Day 3, Arms and Shoulders

Today's workout is almost all weights which is different from the rest. I think we did 2 exercises that did not use dumbbells. The tough part today was trying to get the weight right and still keep up with the workout. I initially had the weights too low on pretty much everything and adjusted up on the second set. Some things were good at that point but I will still need to increase a few next time we do this one. We had to pause the video a bunch of times because we got a little bit behind them. Part of this was us taking time to decide on the right weight and part of it, at least for me, was adjusting the bowflex dumbbells to that weight. I started getting better at setting the dumbbells as the workout went on and I think that next week when I already know the exercises and the weights to use for each I should be able to keep up. If you don't know what the dumbbells I am talking about are or how they are adjusted you can see them here. I bought these because they were the easiest to adjust of all the adjustable dumbbells I tried. I went with adjustable because I don't have room for a full set of dumbbells and the same amount of weights would have cost over twice as much. Based on today I don't know how you would do this workout at all with some of the more difficult to adjust dumbbells out there so think about that if you decide to do the program. This was a pretty complete arm and shoulder workout and I can already tell I am going to feel it later. My legs are a little sore from yesterday but don't seem nearly as bad as last time we did plyometrics. My chest and back are still somewhat sore as well. I am feeling good.

We also had to do the Ab Ripper X workout again today. We were able to do a lot more of the reps this time, or at least it seemed that way. I for sure felt this burning throughout the workout and I am sure I am going to have a really sore midsection. this is a very tough ab routine but it is a lot of fun as well. Sean, our 4 year old son, came down at the start of this and wanted to try so he did a bunch of these as well. He apparently has a much stronger core than either Sarah or I because he was able to do some of these without seeming to be putting forth any effort, amusing. He likes to try out exercises any time we do them, he doesn't really do a whole workout but he has fun getting involved. Sofia, 1 1/2, also was trying to do some. Tomorrow is Yoga X. I am looking forward to trying it although it is 1.5 hours.

Post Workout:

• Whey Protein (26 grams Protein GNC 100% Whey in skim milk)
• Creatine (5 grams in water)

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal (1 cup)
• 1 banana

Snack:

• 2 low fat string cheese mozzarella

Lunch:

• Asian chicken salad (recipe in the nutrition guide I think but Sarah made it so maybe not)

Snack:

• 1.5 oz. spicy cashews

Dinner:

• 9 oz. shrimp (These and the broccoli were cooked in a sauce that Sarah made - chicken broth, crushed red pepper, garlic, ???)
• 2 cups broccoli

Day 2, Plyometrics Again

I really like this workout. This thing is hard as hell but it is a lot of fun and you never stop moving. I felt better with it this time than I did when we tried it last week. I assume that is due to knowing what was coming and how to do the different exercises. The first time through I had to spend some time at the beginning of each figuring out what to do. Sarah did really good this morning as well and we had a good time. thank god we did not have to do the Ab workout again today.

It feels like I got a better workout yesterday than I had originally thought. My chest and back are pretty sore, which feels good considering I was not getting that with my gym workout the last couple of weeks even as I was increasing my weight. I was also surprised that my stomach muscles are pretty sore; based on how little of the Ab Ripper X workout we were able to do I thought we had not really gotten a very good workout in but I was wrong. Sarah is a little more sore than I am I think but still doing well and is eating more than she had been which is good. I am going to start adding my food to these things so I have a record of what I ate in case I decide to do this again, or for anyone who wants to see what the nutrition plan is like. Initially the food seemed like a lot but I have not had trouble eating it and I have not been hungry, although I can tell when I need to eat again.

Post Workout:

• Whey Protein (26 grams Protein GNC 100% Whey in skim milk)


• Creatine (5 grams in water)

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal (1 cup)
• 1 banana

Snack:

• 2 slices Swiss cheese (should be low fat but is not)

Lunch:

• Island Pork Tenderloin Salad (pretty big salad with a ton of meat on it. recipe is in the nutrition guide)

Snack:

• 1 oz. spicy cashews

Dinner:

