P90X3: Day 10 of 90. Yoga X. The Hop!!

It's been ten days and I have already noticed that my pants have more room in them!  Okay, not as much as the picture to the left, but MORE.  Every time you notice progress, it's validation that you are doing the right things and that you need to keep going.

Yoga X last night and it was a material difference from last week.  Last week, I was still recovering from Agility X...and while it definitely felt great to stretch stuff out, much of the balance and pushup parts of the routine were really poor.  This week, I did every exercise completely with the exception of Crow (which I fear I will never be able to do!!).  On Crow, I literally get on the hands and tip to my forehead.

It felt great to be able to do everything.  Very satisfying.  Also, my flexibility was twice what it was last week.  Some of it was due to a week of muscle use but I'm sure hydration and stretching during the week was important too.

The best part of this is THE HOP.

Do you know what that is?  Let me explain.

When I did P90X the first time, after about 10-15 days, I found I had more bounce in my step.  At the time, in the mornings, I took a train into Boston and the platform from my home city is elevated and up a bunch of stairs.  I noticed, back then, that I started to leap up the stairs.  When I got to them in the A.M. I would take them two at a time.  I had a bunch of energy and it wasn't a chore anymore.  I also noticed I would trot through parking lots.  My body literally wanted to move quicker.  It wanted to accept every physical challenge.  And, every time my body wanted to move quicker, I just gave in to it.  After a while, moving quicker in all phases of my life became a habit.

I noticed some months back, that it was gone.  Well, it's back.

Have you noticed THE HOP?

P90X3: Day 9 of 90. Agility X. Feeling Awesome.

Yes!! You'll have that day after you start P90X.  It's usually in week two, right about now.  You do those routines, those damn killer routines, a second time.

"Wait.  What the...?"  My chart says I did 5 and now it's 8.  Really?"

Or, as you start an exercise...

"Crap.  I was awful at these last week.  This is going to be...what?  30 seconds to go?  That's when I stopped last week.  My legs hurt...and TIME!!!  What the...I finished?  Man!! I finished!!"

This is the week where you find out that you are going to do well.  This is where you get that first jolt of motivation to keep going.  As you look as those instructors, and you did the same (or almost the same) reps as they did, keep this one thought in mind.  They are never getting any better than they are, on that DVD, right now.  That's it.  They'll never improve.  But, you will.  There will come a time when you are doing those exercises and you realize that you have passed them.  It's coming.

For me, this week, it was those damn lunges.  For those of you reading this blog, as you will recall, last week at this time I was sitting with an icepack on my muscles.  Not this week.  This week, I crushed it without a twinge.  Not ONE twinge.  I felt great.  No, I felt awesome.  I bet you are all feeling a little awesome this week.  And, this little dog knows it too!

P90X3: Day 8 of 90. Core Synergistics. Improvement.

Week Two.  For the first time, I have repeated a workout.  Major improvements for me on everything.  Feels great.  Couple observations on Week One and Day Eight.

I saw great improvements today.  I felt stronger on the exercises that I did completely, and there was a rep increase to the complete required number in every exercise.

My chest hurt this week.  Not a heart thing, a pushup thing.  I don't know why I was so strained and it wasn't the biceps and/or triceps, it was the chest muscles.  I took a lot of protein and creatine this week for the muscles and, as of today, it seems to be helping.

My diet.  I cut back significantly this week.  I don't usually discuss my diet.  I think people get very focused on food...almost obsessed.  I don't think about food as entertainment, just fuel.  I literally can eat the same thing every day.  Some folks need variety, and different tastes, and color, and a blend of sweetness.  Not me.  I try my best to take decisions about food right out of my life.

I am going to make an exception as an example today.

Breakfast.  One cup of oatmeal.  Handful of raisins.  Half cup of all natural applesauce.

Lunch.  One can of spinach.  One can of tuna (in water, not oil)

Snack.  One Nature Valley Granola Bar with water.

Dinner.  Shakeology and one Nature's Path Gluten Free Bar.

Exercise in evening.

One self made shake of seltzer water, vitamin C mix, Protein powder, Creatine Powder, Vitamins.

Two Apples.

Sleep.

