Well almost, just YogaX and Xstretch left to do. I've decided I don't like YogaX. I like Yoga, just...YogaX isn't a yoga session, it is an isometric stretch session and while hard and good for you, it has no flow.
Recovery week has no sculpting in it or Ab Ripper X. Can't say I miss Ab Ripper X, but the break will probably mean I'll be better at it next week. Usually that is what it means.
So how am I doing? 6lbs in 4 weeks, so not bad!
Phase II doesn't change much, and I'll likely not have much to report. Phase III will have to wait until after I am a married woman.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Week 3 in the Books
Week #3 is in the books. My favorite is KenpoX, it is super fast I don't need extra warm-up and you burn a ton of calories. In fact I am sitting on the couch, the morning after, and my tooshy is still tired.
This coming week is a recovery week, and it probably is well timed. My food this past week was up and down, I was STARVING half of the days and so it was hard to stay on the path. I may have lost half of a pound (my scale doesn't do anything but whole pounds and was confused as to what weight I was this morning), but as of now there was no weight loss this past week. I also wanted steak, which I never want when I'm not at the end of my cycle (yes I went there, it happens). I am pretty sure I started to put on muscle. I'm starting to see some changes in my back an my tricep area. I don't see any changes in my middle or legs, but this is not surprising.
I did notice an improvement in Ab Ripper X. I added a towel under my butt because balancing on my tooshy hurts, like actually hurts in the tail bone. This helped a lot, so I am not distracted by what my butt feels like and can just get on with exercising. I am now doing all the in-outs and actually tried a couple with my arms up. If I do them with my arms up I am toasted for the rest of abs, so well, I'm not putting my arms up. I also have now gotten more than half of the mason twists at the end, which is a great improvement over the 10 I did the first time. I also am thankful for the "break" of full sit-ups since I can do those and at least feel like I'm doing something right.
This coming week is recovery week #1 which means I'm 1/3 of the way done! How quickly this goes.
So: Monday = YogaX, Tuesday = Core Synergistics, Wednesday = KenpoX, Thursday = X-Stretch, Friday = CardioX, Saturday = YogaX and Sunday = X-Stretch. This means I have to be really careful about what I eat since I won't be burning 500 calories a day, well I will on Tuesday and Wednesday. The rest of the days I'll be burning about 150calories or well, 4 like I do during X-stretch. I won't be adding the walking I have been adding to my workouts, I'm just going to "recover."
Pete and I are dancing on top of this. Tuesday nights are salsa, which I wore my heart rate monitor one night and burned 200 calories in an hour. Now this is not overly exciting, but if you burn 500 calories in the morning and then 200 more...you gotta be careful. We're adding ANOTHER dance class Wednesday night, though it is an intro class to discuss our wedding song so I don't expect it to add any calorie burning, but it will once those lesson's start. It is possible that I am not eating enough, though my work day is incredibly sedentary. I work my heart rate monitor and my morning routine + work = 60 calories. If I add a walk mid day I add about 100 calories, so I am a lightly active person, but if I don't walk at lunch I am, well, not.
I have been subtracting about 80 calories off of what I burn during my exercising to compensate for my lack of caloric burn during the day. So we'll see. With the 2 evening dance classes in the future I'll probably stop subtracting those calories on those days.
Here's to Phase II!!
This coming week is a recovery week, and it probably is well timed. My food this past week was up and down, I was STARVING half of the days and so it was hard to stay on the path. I may have lost half of a pound (my scale doesn't do anything but whole pounds and was confused as to what weight I was this morning), but as of now there was no weight loss this past week. I also wanted steak, which I never want when I'm not at the end of my cycle (yes I went there, it happens). I am pretty sure I started to put on muscle. I'm starting to see some changes in my back an my tricep area. I don't see any changes in my middle or legs, but this is not surprising.
