Day 15

Today was chest and back again today...this being the 3rd week, it's the same schedule as the first 2 weeks, then next week it will change for a recovery week and then I'll do a different schedule for 3 weeks after that.  The push-ups are getting better...I can crank out 20 push ups without too much problem now.  Military and diamond push ups are still super hard, but I'm getting better at them. 

I found a good solution for pull ups...I run the green band over the banister and kneel on the ground.  I'm really hoping by the end of P90X, I'll be able to do some real pull ups :)

Day 14

So it's crazy that I've been going at the P90X for 2 weeks now.  Today's my rest day...I did a little painting on the shed and some sitting in the yard...good times :)

It was really nice this last week seeing some improvement on the week before...I'm excited to see how it goes this week to see the improvement. 

I'm having my first Beachbody Home Party on Tuesday this week...if you live in Lincoln you're more than welcome to come...click on the "contact me" thing on the right and let me know...I'll give you the details.

Day 13

Today was Kempo X again...that's a nice workout because it goes by so fast...you just keep doing thing after thing after thing and the time flies by.  My least favorite part is the warm up...you do some yoga type stuff to warm up your legs...and it hurts.  But the workout itself is fun and a good cardio workout.

It was awesome when we were doing the cooling down today...we did downward dog and when I did the part where you bend one leg and drive the opposite leg down, I actually got my heel to touch the ground for the first time ever!!!  I love seeing progress!!!

Day 12

So I got today's workout done just before midnight, so that means I have yet to skip a day :)  I really don't want to skip a day of working out, because once I skip once, skipping again is far too easy (as I learned in college...)  Today was Legs and Back...it's a good workout that I tend to like.  I figured out how to use the bands for pull ups, so that's better than using the chair with a pull up bar.  My lower back is killing me today for some reason, so I skipped the Ab Ripper X.  I had some issues doing the legs and back, and I figured doing the ab stuff would be torture on my back today...hopefully after a night of rest my back is good again.

The frustrating thing the last couple days is that I absolutely suck at any balance anything on my right leg...hopefully over time I can get better at it. 

Tomorrow's Kempo..that was fun last week, so I'm looking forward to that...and seeing all the sweet old cars driving around Lincoln tomorrow for the Hot Rod thing...

Day 11

Today was Yoga X again....still not a big fan of the yoga, but I was able to do some of the poses better this time around, so seeing some improvement was nice :)  I still suck at doing any of the balance poses on my right leg...I think that's from when I broke my right heel bone...I got really good at balancing on my left leg and not my right...who knows.  Either way, I got done and I don't have to do it again for another week...

Day 10

Today was Arms and Shoulders and Ab Ripper X...the exciting thing for me was that I was able to do most of Ab Ripper X!  When I tried to do it on day 1, there was a good amount of it that I couldn't do...so hooray for progress!  I was awfully proud of myself today :)

Day 9

Today was Plyometrics again...I do believe that of the workouts I've done so far, Plyo is my favorite...a lot of it feels like I'm a little kid playing around...except that I'm 32 and pouring sweat :) 

I couldn't make myself wake up this morning, so I didn't get to my workout until 9:00 tonight...but hey, I got it done!  It would have been far too easy to skip it, so I'm glad I made myself do it.  The great thing tonight was that when I was checking my heart rate while I was working out, I noticed that my heart rate was a good amount lower than last week...I was still in the 160s and 170s, so it was still a good cardio workout, but last week was in the mid/upper 180s...so hooray for progress!!

Day 8

Today was Chest and Back again...I tried using the bands for pull ups today...I think I liked that better than using the chair to help mel.  Diamond push ups still suck :)  The rest day yesterday was great...I definately felt more rested/less sore today.  Someday I'll be able to do a real pull up...the push ups were better this week, though.

Just to throw a plug out there, I'm hosting a Beachbody Home Party on Tues. June 1st!  It'll be a fun, informal time of learning out the health and fitness products from Beachbody, and you can learn how I'm making some extra money getting healthier myself and helping others do the same.  Click the "contact me" button and send me an e-mail if you're interested in the details!

Day 7

And on the 7th day, he rested....hooray for rest day!!!  I think I might do some sort of stretch routine or something to get my legs a little happier with me, but past that I'm gonna enjoy not working out for a day :) 

Week one went really well, I think.  I dropped 5 pounds and 2.5% body fat, which is very encouraging!  The toughest things for me are not munching on crap at work, and forcing myself to hit play in the morning...I was successful at both this past week and I saw the results!  The thing that helped me the most with my eating was my Shakeology.  When I really wanted something sweet and bad for me, I could have a shake and it got me past my craving...plus it kept me filled up for a while and it's super duper healthy!  You should check out the Shakeology page and read up about it or watch a great video and learn about this amazing, amazing product.

