P90X Graduate! (sorta)

I have "basically" finished P90X.

The last phase was a beast to complete. I was on schedule to finish the program in about 3.5 months - but I hit a minor setback: Full body hives.

With about 2 weeks left I got a minor sore throat. After 5 days of pain I decided to go to the doctor. Turned out that I had streph - so I was prescribed amoxicillin (sp?). I was to take it for 10 days. After 5 days I was starting to feel great. On the morning of day 6 I noticed strange bumps on my arm. After getting out of the shower I noticed those bumps were ALL OVER my body. Turns out I am allergic to penicillin.

The doctor said the hives would naturally go away and I was given anti-itching creams and drugs (both didn't help that much) and was instructed not to do anything that would cause me to sweat. The end of the P90X journey was delayed once again.

After about 1.5 weeks the hives started to fade - the itching subsided - and I took up P90X once again. It is amazing how weak your body can get after not exercising for even a short amount of time. My reps on pushups and pullups fell a bit - but on week two I was back to my last high rep marks.

I have yet to take the post P90X test. It will be interesting to see how far I've progressed. I do know that I've lost about 10-15 lbs since starting. I'm probably more flexible too - although yoga is still a beast to get through.

I'll post my post program results soon.

Hope you enjoyed my poor grammar and the amazing photo of my have infested back.

Phase 2 Complete!

Phase 2 is finally complete! Yes - it took me 5 weeks to complete it... but so did Phase 1.

The most difficult thing to do was doing the routines while traveling. I found that I've done it enough that I didn't need the DVD's to lead me. It wasn't perfect - but it got the job done.

I'm almost down to the weight I was at before I did my weight gaining competition last year. I'm gonna have to figure out a way to put more good weight back on me during Phase 3.

Time to take my day 60 pictures (I forgot to take them after 30 days).

Phase 1 Complete!

I officially start Phase 2 this week. Here are a few thoughts on Phase 1.

1. I lost 7 lbs.! I knew this was going to happen. P90X is very aerobic - and you burn a TON of calories each workout. I think I might have to adjust my diet into the "Eat crap every 2 hours diet" so that I don't disappear.
2. Everybody wants to try P90X. I'm not sure about you, but whenever I tell someone I'm doing P90X they ask me for a copy. I have yet to see the infomercial on it - but I'm guessing it's the best infomercial ever made - since everyone wants to try it out.
3. I need new gym shorts.

That is all.

Week 2 complete - sorta

Well I should've finished week 2 last week - but the holiday, picnic with friends and having kid duty really killed the daily routine. It will be tough to keep up a 6 days a week schedule.

Here are a few things I learned in Week 2 (technically Week 1.5):

1. P90X is much easier in the evening (for me): I've been trying to wake up early to do the workout before I start my day - but I've only successfully done that once. The aerobic nature of the program doesn't mix well with early mornings. I do much better at night.

2. Plyometrics is still a killer: After only finishing half of the program in the first week (see my previous post about corn dogs) I was able to do the entire plyo workout in week 2. I wanted to die halfway through - but I think I caught my second wind and I also did a better job of pacing myself (see #3)

3. Pace yourself: Especially in plyometrics. Every movement in plyo saps your energy pretty quickly - so be sure to save some energy for the second set. I did a horrible job of doing that the first week. I did much better of doing about 80% effort on the 1st set (that still killed) - then giving as much as I could the second set. I liked this much better than giving it all I had in the 1st set - then trying not to puke during the 2nd.

4. Yoga is still a killer: Yoga was still insanely hard the second time through. That being said - I did notice gains on my flexibility. Hopefully I'll be able to touch my toes by the end of the entire P90X schedule.

That's it for week 2 (really 1.5).

My Fitness Test. This is the initial test you take before you begin the P90X program. The test helps you benchmark your starting point, and gives you a chance to monitor your progress along the way, as you repeat the test at the 30, 60, and 90 day marks. Included in this is also your starting weight, and your measurements. Here is my chart, for all the world to see :-).

