P90X Round 2 Day 72: Plyometrics Run

Plyo was my scheduled workout today. After a long day of work and an even longer month I decided to get out of the house and go for a 3.1 mile run -- seemed like it would be therapeutic or something!

On Saturday I ran 3.1 miles and when I woke up Sunday morning the outside of my left foot was killing me. Very sore and felt like a muscle was strained. I went to The Academy and bought some new running shoes because I was pretty sure the ones I had were the reason for the pain. Yesterday the foot was feeling a little better and today it felt a lot better. So, I put on the new shoes and went for a run. About a mile in the same place that was strained on the left foot cramped up on me. Bad. It actually hurt to put pressure on it. I sat down for a minute and tried to stretch it out and it seemed to feel a little better. Being the meathead that I am I decided to to keep on running. I went about another mile and it cramped up again.

So this time I limped my sorry ass home and took some advil and am sitting here now with some ice on the bottom of my left foot. It is already feeling better since the muscle cramps have subsided. I mentioned in yesterdays posts that my body is just beat up and this latest little speed bump is sort of the epitome of that. I'll be fine and should have no problems doing Back and Biceps tomorrow. But I might have to lay off the running for a week or so!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 71: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, and ARX

Good day everyone! Sorry for the late post but I had my fantasy baseball draft tonight - yes I am a geek and completely comfortable with it!

Today was Chest, Shoulders and Triceps -- I freaking love this workout. My arms always feel like a couple of pieces of spaghetti when I am done. Oh, and Steve, I did 15 reps on the Pike's Peaks today and damn near collapsed on my head on the last rep! I took the NO Xplode about an hour before my workout and I was still buzzing hard when it came time to workout. This stuff in conjunction with the Nitrix and Cell Mass is just giving me awesome results. The creators (BSN Labs) of the supplements recommend doing 12 weeks on and 4 weeks off so I only got about 12 days left and I am interested to see how I feel off the supps!

I cranked out another solid nutrition day. My total cals were right around 2400 and my ratio was about 50% Carbs/30% Protein/20% Fat.

Something else I realized/admitted today: My body is REALLY beat up. I am sore everywhere. My left shoulder is a mess, my legs and feet are aching, my right shoulder seems to have a nerve pinched or something, my butt hurts, my left wrist has some tendinitis going on ...etc, etc, etc! And yet I can't get enough of this abuse P90X is putting me through ... very weird!

I am going to take full advantage of the couple of weeks off between the end of P90X and the Triathlon training program !

Tomorrow is Plyo again!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 70: Rest Day

Okay, so I didn't skip the rest day for Kenpo. My legs were sore as hell after my 5K run yesterday so the rest day was a much welcomed event!

Tomorrow is Chest, Triceps, and Shoulder. I am excited to be doing this and Back and Biceps again. Those are two of the best resistance workouts of P90X and I am really looking forward to finishing up the next two weeks strong.

Quite exciting today ... I found a Schwinn Road Bike! Unfortunately, we were in my car instead of the wife's SUV and had no way to get it home. Gonna have to pick it up tomorrow or Tuesday. I also ordered a bike computer (made by Schwinn) on Amazon. It will tell me speed, pace, distance, cals burned .... and a bunch of other stuff. It was only $15 including shipping - could not believe how cheap it was? I have also been trying to find a lap pool to do my training. My neighborhood has a community pool that is fairly large but it isn't opened full time until the first week of June. So for the first month of training I am going to have to use one of the local gyms or YMCA. I called a couple of gyms this weekend and I was told I needed to speak to the "memberships dept" on Monday -- this is why I hate gyms -- they make it damn near impossible to just have an enjoyable experience without signing over a limb to use the facilities! I had to bargain with the girl on the phone for 5 minutes before she would tell me it costs $15 to use the pool.

Anyways, be back tomorrow evening!

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 69: Kenpo/5K Run

Yesterday was the scheduled Kenpo day. I decided to skip it and do a 5K run instead. Annie wanted to do Kenpo together so we will do it later today and just not take a rest day this week!

I wanted to do the 5K since I am going to be training for a triathlon and felt like I need to gauge my fitness level. Throughout the years I have always played explosive type sports that require quick burst of energy and action. Long distance running has never really appealed to me. And even though P90X has put me into excellent physical condition, it is still different then running!

So on Friday I jumped in the car and mapped out a 3.1 mile course in my neighborhood. Since it has been years since I have even attempted a run of this long my expectations were rather low. I got up at 6am and upon realizing that it was pitch dark (forgot about Daylight Savings) and freezing (42 degrees!) outside promptly returned to the warmth of my bed! So, once it got light out I tried again. It was still freezing (46 degrees) and very windy but I still wanted to run. To make a long story short - I did the entire 3.1 miles and only stopped once when the wind blew my hat off! I wore my HRM and did the entire thing in 29 minutes and burned 375 calories. Since I really wasn't sure how to pace myself I used my HRM as a guide by keeping myself in a range of 155-165 BPM. If I went over this I would just slow my pace until it went back to range.

