Sorry for the lack of updates. Work has been a bear and on top of that I bought myself an iPhone for my birthday. Unfortunately the new gadget gets my very minimal geek time.
Sent from my iPhone :)
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7/25/08
8.5-9.25%
That's my estimated body fat percentage as of right now. There's a bit of a swing because there were two different charts used based on the caliper readings, so I'd venture to say that I'm probably hovering somewhere around 9%. I definitely look completely different than I did two months ago, so I don't have a single complaint.I could probably bitch and moan that I'm not going to be shredded at this end of this P90X cycle, but the only one that I can blame is myself. My diet has been so-so over the past few weeks because of eating out a few times for birthday celebrations and imbibing a bit of alcohol here and there. However, I know that there's a reality to all of this. I have made some significant life changes with the diet, and I'll continue those habits. I thoroughly enjoy my shakes in the morning, a huge salad at lunch, and protein bars and other healthy snacks throughout the day. However, if someone says, "Force, lets go grab a bite at X," I'm not going to do the whole fretting nonsense that I did during month one. Would I love to be shredded? Absolutely - but now I truly understand what is necessary for that to happen, and I don't see that being my life. I like to drink with friends, brownies are good at a pool party, and french fries on occasion are a nice treat. Will I be eating them as regularly as I did in the past - no friggin' way. But, I'm not going to forgo some of the simple pleasures in life (mmmm... cheesecake) because I know I won't enjoy it. If I continue to eat well, workout like a monster, and sit at 8.5-9% body fat for a long time I will be more than happy. Besides, as I add more muscle (I'm still a bit sknny) that will make up some of the difference. I don't need to be at 6% body fat to be happy (or look good). I'm already happy taking off my shirt at a pool party - from here on out it's just going to get better :)
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7/22/08
Alternative Weapons: Resistance Bands
While Force Trainer has taken the time to put together a thorough showdown of potential weight systems to use in your P90X endeavor (see: Choose your weapon) he did neglect one option, admittedly because he hasn't used them, resistance bands.
I personally chose Beachbody's B-Line Resistance Bands as my weapon. With a narrow price range ($20-80) those who are looking for an entry level price into P90X definitely want to consider this option.
First obstacle is determining what bands you need. If you're like me you are purchasing blind, which probably isn't a good idea. I hadn't intended to order bands at the same time as P90X because I wanted to go to a sporting goods store and get hands on. I ended up getting baited into an up-sell when I placed my P90X order and convenience conquered sense.
The kit I got was a set of three higher weight bands, Red (30lb), Green (40lb) & Black (50lbs), plus one set of removable handles. While reasonably priced the range of weight is too high and wide to be exploited by many people during the course of a 90-day program. If you're in a position to be using the 50lb band regularly you'll likely have no use for the 30lb and vice-versa.
So while you want to avoid this particular up-sell BB does have three packages that are marketed properly. The Standard Kit (15/20/30) is sold as a best seller amongst women, the Super Kit (20/30/40) is targeted at men and the Extreme Kit (40/45/50) is, well, extreme. Plus, each of these kits comes with 2 sets of handles, which will likely get most anyone through a single workout without having to waste any time swapping. The price range on these three kits is $34-$41.
If money is no object or you'll be doing "family" workouts the Complete Kit has ten bands weighing from 5-50 pounds and has three sets of handles. If you're not covered by this range then you probably aren't entry level fitness and already posses a set of weights. If you'll be working with a partner you'll probably want to grab another set of handles for $5.
Enough of the sales pitch (I don't get a commission, trust me) and on to the plus and minus sides of using resistance bands over dumbbells.
Minus side:
- Friction burns: If you watch closely and do everything the same way it's demonstrated you shouldn't get them, but fact is it's unlikely you're going to get everything right the first time. If the band rubs up against you, look again, you're doing it wrong.
- Wrist stress: If you're lifting weights and your wrists are bending backwards it's obvious that you need to switch weights. With the bands it's easier to push forward anyway because you don't feel like you're going to drop the band. This leads to sore wrists.