I did notice an improvement in Ab Ripper X. I added a towel under my butt because balancing on my tooshy hurts, like actually hurts in the tail bone. This helped a lot, so I am not distracted by what my butt feels like and can just get on with exercising. I am now doing all the in-outs and actually tried a couple with my arms up. If I do them with my arms up I am toasted for the rest of abs, so well, I'm not putting my arms up. I also have now gotten more than half of the mason twists at the end, which is a great improvement over the 10 I did the first time. I also am thankful for the "break" of full sit-ups since I can do those and at least feel like I'm doing something right.
This coming week is recovery week #1 which means I'm 1/3 of the way done! How quickly this goes.
So: Monday = YogaX, Tuesday = Core Synergistics, Wednesday = KenpoX, Thursday = X-Stretch, Friday = CardioX, Saturday = YogaX and Sunday = X-Stretch. This means I have to be really careful about what I eat since I won't be burning 500 calories a day, well I will on Tuesday and Wednesday. The rest of the days I'll be burning about 150calories or well, 4 like I do during X-stretch. I won't be adding the walking I have been adding to my workouts, I'm just going to "recover."
Pete and I are dancing on top of this. Tuesday nights are salsa, which I wore my heart rate monitor one night and burned 200 calories in an hour. Now this is not overly exciting, but if you burn 500 calories in the morning and then 200 more...you gotta be careful. We're adding ANOTHER dance class Wednesday night, though it is an intro class to discuss our wedding song so I don't expect it to add any calorie burning, but it will once those lesson's start. It is possible that I am not eating enough, though my work day is incredibly sedentary. I work my heart rate monitor and my morning routine + work = 60 calories. If I add a walk mid day I add about 100 calories, so I am a lightly active person, but if I don't walk at lunch I am, well, not.
I have been subtracting about 80 calories off of what I burn during my exercising to compensate for my lack of caloric burn during the day. So we'll see. With the 2 evening dance classes in the future I'll probably stop subtracting those calories on those days.
Here's to Phase II!!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Week 2 in the Books
Week 2 all done!
I went to my doctor a couple of weeks ago to talk about some things and to get my knees recorded in my medical record. I officially have arthritis in my knees...yup, I could have told you that. So...week 2 came with a week of dreary, rainy, damp, cold weather. Come YogaX and my right knee has decided it has had enough and would like a vacation. I've kept going, just very carefully. For example KenpoX today was 480 calories instead of 620calories, I'm ok with this.
Pete thinks I may have a knot in my hamstring, I'll let you know. KenpoX is still super fast and super fun.
So far in 2 weeks I've lost 3lbs, so not bad!
I went to my doctor a couple of weeks ago to talk about some things and to get my knees recorded in my medical record. I officially have arthritis in my knees...yup, I could have told you that. So...week 2 came with a week of dreary, rainy, damp, cold weather. Come YogaX and my right knee has decided it has had enough and would like a vacation. I've kept going, just very carefully. For example KenpoX today was 480 calories instead of 620calories, I'm ok with this.
Pete thinks I may have a knot in my hamstring, I'll let you know. KenpoX is still super fast and super fun.
So far in 2 weeks I've lost 3lbs, so not bad!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
P90X week 1 in the books!
Here is the schedule:
Core Synergistics
Cardio X
Shoulders, Arms & Ab Ripper X
Yoga X
Legs, Back & Ab Ripper X
Kenpo X
X Stretch
Day 1.
Core Synergistics is a great work out!
List:
Stacked Foot/Staggered Hands Push-Up.
Banana Roll
Leaning Crescent Lunges
Squat-Run
Sphinx Push-Ups
Bow to Boat
Plank to Chatarunga Run
Walking Push-Ups
Superman/Banana
Low Lateral Skaters
Lunge and Reach
Lunge-Kickback-Curl-Press
Reach High, Reach Under Push-Ups
Prison Cell Push-Ups
Side Hip Raise
Squat X Press
Steam Engine
Dreya Roll w/Jump, or X Jump
Plank to Chaturanga Iso
Halfback
Table w/Tricep Dip and Leg Raise
5 minute cooldown with yoga stretches
There is a lot of plank exercises and if you don't do them right you won't get the most out of the is workout. By no means am I awesome at this or most things yet. I will tell you the Prison Cell push-ups are hard. You start standing, you go down do a push-up, pull a knee to your chin (if you can, I get about mid chest), do a push-up, pull your other knee up, do a push-up and jump up. Yea...well...yeah....I do my best.
