Day 26

So I'm starting up the Legs and Back routine when my back said I was done. I was getting a sharp pain in my lower back on the lunges about 1/3 of the way in. That also means pull-ups are out of the question. I'm not risking the injury. I've gotten injured way too many times trying to do this before. I know where the break point is from experience. It's probably high time I see a good chiropractor too. Yoga X ended up showing me a LOT of weaknesses in my body. My spine is stiff. Very stiff at that. Shoulders and core aren't all that great either.

So now I have a dilemma. I got bored with alternating the same two workouts. It showed in decreasing weight and reps and lowered energy. Going to the X took care of the issue. Adding more difficulty cured the boredom. I will have to play back the workouts I did this week in my mind and find where the issue came in. I've got a better mat coming in already. I'm gonna get a new pair of shoes. I've got to pick up some dumbbells anyway this weekend. I fear that I have my mind too far ahead of my body. I've been known to have a slight ego. Maybe it's just the imbalance in strength between my back, which is relatively strong, and my core, which is relatively weak.

I ran through the meal plan tool on Beachbody. It said eat 3400 calories per day. That explains the extreme hunger I was experiencing. I wasn't eating anywhere close to enough. Do you know hard is it to eat 3400 calories per day without eating crap? It isn't easy. I'll tell you that. So basically, I take the 2000 calorie meal plan, add 50% to everything and add a little more protein after that. Man that's a ton of food. Yeah I could way under eat like I did the first week and have almost no carbs, but I felt like crap the whole week. I could barely function outside of the workouts. I still have to be able to live and work while doing this.

I'll do Kenpo X tomorrow. I know I can handle that. I could handle Plyo, so that should be no issue at all. I also used to do Tae Kwon Do as a kid, so it'll be familiar to me.

It is Easter this weekend. It also becoming increasingly apparent that I can't do this by myself. Jesus, what have I gotten myself into?

Day 25

The one P90X workout everyone loves to hate, Yoga. Otherwise known as the fumble around for 29 seconds, get into the pose for 1 second and go to the next workout. I swear I probably spent half the workout falling flat on my butt. It got me sweating faster than Plyo did. Also famous for the "So I put my leg where?" effect.

I don't think I'm eating enough during the day. Man I've been hungry lately. I gotta get that under control.

Day 24

Ok Tony. We're gonna have to have a little chat here. Why did you think it was a good idea to have people warm up in the routine right after Plyometrics with run lunges and jumping jacks? Really dude. Not cool. I'd kick you, but my leg hurts too much. And I probably won't care tomorrow or I'll still hurt.

So anyway, yeah, shoulders and arms today. Numbers are First round : Second round and Weight rating (of band), reps. The ones noted 16 are supposed to be 16. Everything else, looking for 8-10.

Alternating Shoulder Presses 15, 15 : 20, 10
In and Out Bicep Curls 30, 16: 30, 16
2 Arm Tricep Kickbacks 15, 14: 15, 12
Deep Swimmer's Press 15, 10: 15, 8
Full Supination Concentration Curls 40, 8: 40, 8
Chair Dips 6: 5
Upright Rows 20, 12: 20, 10
Static Arm Curls 30, 16: 30, 16
Flip-Grip Twist Tricep Kickbacks 15, 10: 15, 10
2 Angle Shoulder Flys 15, 16: 15, 16
Crouching Cohen Curls 20, 12: 30, 9 (try 40 next time)
Lying Down Tricep Extensions 15, 15: 20, 3/ 15, 4

Day 23: It's all in your head.

Wow! I can't believe I did that. I got through Plyometrics. Yeah I had to modify a bit. I didn't come off the ground very high. I'm drenched in my own sweat. But I got it done.

Three weeks ago when I started this, I gave myself all kinds of reasons why I couldn't do this workout in particular. I'm too heavy. I'm too out of shape. I'll hurt myself. It was all mental garbage. So today, I took out the garbage. I only thought about the movement of the moment and forgot everything else. Yeah, I had to take 1 minute breaks instead of 30 seconds, but that's ok. I did not once break other than at the scheduled ones. I didn't go as fast as they did in the video every exercise. But that's ok too. I didn't do the sports bonus round because my legs had no feeling left in them. I don't hurt at all. And hopefully I won't at all. I left it on the floor. And I feel like a million bucks.

I've learned the REAL barrier to physical training isn't your body. It's the preconceived notions in your head.

I'll be continuing with the X. I can do this. Do your best, forget the rest.

Day 22: So maybe I was just dogging it.

Given the musings of my last post, I decided to change it up a bit and see if the problem was not pushing hard enough. I honestly think it was. I feel really good after this workout.

