Thursday, March 19, 2009

P90X Round 2 Day 60: Yoga Day

I am officially 2/3rds of the way through this round!

Normally I would post 60 Day pictures for accountability purposes but not today. Friends of ours went on a family vacation to Mexico and borrowed our camera. I though about using my blackberry to take the photos but they are very grainy when I put them in Picasa. So, I will just wait until Day 90. I actually think my chest and arms are as ripped as they have ever been. As well as my calves and thighs. My upper abs are looking very good but I still have some work to do to get my stomach as flat as I want it! Hopefully, in the next 30 days I will get there!

To recap my last 60 days - When I began Round 2 I weighed: 164.4 lbs and my BF% was: 18.4%. Sixty days later my weight is: 159.2 lbs and my BF% is: 14.8%. Quick math has me knocking off about 1.7% BF per 30 days. That means a good goal for me is around 13% BF on Day 90. I'd be very happy with that percentage. If I want to get any lower I will probably have to do cardio like 5-6 days a week instead of 3 days and I am not ready for that time commitment.

When I started Round 2 one of my goals was to try and put on 6-8 lbs and get myself back up to the low 170's weight-wise. Well, that is no longer a goal of mine. After about 2 weeks I was down to the 160 lbs range and I felt wonderful. I wanted to add some mass to my chest and shoulders and I was hopeful this would add the weight back. Well, I added some more definition and size to my chest and shoulders but was able to do it without gaining weight. I learned that my body WANTS to be 160lbs so I really shouldn't fight it!

A part of me wanted to prove that P90X could be used as a mass gaining program in addition to the leanness I already gained. I still believe it can be, but it probably isn't the ideal way to get the big meathead body builder look. Unless you do as fellow P90Xer Boomer suggests, and substitute all the push-ups and pull-ups with dumbbell presses and lat pull downs and heavy weight!

Okay, now that I got all that off of my mind, today's Yoga workout was very good again. I cannot believe this but as I was driving home this afternoon I was actually feeling excited about doing Yoga. This is starting to become common with me and I am feeling rather hypocritical after all the bashing I have done of Yoga in the past. Don't believe me? Just go back and read every post that is titled: Yoga. It has become a challenge and now that I have changed my mindset about yoga and am focusing on getting better I am now enjoying it. And by the time Yoga Belly Seven is done I am feeling pretty beat down! The Yoga Belly stuff might be just as hard as some of ARX - when we go into the part where you hang your legs to the side for 30 seconds for the second time it is very difficult and quite painful! Also, I have really tried to take Tony's advice and "Clear my mind!". No thinking about work or dinner or whatever else distracts me and just focusing on doing the move. It really seems to be working and each time I do it I try and get a little deeper in my warrior poses or hold my balance poses a little tighter.

Added in more carbs again today and once again my energy level was through the roof. I made lean grilled steak skewers with veggies for dinner. Since it was light on the complex carbs I then added in two slices of whole wheat toast just to get my carb percentage up to about 60% for the day. I had a whole wheat bagel for breakfast and a turkey sandwich on whole wheat for lunch. I had a Balance Bar (26G Carbs) for one snack and 8 Whole Wheat crackers for my afternoon snack. Oh, I also had a whey protein shake (2 scoops), a protein bar, SuperPump250, 2 glasses of Cell Mass and 2 Atkins protein drinks. Just did a quick calorie count and realized I was at 3200 cals ... might have to add another workout tomorrow! It is sorta hard to eat this many carbs, but I can really notice the intensity in my workouts increasing!

Tomorrow is Legs, Back, and ARX. If I have some steam left I might toss in the Abs/Core Plus DVD also since I ate so damn much today.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

5 comments:

  1. I have to hand it to you... I admire those who can embrace yoga. Clearing your mind definitely helps. I have to approach it with a good attitude or else I dread the whole time I am doing it.

    Great job!!!

    Boomer
    Project Exercise

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  2. Yoga grows on you, doesn't it? Not the mind/body crap...but the moves, the vinyasas, the challenge, the isometrics, the poses...are all muscle, balance, symmetry, endurance...all wrapped into one DVD. I like it, and I look forward to my Yoga session. I hate saying that...makes me want to go out and buy an old Volvo and wear sandals.

    I did Legs/Back today and brought it all, leaving it all on the mat. My legs will be sore this afternoon, I just know it. Hey, listen carefully to the Switch Grip pullups and I believe ol' Dreya lays an F-Bomb at the end. I had to stop and play it again...me thinks I'm right! :)

    Boomer, are you doing dumbbell presses and lat pulldowns instead of pushups and pull ups? I have a lat machine and am doing lat pulldowns. Never thought to do dumbbell presses. How's it working for you?

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  3. The dumbell benches and flyes are working very well. I can actually see progress in my pecs. When doing push-ups, I was actually losing mass in my chest. It is now starting to come back.

    As for lat pulldowns. On days when I go to the gym to do my P90X workouts, I like to use the lat pulldowns. It is actually easier on my tendonitis because I am not trying to do an insane number of reps. I can just go heavy for about 8 to 10 reps.

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  4. Oh yeah...Yoga is all about the mindset. I do my P90X in the early AM, so it's easy for me to "clear my mind". I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks some of the Yoga Belly stuff is as hard as ARX.

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  5. I'd love to do yoga in the morning .. my problem with morning workouts is my work phone starts ringing early and I hate to keep stopping nd starting the workouts.

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