Tag Archives: p90x

Perry Mason gets back on the P90X horse

12/09/2010 Guest User 1 Comment

When I first started the P90X journey, my goal in blogging about it was to introduce another layer of accountability. I thought that if I knew people were interested in hearing about my progress, I’d force myself to P90X vs. cheeseburgers actually make progress. Then, two things happened:

I grew confident that no one is interested in hearing about my progress; and
I realized that, even if they were, I wasn’t exactly thinking about having to answer to the anonymous masses when I occasionally made the decision to skip a workout and do a “double” the next day to catch up. (The whole “double” thing never ever materialized).

So I fell off the “blogging about P90X” wagon. But I committed to write about this project, and I figure that if I quit writing about it, I’ll eventually quit everything else. Which leads me to this recap post.

Generally speaking, I followed the program pretty religiously for the first 21 days. I missed a total of two workouts but made them up on what were supposed to be my off days. Through weeks 1 and 2, though, I didn’t feel like I was making myself go all-out in the exercises. And I wasn’t losing any weight or seeing any progress. So I made a mental rededication and really pushed it in week 3. It was a good week, and I regained some confidence and drive. Then came week 4: the recovery week. I was to do nothing but cardio, stretching and yoga (my three least favorite things in the P90X regiment) for an entire week. But I got sick and did not work out a single day. However, my lack of eating offset my lack of working out, and I lost some pounds. Phase 1 came to an end. I took some 30-day pictures. I looked at them. I was not thrilled, but I looked slightly smaller than when I started. So, moral victory?

Cue week one of phase 2. The first workout in phase 2 is triceps, chest and shoulders. It is, by far, the most difficult workout I’ve faced. It is also my favorite. I jumped in full-force, and about two-thirds of the way through I had nothing left. I made a mental note to pace myself next time and called it quits. Day 2 of phase 2 came and went. I did not workout. Then day 3 of phase 2. No working out. Then I got a call from my long-distance P90X workout buddy. He wanted to talk about how I was doing. I was honest, and he replied — to my relief — that he too had lapsed. We decided to take the entire week off (so that would make two weeks in a row for me) and start again the following Sunday, December 5th. And so we did. And I ate a cheeseburger or three.

Given that I am smack in the middle of it, I’ll wait until next week to tell you how the re-racked week one of phase two goes. I’ll also do my best to remember to take some measurements tonight and make some kind of chart to show differences (if any) from my Day 1 measurements.

Family matters

The scale fails to encourage Perry Mason

11/18/2010 Guest User 1 Comment

Nichole’s brother is doing that P90X thing. He’d appreciate your support and motivation, so he’s sharing his experience here at Butterscotch Sundae. Which is a pretty funny name for a place to talk about Feeling The Burn and whatnot.

Week 2 of P90X was so very different from Week 1, even though the exercises (i.e. the DVDs) were exactly the same. Because the exercises didn’t change from Week 1, I’ll leave it to my beautiful and diligent sister to link to my Week 1 Post. Instead, I’ll focus on the intensity of my workout, my mindset and my soreness on a day-by-day basis. Those three points are really where the week differed so drastically from Week 1.

Day 8: Chest & Back
Going into this day, I told myself I really needed to increase my intensity. This was, after all, my second week of the program. So I pushed, hard. I increased my reps on all pull-up and push-up sets, and I really tried to slow down and concentrate on every muscle movement. About 75 percent of the way through the video, I ran out of gas. I’ve been told since that this is called “bonking,” in which your body quits because you aren’t giving it the carbs it needs. To this point, I’d been very strictly following the diet. From this point forward, I’m
doing so more loosely. This may reduce my results, but the feeling of “bonking” was not a good one, and I don’t want to do it again.

Day-after soreness level: 3. The day off in between Day 6 and Day 8 allowed my body to heal more than it would have otherwise. Also, I really think the Dark Matter supplement is working.

My mindset: I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m ready to “Bring It.” Afterward, I really felt like I brought it, but I wasn’t able to do ab ripper due to the “Bonk.”

Speaking of Ab Ripper, I forgot to talk about it in my Week 1 post. The short story is that three days a week (Chest & Back, Shoulders & Arms and Legs & Back), you also do a 15-minute abdominal routine. It consists of 25 reps of 13 (I think) exercises. In Hell, you are required to do Ab Ripper once an hour on the hour. To date, I’ve only been able to complete about 50 percent of Ab Ripper. I’ll try harder going forward.

Day 9: Plyometrics
Plyometrics was the day the really killed me in Week 1, so I was not excited for the post-plyometrics feeling I was to incur. This workout was not easier the second time around, but knowing what to expect made it more doable. I made it through 100 percent of the video and probably only skipped 15 percent of the reps, which was a big increase from Week 1.

Day-after soreness level: 6. Way less sore than Week 1. That has to be good, right?

My mindset: Getting better.

Day 10: Shoulders & Arms
I intentionally ate more carbs today and tried to increase my intensity, like I had on Day 8. It worked. I felt like I had a pretty good workout here. I didn’t work to failure on the second set of each exercise, like the video says you should, but I was pretty beat at the end.

Ab Ripper: Not much to say about this, other than that it is still hell and that I made it through about 65 percent.

Day-after soreness level: 4. My body is adapting.

My mindset: I made the mistake of getting on the scale, which told me I had gained a half a pound since starting 10 days ago. This drastically shifted my mindset from “I can do this” to “Why the hell am I doing this?”

