Day 72: Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X, Run

Busy workout. But pretty successful.

Shoulders and arms isn't too tough of a day. Of all the muscles I workout, I feel triceps the most DURING the workout. Chair dips, overhead extensions, and all the rest are tough while they're happening. And then yes, they get sore.

Speaking of which, my chest is still sore from Monday. Switching up the workouts on a weekly basis right now is really helping me not plateau. I wouldn't be hurting this much if I was.

Then I moved onto abs. During scissors I tried hard to straighten my legs as best I could, keep my toes down and heels up. Makes it all that much harder, as if it wasn't impossible enough already.

Then I ran (as promised). 2.25 miles.

To note: The DailyMile widget on the right only shows whole numbers. Right now my mileage has been 1.5 + 1.75 + 2.25 (which should) = 5.5

It rounds up at half miles and is currently showing 6. However, over time it will balance out and will only be +/- 1 at any given time.

Yoga (and running) tomorrow.

Day 71: Plyometrics

Alright after raving about how much I'm going to run, I've now gone two days without it. I'll blame the weather. My body will blame me though.

Today was Plyo, nothing special. Very used to this workout by now after complaining about it my first time on Day 2.

Tomorrow I run. It's supposed to be 60 and sunny.

Also, I've added a new widget to the right side of my blog. It's from DailyMile.com and it allows you to track your mileage, training, etc. I'm not training for anything so I just added the small widget. So every time I run I log on, put in the mileage, and it adds everything up.

My goal for tomorrow is 2+ miles.

Day 70: Chest and Back, Ab Ripper X

Worked off the book today. And with resistance bands.

I have no reps to report today because I did the pullup moves on bands. It took a lot more reps to feel the burn, generally 20+, but in the end it's certainly working.

There are no substitutes, however, for pushups. I feel like I did a lot today, and I really felt it.

Standard pushups, military pushups, wide fly pushups, diamond pushups, decline pushups and dive-bomber pushups. Six different moves, each done twice until failure. My strongest were probably standard pushups, putting up 25 the first time through. My weakest were probably diamond, where I did up to 8 each time.

Diamond Pushups: Hands under your heart. Hands together so the thumbs and pointer fingers are touching, respectively. Elbows flare out to the side.

Dive bombers aren't as terrible as they were the first few times I did this workout. I've also gotten better with decline.

Finished up with abs. Also off the book, no Tony. Well, really no book. I've done it so many times now that I've completely memorized the order. I even find myself thinking of everything Tony says at certain points of certain moves. Scissors ... get it?

No running today due to the miserable weather. Perhaps tomorrow I'll hop on a treadmill.

Day 69: Stretch X, Rest, Run

Why did I choose to start running right when the weather turned crappy again? I thought winter was over.

From yesterday: "So on this chilly 37 degree day, I began."

Today's running weather: 44 degrees ... feels like 37. Net gain? 0.

In fact, today felt even colder. That 'feels like 37' is from the wind of course. And running by the water makes it even windier. My choice of long-sleeves today did nothing to soften the blow.

Another 1.75 mile run. I know it's rather unimpressive, especially considering I should be in pretty good shape from nearly 70 days of Tony's boot camp. But let me restate this: I'm not a runner. I've never been a runner. It's probably been 5 years since I decided to take a leisurely run. So it'll take some time, and some nicer weather, to get that mileage up.

I used my heart rate monitor yesterday and today. I stayed between 175 and 200 beats per minute during my excursions. Not sure if that's good or bad. But it was certainly nice being able to keep track.

My goal over the next 20 days is to have my Run label rocket up to the top 3 of my list. Here's how I see it:

Ab ripper x (24) is going to hit 30, unquestioned.
Cardio (18) will go up with the running, so I'm not going to jump that.
Reps (14) is currently third on the list. I think that will hit 18 or so at the end.

So that means to reach 3rd on the list I need to run on more than 16 of the final 21 days of p90x.

Yes, 3 more weeks to go.

Day 68: Kenpo X, Run

Yes, there's a new headline to my workout: Run

I decided that what's deterring me the most from enjoying my p90x results is my abdomen. I really wish I didn't have love handles. The problem? I can't wish them away. I've done my research and I've said this before: You can't target fat loss. If I did a thousand side crunches and torso twists, I would burn calories, just not necessarily on the sides.

What I've also learned is that love handles are generally the last things guys will get rid of. Meaning I could be stuck with these for a long time. It took me 22 years to build them, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to be able to desert them in a couple months.

