P90X Day 5

Back at it again today. Completed the "Legs and Back" workout, burning 842 calories. The workout has an interesting title. Perhaps I just thought "back" meant back exercises, but it's really just upper back, specifically PULL-UPS. Having lived through some absolutely crazy workouts with Insanity, and clearly remembering those "power jumps" that put you in your place, I can safely say pull-ups are the hardest thing I've ever done. I probably hadn't done a pull-up since I was in high school. Put simply, they suck. They're painful and awkward, and I'm just weak at them. They probably did 3-4 different kinds, for about 40-50 seconds at a time, spread evenly throughout the 1-hour workout. I could do 2-4 each time. The models were doing 10-20. Yikes! Some were easier than others. The close-arm forward pull-ups were the hardest for me. The wide-arm was easier. And the reverse pull-ups (i.e. chin-ups) were the easiest. But they were still all hard, and I will be one sore puppy tomorrow!

I suppose the elephant in the room is, "Where they heck have I been since last Thursday?", and you'd be right. I haven't worked out for a week. I have accepted the fact that because of changes in my job at work, I don't have as much time as I had back when I did Insanity. I will not get up early to workout. Sorry, but sleep is more important to me. Others may choose differently, but that's my choice. I do, however, continue to diet, and I've reduced my calories on days I'm unable to workout. I'm not going to set a goal for a number of days per week. I'm just going to do it every day I can, and continue through the P90X Lean schedule. If things quiet down and I can get on more of a schedule, I will do so.

Ok so perhaps there's one more elephant: "Why didn't I do the Yoga workout for Day 4?" The answer is simple: It's TOO long. I don't have 90 straight minutes of free time. I know it's a great, but hard, workout. I will do it when I can.

On a much more positive note, my weight has come down 9 pounds in the past 2 weeks, so I'm doing something right. Eating unlimited fruit and veggies, minimizing carbs, avoiding saturated fat, minimizing sodium (or at least trying to not eat more than you should), and trying to eat 4-5 meals a day....It's all working. I feel great, but I'm already sore. Tomorrow morning is going to be rough!

Til tomorrow!

Cardio Burn

Today's workout was supposed to be P90X Yoga, which is a 90 minute torture-fest (or so I hear). I simply did not have time for that, so I'll continue with Day 4 tomorrow. However, there was no way I was skipping a workout, so I pulled up the free workouts on Comcast On Demand, and found Cardio Burn, a 28 minute workout that started out very easy, but got to be almost Insanity level for a few minutes. I'll admit I was impressed. If you have Comcast, just go to the Fitness section, then find the Advanced Cardio workouts.

I burned 474 calories in only 28 minutes, with my heart rate peaking at 179 and averaging 149. With Insanity Month 2 workouts averaging about 60 minutes, the calorie burn rate is on par.

No picture today because it wasn't P90X.

See ya!

P90X Day 3

Tonight was Shoulders and Arms. I was also supposed to do Ab Ripper X but my abs were still sore from the past two days so I skipped it. My wife Meghan joined me again tonight, but the kids were nowhere to be seen. I guess once was enough for them!

I burned 713 calories. There no cardio whatsoever. It was pure weightlifting, but it was actually really fun! Tony Horton is a complete cheeseball. He reminds me of Steve Carell on The Office, especially (in previous workout) when he kept calling Pam "Blam". He even smirks at the camera. He's the fittest geek I've ever seen, but I'm enjoying his workouts.

It could not be more different from Insanity, in just about every way. The moves in P90X are trickier, and he doesn't give much instruction, so you really have to watch the people in the videos. I like how each of them do the exercise a bit differently.

That's it for now!

P90X Day 2

Day 2 of P90X lean and I just completed the Cardio X program. While I burned 587 calories, and my heart rate peaked at 179 and averaged 141, I wouldn't consider this to be a pure cardio workout. It was not only certainly easier than the Core Synergistics I did yesterday, but also much easier than any of the Insanity cardio workouts which have almost no rest whatsoever. Still, today was a good mix of yoga, kempo (punching and kicking), and plyo. We did some more "Superman Banana" (see yesterday's post) as well.