If you add up these calories, and then you think about 30 minutes of walking and P90X....this is not enough to keep you rolling.  I felt exhausted and my muscles could not recover sufficiently.  Keep your calories in mind and make sure you are getting enough protein.  I know I am short because I felt like this the first time I did P90X.

Okay, time for some New England Patriots football.  Get your protein and sleep and have a great week!!

P90X3: Day 5 of 90. CVX. Sweating.

And, we sweat.  CVX.  Boy, it looked easy on the DVD when I was previewing it.  I started with a 10 lb dumbbell.  Here is what I sounded like on the third set, "Lexieeeee???"

"What?" came the sound far away from my kitchen upstairs.

"There's a five lb dumbbell next to the fireplace...bring it down here quick!!"

Oh, the male ego.  Yes, I looked at the ladies.  Then, I looked at the guy in back.  Saw him grab a 10 while the ladies took less.  Well, I'm no lady.  I'll have what HE's having dammit.

This was a good workout.  With the fives, I finished and finished well.  Completed all circuits and sweat like a dog. THIS will someday be a favorite.

Day five update...there are muscles that were sore four days ago that feel stronger today.  What I realized doing P90X, and it seems to still hold true here, is that the next days exercises are designed to rest the previous days burnout.  That's what puts P90X at the top of my list.

Props to Traci Morrow, who I follow on Facebook.  She kicked ass on this workout.  Tony paid her a little too much attention but, hell, can you blame him?  Tony's jokes are still funny too, they keep me going.

Okay, all the best and tomorrow, when you get up, just do it one more time.  It gets easier.  Promise.

P90X3: Day 4 of 90. The Challenge.

The Challenge.  That about says it.  I don't have to add anything else.  My arms and chest hurt.  This is the first time I have done this in about 8 months, to repeat my other blogs.  I'm fried.  My reps weren't awesome...and I knew they wouldn't be.  I know how to handle this though.

Mentally, I know that how I did today is the bottom of the barrel benchmark.  We only get better from here.  I don't feel "bad" that I couldn't do what the folks on the DVD could do.  Really, I weigh about 15-18 lbs more right now than I did the first time I did this.  Also, I had been doing pushups back then.  Not this time.  So, in about four weeks, when I am down about 15 lbs, and my arms have been pushing all this extra weight, but it's not there anymore...watch me rock.

So, for now, to do the set, I do as much as I can and when I am burnt, I modify.  Down to the knees for pushups until I fail there as well.  As Neil Young would say, "It's better to burn out, than to die."  So tonight, I burnt out good.

The pullups?  I use the bands but they are modified for the pullup bar.  Some night, I will photograph it, because I've never seen anyone else doing it quite this way.  I may be a trend setter on this one.  I did many more pullups than pushups.  But, like I said, tonight was where we break off the rust.

Okay, time to check the kids' homework, take a shower, drink some protein/creatine, watch Weeds Season One reruns, and eat some fruit, and sleep.

Food tip for the day.  It starts with a question.  What comes in a jar, is about four inches long by an inch thick, and if you eat four of them, you are full and have only eaten 20 calories?  Glassen Kosher Dill Pickle Halves.  When I feel a need to snack, I eat two. 

P90X3: Day 3 of 90. Yoga X. I'm the Chairman.

I'm the Chairman.  More accurately, the Chair Man.  Yoga is not my thing.  I freely admit it.  There are those that I have done P90X with that are probably laughing right now.  I am fairly flexible.  I am also very bulky in terms of muscle.  Big in the thighs, barrel chested, big calves.  I have never been what you could call "lean."  Also, I kind of pulled something last night (more on that in a minute), so I'm a bit tender in some areas today.  That's my mea culpa.  I am not a Yoga guy.  To add to that, in P90X, Yoga is 90 minutes.  That's right, 90 minutes.  I hated it.  I cursed all the way through it.  I made fun of (because in my home, alone, I have that luxury...) everyone on the DVD and I would curse Tony every time he failed to do balanced reps.  Basically, I was surly and didn't need a reason to 'get my hate on.'

P90X3 Yoga is only 30 minutes.  Seriously?  You had me at 'hello.'  Yes, it is still Yoga.  And yes, it still has things I will NEVER be able to do unless I have some serious gene therapy and alter my body's structural design.  But, at 30 minutes, I will work through it.  It does still have the same flaw as every other Yoga DVD and that is, as you are focusing on what you are doing, they are progressing to the next move.  And, I swear, Tony Horton has HDD and just moves without telling you he's going.  That's fine too.  I'll catch up.  Hell, at 30 minutes, I'll hit pause and repeat it.  Not a problem.

