Day 29, 30 & 31 - All in one day

That's my right Hamstring on Day 30 while at the pool today.

OK, this day was completely crazy...

Woke up at 6:00 am and went to the gym and at 6:25 am ran 2 miles in 15:45 min. Jumped in the 75 min Total Conditioning (TC) group fitness class at 6:45 am. At the end of the class I ran another 2 miles just for good calorie burning measure. I went home and at 8:15 am I started Day 29 - Chest, Shoulders and Triceps. Ouch, the running and TC class fatigued me but I gave this session all I had after a week of recovery. It was great.

When I was finished it was 9:30 am and the family wanted to go the pool after a week of rain here, so I decided to keep the fire going and I rode my Cannondale F500 there ahead of them and 15 min later I was 3.5 miles away and headed to the pool deck. We hung out there until 3:30 pm. After learning that my sons would be camping in the basement tonight, I decided I could not execute Day 31 in the basement at 6:00 am prior to my flight so at 5:20 pm I kicked off Day 31 one day early. Double Ouch.

Later this evening, I have to complete Day 30. Confused? Don't be, I am basically completing Day 29, which did not happen yesterday. Day 30 which is due today and Day 31 because I cannot do it tomorrow from the road.

Day 29 - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Ab Ripper X - Check

Day 30 - Plyometrics - Check

Day 31 - Back and Biceps - Check

4 Weeks Down and 9 To Go

I've posted some intermediate arms photos.

When I look back over the last 4 weeks, I realize I am struggling with Yoga X though I improved since the first session. I enjoy all the weight and body weight focused sessions on Legs, Biceps, Triceps, Shoulders, Back and Chest. The Ab Ripper X is kicking in as I am noticing my endurance and capability in these sessions have clearly improved.

Going forward I will add some of my own favorite weight exercises to match the days ahead. For example, on Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Ab Ripper Day, I will add;

Reverse Incline Dumbbell Press with 70, 80 or 90 lbs
Dumbbell Press with 70, 80 or 90 lbs
Shoulder Press with 60lbs
Tricep Press Down with the heaviest weight I can manage

I'll do something similar on Legs & Back day and Back and Biceps day. The point is, I'll be ripping muscle fibers in the same groups that match the workouts and they'll have the week to recover. If it sounds extreme, it's because it is. I don't have heavy enough weights at home to shoot for growth so I am augmenting the program to meet my goals.

I'll also keep running and add Cardio X 3x/week to equate to P90X Doubles.

Day 28 - Rest or X Stretch

I got out early again and ran 4.22 miles in 32 min and felt good. I was under a time crunch so I couldn't do the full 5 miles.

I chose to rest today by default. My day was incredibly busy and I had to travel to Chicago and didn't arrive until 11:30 pm. After a week of recovery which included running approximately 30 miles along with the daily P90X recovery exercise sessions, I thought I earned it. Besides, tomorrow I start Phase II, Week 5-7 where I will need all the energy I can muster.

Day 27 - Yoga X

Ran 5 miles early this morning and out the gate. This is the 3rd Day in a row running the 5 miler and it hurts.

Fast forward to my post work final regular match in my racquetball league. I lost to a guy I could have beaten the pants off 3 months ago. I started with racquetball as my primary excercise 17 months ago when I began my journey back to health. It carried me a long way and I really enjoyed the sport of it. Now, it is a chore since I am much more fit, hardly ever sweat or get winded, my joy for the game is gone. This is my last time signing up for the league. I will officially be an occasional recreational player starting next week when the tournament is over. Not to mention my right shoulder problems are tied directly to how hard and how I swing the racquet.

Yoga X. If you have been following my blog and I am fairly convinced no one really is, you know I hate Yoga X. 1:32 of pure hell for me. I have strength but very little flexibility. If I do summon the skills of a Jedi Master to clear "my mind" to focus on breathing, then my subconsicious takes over and begins working on all the problems that are hanging out there. So clearing my mind only makes room for more, but today I did this session right after I woke up. It was a difference maker.

