Day: 22, Insanity Pure Cardio

Ah! For some reason the blog didn't work again yesterday, and I just now saw that. Here's yesterday's post.

Workout

Insanity Pure Cardio Status: Completed Week 4 has begun! And today was by far my best Pure Cardio ever. I was a little worried how I'd do since I pushed through a really great chest and back workout this morning. I took a few hours off, and hit the gym around 4. The warmup was incredible! I took two or three breaks, but this was noticeably my strongest warmup yet. After the stretch I pushed really hard and ended up getting through three fourths of the whole thing with only two of three breaks. Somewhere near the end it caught up to me, and I didn't finish as well as I'd started, but overall this was the best pure cardio yet! I think I only do this one one more time, and that's in a few days. After that is recovery week, followed by Max Cardio. I think I'll be ready!

Workout

Insanity Cardio Abs Status: Completed Great cardio abs session too. My abs were on fire the whole time, and for some reason I think I figured out how to properly do the c sit position because today it ripped my abs up! This is definitely not ab ripper, but I'm finally starting to really dig it. I wonder what Insane Abs will be like in the second month. Dig Deep!

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed The final chest and back session for my Insanity doubles workout is done. Since it was my last one, I really pushed hard today and it turned out great. I woke up around 9 and got started early since tonight I knew I had pure cardio too and would need a break. I had a slow start since it is Sunday and I like to sleep in a little later, but I pushed through the workout. I wore the weight vest for the entire first half, and even though some of my numbers went down because of it I really feel like I get a stronger workout. The second half I took the vest off, which helped me get my numbers back up. Overall this is a still one of my favorite workouts and I'm glad I brought it with me for the first month of Insanity.

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed I also threw in a round of Supreme 90 Day and once again it was a good workout. I love the flys and the back exercise where you lie down and move the weights from behind you to above you are awesome. No weight work next week since it's recovery week, and when it comes back it'll be completely different workouts. I wonder what the Supreme 90 Day chest shoulders & arms workout is like, because depending how the max workouts go this will be joining me in month 2. Today is off to a great start. Lots of sitting is planned for the rest of the day, and pure cardio tonight. You'll of course read these out of order, but that's how it goes. Bring it!

Day: 15, Insanity Fit Test

Workout

Insanity Fit Test Status: Completed Solid fit test. All of my numbers went up, most by around 10! The last three exercises were all the same number of reps, but that's still good because nothing went down. I also did this one with Heather. She wanted to try Insanity, and I figured the fit test was a good place to start. She did a great job, and trying to show off for her definitely made me try a little bit harder. I think she may give Insanity a go at some point. I wish her luck if she does....these workouts are bananas!

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed I threw in another round of chest and back, and it went pretty well. I used the 12 lbs weight vest, which I read really added something to this workout. It definitely did. I was pretty wasted from the first workout, but pushed it and got some good reps in. I could only wear the vest for the first 8 sets on both rounds, but it went well.

Workout

Supreme 90 Day Chest and Back Status: Completed I threw in the Supreme 90 Day chest and back again. I've gotta say, I'm impressed by this workout. It's definitely different than P90X, but not bad at all. The three sets of the same two workouts concept feels a lot more like what I'm used to from the gym, and the speed of them actually reminds me a lot like Insanity. The only problem I have is the generic warmup and cooldown, but as an addition to P90X workouts it's awesome. Good speed, I break a sweat, original exercises (very different than P90X exercises) and in the end I end up doing double the reps than if I'd just done P90X. Week 3 has begun. Dig Deep!

Day: 8, Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance

Workout

Insanity Cardio Power & Resistance Status: Completed You'll be reading these out of order, but the app I use to write this blog uses the first workout listed as the title, and the Insanity workout deserves the title for the next few weeks. My final workout of the day was Cardio Power & Resistance. This is the second time I've done this workout, and so far I've decided it's my favorite. The cardio isn't terrible to keep up with, but definitely works me like crazy. I like the body weight exercises in here too. I had a little trouble keeping up with the warmup, partly because I was still recovering from my chest and back workout. I had drank a lot of water in between workouts too, and I felt that sloshing around in my stomach. But once I got past the stretch and got into the workout I felt like I kept up with the group pretty well. I definitely took breaks, but overall I was hanging in there. Maybe there will be a day that I can do this whole workout with stopping. We'll see. Week 2 has begun! I'm getting stronger and feeling amazing right now. Tomorrow I get up early for the dreaded return of Pure Cardio. Wish me luck, but I think I'm ready. Dig deep!

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed It's Sunday, one of my two doubles days. Last night we pulled an all nighter playing Halo, and there was a time change. Long story short, I'm coming off of a night of little sleep and a lot of junk food. Getting started was really hard, and I felt pretty drained through this workout. Even so, I pushed through and had a pretty solid chest & back workout. I definitely feel worked right now. Bring it!

