Triathlon Training Day 22: 13.1 Miles Cycle

Well back on the horse today! After sleeping and feeling re-energized I got in a 13.1 Mile Bike ride.

The fun part was that I walked out to grab my bike and the back tire was flat. So, I had to patch my tire. The hole was found rather easily and the patch kit I had was simple to use. It took me about 5 minutes from start to finish to patch the tube and then I was on my way! Good practice in case this happens during the triathlon.

It was 87 degrees when I began riding today and once again the darn wind was blowing hard but at least it helped to keep my a little cool! I used my Garmin 305 for the ride again to track all of my vitals and statistics. I got home and downloaded the info and the funny thing was that when I was going 13-15 mph my heart rate was significantly higher then when I was going 18-21 mph. When I was going 13-15 mph it was because the wind was blowing right in my face and I had to work harder to keep even that pathetic speed up! According to my Garmin I burned 694 calories on today's ride and my Average Heart Rate was 140 bpm. Very good workout. Next time out I am going to try for a 20 mile ride. Hopefully the darn wind will go away!

Another positive event to report - I am back on my BSN Supplements (CellMass, Nitrix, & N.O.-Xplode). I used these for 12 weeks while doing P90X and they were great. The manufacture recommends taking 4 weeks off once you finish the 12 week cycle so I did. Yesterday was the end of the 4 weeks. I noticed a big difference energy and strength-wise once the supplements were out of my system. It takes about 10 days for the Cell Mass and Nitrix to start making a noticeable difference. I am very curious to see if these supps will work as well as they did for this training compared to when I was doing P90x!

Tomorrow is a swimming day and then Tuesday will be a running day. This is supposed to be a rest week but since I took 3 days off I am going to try and add a few strength and yoga days in this week as well!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 7: BRICK - 14Mile Cycle + 5K Run

Got up this morning and had a protein shake and a whole wheat bagel with some peanut butter. I wanted to have some fuel to burn in me before I tried my 14 mile Cycle and 5K run!

I surfed the web for a little bit, watched some SportCenter and then went out to the garage and setup m "Transition Area". My plan was to drop the bike off in the garage and slip on my running shorts, hat, some more sunscreen, towel off, iPod, hydrate a little, and then start the run. I tuned up my bike, put air in the tires, and started to roll. It was a perfect 73 degrees when I started. I made the turn out of my cul-de-sac and BOOM! The wind hit me right in the chest. Dammit, is the only thing I could think of at the time. I put my head down and just pedaled! I have a 7 mile route mapped out in my neighborhood that I have been doing. On this route their are 3 pretty good straight-a-ways that let me make up some serious time that I lose at stop signs. I can usually average about 25mph on these straight shots. Well, today I did my 7 mile route 2 times and of the 6 straight-a-ways, 4 had the wind blowing directly in my face!! So, instead of averaging 25 mph on these, I was struggling to do 15-16 mph. The good news is that most of the ride is up and down tree lined streets so the wind is only noticeable on these wide open straight-a-ways. And my Triathlon is scheduled for August 2nd. For those of you that have ever been to Texas in August know that wind is not an issue at this time of the year!

I hit my garage right at the 14 mile mark and looked down at my watch and my time was 49:42 secs. Not great, but not real bad either! I was pretty happy with the time but more importantly I still had energy to do the run! So, I got to the garage/T1 and tossed off my helmet, parked the bike, slipped on my running shorts over top of my tri shorts, put on my hat, clipped the iPod to my waist, and grabbed a towel to dry off the sweat and ..... YUK!!! I was covered in Pug fur! I accidentally used the same towel that was used to dry off the Pugs when they were in the rain two days ago. It was all over my face and in my mouth -- this really sucked. Not to be discouraged I calmly walk to the side of the house and turned the garden hose on myself! Problem solved - should have done this in the first place - it felt great! Ran into the house and grabbed a new, clean towel and was off again!

I started to run and my watch had me right at the 55 minute mark. That means my first transition was 5+ minutes - not good - but 3 minutes was wasted on Pug hair removal and I am going to guess this will not be a common occurrence!