That being said, I'm going to start running. Probably the best way to burn calories, it's outside, it's free and I can track my progress via distance. So on this chilly 37 degree day, I began. From my estimation, it was between 1.5 and 1.75 miles. A bit too cold out to do any more, but for a first day of running in who knows how long, not bad.

Before the run was Kenpo. Nothing special, just a lot of wishing I was punching Tony in the face.

Rest tomorrow. Maybe stretching.

Day 67: Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X

Ah legs and back. Another staple to every muscle building week. Maybe my favorite back routine. It's all on the pullup bar, and most of the moves I can put up good numbers (by my standards, that is).

16 Reverse grip chin ups
15 Wide grip pullups (9 unassisted, 6 assisted)
12 Close grip overhead pullups
12 Switch grip pullups
17 Reverse grip chin ups
12 Wide grip pullups (7 unassisted, 5 assisted)
13 Close grip overhead pullups
8 Switch grip pullups

While some were assisted, if you add that up it comes out to 105. That's a lot of pullups. Especially considering Day 1 I struggled to do just about any beyond the first couple of each set.

Legs were fine. Wall sits don't feel at lethal as they used to. Calf raises are still getting my derriere in shape. And Tony is still his usual self during Groucho Walks.

Finished up with abs. Remember my percentages rant? Well I've completed ab ripper x 24 of the 30 total times I'll do it over these 90 days. So 80%. Meaning I should have 4.8 of my 6 pack. Not quite. When I do p90x the second time through I'm going to set some goals and after my 90th (well, 180th) day, see if I've achieved them. Topping that list is going to be a 6-pack.

Kenpo tomorrow.

Day 66: Yoga

Yoga is such a letdown compared to the rest of p90x. Every Thursday based on my schedule. What a waste.

I fast forward through a lot of it so I can get to the stuff I can manage. Which isn't really all that much. Maybe next time through I'll invest in a more compact yoga routine to substitute in sometime.

Legs and back tomorrow.

Day 65: Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X

Let's work backwards. I was going to end my workout with a run. It's about 60 degrees out, seemingly perfect running weather. But after ending with ab ripper x, mason twists and a protein shake, I'm in no mood.

Abs continue to jolt me. I think my stomach's getting flatter, and love handles are become a bit slimmer, but my actual abdominal muscles are struggling to show through. Well let's not personify them, I'm just having trouble getting them to show through. Any tips? Maybe I shouldn't skip the runs I look forward to.

Back and biceps is a good day otherwise:

12 Wide grip pullups
12 Switch grip pullups
9* Corn cob pullups
12 Towel pullups
17 Chinups
20 Chinups (max pullups)

*Back of a chair for assistance

Don't let that asterisk fool you. Corn cob pullups are ridiculous. I keep one leg on the back of a folding chair, come all the way down so my leg flexes as far as it can, then use my upper body to pull myself up. The chair helps while I'm keeping my body up, to move side to side to complete the move.

Asides from corn cob, today was successful. My numbers were up in most moves.

My tip for today: It might only work for me, but I like to approach reps with percentages, not straight counting numbers. For instance, for max pullups I wanted to do 20. Instead of counting 1, 2, 3... I find success in seeing that 2 of 20 is 10%. So every two I'm 10% closer. So it's easier (for me) to get through 14, 15, 16, at 70...-...80 and so on. Maybe it's just me, but try it out. 100% is more achievable than 20 straight.

Oh, and last time I did this workout I broke a resistance band. Not this time.

Day 64: Plyometrics

So I thought I'd be sore from yesterday's chest and upper body workout.

I was right.

But it's not my chest that's the most sore. It's not my shoulders either. Nor is it my triceps. Actually, my lats are the most sore. Somehow my sides, towards my back, are in a lot of pain. Didn't think the moves from yesterday were supposed to target that area. But it hurts.

Today's plyo was nothing special. Waited a bit too long into the day to do it. I think I need to go back to my morning routines, especially for today's workout.

Tomorrow is back and biceps. Hopefully my lats are prepared for the hell I'll put them through on the pullup bar.

Corn cob pullups, towel pullups and max reps. Going to be fun.

Day 63: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, Ab Ripper X

Okay I forgot how awful today's pushups are. Ow.

I won't go over the moves again as you can read descriptions of most from Day 29.

3-in-1 pushups, plange pushups, wide fly pushups, clap pushups. And those were only a fraction of the pushups. And pushups were only a fraction of the total workout.

This is one of the more brutal DVDs in p90x. But that has to mean it's working, right? Tomorrow my chest should be very sore.

Tricep and shoulder routines aren't as bad. Scarecrows are the hardest shoulder moves in any workout we do, and it's not even with heavy weights. It's with resistance bands. Crazy.

