Sweat much?

I always knew that I sweat a lot, but I think it's starting to get to absurd levels. During my workout today both my shirt and my pants were completely drenched. This is usually the case after a few hours of training, but never after a single hour of working out. I'm wondering if all this protein is sending my body into some bizarre, hyperthermic reaction that is going to result in my internal body temperature rising to the point where it cooks my internal organs.

After the stretching I already had a decent sweat going, and then once the punching started up in just came down in buckets. Good thing I have a tap with unlimited amounts of water available - I would probably shrivel up and die otherwise.

The Tae Bo (excuse me, Kenpo) X workout was about the same as last week. I substituted my own techniques where appropriate, and I'm starting to see some improvement in the comfort level and height of my kicks. This constant work on my hip flexors is definitely a good thing, and we'll see in the coming weeks how much of a different it really makes. If I can throw a left leg side kick without feeling like a retard I'll be happy. Then I'll tip my hat to Tony a second time. Is it worthy of retracting my previous negative comment? We'll see.

Today also marks Day 13 of P90X - the end of the second week for most. I'm thinking tomorrow I'm going to go through the Stretch X workout because I could use all the help I can get in that area. I've only had one bout of cravings for anything bad, and that was while I was driving right by a fast food park that has a Wendy's, McDonald's, and Chik-Fil-A. The sight of the fast food havens didn't really bother me so much - but the smell caught my nose and I found myself dialing Muddy's number so I would stay away. I avoided complete diet tragedy, and thus far I've stuck to the diet 100%. It's as if I can already hear the women's swooning... Read More...

Laziness abounds

Apparently I'm following Muddy's example in not posting yesterday. Don't worry though - I got my workout done. It was the ol' legs and back routine that I've classified as a so-so workout. I don't particularly mind doing it, but you won't see me chomping at the bit to get at it.

What I found very surprising during the workouts where you work your legs individually is just how weak my right leg is as a support versus my left. I am right handed and right legged, so I predominantly use my right leg for kicking. After five years of training that has resulted in my right leg being REALLY good at kicking, and my left leg being REALLY good at supporting. That means my balance is better (MUCH better) on my left leg, and my hip flexors and groin are also much stronger on that side. It makes certain exercises like one-legged squats frustrating because when I do them with my left leg I'm rock solid, but using my right is like trying to stand up on a moving herd of cattle.

Ab Ripper X was a casualty of my laziness yesterday. I got my workout done around 2:30pm, and when I was done I just wanted to crash, so I decided to push the extra 15 minutes of pain to today. Since there is a good amount of abs work in the Yoga workout I think I'm going to permanently move my third abs day to Saturday. This way I'm not hammering my mid-section three days in a row. I know my abs can take it, but my hip flexors are not faring as well. Between Ab Ripper X, yoga, and the legs workout they take a pretty brutal pounding for three days. I know my abs routine last Friday was decent, so I'm thinking the extra rest will make an ab workout stronger today. We'll see - I'm probably just spouting BS from the back end.

On a completely different note, I've decided that I'm going to start supplementing with some creatine. I've used it in the past and seen some results, but usually I never stick to the workout program long enough to really make it matter. Since I'm committed to this whole P90X thing I figured now's the time to try it out. I'll be loading this week with 20g/day, and then maintaining at 5g/day. There is about a million different ways to load/maintain/washout, but I figured I'd just go with this since it's the easiest. In 77 more days if all goes well I'll try one of the more customized supplementation schedules. Read More...

Back From Break

Took a couple days off from the blog because I really had nothing to say, or more appropriately really didn't feel like sitting down long enough to say it. I couldn't have summed up Yoga better than FT. It's the most dreaded workout in the regime which sucks because it's the day after Arms, which I have decided is my favorite. The nice thing about arms is it's just you versus the weight. It's the only routine where fat asses like me don't get penalized because of our mass. Every other routine forces you to move your own body around so the heavier you are the more work you have to put in. Other than chair dips the arms workout is free of this curse so it seems a lot easier.

Having the day off today I decided to get Legs and Back out of the way first thing this morning so I didn't have to make time later in the day. I feel great about that decision now, but the workout seemed harder doing it early. I didn't feel as stretched out during the warmup and I it was harder to clear my mind and concentrate on the task at hand because I was making plans for the rest of the day.

Advantage of working out in the evening is that I usually finish up, eat dinner and then settle in for TiVo time until bed. After finishing up this morning I took a shower and my body seemed to be screaming to find the couch and possibly even take a nap. The next couple of hours felt lethargic and I didn't really wake up until after lunch. The fact that I had picked up a touch of a flu bug my daughter had earlier in the week probably contributed to the lethargy but fact is it sucked clearing up my schedule only to not feel motivated to do anything once it was clear.

Ended up getting in few hours of World of Warcraft and then going to a parent teacher conference, so it's not like I got nothing done. Read More...

Yoga can suck my....

I am now proclaiming, with 100% certainty, that I hate yoga. Now, this is not one of those of things where you dislike something and just substitute the word hate in place of a lesser word. I truly dislike with both intensity and passion yoga. The very thought of it brings bile up from the pit of my stomach into the back of my throat giving me both the sensation of nausea and a not so great taste in my mouth. That's how much I hate yoga.

First off, yoga is BORING!! Yes, I know - clear you mind, wash away the stress, become one with the universe (blah, blah, blah - I have a nice hemp t-shirt you can wear). That may work for people that have some ounce of flexibility, but for those people that were blessed with the movement characteristics of a 2x4, yoga is anything but relaxing. Each position is a constant vacillation between pain in places that should not feel pain and the complete and total inability to stay upright. I generally have two main thoughts while holding these yoga positions: 1) this #@*#&$# hurts and 2) holy crap I'm going to break my neck when I fall to the ground. Clear my mind? Right... I'm trying to prevent a workout accident that's going to result in paralysis.

