Day: 27, P90X Yoga: MC2

Log Entry

Daily Note: Today is New Years Eve for 2010. Big party at the house tonight. It's going to be awesome. Like most big things, I just wanted to let it be known that 2010 and the year I started P90X and my master's degree ends today. Very glad I got to end it with yoga.

Workout

P90X Yoga: MC2 Status: Completed Absolutely amazing day of Yoga: MC2. My whole body felt strong, and this was one of my better yoga routines for my entire P90X program! Awesome! Final workout of 2010! This has been an amazing year, and I can't wait to see what happens in 2011. Peace out 2010; I'll see you in the memories!

Day: 26, P90X Core Synergistics

Log Entry

Daily Note: Not workout related, but today is Mom's birthday and I wanted to give a shout out to her. Happy Birthday Mom!

Workout

P90X Core Synergistics Status: Completed Ouch. I had to get up early today, and the weather is crazy so I didn't sleep well, and man did I feel it during core. This was harder than the original Week 4 Core day! Today just wasn't happening. I made it through 75% of the workout when I decided the energy was gone, and I was doing more damage than good. Today's kind of a wash, but tomorrow is yoga so I'm expecting to get my energy back soon. Recovery week is moving along, and when I start lifting again on Sunday it will be the start of 2011! I've let the diet slide a little in December, but I'm ready to hit the ground running in January! Right when Phase 2 starts, and I have a fresh bag of chocolate shakeology ready too! Bring it!

Day: 25, P90X X Stretch

Workout

P90X X Stretch Status: Completed Another round of X Stretch is in the books. I've been very tight this week, so this stretch workout was really difficult. By the end, though, I was feeling pretty bendy again. This is a nice little treat every recovery week. I was dreading waking up this morning, but for a stretch it's really no big deal. Stretching is a nice way to start the day. Time to go to work. Bring it!

Day: 24, P90X Kenpo X

Workout

P90X Kenpo X Status: Completed Good kenpo workout today. Not great, but good. My legs are still feeling really tight, so that made the kicks difficult. My punches were pretty strong still, and I threw them on the bag with the gloves too. Adding the bag and gloves makes you use so much more strength, and when that occasional weak punch is thrown I can hear it and it motivates me to throw the next one harder. Stretch day tomorrow and man do I ever need it! The recovery week continues. Bring it!

Day: 23, P90X Core Synergistics

Workout

P90X Core Synergistics Status: Completed Core kicked my ass today! I got through it, but it wasn't pretty. I felt pretty rough today in general. My legs and upper body hurt like I worked out too hard. What's weird is, yesterday was yoga and the day before that was a rest day. I should have felt great today. Instead I was tight and moving very slow. That said, I defeated core synergistics and am soaked. That's another victory. Kenpo tomorrow. I'm hoping I'm feeling a lot more loose. Bring it!

Day: 22, P90X Yoga: MC2

Log Entry

Daily Note: Not yoga related, but I'm reviewing plyocide right now. I want to see if it's as hard or harder than plyo x. If it is, I'm switching it in in phase 2, similar to how the weights change. In phase 3 I'll alternate it every other week. That's only if I decide I like it, but the main thing is that if I do plyocide I won't use the weight vest. That's officially on the record. I'll have my decision by next week!

Workout

P90X Yoga: MC2 Status: Completed Yoga: MC2 is completed. The better I do at this routine, the better I feel after. It's a really amazing yoga routine. It's so much more involved than yoga x, and it's not a formulaic too. I like that, because it's much easier to dread things when I can predict them. Surprises are much easier to deal with. The recovery week has begun, and since it's Sunday I really had a lot of time to calm myself and wake up before yoga. Namaste folks. Namaste.