Finished up with abs. Not sure why but today was tough. My legs have never felt so heavy during mason twists, but I pulled off all 50 with Tony the steroid-infused Tiger.

In fact, after ab ripper x Tony says something along the lines of, 'if you stuck with us you just did 349 ab ripping exercises.' I think I do just about all 349. Maybe lose a couple during bicycles.

Plyo tomorrow.

Day 62: Stretch X, Rest

My off day.

I was very pleased how the past 6 days went. It was great getting back into the workout groove, and I'm excited for tomorrow. It's back to week 4's routine, starting with chest, shoulders and triceps. That wasn't fun the first time through on Day 29, but that's simply because I wasn't used to it.

Shock. The. Body.

Four more weeks until I'm done. Sunday, April 18th, FINITO.

I'm very excited to be able to say I've completed p90x, but I'm also looking forward to going through it another time. Still debating it, but I think it'll happen.

And for the question posed, yes I'm a Syracuse fan. Recent graduate and very pumped about this year's tournament so far.

Lifting, abs and perhaps a run tomorrow if it doesn't rain too much.

Day 61: Kenpo X

First off, thank you to the handful of new found followers I have. From what I've gathered, most p90x-ers have come to my blog via Fitbomb.

I'm sure I've mentioned his blog before. He's the reason I finally decided to go out and get the DVDs, as he seemed like he was doing this for himself, not because p90x was paying him to do it. Which is exactly what I'm out to do as well. He keeps a list of other p90x blogs, found mine, and put it up on his site. So thanks to those who have been to my site (3000+ visits), and thanks to those who regularly follow along. And for the encouragement.

Onto the final 30 days. Wrapping up the first of four tough weeks. This week (week 9) and the week after next (week 11) are the same routine. Next week (week 10) and the final week of muscle building (week 12) are the same. All do abs 3 times during the week, and no recovery week til the very end.

I'm still pretty sore from this entire week. First time doing a couple of these DVDs in a long, long time. I've certainly shocked my body. And will do it again come Monday.

Kenpo is one of the constants throughout each of the weeks. This is the 9th time I've completed the workout according to my labels. I think I've got the hang of it by now.

With the slew of nice weather in the northeast, I might throw in some running on top of p90x for these final few weeks.

Rest tomorrow. (Go orange)

Day 60: Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X

Two-thirds of the way through. Solid.

First time doing this back workout with a pullup bar since Day 40.

Not too shabby. Actually surprised myself with some of the numbers:

15 Reverse grip chin ups
14 Wide grip pullups (9 unassisted, 5 assisted)
12 Close grip overhead pullups
12 Switch grip pullups
14 Reverse grip chin ups
12 Wide grip pullups (7 unassisted, 5 assisted)
10 Close grip overhead pullups
8 Switch grip pullups

Wide grip are really tough. But to think of how far I've come since day zero, it's pretty cool.

Abs to finish. Oblique v-ups are my new fr'enemy. I feel them after, but they hurt so bad while doing them.

Everything else was standard today.

Alright, Day 60 also means it's picture time. Results are OK. Wish my abs were coming through a bit more, but I'll place blame on myself and a few stumbles in the diet for that one. Here it goes.




Guess what goes in that bottom right corner? I was thinking of filling it with a picture of Sean Sherk, but I hope to be in better shape than him in 30 days.

Day 59: Yoga

No fun, soooo, no comment.

Legs and back tomorrow, and more abs. And perhaps some pictures. Fuuudge.

Day 58: Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X

First time doing p90x in the morning in a while. However, it doesn't take much to dive right into this one. Plus nothing looming for later.

Seeing as how I'm down to one resistance band, today was interesting. Shoulder moves are a bit tougher because the one band I'm left with just isn't as elastic.

Bicep moves were fine. I'm really interested to know how much I'd be able to lift for each of these moves if I were using free weights.

I still hurt a lot from Monday. Triceps especially. So chair dips today weren't a whole lot of fun. Two sets of 21 and I was beat.

Finished up with abs. Amazing that these moves still kick my ass every other day.

Two more days til pictures. I'm less than enthused with results from days 30 to 60. Hence why these last 4+ weeks are really important.

Til round 2. Ding.

Day 57: Plyometrics

Plyo day. Forgot how much fun this is.

Eh not really. I was so excited for this week to begin for muscle building, and all of the sudden it's day two and I'm running it circles. Literally.

Circle Run: Place a towel/any random item on the floor, and run in a circle around it. Basically you're always facing in one direction, and your legs are moving beneath you. Clockwise for 30 seconds, then counterclockwise for 30 seconds.