• Chicken breast (9 oz. with BBQ sauce)
• 1 cup asparagus
• 1 cup carrots

Day 1, Here We Go

Well we got up this morning and did the chest and back workout followed by the ab ripper x workout. The chest and back routine did not seem as strenuous as I was anticipating, perhaps I need to increase my intensity next time. I do feel it now though so we will see how I feel tomorrow. This workout is a lot of push ups and pull ups. I had to do chair assists on a lot of the pull ups and at some points I dropped to my knees to pump out the last few push ups. There are also a few weight exercises in this one and I chose the wrong weights this time around, I adjusted after the first set but I think I will still need to adjust these again on the next go around. This workout goes by pretty fast and we had to pause it a few times to get our weights or chair or whatever equipment but I think we should have an easier time next week. The Ab Ripper X workout, OH MY GOD!!! This was a humbling experience. Both Sarah and I had a tough time with this and if I had to guess I would say we did something less than half the reps in this routine. Some of the exercises we could not even really do although I think they were different exercises for each of us. It will be interesting to see how we improve on this workout given that it is done 3 times a week. I did like this workout but man is it a killer.

We also start our nutrition plan today. We are in the phase 1 portion which is lower carb and pretty high protein designed to cut some fat during the first 30 days. We had oatmeal (1 cup) and a banana for breakfast. A cup of oatmeal really looks like a lot but I was able to eat it and was not stuffed or anything. I took whey protein (26 grams protein in 8 oz skim milk) and creatine (5 grams 1/2 serving) immediately after the workout and before breakfast. My morning snack is 8 oz. 1% cottage cheese. For lunch I have a salad with chicken and turkey breast and parmesan cheese. For afternoon snack it is 1 oz. spicy cashews, this seems like a very small amount compared to some of the other servings. I will probably eat largely the same thing daily during phase 1 just because it is easier that way. We will do different things for dinner though which will be, for me, 9 oz. meat a serving of dairy and 2 servings of veggies.

So far so good but we need to do plyometrics again tomorrow, should be fun.

Post Workout:

• Whey Protein (26 grams Protein GNC 100% Whey in skim milk)
• Creatine (5 grams in water)

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal (1 cup)
• 1 banana

Snack:

• 8 oz. 1% cottaqge cheese (this shit was terrible and I will never eat itr again. I like cottage cheese but not this crap. I literally had to choke it down.)

Lunch:

• Salad (2 cups spinach, 2 cups lettuce, 9 oz. chicken breast, 1 oz. parmesan, balsamic dressing. This was good and just the right amount.)

Snack:

• 1 oz. spicy cashews

Dinner:

• Island Pork Tenderloin 9 oz. (Yummy!!!)
• Mixed Veggies 1 cup
• Brussel Sprouts 1 cup (not a big fan, probably won't eat them again)

X Stretch

Well we start tomorrow. Getting everything ready now. We did X Stretch yesterday and that was good. It was an hour worth of stretching and I felt pretty good after finishing. I think we are going to try to do that each week on the off day. Well there is a bunch of chicken to cook and whatnot so I better get to it. Should be fun tomorrow, I will let you know.

Wax on wax off ungainly Danielsan!

So Sarah and I got up this morning and did the Kempo X workout. This is something like a kickboxing or Tae-Bo workout. It was fun but let me say it is a good thing I did not have to really kick someones ass because I am one uncoordinated boob. I almost fell over several times trying to do some of the kicking moves and my kicks are pretty low compared to theirs. I sort of got a groove as things went on though, I discovered I was going a little too fast and once I stopped trying to keep up with the video and just concentrated on myself I started doing much better. The trick seems to be start in a good balanced position and do one move returning to the good balanced position before attempting the next move. My problem was I was going too fast and tripping over myself.

The workout did not seem nearly as strenuous as the plyometrics was but that could also be because I was trying to figure out the moves which was not as much of an issue with the plyometrics workout. I did work up a good sweat though and I liked the workout. The heart rate monitors are great and I would highly recommend one to anyone working out at home, hell I might even take it to the gym if I go back. It has alarms that go off, if you set it up that way, when I drop below or go above my target training zone which is also adjustable. They select the zone and max HR for you based on height, weight, and activity level information you program in but you can also adjust that. I was training at about 85% of max using the max the device calculated for me and it was about where I want to be based on what I have been doing at the gym, 160-165 bpm.

