Hoff's P90Xperience

1/29/09 - Phase III, Week 11, Day 6 - Kenpo X

Today was an extremely stressful and somewhat depressing day.

I felt like crud and a plague has been wafting its way through the house, so overall, today was the suck.

I did Kenpo.  All became right with the world again:

P90X Kenpo X done. 653 calories/16% from fat. AvgHR=130(71%), MaxHR=160(88%) Z1=16:01,Z2=25:45,Z3=15:35

I'm going to do stretch tomorrow as my hip flexors are really tight as is my lower back.

Time for a trip to the chiropractor, also.

/Hoff

1/28/09 - Phase III, Week 11, Day 5 - Legs & Back

Ah, ye olde legs and back...I upped the weights on all the carry exercises tonight without drama.

Focusing on form on the pull-ups yielded good numbers and much better back burn -- I need to get the new bar mounted ASAP.

Here are the particulars:

P90X Legs & Back Done. 698cal/17% from fat. Z1=13:56; Z2=28:50; Z3=15:21. AvgHR=131, MaxHR=165 

In regards to the Polar FT80, Chris from Polar support took it upon himself to help me out and eliminate my wrist unit as the culprit causing the problems I'm having.  I'm pretty sure it's the Flow Link and/or software, but I'm really grateful that he went out of his way to help me.

I'm did my last workout with the original watch tonight and will do the fitness test and start training with the new watch tomorrow.  I have to say that the new unit's backlight/visibility is much better than the original...go figure.

Almost done with week 11 then into the home stretch.

The funny thing is that it's *NOW* that I'm really getting into good form, lower reps. and heavier weights, but hey, it's all setting up for an even better round 2.

Speaking of round 2, the day I end round 1 I'm heading to DC in an RV for about a week for a conference, so I'm rehearsing the Road Warrior X routine on my rest day to ensure I know what band(s) to take and that I know the routine ahead of time for the hotel...

Speaking of hotels, the Hilton/Doubletree has some really great fitness-friendly meals and accessories for us fitness geeks...thanks to @taylorbanks for the heads-up.  I'm staying at a Hilton in DC for my con., so I'll take advantage of the offers...and report back in another post.

Bring it, yo! ;)

/Hoff

1/26/09 - Phase III, Week 11, Day 3 - Shoulders & Arms

Well, I really pushed upping the weight today and surprised myself.  I think given my recent shoulder issues, I've been going lighter than I should have.  I was able to really hump it to get the last 3 reps of the 8 counts done, which is where I wanted to be with good form.  Very happy with today.

Sad that this routine is now done (much like back & biceps) for this round...all the little lines on my logs are filled in :(

I took my time today with the routine without the hurried up pace and allowed for a reasonable recovery time with a drop to 120-130 bpm and then hit it hard.  I also did some plyo during every break instead of just ballistic stretches.

I turned off the DVD Muzak and ran my own instead which was great.  So here's the damage: 756 Cals/23% from fat burned. AvgHR=123, MaxHR=164, Z1=43:30, Z2=30:06, Z3=5:10

Still no love from the Polar FT80.  Every week the websync software comes up with another new bug it's suffering from that won't allow it to communicate with the Polar site. 

Sigh.

I'm waiting to see if they follow through on the new unit like they promised in email; I responded with the information they needed but got a "we're really busy" auto-response and then another round of "have you tried..." emails from a tech.

Sigh^2.

Looking forward to the day I can use my $350 training computer the way it was advertised.

Keep pushing play!

/Hoff

1/25/09 - Phase III, Week 11, Day 2 - Plyometrics

Short and sweet:

P90X Plyometrics done. I have achieved puke (srsly.)  The back porch (covered in snow) is, um, messier than it was an hour ago. 810 calories, 13% from fat.

Here's the telling part: AvgHR=143, MaxHR=176 (97%!) with Z1=10:36, Z2=12:49, Z3=35:30

Done Brung it

;)

/Hoff

1/24/09 - Phase III, Week 11, Day 1 - Chest & Back

I felt like absolute crap today.  My attitude sucked.  Everything was just a chore and I felt like curling up and dying.  Emotionally and physically, it was the suck.

I made up a batch of fast twitch and 20 minutes later I was pushing play.

Let me tell you, I went outside after Chest & Back/Ab-Ripper X.  It was 25 degrees.  I took a long, deep, cleansing breath and all was right with the world.