Tomorrow's shoulders and arms. And abs. We'll see how that goes considering just how incredibly sore I am from yesterday.

I can only hope tomorrow's better. I tried to do a couple pushups to no avail. Started in plank, went down so that my chest hit the floor, and didn't get back up.

Day 56: Chest and Back, Ab Ripper X

Back to the routine from Day 1. And back to the pain from Day 1.

Standard Pushups: 18 / 12
Wide Grip Pullups: 10 / 10 (assisted)
Military Pushups: 12 / 10
Reverse Chinups: 13 / 12

Wide Fly Pushups : 12 / 12
Close Grip Overhand Pullups: 8 / 21 (bands)
Decline Pushups: 12 / 7
Heavy Pants: 14 / 14

Diamond Pushups: 10 / 8
Lawn Mower: 15 / 15
Dive Bomber Pushups: 8 / 8
Back Fly: 12 / 10

Compared to the third go-round of "week 1", my numbers were down. But compared to the first go-round they were probably up.

It's just so much. Pushup, pullup, pushup, pullup. The bands are a nice break both for back workouts such as lawn mowers, as well as when I used them for Close grip at one point. Took many more reps to feel a burn, but useful.

Dive bomber pushups are still nuts. Not sure I've explained them before. Unless you're ever going to try them, it's not worth going through. Just understand that it'll hurt once you go for it.

Finished with abs. Did this whole workout with my friend. After 50 mason twists, both of us hit the ground hard. Tony's grabbin' his knees.

Plyo tomorrow. Really excited to get back into this muscle building after a seemingly very long break.

Day 55: Stretch X, Rest

One final day off. Now comes the home stretch.

Four weeks of muscle building, alternating every other week.
Four weeks of ab ripper x.
Four weeks of Tony and the gang.

This is why I took today off.

Four weeks ... begins.

Day 54: Yoga

I ate too much today. Then I tried yoga. Not a good combination.

For as much as I hate yoga, I blame myself for today's unsuccessful adventure. Remind me not to do that again.

Tomorrow's a day of stretching and resting before we dive into week 9. Weeks 9, 10, 11 and 12 are four consecutive muscle building weeks. And the routines don't repeat each other like weeks 1-3 and 5-7. I'm really excited to dive into that.

One more day to 'recover.'

Day 53: Core Synergistics

Just as the first recovery week, the second attempt at core synergistics went better than the first. But not by much.

Prison cell pushups might be the worst part of p90x. They're cardio intensive, they work every muscle I have or hope to one day have, and it seems to last forever.

I took a midset break. Possibly even two of them. Those are tough.

Then there were the ones I could do the full time, like towel hopping. And the Lunge kickback curl and press moves. Still need some weights for that. Maybe for my next time through this program. What?

Yea I was thinking about it today. From what I've read in other people's blogs, it seems like the second time through is where the money is. So assuming I can bear about 37 days of this, I think I'm going to give round 2 a shot.

Yoga tomorrow. Ohm.

Day 53: Stretch X

Stretched on my own. No DVD necessary.

Tomorrow's core again. Really not too thrilled about that.

I've been pretty terse with my posts lately. Just haven't been too enthralled with the workouts. I'll talk in greater depth tomorrow after PRISON CELL PUSHUPS. Who's excited?

Not me.

Day 52: Kenpo X

Jab Hook Cross Uppercut.
Jab Hook Cross Uppercut.
Jab Hook Cross Uppercut.

Kick.
Kick.
Kick.

Luuunge.

You get the picture. Another day in the life of a p90x-er.

Apparently not only Doug Gottlieb from ESPN is doing this workout now, but as are Mike and Mike [In the Morning]. Well they probably do p09x at night, considering, you know, their show.

Day 51: Core Synergistics

It's baaaack.

And not in a good way.

It's been 25 days since I've performed this DVD. And my body only vaguely remembers the pain I put it through then. And it hates me.

It's a nice mix of a lot of core workouts, but it's really no fun at all. My body gets a couple days' rest before I make it do Plank to Chaturanga Runs again. Man I hate those.

I'll elaborate more next time through.

Day 50: Yoga

Recovery week #2 begins.

Began with yoga, which to me is no recovery.

Tried my best to get through the whole thing, but it's really frustrating. Still. And repetitive. Still.

Only thing I like about this yoga workout, asides from the once-mentioned pushups, is how much it works my core. Definitely feel the abs towards the end. Outside of that, I'd rather be doing pushups and working real muscles.

