Fallen Soldier

Just wanted to take a second and hand out a Purple Heart to Alex out in Cali. During Legs & Back at the end of last week apparently he managed to dislocate his knee/kneecap. I guess he just isn't cut out for this, but nevertheless the doctors are discussing whether or not he will be able to do the program again, or if we should go ahead and have him put down. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, good luck Alex, hope you heal fast and get back at it....my P90X Army can't afford casualties.

Day 19-21 - Near Catastrophe

I went out of town this weekend, I was best man in a buddies wedding down in Springfield....definitely drank more booze than is recommended in the P90X diet book, but kept the diet pretty clean.

I couldn't work out Friday with everything going on, so I woke up saturday and did Legs& Back. About halfway through the workout I was rocking out some pullups and felt a massive tug through my neck and shoulder. It hurt like hell and then I tried to do some more, bad mistake. I finished the workout (skipping pullups) but I still struggle looking left. Luckily, it's recovery week this week, so I'll do alot of running and just core synergistics, so it should be healed up for week 5 when it rolls around....hopefully.

I feel almost lazy now, I don;t know what to do with myself on recovery week. I realize I'll still be running and working out, but it seems like I'm slacking off....I guess getting injured was my bodies way of saying I needed some lower impact stuff for a week anyway though.

One of my ambitious coworkers is starting the program soon now as well...slowly but surely I'm creating a ripped P90X Army, I should get paid for this....

Day 18 - Running and Treats

So, yesterday I ran instead of doing Kenpo, dudn't get heat rash related hives, but still probably lost 15 pounds worth of sweat. Not much else to say, so I thought I would drop a real easy recipe/meal for you guys that you can fix in less than 10 minutes for dinner. This is set up for phase 1, so High protein and low carbs.

Ingredients:

6-8oz Thawed Chicken tenderloin

1 Sliced Whole Wheat (no processed flour) English Muffin

1 Cup mixed vegetables

4oz juice

Crushed red pepper

Minced Garlic

Salsa of Choice

1 slice fat-free swiss (or fat-free Cheese of choice)

Ok, it's very simple:

1) Preheat the foreman grill

2) Place chicken on grill and add crushed red pepper at your discretion

3) Add 1/3rd cup water, cup of veggies, crushed red pepper and some minced garlic in some tupperwear, seal it and microwave for 4 minutes.

3) Monitor chicken and turn over when crushed red pepper side is well cooked, doesnt take more than 5 minutes

4) Add more crushed red pepper to other side of chicken at your discretion

5) Toast english muffin

6) Add slice of cheese to allow it to melt over the muffin

7) Remove chicken and cut up to fit easily on the muffin, add desired amount of salsa, build sandwich

8) Veggies are done and you're eating in less than 10 minutes. ( I like to slice my sandwich in half)

9) I usually drink 4oz of juice to add some simple carbs.

It's extremely simple, fast and very cheap. If you guys come up with any meals that fit P90x criteria, but aren't in the book, post them or send them to me and I'll put recipes up peridically.

Day 17 Shoulders & Arms

I didn't feel as much of an improvement yesterday, but I did push it a bit harder. S & A is pain in the ass with bands, it's as simple as that....but I still don't want to spend the cash on dumbbells.

For anyone who has actually watched the videos, I really like the stretch "Karen's Pot Stirrers", but I've found myself reaching for the remote to mute the volume every time I do them. My wife feels the same way, I need to release an edited version of the videos where I don't have to listen to whatever dumb, pre-scripted soups Tony and his followers come up with, it drives me crazy, especially his comments about dairy products.

Regardless, doing an hour run today in lieu of Kenpo, even though it's hot as hell. Keep pressin' play guys, how does everyone feel after S&A?

Day 16 - Plyo Madness

I'm kind've suprised at this point how much I've improved in three weeks. Plyo is still certainly not easy, but I recover much faster from the exercises an no longer skip any portion of them (previously sometimes I would start at 23-25 seconds instead of 30). So it is nice to see continued improvement.

The boys (and lady) of summer out in Cali completed their first workout Monday (one unnamed person decided Abs wasn't in his best interest, I won't say his name but it starts with an A and ends with lex). I'm sure their first plyo was fun and even though they might be a little sore, if they tried hard they have about 24 more hours until they can no longer walk normally for a few days.

You're pain motivates me, keep punishing yourselves for my benefit.

Days 12-15

Followed up a weekend with no posting followed by a Monday with crazy amounts of work, sorry for the lack of updates.

Still going strong, rocked out legs & back on friday and then ran on Saturday. Drank quite a bit this weekend, but the diet is still pretty solid. Played my one round of golf per year on Sunday and overall a pretty nice weekend. Last night I did abs before Chest & Back and crushed it.. followed by a good C & B. I keep improving, which is nice....every workout I do more reps than the time before or go a little bit harder.

In other news a couple good friends of mine out in San Diego supposedly started the program yesterday and I'm dying to hear how that went. So whenever you wake up from your exercise induced coma, make sure to post on here how it went.

