Monday, December 20, 2010

Stats & Thoughts so far

WAY overdue  - but here are my 'beginning' stats - taken on 12/19/2010.

Weight 117.5
Height 5' 6"
Neck 12
Shoulders 36.5
Chest 39.5
Waist 29
Abdomen 25.75
Hips 33
Thigh 19.5
Knee 13.5
Calf 13.5
Ankle 8
Arm 10.25
Forearm 8.75
Wrist 5.75

Can you believe I am almost done with my 3rd week??  I think having all the variety of different workouts makes the time fly by!  I will say - having started this program in the month of December could have been a great idea (to help avoid holiday weight gain) but also not so bright because it makes it very hard to follow the Nutrition Plan.  I will try to be a little more strict wtih myself on Phase II.

So far, I'm very please with my results.  I am doing more reps and adding more weight left and right!  Yesterday I think I did all 339 of the Ab Ripper X exercises for the first time!  I've kind of skipped out on ARX the past couple times, so it felt good to get back at it.

Anyway - I'm going to try and be more diligent with the measurements/stats.  Can't wait for 'rest week'... just in time for Christmas!! 

Friday, December 17, 2010

Yoga!

Remember last week I whined and complained about how there were certain poses I couldn't do?  Well - I did Warrior 3 this week!

SO happy about it!

Crane was still a no-go.

At least I"m making a progress.... totally gives me the urge to keep on working at it :)

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Plyometrics

So - here we go again with Plyometrics.  I was semi-looking forward to re-attempting this workout in particular.  I was hoping to do much better and last much longer than I did on Week 1.  I admit that I still just can't keep up.  I mean.. there are just SO many different exercises - with very minimal break!

Just to give an idea:

I think this workout is the key to really becoming a fit person.  I've never done training like this - so its new to me.  I just feel like as you get better at Plyo - you'll also get better in other areas, too. 

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Hello Week 2!

Back at it!  Week 2 starts off again with Back/Chest.

Last week I did not have a pull up bar set up yet.  My husband bought one of those that hangs on the door frame... like this one:

So now that is all set up and I have NO excuses to be skipping out on all the various pull-ups/chin-ups. 

I definitely saw improvement since the last week.  I did two sets of 20 standard push ups pretty easily.  I'll probably push for sets of 25 for Week 3.  Of course that's in addition to all the other push ups in this workout.  I'm still having trouble with the Military style and the Diamond style push ups.

The military style is where you keep your elbows close to your body the whole way down.  You cannot let your elbows flare out.  I can only squeeze out a couple of these.  However I think I had that 'lightbulb' moment where it finally clicked in my mind how to do this move... so I'm hoping for improvement next week.




The diamond is by far the hardest.  I cannot do any on my toes.  I'm strictly on my knees still.  But I'm not going to be discouraged.  I will get there eventually!






Anyways, I was much more sore after this week since I actually did the pull up/chin up portion of the workout.  Of course, Day 1 always includes Ab Ripper X.  SUCH a love/hate relationship there!  I think Tony says there are a total of 349 reps of different core exercises.  I just cannot keep up!  If I had to guess, I'd say I do about 320-325 of the 349.  So, not bad.  But definitely room for improvement!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

So far..

I have a good friend who starts off her blog posts and status's asking herself a question.  I am gong to steal her idea here...(love u Mary! lol)

My opinion of the program so far??

Its far more challenging than I thought it would be.  It is pushing my boundaries in areas I didn't even realize I had!  Its the weirdest thing because at the end of most of the workouts, I've been like.. UH, that was the worst one, I'm totally going to skip this day next week!  But then within the next few days, I am already anticipating doing the workout again, just to be able to do it better.

I do have one gripe.  The Nutrition Plan!  I mean, according to the calculation, I'm supposed to eat like 2,040 calories:



Daily Nutrition and Calorie Needs Calculation:
YOU ARE AT 
NUTRITION LEVEL:

Body Weight
120.0
Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR): 
1200
Daily Activity Burn Calories (DAB): 
240
Level I
Daily Energy Amount (EA): 
  2,040 


First of all, there is NO WAY I eat anywhere near that amount of calories in a day.  PLUS, Phase 1 (the fat shredder) has such limited daily allowances of portions, I just don't see how I could take that many in!  I really have not been following the Nutrition Plan all the way.  I don't eat 5 portions of protein...and Shhhhh!, but I am still drinking sugary/creamy coffee like every morning!

I went ahead and ordered the P90X Results & Recovery drink mix.  There are lots of good reviews online.  I'm interested to see if i notice a difference.

SO - lastly, I'm still very excited and very hopeful about the program.  Just after 1 week I see results in my abs, waist and shoulders (freggggin pushups!)

Next progress pictures + measurements coming soon.

KenpoX - Day 6

Yay - I made it to the last day of Week 1.  Kenpo was a fun workout.  It was definitely hard to keep up with the intensity aspect.  I enjoyed the challenge of it.

Kenpo is actually a style of karate.  The program incorporated lots of different moves with VERY limited breaks.  Even though it was an hour-ish long workout, I thought it actually went by pretty quickly.

