P90X: "Balance" Day 33 of 90

Life can get really complicated.  Keeping all the balls in the air requires concentration and skill.  What if, though, the balls could change shape at any moment?  How many of us are so skilled at juggling and adapting that we could do that?  It is almost impossible to ask anyone to try.

The funny thing about life is that it behaves exactly that way.  Just when you have your rhythm and flow, life throws you a curve.  One of those balls goes from being a tennis ball to a bowling ball in seconds.  Ever seen the jugglers do that?  The whole bowling ball juggling with the smaller stuff?  No one ever tosses in another bowling ball.  The main difference is that if the juggler drops everything, people still applaud the effort.  It’s just a bunch of objects.  No harm, no foul.  Nice try, though!

In life, dropping all the balls can result in more bad stuff.  And there are people, relationships, jobs, etc. in the balance.

So sometimes, when the tennis ball explodes into a bowling ball, you have to gently put the smaller balls in your life gently down, and take care of the bowling ball.

That’s today.  So the blog is short.  But hopefully still effective.

Legs and Shoulders later!

[later that day]

Did the Ab Ripper X...knocked that out.

Also did the Legs and back.  Made some real progress here...could do the pullups.  Also did the wide pullups.  Not full, still not strong enough to do that, but used the chair and my toes to put as much pressure as I could handle.  I was really trying to listen to my body.

The hip was fine.  That injury is healed.  Completed  the whole routine.  I am happy with my progress tonight.  Kempo tomorrow!  

P90X: "Adapting" Day 32 of 90

The first week of every P90X phase is called the Adaptive week.  It’s a wake up call.  Unless you are in week one, the adaptive week follows a recovery week.  It’s like in the Army when they sound reveille each morning.  It can be that jarring.

Last night I did the Chest, Triceps and Shoulders for the first time in the program.  After four weeks, I was pretty confident of my ability to do many of the exercises.  Actually, very confident.

Then, there I was dying on the floor doing many of the exercises.  One after the other…shoulders, then triceps, then chest, then shoulders again…burn.  I got to the one arm “Rocky” pushups and could not do one.  Not ONE.  On my knees….not ONE.  My body was trashed.

If I hadn’t plowed through Ab Ripper X first (successfully) I would have been even more depressed.

I had to rethink my approach.  Adaptive.  That was what Week One was.  That first week when I did so poorly at almost everything.  I was happy back then when I got to Kempo because I was able to finish the reps!  I have to keep remembering that this is another adaptive week.  I also have to remember how well I am doing the other routines after doing so miserably that first week.

There are places in my body that are really sore today.  I have come to realize that those are the muscles that weren’t used a lot in Phase 1 (the first four weeks).  I also feel like I have some kind of cold coming on.  This is like déjà vu.  The first week, after the Arms and Shoulders workouts, I got a pretty good cold too.  I am starting to think that this first level of physical activity taxes my body so much that other areas take a hit too.  Or it could be coincidence.  Either way, I am going to slightly raise my calorie count and plug in a little more concentrated Vitamin C.

Every new challenge in life, P90X or not, has an adaptive phase.  I watched both my kids go through the process of adapting to High School these past two years.  More homework.  More activities.  Better time management.  Social demands.  It was painful for them.  They seem much better now and they will be much better off for going through it.  Is their life more simple now?  No.  They are just used to it.  They adapted.

It will happen all through life.  New job.  New home.  Children.  More children.  Grand children?  I said in yesterday’s blog that what we are going through in P90X is the same as the Life-Cycle.  Life never stops putting challenges in front of you.  This part is no different.  In life, the day you say, “I’m done, I’m right where I want to be,” is the day life moves on without you.  That’s called ‘getting old.’  Life is about adapting…evolving.

Just ask Darwin.

I am going to keep today’s blog short so my arms can recover!  Yoga tonight.  I know, it’s long workout…but it goes by fast!       

