Day 6: Kenpo & Day 7: Rest

So I missed last Friday because I was out of town so I'm calling that my rest day. Yesterday was Kenpo but I never posted and today is Core Synergystics, if I don't fall asleep first :-X

Let me say that Kenpo is absolutely amazing. I have a blast doing the workouts as it reminds me of Tae Kwon Do. I love martial arts so it's a good motivator. My lower back and hamstrings are still tight but I did an extra 10-15 of stretches to try to help alleviate those issues.

The morning after consists of sore glutes (butt) and legs, but I'm excited to keep this up. Especially with Heather doing the program with me. It really helps and she's doing a good job of keeping me relatively honest.

The best news of all, as of Monday I was able to find Muscle Milk again. YUM!

Every should get this, it's the light at the end of the tunnel of each of my workouts.

Week 1 down! :)

Day 5: Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X

Owie.

My hamstrings and lower back continue to be the inhibiting factor. The first time I tried this program, back in May of 08 I found that there a lot of connecting tissue that rely on each other for certain things. Now, this might seem like an obvious statement but it's something I would be willing to bet few people think about.

Example: Leg lifts. This is a core workout that is meant to work your lower abs. Unfortunately, my hip flexors and hamstrings continue to be a problem The weak hip flexors make it difficult to lift my straightened leg very high off the ground. The excessively tight hamstrings make it extra difficult as now I have something fighting against that upward motion.

I tweaked my right ankle on day 1 and today's balance workouts, along with yesterday's Yoga made it obvious. The strength isn't there and the best feeling I can describe when I put all my weight on it when in a lunge is spongy. I'm going to try to take it easy and, if memory serves, Kenpo shouldn't be too bad for it.

Ugh, time for the dreaded recovery drink.

Day 4: Yoga X

One Word: LOOOONNNGGGGGG

This is an hour and a half video that focuses on overall fexibility, posture, balance, and core strength..

I liked it. My upper body was toast before we shifted focus. Almost every workout in the beginning has you do a vinyasa which is basically the equivalent of 2 or 3 push-ups between every pose, more if you do the actual push-ups between poses of the vinyasa. When it switched to more lower body I realized that my core strength is still lacking. I kinda dislike the more core workouts by the end as my hip flexors, abs and lower back don't like it. :)

Overall, the stretching is good. I know I need it because I could feel huge stretching in my lower back while Tony is saying, 'Ahh, you should feel this in your calf/hamstring/big toe.' and I know I'm doing the form right. More of that will do nothing but good for me.

I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow.

Back to the Superbowl!

Day 3: Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X

Late post, I know.

This is one of my more enjoyable workouts. It's not too tough, but you definitely get a workout from it. I need to purchase more weights. My 15lbs dumbells are not universal. They flip tricep kickbacks are brutal at that weight.

Weakpoints:

Wrists hurt after a bit. The same thing happened with Core with the push-up type stuff. I expect a similar result from Yoga.

I ran out of energy again. This wasn't as drastic as the Core Synergistics workout but by halfway through the ab workout I just wanted to go to sleep. I took it easy, did 5 to 10 of each and skipped the hammer twists at the end.

Lower back and Hamstrings. I'm going to have to spend more time on these in general I think.

Strongpoints:

uh.. I did the workout and felt good enough while doing it. The back problems I had last summer (and went to physical therapy for) are more or less gone. The lower back and hamstrings issue I think is a residual. More stretching!!

Nutrition:

Like my last attempts I'm not focusing on the P90X diet but more on my portion control. I realize when I don't think about it it's easy for me to fall into the "Eat more because it tastes good." The sushi I had the other day was amazing and I think I may continue that trend.

The recovery drink is still awful. I'm planning on hunting around for alternatives today at the store.

Yoga next!

Day 3: Morning After

My legs and glutes are very sore. It's to sit down without the urge to fall after half way. I'm going to do a bit of stretching to see if that helps.

Tonight I have to travel for a meeting so this will be a real test if I can find the time to do my Shoulders and Arms workout. I have it ripped to my laptop and assuming things do not go super late I'm thinking I can either do the workout at my friend's or when I get home late. Thank goodness for being able to sleep in on Saturday.