It is not necessarily a hugely cardio work out, but you will work hard. By the end of it I was out of gas, so I had to change my breakfast. This day I only had a yogurt (soy yogurt) and had run out of energy 3/4's of the way through. I did a bit of research and it turns out that if you run out of energy and feel like you need to eat NOW you did not eat the right thing. So for the next day I had 2 slices of multigrain gluten free toast with peanut butter, and it was like magic.
Day 2.
CardioX is just a step up from Sweat 5/6, it really could have been Sweat 7/8 or Sweat 6/7 since Sweat 5/6 is a good hard core workout, which I like very much. In Cardio X the Yoga portion is expanded, which I'm not necessarily keen on. I like Yoga itself, but I think this was just long for a cardio workout. Generally though, I think on this next go around I'll do it better and get more out of it.
Yoga portion:
Astanga Sun Salutations.
Runners Pose.
Warrior One.
Warrior Two.
Reverse Warrior.
Kenpo portion:
Ball Kick.
Hook/Upper/Side Kick.
Knuckle/Ball Kick/Back Kick.
Jab/Cross/Hook/Upper.
3 Direction Kicks.
Plyometrics portion:
Airborne Heisman.
Swing Kicks.
Jump Shots.
Tires.
Wacky Jacks.
Core Synergistics portion:
Squat Cross X Press.
Steam Engine.
Dreya Roll.
Squat Run.
Superman Banana.
This is supposed to be an intro workout, and since I am doing Lean it has a bigger presence than in the Classic version of P90X. Given how sore I am right now I am very happy to just be doing Lean. After doing Kempo on Saturday I think I'll be better at the Kenpo portion and get my heart rate up (I'll bring it!). The Plyo portion isn't bad, Airborne Heisman is actually less taxing than Heisman Plus One from Plyo Legs in the Master's series, and if you've done the Master's series Cardio Intervals, UML and Plyo Legs nothing in this work out will throw you. I also had Dance class this night, and let me tell you my calves were on fire and my shoulders were burning from keeping my arms up. All I wanted to do was put my arms down.
Day 3.
Shoulders, Arms & Ab Ripper X.
Alternating Shoulder Press
In & Out Bicep Curls
Two-arm Tricep Kickbacks
Deep Swimmer’s Press
Full Supination Concentration Curls
Chair Dips
Upright Row
Static Arm Curls
Flip-Grip Twist Tricep Kickbacks
Two-angle Shoulder Flies
Crouching Cohen Curls
Lying-down Tricep Extensions
In & Out Straight-arm Shoulder Flies
Congdon Curls (Preacher Curls)
Side Tri-Rises
This workout made me miss Sculpt 5/6 which is an all over sculpting video. This one concentrated solely on shoulders, biceps and triceps, there is NO way you are burning 500 calories in this video, but since I'm getting married I also want sexy arms. I don't have enough time to get super sexy arms, but this definitely won't hurt either. There is more tricep work in P90X than in P90MS and I like that since I do want nice looking arms. Ab ripper X SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuucks. I get maybe half of the moves and well, owie. Some things I am good at like sit-ups, some things are really hard for me since I carry my weight in my legs, like the very first sequence of in-outs, bicycle and reverse bicycle.
Day 4.
