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. 

P90X: "It's Better To Burn Out, Than It Is To Rust" Day 82 of 90

When I went on vacation, I took quite a few days off from P90X.  I didn’t do the exercise routines from the program, but I did exercise a lot.  I burned a lot of calories.  In the 9 day stretch, I did only one Kempo X and one Core Synergistics.  I did Ab Ripper X twice.  You would think that only a week wouldn’t matter all that much, especially with all the exercise I actually did.  But that is not true.

I am paying for it this week.  I managed to do all my sets with the same number of repetitions and weight, but I feel sore again.  So the muscles, in only nine days, atrophied a little.  Nine days.

This brings me to the topic of the day.  As you get older, it does not take much to get soft and weak.  It takes work, consistent work, to keep your body fit.  You can’t take months, weeks or even days off and think you can still do the same level of work.  When you stop, you will have to make that trip back up the hill to reach your peak levels.

Now I’ll be the first one to say that the routine I am doing is very demanding.  In fact, it says it so much on the DVD that I may be the last to say it.  But the past “off” week has shown me the value of doing this every day.  You have to form a habit for fitness.  As I get to the end of the program…and I am approaching the end of P90X…I have to consider what the next thing is.  I am thinking that I will do the P90X Third Phase another time.  So I will be adding five more weeks to the program when I am done.  I can still see area’s that I want to improve and lean out.  The bottom line, however, is that I don’t want to stop.  I don’t want to stop because I know what it will mean.

I have considered changing up the routine a little…there are some things I don’t like…like the Yoga X.  Too long and too tedious.  I want something that burns a few more calories.  I am considering substituting Cardio X for it.  So I am considering the next step here.

The real issue is not the “what” is next  question…it’s the fact that I have to continue.  I know I do.  I want to.  When I was a kid, I loved to listen to Neil Young.  He had a song called “Hey, Hey, My, My.”  It’s funny how you don’t really understand some songs until they become you.  He must have been facing the proposition of growing older when he wrote the lyrics, “It’s better to burn out, than it is to rust.”

Don’t go quietly.

As I learned this week following a week off…it doesn’t take long to rust.  Over forty years old, it happens quite quickly.  It makes you realize how easy it is to become lethargic and comfortable…and what the real price of that is.  You actually give up a lot when you just give in.

Hey, hey, my, my.