So, I actually am cool with P90X3 Yoga X.  Now, for my injury.  It's cured.  Don't know how.  Don't care.  The muscles felt great today, just a little stiff...and Yoga and stretching was the perfect cure.  Loved doing it today.  Don't know what did it, the Protein, the Creatine or the Ice...maybe all three.  Either way, I felt like a million bucks doing Yoga X tonight.

Finally, why am I the Chairman?  or Chair man?  You should see me trying to do some of these poses.  It's ridiculous.  Now, I can do one of two things.  I can NOT do the pose, or I can find a way to do it so that I can stretch, achieve some balance and improve for the day when I can do the pose without help.  That's where the chair comes in handy.  I will use it to balance but only for the second I am losing my balance.  Then, I let go.  Sometimes I just use it to get into position.  Is it cheating?  Not really, it's cheating if you don't do it.  (In my mind, anyway.)

"Now, pull you foot into your crotch area and grab your toe.  Now, extend your leg straight out without letting go of the toe."  Really?  Dude, I have breakable stuff in my house.  I can fall and cover 15 feet of room.  That's just the balance part.  Also, you would think last night's injury would have kept me from doing that one.  Nope.  It's the extending of the leg, of course.  If you think touching your toes is tough, you are never going to make it through that.  What I do is slide my hand to my calf and I have the chair under the extended leg.  I lift the leg for as long as I can and hold it.  If I let it down, it's for a moment and then back up.  When I did P90X, by the last phase, no chair was needed.  You do what you have to do to get through the workout.  Make it happen.  Be the catalyst for your own change!  Good luck and see you in the AM!

P90X3: Day 2 of 90. Agility X. Crap, now I've done it! Again.

And, by 'doing it again,' I don't mean the Agility X routine.  I warmed up by doing 30 minutes on the treadmill.  All was going great until the first lunge set.  I felt a tightness in a muscle that has never given me problems before.  I pushed it for a couple more and it pulled tight on me.  Painfully tight.  I hit pause and backed out and stretched.  I didn't stop, just stretched the area that was affected.  I'm not sure, but I don't think it's the groin muscle.  If I look at a muscle map, it seems like it's the Gracillis.  Also, many pictures online show the muscle, oddly enough (and I say that sarcastically) with the leg in a lunge.

It's a small pull.  So, I kept going, I stretched frequently, and I modified to keep an eye on it.  Bottom line, I finished the workout.  But, it's pretty sore.  I iced the muscle and drank my protein and creatine shake when I was done.  For those of you over 50, that's spackle and glue for building up old muscles.  It'll be a few days of modifying the exercises that affect that muscle.

Here's the thing for you new people, kind of a "Coaching Moment" if you will.  When you feel your muscles pulling back in weird ways, hit pause before they react badly.  I've done this twice before in P90X and should have learned my lesson about listening to my body.  It's okay though, nothing permanent.  When it happened in P90X, I modified those exercises until I could do them again and did the rest with vigor.  Listen to your body.  Don't let your brain or ego write a check your body can't cash.

Here's the second part of this.  I'm not stopping.  I'll be on the treadmill for 45 minutes in the AM, and I will stretch it during the day so it doesn't get tight...and I will stretch better before each set.  Thirty minutes goes by quickly...if you need it, go "Cold Start."  I'll be doing heat before exercising and ice afterward.

So, it's deja vu all over again.  I pushed too hard and strained something.  I'll be fine.  Learn from my mistake (the third time) to listen to your body.  It's late.  Great Wildcard Weekend of NFL though!

P90X3: Day 1 of 90. Post-Workout. READ THIS!!

This is the ONLY time I will post 2 blogs in one day for P90X3.  Why today?  Because today is critical.

You will feel two ways on Day One.  You will be absolutely psyched before...and a conglomeration of emotions and physical feelings when you finish your first workout.

You all saw my photos.  I am not some Beachbody super-soldier.  I am just like you.  I just finished Total Synergistics.  It's been a long time since I felt this way.  Its been 20 minutes now and my heart is still beating quickly.  My arm muscles are shaking...I am actually supporting my forearms as I type this.