[later that day]

Yoga X tonight went well, completed all the exercises.  Actually got into the crane for about 5 to 7 seconds.  Did the back arching thing after the bridge for the first time.  You would think I could remember the names at this point but I just listen to how I am supposed to move my body and then do it.  So I could do more, but it felt like some of the exercises were off, particularly the balance exercises.  I thing the rigor of last nights exercises threw some stuff off.  All the ab stuff is really coming along though.

Okay...tomorrow brings the infamous exercise that ripped my shoulder and minor hip flexor.  This should be interesting!

P90X: "Momentum" Day 31 of 90

Every journey with a goal has two critical points where 'quitting' becomes a serious threat.   

One place is at the very beginning.

In the beginning, everything is hard.  Your existing situation may look hopeless.  The journey looks long and the destination is so far away it may not be physically or emotionally visible to you.  It takes a lot of courage to plow through that point.  There is a lot of hard work, a lot of learning and a lot of faith.  At those times, the milestones come quickly and it is very obvious that you are progressing.

Why is it obvious?  Because the journey is so foreign to you that every day brings something new.  As you pass each new point, the journey is very conscious.  You can also, at this point, see your own progression as you learn and change.  Every journey begins this way.

During that first part of the journey, if anything messes up those milestones, the towel could get thrown in at any moment.

The other place in a journey where 'quitting' becomes a threat is about one third through it.

Why?  There are a few reasons. 

First, nothing about the journey is really new anymore.  There may be some slight changes to the process, but not like at the beginning.  Monotony sets in.  It feels like you are doing the same thing day in and day out.  You want to feel what you felt in the very beginning.

Second, you can see how you improved.  You see results, but not the overall result you were shooting for.  The monotony starts to speak to those first sets of results and tell you that you have done enough.  “Let’s try something new,” it says to you.  “Maybe this is as good as it gets,” it echoes into your brain.

Lastly, the goal you originally set is still over the next horizon.  It still looks far away and you can’t see it.  Like a traveler in the desert who comes upon the first oasis, maybe there IS no more water.  Do I really need to go on?

In P90X, this is where I am (and if you are reading this blog while you “X”, you too) right now.  Thirty days have passed.  Four weeks and two days.  I have looked at my workouts for Phase 2 and they look pretty much the same.  Some things are slightly changed but they will be pretty much the same…same DVD, same people, same reps.  Same, same, same.

I have seen definite improvement.  It has been noticed by many around me.  I also see some of the same stuff hanging off my body as when I started.  In truth, there is less, but it didn’t disappear.

I am still sixty days away from the goal.  What was the goal?  I forget.  Just kidding.  It was to give this thing ninety days and not quit.  “Maybe I overshot the runway on that one?” says your brain.  I still don’t look like Tony Horton.  Probably never will.  In your own mind, you begin to sound like Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh.

WHAT DO YOU DO??

You need to stay motivated.  This is your “one thing” right now.  Don’t throw it away and look for the next thing simply because right now it feels like you are pushing a big rock up a hill and there is still a ways to go.  When you get past THIS point, you will have achieved something very special and I can share with you what that is because I have been at the point many times.

When you beat this part of the journey you will have given yourself a gift that no one else can give you.  It is something only you can give to yourself and it cannot be taken away ever.  Everybody who ever achieved a goal had to make it through this.  When you do, your journey will NOT be over.  But, you will be at a point where the destination is in sight.  The really hard stuff will be over and you can push hard to the finish line.  You will have learned how to motivate your SELF.  I said many passages ago that this is done “alone.”  Well, this is the part of your success story that you write yourself.

This is not just a journey to fitness.  This is a life experience that you can and will take with you to all other aspects of your life.  Pass through Phase 2 here and you will have conquered every part of the success lifecycle.  When you take up that next goal in your life, and you get to this point, it will be very familiar to you.  You will KNOW with certainty that by perseverance and discipline, when you come through this part, you are moments away from the finish line...and you WILL be successful.  You will know because you have done it before.

If you quit now, you will never be able to say you did this.  If you quit now, the next time you are trying to achieve something, this part will be there waiting to challenge you one more time.  It will have beaten you before, it will be waiting to beat you again.