The other problem is that because yoga is meant to be relaxing, calming, and (insert crunchy, granola eating, hippie mumbo-jumbo adjective here), it's SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Not slow as in the workout takes longer than you think. Slow as in you think you've been doing something for an hour only to look up and realize you've only been there for five minutes.

Granted the yoga workout is the longest of all of the workouts - clocking in at 90 minutes - but three times a week I have my regular workout plus Ab Ripper X. Those workouts combined equal 75 minutes - almost as long as yoga. However, these workouts seems to fly by much quicker... probably because if you're not working you're changing weights, recording your reps, or grabbing a drink. Yoga just keeps going, and going, and going. It's like the Energizer bunny - except this is one bunny you want to strangle, main, and lop off the head so you can send it back to the company to prevent them from releasing another scourge upon the earth.

Alright - maybe I'm being a little melodramatic (not by much though). I'm able to get through the workout, it's just painfully slow, and I would rather be cutting my toenails than listening to Tony ramble on about yoga blocks, vinyasas, and how his "kids" are so glorious. However, I do recognize the benefits of the routine, and I will continue to tough it out. Not that I have a choice though considering the yoga workout is in every phase of the program. Well, at least you can look forward to more rants as the weeks progress. Read More...

Hittin' my stride

Okay, it may be a bit early to proclaim that I'm hitting my stride, but I can say that I feel great after finishing Shoulders and Arms and Ab Ripper X. Not okay, not good... GREAT! I honestly can't remember the last time I finished a workout thinking positive thoughts. Usually I'm just grateful that it's over and the only thing I have to look forward to is a shower.

Even though I've been involved in the fitness (or at least fitness related) industry for the past five years, I never quite understood how people used working out as a cathartic experience. I've definitely worked out while angry or upset in an effort to relieve the stress (hey, everyone else is doing it), but the end result was usually just me being physically exhausted but with no relief to my non-physical anguish. After today I finally get it. I came home in not the greatest mood - work wasn't great, I lost a bunch of CDs that are important, and other things were pissing me off. I wasn't really looking forward to the workout, but I sucked it up as always with the thought of, "If I don't workout Muddy is going to have my head." So with my brother as the impetus I popped in the DVD and off I went.

This is my third time doing this workout (remember my experimental week before we started), so for the first time I was able to just completely zone out and do the work. The most mental energy I had to expend was doing a little math with my weights - that's it. It's the scripted nature of these workouts that makes this possible, and unbeknownst to me this was the missing ingredient, at least for me, to have a cathartic workout.

Normally when I go to the gym I have to worry about weight settings, what exercise is next, what stations are available, etc. That's just way too much thought. Even if my workout was planned it would usually get screwed up by some ape that decided to put a Volkswagen on the leg press and not take off any of the weights or the crazy anorexic with 9000 weights in front of her taking up three benches. If I tried to workout during peak times the gym would actually wind up creating more stress because I wouldn't be able to do anything I wanted, and my 45 minute workout would turn into and hour and a half of walking from place to place not getting anything done. And don't even get me started on self-defense training. Every second of training for me is spent agonizing over every minute detail of my technique. It's about as different from my workout today mentally as you can get.

So (at least for today) I take my hat off to Tony for giving me a positive workout experience that I haven't had in a long time. Maybe by the end of this whole thing I'll take back my douche comment. It's highly unlikely, but it could happen. Now it's time for some grub - I'm frackin' hungry. Somewhere during my workout my body decided that it wanted to ingest a horse. Is that in the diet? Read More...

Cardio X - Take 1

Yes, I did end up deciding to go forward with the P90X Lean program. As the first two days of the week diverge from Classic I didn't have to go through Plyometrics again this week, instead I faced my rookie run of Cardio X. It almost made me miss Plyo.

Cardio X is mean because it's a shorter workout than most others, or so you think. On each P90X DVD there's a couple of countdown timers that run on the screen. One indicates the amount of time left in your current exercise and the other the remaining time in the complete workout. Most workouts run about 58 minutes. First thing that I noticed was that Cardio X only ran about 43. I was really stoked because being 15 minutes shorter I expected to finish up right around the time that I normally am fighting really hard to not quit.

My glee was short lived. Unlike other workouts where there tends to be 15-30 seconds of down time between each exercise (as well as two or three 120 second water breaks), Cardio X runs straight through. Normally I hate the short downtimes because Tony is usually rambling on about something annoying and I'm always thinking "just get on with it so we can get this over with". Fact is, with about 20 different exercises per workout, those 15-30 second breaks add up. Not having them in Cardio X I grew to appreciate them and I swear I will never take them for granted again, no matter what Tony is babbling about. Read More...

A Haiku for Plyo

Plyo I hate you
Buckets of sweat drip from me
I want to sleep now

Alright, I know - it may not be good, but it gets the point across. It's Day 9 and plyo kicked my ass just like it did on Day 2. I would like to think that I fared better than last week, but when you're bathed in sweat during the entire workout with your heart pounding hard enough to heart it in your ears it's hard to feel like you're doing better. As always my hip flexors and groin are tight as hell, so I tried to make that better by getting into the deepest squats possible throughout the entire workout. I'll definitely be paying for that tomorrow.

I'm getting more used to the diet and my daily eating routine is turning into just that - a routine. For the past week it's been somewhat arduous trying to stack on track because I wasn't quite sure how much to eat, when to eat, and what I could eat. After a week of this it's starting to make sense and my body usually queues me with a strong "FEED ME" signal at the appropriate times.

It has been a long time since I've eaten so many fruits and vegetables. It's not that I hate them - I could just never remember to eat them. Some days I would get all ambitious and buy a bunch of fruit, some broccoli, and maybe even a head of cabbage thinking, "I'm going to use the broccoli during dinner and bring apples to work to have with lunch tomorrow." In the end the items would just waste away in the bottom drawer of my refrigerator, forgotten until the bi-monthly clean out. With the diet as it stands now I'm tearing through the fruits and veggies, so they don't have a chance to go bad. At the very least I won't wind up with scurvy. Read More...