While it's far too early to judge P90X, there are some things that are already apparent. It will have less cardio than Insanity, as I already said above. I think this is pretty consistent with the "non-coach" reviews (if you can actually fine any online). But I think it will tone muscle, especially the core, much better. I definitely prefer the core moves in P90X over Insanity so far, but I haven't done Ab Ripper X yet (which comes later this week).

As for my diet today, I started with oatmeal as usual. I had a business lunch and did a salad with some shrimp on top, balsamic vinaigrette on the side. Lots of water today, but I did have a couple diet Cokes which I generally avoid. Dinner will be some turkey tacos once I cool down. I'll be in a more normal rhythm the rest of the week, with morning workouts and most meals at home.

I also restarted my favorite P90X recovery drink, which tastes as good as I remember!

Take care!

P90X Day 1

Just completed my first P90X workout, titled Core Synergistics. It was about an hour long, and was pretty much a full body workout with an emphasis on core. It had some cardio and some weight work, but the most memorable section was "Superman Banana". Yes, you read that right. It's basically two moves that alternate back and forth. Superman is you laying on your stomach, then lifting your arms, head, feet and knees off the floor. Then he says Banana, so you role over onto your back and do the same thing, keeping your feet, legs, head and arms up. It's a brutal core workout but it's kind of fun.

I'd say compared to Insanity, this was definitely easier, but that's probably because it wasn't so hard cardio-wise. Still, I burned 878 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 191 and averaging 149. That's a bit too high from a peak perspective, but that will improve over the next 2 weeks as I get back into some cardio shape. It's amazing (and disappointing) how quickly that fades! Good thing is, it comes back just as fast (or so I'm told!).

The bonus for tonight was we all did the workout, including the kids. Everyone finished it, too!

As for this blog, yes I will be doing it every day, and yes I will be including a picture. I just don't trust myself without it. And one more yes...yes, I'm wearing the yellow shirt again! (for those who read my last Insanity blog!)

Finally, I'll be dieting again. Back to about 4-5 meals a day. Low sodium. Low fat. Only good carbs. Lots of fruit and veggies. And I need it, having put about 10 pounds back on since I limped across the finish line of my second round of Insanity. It's great to be back!

A new beginning!

I'm back! After pretty much taking the summer off, the kids are back at school and I'm heading back to the basement. 

But no Insanity this time around! I swapped programs with my brother-in-law. He'll be doing Insanity, and I will be doing P90X! 

I put about 10 pounds back on over the summer, in large part due to the 7-day cruise my wife and I took. 

So I'll be doing the "lean" P90X which has more cardio then the "regular" P90X. 

I decided I need to blog to keep myself accountable, so I'll be posting 6 days a week with photos once again!

Wish me luck!

Insanity Round 2 Day 58: 1002 Reasons to Continue!

Did you miss me? Sorry for not posting a blog in a week or so. I'll admit I've been slacking off on that a bit, but don't worry, I'm still on my endless journey to be fit. The kids are out of school. My schedule has been crazy at work, and something just has to give sometimes. Regardless, I'm still working out and my Insanity continues. This is the last week, but I will say I on continuing ad-hoc Insanity workouts until I can get the P90X workout program from my brother-in-law. He will be doing Insanity, so it's a good switch. To be honest, I'm really looking forward to a new program. I've been at this for almost 6 months on and off, and as much as I enjoy the workouts, too much of a good thing is just that. Some variety will be very welcomed!

As for today, I completed my favorite Month 2 workout: Max Interval Circuit. I burned 1002 calories (hence the name of my post today) and felt great. The only move I didn't do was the "plank punches", which is the last move of the last circuit. They really tweak my rotator cuffs, so instead I did some dumbbell bicep work again.

Have a great rest of the week!

Insanity Round 2 Day 50: Back At It Again!

After a few days off of Insanity due to business travel and the weekend, I was back at it again today with Max Interval Circuit. I burned 831 calories, with my heart rate maxing at 165 and averaging 137.