You have MOMENTUM.  Use it.  Cruise with it.  This part of the journey requires nothing more than dogged determination and persistence.  And FAITH.  A word I learned the real value of last year.  Some of you will get that, I say to myself with a smile.

Give yourself this gift.  You will never regret it.

Tonight, a new DVD.  I will let you know how it goes…as always.   

 [later that day]

Okay, I had forgot what the first time of a new routine feels like.  I remember now.  My muscles crashed so many times during that routine my insurance rates probably went up.  I am a little disgusted and depressed.  I should have also remembered to look at the DVD first to ensure I had all the equipment.  The push up handles would have come in handy and I could have avoided the Scavenger Hunt in my garage for a frisbee to do the pushups.  It didn't matter.  The breaks did not help my endurance at all.  Tomorrow, I will be hurting for sure.  One arm pushups, on my knees....ZERO reps.  I tried twice but my face kept getting dented from smacking the floor...so I marked zero on the sheet.  There were a couple of very light rep exercises because I just couldn't budge a muscle.  I also didn't do well the last phase in the first outing of weights because it takes at least one round to baseline your reps and weights.  I did the Ab Ripper X first and did the full workout...so that was the redeeming quality.

Will let you know in the AM how stressed the muscles got.

P90X: "Changes - Level 1" Day 30 of 90

Today is kind of a two edged sword.  I want to see the changes in the last 30 days.  I know there have been many from performance, to endurance, to visible looks.  Many people have commented over the past couple of weeks...so I know it's not just me.  That said, you look at these pictures, and it is not easy to SHOW the dramatic changes.  I'm not trying to sell something here, I KNOW this is working.  The pictures, however, are not showing the changes as vividly as I am feeling them.  That said, let's take a look.

I did not have a comparison shot for the one to the left here...but I did not look like this.

As I said before, I am looking for the changes.  Before we get started, I should mention that my back issues, which I am seeing a chiropractor for, are much better but my posture is awful.  I need to make some adjustments to my daily sitting at the computer and to how I sit in the car.

Alright, here goes....DAY 0 shots on left....DAY 30 shots on right.

Now, the changes are a much straighter posture.  My chest is better defined.  My middle is shrinking, though not as much as I can see when I move around and look.  My stomach is much more rigid and becoming more defined.  If you look from my rib cage to my belt line, the 'tire is moving down and the lines are becoming more vertical.

The side shot is not so bad.  You can definitely see tricep definition, stomach muscles pulling in, and better chest definition.  The fat tire around my waist is absolutely shrinking.

My back is a mess.  If Day 90 is a sculpted down version of the badly positioned muscles, I might be able to sell the pictures to a chiropractor magazine.  That said, there are areas of clear improvement, even to my rotten shoulder region.

So there we have it.  Thirty days of P90X.  Let me say this though.  In thirty days, I have come a long, long way.  The pictures are not staggering, but change is evident.  This is not a short term thing...it takes a long time to get a body into the out of shape condition that I was in a long time ago.  This journey to fitness will be one that has many steps.  60 Days from now, I am sure there will be very radical differences.

Thanks for following....see you tomorrow!

P90X: "Consistency" Day 29 of 90

Today was a very busy day and really different for a Saturday.  We had to be somewhere at 10:30AM and I knew the day would be really busy in front of me.  I wanted to get my workout done early.  Ate my bowl of oatmeal and had my two cups of coffee.  Then five minutes later, I rocked into Core Synergistics.

Bad idea.

Okay, not totally bad...I did the whole workout.  I also worked harder than usual on intensity now that I have the forms down, the exercises memorized and the energy/strength to get through all the reps.  The bad part?  I have never felt so much like I was going to lose my meal during a workout!  I should never have gone into this routine so close after breakfast.