FORCE SMASH!

Alrighty folks, we're on to Week 2 (Day 8 for those counting) and for the first time since starting I actually had a workout that I: 1) enjoyed and 2) felt like I accomplished something. I think I've gone off on a diatribe before about how much I hate pull-ups, and while the seething hatred was still present I managed to get through most of my pull-ups with only one leg on the bench (versus two from last week). While it may not seem like a huge accomplishment to some, I felt like the Hulk smashing through 15 feet of concrete.

I was also able to up my push-ups across the board and I know that in comparison to last week I felt much better at the end of the workout. I even moved on to Ab Ripper X without thinking of ways to skin Tony alive. The abs routine was just as brutal as ever, but I definitely felt much better going through the workout today than I did last week. I guess that's the whole point though - steady progress each week will result in the phenomenal gains I want in the long term.

Just like Muddy I'm also struggling to stay away from all of the wonderful, BBQ-laden food and obscene amounts of beer that will surround us over the next few months. By heading up to see the family I was actually able to avoid any festivities in my own area, and in the end I know I'm better for it. I'll be heading back up for Separation Day to again see the family, so Muddy and I can suffer in quiet silence together as the little ones gorge themselves on cotton candy, hot dogs, funnel cakes, and bits of charred animal flesh doused in BBQ goodness. While the food orgy is going on with the rest of the family will be sitting in the corner with our grilled chicken and 2 tbsp. of BBQ sauce to dip it in.

I also had another minor victory today against the onslaught of outside food. After working out I went for a 3 mile hike with one of my friends (yeah, I know... MORE physical activity. I might actually be starting to like this) and while talking about the diet I was informed that, "Hey, you can have some pizza today - you've done an extra workout." Those were definitely the words I didn't want to hear. While the rationale is sound (especially when depriving yourself of so many things) I've worked in various diets before that allowed for cheat days (my old nutritionist firmly believed in that concept), but my problem is that my cheat day always turned into two cheat days, then cheat weeks then just dropping the diet altogether.

Thinking about the pizza made my mouth water and I envisioned a glorious (to steal from Tony) pizza topped with meatballs and pepperoni. I quickly took that wonderful vision and stomped all over it with a muddy boot! So another minor battle won on the way to P90X fame. With the conclusion of Day 8 I feel good, not too sore, and ready to do my plyo in the morning! Read More...

Back To Work

Holiday weekend is over and it's time to get back to work. Like FT I took the day off yesterday. Waking up this morning I thought I might regret it because I felt a lot tighter than I have on previous mornings. A few stretches took care of that and I savored my second pain free day in a row.

Took a little to psych myself into the workout today. Admittedly two of my biggest flaws are procrastination and laziness. Fortunately I was able to leverage my laziness to my advantage. While it would have been easy to put off my workout until later in the day I could, of course, only push it off for so long. The lazy side of me kicked in an convinced the procrastinator that if we just do it and get it over with then we've got nothing left to do for the rest of the day. It actually worked. I finished my workout by mid-afternoon and have since nursed my laziness for the last few hours of the holiday.

Oh yeah, starting a new healthy lifestyle during the summer sucks. Diet constraints are forcing me into an alcohol free Memorial Day, Independence Day and (the more regional) Separation Day. Three big beer and BBQ holidays in 37 days and I get to participate in none. There's no "bright side" on this one. No way to spin it so it feels good. I don't drink a lot of beer, but when I drink it it's cold, rich and expensive. No light beers, nothing in a can, nothing you'll ever find on the supermarket endcap on sale by the case. I like beer, I want beer, I can't have beer. It sucks. Read More...

And he rested on the seventh day

Yes, I'm a wuss. I decided to take a little "me" time today (actually, more like family time) and skip the Stretch X workout. I don't feel bad - Tony said I could do it. So instead of stretching I accomplished the following:
1) I was woken up by my niece at about 7:30am this morning after passing out on Muddy's couch watching Louis Black;
2) I went food shopping with Muddy and pondered at how the price of rice has sky rocketed;
3) I received more kisses from my niece in one day than I have in her entire life - that makes an Uncle smile :)
4) I had dinner with my mom, sister, and Muddy's family and got to enjoy some homemade chicken chili which was made specifically to fit into our P90X diet;
5) Drove back to the homestead;
6) Cleaned all the grime and filth from my bathrooms;
7) Took a shower so I smell pretty.

Now I'll most likely sit around for the rest of the night and play some WoW since my donor gear is in (yeeehaaa). It's been an arduous three week wait since I haven't had much time to login between being in LA and trying to be productive. So I'm thinking I'll team up with Muddy tonight and gank a few lowbies :) Read More...

The Incredible Duo Goes for Broke

So on a whim I decided to head on up to Muddy's house and join him for some Memorial Day fun. Obviously the biggest reason for coming up to visit was to spend time with my family, but there was a hidden, more sinister reason - avoiding standard Memorial Day fare. Yes, I know it's kind of lame to run away from weekends with your friends, but I don't think I have the willpower to withstand the onslaught of BBQ'd food, beer, keg stands, beer pong, flip cup, and god only knows what else would be in store. Again, like my whiney baby comment from a previous post I'm man enough to admit my shortcomings.

So the workout for today was Kenpo X. I was wary of the workout at first because I was thinking it was just going to be some type of Tae Bo workout, but I was definitely wrong. The stretch that preceeded the workout was the hardest warm up thus far. I was thinking it would just be a few high knees, some light stretching, and then into the Billy Blanks hellhole routine. Boy was I wrong. We started off with deep squat stretches and five minutes into the warmup I was drenched in sweat.

While I'm not a Kenpo person the good part about the workout was that I was able to modify some of the exercises to fit into things that I do in my own system. I actually got a very good dual workout of cardio and self-defense techniques. I'm not going to complain about that.