Day 10-11 - Shoulders & Arms + Running

So I had some health complications yesterday, worked from home and chose not to post.

Wednesday night I worked out late and dominated S & A. Stepped up my weight and felt really good about it. I'm definitely noticing an improvement in strength and appearance, but I'm sure alot of that is the diet as well.

Then yesterday morning I went to the dentist because of a broken tooth. Apparently I'm now old enough that my early childhood fillings are cracking and breaking my teeth, it's kind've depressing. They jacked around near my nerve quite a bit, it hurt like a bitch, then told me I had to wait a month to get the pieces of my tooth replaced and put in some temporary BS on the tooth and told me not to eat on that side. I left the office, mouth still aching wanting to punch someone else in the face, so I worked from home(something I really need to figure out how to do every day). Answering a serious question from the head of another department while wearing your underwear is my kind of professionalism.

It was 95 with a heat index over 100 yesterday and Mel and I waited to run till after 8:00 when it was still like 90. Actually we waited because I had a burger that was over a half-pound at 6 and was still feeling the after effects. I decided to run instead of doing Kenpo, which kind've seemed more likely to hyperextend my joints then actually give me a workout. So, we're running along, it ridiculously hot and hard to breathe, the burger is like a rock in my stomach and I'm about to vomit. We run maybe 3.5 miles and I'm extremely hot, but not overly sick. I knew I was dehydrated because I hadn't drank much water that day, but once we go inside I start itching everywhere.....and then it gets worse. I jump in a cold shower while my skin starts to change into something resembling tree bark. I had heat rash related hives apparently, which if you've never experienced them, is sort of like the physical manifestation of the feelings you get when watching Nancy Pelosi on TV.

It finally passed after an hour or two and some benadryl, but yesterday was quite eventful regardless....in a sad, I live in the middle of Missouri kind of way.

Legs & Back today....plus it's friday, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

Day 9 - Plyo

I was a machine yesterday rocking out Plyo. Maybe like a '82 LeBaron, but a machine nontheless.

It felt pretty good, I was certainly tired and worked my ass off, but I felt alot better than the previous week. Maybe the extra cantelope I ate yesterday afternoon made all the difference. For any of you that actually watch the videos, Pam "The Blam" is pathetic. If you guys are following her version of the routine you may as well skip the routine and sign up for a senior citizens pool therapy session, because the effort just isn't there. But don't worry, on the other side is the one-legged guy to remind you that no matter how well you do, you're still pathetic.

Tonight is shoulders & arms with some ab ripper X thrown into the mix. I'm ready for it, gotta get the guns ready for beach season...at the local redneck lake. I hate all of you from California.

Day 8 - Chest & Back

Chest & Back. Solid workout, still with the embarassing faceplant Divebombers at the end. This week going in my energy was gone, I think it's due to a lack of carbs. I had my carbs at dinner and later on did Ab-Ripper X and tore it up, so I might add an additional carb serving with some fruit during the day.

On another note, if you havent seen The Hangover, you need to. Now. Soon. It's very funny stuff and deserves all of the accolades it gets. Also, if you aren't doing P90X, but you have access to the discs, then get off your ass and do it already. You should see me, I've been doing it for a week and I'm already irresistably sexy ( according to my wife, but I'm convinced all the ladies feel this way). Seriously, it's the real deal, do it already.

You know you have time, you just aren't making time.

Days 5-7 - L&B, Kenpo and Rest

I was lazy over the weekend and I apologize to my maybe 5 readers that I didn't update the blog.

Legs & Back was good fun, I haven't done wall sits in years and it was definitely alot of pullups. But overall a real solid workout and legs is something many people overlook. It burns alot, but overall a good setup.

Kenpo X was disappointing. Part of it has to do with I ran a marathon recently and my aerobic fitness is pretty solid, but I found myself turning up intensity during breaks to try and get my heart rate up. I also tried too hard on punches and such and strained my shoulders a bit. In the future I think I'll keep doing Kenpo, but also run a few miles on those days as well.

Rest was nice, Mel came home after running a marathon in Idaho on Saturday and we stocked up on food and got ready for this week. She doesn't have another race for a month, so we'll step up the P90X together.

Overall, solid first week, more acclimated now and not too terribly sore as long as my shoulder does OK on Chest & back today.

Day 4 - Yoga X

Well, I failed. Yoga is unbelievably difficult for someone with no flexibility like me, but I did what i could. The problem is the majority of the time I was trying to figure out what to do, instead of actually doing it....I'd recommend watching the dvd a time or two before doing this DVD.

Quick entry today, working hard and trying to find a new car to buy....I'll update you on legs and back tomorrow.

Day 3 -Shoulders & Arms

Let me preface S&A by saying that I was completely correct....my legs are most certainly more sore 2 days after Plyometrics than the day after. I am not pleased that I was correct.

