Wednesday, February 25, 2009

P90X Round 2 Day 38: Back, Biceps, & Ab Ripper X

Today was the Back & Biceps workout and as always it just smashes both your back and biceps! But today what really crushed me was AB RIPPER X!!! By the time I finished up Back & Biceps I was pretty whipped out. The strip down sets at the end had my arms just dangling at my sides barely able to move. So, I went into ARX tired. I paused a little longer than usual, gave myself a pep talk, hit the play button, and Brought It! I knew it was going to be a struggle when I was starting to feel the pain around rep 15 of Crunchy Frogs. Then came my old favorite Fifer Scissors and I told myself that I was going to make it through this no matter what. And I did, barely, I actually gagged a little on about rep 23 -- not fun! For the first time in a few weeks I made it though both oblique raises without a minor pause and it hurt too! I climbed both legs relatively easily and then came the Mason Twists. I have been doing well with this exercise but have been unable to do the bonus 10 reps at the end. Well, I am proud to report that I did it today and my abs are still barking like dogs 2 hours later!!!

My food intake was a little erratic today. I started out the morning good 3 scoops of whey protein and water then had a protein bar for a snack. Then I had a couple of appointments run long and didn't have time to eat lunch so I had another protein bar around 12:30 while driving. Around 3;30 things settled down a little and I stopped at a store and picked up some sushi (protein,protein,protein). So, I basically just swapped lunch and the afternoon snack. No big deal. And for dinner tonight I grilled up some more Tilapia (which I love!) with a whole plate of veggies and added a few more calories and protein with an Atkins Protein Drink.

If you are behind on my posts you are probably thinking, "Damn, that is a lot of protein and not enough carbs?" You would be right. I am intentionally cutting out the carbs for a couple of weeks to drop a few pounds in my belly. It has now been 4 days since I have been on the low carb kick and I have already lost 3lbs (164lbs to 161lbs). As you can see, I am still consuming 2500+ calories per day but just about 10-15% of them are carbs! My energy level is still pretty high but I do expect in 5-7 days (if not sooner) that I will probably BONK! When this happens I will add some carbs back into the diet but until then I think the weight is going to be flying off! I find myself laughing about losing more weight because I am already lighter than I have been since I was a teenager.

Tomorrow is Yoga X and I am actually looking forward to it (If I say that enough maybe I will actually start to believe it (-:).

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff


6 comments:

  1. Wow, great post! I like your concentration to hammer out your ARX reps! I especially like the way you put it... "my abs are still barking like dogs"!

    I like your plan about cutting your carbs up to the point of bonking then adding them back in. I will definitely be following how it works for you!

    Btw, I always have to psych myself out for yoga x too!

    Boomer
    Project Exercise

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  2. Just saw ytour reply to me, wanted to thank you so much! Honestly it is STILL like a dream, so hard to believe! I don't know I mean you enter, hope, and dare to dream, but never really think you'd get picked. I <3 this company! Anyway from what I heard the next good progression would be to get Tony's 1 on 1 videos, so that will more than likely be my next step after the big event in March in LA!

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  3. Jeff:

    Congrats on hanging tough with ARX. I usually do ARX when I get home in the afternoons due to time constraints in the morning, so I can imagine how taxing it would be to follow B&B with ARX. Kudos!

    BTW, I did Back and Biceps the day after my liquid diet on Monday, nothing to eat on Tuesday. I bonked on the last set of pullups...only 4! Strip set curls hurt too. So I've decided to extend my Phase 2/Week 3 routine into next week and go all out. The lack of proper nutrition was a killer, even though I dropped 2 pounds in one day.

    So next week, during Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, lets put our feet on a chair and see what happens!

    Steve

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  4. Boomer, Glad that i'm not the only one who has to psych myself up for yoga. I am actually avoiding it right now by typing the message!!

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  5. Joc, Have fun in LA! We will expect a report back on how cool the whole experience is and we are all wishing you the best!

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  6. Steve, Nice work on making it all the way through B&B on the liquid diet. It is amazing how when you eat healthy over a period of time and then do something else your body reacts. When i used to eat junk food it really never reacted, just felt crummy all the time!

    I am in for the Pike Press challenge on Monday! Bring on the Chair .... BRING IT!

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