I think my Husband may have taken some embarrassing pictures of me while doing this one.  I'll have to post those soon!

Anyway- it's exciting to have my first official week of P90x in the books.  12 weeks to go!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Dear Legs:

I'm so sorry for all the torture you've had to endure lately.  Between the plyometrics, yoga, and back/leg day, you've been thru a lot.  On top of it all, I make you walk around in 3-4" heels everyday!  That being said, don't give out on me yet!  Tonight is Kenpo X... last workout of Week 1.  You will have ALL day Wednesday (rest day) and Thursday (back/chest) to recuperate.

Thanks in advance!


Monday, December 6, 2010

YogaX - aka 90 minutes of torture!

Me and yoga are not BFFs.  We have never gotten along very well.  For the longest time I have so badly wanted to be good at yoga.  Its so easy to get discouraged when you just aren't as bendy as everyone else!

Lucky for me, I have a few gym yoga classes under my belt.  Otherwise this workout would have been extremely overwhelming.  The first portion was alot of the well known poses like runners pose, Warrior 1, Warrior 2, Reverse Warrior... plenty of sun salutations, planks, triangle pose, etc.  I felt like I was in downward facing dog for-ever!  I was keeping up semi-okay until this... Warrior 3.

After that we switched to balance poses.  Again -I understand that they take time to get.  But I want to be able to do them NOW!  I did okay with Tree pose, and dancer.. but then came the Crane pose  - which was a total FAIL!

Anyways - all in all a good workout.  I just need to stay positive and continue working on these poses and my flexibility.  On a good note - no more yoga for a week! Yay!

Day 3 - Shoulders & Arms

LOVED this workout!  This is more of the style of workouts that I am used to.  I am used to training with heavier weights and low reps - so I needed to adjust a little bit in order to keep up with the workout.  I think there ends up being 5 phases of 3 exercises that you do 2 sets each of.

I'm trying to get a spreadsheet together that shows my weights/reps on google documents so I can link it here.  I may need to get advice from some of my other more blog-oriented friends :)

Following the workout was another dose of Ab Ripper X.  I haven't been able to totally keep up with this yet.  There are a few exercises that  skimp out on... the scissors kill me each time!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Days 1 & 2

Day 1 - Chest/Back & Abs
Day 1 was made up of ALOT of push ups and pull ups.  I am still building up the strength to be able to do unassisted pull ups/chin ups.  It was TOUGH even with kinda skipping the pull ups.  The sets included regular push ups, military style, wide, decline and diamond.  I max out at about 20 boy style standard push ups.  The military was new to me - and I only squeezed out a couple of those.  The decline was way harder than I would have thought.  The toughest of all was clearly the diamond ones.  Ouch.  I am embarrassed to admit that I did actually do those 'girl style.'

Following the back/chest workout is the Ab Ripper X.  This ab workout is Ah-Mazing.  I would say I can keep up with it and perform the exercises correctly at about an 80% level.  I have a really hard time with the oblique crunch.  It feels so awkward to me and I'm not sure if I'm doing the right motion(s).

All in all, I think I had a successful Day 1.  I am anxious to get the resistance bands to use for future chest/back days so that I can build up to doing actual pull ups soon!

Day 2 - Plyometrics
Am I the only one that had no idea what Plyometrics was?  Well, its fregggggin hard!  Lots of jumping, lots of leg work with squats and lunges.  Ouch.  Even though this workout totally kicked my butt, I am looking forward to future meet ups with PlyoX.  I think this workout has the potential to make some awesome change in physique as well as athletic performance.

I read on some other blogs and reviews that typically people staring P90x perform the Week 1 exercises at about a 30% level.  This fact is encouraging to me because it reassures the fact that I'm above average.  I would say that I kept up with the moves for about 80% of the time with an accuracy percentage of 60-ish for my ability to do the exercises correctly.

I am SO excited about the transformation that I am going to see in my body even after 30 days.  So far, my opinion of this program is that its awesome, but its up to me to put in the time and more importantly, the effort.  My only complaint overall is regarding the Nutrition plan.  I'm not following it 100%precisely, but close.  There are no desserts!  I need to figure something out to satisfy my late night sweet tooth!

Not sure whats next on the schedule for tomorrow's workout - - but I'll be Bringin It!

The Before Photos

So here is my starting point.  These picture were taken on December 3, 2010.  Like I said in my introductory post, I am already in good shape.  My goals for this program are to build muscle, strength, endurance and to be able to say that I completed the program.









And So it Begins...

I am jumping on the P90x band wagon... as well as the blogging band wagon apparently.

After reading thru tons of reviews, viewing youtube progress videos and hearing personal stories about the program, I must say that I"m not the average user.  I am not trying to lose weight nor am I trying to take inches off my waist.  I am a relatively healthy individual.  But I enjoy pushing my limits and achieving fitness levels that I once believed were out of my reach.

I"m excited to do this program and plan on documenting my entire journey thru it.  I think it will make it that much more satisfying and rewarding when I reach the end of my 90 days to look back thru and see my improvements.

Soon to come:  My 'start' photos.