Day: 21, P90X Rest

Workout

P90X Rest Status: Completed Today is a Saturday, so I have no intention of working out today, but it's Christmas and I wanted to wish the world a Happy Holiday! Yes, I may be a Fat Free Jew, but I still support Christmas because it definitely brings people together. Plus I'm trying to get my folks into the whole home fitness craze I've been on, so I got Mom so yoga stuff and Dad a balance ball and some bands. Eventually I'll get them some Beachbody products, but I need to work them up to it. Happy Holidays from the Fat Free Jew!

Day: 20, P90X Kenpo X

Workout

P90X Kenpo X Status: Completed I decided to do kenpo on the punching bag today, and that brought a whole new world of hard to this workout. Obviously a few workouts I couldn't do on the bag, so I still did those in the air, but overall the bag really worked well. On a side note, yesterday after ab ripper I decided to do the bas rutten CDs. I only got three minutes in, threw a (really sweet) Muay Thai kick, and ended up slamming my right foot into the metal pole. My whole foots black and blue, and my ankles a little stiff. It'll be ok, but I took it easy on kicks today, especially when kicking the bag. Excellent final workout as I go into the first recovery week of round 2! Bring it!

Workout

Martial Arts Status: Completed Decided to throw in 5 2 minute rounds of the boxing cd after not getting far yesterday. Boxing, not Thai boxing; I didn't want to throw any kicks. After kenpo, this is an awesome way to put into practice all of the combos Tony gives us. Time for dinner! See you later punching bag!

Day: 19, P90X Base & Back

Workout

P90X Base & Back Status: Completed Base and Back rocked me again, and I love it! My legs were a little rough this morning, but starting out with the yoga got me feeling pretty loose. By the time I got to the plyo stuff I was feeling ready to go. My pullups were pretty solid today too, and right now my back feels like it got a great workout! I get next week off from this workout, so we'll see if a recovery week helps me make any progress in phase 2! See you in two weeks Base and Back!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Good ab ripper. I got a phone call right as the first move started, so I ended up having a few more minutes of break between workouts, and that helped me catch my breath. When I got going I was feeling pretty good and rocked out 25 reps on almost everything. And as usual I got all 50 mason twists in. No ab ripper for over a week! Recovery week, here I come! Bring it!

Day: 18, P90X Yoga: MC2

Workout

P90X Yoga: MC2 Status: Completed Another amazing workout. This yoga routine is great, and the new MC2 is definitely going to be a lot more challenging. I'm debating if I want to do this routine next week during recovery week, or if I want to go back to Yoga X. I'm not sure why the latter is creeping into my head, but I guess it'll be a game time call. We shall see. It's pouring rain outside and for some reason that sounds really peaceful right now. I'm thinking yoga has put me into an excellent mood for my rainy Wednesday. Namaste.

Day: 17, Shoulders & Arms: MC2

Workout

Martial Arts Status: Completed Today's a weird schedule day, so I have my normal P90X stuff at night instead of before work. I still got up early to hit the bag. I made it through 6 2 minute rounds of the Bas Rutten Thai Boxing CD. My punches felt a lot stronger than yesterday's boxing CD, but I'm not used to kicking the bag yet. I don't plan on doing this every day, so we'll see how long I keep this up until I'm in a steady routine. Adding this into P90X is definitely going to take me to the next level.

Workout

P90X Shoulders & Arms: MC2 Status: Completed Excellent shoulders and arms day. I love this new workout, and am sad that I won't see it until phase three. On the bright, the next time I see this it'll be phase three already! That'll be huge! I finally bought a balance ball too, and I've gotta say it changes one of the tricep exercises. You basically use it as a bench and raise a weight over your head, and I had to drop my weight by half compared to when I just did it standing. My arms were destroyed after this workout. After ab ripper I actually strapped on the gloves and tried to hit the bag for a few minutes, but after a few crappy strikes I realized it just wasn't happening. See you in month 3 Shoulders & Arms: MC2!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Another great ab ripper. I felt really strong on everything, did almost all of the fifer scissors (yesterday was a little better) and once again I rocked out all of the mason twists! One more ab ripper this week and then I get a week to recover. Come on abs in round 2! Bring it!