Superman/Banana was brutal.  The prison pushups were also kind of tough.  The pushup position runs wiped me.  So I really pushed it...and I felt it.  Then, when I finished, I broke again from my norm.  Typically, I have a large 32oz cup of water, lemon juice, sea salt and a dab of pure maple syrup and wash down my vitamins.  It makes a great recovery drink, usually followed an hour later by my shakeology when I use that as a lunch replacement.  None of that happened today.  I found myself feeling very odd later at the event I went to.  A little dizzy, and very hungry.  Empty tank, low electrolytes and fluids were probably the culprit.  I am learning how tricky it is keeping your system balanced.  You have to pay attention to your body's needs.

I am going to shoot for a little better consistency in the execution...particularly the timing.  These P90X workouts are not to be taken lightly.

Keeping it short tonight, pics and Cardio tomorrow.  Keep it up!

P90X: "Disney Obesity Rant" Day 28 of 90

I can’t get this out of my mind…maybe If I rant enough it will break free.

I read yesterday where Disney is changing an exhibit in Epcot because it was deemed offensive for stigmatizing overweight and obese children.  They had crafted the exhibit to educate the children and to point out the dangers of living a life of eating unhealthy foods without discipline…combined with no activity.  This is a formula that we all know results in weight gain and, if it becomes your lifestyle, obesity.  Their exhibit was focused on two healthy living characters and two unhealthy ones, and contrasted their lifestyles with the obese ones eating too much junk food and watching too much television.

Disney has always been an organization that had kids as its primary market.  While I have really not liked the way they have seemingly turned into a shameless money machine in the past fifteen years, this seemed like an effort of theirs that I could applaud.

In a very short explanation, this is why they are changing their exhibit.  The National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance is appalled that Disney would reinforce the stereotype that obese children are lazy and have poor eating habits.  They accuse Disney of advancing the prejudice against people of “higher body weight.”

They are appalled.  THEY are appalled?  First of all, I have been very large and obese.  I have a pretty good perspective on it.  The condition of people in general, as far as overweight and obese, is dangerous and epidemic.  Over 65% of the population is overweight and over 30% are obese.  OBESE.  35% in some states.  We are becoming the society pictured in Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E movie.  That movie was NOT as fictitious as many would love to think it is.  Just walk around a shopping mall on a Saturday afternoon or evening.

The numbers are going up and have been for forty years.  There is only one reason for it.  The lifestyle and acceptance of that unhealthy medical condition of FATNESS as a ‘lifestyle’ is on the rise.  More and more kids are being raised to believe that being obese is acceptable, un-fixable, and okay.  That somehow it is a ‘condition’ that they can’t control or change.  That is so wrong it is beyond belief.

The medical issues that accompany the overweight and obese are well documented.  To raise children and allow kids to get that big is criminal.  CRIMINAL.  These parents and these organizations should be criticized loudly for encouraging this behavior.  Why was there such a push against smokers?  It caused cancer.  The cigarette companies KNEW it caused cancer, so we ban cigarettes.  There is no National Association for the Advancement of Cigarette Acceptance.  The only reason that the organization for Fat Acceptance exists is because the shame about a condition that people have caused and have brought upon themselves is accompanied by the laziness and lack of desire to change.

What is the other reason for the group?  65% of the people are fat.  So they have numbers.  They are a majority.  So why should they be shamed into feeling bad about being fat.  So instead of getting healthy, they form an association.  All these people of “higher body weight” get together to tell the rest of the world to stop judging them for having really bad and unhealthy habits.  PLEASE!

The only reason that we dance around this subject with political correctness is because 'fat' is a visible condition and is marked by how people LOOK.  And you can't criticize how people look.  We are told 'that is wrong.'  You can't criticize how people look when it can't be helped or changed, of course.  Race, skin color, medical conditions, etc...you don't criticize that...that is entirely understood.  But FAT is not one of those conditions.  IT ISN'T.  FAT is the result of behavior in 95% of the cases of fat and obesity.  But the responsibility for the choice is being hidden by the fact that the result of that choice is a visible condition.  It is a ruse...sorry, I am not buying it.