Oh, did I mention that Muddy and I were doing this workout together in a 9'x11' room. While jumping around to a video by yourself is funny enough, imagine us two morons doing it together. There were a few close calls where my foot almost found it's way into Muddy's face, but thankfully we managed to get away from the workout unscathed. At the beginning one of the stretches did lead to Muddy screaming bloody murder and I had to stop stretching in fear of pulling my groin since I was laughing so hard. The tears (pain for him, laughter for mine) helped us get through the workout.

In the end this workout was much better than I thought it would be and with a few tweaks I'll be able to use it as a great way to work on my own techniques. My sidekicks and left hand stance need work any way, so it's a way to force me to work on them.

This workout was definitely a burner, and poor Muddy... well, lets just say I love him, but I definitely need to teach him how to punch. Yes I know he's an ex-Marine and he can handle himself, but for the time being he's going to be relegated to head butts and biting in his future bar fights until I can show him how a proper right cross is thrown.

Read More...

Choose Your Path

I'm strongly contemplating a switch-up in the P90X program. As FT pointed out earlier P90X contains 3 editions, "Classic", "Doubles" and "Lean". The Classic is where P90X started and is the one pushed in their promotional materials. It promises eight-pack abs and superior strength. "Doubles" is for the uber-hardcore and adds extra doses of Cardio X to push performance even further. "Lean" is slightly less high-impact than Classic or Doubles and sacrifices gains in speed and strength for an extra push towards a lean frame.

Having, surprisingly, already dropped six pounds since starting P90X I'm of the belief that "Lean" is more of what really need right now. Remember, I still hold an additional 10 pounds over FT's over-inflated 200 pound frame, and I'm a solid 4-5 inches shorter than he is. Dumping some of this excess body weight now will probably make the path forward much more successful.

It's really not a drastic change in the program itself. Mondays would change from Chest & Back (you know, pull-ups) to Core Synergystics and Tuesdays would substitute Cardio X for Plyometrics. The remainder of the week stays the same. It's similar enough that I'm not inclined to start over at Day 1, just continue with the new program from here forward. One could argue that starting the clock over would actually be bad overall since it would push my first recovery week out and 'll have been "working" for too long before giving my body a chance to rest.

There's still a couple of days before the final decision has to be made since today and tomorrow are the same workout in both versions. Tune in Monday to find out which path our hero takes. Read More...

Muddy's Right!

Not that he's wrong very often (actually according to him he's never wrong), but I absolutely agree with Muddy. The whole "and Back" means pull-ups, pull-ups, pull-ups. When I was younger I was one of those kids that was afraid of anything that seemed like you needed strength to do - pull-ups, rope climbs, etc. Somehow I was spared the pre-pubescent humiliation of not being able to climb the robe in gym class. Actually, it wasn't until a few months ago that I even tried to climb a rope. Thankfully at this stage in my life I was successful.

So anyway, when I see pull-ups on the workout I shudder a little. One of my instructors LOVES pull-ups, and when I trained with her I did (or rather attempted to do) more pull-ups than I care to remember. Well, P90X has eclipsed that number ten fold in just a single week of workouts. I guess I should be happy since regardless of how poorly I'm doing them I will be getting stronger, so hopefully one day I'll be one of those muscleheads doing 20 pull-ups without breaking a sweat.

I also agree with Muddy about the legs. Mine are in much better shape than my upper body because of what I do. I use them in a much larger range of motion than my arms (you pretty much only push when punching - pulling is pretty much non-existent) and the constant movement means they're in relatively good shape. However, despite my security in the strength of my legs this workout definitely took them for a ride. I haven't done a wall sit in a very long time, and the one-legged version is a lactic-acid inducing pain fest. One quad is burning from holding my tubby ass up, and the other is yelling that it can't hold my leg up. All the while my butt is wondering where the hell the chair is and my sweat glands are responding by bathing my body is copious amounts of liquid cooling.

While I know my legs are strong I knew there was a reason I hate working them out - it makes me sweat like nothing else. Honestly I sweat when I watch people working out, so working the largest muscle groups on my body results in a deluge of sweat pouring out all over my body. My favorite quote to describe my hyperhidrosis (yes, that is a hyperlink so you can learn more about it) is, "I sweat like a fat kid playing dodgeball."

Alright, I'm already hearing the groans. Yes, I know, I shouldn't make fun of fat people considering this blog is about getting in shape. However, I have a couple of thoughts on that:
1) In order to get through an undertaking like this you need to have a good sense of humor. If not you'll wind up becoming one of those workout pricks that no one likes because all you do is drone on and on about the benefits of weigh protein
2) Some of us succeed by using the negative outcome as the driver. For example, I want to be successful in my career and make oodles of money not because I want to live the life of a rich person - I just don't want to be eating cat food for dinner. Besides, I don't think cat food fits in the P90X diet (that was sarcasm... laugh).

Today was also a double-duty day containing Ab Ripper X. Since this is my third official time through the routine I'm starting to learn it so it moves a little faster. I am keeping up a little better, but I'm still being smoked by the dude with the 12 pack. Hopefully by day 90 I'll be faring a little bit better.

Most importantly, today was the first time in five days that I had a meal that I did not prepare. I went out to see Iron Man (for gadget geeks probably one of the coolest movies of all time), and I was starving and needed to eat. I was worried about being able to find something to eat, but I know in the real world that people go out to eat, so no time like the present to see if I'm up for the challenge. Luckily the restaurant we went to had a jerk chicken plate with rice and veggies - PERFECT! The rice definitely had some butter in it, but I'll take the extra fat. I didn't eat my avocado today anyway.

Here's a little recap on the past five days:
- 5 workouts in a row
- 5 days on the diet with no hiccups
- Several sore limbs
- More pages on this blog than necessary

So far so good :) Read More...

Legs and Back

Let's set one thing straight, "and Back" = pull-ups. Wide grip, narrow grip, reverse grip, switch grip, you name it. If you see "and Back" it means pull-ups. Lots of them.