Overall, I was pleased with my run. At times I felt winded during the run but never felt over matched or tired. I am now confident that I will be able to do the running part of the triathlon. Once I do this a few more times and figure out pace and tempo I am sure I will be able to knock a few minutes of the overall time.

I have set some preliminary time goals for what I'd like to accomplish the Triathlon in. 1/2 miles swim - 8 minutes; 14 mile bike ride - 42 minutes; 5k run - 25 minutes. If you add in the transition times of say 5 minutes I'd like to do the triathlon in an 1:20.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 68: Legs, Back and ARX

Last night I did Legs, Back and ARX. I was out on the road all day and got home around 6pm. I had some phone calls to return and some work to finish up so I didn't start the workout until 8PM. That means I didn't eat diner until 9:30PM. I have a rule and that is do not eat for 3 hours before you go to sleep! So, I was up until about 1AM last night. I know this sounds stupid but I am a firm believer that eating before bed time leads to gaining weight. Since I started P90X I have tried to follow this rule and it has been pretty good for me!


The workout was great yesterday. This is the first time to do Legs and Back while taking the pre-workout supplement NO Xplode and I could feel the difference in my performance. I was exploding out of my lunges and squats, with more energy than is normally present on a Friday night! And I did a record 176 pullups as well. I did 32 reps on the first wide grip pullups! I am loving the NO Xplode -- I just wish it wore off a little quicker after the workouts because I am not falling asleep as easy as I am used to!


Saturday is my scheduled Kenpo X day. Annie had to work early today and then we are going to a birthday party this afternoon so she isn't going to have a chance to do Kenpo today. So, I am going to go do a 5k run today just to see if I can and to get a barometer of my conditioning. We will do Kenpo tomorrow instead and then I will start week 11 on Monday as planned!


Thanks for Reading,


Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 67: Yoga X

I am in the middle of doing taxes (ahem) so this is going to be a short post.

I did Yoga this afternoon and did a pretty good job on it! I burned 310 calories and I feel great right now. I was a little antsy for the first 40 minutes during the poses but still maintained most of my focus. Yoga Belly Seven was its always tough self. I skipped the corpse poses at the end.

Nutrition was spot on again today. One thing to report: My protein bars that I made a couple of days ago were a little disappointing. They taste great but are soft. As in they are more like a dessert than a bar. So, when I am home and have a fork and plate I am eating them but they will not work for me when I'm on the road. Gonna have to find a recipe that allows for baking!

Tomorrow is Leg & Back!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 66: Shoulders, Arms, & ARX ... and Triathlon Plans

I made up my mind on what to do after finishing this round of P90X! Yep, it is going to be a Sprint Triathlon. Jack's Generic Triathlon, on August 2, 2009 in New Braunfels, TX. The Triathlon will include: a 500 meter swim in a lake, followed by a 13.8 miles bike, and then a 5k run. I have been researching the event and it seems like it is a good Tri for beginners and is really well run. And New Braunfels is a fun little town where we can spend the weekend! I love P90X and now want to test the results and feel this is a pretty cool challenge. Thanks to Boomer, Steve, Glenn, Mike and Ryan for your suggestions. It was much appreciated!

So how am I going to train for this sucker? I am stuck between two programs and am looking for some insight from you guys. I am done with P90X on April 18th. I'd like to take a minimum of 2 weeks off and do just light cardio for maintenance. After my last round of P90X I realized that my body needs some recovery time because it is really beat up! This means I would be starting my next training program on May 3rd -- about 9o days before the Triathlon. I have two options. The first is a 13 Week Sprint Triathlon Training Program. It would end on July 31st - right before the event. I like it because it has two off days and I could work in P90X workouts to maintain the strength and muscle I have worked so hard to gain. The second option is an 8 week Sprint Tri program. It is a little more intense as it does a lot of doubles (swim and run or run and bike) but works in actual strength training into the program which is a plus. For this one I would just start it hardcore 3 weeks later and use the time to ramp up on my swimming. biking and running. So, if you guys don't mind, look them over and let me know what you think would be effective.

Oh, one other problem is I have two vacations scheduled in between. The first is to the Outer Banks with my family. This one will actually be good for training because my family is very active and they all workout and I could swim in the ocean. The second trip is going to be difficult. Me and a couple of buddies are going to Pamplona, Spain for the Running of the Bulls. Chances are the only training there is going to be me hauling ass for 2 minutes in front of some angry bulls! A rest week is called for during the middle of the 13 week program so this may be my out.

Anyways, Annie did the Shoulders, Arms and ARX again with me today. We both had a great workout. I actually burned 480 calories and she burned 320! It is really cool to see how good she is doing. She is at that point where she understands all the moves and is just focusing on form and reps and it is cool to see her grunting, sweating, and working her ass off. Also, I used 35lb or 25lb dumbbells for pretty much every curl and press. My strength has increased tremendously in the last few weeks and I am very psyched about it!

Tomorrow is my new favorite DVD -- Yoga!!! One thing for sure is that I will not take NO Xplode before yoga. I'd go crazy with as slow as yoga is!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 65: Plyometrics

I made some Protein "bars" today.