Workout

Supreme 90 Day Chest and Back Status: Completed I added in the Supreme 90 Day Chest & Back workout today too. For some reason, even though I was exhausted during the P90X workout I actually got through this one really well. It's another circuit set of one chest and one back, repeat 3 times, and there's four sets of those types of circuits. There was some really different stuff from my other workouts in here and I really think I hit some new muscle areas. I also like the all the chest stuff isn't just pushups. There's some fly stuff in there too, which is great! I'm done with the muscle stuff, but I still have Insanity to do. I'm on break now, and working out in 2 or 3 hours. You'll read these out of order, but that's how it goes. Bring it!

Day: 1, Insanity Fit Test

Log Entry

Daily Note: The last six months flew by, and I have done P90X twice now! I remember years ago wondering if I would ever even try it, and I failed twice before. Then boom, six months and I beat it twice! I challenged myself and I did it. That's the thing I like about the home workout things. The body is nice, but it's not the promise of the body that drags me into the gym every day. It's the challenge! That 90 right there in the middle of P90X is just sitting there, asking if I can do this for 90 days. It's a challenge, and I brought it. And then I did it again! Now it's time for Shaun T's challenge. 60 days huh? I've done 3 sets of 60 days already. Bring it on Shaun T! I'm ready. Then I'll take GSP's challenge, and then I have a few more challenges of my own ready to go. I'm on my way. I wonder where I'll be in another six months!

Workout

Insanity Fit Test Status: Completed Insanity has officially begun. Today was the fit test, so nothing crazy....or so I thought going into it. This is the benchmark workout. Where in P90X they gave you time to write everything down, there isn't enough time in Insanity. Instead, every 2 weeks there's a fit test, and you measure your growth on that. My numbers were ok...nothing spectacular but all a few short of the test group folks' original starting numbers. I'm hoping I'll have major gains in the next two months. We'll see. One thing about this workout is the glimpse I got of what the Insanity workouts will be like. There were a lot of complex body movements, like bringing the knees to the side while in plank. Crazy. And fast! Even in plyo x, nothing was every incredibly fast. This whole thing was push push push, go go go! The next few weeks will be interesting. Week 1 has begun. It's time to Dig Deep!

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed As scheduled, I did my first mass workout style workout for Insanity, Chest & Back from P90X. Just the usual stuff for this workout, but I threw in the resistance pushup thing I bought a few weeks ago. It's two resistance bands with a piece of fabric in between. Basically it adds resistance to pushups, which it did. I didn't do it for all of the pushups, mostly because I didn't have time to put it on between sets. But it really did add something, and my pushups destroyed me. I will say my numbers went down a little, mostly from the resistance thing, but also because I did Insanity first. The fit test I'll always do before P90X workouts because I want to be fresh for those. When I have to do an actual Insanity workout though, I'll do P90X first, then probably take a break and do Insanity later or after work. That's partly because I heard you should do weights first, because you get the same benefits from cardio whether you're fresh or wrecked, and partly because I know I'll flake on the P90X workouts if I do them after. They're optional, and I don't want to treat them like that. The Insanity workouts are not optional, so they'll get done no matter what. Big changes are coming for the body! The next two months will be Insane! Bring it!

Day: 70, P90X Chest and Back

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed Today is supposed to be a rest day, but we're going hiking tomorrow and I didn't want to risk missing my final chest and back of round 2, so I did it today. Turned into an awesome workout too. All of my numbers went up, my pushups felt super quality and the pullups felt great too. Excellent workout, and I'm really glad I'm taking this one into Insanity with me. I want to get big and muscley, and this workout will definitely do it. Chest and Back for the win!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Since I moved Chest and Back to today I had to bring ab ripper with me. It's Saturday, and I eat poorly on Saturday's. Today was not a healthy breakfast, and I felt it in my stomach during ab ripper! But aside from that, I got a pretty decent ab ripper in, with 50 mason twists at the end. Only 5 more ab tippers to go in Round 2! Week 11 is off to a solid start, and I'm excited to go hiking tomorrow. Bring it!

Day: 57, P90X Chest and Back

Log Entry

Daily Note: Just a quick note that I skipped a yoga workout on Friday. I have no excuse, other than I woke up and decided two hours of sleep was what I needed. I had a lot of homework that night and Saturday I just needed the day off. Again, no excuses, but I missed the workout and I'm accepting it. It won't happen again, at least not for a long long while.

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed Welcome back Chest & Back! I love this workout because it always gets my blood flowing. Resistance workout at its best. I was really having trouble moving today, but I got through today's workout and despite being pretty tired I rocked out a great workout. My numbers went down a tiny bit from Week 3, but I know I pushed myself to my limit and it feels good. My pullup numbers dropped overall, but I was able to do real ones on every exercise, including the second round. The next time I do this workout will be the last time! Round 2 of P90X is flying by!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed I had a week off from ab ripper, and I'm really glad to have it back! I had a little trouble getting back into it, and the moves were a little hard to do all 25 of. I even got really worked during the leg climbs and side rises, two that I'm usually pretty strong on. I got through it, pushed myself really hard and as always rocked out all 50 mason twists. Awesome workout!