Many routines in P90X have the X suffix to signify their eliteness. It's not just Yoga, it's Yoga X. It's not just Cardio, it's Cardio X. It's not just a Shower, it's Shower X (wait, that's a completely different blog).

If the routine you're doing today doesn't end in X then it's a safe bet it ends in "and Back". So if your not doing X, you're doing pull-ups.

I hate pull-ups, but I LOVE legs.

Having grown up in an urban environment I walked everywhere when I was growing up. Back in those days I'd walk a mile or two to save a dollar over taking the subway or a bus. Add to that a few years of on again off again distance running and I was granted pretty strong legs that managed to stick with me over the years.

Thus far "Legs" is the closest I've been to keeping up with the trainers on the DVD. I can't hang with them 100% but it's inarguably my best program. At one point one of the trainers let's out an audible "Oh, god" and I was still hanging in there with them. That was definitely good for the ego after the rough week I had.

Let's no talk so much about "and Back" though, okay? Read More...

Yoga makes me feel like...

1) a complete and absolute moron.
2) a person with zero coordination or balance.
3) a complete and absolute moron.

That pretty much sums up my yoga experience. The first half of the workout isn't extremely difficult from a skill perspective, but it sure as hell is tiring. Going from upward dog to downward dog to warrior 584738 makes my arms and shoulders burn. If I was doing this on a pink mat like Muddy I would probably just have to kill myself :)

I've learned through major amounts of cramping, inability to hold certain positions, and what feels like my muscles ripping at the seams that I am in no way flexible. I came to terms with my lack of flexibility a long time ago, but the yoga workout shows me just how tight my entire body is. Watching the people on the video and trying to emulate them is an exercise in futility. One of the dudes is a dancer, so we know he's flexible. However, the least flexible person on there is kicking my ass like it's his job (I guess in reality it is). It definitely gives me something to aspire to, but until I become like the yoga man above I'll be relegated to falling on my face and using my yoga block.

On a completely unrelated yet geeky side note, I realized today just how dependent I am on Google each day. While this realization is not uncommon to most people, it really hit home when I had to setup a new PicasaWeb Albums account to get some pics to my sister. I have several Picasa accounts, but I've never set one up tied to my personal email. When I did that, BOOM, all of the pictures I've uploaded to Blogger were in my Picasa account. It was actually kind of scary.

So then I started thinking about all of the Google applications that I use on a pretty much daily basis:
- Google Search (who doesn't)
- Google Apps for Domains (both at home and at work) which includes all my email and calendars.
- PicasaWeb Albums (three accounts to date)
- Google Maps (desktop and mobile phone)
- Google Sites
- Google Talk (again work and home, but also through Jabber clients like iChat)
- Google Checkout (gotta get money somehow!)

So Google if you're reading this, you need to keep making mega-bucks and keeping all of your shit free or else I'm screwed! Read More...

But what about day 4???

Sorry, day 3 needed it's own entry because it was a bad day and needs to sit in the corner.

Day 4 was uplifting because waking up I thought it was Arms and I knew I'm not ready to go there yet after my mistakes from day 1. Not wanting to miss a second day I was considering my options. I knew at the very least I was going to do Stretch X so I wasn't completely bailing two days in a row. Was contemplating doing the Yoga X that I missed last night, provided that I felt good enough by the time I got done with work.

Then, come to find out that what I missed last night was Arms and tonight was Yoga X. Great! I was leaning that direction anyway so no excuses, here we go.

Even with a pink mat, yoga hurts. Read More...

Well, Excuuuuuuuse Me!

How apropos that I should be inserting here immediately after FTs "no excuses" diatribe. Last night was arms and I had to skip it. Why, because I couldn't do it. Couldn't do much of anything for that matter.

My ego overtook my ability on day 1 and I paid for it on day 3. That mind-numbing sore I was feeling actually grew worse and got to the point where I had to leave work early and spend some time soaking in the tub, chewing ibuprofen and getting cozy with the heating pad.

When something you choose to do (working out) starts interfering with things you have to do (earn a paycheck) then pulling back on one to the benefit of the other isn't making excuses, it's doing what you need to do. So, I skipped the arms workout last night because (a) I just couldn't physically do it and (b) I had to be able to go to work today. Read More...

Not so motivating blogs

I was trolling around cyberspace a bit this evening searching specifically for P90X blogs like this one. Muddy and I are not in any way unique in trying to detail our journey with the program, but I have noticed a few things with all these blogs that we need to avoid.

1) Everyone is really gung-ho when they start and then disappear almost immediately. This is kind of a no-brainer since you're always excited about something when you first start it. We need to keep the intensity up throughout the entire process. I've actually found this blog very relaxing at night, and as you can tell there is no lack of words from me. I know our words will probably get more sparce as we continue, but we need to blog every single day, even if it's nothing more than, "Worked out, feel good. Going to bed."

2) Everyone seems to modify the program to what they think they need/want/etc. This is one of those common pitfalls I've seen so many times in the fitness industry. Clients always think they know better (yes, I know... you DO know better. That's why you pay a personal trainer $100/hour to get you fat ass into shape. You obviously know better, but I digress...). Now I'm sure there are people that can take and modify P90X to suit their specific needs to get additional performance out of it, but most people can't and absolutely shouldn't. The program was designed with several approaches (classic, lean, doubles) and workouts can be changed very simply by changing your reps. I figure they made the program this way for a reason, so why mess with it? The finicky people making changes never seem to finish the program anyway. They just mosey on over to problem number 3.

3) Excuses, excuses, excuses. On so many occasions I read, "I missed the Yoga this week," or, "I didn't do so well in week 9, so I'll have to pick it up again in week 10." The mindset that you can just fix what you didn't do by getting back on the horse is what gets most people into trouble. Should you stop working out if miss a workout? Absolutely not. However, if you miss a workout you should be thinking, "shit, I missed the workout. I need to make up for it NOW!" If you have time to complain about missing the workout then you have time to be working out.