Recovery week continues tomorrow with Core Synergistics. Remember how much fun that was last time? Actually, I'm pretty excited for it.

Day 49: Kenpo X

Worked off the book again today. Definitely the way to go for Kenpo.

A bit bummed tomorrow starts a recovery week. I feel like I've been a bit behind on everything for some reason, but nothing I can do now. Gotta take yoga seriously. Exited for Core Synergistics to whoop my arse this week.

It all starts with yoga tomorrow.

Namaste.

Day 48: Stretch X, Rest

Consider this to be the one snag in my routine.

Taking today off and doing Kenpo tomorrow. Today's exercise included carrying two kegs up two flights of stairs.

As you might have guessed, today's diet wasn't too spectacular either. First beer in 50+ days.

Tomorrow's gotta be a strong Kenpo workout and for recovery week it's tofu and spinach every night. Feel like I'm lagging a bit.

Day 47: Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X

Tried this workout with the bands rather than the bar today.

Make that the band. Considering my mishap.

Either way, today was interesting. Certainly a more relaxing workout with not having to dread hopping back up on the bar for switch grip pullups.

The band was much easier. Tony's always talking about feeling the strongest burn on the final three moves. It took 18-20 on most of the moves to get to that burn.

Other than that today was fine, legs were good.

Ended with ab ripper x. Oblique v-ups hurt. Mason twists weren't too bad. V-up roll-ups are my favorite move. They're challenging but in a good way.

Tomorrow might be the rest day and I'll do Kenpo Sunday. Busy day lying ahead.

Day 46: Yoga

Still not flexible.

Still can't do crane.

Still not a fan of this DVD.

Get to do it a few times next week during recovery.

Ooohhhmmmm.

Day 45: Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X

The good news is... I've gotten so strong that I snapped my resistance band.
The bad new is... I've gotten so strong that I snapped my resistance band.

Crap.

First move using the bands, Lawnmowers. Reached down, went to pull up with my left hand, and the band, right near the handle, made a clean break.

So I'm down to one band that's not as elastic. Need to figure something out for the next time I do triceps because this one's not going to reach over my head. I made do for today, but it was a bit tough considering the weight is off from what I've been accustomed to.

As for pullups:

10 Wide grip pullups
10* Switch grip pullups
8** Corn cob pullups
12 Towel pullups
16 Chinups
16 Chinups (max pullups)

* Chair used simply to switch grips, but not to help myself up
** Used the back of a chair to help with these

Pretty similar to last week. Towel pullups felt better today, maybe I was just re-energized today for some reason.

Finished up with abs. Today was the first time I completed 25 reps on both sides of oblique v-ups. Getting those knees up starts to kill towards the end. So yes, 16 attempts later and I've finally mastered that move.

Which brings me to this: It's Day 45. I'm halfway there. That's a pretty damn good feeling. After next week's Recover Week, there are 4 straight workout weeks where Weeks 9 and 11 are the same, and Weeks 10 and 12 are the same. So switching up the routine a lot, should be the toughest 4 weeks of this program. Those are book-ended by recovery weeks. Pretty excited to hit the second half.

Yoga tomorrow.

Day 44: Plyometrics

I can't believe it's March.

I know, that change occurred yesterday. However it didn't really hit me until after I posted and saw Day 43 wind up under March on the right side of my blog. The next time the month changes, I'll be on Day 74 and just a couple weeks from the end. Crazy.

Plyo today wasn't bad. My abs and triceps hurt the most from yesterday.

Pretty tiring, but it's the last time I do plyo for a couple weeks. Next week is recovery, so this is a whole bunch of 'lasts' for me for a while.

Looking forward to Back and Biceps tomorrow. I feel like my arms are seeing the quickest results so I'm eager to get to work on those again.

My posts have been getting shorter only because there's nothing new to say. I don't feel the need to go over moves I've mentioned before. If you've been following my blog you understand what I've been going through. If you're just stumbling upon it now, I recommend reading up on week 1 and week 5 when the routines were brand new to me.

And thanks for those who have been avid followers. Approaching 2000 visits. I know a lot of those are my own, but it's good to know at least someone's out there reading along.

Day 43: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, Ab Ripper X

Certainly no master of this routine, although today began the final week of this workout.

Getting better with the pushups but I'm not sure even if I did this workout for 10 weeks if I'd be used to Plange Pushups.

Really not much to say for today. In a pretty good amount of pain after that one, and completely collapsed at the end of ab ripper x. Today was the 16th time I've done that workout, meaning the 1st day of the 2nd half. Hopefully that means only 14 more times til I'm chiseled (doubt that).

Plyo tomorrow.