Their unhealthy habits (and I know because I used to have them for 30 years!!) are putting a crush on society’s medical costs.  Those costs are borne equally by ALL of us.  In the same way that the costs of fighting cancer were paid for by all of us, so too are the results of obesity.  And I will add, and you may be surprised to know, the costs are HIGHER.  So instead of paying the costs, it was cheaper to stop the root cause of cancer.  But please, please, don’t stop the root cause of obesity!  Oh my God.  What WILL we do?

I have sat in chairs and watched them explode under me.  Literally.  I have gotten so big I had to sleep on my side for three years.  Acid reflux.  Allergy increases.  Edema in my legs.  Ambulance rides.  Many tests of my heart that ended up being related to the acid reflux from being obese.  I actually couldn’t fit in the seat at a baseball game and could not fit in a roller coaster ride at the amusement park.

Do you overweight people have any idea at all how much it costs people trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle?  You have to pay more for food WITHOUT high fructose corn syrup, Nutra-Sweet, chemicals, all kinds of unnatural fat additives.  You cannot find decent food on a standard restaurant menu.  The foods you stock in your house, if you are trying to eat healthy, can be put in one small cabinet.  About fifteen items of very expensive food.  Physical education is being slowly removed from schools not to mention any education at all about maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  There IS plenty about sex education though. 

There is a cry from the “higher body weight” people that is about to come out.  I will answer that cry before it even surfaces.  I KNOW THAT NOT ALL OF YOU CAN HELP BEING FAT.  There are about 3% of the world that have documented and real medical conditions like thyroid issues that result in them being fat or obese.  The other 62% of you riding that excuse train can just get the hell off at the next stop.  The only medical condition you suffer from is ‘can’t put down the food-ism’ and ‘won’t get off my ass-ism.”  I know I WAS ONE OF YOU.  I did not blame the food industry, or society, or my upbringing, or my job, or my genetic predisposition…the list goes on...I blamed me.  And then I fixed it. 

Take responsibility for your condition.  If you don’t want to do anything about it, don’t.  You have every right to your condition, so long as you bear the costs, not me.  But stop telling children, who are going to live a shorter and unhappier life, that it is okay.  They still have choices.  They don’t know anything but what you tell them.  They deserve to hear the truth.  They do not have to look like fat mom and dad.  It is not genetic.  You and society and the National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance are LYING TO THEM.  They can live their lives any way they choose.  Don’t warp these kids into thinking they are unable to control it simply because you won’t.  It is not okay, just because you have accepted it for yourself and are too ashamed to call it what it is, for you to tell them you are that way for some reason other than you ‘don’t want to change your lifestyle.’

The obese kids cannot even make one lap around Epcot and Disney should hold their position on childhood health and health education.  It’s either that or get more of those electronic ‘wheelchairs’ for the electively disabled group known as fat people.  The number of those carts has quadrupled in four years.  Next, they will be parking in the disabled parking spots and displacing the truly old and disabled.

There are MANY overweight people who know how they got that way, feel bad about it, and have to fight the battle every day to get back to health.  They aren't lying...they feel awful and wouldn't wish it on anybody.  I stand and applaud every one of them and will always be there to answer emails and help them in any way that I can.  They are not making excuses.  They are all my people and are NOT the ones this rant is about.  They wouldn't wish their condition on any child.

I want Disney to re-reverse their thoughts on this.  Tell the National Association for Advancement of Fat Acceptance to change THEIR platform.

Killing yourself with obesity is NOT acceptable.

P90X: "My Secret...Full Confession" Day 27 of 90

I have to make a confession.  I have a secret.

While it is true that I do all my P90X workouts alone, I would be remiss to mention the group I interact with on a daily basis.  This challenge is being done in a group setting on Facebook.  We have a team of four and two support coaches.  We also have the coach of a coach overseeing as well.  Each coach comes with their own experiences with P90X and Beachbody as well as varying experiences in marathon training, body building and personal excellence.

We interact daily as a team and share our workouts and issues.  There aren’t many issues really.  There is a lot of cheerleading (and while that sounds trivial, pushes are not only welcome but sometimes necessary) and guidance.  It also helps to hear how everyone fits the program into their day.  Are they morning workout people?   Nightly workout people?  Diet is essential, so we hear what everyone is taking in as fuel.

