PastorMan’s BodyBlog

This was the 2nd round of arms/shoulders P90x style. They have 5 rounds of 3 exercises each…Shoulder/Bicep/Tricep. Very nice. Much harder than last week cuz I simply increased the intensity and weight. I’m starting to believe in this program more and more. One more week of the first phase then a rest week, then onto Phase II.

2nd time doing this legs & back routine….it is a tough one. Over 120 pullups and 400 different squat variations. Quad burner!!! Last week I felt this one in my glutes for several days. I’m trusting in this routine to help power me up & over mountains. With the encouragement of FrogPrincess I may even attempt a Triathlon next year.

Ok, the first 3 weeks are identical….so today was the same as last Tuesday…Plyometrics, the "mother of all P90x workouts" they say. It is difficult, the most of all 6 we have done. I love it. Great burn for the legs and fantastic strength builder as well as calorie burner and cardio workout. It is an hour long and translates well into all the climbing and backpacking I do. Tonight was a good night.

I was supposed to do today’s workout on Saturday, but because of my HECTIC weekend schedule I had to put it off to today. I put it in instead of the scheduled Chest/Back workout I was SUPPOSED to do. BIG MISTAKE!!! This was a wimpy workout!!! I am so disappointed, cuz I was so excited to do it. Big let down. Maybe because I have done some MMA training this was just too easy and I barely broke a sweat much less got a burn. Oh well, live & learn. I just learned to not do this workout except on a "rest" day when I am bored:)

So far I have mixed feelings about P90x but will certainly do the entire 90 days and give it a chance. Today was legs/back P90x style. Too hard to fully describe each exercise, so I will just give a brief overview for those following along with me.
All in all I did 118 pullups in 5 different pullup varieties. That covers the back. As for legs…WOW, about a dozen different squat and lunge varieties with a total of well over 200 movements. My quads are BURNING!!! We will see how this compares to CrossFit’s heavy squats & deadlifts.

I WAS NOT excited about day 4 of P90x…90 minutes of Yoga!!! Are you serious?! Don’t get me wrong, as a former college 3 sport athlete I understand the importance of longer, more flexible muscles. My problem is that I am genetically VERY TIGHT. My football coach once told me I was as limber "as a 2×4!" And that is when I was a year round athlete. My point is that tonight KILLED!!! I simply cannot bend, stretch or move like that. Quite frustrating. Of course, I will keep with it and do my best. I know I need it and it is very good for me. Many benefits to my active lifestyle. Oh, btw, I only did an hour of the 90 minutes. Hamstrings fried:)

Today was Shoulders & Arm day in P90x world. 9 different variations of DB Curls, Presses & Tricep movements.  2 sets of each of the 9 movements. P90x is fast paced, timed lifting on the 2 lifting days so far. I don’t expect a person would gain the mass with this as with traditional lifting, but for getting shredded & cut I imagine this is superior. As far as an arm workout goes today was MUCH easier than my normal arm routines. We will see in 90 days if there is a great method to their madness. Recap: Day #1 was Lifting: Chest & Back. Day #2 was Heavy Cardio with Plyometrics. Day #3 was lifting: Arms & Shoulders tomorrow will be Yoga.
So far, much easier than CrossFit EXCEPT the AB routine we did following the arm/shoulder. THAT killed. Hardest ab routine ever!!! I could not do it all…it was out of my league and that is hard for me to admit:)

Today was MUCH harder than yesterday (but still nowhere near the intensity of most CF Metcons). Today was their "Plyometrics" workout and they call it the "mother of all P90x" workouts. It was intense. No way to really describe it except to say it was hundreds & hundreds of squat & jump variations in 30 sec or 1 min intervals. Pretty intense. So, day #2 in the books. I’ll keep posting.

Ok, started P90x today as a test run for my wife & staff. Have been doing CrossFit for 6 months. Tonight was Chest & Back and was it was MUCH easier than the CF workouts we have been doing. Nevertheless, here is what we did tonight. 2 Rounds of 6 different types of pushups & 6 different back exercises. Below is the total reps & weights combined for both rounds 

Standard Pushups: 85 

Wide Front Pullups: 34 

Military Pushups: 50 

Reverse Grip Chin Ups: 23 

Wide Fly Push Ups: 65 

Closed Grip Overhand Pullups: 21 

Decline Push Ups: 45 

Heavy Pants (Bent over Single Arm DB Rows): 35 @ 25# 

Diamond Pushups: 50 

Lawnmowers: 45 @ 25# 

Dive Bomber Pushups:22 

Back Flyes: 40 @ 25# 

 Time to go in and drink my protein shake.