Yoga X--this is a 90 minute long Yoga video and is a touch video. Tony is not a Yogi, so this takes on a different feel and it is hard to get the meditative aspect of Yoga that I think he'd like folks to experience. In order to do that taking a class is much better, that way you get different sequences on different days and it can be just as hard. In this case this workout is an all over Yoga experience, which is OK given the other workouts. Yoga abs that are included in this are incredibly tough, I find Yoga ab work to be excruciating, yet totally awesome. However the day before is Ab Ripper X, and the next day includes Ab ripper X so by the end of the week my mid section was on FIRE.
Day 5.
Legs, Back and Ab Ripper X.
Balance Lunges
Calf Raise Squats.
Reverse Grip Pull Ups
Super Skaters
Wall Squats.
Wide Grip Pull Ups
Step Back Lunges
Alternating Side Lunges
Close Grip Pull Ups
Single Leg Wall Squat.
Dead Lift Squats.
Switch Grip Pull Up
3 Way Lunges.
Sneaky Lunges
Reverse Grip Pull Ups.
Chair Salutations.
Toe Roll Iso Lunges.
Wide Front Pull Ups.
Groucho Walk
Calf Raises.
Close Grip Pull Ups.
80-20 Speed Squats.
Switch Grip Pull Ups.
This workout is a lot like Plyo legs in P90MS at least from my perspective (except for the pull-ups) I am super happy Plyo legs from P90MS was what it was because I think it prepared me well for this kind of leg sculpting video. Balance lunges...hard. Single Leg Wall Squat? Can't do. I can do the wall squats, but I cannot for the life of me raise up one leg, so I don't, I mean...do what you can. Sneaky Lunges, sneakily ouchie. My calves were on fire by the end of it, and I can do it, but wow burning. Not much else, this is a great workout for people with knee problems like myself. You can only help your knees by making your legs stronger, and this is perfect for it. You do have to be careful and I am, I have a mirror to check on form, because the last thing I want to do is make my knees worse. The Pull-ups I do from a chair with a bent knee, I know my leg is helping me do them, I am under no illusions, but it is better than NOT doing them and as I get better and stronger I'll go to having the chair further and further out. Maybe even some day not needing the chair.
Day 6.
Kenpo X, and holy crap. Who would have thought a punching workout would get my heart rate up to around 170 and it stayed between 140-170 the WHOLE workout. I burned a ridiculous 620calories in the hour this was on, and am shocked overall. Tony's form is not...great. Pete has done lots of martial arts so we'll be doing some off line form work to make sure I'm doing things just right (Kung-Fu right). Working on my form will in no way make the workout easier or change the energy expenditure, trust me.
Day 7.
X stretch...oh cannot wait! I am amazingly sore. I have not been this sore since 30 day shred back when I STARTED working out. I was never this sore with P90MS. I can feel the back of my arms, my obliques, my lats, my calves, my thighs, uuuuugh, sore. It started off slowly but this week just builds steam. I love it. I do, I think it is an awesome collection of moves and you get your whole body, I am not looking forward to feeling like this every 4 weeks, but that is the price you pay for being as out of shape as I am.
I did make a large mistake. I did not have my version of a recovery drink after Yoga. I use white grape juice and soy protein since I really don't want to risk using the whey protein stuff. And my super soreness started AFTER Yoga, so I think not actually drinking a protein drink after may have gotten me a bit behind. So...lesson learned.
I did lose 1lb and given my level of soreness that's pretty good. When you are really sore you can gain weight from the water retention dealing with all the tears and damage you did to your muscles, after a couple of weeks this gets better and you lose the water weight. Even if I lose no weight there is NO way I'm not going to get slimmer just from doing this program, it IS hard, it IS real and I feel good doing it and doing what I can do, which is so much more than I could do 6 months ago.
Here is the schedule:
Core Synergistics
Cardio X
Shoulders, Arms & Ab Ripper X
Yoga X
Legs, Back & Ab Ripper X
Kenpo X
X Stretch
Day 1.
Core Synergistics is a great work out!
List:
Stacked Foot/Staggered Hands Push-Up.