Day: 16, P90X Plyometrics

Workout

P90X Plyometrics Status: Completed Amazing plyo workout tonight! I felt sluggish getting started, but decided after yesterday and kenpo a few days ago both being weak that I had to bring it. I jumped so much higher than I usually do, and did every one of the jump knee tucks. And as usual I wore the weight vest, so I pushed even harder! I noticed today that on almost every jump Eric tucks his knees in. On some of those, that makes it a lot harder, and I added that in when I noticed it. Tucking in the knees on every jump forces you to go a lot higher, and that got me completely worked tonight. Excellent way to go into Week 3! Glad I finished up part 2 of today's doubles workout. Bring it!

Day: 16 - Part 1

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Yesterday ended up getting busy, then lazy, then busy again. Long story short, I never got to ab ripper. That's ok though, because I got up early today and got it out of the way, and I had a way better ab ripper than I ever could have yesterday. I had a lot more energy, and for the first time ever I did all 25 Fifer Scissors! Amazing! Once again I did all 50 mason twists too. This goal is coming along nicely. I don't want to make this a habit, so don't expect me to skip any more ab rippers. Glad I got it in today, but I felt really bad about yesterday. But at least I'm still bringing it!

Workout

Martial Arts Status: Completed I decided I wanted more cardio and might do doubles, but I want to mix it up with something other than cardio x. I bought a punching bag and the bas rutten cd's and started using them today. They are brutal workouts for punching bag or shadow boxing, where bas calls out combinations and you throw them at full power. Each disc has 10 2 minute rounds and 3 minute rounds, and there's a boxing disc, muay Thai disc, all around fighting disc and all around workout. I won't be using the workout one much since I have p90x, but the other three are amazing cardio. Five rounds of 2 minutes of boxing beat me up today, but after ab ripper this turned into a really great morning workout. 30 minutes of cardio on the bag 3 times per week? We'll see!

Day: 15, P90X Chest and Back

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed I don't know why, but I was wiped today. It was rough through the whole thing. I finished and actually increased most of my numbers from last week, but oh man I was dying the whole time. I was really feeling rough after the workout so I'm going to do ab ripper this afternoon. Last time I'm doing chest and back until phase 3, and even if today was rough I'm still making progress. It's flying by again!

Day: 13, P90X Kenpo X

Workout

P90X Kenpo X Status: Completed Well, it was bound to happen eventually....today was not a good Kenpo X day. I was completely wasted. Partly from Steak n Shake last night (which was amazing) but mostly from Back and Base yesterday. My legs feel so worn out today, and my upper body is moving super slow. To top it off, I did these workouts less than 12 hours apart; I had to do kenpo early today because my holiday potluck is tonight. Enough excuses though. I pushed through, and a crappy workout is better than no workout. I might try to make this up tomorrow, but if I need the rest I'll rest. We'll see Week 2 ends on a rough note, but it ends none the less. Bring it.

Day: 12, P90X Base & Back

Workout

P90X Base & Back Status: Completed Wow, Base and Back destroyed me today! I knew what was going on this time so I could hold my own a little better, and I fast forwarded through most of the long breaks. It beat me up! I thought about it and you spend more time off the ground in this workout than in any other. It's all pullups and jumping! So crazy! I can't wait to see how I do on this next week!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Very solid ab ripper tonight. My abs hurt, and I'm glad I get a three day break from ab ripper. Kenpo tomorrow and I'm excited. The new Steak n Shake opened down the street from me, and I'm cutting this short. I know it's terrible for me and definitely not on the diet, but I haven't has Steak n Shake in years! Very excited. Bring it!