- Easier to "cheat": Since most exercises involve anchoring the center of the band under your foot, often times with a loop to increase resistance, shifting your body slightly (such as a slight knee bend) will dramatically lighten the effective weight. While switching to a lighter weight dumbbell is an obvious change, this type of cheat can be accomplished with such subtle change you might not even realize you're doing it.
- Harder to track results: With dumbbells it's pretty keeping track of reps and weight. With bands loop size, foot (and henceforth anchor) position and posture all become factors. It's easy to remember "10x35lbs". "10 reps, green band, 6" loop, left knee slightly bent on the last two" gets a bit trickier.
Plus side:
- Cost of entry: A good set of bands costs a lot less than a good set of weights. Plus, let's be realistic, many people who start a workout program don't finish it. Bands might be the best choice until you're sure you're going to stick with it.
- Easy travel: Even in the most tightly packed suitcase, it's unlikely you won't be able to find a place to put your bands, so no excuses come vacation time.
- Safety: While it's not impossible for a band to break, it's very uncommon. Besides, you should be checking them before and after every workout for serviceability. Putting that risk aside there aren't a lot of people going to the hospital due to dropping a rubber band on their foot (or face).
- Easier to "cheat": Yes, this was a minus, but like many tools, it can be used for good or evil. When you're trying to maintain a specific rep count fixed weight can force you to have to switch to a lower weight midstream, throwing off your rhythm. With the bands an adjustment in your loop or even a slight knee bend can give you the difference you need to finish up without breaking stride.
All in all there's no universal best decision between weights and bands. As my workout room also doubles as my four year old's playroom having a couple hundred pounds of weights lying around isn't optimal, but for others it's a non-factor. Consider your individual circumstances when making your choice. Many people dismiss bands because they see the low cost as being synonymous with low effectiveness. A successful regime is going to hinge much more on the dedication you put into it than the cost of your gear. Going the inexpensive route doesn't have to mean you're getting a cheap workout.
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I personally chose Beachbody's B-Line Resistance Bands as my weapon. With a narrow price range ($20-80) those who are looking for an entry level price into P90X definitely want to consider this option.
First obstacle is determining what bands you need. If you're like me you are purchasing blind, which probably isn't a good idea. I hadn't intended to order bands at the same time as P90X because I wanted to go to a sporting goods store and get hands on. I ended up getting baited into an up-sell when I placed my P90X order and convenience conquered sense.
The kit I got was a set of three higher weight bands, Red (30lb), Green (40lb) & Black (50lbs), plus one set of removable handles. While reasonably priced the range of weight is too high and wide to be exploited by many people during the course of a 90-day program. If you're in a position to be using the 50lb band regularly you'll likely have no use for the 30lb and vice-versa.
So while you want to avoid this particular up-sell BB does have three packages that are marketed properly. The Standard Kit (15/20/30) is sold as a best seller amongst women, the Super Kit (20/30/40) is targeted at men and the Extreme Kit (40/45/50) is, well, extreme. Plus, each of these kits comes with 2 sets of handles, which will likely get most anyone through a single workout without having to waste any time swapping. The price range on these three kits is $34-$41.
If money is no object or you'll be doing "family" workouts the Complete Kit has ten bands weighing from 5-50 pounds and has three sets of handles. If you're not covered by this range then you probably aren't entry level fitness and already posses a set of weights. If you'll be working with a partner you'll probably want to grab another set of handles for $5.
Enough of the sales pitch (I don't get a commission, trust me) and on to the plus and minus sides of using resistance bands over dumbbells.
Minus side:
- Friction burns: If you watch closely and do everything the same way it's demonstrated you shouldn't get them, but fact is it's unlikely you're going to get everything right the first time. If the band rubs up against you, look again, you're doing it wrong.
