P90X Hybrid Day 22: Chest/Back/ARX + 5 Mile Run

Okay so it is Saturday which means another double workout day! This fitness lifestyle is just killing other aspects of my life. My yard looks like crap, I have a ton of chores to do around the house, we never go out anymore, I barely watch TV, the laundry pile keeps getting higher, and I have never felt better!!!

Today is the beginning of Week 4 for this edition of P90x. All of you P90X enthusiasts know this as the recovery week. Well, not for me! We woke up early this morning and did a 5 mile run in the neighborhood. My wife Annie is training to run a 1/2 Mary and Saturday is her schedule long run. According to the program she is following the pace is supposed to be "conversational". So, I have been doing this run with her and she has been pacing me. This morning was awesome because we are having what the weather people here in Houston call a cold front. Yes, if you look on weather.com is will still say our temperature is 94 degrees, but the humidity is drastically reduced. And for us Houstonians in August that is some much welcomed relief!

Anyways, we did our conversational 5 miles at 54:54. A pace of a little under 11 min/mile. My average HR was 148 BPM and my Garmin said I burned 672 calories. This was a nice base run that kept me in the aerobic zone for basically the entire distance. I have never been a long distance runner and was unsure about this "training in the aerobic zone" thing, but I am now a believer because my running has improved drastically over the last 6 months of this type of conditioning.

After the run we had some breakfast and relaxed for awhile and then I went to the gym for Chest, Back, & Ab Ripper X. I love going to my crappy gym on Saturdays in the early afternoon because I practically have it all to myself. I don't mind when a crowd is there but it makes it easier when I am the only one using the dumbbells and lat pull down machine. By the 2nd time through Chest & Back my body was feeling some fatigue. When I got to the wide push-ups again, which I am doing with dumbbells on a flat bench, it was hard to initially get the weights up to my chest. And my arms were shaking some as I struggled to heave the 40lb DBs in the air - it felt awesome.

Ab Ripper X was a good time today as well. My intensity was good (thanks again NO Xplode) but my results we a notch below good. I made it through but struggled more than usual. I ditched using the medicine ball for the Mason Twists because I was too darn tired to walk to the other side of the gym to pick it up! That is usually a sign of a good workout!

I came home and slammed some Muscle Milk (my new recover drink - 22G Protein) and am now going to take a nap on the couch until dinner. Guess the house chores can wait until tomorrow, again!

Tomorrow morning I plan on getting up for a nice bike ride on the Q-Roo. I might just stay in the neighborhood since traffic is so light on Sunday mornings but if I am real motivated I might just make the 20 minute drive to Huffman.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 15: 6 Mi Run + Chest/Back and ARX

Annie and I woke up early this morning to try and beat the Texas heat! She is following a 1/2 Marathon Training plan that she found in Runner's World and according to the plan she is to do a 6 mile run at a "Conversational Pace". I have decided to try and add a few more miles into each week so I decided to join her. This would also be an opportunity to run in my aerobic zone and continue to build a solid base. We had a real nice run that lasted a little over an hour. According to my Garmin I burned 745 calories. Towards the end it was HOT and at this point I remembered why I have been running indoors on the treadmill! The last 1/2 mile I tweaked my right knee. Sitting hear with an ice pack on it and it already seems to be feeling better.

We came home and had a good protein filled breakfast. Annie went off to work and I headed off to the gym to do Chest, Back, and ARX. I took two scoops of NO Xplode and ripped through the workouts with Tony and the kids! My ARX session was a little sluggish as I was loosing some steam right after I finished the "Heels to the Heavens".

Good, solid workouts today. I am going to try and add in some more double days to get in some more running.

Thanks for Reading and Here We Go Steelers!

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 8: Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X

After I spent my morning bike shopping (See post below for new bike picture)then it was off to the gym for the beginning of Week 2 and Chest & Back.

I was feeling a bit sluggish today so I took 3 scoops of the NO-Xplode pre-workout drink in a 16-0z water bottle. Now this was a good idea because I was super jacked up to workout. It was a bad idea because during my workout it gave me a light-headed feeling that is still with me right now. Very weird. I took this supplement for 12 weeks before and not once did I get this light-headed feeling. I am thinking it may have happened because I missed my mid-morning snack and had a lighter than normal lunch.

