ManInRugby’s BodyBlog

My legs and back ache today. Last night I couldnt jump anymore, today I hobbled around work like there was something wrong with me.  Im listening to my body, it says "ease into this" so tonight, nothing but a hot bath and early night.  Early night as I have been working out in the evenings, which has in turn not let me sleep, then the baby upstairs started crying loudly at 1am, disturbing me further, ear-plugs went in and got some rest. Got up at 6am and now Im shattered.  Yes, this is going to have to be a rest day for me… *yawn*

Oh my! I wasn’t expecting that! Well, that’s a lie, Ive been dreading it all day, but tonight was my first real workout and wow it’s tough!  I was never any good at Plyometrics during the p90x workout, after 10 minutes I can no longer jump anymore - literally! This was insane!  The warmup itself was enough for most people, Im sure and I couldnt wait for the bar to come where we’d slow down and stretch! Today it felt like taking an old, low capacity Morris Minor out on the road for the first time in 20 years, and ragging the knackers off it like a boy racer! hard acceleration, hard braking, swerving in and out of traffic - then dumping it in the garage afterwards.  I felt REALLY great finishing though, as half way through I thought "hmm, first day, this is hard, im about to feint, I’ll call it half way and still Ive done something.  But no, the jumping stopped, and I was onto another move - just in time!  My two concerns this time around were, i) will my legs stop aching (it did, after changing shoes), ii) will i slip on my own sweat (i  didnt, but the floor was covered!) and iii) I need new trainers (the walls of the trainer were giving way!). When the black girl on screen was faling on her knees, I knew I was powering through with the others, and felt les slame about struggling!  COmpared to P90x, this is very high cardio plyometrics, very fast, and very hard.  If you want to know how I felt tonight, run 100m as fast as you can, I mean really run. Now do that for 40 minutes until you collapse.
Ive never sweat so much!

Oh my.  Ive done the fit test, had a shower, dressed and Im STILL out of breath. The flu really took its toll on my health and regime.  To think, I did 2 months of P90x religiously only to lose it all to flu and 7 weeks off training - thye longest flu ive ever had (o3 or 4, I must have had them all).
Ok, so today was my first day of the Insanity program.  I’m currently 170lbs, 18% bodyfat.  The heaviest ive been was 24 %, and that was the maximum for my body before i went downhill seriously.
Lets’s get one thing striaght, I’ve never been a fit guy, not sporty anyway.  Ive always been slim but 7-8 years ago when I moved in with my first love the night sin, wine and take-aways really took me to a new weight level I struggled to shake.  Sure I had bursts of 2-3 months every now and again where i would turn into an Arnie robot overnight, eating nothing but oats, tuna and beef, but then Id get bored and go back to my usual weigth again, usually no less fat but gained a bit of muscle (and spent TONS on supplements).
I always hated cardio, ever since I can remember.  IT made my chest hurt, I didnt see the point (no physical gains made to my friends who did it all the time) I figure weight training was the onl way - and according to mens health magasine you burn the same or more calories doing it, and even more the following week when youve packed on some protein.
Well, this was my reasonign until I bit the bullet, got frustrated with no weight loss in years, I wanted a decent body again. I began with Tai-Bo, some other dvd’s and eventually got bored of these… moving onto P90x! P90x is an awsome regime, it give you everything you need for the person who wants to be told what to do, not experiment.
Well that’s where i began to enjoy cardio, realy loved every workout, the only drawback I could see was that the sessions CONSUMED my life, literally.  I would work, come home, workout, eat, watch half hour tv and then bed - the weeks flew past.  Then I caught the flu, and then some.  I couldnt train for more than a few minutes, Id be out of breath, tired, and want bed (At 6:30pm!) I had the flu and i had to stop.  IT annoyed me so much i had the hardest workout of all my sessions one evening with Ploymentrics, but then the following morning, this hight urned to a mega low - i couldnt get out of bed, or breath properly , my tonsils were huge, I was out for the count. I had to give up.
So, here I am, back but with  a real drive to succeed.  Yes its still winter, yes, ive put all my weight back on via beer and other naughties, but I want to win! I want a flat stomach, and want to look great next year, next holiday.  I have two months, lets do it!
So, my results today, after my first ever fit test -

Switch Kicks               120
Power Jacks                42
Power Knees               59
Globe Jumps               20
Suicide Jumps              8
Push Up Jacks             14
Low Plank Oblique        49

I thought I did well on my first workout, but later realised Id burned out too early, the rest of it was pure pain!  I struggle to do the rest but did my best, the last workout i stopped and went crazy, to beat the guy on screen. Then collapsed!
So far, I love the on screen bar that shows how much effort you need to put in before the timer stops, i love knowing where I am in a program and love theres hardly any talking (sorry Tony! - p90x reference there).  I can see this being no nonsense, hardcore, get off your butt and work for it workouts. Cant wait to see what I’m like in 2 months!