P90X Day 3: Shoulders and Arms

I was looking forward to doing Shoulders and Arms yesterday but that excitement quickly dissipated as the day went on.  The soreness in my arms was and is pretty bad.  My only solace was that by doing the workout I would stretch out my muscles and reduce the soreness.  This was true during the workout but not so much after.


Shoulders and Arms is one of the "easier" workouts in the program but it's still a challenge.  In the past, I ran into issues with my form during the exercises so I decided to reduce the weight I was using in order to complete the exercises with full reps.  There are still a few moves that are just plain tough (Static arm curls, Deep Swimmers Press, Congdon Curls).  Overall though, I feel great after doing this workout as I am a fan of bicep workouts.


I skipped Ab Ripper once again because of the overall soreness in my body.  I think that I will skip it completely this week and start doing it during week 2 and allow the soreness to go away.


Tonight's workout is one of my favorites, Yoga X.  I have to believe that the soreness in my arms are going to make this workout very, very tough and I don't think I'm going to do very well.  We'll see.

P90X Day 2: Plyometrics

Doing a little catch up from last night since I was dog tired.  I woke up yesterday to some serious soreness in my arms and shoulders.  Yes it hurts, but it hurts soooo good!  I missed this feeling throughout the 3 weeks of Insanity because those workouts are strictly cardio.  Being able to lift weights and do push ups again...it felt great and the soreness is not that big of a deal.  If you are doing P90X for the first time, let me just say that if you can get through the first two weeks than you can complete the program.  It's all about pushing through the soreness.


After work yesterday I was just plain worn out.  I was sore, tired, hungry, and when I got home I really didn't want to bounce around for an hour.  The Beast, however, is one workout that I didn't want to miss.  Not that I enjoy it.  In fact sometimes I freaking despise Plyometrics, but I felt that my 3 weeks of Insanity would give me a head start and make it easier.  


That is kind of true, but no one can say that Plyo is anywhere near "easy."  I was able to complete a lot of the workout with no breaks so that was nice for me.  I ran into some snags with the same moves I had a problem with before.  Mary Katherine's, 180 Run Stance Squats, and Hot Foot.  Those moves kill me every time.  I was sweating my ass off and was bound and determined to finish strong so the sports bonus was pretty easy.  By the time I get to that part of the workout I know that the hardest part is over with.


After the workout I mowed through a delicious stuffed red pepper that my wife made and then pretty much passed the F out.  Later today I will have to do Shoulders/Arms/Ab Ripper so we shall see how that goes.  I'm looking forward to the arm workouts as they should help to stretch out my muscles and reduce some soreness.  Ab Ripper however will be very tough.

P90X Day 1: Chest and Back...it's good to be back

I made the decision today at work to begin a round of P90X and to be honest I was extremely excited to get home and begin.  You would think I'm crazy for saying that because this program is fucking brutal, but going back to resistance training after so much cardio is what I really want right now.  

So today was Day 1 and that means CHEST AND BACK!!

Good ol Chest and Back...pushing and pulling.  Pretty simple stuff and I pushed HARD through the first round of it.  In the past, especially on the first day, I tried to pace myself during the first round so that I wouldn't die during the second.  Today I was pretty ramped up for this workout so I pushed to fail for much of the first round.  As usual, the unholy trinity of push ups (Military, Diamond, and Declines) fucking killed me.  I will never get used to military style push ups, I just hate those damn things.

Other than that the workout felt great.  By the end of it I was feeling a little light-headed but that is probably due to the fact that I didn't eat much today.  We haven't shopped for groceries in a while so I am running out of food options.  I couldn't bring myself to do Ab Ripper today so I apologize.  I promise to do it on Wednesday.

It is time for bed and tomorrow is the return of the Beast...Plyometrics.  Frankly I'm not that worried as I used to be.  No workout will ever be as hard as Insanity's Pure Cardio.  That was a fucking monster.

Of Quitting Insanity, Sicknesses, and Shin Splints...