Now I am running and I feel all goofy and uncoordinated. This is when I realize that my legs still think they are cycling! I slowed a little and just focused on putting one foot in front of the other - sounds elementary but it was necessary. After about a 1/2 mile my right calf started to cramp up. I stopped and stretch it out on the curb for about 10 seconds and it felt fine the rest of the way. It took me about a mile in to find my "groove" running. But after that I kept my HR between 150-155 Bpm and before I knew it I was rolling back into my garage.

My total time was 1 hour, 24 minutes and 35 seconds. My HRM said I burned 915 calories during that time and even though I was a sweaty mess I still felt pretty good!

Overall I really enjoyed doing this and got one heck of a workout in. I am ready for the Cycle portion of the tri, P90X really got my legs ready for this portion. I am getting better at the running portion. Each time out I improve and by the time August comes around I am optimistic that my time will be closer to 24 to 25 minutes in the 5K. Swimming is my challenge right now. I think I could swim 500 meters and probably still do 14 miles on the bike. No way could I do a 5K after that right now. Swimming just takes too much out of me, but with training, practice, and education I am hopeful that I will be a competent swimmer by the time my event rolls around.

First Week Down!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

Triathlon Training Day 5: 5K Run + Shoulders & Arms

Got up early today with Annie and we started off on a brisk morning run! One of the things I like about the morning runs is that peoples sprinklers are on and it feels just wonderful to get a little misted every now and again!

A few days ago I went to a specialty running store and had them fit me for a pair of new shoes. I ended up with a new pair of Asics and it may possibly be the best money I have ever spent! Seriously, these things were like running on two little fluffy pillows! Here is a big Thank You to all of you guys who told me to get good running shoes in the comments because it was just glorious!

Since I had the added confidence of the new shoes I started very quickly. My first mile was done in 7 mins and 49 secs! Annie said I looked like I was shot out of a cannon! I slowed down a little because my heart rate was at 166BPM at the 1 mile mark and that is higher than the 148-155 aerobic rate I am trying to maintain. I ended up doing the 3.1 miles in 26:19. By far my best time yet. I wanted to keep going but I had to get showered and off to work!

This evening I got home around 7pm, got changed and did Shoulders and Arms. Once again I didn't kill myself because I was a sort of tired and my shoulder is feeling so good, but I still got an excellent workout in! Total calorie burn for the day was 850 -- not to bad!

My nutrition was a little off today. I still ate clean but since I was so busy I missed lunch. I had a power par in place of lunch. So, for dinner I stopped at Subway and got a double meat Turkey on whole wheat with american cheese, lettuce, and fat free honey mustard sauce. Probably about 800 calories but I was starving!

Tomorrow I have another full docket on the books! I should be home around 6pm (hopefully) and I am going to swim then. I also want to do a brick (bike + run) on Saturday but I need to go get a new tube my bike. I am going to try and do that at some point during the day but might have to wait until Saturday and push the Brick back to Sunday!

Thanks for Reading,

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 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 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 Round 2 Day 27: Cardio X

I slept in a little this morning and it felt wonderful. I managed to roll out of bed around 7:30am and make myself an always delicious Whey Vanilla Protein shake and a whole wheat bagel with organic peanut butter. After that I had some errands to run and some chores to do. While out and about I had a Balance Bar (15G protein/21G Carbs/200 calories) and an Atkins Chocolate Shake (15G protein/160 calories). I came home and made myself a chicken sandwich on whole wheat with an apple. I worked in the yard for about an hour - we have been in the low 70's for the last week or so and it is time to get the fertilizer down and the landscaping in order. I love Texas weather this time of year. Not rubbing it in on you northerners -- I lived in the cold for 28 years - I am just stating a fact!

After the lawn work was done I came in and did Cardio X. Now that I am in round 2 of P90X, Cardio X has become a lot like Kenpo X to me - average. They are both very solid workouts but at this point my body is looking for more. So, I slipped in the Arms & Shoulders DVD and did this entire workout! Another Doubles day on what is supposed to be my recovery week? If you are new to P90X I wouldn't recommend doing this but Tony always says listen to your body and my body said to Bring It! Another reason I did this workout is because I bought another set of dumbbells today - 35 lbs - and really wanted to try them out. I used them on the alternating shoulder presses, the congdon curls, and the swimmer presses and they were awesome.