I think for many, the team and coaches are ‘training wheels.’  I use that saying when my family goes on vacation.  “I don’t decide where the bike is going, I just follow along behind and make sure it doesn’t fall down.”

This, however, is not my secret.

There is one other, and to this point undisclosed, member of my team.  His name is Dr. Terrence Aussant.  He is my chiropractor.  He is an invaluable member of my team.  Why?  First of all, as a chiropractor, he is a trained professional on the recovery and rehabilitation of muscles, joints, ligaments and limbs.  Second, he works with athletes and physically conditioned people, helping to keep them in optimal condition.  Last, and most importantly, he does P90X.  That last one is big.

As I have openly blogged about this experience, you all know that I am fifty years old and that I have tweaked a few things along the way in this P90X program.  Getting support from your group is important to your effort, for sure.  But when you pull a muscle, over-stretch a ligament, or traumatize a joint, nothing replaces a professional inspection and opinion every two weeks to let you know what your situation is and how you should treat it.

Because he has done P90X, when I discuss my tweaks with him, I can tell him what exercise in the program I was doing and he can instantly translate that exercise into the muscles used to perform it.  He then can ask me questions about how the injury occurred.  P90X has become our common ground on explaining the incident (accident?), and also has become his method for telling me what I injured and how to avoid it.

We discussed my shoulder last night.  He fully inspected it and worked it out.  There is some looseness and tenderness in the joint, but nothing was permanently damaged.  I may have pulled a particular muscle, which I can’t rename for you, but there was no long term damage.  Pulled muscles take 4-6 weeks to heal.  It has been two for me.  He wants me to continue but not do the one exercise that pulled it, and to restrict the other shoulder exercises.  Because he has done P90X, he could give me other options.  He also tested the rotation and flexibility of the shoulder and we worked on stretching it.

We also looked at the hip, which I messed up last week.  He believes I pulled a minor hip flexor.  That one was not as pulled as the shoulder and, due to its normal lack of use, will heal quicker.  Do the exercises, but stay aware of how it feels.  Hydrate, extra stretching and ice after the workouts.  Incidentally, I had been putting the hot Ben Gay on my muscles post-workout.  It felt good.  Me, the expert.  When you have a pull, it’s ICE after the workout, and when you are getting ready to workout, it’s heat.  You probably know that.  I didn’t.  Forty years of dedicated observation of professional Football and Baseball down the drain.  For years I have watched pitchers and quarterbacks with the ice packs on their shoulder after the exertion of the game…duh!!!  It didn’t click when I was self-diagnosing.

The one last thing I get from the Doc is an attitude that I shouldn’t stop just because something popped up (or just plain popped).  Some General Practitioner doctors might tell you to stop for two weeks, get an MRI, etc.  This would derail your program.  They have to worry because their lack of specific knowledge in this area, especially for the general practitioners, gives them a blind spot that makes them be over-cautious with you.  Just as a side note, I also have noticed that GP’s in general are not as physically fit as my chiropractor.  They probably can’t relate as well to what you are experiencing.  At least that is my own biased perception.  My Doc’s specialty is getting athletes back in the saddle.  His perspective is that everything is fixable.  THAT is an indispensable point of view when you are doing this program.

That’s why the Doc is one of my most valuable team members.

He is my secret.

Workout again tonight.  I hope it’s taxing.  Stretching was boring.  Necessary…but boring.  Happy Birthday to my wife...she joins me today at 50!!

[later that day]

Did Cardio X tonight.  I have to be honest, it is a lot easier than the first weekend that I did this.  No breaks, just blew right through it.  I felt so good, I tacked on Ab Ripper X and then did two miles speed walking at 4.5 mph.  I think that I assumed the same level of exhaustion I felt in that first week would be how everything continued to be, except that I would be doing more reps.  I have caught up real quick.  I can't wait for next week.

Goodnight!