So it has been about a week since my last post and although I don't feel too bad about it, I do feel some explanation is necessary.


First off, let me just say that I think Insanity is a great workout program.  Being so cardio heavy, you are almost guaranteed to lose weight and lose it fast.  As long as you stick with the nutrition and continue to press play every day, while consciously trying to improve your daily performance, it can be very satisfying.  I cannot say anything bad about the program itself.  The reason I am stopping is because of Shin Splints.  There were days in the last week or two that I completed when I felt like my shins were on fire, even while laying down watching TV.  Not to mention the pains that started in my ankles and feet.  Only now have the dull pains finally subsided.  This is not the fault of the program but with my own body.  My legs simply cannot handle the day to day stress that these workouts present.


I stopped posting and working out last week because I got sick again.  This time of year always sucks for me because of the changing weather.  Living in Michigan you tend to have wild swings in temperatures which negatively affect my sinuses.  So I dealt with a cold for most of last week which finally went away on Saturday.  


So what comes next?  I officially have 179 days before Tough Mudder and I need to seriously start losing weight and gaining strength.  I have decided to begin a round of P90X as I had the most success with that program.  I have been missing resistance training and it will be nice to go back to the program that gave me the best results.  It is my plan to do a full round of P90X followed by some cardio training.  Whether I go back to Insanity, do P90X doubles, or just start running more is up in the air at this point.  I need to complete this program now without skipped weeks or excuses.  If I don't do it I simply will not be ready for Tough Mudder.  It is time to suck it up and BRING IT!!


I have deleted the Insanity countdown and test result links on the right as they are no longer relevant.  You can still go back and view the 3 weeks of posts that I did complete.  


My full focus is now on P90X and pushing harder than I ever did during my first round back in 2009.  I promise you that I WILL NOT stop this program before 90 days.  

Insanity Day 21: Plyometric Cardio Circuit

That is officially 3 weeks!!  I am pretty geeked about finishing off this first month because it means I am one step closer to getting done with this friggin program.  Seriously this has been a very tough regimen to keep up.  The funny thing is I don't think I understand just how easy this has been compared to what's awaits me in month 2.


So another round of Plyo today but unfortunately I had to cut it short because I had dinner with the family...fish tacos.  Not too bad for me, don't worry.  I did the warm up and the first circuit so I still worked my ass off.


Tomorrow I begin my final week of month 1!  Unfortunately I have to do Pure Cardio/Cardio Abs twice and that is never good.  At least I will get a recovery week after this but the monster that is month 2 is patiently waiting.  Oh well...I have to do it.  


"tough mudder...tough mudder...tough mudder..."

Insanity Day 20: Cardio Power and Resistance

After the lost weekend I had and the fact that I was still getting over my cold, I honestly didn't think I was going to workout today.  In fact I was psyching myself out of it.  


"Just relax tonight.  What's another day off...you've already had 3."


Instead I put on my shorts, put the DVD in and pressed play, and struggled through the hellish warm up.  Overall it wasn't that bad of a workout but I know I wasn't pushing as hard as I could due to the fact that I was still getting over the sickness.  The Globe Jumps followed by the walking push ups are pretty horrible and afterwards I was just plain exhausted.  


I have one more workout and then I begin my last week of the first month of Insanity!  I must...MUST power through this last week with as much intensity as I can bring because in two weeks I will not be doing these workouts again.  Instead they will be replaced with the Max workouts and frankly I am scared.

Insanity Day 18 and 19: Being Sick Sucks

Well, it's that time of year and unfortunately I got sick.  I decided last week that I was going to skip Cardio Recovery on Friday because my legs were killing me.  Then I missed the next three days because of a cold.  So here we are on Tuesday and I hate myself for another lost weekend...one that I can ill-afford.  


I'm skipping Cardio Recovery and also using my rest day as a sick day which means that I have two workouts left in week 3.  Hopefully I can get back on track.  I hate being sick.