I mentioned in my last post that I Tivo'd the new BeachBodies infomercial ChaLean Extreme. It is very similar to the P90X infomercials that run 24 hours a day. It took real people like you and me and showed before and after results. The program is three-phases that occur over 90 days and has 15 different DVDs, including an Ab and stretch workout. It uses a lot of dumbbells and looks extremely well produced and Charlene Johnson seems like she would be a fun person to be your personal trainer. However, the infomercial really focused on weight loss. Charlene kept talking about how this program turns muscle into fat and I believe that it would do just that. I am just not sure if ChaLean Extreme is for someone like myself who has gone through P90X, P90X + and now another round of P90X. I am down to about 14% body fat and really don't have much left to lose. The infomercial did not really touch on if the program will help you grow your current muscles. That is one of the cool things about P90X, you can use it for weight loss or you can use if for muscle gaining. Just alter the amount of weight and reps and you are all set to go! And they say this time and time again in the P90X infomercial. I am going to Twitter Charlene and ask her this very question and I will let you guys know the response.

Tomorrow is a rest day. I am going to write about something that has been on my mind for awhile: Steroids and PEDs. I know this is a P90X site, but it also a fitness site so I figured it is relevant and hopefully I can make it entertaining.

Until then....

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Day 10 Round 2: Shoulder and Arms

Hey y'all!

I am feeling pretty good right now. The second round of the X is going good. Pittsburgh is going to the Super Bowl. I am finishing off a very solid month at work. Pittsburgh is going to the Super Bowl!!

Yesterday I did Shoulders, Arms and Ab Ripper X. I had a nice workout and absolutely love using dumbbells. I have 5-25 lb dumbbells right now and after two weeks I already need more weight. Gonna have to make a trip to the Sports Authority this weekend and pick up some 35 pounders.

I took Matt's advice and decided to add to my calorie intake. This morning I had my protein shake and two whole wheat bagels. The midmorning snack was a power bar. I had a footlong turkey and ham sub from subway on whole wheat for lunch. The afternoon snack was another power bar and some apple slices. Dinner tonight was 3 whole wheat chicken fajitas with some long grain rice and a glass of milk. I also had a protein drink after I did yoga. Overall, I got in about 3200 calories. A little extra fat and a ton of carbs.

On Monday I am going to start the Cell Mass and Nitrix supplements.

Super Bowl prediction: Pittsburgh 31, Arizona 17

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 6 -- Rest Day (instead of Kenpo)

Hey all,

After working two consecutive 16 hour days that included 12 hours of driving I have decided to take the scheduled rest day today instead of tomorrow. I will do Kenpo X tomorrow morning and then jump right into week two on Monday. Bottom line is that I am exhausted and wouldn't be able to Bring It like it needs to be broughten!

The good news is that despite being on the road and stuck at the Dallas Convention Center all day was able to eat pretty clean! I packed Protein bars, apples, and carrots and found some grilled chicken for lunch so all-in-all I did okay. However, it does amaze me at how hard it is to eat healthy on a normal basis. Most places do not even offer whole grain as an option and fried is pretty much every item on the menu. No wonder the good old USA is so damn fat.

Tomorrow is Kenpo X.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 Day 5: Legs & Back

Okay, so I had a REALLY long day today. After a 4.5 Hour drive to Dallas I stood in a booth for 9 more hours. My feet are KILLING me! I had a protein shake for breakfast and then it all went downhill from there. A found time to get a protein bar in at around noon and then grabbed a chicken salad and a fruit bowl from the concessions around 2pm - both were awful. I had another protein bar around 6pm and then ended the day with a turkey on wheat from central market at 9pm tonight.

I did got to the 24 hour Fitness with my buddy and we busted up Legs & Back. Instead of using a pullup bar I used a the lat pulldown machine and it worked the hell out of me. I did some squats and did the lunges off to the side. We were both too tired to do an Ab workout....I wanted to bring him through the ARX routine because he would have hated it!! But we will have to wait for another time!

I am back at the hotel and have another early wake up call. I got upgraded to a nice suite because I have enough nights to be a Gold Elite Member with Marriott and unfortunately that was the highlight of my day.

We finish up around 2pm so I should be home around 7pm tomorrow and I plan on doing Kenpo shortly thereafter.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Round 2 - Begins Tomorrow ... and Wellsphere.com

Today is a good day! We have Conference Championships in the NFL (Born and raised n Pittsburgh!), Penguins hockey on TV, it is 68 degrees here in Houston, and tomorrow begins my new round of P90X . I feel like a kid before the first day of school!