The recipe is:

10 tsp of honey

5 scoops of whey protein (23G/scoop)

1 cup of 0% fat free organic milk

1/2 cup of peanut butter

2 cups of oats

Pour them all into a bowl and mix together. This takes a little time because it is pretty thick and sticky. Then spoon onto a baking sheet or brownie dish. Level it out with the back of a spoon and put it in the fridge to set. It has been in the fridge for about 5 hours now and it is still a little soft. Will probably need a couple more hours. When it hardens cut it up into bar sized servings and enjoy! I'd like to tell you they taste awesome but I haven't had one yet! I took the picture on the left so you could see what they look like and to me they look pretty darn good - can't wait to try one tomorrow!

I used vanilla whey protein but I heard that chocolate would work too. The online recipe I found said that if I cut the above dish into 8 bars the nutritional breakdown would be: 25G Protein/25G Carbs/ 10G Fat/ 220 cals. I am not real sure how exact the measurements are but this is probably pretty close. The 5 scoops of Whey were a total of 115 G of Protein, then the oats and peanut butter make up the carbs and fat and a touch more protein. The milk is fat free but adds some calories. So, these measurements are pretty close in my estimation. The fat would be higher if you use skim or 1% milk.

The reason I decided to do this was because I was driving yesterday and started doing some math in my head. Pure Protein Bars cost $6 per box of 6. Between Annie and I we eat 4/day, 28/week, 112/month or $4/day, $28/week, $112/month. Or if we do this for a full year that is $1344 worth of protein bars - ridiculous! That a vacation dammit!

Okay so I did Plyo by myself today because Annie wanted to do a spin class at the gym. I took two scoops of NO Xplode about a 1/2 hr before the workout and it had me ready to go again! I burned 560 calories today and just had a consistently high intensity level throughout the entire workout. Everytime I do Plyo I just appreciate it more and more!

So, I am down to 25 days to go and I will be done with my second round of P90X. I have been kicking some ideas around as to what I want to do when I am done: Another round of P90X/P90X Plus, Chalean Extreme, train for a half marathon, or train for a triathlon (thanks to Boomer at Project Exercise for this idea!). That is the choices I am down to right now. If I do the marathon or triathlon training I will still do all the P90X resistance days and just switch the cardio days out with running, swimming, or biking. My question is to all my fellow P90X buddies out there: What would you do?

Tomorrow is Shoulder, Arms, & ARX.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 64: Chest & Back

So, today is the beginning of Week 10 and my fitness guide says that I am to start with Chest, Triceps, and Shoulders. Which is basically doing the weeks 5-8 routines again. Normally I like to follow this program as close to the book as possible. But since my wife Annie is in week 3 of P90X I decided to keep week 10 just like the weeks 1-4 routines so we can workout together. She is starting to really get in the groove of the program and it is something we can do together. She begins the recovery week next and I will do the weeks 5-9 routines up until the end and then in my week 12 and her week 5 will be the same again.

We both did good on the Chest & Back workout again. Annie actually doubled a bunch of her pullups and pushups on a couple of exercises. She hates the dive bombers though! I had some struggles with the close grip overhand pullups and the military pushups because my shoulder is still tweaking so I had to withhold a little intensity at the fear of hurting myself again.

The NO Xplode jacked me up big time again! This shit is great. It is giving me the energy to work harder and I am adding more reps and burning more calories so it is doing the job!

More good news - I found a do it yourself Protein Bar recipe online today and we went out and got all the ingredients. I am going to make it tomorrow and I will let you all know how it tastes and if it is any good I'll post the recipe.

Tomorrow is Plyo day!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Thanks for

P90X Round 2 Day 63: Kenpo X

I am putting another picture up of the NO Xplode because it was awesome. As far as pre-workout drinks go I have used SuperPump 250, Nano Vapor, and now NO Xplode. I also used some tablets called Amped or something like that ... I threw the bottle away and can't remember the name.

Well, today I took 2 scoops of NO Xplode (Lemonade Flavor) with about 10 oz of water and my energy level was scary good! I burned 381 calories doing Kenpo X and that is the most calories I have burned during this workout since I began P90X. Annie and I did the video together and she was annoyed at my energy level. During the breaks doing jacks I was doing them as fas as I could and trying to prod her to race me - she just gave me that look of "stop it now" -- every married man knows this look. I brought the hell out of today and had an awesome sweat and calorie burn to boot. Annie did awesome too. She had to work today and when she got home she was exhausted. She sucked it up and followed the first rule of Tony Horton - Just Push Play! She ended up burning over 300 cals and was happy she got in the Kenpo!

Back to the NO Xplode - maybe my perspective is a little skewed because I have not used a pre-workout performance enhancer in a few days but I was absolutely jacked up for the workout. I am talking jump out of the room jacked up! Since this was only day one of NOX I will continue to use it the next 27 days and report back at the end. But so far I was very impressed. Oh, and it tasted pretty good also -- much better than Nano Vapor or Super Pump250! Both of those gave me a good pump but SuperPump DESTROYED my stomach on a daily basis and Nano Vapor tasted just awful and the after taste lingered forever!