- Wrist stress: If you're lifting weights and your wrists are bending backwards it's obvious that you need to switch weights. With the bands it's easier to push forward anyway because you don't feel like you're going to drop the band. This leads to sore wrists.
- Easier to "cheat": Since most exercises involve anchoring the center of the band under your foot, often times with a loop to increase resistance, shifting your body slightly (such as a slight knee bend) will dramatically lighten the effective weight. While switching to a lighter weight dumbbell is an obvious change, this type of cheat can be accomplished with such subtle change you might not even realize you're doing it.
- Harder to track results: With dumbbells it's pretty keeping track of reps and weight. With bands loop size, foot (and henceforth anchor) position and posture all become factors. It's easy to remember "10x35lbs". "10 reps, green band, 6" loop, left knee slightly bent on the last two" gets a bit trickier.
Plus side:
- Cost of entry: A good set of bands costs a lot less than a good set of weights. Plus, let's be realistic, many people who start a workout program don't finish it. Bands might be the best choice until you're sure you're going to stick with it.
- Easy travel: Even in the most tightly packed suitcase, it's unlikely you won't be able to find a place to put your bands, so no excuses come vacation time.
- Safety: While it's not impossible for a band to break, it's very uncommon. Besides, you should be checking them before and after every workout for serviceability. Putting that risk aside there aren't a lot of people going to the hospital due to dropping a rubber band on their foot (or face).
- Easier to "cheat": Yes, this was a minus, but like many tools, it can be used for good or evil. When you're trying to maintain a specific rep count fixed weight can force you to have to switch to a lower weight midstream, throwing off your rhythm. With the bands an adjustment in your loop or even a slight knee bend can give you the difference you need to finish up without breaking stride.
All in all there's no universal best decision between weights and bands. As my workout room also doubles as my four year old's playroom having a couple hundred pounds of weights lying around isn't optimal, but for others it's a non-factor. Consider your individual circumstances when making your choice. Many people dismiss bands because they see the low cost as being synonymous with low effectiveness. A successful regime is going to hinge much more on the dedication you put into it than the cost of your gear. Going the inexpensive route doesn't have to mean you're getting a cheap workout.
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Semana de la mierda
Past few days have been demotivating at best. I had a major project at work late last week that I knew was going to screw up my workout schedule and had planned accordingly. What I didn't count on was catching a nasty summer cold immediately afterward and spending three days laid up. Proudly, I did manage to keep the P90X attitude alive. I've followed a solid repertoire of alternating bed-sleepers, couch-sleepers and chair-sleepers [Repeat previous sequence].
As a result I've managed to get in one workout in the past six days. Now the pain in the ass is that this all went down late in the week (and early the next) so I'm going to need to get creative getting back into the swing. Well, I'll figure that out tomorrow. For now it's back to bed. Read More...
As a result I've managed to get in one workout in the past six days. Now the pain in the ass is that this all went down late in the week (and early the next) so I'm going to need to get creative getting back into the swing. Well, I'll figure that out tomorrow. For now it's back to bed. Read More...
New Playlist Songs
I love music - it's always been a large part of my life and it definitely helps me get through my workouts. I'm always on the lookout for new music, especially good rock bands, and there are two you should definitely check out if you haven't heard of them (two of the tracks are on the Amazon widget so you can hear them).
Airbourne - Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast
Cinder Road - Get In Get Out
Airbourne is a great rock band out of Australia with a very heavy AC/DC influence - it must be in the water down under. Cinder Road is a local Maryland band, and they just flat out rock. So, enjoy the tunes! Read More...
Airbourne - Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast
Cinder Road - Get In Get Out
Airbourne is a great rock band out of Australia with a very heavy AC/DC influence - it must be in the water down under. Cinder Road is a local Maryland band, and they just flat out rock. So, enjoy the tunes! Read More...