I still had a decent workout but I banged myself up some. My left shoulder, which put me on the shelf for about a month last year, is acting up again. I was doing military dumbbell presses the second time through and I felt a little ting in the muscle. I backed off on the amount of weight and it didn't really bother me but it has been barking some since I got home. Also, I have no idea how I did it, but my left hamstring is feeling tender. I do not think either of these are going to set me back at all but it still sucks.

Tomorrow is a cardio day so I am going to hit the pool and do a bunch of laps. Swimming is the weakest link for me so I am really going to need to focus on this for the next Triathlon on October 18th.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Hybrid Day 1: Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X

Day one is in the books!

Went to the gym this morning with P90X Chest & Back loaded on my video iPod. I strapped it to a Velcro case around my bicep and turned it upside down so I could see Tony and the kids. I was a little skeptical at first but this ended up being a great way to do Chest & Back, Instead of doing Push-ups and Pull-ups I did dumbbell presses on a flat bench and lat pulldowns. Now the main reasons I am doing P90X this way is because I need to balk up some (need heavier weights than what I have at home) after all my Triathlon training and this is my third round so doing it different should keep me focused and motivated.

The good news is that I was able to replicate every move on the bench or lat machine just like Tony. Except dive bombers and decline push-ups. So I just did them like the Tony. The only decline bench at my gym is for a straight bar. Next time I might just use that instead.

After I finished up 2 laps of the Chest & Back workout I went to the back of the gym and did the ARX video. I had been doing ARX a couple of times a week during my Tri training but by memory as opposed to following along with Tony. Today I followed along and it really kicked my butt. I think when doing it with out the video I tend to speed up my reps and pace and maybe do not get as good a burn. ARX was a struggle for me today but I completed it all and even used an eight pound medicine ball on the Mason Twists. My old nemesis Fifer Scissors came back with a vengeance and darn near made me vomit!

After I finished up ARX I went over to the pullup/squat rack and tried a new Ab exercise that Steve (boxcarvibe) and Boomer have been talking about. Windshield Wipers! Steve found these on youtube and shared with us and the only thing I can say about these are: "ouch, omg ouch, and ouch again". I was able to do five of them and I started to get dizzy. Next time I probably should start as soon as I get upside down. This time I hung upside down like a dumbass for a little bit looking around afraid I was going to fall.

Here is what they look like (mine where not this pretty):



Tomorrow is Day 2. Supposed to bike, going to run. I have decided not to bike until I get my new Quintana Roo. I have nothing but disdain for my current road bike right now and if I blow another tire chances are I will leave the bike where it lays and just walk home. So in order to prevent that inevitable child-like display from myself I am putting my bike up for sale for a bag of peanuts.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Day 1: Chest & Back

It has been Brought!

A little piece of me died this morning. Luckily it was a piece of stomache fat.

I started day one with a Protein Shake (Gladiator/Vanilla flavored/Skim milk) and Banana for Breakfast. I then mixed 2 scoops of SuperPump 250. After about 30 minutes the SP250 had me full of energy - I felt great and highly recommend this for your pre-workout drink.

The Chest & Back workout starts with warm-ups and stretching. I actually had a nice little sweat going. Then it jumps right in: Push-ups, Pull-ups, Chin-up, Lawn mowers .... Click here to see the exercises and my results. It totaled 12 different exercises and towards the end I was REALLY feeling the burn. Then when you think you are done Tony informs you we are going to do it all again. This is when you feel the pain. A couple of times I felt like I was going to pass out but keep pushing through. I could not believe how much I was sweating!

After you finish the 24 grueling exercises the hard part is just beginning: AB RIPPER X!!!

This is 15 minutes of non-stop core ripping. My form was pretty bad doing most of the AB exercises. Hopefully this will improve over the nesxt 89 days. AB RIPPER X is killer. I was dropping curse words throughout.

I am drinking the P90X Recovery Drink as I type this and it is very good. I am going to look forward to drinking this after each workout!

My first day review of the P90X in one word: Awesome!

If I can keep this up for 90 days I am going to be in the best shape of my life.

Anyways, I have my diet planned for the rest of the day: Protein Bar Snack, Chef Salad Lunch, Cheese stick and Protein Drink snack, Grilled Chicken Breast Dinner. Protein Galore!

Here are my Pre-Day one Photos (hello fatty!) and you can see my measurement on the Fit Tracker Link on the right:

Thanks for Reading -- Time to go watch the Steelers beat up on the Texans. Yes, I live in Houston but I am from Pittsburgh.

Go Stillers!

Jeff