I was a little light on my carbs today for phase 3. For dinner we made grilled chicken breast with on a bed of vegetables and I was going to make a cup of whole wheat pasta and completely forgot. So, I ended up a little light on calories at 2300 and my ratio was around 40/40/20 since I forgot my pasta carb boost. The good news is I grilled up a ton of extra chicken so we are going to have chicken egg white scramblers (from the p90x nutrition guide) for breakfast - they are awesome - and I am excited!

Tomorrow is the beginning of Week 10 and my last Chest and Back workout for this round! It is a very cool feeling when you get to the point of the program where the word "last" is said in front of a P90X video!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Side Bar: New Supplement

N.O. - Xplode is the new pre-workout supp I will be using for the remainder of this round of P90X!

This product is made by BSN Labs and they also make the other two supps I am currently using: Cell Mass for my post workout recovery drink and Nitrix as a 3-times a day muscles volumizer and vascularity enhancer.

Both have been awesome and I ran out of the other pre-workout tablets I was using and can honestly say I wasn't real impressed ( I can't even remember the name? Amped or something like that?) so I am going to try the N.O. Xplode since I am so happy with the other BSN products and BSN recommends stacking these three products. Also my buddy Mike who is a fellow P90Xer started using it a couple of weeks ago and he loves it. I called him last week and he said he was getting ready to Bring it, he was talking 100mph and was freaking me out and said it was from the NO Xplode -- sold me!

I am mixing the lemon flavored powder up right now and will report back in a few hours!

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 62: Rest Day

Today was supposed to be my Kenpo day, but my left shoulder was a little tender in the same area I hurt it a couple of months ago so I decided to rest today.

During the close grip pullups yesterday I felt a tingling sensation in the shoulder. I probably should have stopped but since I am a meathead I did not.

Anyways, it doesn't seem like a big deal but just to be safe I decided to ice today and will do Kenpo tomorrow instead!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 61: Legs, Back, and ARX

Yesterday was my Legs and Back day and I did just okay. I wanted to do it earlier in the day but my wife wanted to do the workout with me. She got stuck in the infamous Houston traffic on the way home and we didn't finish up until about 8pm. We had dinner plans with some friends so we hustled up to get to the restaurant and ended up sitting at the bar waiting over an hour for a table. So, I had a couple of beers and some banana chips while we waited because I famished!

Anyways, I didn't have my normal level of intensity for this workout. Probably partly because it was the end of a long week and partly because I ran out of my preworkout tablets and forgot to buy some more. Still I pushed through the workout and got the work in. Just pushing play is half the battle!

Annie did very good with ARX today she made it through the first 8 moves before she had to pause. I found that to be very good considering this is only her 2nd week! I struggled some with ARX -- the oblique raises just shredded me and I am not sure why. I do okay on my left side but the right side ones are killer for me?

Today is Kenpo X, which I plan on doing it in an hour or so!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

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

P90X Round 2 Day 59: Shoulders, Arms, & Ab Ripper X

Howdy Fellow P90Xers!

Today was the always awesome Shoulder and Arms video. Annie joined me for this workout and we both brought the heck out of it! I absolutely love this workout and was looking forward to it all day. I got home around 5pm and was ready to go but Annie asked me to wait until she got home from work. Of course she stayed an hour late and got home after 7pm! Then she needed to check her facebook before the workout as I was complaining in the background. Then she decided to go get the mail and when she opened the door the puppy pug we are looking after this week bolted out the door. She chased the pug for about a 1/2 mile down the road before the pug tuckered out! It was pretty funny! So, we FINALLY started the workout around 8pm.

And since I was bitter about the late start time, and soon to come late dinner. I pushed her hard tonight and she did really good. I was proud of her because I remember how hard the second week was. She even did awesome in ARX!

Today was another good clean eating day. I got in about 2700 calories and upped my carbs again today to about 50% and kept the fat around 20%. I can really tell the difference in increased energy level by adding in the carbs - I think I am going to keep it up since my weight is so low. My weight is sitting at 160lbs as I have already burned off most of the rodeo weight!

Well, that is all I got today. Tomorrow is Yoga day and I am looking forward to it again. I might get up early and do it.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 58: Intervals X

Today I was full of energy when I got home from work and really wanted to Bring It! So, i decided to substitute Plyometrics with Intervals X from the P90X PLUS Series.

There comes a point with every P90X video where you have that day were you completely OWN that workout. You are finished and standing over your DVD player and you are thinking to yourself, "I just beat that workout like a rented mule!"

Well, that day has not yet come for me with Intervals X. As I was standing/kneeling/panting/crying over my DVD player today I heard the Intervals X video laugh loudly at me -- True story!

Man, this one is a killer. I mean it just whips me to the point of exhaustion and then continues to kick while I am down. It is 15 exercises and then you repeat these same 15 exercises in reverse order and it is all done in like 38 minutes! By the time I got to the jacks the second time I was running on fumes. Had to clear my head and push forward. I finished but lets just say it wasn't a strong finish -- this video alone makes the whole P90X PLUS series worth the cost -- it is that good!

