning. ARX was a little harder today than Monday. It took me 26 minutes to do all of the moves. Still doing in and outs instead of crunchy frog and haven't lifted my legs for Mason Twists yet. I figure I will finish this week and lift next week as I work up to the whole thing. Doing ARX first is a great idea. At the beginning of the video Tony Horton says, "Ab Ripper X - I hate it, but I love it!" I think I still hate it. I think that I dread this one more than any of the others. Sharms was good. I did several moves with low weights, some as low as 5 lbs - especially the shoulder moves towards the end. Tomorrow is Yoga X - I hear so much complaining against it. I have done the asanas and I love Yoga so I should be ok. My only concern is the length - over 90 minutes - Yikes! But I will do my best and forget the rest. Word for the day is WOW!

Day 2 - P90X

Whew Hoo! That WAS the mother of all workouts. I just did P90X Plyometrics. One hour of jumping, squatting, and lunging. Burned 926 calories while still doing several modified moves an taking longer breaks than prescribed. For most of the workout my HR was through the roof - I like to keep it below 150 but this was extremely tough to do this morning. I feel like anything over 150 is too high for me at this time. I'm 6'2" tall and weigh 217 with a BMI of 27 point something Nd right around 30% Body Fat and 41 years old. I have figured my "zone" to be between 117 and 152. To figure this I started with 220-41(my age) =179. This is my max HR. then I figured 65 and 85 percent of that to figure my "zone," and I try to stay in there when I workout.
All-in-all this was a great workout and u can definitely see where I can improve. I can see how this could still kick my butt after ten times of doing it. I just did my best and forgot the rest!

Day 1 - P90X

Started today with Chest & Back. What a workout! Did Ab Ripper X first and did all of the reps for each exercise. It took me 23 minutes (ARX is 16 minutes long). Did 10+ reps for each push-up exercise and really Brought It! I did over 120 pushups - real ones, not a single one from my knees!
Yesterday I went to Vitamin Shoppe and get a few more supplements. I bought some waxy maize for post-workout and put it in a protein shake. Also tried creatine for pre- and post-workout. They gave me a couple of pre-workout samples and I tried Jack3d. Definitely felt like I pushed myself harder today but not sure if it was because I was so excited about P90X or if it was the pre-workout. Not sure if I like them, I'm still on the fence. Would be nice if they brought energy during the workout and went away after. Keep pushing play!

Typical day food plan

So.. I have laid put my food plan for the fat shredder plan of Phase 1 of my P90X. The fat shredder phase has you eat specific percentages of your calories from each of the macro-nutrient categories. 50% protein/30% carbs/20% fat. My coach has laid out a 1900 calorie plan that I have decided to follow. I believe that if I can follow this plan and NOT CHEAT and push play every day my results can be "Legen - wait for it - Dary!"
So, here it is:
Typical day
1910 cal - 247p/143c/36f

PRE/POST
2 scoops Protein
Recovery Drink
450 cal - 65p/41c/3f

BREAKFAST
6 egg whites
1/2 can chicken
Tom/on/jal
Spinach
288 cal - 57p/7c/3f

AM SNACK
Natural Peanut Butter
Apple
270 cal - 7p/28c/15f

LUNCH
1/2 can chicken
Salad spritzer
Relish
Slaw
Rice cake
Spinach
242 cal - 36p/16c/4f