Sofia woke up again before we were done but again she just sat on the sofa drinking milk and watching us finish. It appears the morning workouts will be OK as long as she does not get bored of watching. I like the warm up sessions before the workouts and the stretches are good and seem well targeted to that days workout but to me the post workout cool down and stretch period is a little lacking. I have added some additional stretches after the workout both days and think I will continue to do so. for me post workout stretching is very important due to my back problems so if you have any similar issues you may want to consider adding some additional daily stretches as well. Sarah did a little extra stretching but not as much as I did.

Well that is it, the real deal starts on Monday. We may do the X-Stretch routine this weekend but I doubt we will do anything else. I would not want to be all sore for the first day, that will come soon enough. We also have some grocery shopping to do this weekend, I think we need like 1000 pounds of chicken breasts and a truckload of cottage cheese. We may end up in the poor house from this whole thing but we will be in damn good shape when we get there. It should be fun and I am looking forward to seeing the results. Took my weight again this morning just to double check and was dead on 160 pounds. We printed out a bunch of worksheets to keep track of everything, workouts and diet, and put them into a couple of binders and we are ready to bring it!! We will see what happens.

And by the way, my calves are so sore today I can't believe it. No problem during the workout after the warmup but steps are abitch right now.

Plyometrics

Well we got up early yesterday to try out one of the workouts and see if the timing was going to work out with work and the kids wake up times. We did the plyometrics workout and it was pretty intense. I had to stop twice for about 30 seconds because I thought I was going to puke, I didn't. My calves are sore today for sure. I liked this workout, it reminded me of some of the of ice practices we used to do for hockey practice when I was in college. Sofia, our 18 month old, woke up with about 30 minutes left in the workout so we brought her down and gave her some milk and she watched us finish. It worked out pretty well but if she is up that early every day she may grow bored with watching us and we might have to move the workouts to the evening. I was showered and had eaten in plenty of time to get to work so that should be fine.

While the DVD run time is something like an hour the actual workout time not including the warm up and cool down periods is more like 45 minutes or so and that is a good thing because I don't think I could have done it for another 15 minutes without puking. I was pretty tired during the day but that is likely due to the fact that I did not go to sleep as early as I wanted to the night before, that will change once I am doing this intense of a workout every morning. I had problems getting my heart rate again so I went out last night and bought a heart rate monitor so I can more accurately track my workouts. I use the monitors on the equipment at the gym when I go and I like them as a way to track how hard I am working. Sarah, my wife, got one too that she believes will help her push a little harder because she said she felt like she was not pushing as hard as she should. The monitors have alarms that can sound when you drop below your target range or go above it. This should be a good addition to our equipment but I will say we have spent a good bit of money on equipment but at least I can now work out at home instead of going to the gym because it is nice to be at home for breakfast with the family. We redid the maximum heart rate test last night using the heart rate monitors and got some more reasonable numbers. I will post the new results tonight since I don't have them with me, this is a good workout tool. I have heard some people say they don't like Tony's personality and they do the workouts without his comments turned on, I did not have a problem with him talking but I will admit I was paying pretty close attention because I did not know what I was doing yet. I may change my mind about Tony after a while. So far so good. We are planning on doing another one on Friday and then we start for real on Monday morning.

Resting HR 54
Heart Rate Maximizer following 2 minutes of jumping jacks
0 minutes 162 bpm
1 minute 94 bpm
2 minutes 79 bpm
3 minutes 69 bpm
4 minutes 66 bpm

Fit Test

So I took the fit test today. This is just a set of exercises they have you do both before you do the program and after you finish. I was a little surprised with how few of some of these things I was able to do, especially the pull ups but man they are hard. For those of you who used to be in the suck these are pull ups with no kip. Also, I have not done a wall squat since I was made an example of in boot camp and forced to do so by my DI. Damn those things are a pain in the ass.

Resting heart rate 57 bpm

Pull-Ups 6.5 (I know but they said to count half)

Vertical leap (There is no running start here)

• Standing Reach 86"
• Leaping Reach 103"
• Difference 17"

Push-Ups 25

Toe Touch -2" (That is 2" from being able to reach my toes while seated)

Wall Squat 58 seconds

Bicep Curl 11 reps with 25 lbs.