I couldn't do the whole workout.  I had to hit pause a few times...okay, many times.  But, I completed the whole thing.  I didn't do it in the 30 or so minutes...more like 40-45.  Overall, I did pretty good given where I am right now physically.  That's the key.  You are NOT supposed to look like the people on the DVD or do what they can do on Day One.  This is not their first day...it's yours.  What you are looking at, is your goal. Remember that.

In terms of the exercises, like I said, pretty much what I expected.  Arm exercises were pathetic, mainly because they have to exert against about 15-20 lbs more than when I was doing P90X at day 90.  Pullups?  Forget about keeping pace. All I want to do is keep going until I can't do anymore.  I am all lower body weight, and it kills my arms.  All the squat exercises?  Easy. Why?  Because my legs support my larger body weight daily and have been doing it my whole fat life.  Adding 20 lbs to a frame that was about 285 lbs for a good portion of my life is not really a chore.

I wrote a lot today, and my arms are tired.  This was what I blogged on Day One in 2012 after my first day:

"i am too tired to use caps.  i did like, half to three quarters of the workouts until I was burnt.  i don't want to accidentally break or rip something and have to stop.  on one exercise, I could barely do it at all...the ice skating side to side leg raise thingy.  i'm dead, never tried anything like this in my life.  now i am getting some water, vitamins and a protein bar.  ughhhhh.  i WILL get there.
incidentally, I now know why people lose weight on this workout...it's difficult to eat if you can't raise your arms.  good thing they ended with a yoga downward dog stretch...I may have to eat from my dog's bowl for a while.
okay...will let you know how things are tomorrow.  somehow it feels like i may be sore...really?  wow.  genius."  

If you remember one thing today, remember this.  Everyone feels this way and next week, on Day 8, when you do this workout again after having done a week of these routines, you will be shocked at how much better you do.  Trust me.

Today is critical. This is the day when you are most vulnerable to saying, "I can't do this."  Listen closely...YES YOU CAN.  Give it one more week and see how Day 8 feels.  Now, go drink your shake and take some protein.  And hydrate!!  And get your sleep tonight, although I think that might come easy.  All the best!

P90X3: Day 1 of 90. Boy, Did I Screw Up

How did I screw up?  I will answer that one in a minute.  Today is Day One.  Think of it this way, if you commit to the next 90 days, this is the worst you will look for the next three months.  That is the only way you will survive doing your Day One metrics, to include the pics.  Just remember, it's all uphill from here.

So, I got up this morning and weighed myself, took my measurements and took my pictures.  Here are the shots to the left.  I know, most of you will keep these private.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that when it comes to this, I have no shame to speak of.  So you can see how I improve from here.

Here is the other reason I post them.  It helps me follow through.  When I motivate myself, I always make my starting point public.  When everyone else knows your stats and your commitment, you feel an added amount of pride in going the distance and a little more trepidation to let that promise go.  It's like a little more glue, holding you to the process.

I went through a very strict, medically supervised weight-loss program in 2008.  I had to do a liquid diet.  Why?  I was dying.  You can read my blog called "The Tipping Point" by clicking on the link above to read the detail.  The point is, I was SO physically unfit that I could not safely exercise rigorously.  It was causing other medical conditions that were shortening my life.  In that program, most of the people never discussed their weight, or their progress.  They kept it secret.  Those people who never discussed it, well, they either quit the program or failed to lose weight over a long period of time.  Doing the measurements and making them public makes you accountable to yourself in a way that you can't just silently slip away and quit.  It does make a difference.

Okay, how did I screw up?  Take a look at the pics to the left.  I am in worse shape now than when I started P90X in 2012.  I knew I was...deep down.  But, now I REALLY know it.  And so do you.

This is the journey for me in the next 90 days.  It's not some pipe dream, I know I can do it.

Screwing up?  I haven't been this heavy or out of shape since I lost my 85 lbs in 2008.  I let things in my life derail a ton of progress that I had made.  When I look at that 90 day picture, I know that I want THAT back.  I also know that I need a plan to NEVER let it get away again.  Over 50 years old, you lose your 'fitness gains' at an incredible speed if you just plain stop.  You need to make the programs a part of your normal life and you need to make it something achievable.  We will all have the moments when life derails us.  It's not the obstacle, it's how fast you get back up.  I didn't get back up.  Now, here I am, facing the big work one more time.