So, tomorrow I will jump back into routine of healthy living and I am pumped up. To give a little recap if you are a new reader: I completed my first round of P90X at the beginning of January. After ten days off and light cardio I began the P90X PLUS. After two weeks of the PLUS I again hurt my left shoulder and was forced to stop. It has now been about a month and the shoulder is feeling good (thank you, cortisone!) and I am ready to Rumble.

In the next few days I will post "before" pictures so I again have a comparison point. Most of my posting will be after 9pm since I usually workout in the evening after work. The differences from the last round will be that instead of resistance bands being used for the weight lifting portions I will use dumbbells. I used dumbbells when I started P90X PLUS and even over such a short period the results were very noticeable. I am hopeful to get these noticeable results again!

Another change is that I will also be blogging for the Health and Fitness Website: Wellsphere.com .

Hence, that new big old emblem with my smiling face on it in the upper right hand corner. I was contacted by Wellsphere about a month ago and asked if I would like to become a featured blogger on their site and specifically in the Strength and Conditioning Community. At first I didn't feel like doing it because of what I assumed would be a large amount of time required by me to do the transition. But they offered to re-post every entry I have ever made and to even make it look pretty with pictures. They even offered to give me a username and password so my workload was basically just writing blog posts! Then I started investigating the Wellsphere community and found out they offer a ton of interesting articles and advice on everything imaginable in the health and fitness world. If you have a question about say Whey Protein - articles at your finger tip. Resistance Training - articles everywhere.

So, I decided to go ahead and start blogging for them because I felt they provide a needed service to myself and more importantly to those of you who read my blog. And selfishly, it was not going to require a ton of work on my side -- seemed fair! They also offer a variety of ways to communicate with each other and some nice fitness goal tracking software. Very good site -Check it out.

To sum it up: I am still doing all my posting here at the Carrot but those posts will also be available at Wellsphere. If you would like to check out my personal site at click HERE

Tomorrow's post will be about Day 1 and also the nutrition goals being used.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X PLUS Day 8: Upper Plus & Abs/Core Plus

Gotta love Mondays when they are really like Wednesdays! Since we have off Thursday and Friday it is like we are starting the week on a Wednesday.... does that make sense to anyone other than me?

Well, today also marked the beginning of week 2 of P90X PLUS and the third time that I am attempting the Upper Plus workout and the fourth time I am doing the Abs/Core Plus workout. That means that I pretty much have the techniques down and can focus more on Bringing It instead of form and that is what I did today! And at the recommendation of Matt, I did both of these using the "Trainer's Track". This is a play option on the DVD and what it is is Tony Horton giving pointers on how to do each exercise to get the most out of them. It was very helpful and I will probably use it for a little while now that I see the benefits.

For example, on the Abs/Core Plus many of the exercises are done hanging from the bar. The last couple of times it hurt my shoulders to hang from the pullup bar and I felt like my form suffered. So, Tony recommended isolating on your lats as you hung from the bar and this REALLY helped. Another thing I did was grasp the inside of the "U" on the pullup bars. This also helped alleviate all the pressure from my shoulders so I was able to concentrate on my legs.

So, overall I had a good workout today and my arms and shoulders are pretty beat. I burned 483 calories and my average heart rate was 123 bpm. Both of these numbers were good considering this is a resistance exercise and not a cardio one. I also have been weighing myself daily and taking body fat percentages. I started at 167 lbs and 18.5% BF. Today my weight was 164 lbs and 17.5% BF. I am using both a digital scale and old fashioned calibers to take the BF%. I take the difference between the two to get my final number. So, far both have been surprisingly consistent in their daily measurements!

Nutrition was solid again today .... I have chicken breasts and asparagus baking as I type and can't wait to eat. My carbs were a little high today because I had a turkey breast sub from subway for lunch. So, my calculations were about 30% carbs and 50% protein. Not to shabby but I'll be back on track tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the awesome Interval X and I am already looking forward to doing it!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X: Can I fit P90X into my busy schedule?

