ACutAbove06’s BodyBlog

Ok, today I start my Recovery Week.  That consists of doing Yoga twice, and working my core and abs a lot. 

I finished up last week by doing Legs and Back on Friday.  Let me tell you how hard that workout is.  You need to be in the right frame of mind before you even begin.  I got my butt handed to me during that workout.  I did Kenpo on Saturday.  Kenpo is still my favorite workout.  It’s just a lot of fun to do.  This week will be focusing on letting my body recover from the crazy workouts I’ve had the past 3 weeks.  I look back on my time doing this program and I can’t believe I haven’t been in my gym for 3 weeks!  That’s never happened since I started working out.  But I have to tell you that I have so much more time to myself to do things I want to do.  I’m not getting home at 8 at night, I don’t wonder what I’m going to workout.  It’s great!  And I only have 69 more days left of the first round of P90X!  So far so good! 

Next week I start phase 2 of my diet.  There are some changes here and there and once I put together my diet I will be sure to post it.  Tonight I have Yoga-X.  And if you’ve been reading my blogs you know how much I LOVE Yoga.  LOL!!!

Last night I did Yoga-X.  Again, this isn’t fun by any means.  It’s not relaxing like people would like you to think.  Well maybe it is for people that are extremely flexible, I wouln’t be in that group of people.  Upper body, great.  Lower body, forget it!  But hey, I’m working on it!  You have to start some where right?  After I was done doing warriors and upward and downward dogs for 90 minutes I went for a 2 mile run.  I figured, I’m loose, warmed up, why not?  Needless to say, I haven’t really ran in a while.  Here I am trying to be Johnny-Runs-A Lot.  I came out of my driveway in a good pace. I was feeling great for like the first 100 yards, had a good song on my Ipod….I was in the ZONE…..for like 2 minutes.  The I realized that the neighborhood I moved into a couple of months ago is basically all one big hill.  Driving I would have never noticed, but actually running….yeah, you notice.  So here I am running and I pass people outside cutting their grass and children playing.  It’s not like I can run 2 city blocks and then turn and go home.  I have to finish this….people are watching!  LOL!  I ran around the block and up some more hills.  I figured at some point I will turn around to head home and it’ll be smooth sailing because I will be going down hill.  Well it was very windy when I was running.  As I was running and sweating and not in the zone and going up hill…the wind was at my back.  On my way back, yeah I’m going down hill, but the wind is in my face.  All in all, that run sucked.  My treadmilll arrives on Tuesday. 

Yesterday I did shoulders, biceps and triceps.  This is a great workout.  Keep in mind I’m using bands instead of dumbbells for this workout.  I’ve gone out and purchased commercial grade super heavy bands to do this.  If someone says you can’t get a workout with just resistance bands…..they’ve never tried them!  On the shoulder and tricep exercises I can use just 1 of the super heavy bands and get a great workout.  For the bicep exercises I double up the 2 super heavy bands and I get burnt doing that.  Like I said before, I’m used to moving big weights.  I didn’t think that bands would be enough, but right now they do the trick.  I’m used to curling 50’s or 60’s usually when I do bicep workouts and shoulder pressing anywhere from 75’s in a warm up to 100’s+ when I do my working sets.  So the bands are doing their job.  Once I get to where the bands aren’t enough I will purchase dumbbells.  But until then I will keep doing what I’m doing. 

I’m half way through phase 1!  I did plyometrics last night once again.  This is my third time doing this workout.  I went into it with an open mind and a desire to kick some butt!  The warm up went well.  By the time the warm up is done you are already sweating.  My heart rate was up and I was ready to go.  With this program you do it for 58 minutes.  You do 3 exercises for 30 seconds and then 1 for a minute, repeat that series and then you get a 30 second to 1 minute break.  Then you do 3 different exercises for 30 seconds followed by a 1 minute exercise, repeat and then you get a 30 second to 1 minute break.  With the way this is set up I don’t take it all in at once…..I take it block by block.  It makes it much easier for me to do it that way.  By the time I’m finished with this workout I am sweating like a fool and out of breath.  It’s a good feeling though.  You feel like you really did something and that’s exactly how I want to feel.  By the time 90 days is up I want to be able to breeze through this workout like it’s nothing.  Can’t wait! 

Last night I did chest, back and AB Ripper-X.  The more I do this workout the harder I try and the better I get.  I don’t know what the deal was last night but I was winded big time!  My strength was pretty good, but I was constantly trying to catch my breath.  I couldn’t wait for the 1 minute breaks you get every so often.  I worked it out and I finished the entire workout.  Last night was the first time I really thought about quitting.  I’m seeing that I’m able to do more push-ups and more pull-ups than when I started.  Those have never been weakness of mine, but I’m finding that they’re much easier to do.  I’m able to do 50 regualr push-ups before taking a break and I’m able to do 20 pull-ups before taking a break.  To me, that’s not bad.  I’ll be happy when I can do 75 push-ups and 30 pull-ups with out taking a break.  Those are a few personal goals that I’ve set for myself. 