I do have one advantage that many of you don't have.  I know I can do it.  I've climbed this mountain before.  I also know something about you...you can do it too.  If you just follow along, you will make progress and achieve things you didn't know you could do.  Trust me.

Here is my "gym".  Check out the mat.  It's all measured up and waiting for me.  Notice something on it though, I measured it for Novice, Expert, and a spot in between.  I may have to start at Novice.  We'll see.  If I do, it's not failure, it's just Week One.  That last line is my goal by Day 90.  The line is already drawn.  Just like the photos, it's real and looking me in the face every workout.  So are my weights.  There are weights heavy enough that I may not use them...but they are STILL waiting for the day I can...staring at me.

I also did my measurements.



Day 30, 60, and 90 are waiting.  March 31st is not that far away.  90 seems like a lot.  It's not.  Okay, enough typing.  Time to warm up and get to "Total Synergistics."  Follow along and let me know how YOUR journey is going.  I'll be following you all too!  You are not alone.  Don't stop.

P90X3: Mindset. Your New Body is Thoughts Away

Do you think the toughest part of P90X will be the workouts?  No doubt, they are difficult and challenging.  Would a better diet help?  Yes.  If you were in better shape right now, would the workouts be less difficult?  Yes.  If both of these things were present, would that guaranty your success?  No.  The one thing that will guarantee your success is your MINDSET.  No matter what your physical state of being is, if you are not mentally ready to do this, it will be nearly impossible to succeed.  That statement is not meant to apply only to P90X or P90X3.  It applies to your life.  What you do, in P90X-3, is going to change the way you view everything.

Your body is more energy than it is mass.  Think about that for a minute.  Your body's cells, at the atomic level, are made up of this tiny solid nucleus, surrounded by energy that bonds it to the other atoms.  The space between two atoms is far greater than the size of the atoms.  That energy is a part of this massive neural network in your body that is tied to your brain.  When your brain feels great, it affects all aspects of your body.  Also, when your brain feels awful, you feel that too.  Your brain reacts to whatever you feed it.  Feed it negative stimuli constantly, and your whole body is affected.  Feed it positive stimuli, the inverse.

Also, we do react to the world we live in.  We don't live in some jar, disconnected from external stimuli, and with the luxury and ability to just be a being in peaceful bliss.  That is true.  But, how you process that external stimuli to your brain, that IS in your control and that is your MINDSET.  You can paint almost anything in your life as positive or negative.  That's your choice.

Are you telling me that all I have to do is think positive thoughts to feel better?  Yes.  There is actually some evidence that it can affect physical healing and how your body deals with ailments, but even if you don't buy into that completely, processing in a positive manner will improve how you feel.

This may shock you, but your brain does not know the difference between thought and reality.  Locked away inside your body, your brain reacts to what is fed into it.  Whether you see something "real", or a picture of that same thing, your brain reacts to it the same way.  The same goes for any thoughts you have.  Your brain processes the thoughts you feed it.  Based on those thoughts, your brain then interacts with the neural net in your body and releases various hormones, etc.  Your physical response will react to the thoughts you fed your brain.

This is wonderful!!  How the heck does this relate to P90X??

The physical challenges ahead of you will be greatly assisted by your MINDSET.  If you picture yourself as thinner, in better shape, athletic...your mind will do everything in it's power to get your body there.  You have to do the work, but the physical work you are performing is assisted by the brain and how it programs the energy in your body.  How you view food, how you view exercise, how you process 'pain' and 'soreness'...all of that will dictate your rate of success.  If you constantly are telling yourself, "I want clean food.  Fruit, water, salad, nuts, vegetables.  I am hungry for that," then you will be shocked how your body will condition itself to satisfy that desire.  If you tell yourself, "The soreness and aches don't matter," you will be shocked how your body responds and allows a few more minutes of work, giving you an edge.  If you keep seeing yourself as a thinner person, and really focus on that, your brain will help to deliver that result.