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Test	Start	Day 30	Day 60	Day 90	Total Delta
Measurements	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
Body Fat	22.6%
Weight	210
Chest	46"
Waist	40.5"
Thighs	22.75"
BicepFlex	14.25"
Neck	17"
Fitness Test	-----	-----	-----	-----	-----
Pull Ups	2
Vertical Leap	15.5"
Dips	6
Quarter Mile	71 sec
Toe Touch	-2"
Wall Squat	88 sec
Bicep Curls	12 @ 30lb
In & Outs	28

---

A few notes on this... Dips and the quarter mile are not part of the P90X fitness test. I added them because I love doing dips on my tower, and I want to rock that over the next 3 months. I also used to be a distance runner, but I have never worked on my short game before. I am a scout leader, and we make the boys do push ups and run the quarter mile as part of their tenderfoot rank, so I figured I needed to lead by example. I am going to work on taking 6 seconds off that time over the next 90 days.

For the body fat figures, I went and did an underwater body composition test, the most accurate way of determining your fat percentage. I won't do that test every 30 days, because it costs $20 each time, but I will do it at the end, and my goal is to get it down to 15%. I also added a neck measurement, as that is my most annoying piece of fatness next to my gut, I wanna see that number drop at least 2 inches.

So there's the numbers! Let the teasing and harassing begin!

My P90X Gear

I had the fortunate advantage of having some pretty nice gear before this thing started. Over a year ago, I treated myself to some nice equipment for my birthday, but I haven't used it as much as I'd like to have. I plan on getting my money's worth out of it all over the next three months, and I hope it will really give me an edge during these workouts.

Gold's Gym Power Tower. For a workout system that relies so heavily on pull ups, I am dang glad I have this rig. Most mortals cannot do any pull ups, and so the training sessions show you how to use a chair to assist yourself in those exercises. This tower has a "cheater bar" that lets you make yourself lighter by adding or removing resistance bands. Kneel on the padded platform, and suddenly you can do pull ups! I have figured 7 different configurations for the assisted weight, and I will start out at maximum assistance, and over the 90 days, work towards zero assistance. So in my test sessions, I have been doing 8 to 12 reps on the various pull ups, I am sure that number will drop each time I remove a resistance band. But I think it will be a great way to build strength quickly. Added bonuses, are the various grips for doing the different pull up positions, as well as pushup grips built into the feet to allow for super deep pushups. This tower is also designed for doing Dips, which I will be incorporating into my workouts as well. I love dips and can't wait to be able to do like 30 of them on my own. There are several other exercises this tower offers, I am sure I will find many more ways to incorporate this equipment into my training.

Gold's Gym Adjustable Dumbells. These are awesome. Weights can be a very expensive investment, if you want a large enough set to accommodate a lot of exercises. With these adjustable weights, one set of bells gives you options from 5 or 10 pounds, up to 50. Easy switching, and a handy-dandy stand make them very convenient. They are a tad bulky, and I wouldn't use them as pushup grips like you can do with fixed dumbells, but I really like them.

Gold's Gym Stayball. Bought last year sorta as a joke, this is actually a very useful and affordable piece of equipment. Instead of doing decline pushups on a chair, I have done them for the past year or so on this ball. Feet on the ball, doing pushups without falling off of it really works your core. I am certain I will find lots of uses for this bad boy, and it makes a great chair too. Sit on this thing all day, and get an ongoing workout!

Finally, I have a generic weight bench. Found this just last week at a yard sale for $5, at least it looks sorta like this. I will use this instead of a chair on most exercises, and again, hope to incorporate it into a lot of the exercises we do. I have wanted one for the longest time, so it was great to score one off a fat guy that never used it. (There is a LOT of great fitness equipment at yard sales by the way.... as people get tired of hanging dirty laundry on them!)