I never thought exercise would/could stabilize me like it does. I am really thankful for P90X.  Thanks, Mr. Horton.

...

I enjoy this routine quite a bit.  The more attention I pay to form on my pullups (angle shoulder blades back, go ALL the way down, less momentum) as well as pushups (tightening abs, glutes, etc.) the more fun this routine gets.

I noticed my rep counts go down on a couple of these exercises when I do them with more proper form which tells you I STILL have a ways to go.  I will really focus on this more during my next round.

The diamond pushups are still hard for me (I get 15-18) but I struggle at the end getting my chest down to the diamond.  The divebombers really work my shoulders, also.  I'm getting MUCH better form with the declines.

I've officially maxed out the SelecTech's on the lawnmowers.  I can do almost 20 reps with 52.5 pounds which means I'm probably in the 65 pound range for 8-10 reps (or more.)  As I mentioned in my last post, I want to experiment with the bands to see how much I can pull there.

I'm close to maxing out on the heavy pants also.  I never thought I'd be saying THAT! ;)

At any rate, back to my plyo tomorrow.

Week 11.  Wow.

BodyLastics Bands - Terell Owens "Super Strong Man" Edition ;)

I've been hinting that I am going to include or transition over to bands for my next round of P90X.  As such, I wanted a good set of comprehensive bands with various resistance and anchoring capabilities.

My friend @georgevhulme (Twitter) recommended the T.O. branded BodyLastics units.  I ordered a set and they came today.  The nice thing about the bands, besides the quality construction, is that you can add resistance by clipping multiple resistance bands together at the handles, which I like very much.

Terrell Owens Super Strong Man Bodylastics Set comes complete with 7 continuous dipped elastics which create over 94 levels of resistance and up to 127 lbs of resistance per side. This means that grandparents and NFL offensive linemen alike will be able to get the best workout of their life, from one amazing system.

I'm looking forward to working out with these to see the real difference they make in, say, the back & biceps routine.

You can find more info on the bands here.  In the same way you ignore the creepy infomerical ads for the Beachbody stuff, you can ignore a lot of the fluff you'll find there also ;)

 

1/22/09 - Phase III, Week 10, Day 6 - Stretch (Sub'd for Kenpo)

I hope I'm not mixing things up too much for you, but as I've posted before, I have to reduce the amount of cardio I'm doing within P90X because combined with the amount of jiu jitsu, I'm not getting enough rest/recovery time and it's taking a toll.

I can't even begin to tell you the difference this makes both mentally and physically.  My body feels better AND I can tell you without a doubt that I'm gaining more muscle mass over the last 2 weeks doing this.

So, if you're doing P90X and something else with a lot of cardio, you need to balance your goals and expectations as your strength training and muscle mass gain may be compromised by excess cardio -- YMMV, but I do believe that the guidance I found online on the BB forum is accurate.

As much as I enjoy Kenpo, I already did, um, real kickboxing this week (and managed not to get a black eye this time, woot!) so I'm fine with missing it.

Week 11, here I come.

/Hoff

1/21/09 - Phase III, Week 10, Day 5 - Legs & Back

Wall squats.  Wall Squats.  Thou art my nemesis.  OK, they're not THAT bad, but the shakeys are disturbing.

The thing about this routine that I still have difficulty with is actually something simple: the side lunges.  For some reason, keeping the rear foot planted sideways and lunging is really difficult for me...still.

I can't wait until the new pull-up bar gets here so I can really get my reps squared away with better form.  I've REALLY focused on ensuring I go ALL the way down on each extension on all pull/chin-ups to avoid momentum.

Given the hand-ripping the occurs on the P.O.S. pull-up station, I do put my feet down on the switch-grips because otherwise I can't hang on at the angle and with the rough surface with only one hand.

I'm not using any assists (haven't been for weeks) on the pull/chin-ups but I'm going to record my form to ensure that I'm where I want to be...both using the existing equipment and the new bar once it comes.

Tomorrow is supposed to be Kenpo, but as I mentioned regarding trimming back my cardio, I'll either do Cardio X (it's really a light "recovery cardio") or most likely Stretch X.

Then rest day and onto <gasp!> week 11.