Since I have started P90X a lot of people have asked about the program and how they can start. A few of the people have said that the program seems to to be great but they just do not have time for it. I found a really good blog post on ExtremeBodyWorkout.com that explains why and how you can make it work. Here is the link: Click Here

Happy Reading,

Jeff

Countdown to P90X +PLUS+ ... and other ramblings

Hello Everyone!

It has been a few days since I finished up P90X so I wanted to login and talk about how it has been going and my P90X PLUS prep.

• Friday (12/5/08) was my last day of P90X and Annie and I went out to dinner with some friends. My reward for graduating was a HUGE Stromboli and it was fantastic. I also had a few Shiner Bock beers. As good as the Stromboli was I can honestly say that I did not feel very good about eating it. Since then I have been pretty good -- Whey Protein Drinks/Shakes, protein bars, long grain rice, chicken, turkey, chef salads, whole grain bread, whole grain tortilla shells, veggies, and fruits!! I have been having all three meals and two snacks. My weight is 166 lbs - 1 lb loss since Friday!

• Annie and I bought a scale that measures body fat%, body water%, and weight. My BF% was 17.4 %, BW% was 58%, and my weight was 166 lbs. I also ordered a device that allows you to measure fat % on different parts of the body (If you cut off my head I'd be down to 5% body fat. ...lol). So, a day before I start the PLUS I will take a bunch of these measurements so progress can be tracked at the micro-management level ...awesome!

• The problem with P90X + is the name. I want to type it like "P90X+" but it doesn't look right to me. People are thinking P90X plus what? Like I should be adding something next to it. And if you end a sentence with a period or question mark it looks goofy. Example: I love P90X +! or Is that P90X +? .... See, doesn't look right. So from here on it will be known as P90X "PLUS" or if I am feeling lazy just "The PLUS" ... and yes, I probably do need psychological help.

• If anyone wants to see the workout tracker Excel spreadsheet I will be using send me an email (jeffirvin@gmail.com) and I will forward it to you. It is freaking ridiculously detailed. Whoever created it has crazy, mad excel skills and crazy, mad free time. It holds more information than I have ever seen in a Spreadsheet - and I have worked in Corporate America for 11 years. Damn thing is an eye chart. I need some sort of training to figure out how to work this spreadsheet. Thanks to Doug over at YAMAG-BAP for forwarding it to me!

• That show "The Biggest Loser" is on TV right now. Some of these people have lost upwards off 1oo lbs -- it is pretty amazing! However, everytime I see this show I think to myself, "How in the hell do you let that happen to yourself?" And then it was explained to me ...... A segment of the show came on and one of the previously fat girls was watching a video of her former fat self with Jillian the trainer and they were both crying endlessly. And the now not-as-fat girl was blaming her former fat self for being fat because of her parents divorce and she felt her mother didn't lover her. Seriously? She is blaming her parents? So her parents forced her to stick the fried chicken wings in her mouth? Or eat a gallon of Rocky Road ice cream? That is a bunch of shit. I love how our society has made it so nothing is ever anyone's fault.....my parents didn't hug me as a child ... my third grade BFF said I was stupid ... I was drunk (okay maybe this one is valid)....we live in a society of freaking whiners, jeez. Anyways, where I was heading with this is it reminds me of a post from P90X trainer Tony Horton's blog about taking responsibility for yourself. If you haven't seen it yet it is a good read ... click here.

• I believe "The Office" is a better show than "Seinfield" and "Cheers" .... there, I said it!

• Today it got really cold here so I decided to go to the Gym. I hit the treadmill for 45 mins and burned 438 calories. I was going to do Cardio X but since THE PLUS is starting back up on Monday I figured I'd do something different and the treadmill it was! The gym is so damn boring. I noticed as I jogged on the treadmill that a lot of people walk around and socialize more than workout. One dude was in front of me when I walked in (he forgot his card and was digging through a bag looking for it as I patiently stood behind him waiting ...asshole.) Anyways, I got on the treadmill and he talked to a group of Gold's Gym employees for like 20 minutes right next to me. Then like five minutes later I saw him sitting on the ab machine talking to some other guy for like another 20 minutes ... I did not notice him do a single crunch! When I was done this dipshit was walking out the door at the same time as me. He must of had a hell of a workout! ..... These are the things you notice at a gym when you forget your iPod. Lesson of the day: Don't forget the iPod!