As for the past weekend, I put down 32 bags of mulch as my primary workout, and given the 85 degree temperatures with high humidity, I sweat through about 4 T-shirts that day. I always find it funny when I catch myself keeping my core tight while lifting something, like a big bag of mulch. Shaun T has definitely retrained me!

Have a great week!

Taking 2 days off due to business travel...

I'm in Pittsburgh today and tomorrow, so no Insanity workout or blog until Friday. Have a good week!

Insanity Round 2 Day 44: New Workout Today!

Today I completed an Insanity workout that I've NEVER done before. Long story short, there is a Deluxe version of Insanity (that I didn't order) that includes a few extra workouts. I found out about that after I ordered Insanity so I ended up ordering the bonus DVDs separately. One of the bonus workouts is called Max Interval Sports Training. I did that today. All I can say is WOW!

It was very hard. The structure of the workout was very different from all other Insanity workouts. No warm-up stretch. A lot more breaks. No circuits. Every move was new and different, with most lasting 30 seconds to 2 minutes. But the workouts were far more strenuous and intense. The low plank walks were simply not possible for me. Try it yourself if you don't believe me! Get down on the floor into a plank position as if you were doing a push-up, then lower yourself down and hold, with your elbows back (not out) to really stress your triceps. The only things touching the floor are your hands and toes. No knees. Then try walking your body with your hands and feet to the left or right (right hand and right foot together, then left hand and left foot together). Make sure you try this on a carpeted floor or you may fall flat on your face like I did. I couldn't do it at all! My triceps are simply not strong enough yet, even after almost 2 months of Insanity. Crazy stuff.

Anyway, I still loved it, because it was great doing a bunch of new moves I hadn't seen before. It was like finding a long, lost Insanity workout, and after all these months.

I burned 747 calories in 54 minutes, with my heart rate peaking at 185 (during the sprint "ladders") and averaging 139. The average is low because there are a lot of breaks. It's not non-stop cardio, which I'll admit was a nice change of pace.

I emptied my water bottle and completely soaked through my shirt again!

Insanity Round 2 Day 43: Weekend Rehab!

After taking a couple days off for my band's gig and Father's Day, it was back to reality today. I opted not to follow the schedule exactly this week, and did Max Interval Circuit instead of Max Cardio today. I always burn the most calories with Max Interval Circuit, and after eating at Buffalo Wild Wings (where I ate wings and a bacon cheeseburger) I needed it! But no regrets. Letting loose a bit every weekend is what keeps me going all week. Some people need to go cold turkey. Others need the occasional turkey with gravy. You'll need to determine what works best for you.

I burned 958 calories today, with me heart rate peaking at 175 and averaging 150. I also added some bicep weight training as I did last week. That seems to be working well, as I already can see a bit more definition. It will be helpful going into P90X next month!

And if you're wondering why my shirt looks all one color, it's not because I didn't sweat. It's because I sweat all the way through it!

Have a great week...

Insanity Round 2 Day 39: Sanity Check!

One of the nice things about this not being Round 1 is that I'm free to mix things up a bit. Today, instead of doing the Recovery workout, I tried something I've never done before. I purchased the new "Sanity Check" DVD that is meant for people who are going to start Insanity but may not be quite ready to jump right in. It's a single workout, only 26 minutes long, and it's a bit easier than a typical Month 1 workout. The moves are a bit simplified and less stressful, and there are only two repetitions through each set, instead of three. But still, it was a nice way to do something different and still got my heart rate up. I bought this as a gift for my brother-in-law, Mike, who will be starting Insanity once I complete it in a few weeks.

So today I burned 393 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 172 and averaging 143. Pretty good numbers considering the short duration of the workout (keeping in mind that all workouts include a 10-12 minute warm-up/stretch and 3 minute cool-down stretch.)

I've got a band gig tomorrow, so this will be my last workout this week. The Month 2 workouts are just too hard to do, then having to go off and play drums that evening. My arms are too exhausted, as I learned earlier this week during rehearsal. So I'll get back into this on Sunday or Monday (in case you didn't notice, I started this week's workouts on Tuesday so I'm kind of off the schedule a day or so, but no biggie).

Have a great weekend!

