Day 56

I'm almost 60 days into P90x and am pretty happy with the results thus far. I've missed a total of 3 work outs since beginning. I've started actually resting on the designated rest days instead of doing something. Definitely need those rest days.

One of my goals of 2013 was to run the Gate River Run. I'm happy to say I did that this past Saturday...and it was a great success. I had originally wanted to get under 90 minutes when I started training several months ago. In time, that became attainable and I reset my target to a sub 85. I was able to finish the 15k in 80:32!

It felt pretty damn good. Almost unbelievable. It's still hard for me to believe that I'm running 9 miles from where I was 1 year ago. I'm definitely doing it again next year, it was a lot of fun. Considering a half-marathon just so I've got something to work towards....we'll see.

I just finished Week 7 of P90x. Weeks 5-7 on the lean program repeat the same workouts. There are 3 strength workouts (core synergistics, chest/shoulders/tris, legs/back) and 2 cardio. I've been substituting the P90x cardio workouts for running.

Core Synergistics is my favorite workout, can do the whole thing now. Yoga X still sucks the hardest, spent after 45 minutes. I've been pretty faithful on the diet minus a few cheat meals. Weight is steady between 163-166 but shedding fat. There's more noticeable upper chest/shoulder definition. It's pretty exciting, first summer I won't be hiding.

Seeing positive changes motivates me to continue and really adopt a more active/healthy lifestyle. After the 90 day period, I'm considering doing either P90x classic OR going back to a standard gym routine. I don't know what I'm gonna do yet, but need to start thinking about that!

Do it, you can.

P90X - Day 30

Yesterday, I completed the first 30 day phase of P90x. The last week was a 'recovery' week which consisted of yoga, stretching, and core work. I still incorporated running into my schedule last Tuesday, but unfortunately injured my foot and couldn't run the rest of the week.

The workouts are still tough....however, I am able to complete them (aside from Yoga). I've increased my reps on almost all exercises, but have been keeping it steady with the amount of weight used. My best improvements have been staggered push-ups and chin-ups. These are the parts of the workout I enjoy the most because I can actually hang with them without scaling the workout too much.

My numbers on the scale have dipped a bit, have lost 6lbs to bring me down to 164lbs. One of the most noticeable changes is my flexibility, I attribute this to the Yoga and Stretching routines. Looking at myself in the mirror, I have more muscle definition and am leaner. The upper body and abdominals have the most marked improvement. There is less fat, more muscle! I can see an outline of where my abs are - which is pretty sweet. It's no six pack yet - but in due time...

The diet has been incredibly easy to maintain. I have no problem eating predominately protein, especially with the variety of different fish, chicken, pork, and beef dishes.

A typical day's consumption looks as follows:

• Breakfast (7:30am)
• Whey protein shake
• AM Snack (10:00 - 11:00am)
• Pure protein bar
• Lunch (12:00-1:00pm)
• Chicken/Steak salad
• PM Snack (3:30 - 4:00pm)
• Almonds/turkey jerky/cottage cheese/string cheese
• Dinner (7:00 - 8:00pm)
• Chicken Breast/Salmon/Swordfish/Steak
• Asparagus/Green Beans/Zucchini/Squash

This totals roughly 1900-2400 calories depending on the meat selected. Occasionally, I'll throw in some brown wild rice or some good carbs to help with recovery. I really believe a lot of the success I've seen so far has come from diet. In my opinion, it's a terrible idea to do P90x or any rigorous exercise program without committing to a clean diet. It's better than nothing, but you're not going to get the best possible results without modifying your diet.

I broke my streak of not drinking last weekend. I met up with some friends on Saturday and had a beer that soon turned into several. I'm OK with it - I do need to keep my sanity and not be too much of a hermit. However, I do find that I get the most results when I go completely off the grid. When I was on my juice fast, I didn't see my friends for 2 1/2 months! I went almost a month this time...but I think I've found that happy medium between social life and my health goals.