I haven't been sleeping well. Midnight rolls around too quickly and my brain is just active. This is very odd for me and it's something that I hope goes away soon. This weekend is going to be catch-up-on-sleep time.

Breakfast was raisin bran this morning, yum and I'm thinking I will check out one of the two sushi places near work for lunch. mmm..maki That seems pretty healthy. :)

Day 2: Cardio X

I have to say, I absolutely loved this video. It got my heart rate up, I only had to take one break and there is a ton of room to push the workouts for a long long time. I'm tired, in a great way.

I did switch it up today and make dinner as soon as I got home (fried roast beef and havarti, yum). I ate and took about 45 min to settle and then started the workout. I think that left me in a much better energy position.

The protein drink sucks still, but it's completely bearable in Milk, so that's my plan until I can get rid of the stuff.

My diet is not where I want it, but I'm easing in. :p

Shoulders, Arms, and Ab Ripper X tomorrow! woo!!

Day 2: Morning After

Sore and sore, but it's nothing new. I'm anxious for Cardio X tonight. It's a nervous excitement since I don't want to hit a wall again. I'm going to pace myself and take enough breaks to make it through the whole program.

Breakfast with the office this morning!

Day 1: Core Synergistics

It has been a long time since I honestly hit a wall working out, football? highschool?, and Core Synergistics destroyed me.

I made it about 35 minutes in, pushing myself as I always do. Granted in this case, pushing myself meant maybe doing half the reps on the tape. Suddenly, during the walking push-ups, I just couldn't go on. My head was pounding, sweating profusely and wanted to just lay down. Even now, I am a bit disoriented. I did some stretching and just tried to catch my breath. I got up and got some water, and some almonds and prepared my recovery drink. Which I have to say is absolutely disgusting*. I'm already starting to get my bearings back, but it's most of my concentration.

Day 1 done. It's only improvement from here! :)

*I used to buy Chocolate Muscle Milk mix but the Hannaford in Manchester (or at least the one I go to) doesn't carry it. I ended up getting this other brand of chocolate protein drink that is horrible. I'm basically drinking water with dried chalky choco powder in it. yuck.

We'll see how Cario X goes tomorrow.

Day 1: Morning anticipation

Amount of Sleep last night:
5.5 hours. Hard time falling asleep (unusual for me)

Mood:
Great! If a bit sleepy.

Food:
I had a nice bowl of raisin bran this morning and I'm raring to go with my fruit for snack today. I'm not sure what's on for lunch since I didn't bring one, but I might hop down to Subway for a veggie italian.

No soreness from the fitness test at least ;) I didn't post my pictures, but I plan on taking a set every night so I can animate a real progression (and hopefully it's good).

Overall I'm feeling pretty good. I'm working on something seemingly productive at work which I'm excited about. I'm happy to be starting this workout program again and even more excited that Heather will be doing it with me, even if she's a few states away.

Do your best, forget the rest!

Day 0: Fitness Test

Take 3. Life has been pretty hectic but I think I can handle this program finally. My girlfriend will be doing this with me (and keeping her own notes). I will continue attempting to blog my feelings about the program and what I'm doing to try to live a healthier lifestyle.

For more focus on weight loss and something I thought Heather might be more comfortable with, we're going with the P90X Lean. I'm excited for a change of pace. I was getting a little bored with phase 1 of P90X classic.

Current Mood:
I'm really tired. Had a great weekend with Heather visiting and I'm working my brain off at work so it's taxing, but a good taxing. I'm thinking some pasta and veggies for dinner tonight!

Fitness Test

1	Resting Heart Rate	80
2	Pull Ups	3/4
3	Vertical Leap	16in
4	Push Ups	25
5	Toe Touch	-3in
6	Wall Squat	1m 10s
7	Bicep Curls	25 @ 15lbs
8	In & Outs	31
9	Heart Rate Maximizer
	0m	148
	1m	128
	2m	146
	3m	110
	4m	115

And we're off!