As a side note, I put a couple links on the top of the page...one for TurboFire and one for Body Gospel...they're both brand new workouts from the fine folks at Beachbody...feel free to go to those pages and check them out!  You can sign up on the pages and they'll let you know when they come out :)

Week 2, here we come!

Day 6

Today's workout was Kempo...I didn't know what that was...I had heard of it before, but didn't know what to expect...it's basically like Tae Bo...lots of punching and kicking.  It was a cardio workout but using primarily the upper body...they also cleverly snuck in squats, so my booty that was already kinda sore is extra sore now :)  It was a fun workout, though...and the hour went by really fast...and I was pouring sweat when I got done!

Day 5

So today was legs and back...so tons and tons of lunges, squats and pull-ups.  Turns out when you're using a chair to help you do pull-ups and your legs are exhausted, it doesn't provide much help.  Tomorrow I'm gonna install a hook in the living room so I can use the bands to do pull ups that way...some day I'll be able to do a real pull up...some day...

For some reason my right upper hamstring/lower bootie muscle has been hurting me this week..I don't think it has anything to do with P90X..I think it just hurts...but it does make it a hassle for trying to do a leg workout when one of your legs hurts...but hey, only one more day and then I get a rest day!

Day 4

Today's workout was Yoga X....I despise yoga...always have, probably always will.  I just kept trying to tell myself what Tony Horton said at the workout he did here in Lincoln a while back...exercise is like food...there's some kinds you like and some kinds you don't.  Yoga sucks, because I know it's good for me, but I have a really hard time doing a lot of it...but I bet by the time I'm done with P90X I'll be better at a lot of it :)

Day 3

Today was Shoulders and Arms plus Ab Ripper X...lots of curls, shoulder presses and tricep exercises.  My favorite one was one where you lay on the ground on your side, put the hand of your top arm on the ground and hug your shoulder with your bottom arm...then you push yourself up off the ground with your top arm.  It's a great tricep workout and I had never seen that one before :)  Not that today was easy by any means, but it was nice to get a break from the cardio of yesterday.  Also, instead of doing Ab Ripper X (since like 75% of it was physically impossible for me), I did the Slim and 6 Pack workout from Slim in 6...it's a 15 minute ab workout that was a challenge for me...I think I'm going to do that every day since it's obviously easier than the Ab Ripper X...eventually when I've built up my abs I'll go back and try Ab Ripper X so I can do that.

I actually can't feel yesterday's workout in my legs hardly at all...I suppose it helps that I stand all day and I've done some marathons and half marathons...

time for breakfast!

Day 2

Oh wow...Tony says at the beginning of the workout that Plyometrics is the "mother of all workouts" and he wasn't joking...that was an hour of crazy...it's super hard and fun all at the same time...parts of it you feel like a kid playing, parts of it are just evil.  I had to stop a couple times to let my heart slow down, but it was really good...

I can still feel my workout from yesterday in my shoulders and arms...I would imagine I'll be feeling this tomorrow :)

Day One

So Day One in P90X is Chest and Back along with Ab Ripper X...I did about as well as I thought I would :)  I used a chair to assist my pull ups so that I could actually do any...Diamond Push Ups are the worst thing EVER!  I think I got one where it actually looked like the people on the TV, but I mostly just went halfway down...evil.

Ab Ripper X was kind of disheartening for me...I lack good core muscles and I couldn't keep up at all with that workout...I don't know if I need to supplement with another (easier) ab routine so that I can get myself to doing Ab Ripper X?  I think I might...it seems like it'd be a killer workout if I could do it :)

Time for breakfast!

Fit Test

I did my P90X Fit Test today.  Since P90X is an "extreme" workout program, it's not intended for everyone.  They have you do a test before you start the workout to make sure you meet the minimum requirements to do the workout.  I'm happy to say that I met the minimums, so tomorrow morning I start P90X! 

Not shockingly, I couldn't even do one pull-up...I got about half way up, and that was as good as I could do.  That's the one test that the Fit Test allows you to fail...it says men should be able to do 3 pull ups but in reality a lot of people won't be able to do one, so just write down how far up you could go :)

I'll post on here every day so you can see how I'm doing and what I think about the workout...I'm excited and nervous all at the same time...I pretty much plan on being in pain this time tomorrow..but we'll see, I suppose.  Enjoy following along with my progress and click on the "contact me" button if you have any questions or comments...

Getting Ready

So I'm starting P90X on Monday...I'm excited, though truthfully nervous about it...I know I'll hurt, but as they say...no pain no gain.  My mom asked me how long it'd take me to look like the guy in the infomercials, and I said...hopefully in about 90 days :)  I took my sad, sad "before" pictures today...stupid pictures...but I suppose you have to know where you are so you know how to get where you want to go...