I crunched through moving poses with focus, breathing right and staying on point. My focus was on point, legs and arms were straight when they were supposed to be, I was able to hold the poses better also. I literally felt relaxed focused and in control rather than going through the motions and killing time.

Although, my success had limits. I could not and didn't even attempt the following moves:

Warrior 3
Prayer Twists w/arm extension (Regular Prayer Twist yes)
Standing Splits
Twisting Half Moon

These all have one thing in common. One of your legs is fully extended and off the floor. I just can't straighten my legs that way while holding the other straight in the air, balancing myself, while breathing correctly and not falling on my face. Maybe before Day 90.

Also, Frog is in humane to men. This static pose make no sense at all. What is Frog? On hands and knees, spread legs wide, keeping lower legs in parallel position (90 degrees at the hips and knees - this is the key to all the pain). Lower upper body down towards the floor while gently pressing backwards. If you can put your pelvis on the floor in this position you are not human. You hold this pose for 60 sec then when yo attempt to get out of it, you better press forward until you fall flat on the floor, roll to your back then get up because if you try to bounce up and go the next pose you will experience the pain of a lifetime.

I did not complete Yoga X and ended with :23 left. I've got a busy work and travel day so I will take the CD and do the rest in the hotel late tonight. Yeah right!

Day 26 - Core Synergistics

Bright and early got out and ran 5.06 miles in 40 min. At the close of business I wrapped up homework with the boys and by 6:00 pm I was in my first Cycle 60 (60 min Aerobic Endurance Cycle Class) in a month. Using my quads and hamstrings in that way felt odd, but they were strong and performed well. I was able to go hard, keep pace and left the class satisfied that I had completed my second hard cardio class in the same day.

Note to self: No more 5 mile runs and Cycle 60 on the same day.

Core Synergistics is a difficult, weight training, plyometric like standing, twisting, hard working core training for 59 minutes. It is extremely challenging and makes you make good decisions on your dumbbell weights and there are virtually no breaks. When going through it, you want it to be over. When it's over you want a few more minutes.

There are no easy exercises, but these are the ones that kick me in the rear every time:

Squat X-Press - (30 Reps) Holding light weights (Tony recommended 12 lbs I used 20 lbs), start with feet wider than shoulder width and toes slightly pointed out. Go into a squat with chest and head up, and forearms on thighs. As you stand up, raise weights overhead into a wider shoulder press (not directly above your head but at slight angles away from your shoulder) so you body forms and "X".

Plank to Chaturanga Run - (60 sec) - Get in plank position and begin running (at my gym we call these Mountain Climbers). Go for 10 sec, then just when you are thinking, this stinks, you lower yourself into the Yoga Chaturanga position (google it) and keep running for another 10 sec, then back up to Plank, back down to Chaturanga continuous for one minute. The first time I saw this was at the beginning of this recovery week. When they lowered into Chaturanga I thought they were nuts. I could not lower myself and move my legs like that simultaneously. This time, I got coordinated and knocked it out. It hurt like crazy and you feeling it from you neck to your toes, but it is core to the max.

The rest are challenging but acheivable. Especially as my muscles get used to all these moves and my focus becomes greater during each workout.

Day 25 - X Stretch

Kicked off Memorial Day with a 5.2 mile run over 41 min. I felt like I could have run another 5 miles, but that was probably some dumb part of my body making it seem that way. It was sunny and hot today so I braved it out to the outdoor hot tub and got in. I was only there for 5 min and got out because 87 deg and sunny, elevated heart rate and scalding hot water did not seem to go together too well.

I went home to prep the boys for a return to the pool for their afternoon fun, but they detoured me to Fuddruckers for a lunch run. Yada yada yada, it started to rain and killed the remainder of Memorial Day.