The Soreness Is Back
Just like the first day of Phase II, the beginning of Phase III brings with it renewed muscle soreness. I'm actually quite happy about that because you just don't feel nearly as accomplished when you wake up the next day and feel fine. When you're not sore the next day your brain just screams, "you lazy piece of crap - you didn't work hard enough!" While that may be the case sometimes, when you're going through a program a lot of times it isn't because your body is adapting to your workouts. Switching up your workout throws your body a nice curve ball that lets you start the tearing down and building process all over again. Kudos to those sport doctor folks that have taught us how to properly torture outselves!
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7/21/08
I'm Hungry
And P90X is on the menu baby! If you can't tell from my posts DURING the workout, things were going pretty well. Apparently my bad recovery week didn't negatively affect my performance today. Coming into today's workout I was a little worried to be honest. It's been six weeks since doing the Chest and Back workout, and after Muddy's run in with the porcelain goddess my hopes weren't very high. Thankfully my worrying was all for naught.
Lets do a little math to compare my week 3 results with today:
Total Push-Ups
- Week 3 - 196
- Week 9 - 265 (35% increase)
- Week 3 - 56 (93% assisted)
- Week 9 - 35 (0% assisted)
There are a few other factors that make today even better. First, I busted through the first couple of sets of push-ups without even thinking about it. Push-ups have always been solid for me, but I felt like I was on a roll. During the first exercise I hit 30 and thought, "Uh, okay... I guess I should stop." I got up with more time left than I knew what to do with and my arms barely noticed. That's a nice feeling.
I want to push my reps up to 40 during week 11 for the exercises that I hit 30 on this week (which is 3 out of the 6 push-ups sets). Second, I did solid decline push-ups without falling flat on my face. I remember during weeks 1-3 that I was so worried about braining myself during that exercise. Not so today.
The only bad part of the workout is that I killed myself so thoroughly that I bonked HARD at the end. I didn't care though... I felt great despite my head spinning in 10,000 directions at once. I didn't have to visit the commode to release my late lunch, so instead I took a self portrait of me sitting down while I thought I was going to pass out.
As Tony says while finishing his plyo push-ups, "ARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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Chest and Back - During the workout
I'm posting during my water break. Tony will be my bitch!!
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Phase III - BRING IT!!
This is my "getting psyched" for Phase III post. After an absolutely abysmal recovery week due to significant work requirements and an absolutely horrible food weekend (birthday dinner with the family... NO GOOD), it's time to bring this puppy home.
Honestly, I've come further than I ever expected. I thought when starting this that I would finish P90X in the shape that I am in now. I never thought I could actually get the kind of results that they showed in the ads. I know I'm not going to be 100% shredded when I'm done, but I'm banking on some serious hotness.
So Tony, it's time to finish what we started. I'm coming into Phase III with the full arsenal, and now that I know what you've got to throw at me the only thing I can say is do your worst, because I'm not just bringing it, I'm bringing it all - lock, stock, and barrel. Read More...
Honestly, I've come further than I ever expected. I thought when starting this that I would finish P90X in the shape that I am in now. I never thought I could actually get the kind of results that they showed in the ads. I know I'm not going to be 100% shredded when I'm done, but I'm banking on some serious hotness.
So Tony, it's time to finish what we started. I'm coming into Phase III with the full arsenal, and now that I know what you've got to throw at me the only thing I can say is do your worst, because I'm not just bringing it, I'm bringing it all - lock, stock, and barrel. Read More...
7/20/08
Recognizing Success
Just wanted to send out a belated shout to our virtual pal Prophet who wrapped up his P90 journey last week with great success. Next step, P90X.
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7/17/08
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE SIS!!
Today is a special day because it's our sister's birthday!! She doesn't have a cool name like me or Muddy, so we'll just call her Little Sis. Technically she's only Muddy's little sister - she's three years my senior. However, she's a midget compared to me.
So, happy birthday Little Sis - this video's for you!
So, happy birthday Little Sis - this video's for you!
Eat? What's That? Why would I do that?