Nutrition-wise I did good again. I ended up right at 2500 calories and was a little high on carbs (50%carbs/25% Protein/25% fat) because I had two Balance Bars instead of Pure Protein Bars and had an extra 1/2 cup of long grain rice with dinner. However, since I am entering Phase 3 of the program it may actually be time to add in some more carbs and less protein. I am not sure if I am going to do a full out Phase 3 (20% Protein/60% Carbs/20% Fat) or remain in Phase 2 (40% Protein/40% Carbs/20% Fat)? I have noticed my energy level has been a little down lately so the addition of carbs may be the right thing to do.

Anyways, I am off to watch, "The Biggest Loser" on Tivo. I am addicted to this show and may possibly be the only male in my age demographics (28-35) who actually watches this show and I am not afraid to admit it!!

Tomorrow is Shoulders, Arms, and ARX.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 56 & 57: Yoga + Chest, Back, & Ab Ripper X

Wow ... it is good to be doing the Chest and Back workout again! Since today is the beginning week 9 it is time to revert back to the first 3 weeks schedule: Chest & Back, Plyo, Shoulders & Arms, Yoga, Legs & Back, Kenpo X, and Stretch X.

Today was a good nutrition day because I am starting a new thing. Anytime I am tempted by bad foods, like deep fried Oreos, I am going to stop and ask myself one question: What Would Tony Horton Do? And from now on I will just refer to it as - WWTHD?

An example is: You are at a party and double stuffed cheese pizza is the only thing to eat. Normally you would think to yourself, "I have been working hard maybe just one slice!" Well, from now on that is not going to be acceptable. You must now stop and say out loud, "WWTHD?"

People around you might think you are a little odd with the conversing you are doing with yourself, but they are the ones chowing down on the fatass pizza so they are the ones that are odd!!

But to get back to the point the answer would probably be, "if you know you are going to a party you should eat something healthy ahead of time and put a protein bar in your pocket to eat there!" So that is how it is going to work from now on. I might even make myself a WWTHD wrist band to remind myself.... and yes, I might be crazy!

Now back to my Chest and Back workout. Annie, who is starting her 2nd week of P90X, did the workout with me today. It was a lot of fun to have someone do it with you and we both pushed eachother a little harder. She used the bands and door attachment for the pull-ups while I used the bar. She wanted to do it this way since we didn't start our workout until 8pm and this would speed it up! We both did very well on C&B but ARX was an absolute killer today. I made it through every rep and even did the bonus 10 reps on mason twists. Annie did well too on ARX especially since this is only her 2nd week so she had to listen to her body on a few moves.

Tomorrow is the always fun Plyo - I will be doing it alone because Annie wants to do spinning at the gym instead. She like going to the gym so she will probably do her cardio there and resistance days here. I hate the gym - not really relevant just felt like saying that!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 54 & 55: Core Synergistics and Rest Day

Friday morning I was able to get up early and get in my Core Synergistics workout. It went very well and I wish I would workout in early am more often!

Since my friends we in on Friday and Saturday I decided to take Saturday as my rest day instead of Sunday.

My real problem this weekend has been my nutrition. I did well on Friday all day until dinner. Then we went to a Mexican restaurant that I love! I had three flour tortillas with grilled chicken and beef. I really try and stay away from all white breads because of the ridiculous amount of simple carbs. They also usually contain high fructose corn syrup and enriched flour which are two of the major contributors to the obesity epidemic in our country. But I had some on Friday and I didn't feel very good about it.

However, Friday was not the problem. It was Saturday! So, every year Houston hosts a rodeo for 3 weeks in March. It is the largest rodeo in the world. I am not a fan of country music or horse riding or bull riding or anything related to farm animals so usually the wife and I do not attend. That being said we didn't realize what we were missing out on and had a great time at the rodeo. The food was just ridiculous. I had some of the best sausage and brisket I have ever had in my life. I am guessing both were pretty high in fat. The food options wee like nothing I have ever seen before! Then I had a sausage on a stick ... which was awesome! I probably had 10 beers ... which was real awesome! Then I had probably the worst thing nutritionally that has ever gone into my body. DEEP FRIED OREO's. Yes, you read that right. They were oreos breaded with something and then deep fried. Picture a corn dog, but instead of a hotdog on the inside it is an oreo. Just to prove how crazy these things were my buddy Mike had a deep fried Twinkie! As bad as this sounds the oreos where absolutely amazing. I wanted to eat like a dozen but limited myself to two! I got on the scale this morning and was 4 lbs heavier than I was on Friday morning.

Now, that I confessed my mis-eatings it is time to move forward. I am going to go do Yoga in a couple of minutes then hit the sack and catch up on some sleep!

Tomorrow begins Week 9 and I get to go back to the Week 1 workout schedule. I enjoy the change-ups that P90X tosses at you and am looking forward to see the progress I have made since I last did this weeks workouts.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 53: Stretch X

Damn long day today folks!

I woke up and it was cold and raining out ... it always amazes me how the weather effects peoples moods. Everyone I encountered today seemed to be a bit pissy and my only explanation is the weather! I honestly believe this is why people in the south are so much nicer than the people who live in cold climates!