I'll be back in a couple of days and layout the PLUS routine in more detail for those of you that would like to know more about what promises to be an extemely brutal workout!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Final Fit Test & Body Measurements

Fit Test:
A few days before I started P90X I did the recommended Fit Test. I posted my results here and planned on doing the test again at the end of 90 days. So, I just finished with the test and here are my results:

My resting heart rate prior to Day 1 was: 74 bps
My resting heart rate after Day 90 is: 63 bps

Prior to Day 1 the Pullups I could do was: 3
After Day 90 the Pullups I can now do: 28

Prior to Day 1 my vertical leap was: 23.5 inches
After Day 90 my vertical leap is now: 27 inches

Prior to Day 1 the Pushups I could do was: 28
After Day 90 the Pushups I can now do: 52

Prior to Day 1 I could reach 2.5 inches past my toes
After Day 90 I can now reach 4.5 inches past my toes

Prior to Day 1 I was able to do a Wall Squat for: 1:07 mins
After Day 90 I can now do a Wall Squat for over: 4:00 mins

Prior to Day 1 the In & Outs I could do was: 26
After Day 90 the In & Outs I can now do: 58

Measurements:

Day 1 Weight: 181 lbs
Day 90 Weight: 167 lbs

Day 1 Chest: 41 inches
Day 90 Chest: 43 inches

Day 1 Waist: 35 inches
Day 90 Waist: 32 inches

Left bicep increased by 1.5 inches and the right by 1 inch.

The numbers that were most impressive to me were my weight loss, pullup increase, and waist size decrease. I still cannot believe I lost 14 pounds while eating close to 3000 calories a day!

If you are reading this post wondering if you should purchase P90X I would think these numbers would be all the proof you would need to pull the trigger. If you are still skeptical after these numbers and the final pictures below than you are probably just looking for an excuse to not do it and anything I say will not change that. Bring It!

Jeff

P90X Day 89: Core Synergistics

89 Days down .... 1 to go!

Woke up this morning and had a strawberry whey protein shake (46g) and a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter. Snacked on a protein bar and had a chef salad for lunch. I had another protein bar and some celery for my midday snack and 2 more scoops of whey protein immediately after my workout followed by lean beef kabobs with broccoli. I ran out of bananas yesterday and forgot to buy more so I didn't have any fruit today, but other than that another solid nutrition day

Core Syn was awesome again today. My HRM monitor said I burned 456 cals! I literally almost puked during Superman-Bananas today -- I focused on keeping my legs and arms as straight as possible and the ab strain was remarkable! One bad thing happened - I seemed to have strained my right groin a little during the lung/kickback/curl/press move. I was in the last 15 seconds and I was trying to go as deep as possible. I was holding 10 lbs weights and I stumbled a little and felt the "ting" in the groin. It was not a real bad strain but it still hurt a little. I am glad that this happened on day 89 and not earlier in the workout!

The good news is that some rest days are on the way. I will be starting P90X + (plus) on December 15th and my body could use some rest!!!! My shoulder is still pretty sore and now my groin is sore so the "downtime" will do some good.

I plan tomorrow to post my 90 day pics and to also give a recap/review of the entire program. Possibly tomorrow or Saturday I will do the fit test again and post the results compared to my pre-P90X results -- I am excited to see the gains.

Tomorrow is Yoga.

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Day 88: Stretch Day

Howdy y'all -- Today was the stretch day. I got up this morning and didn't really feel like doing the entire stretch video because I felt awesome so I just did the part that takes care of the legs and ankles and then I did 100 pushups, 30 fifer scissors, 30 v-roll ups, and 30 in & outs just because I felt like I needed a little workout! Tomorrow is the Core synergistics workout and then Friday is Yoga.

I think it is appropriate to end my 90 days of P90X on Yoga. Yoga has been the most "difficult" workout for me personally. One, it is 92 minutes long. Two, it is done more than any other workout in the P90x series (17 times if my count is correct) and it gets boring. Three, I have zero patience and the pace of Yoga is slow and requires you to have Patience.

All complaining aside, I have definitely seen an increase in my flexibility and I think Yoga has helped my overall strength on difficult moves within P90X. And I wish I enjoyed it more like some others who have commented on my blog. No doubt it is a very beneficial workout yet I still do not like Yoga.