So it's recovery week for me and I'm thinking, "alright... a nice easy week to relax, recover, eat well and then move on to Phase III." Well, on the workout side I was right (actually Core Synergistics can be quite hard when done right), but as for the diet? Lets just say an anorexic in crisis mode eats more than me right now.I'm pretty sure my OCD side has completely taken over this week. I can't remember if I mentioned this previously, but I am going to be resigning from my job this September. While I'm leaving on great terms, there's a LOT of things that I need to get done before I leave. As anyone that has had to do continuity documents before knows, there's about 10 things you know you do on a daily basis at work and about a million more that you didn't even realize you did. Trying to document all of those things is painstaking, frustrating at times, and the results in me sitting in front of the computer until my eyes are popping out of my head and my stomach has started to digest itself. My ass has logged more hours in my desk chair in this past week than in probably the entire previous month.
For some reason when I spend a lot of time on the computer at work it flows right into the same thing at home. I pretty much come home, hop on the computer again, and proceed to do god only knows what. You would assume that if I'm in front of a computer all day at work that I would avoid it like the plague at home, right? WRONG (I don't have a good reason as to why, you're just wrong - deal with it). My break from the idiot box cousin pretty much consists of my workout and that's about it. On the plus side I'm working out, but on the VERY negative side I'm eating like complete and absolute shit.
Now when I say I'm eating poorly (oh, I'm sorry... like shit) it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. In the past me eating badly (oops again... like shit) meant McDonald's, Wendy's, and repeated trips to Panera Bread. The issue now is that I'm just not eating at all (as I'm typing this I'm both hungry and thirsty, but I won't get up and get anything until I'm done). I probably haven't taken in more than 1500 calories any day this week. Yes, I know... don't yell, it's bad. If anything it's extremely counter productive since my body is going to go catabolic and start storing fat and eating away at my precious muscle.
Other than the diet stuff (which I'm going to work hard to fix tomorrow) I'm feeling relatively good. Yoga on Monday yesterday was *ALMOST* pleasant (I stress almost as usual). I blasted the angry music, sung along, and contorted myself into agony. I'm sick and tired of feeling like a yoga retard, so I pushed myself like crazy until I was shaking and sweating violently (christ... it sounds like withdrawal). The result was a seriously sore lower body on Tuesday, but at least I felt like I did something. Regardless, I still hate yoga.
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7/16/08
Back in the Swing
As much as Monday cost in pain and suffering, today was the payoff. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love Arms. Today I'm loving it even more because I was able to bump up the weight I used across the board AND was able to increase my rep count too. The whole workout was a thrill and I'm that much more motivated to hit it hard for the remaining 4 1/2 weeks of the the program. There's no better thrill than crushing a workout and still feeling good at the end.
Of course tomorrow is Yoga so my celebration is destined to be short lived but hey, you can't love 'em all.
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Of course tomorrow is Yoga so my celebration is destined to be short lived but hey, you can't love 'em all.
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7/14/08
AbRipperX Forcified
Muddy and I had the conversation about changing the order of AbRipperX in relation to the main workout a week or so ago, and during my repeat week I tested out his theory. One positive to this method was that I hit AbRipper with significantly more strength, and it didn't really affect my main workout. This was different than the norm of being so wasted after the main workout that I would often contemplate skipping AbRipper because I was so tired. Unfortunately Muddy's method (which we'll call AbRipperX Mudified) doesn't solve a problem that I have with the workout.
The exercises in AbRipperX are definitely done in a specific order. The first few (In and Outs, Bicycles, and Crunchy Frog) primarily work your hip flexors while warming up the rest of your abs. The exercises then begin to target the main portion of your abs while finally attacking your obliques at the end. As you progress through the workout your strength obviously starts to diminish, and each successive exercise has less and less strength. This means that the first workouts involving your hip flexors get the best form and attention, while you're generally struggling just to finish the oblique exercises at the end. I was tired of my obliques feeling like the red-headed stepchild of my core, so I decided to try and little experiment and go through AbRipperX backwards.