Anyways, even though I was on the road most of the day I did very well eating clean! Protein shakes, balance bars, turkey sandwich on whole wheat, pure protein bar, apple slices, grilled chicken and veggies! Also, I weighed myself this morning and I tipped the scale at 158lbs!! When I began my first round of P90X I weighed 181 lbs. About 6 months before that I was 190lbs. So now I barely recognize myself anymore. And I have no clothes to wear!

I did the Stretch X for about 30 minutes and it really did feel great. I need to do this more on my off days!

My buddy Mike is coming to Houston tomorrow afternoon. I am going to wake up early and do Core Syn before I have to go to the airport.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 52: Kenpo

Sorry for the late post. I have been extremely busy at work and was too exhausted last night to post about my Kenpo workout.

I did regular old kenpo and just up'd my intensity level. I forgot to put on my HRM so I am not sure how many calories I burned. Overall a real good workout!

I have been eating like my normal clean self. Except for a few Bud Lights I had last night (-:

I got to jump on a conference call right now and I am at a continuing education seminar until 9pm tonight. Luckily today is my Stretch X day so I can do this one later tonight and not worry about being too tired to finish!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 51: Core Synergistics

Nutrition was solid today: Whey protein shake with fat-free organic milk and a whole wheat bagel with a teaspoon of peanut butter on it, a balance bar, turkey sandwich on whole wheat with a handful of nuts, Pure Protein bar and Atkins protein drink, grilled chicken and veggies with whole wheat shells and an apple!

Core Syn is one of my favorite workouts. I know I did a good job when hours later my entire mid-sections feels tight and today it feels tight!

My energy was real low when I got home from work today and I really did not feel like working out. I usually look forward to my workouts but today was a little different. I didn't sleep well last night and was worn out from driving all over the place today. But, I gave myself a quick pep talk and just pushed play! And actually by the time I was done with the warm-ups my energy was back and I was able to really Bring It! You know, it really is a good feeling to know that I got my work in today whenever every part of me was saying to take a day off!

Tomorrow is my Recovery Week Kenpo Day and I might do the Kenpo Cardio Plus video just to mix things up a little!

Thanks for Reading,

P90X Round 2 Day 50: Yoga X

Today is the start of Week 8 or better known as Recovery Week!

So, for once I was actually looking forward to doing Yoga. I had such a good Yoga workout on Thursday that I thought today would be just as good. Well, it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. Did not quite live up to my inflated expectations. I couldn't handle the slowness of the Warrior poses and ended up fast-forwarding to the balance poses. Which I did okay on. Then I got to the Yoga Belly 7 and struggled mightily! The damn scissors killed me. Anyways, I still made it through and am happy but I will probably not be looking forward to Yoga on Saturday!

The fun news of the day is that my wife began P90X today. She is being a trooper and doing the classic version instead of the lean. She had her ass kicked with Chest, Back, and ARX today. She showed me her workout tracker and did awesome on the push-ups and pull-ups. I was proud of her!

We both ate well today. And she gets to do "The Beast" Plyometrics tomorrow and I get to do one of my favorites, Core Synergistics!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 49: Rest Day

Today is my rest day. And since tomorrow begins Week 8, which is a Recovery Week I am going to take the day off instead of doing Stretch X.

The Recovery Week Schedule looks like this:

• Monday - Yoga X
• Tuesday - Core Synergistics
• Wednesday - Kenpo X
• Thursday - Rest/Stretch X
• Friday - Core Synergistcs
• Saturday - Yoga X
• Sunday - Rest/Stretch X

My buddy Mike and his wife are coming into visit on Friday ans staying the weekend. So, I may take Saturday as my rest day and do Yoga on Sunday. We will see how it goes.

Also, tomorrow is an exciting day because my wife is starting P90X. She was going to last week but had to have her wisdom teeth taken out. Anyone who has had that done knows the days following are not real productive so the start date got pushed back! I am spending the day doing the grocery shopping and printing out the workout guides for her. It will be fun to have a workout partner. However, we both work erratic hours so we will probably do the workouts apart more than together, but it will still be fun.

I am trying to figure out a good recovery drink for her? She doesn't want to do Cell Mass because of all the Creatine in it so I am probably going to order the P90X recovery drink again.

Anyone have any other suggestions for a recovery drink for women?

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 48: Kenpo X and ARX

Today was the big group workout at WOWY.com. I logged in with everyone else around 11am and put in a good Kenpo X and ARX workout. It looked like they had 950 + people logged in at the same time. And Tony Horton was on as one of your workout buddies. The only problem was I got kicked off three different times. I had the laptop sitting by the TV and I'd look up and would no longer be online? I think BeachBodies may want to look into getting some more bandwidth next time they try something like this!!

Anyways, I had another really good nutrition day. My ratios were right on and I got all my carbs in early in the day - which I like to d0! I left my HRM on for both Kenpo and ARX and burned 455 calories total. I love working out in the morning. I need to do it more often! I decided to do ARX again today because my energy level was great at the end of Kenpo and tomorrow is my rest day with the recovery week 8 coming up.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 47: Legs, Back, and Ab Ripper X

I am glad it is finally Friday! I spent a lot of time in my car this week and it is going to be nice to relax for two days!!!