There's the old adage of there's always tomorrow. That is absolutely correct, and when it comes to difficult things like this you need to keep a positive mind. However, when you find yourself missing workouts or making excuses, thinking that you can fix it tomorrow won't get you anywhere. Instead you need to be thinking of what you can do today to make it better. In the end, what you do tomorrow doesn't mean squat - it's what you're doing right now that's going to make the difference.

The whole purpose of this blog is to give Muddy and I an outlet while we bash ourselves into shape. It's also a tool to help keep one another motivated. Getting insight into how he feels about his workouts makes me work harder and want to write things that will get him keyed up and ready to go. So since I'm not one for pussified sentiments on how to get into shape, I'll use the immortal words of one Sean Connery from The Rock (one of my all-time favorites by the way):

"Losers always whine about their best.
Winners go home and fuck the prom queen."

Ahhh... I feel the testosterone flowing. I think it's time to go eat some nails... or fight a grizzly bear. Read More...

Measurements... boo

Alright... I don't want to get too far into Phase 1 and not get my measurements out there. Here goes:

Weight: 197 (ack)
Chest: 41"
Waist: 36"
Hips: 40.5"
Right Thigh: 22"
Left Thigh: 22.5"
Right Arm: 14"
Left Arm: 14"

Ouch... 36" on the waist? I've never actually bought 36" pants, but the measurements don't lie. I guess this whole P90X thing wasn't a bad idea after all. Read More...

Arms? Yes please.

Muddy and I talked about oh, ten times today. We compared notes on how we were feeling and so on. He's obviously going to tell you his story, but lets just say he's still a hurtin' puppy (pun very much intended). During our multiple conversations we kept talking about how we had to do yoga today, so when I got home I unrolled the mat, grabbed my various yoga paraphernalia, and prepared myself for 90 minutes of grunting, groaning, and places on my body hurting that I didn't know could hurt.

Right before I started crying with both legs stuck behind my head I checked my ol' P90X bible just to see what was in store for tomorrow and to my surprise yoga is actually on the schedule tomorrow. I very dramatically pumped my arms in the air and yelled, "YES!" and put away all my yoga stuff. Today I was going to be working ARMS!

Arms, arms, arms. The "Glory Muscles" as Tony Horton describes them. It's only been three days and I think I'm ready to put my fist through his face. Don't get me wrong, the workouts are great, but there's only one word to describe him - douche. Alright, maybe that's a bit harsh (but barely). I don't know him and obviously his job is to entertain the folks at home. However, watching his "perfection brotha" or his reverse DX salute does invoke a guttural, aggressive response from me. I just can't imagine suffering through 87 more days of him. Thank god you have the option of just getting the workout cues and turning off most of the sound. Once I'm a little more comfortable with the workouts overall Tony will definitely be getting a muzzle. And for those of you that were wondering, that fine specimen to the right (otherwise known as a complete and utter freak of chemically-induced nature) is the guy from "The Man Whose Arms Exploded" (definitely check out the YouTube video of him).

As for the workout today, it wasn't half bad. For the first time since doing these workouts (technically it's my 7th workout since I tried them before) I actually didn't feel like a complete bag of shit. The workout today was almost completely with weights, so it's just a matter of increasing the weight as I move forward. I was probably a little conservative, but I was spending a lot of time fumbling with the Powerblocks and trying to remember what all of the exercises were. As I get more familiar with the exercises I'll start to build up my mental spreadsheet of what my weights are - right now I just have to guess, get it wrong, pause the DVD, try a different weight... then rinse and repeat. Regardless of how long I took or how light I went I'm still going to be sore tomorrow - I can already feel it.

Today was also an Ab Ripper X workout, or what I refer to as the "If I Don't Have An 8-Pack From This Shit I'm Going to Kill Someone" workout (yes, that is Jack the Ripper. Ab Ripper to Jack the Ripper... you see the connection, right?). My hip flexors have taken the brunt of the soreness from these workouts because of the selection of exercises. It's good because I need the flexibility but bad since your hip flexors are needed for everything - standing up, sitting down, and apparently just living - it sucks. I absolutely can't keep up with the folks on the video, so I'm just trying to set a goal for each exercise. For a lot of the exercises I'm up to 16 reps, but towards the end I completely crap out and just lay there until the fire in my abdomen and hips extinguishes.

After going through the posts I do feel as if there's a bit of false advertising on our part on this blog. I went on a whole diatribe about how we're these uber-geeks, but there's been only a few references to geekdom that we've managed to pull out. So in order to give all of you a better idea of what Muddy and I look like during a long night of playing WoW (World of Warcraft for the rest of you and yes... we know it's lame. Don't try and reiterate what everyone else has already told us. Besides, my 70 Blood Elf Paladin rules... plus she has a great rack) I've attached a pic that sums it all up .

Muddy Bulldog, Force Trainer, and a few friends playing WoW

Read More...

Jump, Jump!

Oh plyo... the wonderful harbinger of sore calfs, aching quads, and the inability to walk for days at a time. All I keep thinking is thank god I ran through these workouts and was in LA... my legs are already beat up so it really can't get that much worse. I also have Kriss Kross' "Jump, Jump" to keep me motivated.

What surprises me is that my chest is still sore from Monday. Thankfully it's not the mind-numbing sore. It's more of the "move too quickly and be reminded you worked out" kind of sore. By the end of this whole thing I'll probably have my ranking system of levels of soreness completed.

On a downside I got massive reality check yesterday when I had to go for a quick checkup. I hit the scale and was expecting to see between 185 and 190. As the nurse kept pushing the slider it finally balanced out at 200!!! She looked at me and said, "are you wearing your heavy clothes?" My response was, "I sure as hell better be or else I'm getting fat!" So she gave me a 3 pound credit for my what I was wearing, but I know she did it just to be nice. I honestly can't remember the last time I weighed in at 200. Thankfully my clothes still fit the same so it's possible I've put on some muscle weight the past few weeks... or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

The one item on my to do list is doing all of my measurements and taking pictures. I don't really feel like going out and getting fat calipers and I don't own a scale, so I guess I'll just be working with the basic measurements and pictorial evidence of my transformation (at least what I'm hoping will be a transformation). If the pictures get done tonight then I'll have them posted with my Day 3 workout. Read More...