One of my goals in 2013 was to run the Gate River Run in under 90 minutes. Before last night, the longest distance I had run was 7 miles. I was feeling it last night and went 9 miles in 1:32 minutes. I wasn't pushing it nearly as hard as I could have, given I was coming back from an injury. As I was nearing the end, I was thinking back how in February 2012 I was running intervals of 30 seconds. I couldn't run for longer than 30 seconds, and I just did over an hour and a half! It felt pretty damn good and I couldn't get the grin off my face afterwards. So, I've got about 3 weeks to shave a few minutes off that time. Ideally, I'd like to run it sub 1:25.

Keep pushing play!

P90X Update - Day 17

Hey - so I'm 17 days into the P90x 'lean' program. In my last post I included the workouts that the 'lean' program uses. This path is way more cardio than strength based. Out of the 7 weekly work-outs 4 are cardio. Instead of doing 'Cardio X' and 'Kenpo X' on Tuesdays/Saturdays I've replaced them with runs of 4-6 miles. I'm training for a 15k in March and I need to be running, I also think I'm burning more calories running than I would in the cardio sessions.

The program is definitely working. I have been sore every day since I began. The first week really sucked ass because I was overly sore, but now it's just moderate soreness - which is bearable. I have stuck to the diet plan faithfully (link) and haven't had a sip of booze since Jan 13th. My numbers on the scale haven't really changed, I'm sticking around 170lbs but I can feel and see a difference already.

The hardest workout by FAR is Yoga X. Yoga is a 90 minute workout whereas all others are 60 minutes max. I find it mind-blowing that stretching and holding yourself in positions can leave you in a complete heap sweating on the ground. So far I'm only able to get 45 minutes through it. I have another go at it tomorrow and will see if I can make it to 50 minutes.

The Legs/Back workout is also pretty difficult for me, although I do manage to get through it. Even though I'd been hitting the gym, I neglected legs. After the first legs/back day 2 weeks ago, I had trouble walking up stairs, sitting down, and standing up. Last week was better, I expect this week to be a marked improvement as well.

Scaling workouts has been the key to me making it this far. In these videos you are watching a bunch of super-fit people banging out rep after rep of exercises you've never done before. You HAVE to scale these work-outs if you're not very fit to begin with. Shit, I had to watch some videos a few times just to get the movements right. Set a number of reps in your head you want to get to and knock em' out. Seek to improve upon that number the next session, even if it means adding 1 additional rep.

Thus far, I've noticed my flexibility and stamina are improving. There has been some definite fat loss from my midsection and I'm getting an outline of abs....never had those before! My body as a whole looks leaner now than it did a few short weeks ago. I'm excited, because it's so early into the program and I'm seeing changes.

So what are Days 30, 60, 90 going to look like? Can't wait to find out.

P90X Begins

I started P90x yesterday...and damn I'm sore. There are 3 different paths to choose from when doing the program: classic, lean, and doubles. I'm going with lean, which consists of 2 days resistance work, 4 days cardio/yoga weekly.

Schedule Weeks 1-3

I picked up a yoga mat and an adjustable dumbbell set  over the weekend. I already owned a pull-up bar, so start-up cost was relatively low considering I pirated the workout DVDs. I'm also following their nutrition guide to a tee, I want to see exactly what the program can do if I completely dedicate myself to it. The first 30 days is very high protein, 3 meals/2 snacks a day. I'm going to attempt not drinking alcohol for the first 30 days of the program, and then sparingly after that. After the fitness tests, etc. the program has me on a 2,400 calorie diet, which is higher than I typically eat - but I'm gonna roll with it.


I did some research on supplements, and have decided on the following:

• Goldstar Whey Protein (breakfast/before bed)
• Musclepharm Creatine (pre workout)
• P90x Results & Recovery formula (post workout)
• Vitamin stack
• Multivitamin
• Fish Oil
• Calcium
• Green Tea 

I did Core Synergistics yesterday. This consisted of push-ups, hip raises, banana rolls, planks, lunges, and other core activities that left my entire body aching today. The video was 60 minutes and I got through 40 before I collapsed and had to turn it off. I scaled down the reps on a lot of the exercises or else I wouldn't have even made it 40 minutes. All in all, a great success....I hope to build on it for next time.