Banana Roll
Leaning Crescent Lunges
Squat-Run
Sphinx Push-Ups
Bow to Boat
Plank to Chatarunga Run
Walking Push-Ups
Superman/Banana
Low Lateral Skaters
Lunge and Reach
Lunge-Kickback-Curl-Press
Reach High, Reach Under Push-Ups
Prison Cell Push-Ups
Side Hip Raise
Squat X Press
Steam Engine
Dreya Roll w/Jump, or X Jump
Plank to Chaturanga Iso
Halfback
Table w/Tricep Dip and Leg Raise
5 minute cooldown with yoga stretches
There is a lot of plank exercises and if you don't do them right you won't get the most out of the is workout. By no means am I awesome at this or most things yet. I will tell you the Prison Cell push-ups are hard. You start standing, you go down do a push-up, pull a knee to your chin (if you can, I get about mid chest), do a push-up, pull your other knee up, do a push-up and jump up. Yea...well...yeah....I do my best.
It is not necessarily a hugely cardio work out, but you will work hard. By the end of it I was out of gas, so I had to change my breakfast. This day I only had a yogurt (soy yogurt) and had run out of energy 3/4's of the way through. I did a bit of research and it turns out that if you run out of energy and feel like you need to eat NOW you did not eat the right thing. So for the next day I had 2 slices of multigrain gluten free toast with peanut butter, and it was like magic.
Day 2.
CardioX is just a step up from Sweat 5/6, it really could have been Sweat 7/8 or Sweat 6/7 since Sweat 5/6 is a good hard core workout, which I like very much. In Cardio X the Yoga portion is expanded, which I'm not necessarily keen on. I like Yoga itself, but I think this was just long for a cardio workout. Generally though, I think on this next go around I'll do it better and get more out of it.
Yoga portion:
Astanga Sun Salutations.
Runners Pose.
Warrior One.
Warrior Two.
Reverse Warrior.
Kenpo portion:
Ball Kick.
Hook/Upper/Side Kick.
Knuckle/Ball Kick/Back Kick.
Jab/Cross/Hook/Upper.
3 Direction Kicks.
Plyometrics portion:
Airborne Heisman.
Swing Kicks.
Jump Shots.
Tires.
Wacky Jacks.
Core Synergistics portion:
Squat Cross X Press.
Steam Engine.
Dreya Roll.
Squat Run.
Superman Banana.
This is supposed to be an intro workout, and since I am doing Lean it has a bigger presence than in the Classic version of P90X. Given how sore I am right now I am very happy to just be doing Lean. After doing Kempo on Saturday I think I'll be better at the Kenpo portion and get my heart rate up (I'll bring it!). The Plyo portion isn't bad, Airborne Heisman is actually less taxing than Heisman Plus One from Plyo Legs in the Master's series, and if you've done the Master's series Cardio Intervals, UML and Plyo Legs nothing in this work out will throw you. I also had Dance class this night, and let me tell you my calves were on fire and my shoulders were burning from keeping my arms up. All I wanted to do was put my arms down.
Day 3.
Shoulders, Arms & Ab Ripper X.
Alternating Shoulder Press
In & Out Bicep Curls
Two-arm Tricep Kickbacks
Deep Swimmer’s Press
Full Supination Concentration Curls
Chair Dips
Upright Row
Static Arm Curls
Flip-Grip Twist Tricep Kickbacks
Two-angle Shoulder Flies
Crouching Cohen Curls
Lying-down Tricep Extensions
In & Out Straight-arm Shoulder Flies
Congdon Curls (Preacher Curls)
Side Tri-Rises
This workout made me miss Sculpt 5/6 which is an all over sculpting video. This one concentrated solely on shoulders, biceps and triceps, there is NO way you are burning 500 calories in this video, but since I'm getting married I also want sexy arms. I don't have enough time to get super sexy arms, but this definitely won't hurt either. There is more tricep work in P90X than in P90MS and I like that since I do want nice looking arms. Ab ripper X SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuucks. I get maybe half of the moves and well, owie. Some things I am good at like sit-ups, some things are really hard for me since I carry my weight in my legs, like the very first sequence of in-outs, bicycle and reverse bicycle.