Day: 11, P90X Yoga: MC2

Workout

P90X Yoga: MC2 Status: Completed Yoga: MC2 is definitely growing on me. It's a lot harder than Yoga X. The only problem is, with yoga, the harder it is the less you can do, which means less of a workout. I definitely cannot do this whole workout yet, but it's coming. Don't get me wrong, my body got a great workout, but until I can hold every pose I won't be able to sweat like I did in Yoga X. It's coming though, and I'm ready. Holy crap by the way....how many freakin' chair poses are in this?! They're everywhere! Tony is nuts! Yoga is an amazing way to start the day. I'm off to face Wednesday head on! Namaste.

Day: 10, P90X Shoulders & Arms: MC2

Workout

P90X Shoulders & Arms: MC2 Status: Completed Once again, Shoulders and Arms: MC2 has kicked my ass! I really love this workout. The shoulders first arms second thing is different from everything in the original program, and today I even noticed how Tony has the hard big muscle stuff in the beginning of each set and the more precise muscle stuff at the end. Even though there's a little less sets than in the original Shoulders and Arms, the way this one is set up I feel like I get such a better workout! Very awesome. I also really like that there's double the shoulder work. I've been looking at Tony and a few of the guys in the arms videos, and I'm realizing that the secret to bigger arms is to have well toned shoulders. When that diamond between the bicep and tricep is huge, those two muscles have some depth to them and you can see their definition too. This is such an awesome workout! Thanks Tony!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Another ab ripper in the books. I'll be honest, I have this whole thing memorized, and it's pretty easy for me to lose focus. That said, when I push myself I can really rock ab ripper out well, and that's what happened today. Lots of ab reps and so far I've done all 50 mason twists every ab ripper this round! As for the focus thing, ab ripper is only 20 minutes 3 times per week, so I may just have to push myself through it for this round. Time for work. Bring it!

Day: 9, P90X Plyometrics

Workout

P90X Plyometrics Status: Completed Another great plyo workout with the weight vest is in the books and I feel excellent. I started to drag towards the second half but managed to push through, but overall my jumps were high and I was soaked at the end. I love this workout and it's definitely one of the best in P90X. I will say that I have this thing memorized, and when I lose focus for a moment it's hard to get back into it. It doesn't happen often, but the biggest thing that I have to do in this is keep making it fun. I have to laugh at all of Tony's jokes and sing along to my music, but keeping it fun is critical. Week 2 is off to a great start! It's time to Bring it!

Day: 8, P90X Chest and Back

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed Ouch. This was a rough workout today. My arms were pretty beat, I guess from last week, and the tendon was hurting again on the pullups. I still pushed hard today, but most of my numbers went down this week. On a plus side, I paced myself this week, so my numbers were similar between rounds 1 and 2 of this workout. I'm going to do all of the pullups on Thursday on the total gym. Last week the tendon felt fine after this workout, but started hurting after base and back. I want to be able to do pullups this round, so I have to figure this out. Wish me luck!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Solid workout. Lunch is ready so I'm making this short. Week 2 is off to a great start. Might do some cardio later who. We'll see. Bring it!

Day: 6, P90X Kenpo X

Workout

P90X Kenpo X Status: Completed Ah I love Kenpo X! This is such a great workout when you bring it, and I brought it today. My shoulders and back were killing me from the pullups yesterday, and the punches really helped me stretch out too. I was soaked at the end, and I love that every time Tony finishes the stretch by saying "and a bead of sweat falls right off" a bead of sweat falls of my nose! Every time! It always reminds me that I had a good workout, and that the week is over! Great start to Round 2! Bring it!

Day: 5, P90X Base & Back

Workout

P90X Base & Back Status: Completed I finally got to try Base and Back, and holy crap, this thing is insane! The plyo moves are more difficult than any other plyo workouts I've seen in P90X before, and my legs feel more like jello than they did from Legs and Back. And the pullups are nuts too! There's actually more pullups in this than in Legs and Back, and they're all a lot harder too. Crazy. The highlights of the plyo stuff was definitely the chair jumps (squat reach jumps from a chair pose) and the runners pose things. Think Mary Kathryns from a runners pose. Absolutely brutal. This ones not put together as well though. Tony talks a lot and there's a lot of breaks. For his credit, it was a recovery week for him when they filmed it, and even with the breaks I was still soaked at the end. Great workout and I can't wait to see my improvements on it over the next 90 days. Oh, and I did a lot of pullups today too! Excellent progress so far!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Great ab ripper today. My legs were rough in the beginning, but I pushed through and rocked my abs. Did all 50 mason twists again. I figured out too that if you keep your elbows against your body the whole time, the mason twists work much better! Hurt so much (in a good way. I meant in a good way Tony!) One more day in Week 1 and it's Kenpo X! Bring it!

