holiday hangover (p90x update)

most holiday food is way too delicious to pass up and really not worth forfeiting; if you have been working hard all year then you can reward yourself. the key to holiday noshing is portion control, just sample everything instead of overloading on one thing. if you have been working hard and eating clean you probably will feel a little weighted down though, so just make sure you keep to your workouts (maybe even add in a little extra), and you will be fine. eating junk food is part of the fun around the holidays, so enjoy, just make sure you don't keep doing it after the holidays are over.


P90X update-
almost 60 days in now and still rockin it. i have actually gone away from doing the videos and started to just use the workout book. i find my workouts to be more fluid and more catered to me. anyways i continue to see improvements in flexibility, strength, and endurance. My last "non-recovery" workout i was able to do 30 chin-ups continuously, and over the entire workout (*8 exercises) i performed 150 pull up exercises! when i first started, i may have been able to do somewhere between 80 and 95. Fast loss has stayed pretty consistent, however i probably haven't progressed as much as i could have with the past two months falling over the holiday season and semi-poor eating habits. regardless, i am still loving the workouts and cant wait to complete the 90 days and start all over again (without thanksgiving and christmas).

Week 2 Phase 2

its been about a month since the last post and i love the progress i have made with P90x. not only have i started to shred body fat, my flexibility, endurance, and all around strength has increased. when i started i could maybe do 12 to 15 pull ups without stopping and i would be completely gassed; now i can do 15 to 20 for multiple sets! yoga was wierd at first but i love it now, its helped with everything. i wont post pictures/video until ive completed the 90 days just so i can show the entire program at once. i have also been encouraged by people who have been doing the workouts for years (multiple circuits of the full program) and the results are incredible.

i still struggle with the "eat right all the time" mentality, but as i see results, the less and less i crave junk food. if you can train your mind and body to block out the "instant gratification" mindset, then your desired results will come quicker.

take care and keep getting after it

p90x-two weeks in

ive done some pretty difficult workouts in my life, but nothing has been more difficult than p90x's plyometric and abdominal workout.  the plyometric training is a series of jumps, lunges, twists, and hops and you do them for an hour straight.  by the time i am done, i am soaked in sweat and completely fatigued.  the ab workout is done 3 times a week and it is a combination of 11 different exercises non-stop totally approx. 350 reps.  its awful.  i know by the end of 90 days results will come.  i encourage anyone who considers themselves in good shape to skip the gym for a few months and invest in this program, its honestly the greatest all around exercise i have ever experienced.  you might be able to bench press 300 pounds but if you can do that and bend over and put your hands flat on the ground without bending your knees, id be impressed.  keep training, and remember "if hard work pays off, then easy work is worthless"

p90x week one intro

in home workout

cant make it to the gym? no worries, try this in home workout-itll get you heartrate up and actually kick your butt a little bit.

This should take you about a half and hour and you should try and do it non-stop.

1. Squats 20 reps

2. Lunges 10 each leg

3. Punches 10 to each side (pivot right and swing right and vice versa)

4. Knee Raises 10 with each knee alternating

5. Down ups - 10 reps (drop down into a squat position then kick your legs out behind you so you are in a pushup position, then come back to squat, then come all the way up)

6. Pushups- 20

7. Situps - 20

8. Dips -15 (on the edge of a couch or chair feet out in front with knees slightly bent and touch butt to ground or until elbow is 90 degrees)

9. Leg raises 10 (lie on back and keep legs straight and raise together to make a 90 degree angle with your torso)

10. Pushups-20

Repeat 3-4 times pending on capabilities.

Should give you a good workout and get your heart rate up.

Good luck 

New motivation

Summer has come and gone but that doesn't mean we take it easy just because we're not taking our shirts off.  On the contrary, we want to begin our heavy lifting training again.  Now's the time to start piling on the plates and starting growing.  The key to putting on size and weight is form and muscle confusion.  We never want to repeat any workouts if we can, by doing so we force our muscles to break down and grow in ways they never have before so they are forced to get huge.  Good form is critical for muscle growth, try and grab a spotter if you can for heavy lifts.  Also remember that no one cares about how much you can lift if you look like an idiot doing it, first make sure you can do the weight without a spot and then move up.  Good luck soldiers 

summertime

summertime is the time to cut weight.  you work against yourself if you try and increase mass and size in the these months.  you are already more active and you sweat more, so you should use that to your advantage.  try something new, something you normally wouldn't do and you would be surprised at how much you might like it.  Try biking, swimming, and or running; or a combination of all of them.  Triathletes are, hands down, some of the best athletes in the world, not only because of their physical abilities but because mentally they are incredible.  i have experienced an ironman race first hand and have never witnessed a more triumphant spectacle as i did watching those competitors cross the finish line after 8-12 hours of exertion.  finishing a race of any kind is a pretty cool sensation and everyone should do it at least once in their life.  if you are not into racing, compete in something; you will be amazed at what you can do if you are actually working out for something rather than just yourself.  challenge yourself and you wont regret it.  keep the battle alive!