I hit ABS after my chest and back workout.  The AB workout is still difficult, but I’m able to get through the whole thing.  I’ve never worked my abs like this before with such consistancy and after only 3 weeks I’m able to see some difference.  This morning when I got up I could see that my abs were looking good and that was just the motivation I needed this morning.  I won’t tell you that my chest, back and abs aren’t sore, because they certainly are but it’s a good sore.  I can tell I worked the hell out of them and that’s just what I needed to feel this morning. 

Tonight I have plyometrics again.  That’s just about the hardest, sweaty, I don’t look forward to this workout out there.  I’m not taking this day by day, I’m taking it week by week and looking at the big picture of how I will look and how I will feel when I’m done.  That’s what gets me through.

So far I would have to say the most enjoyable workout has been Kenpo-X.  It’s a bunch of kicking, punching and blocking for 58 minutes.  My only complaint is I’m definitely not limber enough.  I need to stretch a lot!  I don’t have the flexibility I need to do this workout to my satisfaction.  My hips and legs have very poor flexibility.  During this workout I was constantly moving and jumping and punching and kicking and sweating my butt off!  Over all it was a great workout that I look forward to doing again soon.

 I have to say that I’m progressing nicely through this program.  I’m following everything the way I’m supposed to, I’m dieting right and I’m making it through every workout no matter how badly I want to quit or take a break.  These workouts are no joke.  They are serious and some of them are just down right hard.  You stay winded and your heart rate stays elavated the entire time.  I think that’s the key point to this program.  This is my last workout week.  Next week I go into my recovery phase.  In that phase you focus on your core, stretching and abs. 

I did Yoga-X for the second time last night.  If anyone has ever told you yoga was for sissies, they’ve never done it!  It’s hard and going for 90 minutes is no easy feat either.  I can tell some big improvements from last week to this week.  My flexibility is definitely a little better.  I anticipate it will get a little better each time I do it.  By the time I’m done I’m covered in sweat and my body is done!  I have legs and back tonight.  That should be fun.  LOL!!

Last night I did shoulders, arms and AB ripper-X.  I’m not going to say I breezed through it at all, but I felt good all the way through.  This is my second week doing this workout and it was good.  Keep in mind that I’ve been doing bodybuilding and working out heavy in the gym for about 5 years now.  I’m used to being sore.  That lets me know I really worked the muscle.  Well, with this I am definitely sore.  I did back and chest on Monday and it’s Thursday now and I’m still feeling it.  Did Plyometrics on Tuesday and my legs, calves and butt are still feeling it today.  You work the hell out of your body, but you do it in a different way.  Anyone that has done P90X will know what I’m talking about.  ABS, getting easier and easier.  There are a total of 349 reps in the AB workout and I’ll bet you I’m able to do every bit of 330 of those.  Again I feel that sense of accomplishment once I complete a workout.  I will admit I will tell Tony to get F*ed….yeah, I say it out loud.  A friend of mine is currently doing this program and she said that if she ever saw Tony she would tell him to F* off and then give him a big hug and say thank you.  She couldn’t have put it better. 

Yoga tonight.  That is 90 minutes of me realizing I’m not flexible at all.  Great!  LOL

Did another day of plyometrics!  That is absolutely the hardest thing next to yoga that P90X has to offer.  I can’t help but stare blankly at the timer as I’m doing each exercise wondering when this will be over.  However, this time I would have to say I did much better and I’m in no pain what so ever today.  After I finish this workout I always have such a feeling of accomplishment.  I really feel like I acheived something.  Each time I do something with P90X it gets a little bit easier.  I’m able to do the ABS exercises much better, plyo much better.  I can’t wait to see how I’m doing 11 weeks from now.  I’m rather excited. Tonight I have shoulders, arms and AB Ripper X.  Should be fun!

Last night I did chest, back and ABS. This is my second go around with the program. I felt very confident in my abilities when I started. They started with some push ups and I knocked them out no problem and then moved on to pull ups and so on. I seemed to do much better last night compared to my first try at this. Not to say it got easier by any means, I think perhaps I just got used to it or I got stronger. I was still quite winded and was covered in sweat after only 15 minutes. I handled my business and did what I had to do to make it. And today here I sit, sore and feeling like I did a better job, worked harder and made the most of this program. That’s a good feeling.

Next I did AB-X. This is not an easy program either. I’m getting to the point now where after only 3 times of doing this I am able to keep up with the DVD. That makes me feel really good like I’m getting stronger and really working my ABS. The diet is going well, but I’ve made a few slight changes. I know you’re not supposed to, but I’m the kind of person that needs a little more fiber in my diet so I’m taking psyllium husk for that. Also I’m taking in an extra half scoop of protein following my workouts. And other than that I’m following it to a T. Only 82 more days to go!!!