Day: 4, P90X Yoga: MC2

Workout

P90X Yoga: MC2 Status: Completed I finally got to try Yoga: MC2, and I've gotta say it's brutal! For some reason I didn't sweat as much as I do in Yoga X, but all of the moves felt way more intense. I love the pace of this one, it moves much quicker. I'll have to count next time if there's more vinyasas in this one, because I don't want to lose any pushups on yoga day. The holding of each vinyasa for two seconds really gets to the chest though, and I'm sore in the absolute best way right now. This is going to be a fun workout for the next 13 weeks. I couldn't do a lot of the poses today, so I can't wait until I improve and can hold them. Yoga is always an excellent way to start my Wednesdays. Namaste.

Day: 3, P90X Shoulders & Arms: MC2

Workout

P90X Shoulders & Arms: MC2 Status: Completed Today was the first time I got to do Shoulders and Arms: MC2, and holy crap is all I can say! I thought the first shoulders and arms was excellent, but this puts it to shame! There's way more shoulder stuff, and the hard awesome shoulder stuff like pike press. You actually do as many shoulder exercises as you do biceps and triceps combined. And I really like that you do all of the shoulder exercises before you get to the biceps and triceps. Spice of life, right? Nothing too fancy for the triceps, but the biceps.....remember static arm curls? Now try crazy 8's! I ended up doing crazy 6's with 20 lbs. Tony did it with 25's, so the first official goal I'm making for this second round is to finish the full crazy 8's (all three sets) with the 20 lbs by the end of this. Wish me luck! Tony does a lot of talking during this one, but there's still a lot that gets done in the hour and my arms are destroyed, so I'm pretty glad there's so many breaks. See you in a week shoulders and arms!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Awesome ab ripper. Did great on everything and did all 50 mason twists again. I notice that the harder I push myself during the beginning, the harder the mason twists are. I guess that's probably obvious, but it kind of clicked today for me. It's all about pushing myself harder. Results are coming in round 2, and week 1 is raging on! Bring it!

Day: 2, P90X Plyometrics

Workout

P90X Plyometrics Status: Completed Plyo returns with a vengeance! I still love this workout, even though it's still really freakin' hard. I managed to get through the whole thing with the weight vest on too. Looks like a two week break didn't slow me down. In fact, I felt amazing the whole time, and my jumps were great. I'll be honest, I dog it a little on the rock star hops, but the rest of the workout I can really push my way through. I have a weird schedule day at work, so I came home at lunch to work out today. I wonder how much that changes things. I definitely had more energy today, and I had a shakeology for lunch about 45 minutes before plyo. Hmm.... Week 1 of Round 2 is still going strong! Bring it!

Day: 1, P90X Chest and Back

Log Entry

Daily Note: Back in the swing of things already! I was struggling to push play today, but once I started moving I felt amazing. I know this round is going to be even better than the last one. I can feel it! And when Tony introduced the one girl (who's name is slipping me right now) in chest and back as a graduate of the program, I instinctively threw my arms in the air and said Me Too! I'm officially a graduate who's going back for seconds. Here we go!