Just a reminder: Tomorrow at 11pm EST, at WOWY.com, BeachBodies is trying to get as many people as possible to login and workout. I need to get in my Kenpo anyways so this time is as good as any! If any of you guys login my username is "JIrv" look me up.

I had a below average nutrition day. The morning started out fine with a Whey Protein shake and whole wheat toast. I then left and forgot my protein bars, chicken salad, and water at home. I had an early lunch at a sports bar and like most sports bars the menu was high in fat and low in quality. I ended up getting a grilled chicken Caesar salad. The Caesar dressing is so high in fat but it was still my best option. I ended up having a bud light also, first beer in awhile and it was good! I got home around 4pm and had a protein bar and an atkins protein drink. And for dinner I had a 12-inch turkey sub from subway. So, overall not horrible, but my fat and carb ratios were high and my overall calories fell about 400 short of goal since I missed my midmorning snack. However, since I got home I have consumed about 2 gallons of water! I always feel good when I drink a ton of water!

I did Legs and Back about an hour after dinner and was a little sluggish because of that. By about the midway point of the workout my energy level was back to normal and I ripped out the rest of the exercises. Sweated through sneaky lunges and did 148 reps on the pullup bar. ARX was a little challenging today. After a kick-ass Yoga workout (can't believe I just typed that) and Abs/Core Plus yesterday my core and abs were sore today. I might have over did it some yesterday. But sometimes you need to push your limits to get results. So I might be sore and tired but that is better than fat and tired!!

Tomorrow is Kenpo X at 10am CST!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 46: Yoga X and Abs/Core Plus

Wow ... I am sitting here an hour after my workouts and am completely wasted! My back is tired, my shoulders are tired, and my entire core is just wrecked.

Today was the best Yoga workout I have ever had! My focus was tight and my normal lack of patience was not present! My form was right on with the Warrior poses. I struggled some when I got to the triangles, as I usually do, but it was more of a wobble than my normal slip! Also I did really good with the Balance poses - Tree was even fun! I got through the entire segment with only a couple of slip-ups and I did the Crane for the entire 60 seconds -- I didn't have both feet off the ground for 60 secs but I did the pose while tapping alternating feet for the full 60! I did have both feet up for about 15 seconds which is also a record for me. Yoga Belly 7 was its normal brutal self today. The scissors were probably the hardest move for me but I got through it. I wore my HRM for Yoga again today and burned 295 calories.

After Yoga was done I put in the Abs/Core Plus video from the P90X Plus series. This workout is 20 minutes long and the rep sequences is: Bar, Standing, Mat .... repeat. Most of the standing moves you use dumbbells for added resistance which is cool. Overall this is a solid workout, lots of twisting, lots of moving. The moves hanging from the bar are really intense but hurt my shoulder some. The workout is more like Core Synergistics than Ab Ripper X and I do believe that Ab Ripper X is a superior Ab workout. However, my core got a great workout today by combining ACP with Yoga. I didn't really like ACP when I was doing it as the stand alone Ab workout of the PLUS series but mixing it in with Ab Ripper X makes it a very beneficial workout. Especially since achieving muscle confusion is one of the core principle of P90X!

I am ready to get some sleep so I am not going to talk too much about eating today. I was right on with my calories and ratios so pretty much the same old, same old!

Tomorrow is Legs & Back!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 45: Back, Biceps, & Ab Ripper X

"Pop .... crack .... pop .... pop ......"
- My shoulders

Today was Back & Biceps. This it just a great overall workout and I look forward to everytime and today was no exception!

Today also represents the midway point of my 90 days. Nice goal to reach!

I had a good ratio day with my eating: 45% Protein/35% Carbs/20% Fat, and right at 2600 calories total. And everytime I have a good nutrition day like this my energy level is nice and high for my workouts. I got through B & B very efficiently today. I used the 35lb or 25lb dumbbells on just about everything. The strip downs at the end were just an awesome burn ... I did: 35, 25, 25, 15 .... 8 reps of each. The last 25lb was an absolute killer. Sweat was pouring off of me by this point. My only problem was that my body was a crackling today. During the warm-ups doing the arm circles it was just crack, crack, crack! And the rest of the moves were exactly the same ... it didn't hurt, it was just awkward because usually I loosen up during the warm-ups.

After I finished up ARX I thought about doing Abs/Core Plus but I was too damn hungry and dinner was calling. I will do it tomorrow after Yoga!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 44: Interval X

Today is Day 2 of Week 7 and Plyometrics is the regularly scheduled program. But since fellow blogger/P90Xer Boomer wrote a few posts about Intervals this week he got me all pumped up to do it again!

Now for those of you flipping through your P90X DVD collection and thinking where the heck is Intervals?? ... it is part of P90X PLUS + series! Intervals is only 42 minutes long but, in my opinion, it is the most intense cardio workout in the entire P90X and P90X PLUS series. Yes, it is more intense than Plyo. I burned a total of 552 calories tonight. I usually have trouble burning over 400 calories now that I am in my second round. Kenpo is usually around 300, Yoga 250-300, Cardio X 350ish, and Plyo is usually in the 425 to 450 range. That should give you an idea of how much fun Intervals is!