Insanity Round 2 Day 38: Max Cardio!

I completed Max Cardio today, burning 704 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 171 and averaging 145. I did not have time to eat breakfast before my workout today so I definitely had less energy. I also had some soreness for the first time, this time in my upper back, probably from pushing so hard the past 2 days. But hey, this is Month 2 and it's not supposed to be easy!

Regarding breakfast, you may be saying, "There's always time for breakfast", but for me, there isn't. I need to eat 45-60 minutes before I workout or I get a cramp, and to do that I would've had to get up an hour earlier than I did. There are 3 things important to me fitness-wise. They are sleep, working out, and eating right. And it's in that order. Sleep is #1, by far. It's also the one that usually gets the short end of the stick with most people, but without a good night's sleep I'll never have the energy to get through the day, yet alone an Insanity workout. Everyone is different, but I've learned a lot about what I need to do to maintain my energy over the past several months, and sleep is the key for me!

Anyway, have a great rest of the week, and that's for reading my blog today.

 

Insanity Round 2 Day 37: Catching up Since Feb 11, 2013!

Wow! I forgot how crazy this workout is. Max Interval Plyo is a real butt kicker! I continue to incorporate some bicep weight training, and my arms now feel like wet noodles. And of course, I have band practice again tonight, and as a drummer, arms come in handy.

I felt beat up at the end. My body was done, just done, by the end. I burned 903 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 180 and averaging 151. Compared to yesterday, as you can see, the calorie counts are a bit down. This is to be expected because the focus of Plyometrics is less cardio and more explosive strength. Believe me, you still get up there, particularly with the Power Jumps (which are still a beast to do over and over).  But still, I enjoyed the workout. Compared to Round 1, I was able to complete many more moves and at a faster pace. I was hating life after these two workouts last time around, but not so this time. They've been tough, but far more doable than before. That's a good feeling!

Ok, so what's so special about Feb 11, 2013? It's the first date I wore my heart monitor. While I didn't bring it to Asia, and sometimes I opt not to wear it, or forget to wear it, I still found some interesting statistics that I hadn't noticed before. It's been logging the duration, number of sessions, and total calories I've burned since that date almost exactly 4 months ago. So here you go...

Since Feb 11, 2013, for the sessions that I did wear my heart rate monitor I've completed the following:

- 70 hours, 21 minutes and 1 second of workouts
- 75 individual sessions
- 48,571 total calories burned

One of the interesting things I can calculate is, based on the 48,571 calories burned, I can calculate that since 1 pound equals approximately 3000 calories for me, if I divide 48,751 by 3000, I get 16. That means that I've worked off 16 pounds since February, regardless of my diet. In other words, if I ate 48,751 additional calories than I did, I would weigh the same that I weighed then, but I don't. I'm actually down around 30 pounds. This tells my I've lost about 16 pounds from working out, and another 14 pounds from eating right. That may not all be perfect since there are certainly other factors, but it's interesting to think about. So many people say getting fit is a balance between working out and eat right. Turns out they were right!

And yes, I just divulged my weight loss after all this time. I'm down 30 pounds since I started. Sometimes it's 33 pounds, sometimes 27. It fluctuates A LOT throughout the day and on any given day. In general I continue to lose about a pound a week, which is fine by me. Weight loss was never my primary driver (but I'll take it! Ha!)

Til tomorrow!

Insanity Round 2 Day 36: Welcome to Month 2!

After a couple of days off with the extended family in town, I'm back in the Insanity saddle once again. Today marked the beginning of Month 2 of Insanity, and it was as hard as I remember from Round 1. It absolutely kicked my butt today, but I loved it.

I completed the Max Interval Circuit workout today, which was an hour long (50% longer than any workout from Month 1). I burned 1027 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 178 and averaging a whopping 160! From the beginning of the warm-up to the very last move, this workout is HARD! I sweat through my shirt almost completely and drained my water bottle. Still, I think I did better than I ever did in Round 1, and I loved every minute of it. All the moves are a bit different than in Month 1, mostly to make them more difficult, but it's also nice to mix things up a bit. It's great to be in the home stretch. Four more weeks and I'll be done with Insanity and onto P90X!