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed I didn't follow the tip of the day! I didn't pace myself in round 1. I got through the first pushups and did great (like really great!) and then tried pullups for the first time since I hurt myself in phase 2 of round 1. The pullups were totally happening today! They didn't hurt at all, and even though I couldn't do more than five of each, they felt so strong! Just simple, straight up and down movements! But then I got excited about these big gains, and pushed myself as hard as I could the rest of the workout. By round 2, I was spent. I never stopped though, so that's good. I could have done a little better overall if I'd done less in the beginning. Besides that, great chest and back day and amazing way to start round 2 of P90X. I'm a million times stronger than where I was on my last day 1. I can't wait to see where I'll be when I start Insanity, just over 90 days from now!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Rough start after the chest and back fiasco, but I got my energy up after the bicycles and really brought it the rest of the workout. I haven't done ab ripper for two weeks, and I was feeling it today! Much stronger than my first ab ripper 90 days ago, and once again I did all 50 mason twists! P90X Round 2 is off to a great start! Bring it!

Day: 91, P90X Rest

Log Entry

Daily Note: Tomorrow starts round 2 and I am ready! I'm going to try to add a little more cardio in with some mma DVDs I have and cardio x of course. I've gotta lose a little more weight, and I need to get myself ready for Insanity! P90X is an amazing program that helped me lose a lot of weight and put on a lot of muscle. The diet is by far the hardest part of it all. I don't follow the P90X diet, but eat a pretty healthy six or seven small meals per day. I also cheat once or twice a week. Honestly, I'm ok with that. Ya, if I followed the diet to a T I'd lose more weight, but I'm a huge fan of food and this whole thing is about me enjoying life to its fullest. So I cheat once in a while; ya, it's bad, but I'm still doing a hell of a lot better if I didn't follow any diet. There's no reason to scold myself for it and there's no reason to quit because I messed up a few times. The program works, and even if it's slower this way, it's a million times better than if I did nothing. The workouts are difficult in P90X, but not too much is impossible. I got better at every single exercise over 90 days, and I'm going to keep getting better in round 2. There's still a few things I can't do, but I try and each time I get a little closer. Just like the diet, even a little is so much better than nothing at all. Wish me luck in Round 2, and keep reading! Huge results are on their way! Thanks you for everything Tony and BeachBody. You're great people! Bring it!

Workout

P90X Rest Status: Completed

Day 1 and Day 90 Pictures

Day 1 is on the top and Day 90 is on the bottom. I still see a lot of squishy stuff on the bottom, but now that I see them side by side I can really notice a difference! The stomach's a lot smaller, the man boobs are starting to disappear, and in general the one on the bottom just looks so much better! Ya, I need a haircut, but aside from that this is awesome!

Holy crap, I really have Day 90 pics now! I can't wait to see the results after Round 2! It starts in two days! Bring it!

Day: 90, P90X Yoga X

Workout

P90X Yoga X Status: Completed All done with Round 1! Had a great yoga workout today, then took my measurements. It looks like I lost just about 20 lbs. Considering Thanksgiving last weekend and Claim Jumper last night, I'm pretty comfortable with that. I'm still pretty squishy overall, but a lot less fat than 90 days ago. I wonder where I'll be after the next 90 days. Tony said it best at the end of this workout....self, thanks for bringing it. Recap will follow soon. Gotta get ready for work now. Namaste.

Day: 89, P90X Core Synergistics

Workout

P90X Core Synergistics Status: Completed Day 89 is done. Only one more day to go. Tony's right; Core turned into one of my favorite workouts. I really wish this one showed up more often in the program. I love the whole body stuff, the pushups are all funky and different, and I'm blown away how long I can hold chattaranga. I'm eating at claim jumper with family tonight. I'm going to try to eat healthy, but it's claim jumper, so I'm expecting my results to be a pound or two over where they'd normally be. Just throwing that out there for tomorrow. It's been quite a ride, and I have a few recap comments I'm looking forward to putting together tomorrow. One more day! Bring it!

Day: 88, P90X X Stretch

Workout

P90X X Stretch Status: Completed Good X Stretch day. I'm at work and forgot to update the blog this morning, so I've gotta cut this short. Bring it!