p90x-posters

Well. I survived the first week. In fact, I think I got through the first round of workouts pretty ok. Here’s what I thought about each work out:

  • Day 1 Core Synergistics: OMG I can barely do some of these exercises and even on the ones I can do, only half of these reps.  Covered in sweat by the end and heart pounding.
  • Day 2 CardioX: OMG I can’t keep up. That’s ok, just walk around when I can’t keep up. Keep moving. It’s bad if I go beyond target heart rate and kill myself anyway. (Note: Have a heart rate monitor. They’re cheap and important.)
  • Day 3 Shoulders & Arms plus Ab Ripper: Two workouts? Oh for the love of carbs…Oh hey, I can do this. I can pretty much do every exercise. Wait. Nope. Ab Ripper workout. OMG I can barely do half these exercises and of those, barely half the reps.
  • Day 4 Yoga: I’m stretching. I’m…Kaiser, get out of my face and quit knocking me over. I’m stretching. My heart rate is up and I’m stretching and balancing. Ugh. I only managed 30 min of the workout.
  • Day 5: I’m a bad person and skipped my workout. There are no excuses.
  • Day 6 Kenpo X: Hey, this is fun. Hey, I can do most of these. Woo! Still can’t do all the reps.I feel good at the end of this.
  • Day 7 Rest day or X Stretch: Gotta go hoist rabbit cages, clean ‘em and do lots of other lifting around the house. Ugh.

The down side? I couldn’t do a lot of the exercises to begin with and had to just try my best. For those looking for something different but not used to hard core exercises, this probably isn’t for you. There’s some combination push up exercises and one handed support exercises that had me flopping around on the floor like a beached whale. Also, if you have a bad back, bad knees or bad shoulders…even a heel spur, I wouldn’t recommend starting with P90X. Maybe start with Power 90. You have to be very, very careful in these workouts because they are advanced exercises and it’s very easy to snap a joint too hard or pull a muscle.  Also, the instructor can get on your nerves, so if his personality grates on you, you may not like the program because you have to listen to him every day for 90 days.

That said, it’s a challenging workout. Every day of the week was different, which was fantastic. With other workouts, I usually get bored after the first week because the repetition drives me insane. This workout, I’m eager to hit the next week and do better in each of the workouts, aiming to accomplish every exercise and achieve more reps in each exercise.

Any results?

  • already seeing better muscle definition
  • not slimmer yet, but feeling good and remembering to keep abs engaged throughout the day
  • feeling spunky
  • been sore all week in that “hurts so good” kinda way
  • lost a couple of pounds, probably in water weight since body fat % did not go down

Just to wrap up, I’ve been careful to eat shortly before a workout and have a protein drink right after my workout. Because I know I’m building new muscle, I need to make protein bioavailable, otherwise my body will take it from already existing musculature and I’ll be my own worst enemy. I’ve also been grazing throughout the day to keep my metabolism running and the only big meal I have is lunch. I’m not following the P90X nutrition plan, but I am controlling portions and making healthy food choices.

Goals for next week:

  • no skipping workouts, even though I’ll be away on business
  • execute more, if not all, exercises