Today was a decent day again nutrition-wise. I had the usual whey protein shake and whole wheat bagel for lunch. A balance bar for a snack. Lunch was a turkey sub on whole wheat from Subway. I had a Pure Protein Bar for the afternoon snack with an Atkins Protein Drink. Then dinner was a grilled chicken breast salad with fat free ranch with some extra veggies thrown in and 8 apple slices for dessert.

Now to update my supplements: I am still going strong with the Cell Mass and Nitrix supplements. I have nothing but praise for both of these products. My recovery time is actually quite remarkable and my intensity during the workouts is better than ever. The "pump" that the Nitrix gives me is just what is needed somedays. I have veins just popping out of my forearms, biceps and chest like I have never had before. The amazing thing to me is that I have been doing this stack for about 6 weeks now and I haven't felt a drop-off at all! At this point I will give them both an A+!

Just a reminder --- On Saturday, March 7th, BeachBodies is trying to set a record for most people working out at one time. If you want to join in the workouts are scheduled for 11am EST/10am CST. Go to http://www.wowy.com/ to sign yourself up! If you want to invite me to join you my username is: JIRV, send me an invite! Hope to see you all there!!

Tomorrow is the Back & Biceps & ARX. If I have the energy I might do the Abs/Core Plus exercise also. My goal when I initially started the second round of P90X was to bulk up to about 170lbs and gain muscle in my chest and shoulders. Well, I am sitting at 159 lbs (started at 164 lbs), but I am extremely happy with my results in my chest and shoulders. I feel absolutely great so maybe this is the weight I am supposed to be? Tony always says, "Listen to your body!" and my body is saying this is where I should be. So, my new goal for the next 46 days is to work on my lower abs. My upper abs are very solid now but the lower abs could be tightened up some. To do this I am going to incorporate Core Synergistics and Abs/Core Plus into my routine by adding some more double days. Should be another fun experiment!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 43: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, and ARX

Looking at this image you are probably thinking I am going to ramble on about the decline of the Stock Market. However, this image represents how I CRASHED today. A different image would have to be used for the market because this one actually shows an increase before the decline!! I woke up around 7am today and had zero energy. I mean my motor skills were off. I felt like I'd been through a 12-round boxing match. This was the inevitable BONK that I knew was coming!

So, for breakfast I had a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter. Literally, halfway through the bagel I started to feel better. By the time I was done with it I felt normal. For a midday snack I had a Balance Bar instead of a Pure Protein Bar. Lunch was a salad with chicken. My energy level dropped a little again and for a snack I had another Balance Bar and immediately felt better!

The cool thing is that I did the high protein/low carb thing for 7 days and in that time I dropped 5 lbs. From 164, down to 159. And it looks like I lost most of it in my belly, which was the goal! As G.W. Bush would say - Mission Accomplished!

Today's workout was very solid for me. If you had been reading, myself and fellow P90Xer Steve decided to trying the Pike's Presses with our feet on a chair instead of on the floor. And it really made the exercise much harder, but in a good way. From now on I will use the chair! Even though it makes me fear that I will slip and smash my face. I got through the workout with quite a bit of energy but lost some steam on ARX. Probably because of the no carb crash I was experiencing. On the oblique raises I had to pause 2 times on each side. I made it through the leg grabs and then took about a 2-minute break before I started Mason Twists, which I got through all 50 of!

Now that the BONK happened I am going to go back to the balanced 40/40/20 plan and finish out the next 47 days this way. And I am really going to enjoy eating good. healthy complex carbs again!

Tomorrow is Plyometrics!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Mailbag

Before we get to today's question I wanted to remind everyone again to Vote of Jocelyn for the Beachbody Million Dollar Body Game she has a one-in-for chance for the $250,000 Grand Prize!
Okay, here is a question I get over and over again:

Q: I am starting P90X but I don't know if I can stick to the nutrition plan ... How important is the nutrition plan?

A: The simple answer is VERY IMPORTANT. According to the P90X Fitness and Nutrition Guides your diet is just as important as doing the workouts. If you want to "Get Ripped in 90 Days!" than you need to follow the program as close as humanly possible. You may play around with the calories or ratios and this is fine, but you have to eat as clean as possible.

I will be the first to admit that when I first started reading the nutrition guide it was overwhelming. I always was someone who just ate whatever I wanted, when ever I wanted. I don't even think I really understood what the effects of proteins, carbs and fats had on your body and never really cared. So, this was like learning a whole new language. The funny thing is that once you start it becomes easy. I no longer consider how I eat now as "A Diet", it is pretty much just how I eat.

Really the bottom line is that in order to do P90X and get the results you see in the infomercials you need to commit yourself 100% to the program. This means both the workouts and nutrition. If you only "sorta" commit, then you are not going to finish the program. Suck it up and follow the nutrition guide.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 42: Rest Day

Still doing the high protein low carb diet. Weight is holding firm at 159.4 lbs. I woke up and was feeling wonderful today so I decided to just take the whole day off and get ready for week 7.

Steve, remember tomorrow to try the chair with the Pike Presses!

Tomorrow is Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps.

Jeff