Let me just tell you - what a difference. Since my abs were fresh I was able to blow straight through 50 reps of Mason Twists. As expected my first few exercises had the same strength in them as the Bicycles and Crunchy Frog do in the standard order, and by the time In and Outs came around I was complete and absolute toast. Reversing the order resulted in the same overall fatigue as usual, so I was on the right track. The real result came when I woke up in the morning and my abs were SORE! Reversing the order was like putting my body through a completely different workout. Muscles were hit with load at different times than usual, and the end result was more work being done in places that usually are too tired to work real hard. I can say I was happy with the results.
When working abs you're placing load in the same general area of your core with every exercise, so in reality it doesn't matter what order you do the exercises. Obviously it's easier to follow Tony and Friends on the DVDs, but I just grabbed my book and went through it backwards. Easy as tofu as they say (well, it's really pie, but since we can't eat pie we should use a food that we can eat).
One other thought I have about AbRipperX is that the exercises are grouped so that you primarly target one section of your abs before moving onto the next one. I like the idea of treating AbRipper as more of a superset where you go through all your abs in multiple sets, so I'm going to try the following setup through at least the first week of Phase III:
Group 1
In and Outs (Hip Flexors)
Hip Rock and Raise (Hip Flexors/General Core)
Cross Leg/Wide Leg Situps (General Core)
Oblique V-Ups (Obliques)
Group 2
Bicycles Forward (Hip Flexors)
Fiffer Scissors (Hip Flexors/General Core)
V-Up/Roll Up (General Core)
Leg Climb (General Core/Obliques)
Group 3
Bicycles Back (Hip Flexors)
Crunchy Frog (Hip Flexors)
Pulse Ups (Hip Flexors/General Core)
Mason Twists (Obliques)
This should make my abs scream since I'll be fatiguing everything within 4 exercises, and then wearing my abs down for two more big sets. Sounds like fun, eh?
The final idea is to take all 12 exercises, write them on slips of paper, and throw them in a hat. Then start pulling out exercises and do 25 of each until you're done. Basically I just want to get a little variety in the ab work since it's the one exercise that does not have a second variation for us. I'm going to call my little hat routine AbForcifierY since I don't want to seem like I'm ripping off from Tony too much.
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The exercises in AbRipperX are definitely done in a specific order. The first few (In and Outs, Bicycles, and Crunchy Frog) primarily work your hip flexors while warming up the rest of your abs. The exercises then begin to target the main portion of your abs while finally attacking your obliques at the end. As you progress through the workout your strength obviously starts to diminish, and each successive exercise has less and less strength. This means that the first workouts involving your hip flexors get the best form and attention, while you're generally struggling just to finish the oblique exercises at the end. I was tired of my obliques feeling like the red-headed stepchild of my core, so I decided to try and little experiment and go through AbRipperX backwards.
Let me just tell you - what a difference. Since my abs were fresh I was able to blow straight through 50 reps of Mason Twists. As expected my first few exercises had the same strength in them as the Bicycles and Crunchy Frog do in the standard order, and by the time In and Outs came around I was complete and absolute toast. Reversing the order resulted in the same overall fatigue as usual, so I was on the right track. The real result came when I woke up in the morning and my abs were SORE! Reversing the order was like putting my body through a completely different workout. Muscles were hit with load at different times than usual, and the end result was more work being done in places that usually are too tired to work real hard. I can say I was happy with the results.
When working abs you're placing load in the same general area of your core with every exercise, so in reality it doesn't matter what order you do the exercises. Obviously it's easier to follow Tony and Friends on the DVDs, but I just grabbed my book and went through it backwards. Easy as tofu as they say (well, it's really pie, but since we can't eat pie we should use a food that we can eat).