Okay, now that I go that off my chest --- I am getting very excited for P90X + ! I watched a couple of the DVDs last night and it looks HARD. Some of the Abs/Core workouts are going to kill me and I am looking forward to it. Start date is still penciled in for December 15th!

Tomorrow is Core Synergistics again and then Friday is FINAL PICTURE DAY. I think that the change from Day 1 to Day 90 is fairly dramatic. I don't feel that the changes from day 60-90 was all that awesome but I guess the side-by-sides will tell!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Day 86: Core Synergistics

Sorry for the late post. I didn't get home until very late last night from work so I was unable to workout. I got up early this morning and did the Core Synergistics workout. I plan on doing the Kenpo later this evening and pulling a "Double" today. I forgot just how awesome the Core Syn workout is! I only get to do it on the recovery weeks and it just kicks the crap out of me. My HRM said I burned 618 calories and i believe it! The plank to chataranga ISO might be the hardest move on all of P90X for me personally. Today was actually the first time I completed the entire thing and was pretty pumped about that!

Anywho, I will be back a little later and post about Kenpo!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Day 82: Rest Day (Sort of ...)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I played football this morning for two hours with a bunch of guys my age. Good news is my legs and over all stamina was awesome. Jeff of 90 days ago would have died running around like I did today so kudos to P90X. Bad news is my left shoulder, which has been bothering me since about Day 5 or 6, is pretty sore. I started the Leg & Back workout and jumped on the Pullup bar and realized just how sore the shoulder was (hurt like hell actually!). I was a fearful that I would hurt it even worse so I stopped. I think it once again is just a strain because it felt fine while playing and just tightened up later. So, I will take Thursday as the Rest Day and do Legs & Back on Friday and then instead of the normal Saturday Rest Day I will do Kenpo. Not a big change, but needed to save the shoulder!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff

P90X Day 81: Yoga X

TGIW!!! I have off the next four days and I am very happy about that! I have had a long month at work and I am just mentally exhausted. I started this morning struggling to get out of bed. By the time I got out of the shower I realized I was going to be late for my first appointment. So, I had a protein bar in the car with a bottle of water. I was able to eat right for the rest of the day swapping my mid morning snack with an appropriate breakfast and having a good lunch and dinner (chicken stir fry...yum!).

I stopped by The Academy sporting goods store today and picked up some 25lb dumbbells. I am going to get some 35's and 45's also but they are pretty expensive so I will space out the purchases a little! During last nights Back and Biceps workout I realized I was ready to give up the bands and start using dumbbells. The bands have been awesome and my results have been even better than I imagined with the bands but I am going to be starting P90X + and I want to be as extreme as possible. And the bands sometimes limit your movements and you have to do the moves modified from what is being done with the weights. I also want to try and add a bit more size in my chest and shoulders during P90X + . So, I've decided to bite the bullet and purchase dumbbells since this whole fitness thing seems like it is going to stick with me!

However, anyone who might be reading this and thinking, "Great now I got to spend a few hundred bucks on dumbbells to do P90X!" -- This is not true and all my results during P90X have been attained using resistance bands so I strongly recommend them not only because they are less costly but also very effective.

Onto today's workout --YOGA. As has been documented this is my least favorite workout of the entire P90X program. But, I actually really enjoyed it today. I have been a little stressed out lately and not real fun to be around. So today I turned off my cell phone and turned off the lights and just focused on relaxing and doing the Yoga workout. I felt so relaxed afterwards, it was great. I also had a pretty good sweat going. It could be that my wife turned the heat on in the house for the first time this year or that I am finally getting half decent at Yoga. Whatever the reason I don't care because I burned some calories! And I did the crane for like 10 seconds today -- still fell on my face but I was happy with 10 seconds!

Tomorrow is Legs & Back. I am supposed to play football tomorrow morning with my buddy Ryan so hopefully the weather cooperates because football will be fun and also a good workout! I will probably come right home afterwards and get the Legs & Back workout in before Annie and I settle in with Turkey and the NFL --- I love Thanksgiving -- Football and Turkey, just awesome!

Happy Thanksgiving to my P90X buddies - Mike, Matt, and Tai Chi Monkey Girl - Don't Forget to Push Play tomorrow!!

Thanks for Reading,

Jeff