In & Outs 25 (Let's hear it Lenny)

Heart Rate Maximizer following 2 minutes of jumping jacks

• 0 minutes 116 bpm
• 1 minute 102 bpm
• 2 minutes 86 bpm
• 3 minutes 86 bpm
• 4 minutes 80 bpm

I don't know how much I trust the heart rate measurements. I did not buy a heart rate monitor and I really suck at taking my heart rate. I am confident the resting rate is correct but the others seem a bit strange based on what I normally see at the gym during cardio workouts.

So now for the fun stuff, before pictures. If I was thinking I would have shaved my head before these were taken but I did not. Keep in mind that I have lost 23 pounds in the last 7 months or so and it was mostly around my waist. It will be interesting to see what the progress looks like going forward. I plan to take pictures and post them at about 30, 60 and 90 days.

So I am going to try this P90X thing, what am I thinking

It all started in 2003 when I was in a car accident that resulted in a lower back injury. At the time I was in excellent shape physically and was even still playing on a college ice hockey team. I did smoke which didn't help me any but I had been able to overcome that without much trouble up to that point. It is amazing how quickly things can change when you can no longer do the things you used to do.

I ended up with two ruptured disks (L5 and L4) and a third that was bulging badly (L3). I was unable to perform the simplest of physical tasks for a fairly long period of time. To make matters worse I started a new career at the same time as this. I went from a fairly active career to an office job where I sat all day long. Within 6 months I had gained 25 pounds and it was largely around my waist. Eventually I got back to performing daily activities fine but when I would work out I would have problems and fall backwards. I actually ended up in a heap on my front lawn at one point due to sudden extreme pain and an ambulance had to be called to take me to the hospital. My legs had gone numb and I felt as if someone had stabbed me in the base of the spine with a hot knife. I would not wish back problems on my worst enemy, it is almost unbearable.

That brings me to the past year. I had topped out the scales at 183 and when I was in the accident I had been 155. What's worse is the smoking had begun to bother me and I was somewhat short of breath, did not feel healthy at all, and was worried about my kids seeing me smoke and thinking being overweight is the way to go. My cholesterol, which had always been high due to my bum cholesterol genes, had gone through the roof and I just generally felt like shit and thought I was not going to make it until retirement time. I began to go to the gym after starting a new job where they had one in my building. I started off slow but began to get into it and before long I was going every day and I also stopped smoking, mostly. Being an engineer I like to research the things I do and learn as much about them as I can so I did a lot of research into exercising and designed my own workout and menu. I would change the workout every 8 weeks or so and take a week off to rest from time to time. Initially I had some setbacks with my back but eventually with a lot of core muscle work I was able to determine what things worked and what did not and get my core to the point that I finally felt that I was not going to go backwards again. I also changed my diet drastically. I no longer drank many calories, I drink beer sometimes but for the most part it is water or black coffee. This was a drastic change for me as I was drinking sodas constantly before and until the injury and lethargy that accompanied it there was never a problem. I also began having oatmeal for breakfast every morning and I had never eaten breakfast prior to this. The oatmeal should also help my cholesterol but we will see since I just had blood drawn this week.

By August I had lost 20 pounds or so and was feeling great. I was going to the gym every day for at least an hour and I looked better than I had in forever. More importantly I had the energy to keep up with my kids. The time had come for a new workout and I stumbled across P90X after talking to a guy at the gym who had tried it and it worked great. I started researching and reading blogs and talking to people and the more I heard the more it sounded like fun. I decided to try it. I ordered the program and waited anxiously by the mailbox for its arrival.

After it arrived I read through the book and began to accumulate the equipment I would need. After reading the information my wife decided she was going to do the program as well. This sounded good to me since I would not have to suffer alone. I built us some pull up bars out of black pipe, bought some bowflex adjustable dumbbells and we were ready to go.

We are starting on September 28th and I did my last workout at the gym on September 18th. I weighed in at 160 on my last day at the gym for a grand total of 23 pounds lost since I started in February. We will be doing our fit test this week and may try one or two of the workouts as well. We have watched the workouts and they seem interesting but very difficult, should be fun. We have gone through the nutrition plan and I have worked out what I am going to eat, I am doing the portion plan as opposed to the meal plan and will likely eat the same thing or close to it for breakfast and lunch every day since that is what I do now and it is easy. I will post my before pics when I take them this week and keep you posted as we go forward.