So that's my gym. Lots of good stuff. I hope to use the heck out of it. I suspect we'll need to change the carpet in the basement after 13 weeks of sweat soaking into it. And I just realized something, for a guy who hates Gold's Gym so much, I sure do have a lot of their gear. Hmmm....

Note to self: Don't eat corn dogs before doing P90X

I couldn't wait for the official start date - so this past week was my first week of P90X.

Here are a few observations after my first 6 days.

1. Watch your pre-workout food intake: Make sure you wait at least one FULL hour before you start working out. Previous to P90X I could chow down something and workout about 30-45 mins after. Not with P90X. I had to stop my Plyometrics workout 30 mins in because I was about to blow chunks. (BTW: there is a dude with a prosthetic leg in that workout - freaking insane!)

2. Get weights: I purchased a good set of bands for the workouts - but even the most tense band didn't offer enough resistance to get a good burn.

3. Be prepared to sweat like crazy: I thought I was in pretty good shape - but this is seriously one of the most difficult workout routines I've ever followed. I was sweating like crazy. My wife even mentioned that she has never seen me sweat so much working out. (BTW: The Yoga routine will make you sweat the most)

4. Wall squats will make you cry like a baby: One of the greatest athletic accomplishments of my Jr. High career was being the last man down during a wall squat test. I think I held the squat for over 7 minutes. That was then. Now I can hardly hold the squat for more than a minute. They will seriously make you want to cry.

5. Yoga will kick your trash: I alluded to this above - but Yoga was seriously the most difficult routine of the set (Plyometrics a close second). Some of the positions he has you hold should be illegal. I learned I am VERY inflexible.

Final thoughts after week one: I've always wanted to mix in more cardio to my workouts - and I think P90X is going to do the trick. I'm definitely going to lose weight because of this program which is the opposite of what I was working on the past year. I'm not going to follow the nutrition plan - I'm keeping my same eating habits - so hopefully I don't lose too much weight.

All in all I'm excited for this new program. I look forward to week 2.

The P90X Plan...

For those of you who do not know what P90X is, you can visit their website and learn all about it. In simple terms, it is a fitness program that is designed to kick your trash up one side and down the other. It's not your typical "Sweatin' to the Oldies" type of workout. They have disclaimers all over the site, all over the books, and all over the DVDs that warn you that it could kill you. In some countries it is illegal to own, in other countries it is used as a way of extracting information out of hostile combatants. Ok, I jest, but it seriously is not your Momma's fitness video.

I personally have some experience with this level of intensity. I paid big bucks last summer to attend two 6-week sessions of a local fitness program called "Boot Camp With Jess", which was a phenominal program. After 12 weeks of that torture, I knew I could accomplish anything. I lost a lot of weight, and gained a lot of strength. It was awesome. I *almost* bought the P90X program back then, but I was afraid I would never do the workouts. So I enrolled in the Boot Camp. It made me go every day and give it 110%.

Now a year later, I feel I have trained myself with the discipline to jump in and do it, so I got P90X. A few friends joined in, and now here we are, getting ready to start this killer program together.

We will begin officially on August 3rd, and end on October 31st, just in time to go trick or treating with our kids. We plan to use the days leading up to August 3rd to run through the workouts once or twice, and become familiar with them. The nutrition plan is pretty hard core too, so we need time to figure out these new recipes, and get every thing all lined up so that we can be successful during the program.

We are taking before and after pictures, weights, and measurements, but due to Internet regulations, we may not be posting our before pictures until we have some awesome 'after' pictures to put along side them. :-)

Follow us along as we share our experiences, and feel free to join in if you want! We'd love to grow this group beyond just a few guys from Utah. We hope that our success will help others want to do this as well.

And so we begin...

In the fitness world, there are two types of people. Those who exercise to lose weight, and those who exercise to get stronger. A few guys from Utah got the P90X fitness program and committed 3 months of their lives to it. These are their stories.