I need to potentially start transitioning to the bands, but I'm not sure the final weeks are a good time to do it...I've been doing some additional work in between sets and ad hoc to sample moves using the bands v. weights in order to get used to the Road Warrior routine before it comes.

Keep pressing play!

/Hoff

1/20/09 - Phase III, Week 10, Day 4 - NOT Yoga X - BJJ & Kickboxing

Until my @PowerGeek approved "Fountain of Youth Yoga" one-one-one DVD gets here, I'm staying off YogaX due to my shoulders; I can't take 45 minutes of vinyasas/downward dogs during the first half of the routine.  PG has tried "Fountain of Youth" and declared it much better.

Here's what he had to say (here):

Fountain of Youth Yoga  

I know I know...this is not part of the official P90X program but today was technically Yoga day and I just couldn't do it.  You've heard it before, too long...too zen...yada yada.

So, my Tony Horton One-on-One DVDs came today and I thought I would give the One-on-One Fountain of Youth DVD a whirl.  Liked this routine much better than YogaX, for one it is only about 45 min long while still working up a sweat - good balance routines and I liked the little bit of Ab core work in the end.  I also liked the one on one home video-ish filming - you get to see more angles of Tony doing the routines and no flabby background people distracting you from bringing it!

Tony even mentions numerous times in the video that people complain about how long YogaX is and they can't do it for whatever reason, this is his version of Yoga for which the P90X Yoga'ers can't complain about!  

I would certainly recommend this DVD for anyone doing the P90X (or other workout that includes Yoga) and would like to substitute YogaX for something else.

Go get it here:  http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/tony_horton_one_on_one.do

Sounds like a winner...and with abs to boot.  Yeah!  I want to get back to the yoga, so hopefully this will do the trick.

So, I did 1.5 hours of BJJ today and 1.5 hours of kickboxing (after helping teach the kids BJJ class, also.)  Getting punched in the face is still taking some getting used to.

/Hoff

Fountain of Youth Yoga  

I know I know...this is not part of the official P90X program but today was technically Yoga day and I just couldn't do it.  You've heard it before, too long...too zen...yada yada.

So, my Tony Horton One-on-One DVDs came today and I thought I would give the One-on-One Fountain of Youth DVD a whirl.  Liked this routine much better than YogaX, for one it is only about 45 min long while still working up a sweat - good balance routines and I liked the little bit of Ab core work in the end.  I also liked the one on one home video-ish filming - you get to see more angles of Tony doing the routines and no flabby background people distracting you from bringing it!

Tony even mentions numerous times in the video that people complain about how long YogaX is and they can't do it for whatever reason, this is his version of Yoga for which the P90X Yoga'ers can't complain about!  

I would certainly recommend this DVD for anyone doing the P90X (or other workout that includes Yoga) and would like to substitute YogaX for something else.

Go get it here:  http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/tony_horton_one_on_one.do

1/19/09 - Phase III, Week 10, Day 3 - Back & Biceps

I love this workout.  Love, love, love.  Except for the corn cobs and the towel pull-ups on my retarded pull-up station ;(  I can't wait until the stud bar gets here...it's messing with my form to have these stupid angles on the grips.

I am focusing on upping the weight and bringing the reps down to 8 to add mass.  I can tell I've compromised some strength with all the extra cardio (as was warned about) as some of exercises have become more difficult at certain rep/weight combinations than I recorded previously.

At any rate, I'm maxing out the weights of the SelecTech 552's on the lawnmowers (52.5 pounds,) so I'm not sure what the heck I'm going to do about that, except perhaps upgrade.  One thing I have noticed about all the routines with the dumbbells is that the bulk of the SelecTech's really do get in the way at times.

I may actually go low-tech and go back to dumbbells or for the next round concentrate on using bands only -- using the TO bands I've ordered, since they can be chained together for higher resistance.  I've been doing some supplemental experimentation with the bands and I have to tell you it's a very, very different workout, especially with triceps and biceps.

I worked out late in the afternoon today due to conference calls all day and then as soon as I was finished with the workout, ran to BJJ for 1.5 hours of mat time.  Holy cow, batman!  I had zero arm strength left for class which means focusing on technique was easy since that was all I had left!

At any rate, here's the specs (until I can get the satan watch FT80 functioning properly again):

759 calories, 20% from fat / Avg. HR=128, Max. HR=161 / Zone1=30:48, Zone2=33:37, Zone3=7:56