Day 11: Yoga
I still hate yoga, but I decided to really give it an honest go this time. I forced my way through and made it to the part where Tony Horton tells me to ommmm. I ommm’d last week, told my long-distance workout buddy that I had and was made fun of. So this week I did not ommm. Instead, I pushed eject.

Day-after soreness level: 3. Yoga is boring, but it reduces my soreness.

My mindset: I’m not sure I can make myself do Yoga every week. And I’m really not sure I can do Yoga twice in one week, as I’m supposed to do in Week 4.

Day 12: Legs & Back
My legs are still not ready to give 100 percent on Plyometrics and then, two days later, give 100 percent on squats and lunges. But I tried. I made it through the entire video but really dogged it on about 30 percent of the reps. Also, I’m still not using weights and doubt I ever will. The weightless lunges and squats are difficult enough.

Ab ripper: Getting better, as I did about 80 percent.

Day-after soreness level: 5. My legs might just get more out of this program than any other part of me.

My mindset: I’m still really bummed about the “no weight loss” thing, and I’m finding it hard to keep the intensity up.

Day 13: Kempo
Even though this was my favorite day last week, I couldn’t make myself do it this week. The lack of weight loss to this point was really bothering me. So I spent some time researching. I discovered that no weight loss — and even some gain — is typical in phase 1, the first 30 days of P90X. Modest weight loss comes in phase 2, and drastic changes happen in phase 3. So I’ve got to stay off the scale for a while and just push. Good to know.

Day 14: Stretch/Rest
I rested, even though I’d rested on Day 6 as well. Two days off felt nice.

Overall, other than my lack of motivation towards the end of the week, I’m still feeling good about the program. While I don’t see a difference, my wife says she is starting to notice small changes in my body composition. And my strength is really coming back. I am rededicating in Week 3.

Family matters

P90X puts the hurt on Perry Mason

11/11/2010 Guest User 6 Comments

I have survived week one of P90X. Only 83 more days to go. After one week, I can say that this program is serious. As a point of comparison, my body hasn’t felt this sore since the day after the first day of football practice throughout high school. And that has been a fairly long time ago. In a nutshell: Week One was a serious wake-up call to both my mind and parts of my body I forgot existed.

So let’s get to it.

Day 1: Chest & Back
Basically, this means a set of push-ups, a set of pull-ups, a set of push-ups, a set of pull-ups … Rinse and repeat until chest and back are numb. Starting the program, I can barely do a pull-up. So, I had to put one leg on the back of a chair to assist in my pull-ups. They were still incredibly hard, and my sets were typically between 8 and 10. The push-ups are not any easier, with something like eight variations. While I made it to the end of this roughly one hour video, my form was absolutely shot by the time I finished. My soreness after this day was serious but not unbearable.

My mindset: I can do this.

Day 2: Plyometrics
Think: “Jump!” This workout requires multiple variations of jump-squats. It is really difficult to describe how terribly hard this workout is. Sixty minutes of jumping around is painful, sweaty business. My legs were so shot by the end of this workout that it was difficult to walk down the stairs. But downstairs is where the couch is, so I made it through. My soreness after this day was unbearable. For two days, I couldn’t walk or sit normal. Quads, hamstrings, calves: All on fire. People at work noticed and asked whether I had been in an
accident.

My mindset: I cannot do this.

Day 3: Shoulders & Arms
Here, we picked up the dumbbells for the first time. My legs were killing me, so this felt like a break at first. Sixty minutes later, my arms felt like they weighed 100 pounds each. I actually really enjoyed this workout, probably because this is where I’m in the best shape. And I wasn’t all that sore the next day (except for my legs from Plyometrics).

My mindset: I can do this, if I skip Plyometrics.

Day 4: Yoga
My apologies to all the yoga lovers, but I do not like yoga. I do not like yoga one bit. Not because it isn’t a challenge — it is — but because it is absolutely boring. And it is an hour and a half long. And Tony Horton tries to sound soothing. I’m going to have to find a way to overcome my boredom on this one, because the fact is it is actually an intense workout. It also focuses on some of my weakest areas: Flexibility and balance. I felt better after the video was done. My legs were not as sore, and I think I was a little less stressed out. Plus, my soreness level the next morning was drastically decreased.

My mindset: I can do this, if I can stay motivated.

Day 5: Legs & Back
Lunges and squats. Turns out, yoga had not healed my Plyometrics pain. I could barely make it through this hour. And I didn’t use any weights. Day 5 set my legs on fire again and made it difficult to make it back down the stairs. I started to realize that my legs are apparently very, very weak.

My mindset: Is this week over yet?

Day 6: Kempo
This is like kickboxing! And it was fun! The workout teaches a few basic kicks, punches and blocks and then directs you to perform a bunch of combinations repetitively. Really got my heart rate up and the sweat pouring. I think this will be one of my favorites once my body learns the moves.

My mindset: At least there will be something to look forward to at the end of each week.

Day 7: Stretch/Rest
I rested. 🙂

I’m feeling really good about not dropping out. I’m eating well and working out, and I can already feel the extra strength. The scale isn’t reacting yet, but I’m confident that will come. I will say that if anything knocks me out of this program, it will be injury or the wrong mindset. My greatest challenge is going to be making myself hit play and then doing more than going through the motions. We shall see.