Have a great week!

Insanity Round 2 Day 33: TGIF!

Today is Friday! I completed Core Cardio & Balance today, but didn't wear my heart rate monitor, so no stats today. If you're wondering what happened to Day 32, I didn't workout yesterday. Instead I mulched some of the landscaping before the rain got too heavy, then had band practice for 2 hours last night. What can I say? That's real life!

Anyway, still feeling great. Down another pound. And the weekend is officially ON!

 

Insanity Round 2 Day 31: Mixing Things Up a Bit!

So today I decided to mix things up a bit. Yes, I completed the Core Cardio & Balance program, but I paused just as the "hip flexor burn" segment started and decided to lift some weights. This is the first time I've incorporated weights since I started getting into shape. I dusted off a pair of 15 pound dumbbells and a 50 pound barbell buried deep in my basement, and did about 10 minutes of bicep, shoulder and upper back work. I've been thinking about this for a while, because there really aren't any bicep exercises in Insanity. I worked up quite a sweat doing 2 sets of about 10 reps of several different lifts. I think I'd like to add this 3 times a week going forward to see if I can tone my biceps a bit over the next 4 weeks. We'll see how it goes!

I didn't pause my heart rate monitor, so my total calories burned was higher than yesterday, given the additional time and energy expelled during my short weight lifting session. I burned a total of 549 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 166 and averaging 129.

I was down another pound from last week when I weighed in this morning, so feeling good. No soreness. Knees and back holding up very well, so onward I go!

Obviously one of my favorite workout shirts!

Insanity Round 2 Day 30: Day 30?!? And This is Recovery??

If you haven't been reading my blog, you may wonder how I went from Day 27 to Day 30 in 1 day. But if you have been reading my blog, you already know, so I won't repeat it yet again.

Regardless, here I am on Day 30 and it's MY first day of Core Cardio & Balance. I remembered this being a much easier workout than it was! It's not really heavy cardio, but the muscle work at the end is really tough. I'm going to be sore tomorrow I suspect, especially my shoulders!

Anyway, I burned 469 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 168 and averaging 132. As you can see, much lower numbers, but they don't reflect the muscle work that the heart rate monitor doesn't pick up. Four more days of this, then a day off, then it's onto Month 2!

Insanity Round 2 Day "27": I Should Be Recovering, But No...

Today is Monday. It should be my first Recovery workout between Month 1 and Month 2, but I didn't complete my Saturday "Day 27" workout. Instead, my wife and I did 4 hours of yard work on Saturday, and another 2 on Sunday. Re-edging landscaping beds in preparation for new mulch, trimming bushes, weeding...all that kind of really fun stuff. We both were sweating like crazy doing all that back-breaking work, so I was in no shape or mood for an Insanity workout after that. I remember back from Round 1 how repetitive the Recovery week was, so I figured a good option would be to complete my last "real" workout today then do the Recovery the rest of the week. So that's what I did!

Anyway, I completed Plyometric Cardio Circuit today. I burned 612 calories, with my heart rate peaking at 173 and averaging 145. I felt really good today. My cardio continues to improve, and it's getting harder and harder to get my hear rate up to 180. My recovery time also continues to improve. It was really gratifying to know I've completed Month 1 yet again, but I'm not looking forward to Month 2. If you've never done Month 2, you may not understand, but if you have, you certainly do. The workouts are 50% longer (60 minutes instead of 40), and the moves themselves are much more intense. But that's still a week away, so I won't worry too much about it today.

Have a great week!

Insanity Round 2 Day 26: Quick Cardio Today!

Had a short 25-minute workout window today due to work commitments, but I squeezed in a good chunk of Pure Cardio. I burned 378 calories, peaked at 162 and averaged 137. I felt great and pushed hard, but couldn't get my heart rate to get up too high. As I've said before, the human body is a mystery, and looking for consistency on a micro scale is pointless. I had a gig with my band last night, burning a lot of additional calories playing the drums for 3 hours, so overall I'm feeling good about all the cardio I'm getting each week.

Have a great weekend!