Workout

Martial Arts Status: Completed I had an extra burst of energy a few hours after ab ripper, and I decided to do another Muay Thai class. I worked an hour of kicks using the Bas Rutten DVD, and even though it wasn't the most strenuous workout the kicks really got my legs a good workout. The head kicks especially work the thighs. Just wanted to document this workout. Week 9 and Phase 3 are off to a great start. Bring it!

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: 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: 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: 71, P90X Chest and Back

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed Wow. I ate terribly last night, and felt terrible today! Not really how I was planning on starting Week 11, but we're here and it is what it is. Rough stomach or not I pushed play and suffered through chest and back. I've made huge improvements since Day 1 (the first time I ever did this workout) and even with the stomach issues, I managed to increase almost all of my numbers. This is the last time I do Chest and Back in my first round of P90X. I'm officially in the home stretch! The next time I do this workout, I'll officially be a P90X graduate, and I'll have officially started round 2!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed The stomach made today rough, and I let myself take it a little easy. I figured anything was better than nothing. Fortunately my numbers were all still pretty close to last week, so I'm still good. Week 11 is here and I'm ready to finish this whole thing strong. Bring it!

Day: 57, P90X Chest and Back

Log Entry

Daily Note: Today is Sunday and Halloween, so last night was a really (fun) rough night. There were drinks and candy and drinks and Sonic. And more Sonic for breakfast, which yes, I ate. Today was really rough, but I still forced myself to push play. Now that my workout is over, I actually feel a lot better, but today was not a strong P90X Day. That doesn't matter though. Today is Day 1 of Week 9, and Phase 3! Day 60 is just around the corner, and I'm starting Shakeology lunches tomorrow! It's time to finish strong!

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed Holy crap, I don't know if it's from last night (it probably is) or just because I haven't done this workout in a month, but I couldn't even keep up with my old numbers, let alone Tony and the crew. Don't get me wrong, I finished, but my numbers were a lot closer to Week 1 than Week 4. Looks like i have some work ahead of me as I enter the third and final phase. Side note, I've definitely pulled something in my left arm that hasn't fixed over the recovery week. I couldn't do any pullups on the bar and had to use the Total Gym for all of my pullups. A friend of mine says it'll just get stronger over time, but we'll see where I'm at during my second round of P90X.

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed I think warming up with Chest and Back helped, but this was still a rough Ab Ripper. No where near where I was two weeks ago, but still a ton better than I thought after today's other workout. Maybe not the best way to start Phase 3, but Week 9 has begun and I'm ready to kick this into gear! Bring it!

Day: 15, P90X Chest and Back

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed Ya, I ended up having a little too much fun last night, and as a result I feel like garbage today. My pushups were noticeably stronger, but overall I just couldn't give it my all on chest and back. I'm a little pissed about that, since today is the last time I'll see this workout until Week 9. Well, not the best way to start Week 3, but here we go. Bring it!

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed

Day: 8, P90X Chest and Back

Workout

P90X Chest and Back Status: Completed Today was really hard to get moving, but I finally hit play around 2pm. I felt a lot stronger on my pushups and added one or two more pullups to most of the sets. I still can't do very many, but it's getting there. My chest is dying right now! Good workout, but there's still a ways to go.

Workout

P90X Ab Ripper Status: Completed Today I was dragging on ab ripper. I did a few more reps on some of the exercises, but others that I can't do I'm just not getting myself into it. And I think I'm using too much lower back on a few things, but I'm not sure how to fix that. Ab ripper is done though and I'm drenched. I'll tackle this thing again on Tuesday!

Days 1 and 2

Welcome to Day 2. Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday, but I did get started. For P90X Classic, yesterday was Chest and Back. The pushups weren't terrible, but I'm in pain today. The pullups need some work. I'm not really able to do ANY pullups, but I struggled out one or two on each one. I have a Total Gym in the gar...age, so after each pullup set I'd pause it and do 10 pullups on there too. By the end, though, I was worked. Struggled through the finish, and my Ab Ripper X was pretty weak. Still, it's completed, so I feel good.

Today's a weird day schedule wise, so I woke up early to do Day 2; Plyometrics. This is going to be a tough one for me. My legs are dying right now, and the second half I'd say I crapped out. I finished, but not as strong as I wanted. By the end of this thing, I want to be able to do this whole DVD with a weight vest on. It might be ambitious, but hey, nothing's wrong with that.

Good luck today folks and I'll see you on Day 3.