(Round ) Day 30: Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X

Back and biceps today. Nothing too terrible. First time through it for round 2 so it had some challenges, but I've done it before, so not bad.

Finished with abs.

However, today is more about results than anything. Which I'm not happy about. And is of course, mea culpa.

My diet sucked these past 30 days. And as I've said repeatedly, I'm not going to see results unless I'm eating well.

So, while I've blogged every day, and worked out according to most of p90x's schedule, I think I've gotten fatter. Well, maybe not fat, but I didn't move in the right direction over the past 30 days.

I hate it. I hate how I've felt. And I hate what I've missed. I could be ____ right now. In that blank could be anything: Lacking love handles. Showing more abs. More muscular than before. Anything. But eating improperly has pointed me in the wrong direction.

So today is my vow to get back into it, full force, no more lollygagging. Get back into running. Get back into eating 5-6 healthy meals a day. Get back into having great things to say about my workout routines.

So here are the pictures I owe, but are being posted with a serious lack of pride. Here's to the next 60:

Day 79: Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X

Really tired today. Probably a mix of running recently and the heat. No mood to run.

Worked with the bands today entired. Back exercises included. Nothing much to report.

Ended with abs. One more time of ab ripper x during this round.

Going to try to run tomorrow. Goal is 3 miles but I expect with 80 degrees planned for my neck of the woods, to come up a bit short. But that's why we set goals, ey?

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 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 38: Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X

Second time through this routine. Didn't make pullups any easier.

10 Wide grip pullups
12* Switch grip pullups
8** Corn cob pullups
12 Towel pullups
15 Chinups
17 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

Corn cob pullups are so tough. I hope later on in my 90 days I can get 6-8 of these without the assistance of a chair.

Compared to Day 31 my numbers are up, but I'll attribute that to being weak after my recovery week.

Numbers were up in chinups and max pullups which is good. Everything else was pretty standard.

As for biceps, today felt strong. Never seen the veins in my forearms bulge as much as they did today during some moves. I'd be interested to know what weight I'd be comfortable with at the gym on some of these moves. Bands obviously don't tell you the resistance in pounds.

Finished up with abs. Pretty good today, got through all of the mason twists, almost all of the bicycles, and getting a lot stronger with the oblique v-ups.

Yoga scheduled for tomorrow. Maybe I'll give it another go.

Day 31: Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X

All of Monday's moves pushed away from the body. That's how one strengthens the chest and triceps, as well as the shoulders. Today, towards the body for the back and biceps.

This is how I used to group muscles at the gym, so it's a bit more familiar of a pain. That doesn't mean it was easy.

Today's workout went: back, back, bicep, bicep. One move on the pullup bar, the next using resistance bands/dumbbells, then two bicep moves with bands/dumbbells.

Pullups were terrible, and it's a combination of the toughest moves and being week and a half removed from any pullups:

9 Wide grip pullups
8 Switch grip pullups
10 Corn cob pullups (assisted)
12 Towel pullups
12 Chinups
12 Chinups (max pullups)

Corn cob pullups: Wide grip pullups, then while above the bar, move your upper body to the right, then to the left, then center, then pushup your body away from the bar, then down. 1. Then repeat. I did two until I needed help from the chair. That's awful.

Towel pullups: Take a hand towel and wrap it over the bar. Grab the towel in one hand while the other holds onto the bar. Pull yourself up three times, come down, then switch the towel to the other hand. Repeat.

Max pullups: Choose any pullup move and perform until failure. Two guys in the video chose wide grips while the gal chose corn cob. I tried straight chinups, which are narrow grip with your palms towards you. Even the 'easiest' ones for me were a struggle to pull off 12.

As for the biceps I really enjoyed today. It was the first day that really targeted just the biceps. The arms part of Shoulders and Arms works on the triceps and biceps. However today was a ton of different standard curls, hammer curls, supination curls, etc.

Finished up with abs. Got through all 50 mason twists. Then my body crumbled into a mold of jello.

Tomorrow I'm going to try out Cardio X in lieu of Yoga.