Day 4.
Yoga X--this is a 90 minute long Yoga video and is a touch video. Tony is not a Yogi, so this takes on a different feel and it is hard to get the meditative aspect of Yoga that I think he'd like folks to experience. In order to do that taking a class is much better, that way you get different sequences on different days and it can be just as hard. In this case this workout is an all over Yoga experience, which is OK given the other workouts. Yoga abs that are included in this are incredibly tough, I find Yoga ab work to be excruciating, yet totally awesome. However the day before is Ab Ripper X, and the next day includes Ab ripper X so by the end of the week my mid section was on FIRE.
Day 5.
Legs, Back and Ab Ripper X.
Balance Lunges
Calf Raise Squats.
Reverse Grip Pull Ups
Super Skaters
Wall Squats.
Wide Grip Pull Ups
Step Back Lunges
Alternating Side Lunges
Close Grip Pull Ups
Single Leg Wall Squat.
Dead Lift Squats.
Switch Grip Pull Up
3 Way Lunges.
Sneaky Lunges
Reverse Grip Pull Ups.
Chair Salutations.
Toe Roll Iso Lunges.
Wide Front Pull Ups.
Groucho Walk
Calf Raises.
Close Grip Pull Ups.
80-20 Speed Squats.
Switch Grip Pull Ups.
This workout is a lot like Plyo legs in P90MS at least from my perspective (except for the pull-ups) I am super happy Plyo legs from P90MS was what it was because I think it prepared me well for this kind of leg sculpting video. Balance lunges...hard. Single Leg Wall Squat? Can't do. I can do the wall squats, but I cannot for the life of me raise up one leg, so I don't, I mean...do what you can. Sneaky Lunges, sneakily ouchie. My calves were on fire by the end of it, and I can do it, but wow burning. Not much else, this is a great workout for people with knee problems like myself. You can only help your knees by making your legs stronger, and this is perfect for it. You do have to be careful and I am, I have a mirror to check on form, because the last thing I want to do is make my knees worse. The Pull-ups I do from a chair with a bent knee, I know my leg is helping me do them, I am under no illusions, but it is better than NOT doing them and as I get better and stronger I'll go to having the chair further and further out. Maybe even some day not needing the chair.
Day 6.
Kenpo X, and holy crap. Who would have thought a punching workout would get my heart rate up to around 170 and it stayed between 140-170 the WHOLE workout. I burned a ridiculous 620calories in the hour this was on, and am shocked overall. Tony's form is not...great. Pete has done lots of martial arts so we'll be doing some off line form work to make sure I'm doing things just right (Kung-Fu right). Working on my form will in no way make the workout easier or change the energy expenditure, trust me.
Day 7.
X stretch...oh cannot wait! I am amazingly sore. I have not been this sore since 30 day shred back when I STARTED working out. I was never this sore with P90MS. I can feel the back of my arms, my obliques, my lats, my calves, my thighs, uuuuugh, sore. It started off slowly but this week just builds steam. I love it. I do, I think it is an awesome collection of moves and you get your whole body, I am not looking forward to feeling like this every 4 weeks, but that is the price you pay for being as out of shape as I am.
I did make a large mistake. I did not have my version of a recovery drink after Yoga. I use white grape juice and soy protein since I really don't want to risk using the whey protein stuff. And my super soreness started AFTER Yoga, so I think not actually drinking a protein drink after may have gotten me a bit behind. So...lesson learned.
I did lose 1lb and given my level of soreness that's pretty good. When you are really sore you can gain weight from the water retention dealing with all the tears and damage you did to your muscles, after a couple of weeks this gets better and you lose the water weight. Even if I lose no weight there is NO way I'm not going to get slimmer just from doing this program, it IS hard, it IS real and I feel good doing it and doing what I can do, which is so much more than I could do 6 months ago.
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