That mind-numbing sore

I know that pain. Been feeling that since Day 1. The body has been painfully reminding me ever since I woke up yesterday morning (and several time during the night) that I definitely pushed too hard on day 1. Waking up this morning I'm still feeling the pain from day 1 and now all the new pains from day 2's Plyometrics routine.

Thankfully due to my (long since past) history with long distance running I know my body's cues with regards to legs and cardio so when it gave the signal to dial back a little bit I recognized it. This is good because I'm still having a hell of a time with lifting my arms after day 1. Overdoing it the same way during Plyo would have meant blowing out my legs and the inability to walk today.

Make no mistake, Day 2 was no joke. Plyometrics is the "mother of all P90X workouts" and the name is well deserved. I had to push it hard, but smart. I'm feeling what I believe to be just the right amount of pain from it. Now I just need to get rid of the excess still left over from the day before. Read More...

I'm no Olympic athlete, but it wasn't half bad

My experience today wasn't nearly as bad as Muddy's, but I will admit that I cheated a little. I got the program a few weeks before he did, so two weeks ago I ran through a bunch of the workouts to get the general idea. I will say though, that first week sucked. Every single muscle in my body hurt all at once. And this wasn't just a little but of soreness. It was mind-numbing "holy-shit how am I this sore" kind of soreness. Thankfully it's gone now.

Having got all of that initial soreness out of the way and having spent the past week in LA training, my biggest battle today was just sheer willpower. I landed this morning at 7:30am, and with only two hours of sleep I got home, took a shower, and then headed into work. I flirted with the idea of working out before going to the office, but I realized any physical exertion at that point would've resulted in my passing out in the living room. So instead of passing out I figured piloting an SUV at high speeds down I-95 was the safer bet. I did make it to work alive, so I guess I was right.

After fighting my eyelids for a few hours while sitting at my desk I decided that I would be more productive and have a better chance of working out if I just went home. A brief four hour nap later and I was ready for my Day 1 workout. Much to my surprise it wasn't as bad as I had remembered from two weeks prior. My numbers were not where I wanted them to be, but I finished the workout in one piece, all limbs attached, and unlike Muddy, with everything I ate still in my stomach.

I continued through the Ab Ripper X routine, cursing Tony every three seconds since my abs and hips were on fire every time I tried to move. For some reason I can handle someone kicking me in the groin while training, but make me do crunches (or frog crunches, V-ups, oblique v-ups, and whatever other tortures are included in that workout) and I become a sniveling little cry-baby. Hey, at least I'm willing to admit it.

After the workout I actually felt accomplished. I managed to drive myself to workout even though my bed seemed like a better option, and I didn't feel half bad when done. Basking in the glow of victory for the evening I decided to make dinner, get lunch prepped, and relax by catching up on some Battlestar Galactica episodes. At least that was the plan until the phone rang.

"Hey man, I'm in Baltimore for tonight and I wanted to know if you wanted to grab dinner," is what I heard on the other end of the receiver. F--K!!!!! Are you serious?!? I'm one day into this whole lifestyle change and already someone is literally falling out of the sky wanting to grab a dinner and beer. I took a deep breath, gathered myself and then replied, "Well, I already ate, but I'd be happy to hang out while you eat." It sounded good when I said it, but would I be able to resist food sitting right in front of me?

The answer was yes. I was pretty full from dinner, so I just sucked down a few glasses of water while my buddy chowed on multiple plates of things I won't be able to touch for the next 90 days. Carne asada tacos with ranch dressing, chicken enchiladas, tortilla chips... you name it. I didn't want to have to admit to Muddy tomorrow that I broke on the first day, so I just smiled, got more water, and made it out with nothing more of the feint smell of Mexican food on my clothes. For now that will have to do. Read More...

I threw up.. a lot

(Not for the squeamish)

Day 1 workout is done and I threw up. Not half-assed dry heave gurgling, real honest to goodness B-horror flick spew. Oh, and not just once mind you, but five times... in a row.

It was awesome.

I knew P90X was going to push me hard and I expected to be hurting after day 1, but nothing could've prepared me for the reality check I just got.

While I'm not thrilled with my "on-paper" performance I did finish the hour-long chest and back routine. I forced myself to finish it in spite of the fact that about 2/3 of the way through I thought I was going to pass out. No joke. Pushing forty and carrying 210lbs on a 5'8" frame suddenly finding oneself unconscious is a legitimate concern.

I knew I still had the 15 minute AbRipperX routine to do as a follow-up but I felt bad enough that I decided I was probably going to call it a night. I made my way downstairs and in spite of my being a total prick charm my wife put together a recovery drink for me. I snatched it with a grunt and headed upstairs to find the shower. Fifteen minutes after finishing the workout I was still feeling a lot worse than I believe I should have. I was praying the shower and drink would at least upgrade my condition to "feeling lousy".

As I recall I next found myself lounging on my throne realizing I couldn't actually lift the drink to my face. I managed to come up with a half lunge, half toss methodology that allowed the bulk of the liquid to land in my mouth. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective enough. Four gulps later it came.

I've spent enough hard nights drinking to have long since mastered the 180 degree spin from sitting to kneeling and I prayed to porcelain gods with all that I had in me, literally.

P90X isn't just a workout, it also has a diet plan that goes along with it. When I put together my Chef's salad that I was to have for lunch today I said to myself "wow, that's a lot of leafy greens". Funny how deja vu may strike at any time. Five hours after I finished my lunch I was once again thinking, "wow, that's a lot of leafy greens".