Shoulders & Arms is definitely one of those "what you put into it" kind've workouts. Of course they all are, but especially with bands you have to make sure you don't slack. I felt like the first half I should've worked harder, but it was still solid. This workout will certainly serve as an impetus to getting the selecttech dumbbells. Some of the exercises are just kind've silly with the bands and hard to do. I also feel like it would be alot easier to push myself using the weights.

That being said, bands work fine, especially if you aren't certain about you're committment or you are broke, because they certainly aren't cheap. The 5-52.5 pound selecttechs go for like 350-400.

Overall, I like S&A, but next time I'll bring it a bit harder. Now for Ab Ripper X I felt good. In an excrutiatingly painful way. I was able to do more exercises and complete the mason twists section, so thats coming along slowly. If things go according to plan and I stop drinking water and take 50 pounds of Hydroxycut maybe my abs will look like the guy on the right in the video after 6 months of this....time will tell.

So far Dan is the only person who really cares to comment and he's on another continent, let's pick it up people.

Day 2 - Plyometrics

Plyo is like Polar Bears, it looks innocent enough....sitting there smiling, drinking coke, looking cute and cuddly, until you get near it and try to play with it and it mauls your face and eats your extremities before you realize what happened. Watching the video it looks simple, but when done in sequence, Plyometrics will mess you up. My legs are sore today, but I can tell it will be even worse tomorrow.

I also found out I need a bigger living room, I'm going to have rearrange all my furniture before doing Plyo next time. Once I'm done with this program I will also probably hate Jump Squats forever, but I liked the workout for being different and it definitely leaves a lot of room for growth.

Diet went well yesterday, but we hit a little speed bump with lack of ingredients for lunches today. I'll have to hit the store tonight and for lunch I might just have a foot long chicken breast with only half the bread from Subway. With Shoulders & Arms tonight, I could probably use a couple extra carbs.

How was everyone else's Plyo experience?

Day 1 - Chest & Bizzle

So, I have a confession to make, which I'm sure you all noticed: I didn't post Day 1 photos. In fact, I didn't even take them, but I will remedy that soon.

Yesterday was Day 1 and we stuck with the diet just fine, only one day, but off to a strong start there and it has continued this morning. The fact that I had done chest & back a couple times prior to yesterday helped me immensely. I'm sore today, but not too bad....the workout itself is still brutal. It feels great, but seriously F*ck Dive Bombers. Especially the last set at the end, I nearly broke my nose falling on my face.

I am also going to start doing Ab Ripper X at lunch instead of right after the strength training. I felt like I was being held back by general fatigue instead of pure abdominal fatigue, so I think the workout would be better if it were spread out. I'm also going to invest in a mat, some of the ab exercises are too hard on the hip and tailbones.

I've heard there is a pile of crap where Mauzy used to be, so his workout seemed to go well, my wife is taking it easy pre-marathon this week, but still did C&B last night as well. Another good friend, Mick, said he was starting tonight, interested to hear how that went. Plyometrics tonight, I'm looking forward to jumping around like an idiot....

Lay your comments on me people.

Into the Rabbit Hole

So the day of judgement is upon us...I tried eating my first P90X meal today and it's official: I can't stomach 12 oz of cottage cheese. The huge omelet and banana fine, but 12 oz of cottage cheese isn't happening, I'm definitely going to find a substitute.

I'm pretty excited to get this thing rolling this evening, Mel will be home late so we won't get started till later, but I'm very interested to see how she reacts to the training. She's run 26 marathons, so she's certainly not a pansy, but she hates strength training and she has a marathon this weekend again, so she might take it easy this week.

The much anticipated Day 1 photos will be taken and added after I get home tonight, Mel is going to take some as well, but sorry guys, Mel's won't be posted online. Also, despite numerous requests from random sources, I will not take requests for specific poses.

Stay tuned for a description of the carnage later tonight.

So....I ran a Marathon.

Marathons are long and they are certainly not easy.  However, I have now run one and I feel pretty good about it.  We finished in a little over 4.5 hours, which isn't great, but not terrible for a first timer.  Few points to make about Marathons:

1) They are very long.

2) Running 26.2 miles and eating nothing but basically sugar will bother your stomach.

3) Having friends and strangers to support you helps significantly.

4) What was I thinking?

I will run a few more marathons before I die I suspect, the next one being Phoenix in January.  But first I have to climb the mountain that is P90X.  Mel and I are already toning down the project slightly.  We wrote down everything we would need to buy for week1 on the meal plan and decided we didn't want to spend 400 dollars a week on food.  So we are going to edit the meals a bit, keep the same general calories and constitution, but use cheaper proteins and ingredients.  Shouldn't affect us a whole lot, but will also cut down on preparation time.

Have another crazy weekend coming up, full of floating on a river without paddling and drinking beer.  If we survive that, the day everyone has been waiting for is on Monday....we start P90X, but more importantly: Day 1 Photos.  Stay tuned.