PM SNACK
Protein Bar
Soy Nuts
310 cal - 31p/26c/12f

DINNER
8 oz chicken
Veggies
350 cal - 52p/25c/1f

Supreme 90 Day Review

So, I just completed Supreme 90 Day System, sort of...
As I may have shared with you, Supreme 90 Day is set up with three weeks of workouts followed by what I cann a "reset" week or what many people would call a "recovery" week. Followed by a different set of workouts the second month, etc. I have completed all three months worth of workouts, but have decided not to do the three "reset workouts over and over for the next two weeks.
Here is my review of Supreme 90 Day for anyone who cares to read it. First things first - I Loved S90D. I am stronger and have incredible endurance thanks to this program. The circuit training and interval cardio really burned a lot of calories and packed a lot of workout into a short amount of time.
I purchased my set of S90D from Bed Bath & Beyond for $9.99 and this may have been the best ten bucks I ever spent. I was looking for P90X for CHRISTmas and found out that I had put my request out there a little late, so... There I was wandering around BB&B a little sad and dejected when lo and behold, there it was: a program that claimed to use muscle confusion and offer the opportunity to get Ripped in 90 Days. After a few minuted I decided that ten bucks was not a waste of money even if it sucked.
The following day I started and put in the Chest & Back video. This video is short but effective. Basically all of the DVDs have the same 4 miunute warm-up and 6 minute cooldown, and this video had 22 minutes of pushing and pulling which includes a couple of minutes worth of ab circuit at the beginning of all of the strength videos.
Program Design: There are 5 strength DVDs. These include Chest & Back, Shoulders & Arms, Legs, Chest Shoulders & Tris, and Back & Bis. There are also Two Cardio videos Cardio Challenge and Tabata Inferno (which requires 20 seconds on followed by 10 seconds of rest in 4 minute circuits for over 30 minutes of intense fat burning - well worth the ten bucks by itself). There are also a Ball/Core workout, a Core Dynamics video, and a Total Body workout.
During the first month you do the Chest & Back video, the Shoulders & Arms video, along with the Ultimate Ball, Cardio Challenge, Legs and Tabata. You do this three weeks in a row, followed by a "reset" week during which you do Total Body, Core, Cadrio, repeat. The following moonth you replace the forst two with CST and Back & Bis and continue with all of the other videos. The order changes and so does the rest day. Repeat the reset week and month three follows a similar schedule to month 1.
My results: I actually stuck with something for multiple months in a row. I am back down to my lowest weigh ever as a healthy adult. I have weighed less than this but only beacuse I was living a lifestyle that was destroying me and I was close to death. I lost all of my Thanksgiving and CHRISTmas weight. I am stronger and have more endurance and I am ready for my next challenge. Bring on P90X

Before...

So here it is my before post. Pre P90X.
Starting weight: 217
Waist: 44.5
Hips: 40
Chest: 45
Right Arm: 14
Left Arm: 14.25
Right Thigh: 25
Left Thigh: 25
Neck: 16.25
Forearm: 11
Wrist: 7
According to the formula (Waist) + (.5*Hips)-33-(wrist) = my body fat percentage is 24.5
I will stick with this number until I can get a caliper and get a better reading.

Supreme 77 Day

So... I've finished the working weeks of Supreme 90 Day. I'm ready to start P90X on Monday. Ready to Bring It! Getting excited. In-laws will be here this weekend. Then on Monday I move on to the next phase in my life!

ARX -1st?

The other day I was reading on a FB group where several seasoned P90X grads recommended doing Ab Ripper X before the workout so that you are less likely to skip it. So, I tried it this morning and I have to say that I still hate it! I was able to do more reps but after I took that DVD out of the player it was hard to start my other workout for the day. I eventually did get through both of them. I'm actually glad that I did because I don't feel up to another 16 minutes of hard work after Tabata Inferno.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

So... I finally got my adjustable dumbbells yesterday. I researched and studied and finally decided that I wanted the Power Block Classic 50's. The adjust from 10 lbs to 50 lbs. the entire set was $300 from Dick's Sporting Goods at the mall. There are other adjustable dumbbells but none that seem as solid as these. I increased the weights on several of my lifts today.
I truly believe that these dumbbells, my HRM and the home workouts that I am doing I will be where I want to be by summer. I still weigh around 220 I want to start P90X at 210 in a month. It's gonna take some extra pushing to get there. I must stop eating cookies. They are about the only thing I eat that I shouldn't and they throw off my whole day. I hate 'em but I love 'em! I wish I could say that about Ab Ripper X instead.
Looking forward to a full review of Supreme 90 Day once I complete the program. I'll keep you updated.