One other thought I have about AbRipperX is that the exercises are grouped so that you primarly target one section of your abs before moving onto the next one. I like the idea of treating AbRipper as more of a superset where you go through all your abs in multiple sets, so I'm going to try the following setup through at least the first week of Phase III:
Group 1
In and Outs (Hip Flexors)
Hip Rock and Raise (Hip Flexors/General Core)
Cross Leg/Wide Leg Situps (General Core)
Oblique V-Ups (Obliques)
Group 2
Bicycles Forward (Hip Flexors)
Fiffer Scissors (Hip Flexors/General Core)
V-Up/Roll Up (General Core)
Leg Climb (General Core/Obliques)
Group 3
Bicycles Back (Hip Flexors)
Crunchy Frog (Hip Flexors)
Pulse Ups (Hip Flexors/General Core)
Mason Twists (Obliques)
This should make my abs scream since I'll be fatiguing everything within 4 exercises, and then wearing my abs down for two more big sets. Sounds like fun, eh?
The final idea is to take all 12 exercises, write them on slips of paper, and throw them in a hat. Then start pulling out exercises and do 25 of each until you're done. Basically I just want to get a little variety in the ab work since it's the one exercise that does not have a second variation for us. I'm going to call my little hat routine AbForcifierY since I don't want to seem like I'm ripping off from Tony too much.
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P90X - AbRipper X Tip
A tip for those who do AbRipper X and their primary workout back to back. While the P90X guide implies that you should do the main workout first then AbRipper X, I've taken to doing abs first. It let's me face abs with more energy and lets me skip the warm-up part of the primary workout and skip straight to stretching which will save you between 4 and 8 minutes.
Since there's virtually no abs in any of the primary workouts it shouldn't hinder your achievements and the pre-workout stretch time gives you a chance to recover so you should head into your primary pretty fresh.
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Since there's virtually no abs in any of the primary workouts it shouldn't hinder your achievements and the pre-workout stretch time gives you a chance to recover so you should head into your primary pretty fresh.
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P90X - Day 57: History repeats itself
Feels good getting back to "real work", at least it does now. A couple of hours ago, not so much.
After spending some much time bitching about recovery week I was excited to jump into my workout today. I decided over the weekend that I was going to move back to the P90X Classic program for the final phase. I'm pleased with my weight loss and overall leanness so I want to put more effort into the resistance training. This brings me back to strength workouts and AbRipperX three times a week instead of two. No complaints here, I do feel I can still really benefit from the extra abs work.
So today it was back to my nemesis from all the way back on Day 1, Chest (pushups) and Back (pullups). Last time around it kicked my ass and left me puking my guts out. I was determined to nail it this time without killing myself. Yeah, right.
Anyway, I crushed AbRipperX, which REALLY surprised me since I hadn't done it in ten days. That felt good because as I mentioned yesterday I felt like I was getting loose in the cage during recovery week. I set a good pace in my pullups and pushups so as not to burn myself like I did previously. All was good through the first half and I was banging out my repeats until I started feeling that chilling, somewhat euphoric feeling that meant I was heading for a bonk.
Now that I've been through this twice I knew that no matter what I did I was going to be sick, so I finished my last two exercises before then I started downstairs to consume some sort of instant energy. I mumbled some words which must have been somewhat like language because my loving wife started making me a recovery drink while I went off to puke.
All things considered, not a bad day.
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After spending some much time bitching about recovery week I was excited to jump into my workout today. I decided over the weekend that I was going to move back to the P90X Classic program for the final phase. I'm pleased with my weight loss and overall leanness so I want to put more effort into the resistance training. This brings me back to strength workouts and AbRipperX three times a week instead of two. No complaints here, I do feel I can still really benefit from the extra abs work.
So today it was back to my nemesis from all the way back on Day 1, Chest (pushups) and Back (pullups). Last time around it kicked my ass and left me puking my guts out. I was determined to nail it this time without killing myself. Yeah, right.
Anyway, I crushed AbRipperX, which REALLY surprised me since I hadn't done it in ten days. That felt good because as I mentioned yesterday I felt like I was getting loose in the cage during recovery week. I set a good pace in my pullups and pushups so as not to burn myself like I did previously. All was good through the first half and I was banging out my repeats until I started feeling that chilling, somewhat euphoric feeling that meant I was heading for a bonk.