I forgot to consider that back in middle and high school, I used to walk a mile to school with 30 pounds of weight (books and instrument), march after school with an 8 pound instrument for 1-3 hours, and then walk a mile back home with the 30 pounds of weight. I used to be in really good shape. I think back on it now and I always thought I was too big and out of shape. The reality was, I was in kick butt shape.

I jumped on the scale today and saw 292 pounds. My waist measured 45 inches. For a 27 year old male per the Beachbody body fat calculator, that puts me at 23% body fat, which drops me into the average category from the over-fat category. The calculator estimates me to be at 224 pounds of lean weight and 68 pounds of fat. I started this journey 209 pounds of lean weight and 96 pounds of fat, 305 pounds, 52 inch waist. In 3 weeks, I've gained 15 pounds of lean weight and lost 28 pounds of fat. 225 pounds is starting to look like a pipe dream too.

So what's the change?

I decided to see if I could handle the X. It seems that I could, for the most part. I found myself able to do a grand total of 96 different push-ups. I could get the first one from my toes. I got the black 50 pound resistance band together and it's still not enough resistance for my back exercises. Despite that, I needed to use a chair for pull-ups. I am a big guy after all.

Plyo tomorrow. This should be interesting.

Stats

Routine P90X Chest and Back

Push-ups R1: 1 toes, 17 knees R2: 13 knees
Wide Front Pull-ups, assisted R1: 6 R2: 5
Military Push-ups, knees R1: 10 R2: 6
Reverse Grip Chin-up, assisted R1: 5 R2: 5
Fly Push-ups, knees R1: 10 R2: 10
Closed Overhead Pull-up, assisted R1: 4 R2: 3
Decline push-up (modified to on ground, core too weak) R1: 10 R2: 5
Heavy pants, 50 lbs band R1: 15 R2: 12
Diamond push-up, knees, hands a little wider R1: 8 R2: 4
Lawnmowers, 50 lbs band R1: 15x2 R2: 10 right, 8 left
Dive-bomber push-ups R1: 2 R2: 0 (more like a half, fell trying to complete first movement)
Back flys, 50 lbs band R1: 10 R2: 12

Day 18 and 19

I'm feeling a bit weaker lately. Maybe I'm pushing too hard? Maybe my crap diet from last week is catching up to me? Yesterday I was pretty sore. Today I'm a little better, but I'm exhausted.

Routine: Power 90 Sculpt 1-2

Circuit 1:

Push-ups, from knees, 15 reps
Heavy Pants, 40 pounds, 15 reps
Military Press, 15 pounds, 15 reps
Standard Bicep Curls, 40 pounds, 12 reps
One Arm Tricep Raise, 15 pounds, right 15 reps, left 15 reps
Lunges, 12 reps

Circuit 2:

Fly push-ups, from knees, 15 reps
Back Flys, 40 pounds, 12 reps
Swimmer's Press, 15 pounds, 11 reps
Wide Open Curls, 30 pounds, 15 reps
Two Arm Kickbacks, 15 pounds, 12 reps
Lunges/Squats, 12 reps/18 reps

Circuit 3:

Wide/Tri/Standard push-ups, still knees, 7/7/2 (7/7/7 is goal)
Lawnmower Start, 40 pounds, 15 reps per side
Shoulder Flys, 15 pounds, 15 reps
Bicep 21s, 30 pounds, low completed, finished with 20
Dips, feet close, 3 reps
Three part Squats, 8 reps each part

Day 17

Chest is stronger today, although my shoulders and triceps still seem to be limiting my push-ups. I got more push-ups, but less on other shoulder and triceps exercises. My body seems to be slowly balancing out. Hopefully I get off my knees for the push-ups soon.

Routine: Power 90 Sculpt 1-2

Circuit 1:

Push-ups, from knees, 15 reps
Heavy Pants, 40 pounds, 15 reps
Military Press, 20 pounds, 10 reps
Standard Bicep Curls, 40 pounds, 14 reps
One Arm Tricep Raise, 20 pounds, right 8 reps, left 8 reps
Lunges, 12 reps

Circuit 2:

Fly push-ups, from knees, 15 reps
Back Flys, 40 pounds, 15 reps
Swimmer's Press, 15 pounds, 10 reps
Wide Open Curls, 40 pounds, 10 reps
Two Arm Kickbacks, 15 pounds, 9 reps
Lunges/Squats, 12 reps/18 reps

Circuit 3:

Wide/Tri/Standard push-ups, still knees, 7/5/2 (7/7/7 is goal)
Lawnmower Start, 40 pounds, 15 reps per side
Shoulder Flys, 15 pounds, 14 reps
Bicep 21s, 30 pounds,low and high completed, finished with 20
Dips, feet close, 5 reps
Three part Squats, 8 reps each part