Halfway through my meal-recycling episode I started smiling. The sick feeling inside of me was fleeting fast. A couple minutes (and more leafy greens) later I knew I was going to live. More importantly, I knew that in spite of my disappointment in my "on paper" performance I had pushed my body to the limit of what it was capable of, and then some. As long as I stick with it, the numbers will improve. Regardless of the numbers, or my final form, if I bring it this hard every time over the next 90 89 days I know that I'll have succeeded.

Oh, about 40 minutes later I did end up going back and struggled the best I could through the AbRipperX routine. I don't deserve any medals for form or performance, but I didn't give up.

As I sat there afterwards, staring into space, I smiled again. My mind dragged me back 20 years to Parris Island, the place I was the last time I remember feeling this beat up. It's a little harder this go around. Not quite so mean, not quite so lean and without the fear of a Drill Instructor's boot on the back of my neck I have to dig a little deeper for the motivation. While it may not have been elegant, I was proud of what I accomplished today. I saluted myself with a silent "Semper Fi, mother f--". Read More...

The mad dash on Day 1

Alrighty... day 1 of this trek and I'm already behind! I just got off the plane from LA after a 5 hour red eye, and now I have to run off to the grocery store and get what I need to follow the diet. Thankfully I don't have to worry about throwing stuff away since I don't have anything in the fridge. On the flip side, I'm friggin' starving and can't eat until I go shopping.

So now my body is screaming at me because I'm on two hours sleep, and I'm just hoping I can stay awake to teach my 5:30pm class and then come home and workout. Hmmm, that sounds a bit like I'm complaining. Oh well, that's what this blog is for, right? Well, that and throwing jabs at my "Huttesque" brother. For those of you that don't know, that was a Star Wars reference (yes, we are geeks. A pictorial reference has been included for the uninitiated). Personally I would say he's more like Lee Adama after the fleet makes camp at New Caprica, but that's just me ;)

On a separate note, I had a quick conversation with Muddy yesterday about the equipment that we've purchased for the workouts. He's going to be using resistance bands while I have selectorized dumbbells, but the real contention was with the yoga equipment. Muddy pointed out that at Dick's you could buy a yoga mat and yoga block separately for about $45, but if you bought the package it was less than $30. On my yoga equipment shopping trip to Dick's I noticed this as well, but my immediate comment was, "I'm not working out on a pink yoga mat." Yes, the package deal only came with a pink yoga mat, and my overwhelming (and slightly threatened) male ego screamed NO PINK YOGA MATS. I figured I need to be able to do some yoga with a little male pride. Please note for the record though, Muddy will be doing his yoga on a pink mat. And with a purple yoga block. If I remember correctly the yoga strap looked something like a rainbow. I think it also came with a sticker for the car... Read More...

Day 1 - Almost

Funny how FT's opening entry seems to start us off on level ground for the endeavor. Myself a former marine and him being "currently employed as a self-defense instructor". Notice no mention of the fact that my PT has consisted almost solely of beer-curls since I left the Corps in '92. Or the omission of other adjectives that could describe his current state of employ such as "award-winning".

Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to make excuses or start hedging my bets with regards to success. Just want to make sure that it's clear that while FT needs all the help he can possibly get (and then some) I additionally have to overcome an 11 year age deficit and my existing Huttesque physique. So if we come out of this with the same overall results, I'm really going to make fun of him (c'mon, it's what big brothers do).

One other item requires clarification. FT states that we're looking to become "good-looking, hardbody geeks". While I believe P90X will help bring about the hardbody I have no delusions of grandeur. Good-looking is going to have to be Photoshopped. Read More...

Share our pain!

Welcome to what will become the chronicles of the journey of two brothers. The journey itself we are about to begin is not unique - we want to lose weight and get a set of 8-packs abs that you only see on the likes of movie stars and professional wrestlers. Yes... you've heard it a million times from pretty much everyone in your life - " I'm going to go on a diet/workout more/go to the gym/stop eating like a fat kid/etc." So I guess we're not really unique in that respect. However, what does make us different (or at least mildly entertaining) is that we are geeks.

Now I'm not talking about the type of geek that knows how to get their parent's wireless router working. We're talking a gadget-whoring, World of Warcraft playing, Mountain Dew chugging level of geekdom that many aspire to but few achieve. We have endless conversations about Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and the feasibility of the warp drive. Geeks we are, and geeks we will remain - we're just aspiring to be good-looking, hardbody geeks!

To be fair to those of you bored enough to be reading this you should know a little about our backgrounds. Besides being geeks we do have somewhat of a base that we're working with. Muddy is a former Marine who knows what it's like to get PT'd to death at Parris Island, and I'm currently employed as a self-defense instructor. The problem is that we both lead extremely busy lives and usually spend the free time we do have in front of a computer or on the couch in front of the TV (sometimes we even do both). So yes, it's time to get off our Taco Bell fed asses and get to work.

The instrument of torture that was selected for this grand scheme was P90X. While I don't like to admit that I'm going Tae Bo style to get in shape, the workouts in the system are quite good and they will absolutely do the job. Yes, I could easily work out at my own training center, but I'm there enough as it is pushing papers around, so I wanted something I could do at home. P90X also comes with a fully regimented meal and workout plan that basically does everything for you. The absolute lack of thought required to use the system made it that much more attractive. I'm lucky if I remember to feed myself in the morning, and trying to plan 5 meals a day on my own would never happen. So now I have zero excuses when it comes to both the diet and the workouts - each day is planned 100%.

Most importantly Muddy and I can each follow the diet and workouts together even though we're in separate states. This is something we wanted to do together, so following the same diet and workouts gives us the ability to keep tabs on one another and also have someone to bitch and complain to when we're exhausted, sore, and tired. After 90 minutes of yoga you may want to bitch to someone about how much you hate Warrior 2, but most people in this world will have no idea what you're talking about. We won't have that problem.

So Monday the journey begins to be a Hardbody Geek! Read More...