MINDSET.  Find five positive affirmations.  Even if you don't feel them right now, especially if you don't feel them right now, write them down.  How do you want to be and feel ninety days from now?  Make those five short statements something you repeat to yourself over and over.  Make one about diet, make one about exercising, make one about how you want to look, make one about how you feel about yourself, and make one about removing something toxic from your life.  As you are going through your day, begin to see yourself in this way.  Repeat it over and over.  As you do all of the reps of the exercises, tell yourself these things over and over again.  It WILL become you.

Did you ever make up a story and then retell it so many times that you have a hard time distinguishing the reality from the made up?  That's because you told the story so many times that your brain stopped being able to tell the difference between "reality" and what you fed it.  You can tell your brain a different story.

What will your story be?  Write it today, five sentences, and begin making it your story.  Your brain won't know the difference.  And, in 90 days, you will see what that did for you. 
 

P90X3: Eye on the Prize. 3 Days to Go.

Saturday's the day.  For almost all of the group I am doing this with, Monday, January 6th is the P90X3 start date and all will be doing it in unison.  I have done this before, and my optimal start DAY is Saturday.  I like Saturday's because Day 7 in the program is the rest day and I like my rest day to be Friday...so I will be starting on Saturday, January 4th.

Over the next couple of days, I will do a few things to finish my prep.

I need to break out my mat, my weights, my pushup grips (optional, but very effective) my pullup bar and my bands.  Finish watching the DVDs for the first cycle.

Eating right.  This is important.  Write down the shell of an eating plan.  Don't make it so restrictive that you can't follow it.  Just outline your approach to eating.  Read the P90X3 guide for suggestions, but use that to set yourself up for success.  If you do not change your diet one iota, you will change.  You will be burning calories that you normally don't burn and that will have results...but not the results you want.  You have to eat better and you have to eat healthier if you are going to take your body on this 90 day journey.

There is also one thing that people often skip.  Measure yourself with the scale and the tape measure, to include the visual measurement...the photos.

There are a lot of reasons people don't do this.  For many people, this is uncomfortable.  How much do I weigh?  How large am I around the waistline?  Is this what I really look like?  Oh...my...god.  Facing this brings about a lot of thoughts and feelings.  Self loathing is one.  You can't believe you did this to yourself.  Everything you have been telling yourself to fool yourself into thinking you look fine, rationalizing, will go right out the door because the numbers don't lie.  You will hate them.  But, ninety days from now, if you commit, YOU WILL LOVE THEM.  Why?  Because they don't lie...and they will be saying, "Wow...you kicked ass."

And, if you have never done a program like this, without an idea of what you will look like 90 days from now...it can be very DE-motivating.  But, 90 days from now, if you commit, you will change.  YOU WILL CHANGE.  That's why you have to do the measurements and photos.

There will come a time in this program, around week 3, when you realize you are getting better at the routines.  And, you will notice that the pants you have been wearing will have more room in them.  I was in good physical shape when I started P90X but I still got asked by my closest friends, "What are you doing?  Are you losing more weight or something?"  Your first set of program pictures, at 30 days, will look better, but maybe not great.  I was already in pretty good shape, so I didn't see a lot of change...at least not what I was expecting to see.  But the change was there.  Everyone else noticed it.

At the 60 day mark, I was really pushing hard because I felt like a million bucks and was starting to see it in the pictures.  By 90 days, I didn't want it to end.

Do all the measurements before you start.  Learn to love the numbers because, when you are done, they are the evidence of your success.  When you can't visually SEE all the results you want, the numbers will reflect progress.

One last thing.  If you have never done this before, fix an image of yourself in your mind...a realistic one...of what you would like to look like 90 days from now.  Think about that image every time you are working out.  SEE yourself looking just like that.  Your body will deliver what your mind conceives.  In 90 days, if you don't look exactly like that, don't be discouraged.  Acknowledge how far you have come, and then keep going.  It's about the journey...so plan another routine (Insanity, T25, Les Mills, etc.) but, keep going.

I start on Saturday.  If you haven't done this before, I can tell you this much.  It's not a commercial, and it's not some joke with fake pictures and professionally managed results.  It works.  It works on regular people.  It works at home.  It's going to work on you.  My pictures are attached today of my P90X experience.  I am psyched to get back to this photo because, I am not there right now and, more importantly, THAT's how I see myself in my mind's eye.  Eye on the prize.  I will be here for the whole ride with you!