Later I knocked out a well deserved X Stretch session of P90X. I can honestly say, that it was a lot easier pulling through this session than the previous one. I was able to perform some of the harder stretches like the Glute Stretch, Plough, Back Hero, Kenpo Quad Stretch and Frog. I was even able to handle the Dreya Forearm Strecth.

Glute Stretch - Lying on back and pulling kneww inward, place right ankle on the left thigh. Reach right arm between right and left thigh. Reach arm on outside of left thigh. Clasp hands around left shin. Lie back and pull knee in toward shoulder. If you can lie all the way to the floor, or even bend your arms more than slightly you are already there.

Plough - From Shoulder Stand with legs straight up in the air and only shoulders and neck on the floor, drop legs straight overhead until feet touch the floor. (right here let me say that at a certain point, I could not even breathe, let alone keep my feet totally straight but I managed through it briefly). If you can do this while keeping legs straight and touching feet to the floor without losing consciousness, you are really super limber.

Back Hero - Kneel with knees and fee slightly wide than hips. Slowly lie backward first keeping your chin on your chest, sitting between feet. Support body on elbows or like all the way back (at this point you can extend your head backwards, i.e. lift it off your chest). Come out of this pose slowly. If you can do this one, you can make your own stretch video and should market it to millions.

I plan to add X Stretch at least twice a week to increase my flexibility. This will definitely help me on my sit and reach test at the gym when they calculate my body age vs my chronological age. By the way, chrono age is 46 and my body age is currently 36 and dropping. I expect it to be between 29-32 when I retest on 7/29 (Day 90 of P90X).

Adjustment to my weight loss goal

I changed one of my goals and so far it is not getting any support from my family. I decided I will attempt to shed a final 20 lbs before Day 90 of P90X.

The math says I have enough body fat left to get this done (196.5 lbs x 11.5% BF = 22.49 lbs of fat.) I am going back to Isagenix 30 Day Fat Burning and Cleansing System for the final 60 Days of of P90X. It won't be easy but even getting close means I will clearly hit my body fat and measurements goals.

In order to shed this final 20 lbs, I'll be kicking cardio into major overdrive by running 3-5 miles/day for 5 days/week and adding 60 min cycle sessions a minimum of 3 days per week. The goal is to keep my heart rate between 125-139 bpm for the majority of each run and cycle session. If I do this consistently over the next 65 days I should be good all set when combined with the Isagenix nutritional system.

If I don't get to 175 lbs behind all this, that better mean that I put on at least 15 lbs of muscle in the P90X process which is not likely. This plan has to work.

Day 24 - Kenpo X

Started the day by running 2.5 miles before church. I didn't get to the workout until 11:59 pm.

This is my 4th time executing Kenpo X. My side kicks are still too low and too weak. Upper torso work is coming along much better. I was controlling my punches ensuring I did not lock out my arms. I barely noticed the extra weight of the hand weights this round.

I focused on keeping tension on my core engaged and twisted my torso on each block, punch and ball (front) kick. I could tell the difference at the end. I was up and ready when I got going so I skipped through warm up, breaks and cool down. That made it go fast. It was still very intense.

That's the good news. I finished at 00:45 and was up to 04:00 watching TV afterwards. I'm sleeping in tomorrow.

Day 23 - Core Synergystics X

If this is a recovery week, it's like one I've never experienced before. Core Synergystics X hits hard at the area from the pelvis to the diaphram. It was very difficult because I did not preview the CD before engaging it and I ran 4.75 miles that morning prior to the session in the afternoon.

It was tough but I enjoyed it. Truth be told, my last area of intense focus is my core. What's even more amazing is that I have been focused intensely on my core for over 8 months now and there is a 4-5" region around my mid section that has got to go. I am seeing evidence that progress is being made and I am going to keep the focus and heat on core and Core Synergystics X, Ab Ripper X and running and cycling are going to help me get there in the next 67 days.