Now that I've been through this twice I knew that no matter what I did I was going to be sick, so I finished my last two exercises before then I started downstairs to consume some sort of instant energy. I mumbled some words which must have been somewhat like language because my loving wife started making me a recovery drink while I went off to puke.
All things considered, not a bad day.
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Escaping Recovery
Recovery week is over for me and I have to say this past week has been about the most boring ever. I half-assed my workouts but stuck to my diet no problem. Today it's back to resistance training and I am stoked. Body is definitely changing around, but after not having done AbRipper for over a week I lost that peristent tightness in my abs. I actually feel "soft".
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7/13/08
Life Lessons - A Prelude
I will freely admit that P90X has taught me things beyond just fitness and health (you're almost to the point of redeeming yourself Tony... but it's a slippery slope, so be careful), and these lessons came into play this weekend. While it's not necessary to go into the details, lets just say that the willpower that I have had to exert the be successful over these past two months was extremely important this weekend.
Even though P90X was far from my mind over the past three days I managed to eat mostly right, and I got in all my workouts. I even got a little excited today and did a pre-Day 60 picture because I think I may have found some abs. So, what you see above is a Day 43-57 comparison shot. Honestly I'm surprised that you can see a difference in two weeks. WOOT!
Please Note: The Day 57 pic was taken post workout, so there's some muscle pump going on there. Alright, it may be cheating, but who cares :) Apparently I also look much better in the bathroom - I might have to take all my pics there from now on. Does anyone else think that's weird?
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7/11/08
Turning It Around
After what was an absolutely horrible workout yesterday I was determined to turn things around today. With back and biceps on the menu I wasn't quite sure if that was going to happen, especially with all the pull ups, but of course I was going to try.Today's workout left me sore which is a clear sign of a good workout. However, since I'm now on my fourth week of going through this set of workouts I am a little bored. I honestly feel like I just did this workout yesterday! All I can say about the workout is... yaaaaawn. I might have to turn the sound back on so I can at least bitch about Tony's incessant ramblings.
I know that Muddy is having issues because he thinks that his recovery week is boring, and I'm right there with him. While my workouts are more intense, they're the same workouts that I've been doing for a month now. I'm definitely looking forward to Phase III so that we can shake things up. Even though Phase III is nothing more than alternating between Phase I and Phase II workouts, at least it'll be different. I kind of miss having to refer to the P90X book to find out what the workout for the day was - at least then there was an element of surprise. I even kind of miss the scramble to remember what the next exercise is because "congdon curl" means nothing to a normal human being.
On the diet end I managed to eat much closer to what I'm supposed to be eating, and that made a big difference. Now that I'm back on track food wise I should have a much better workout tomorrow. Granted it's only yoga, but I need all the help I can get to manage that succubus of a routine. Who knew that skinny little Indian dudes could do such insane things?
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7/9/08
Week 7+ Feels Like Week 1
My body must really be hating me right now because when I've woken up every day this week I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck. Sunday night I slept for almost 10 hours, Tuesday I slept for another 11, and this morning it took every bit of willpower for me to get out of bed before 9:00am. I'm going to blame some of this on bad diet on my part again (I keep forgetting to eat, go figure) and the fact that allergy season is now in full swing.Since I slept so damn late yesterday and couldn't fit in my workout before work I had to shift plyo to today (anyone else notice the recurring theme here?). I got up early enough to workout, but today for the first time since starting P90X I had to contend with my asthma. Thankfully I don't have full blown, wheezing asthma like some people. I have what I consider to be a mild case of exercise induced asthma. 99% of the time it doesn't bother me, and even when it does I avoid my inhaler like the plague. I feel like using it is like admitting defeat, so I only use it when things get really bad. Well, today was that bad, and I had to hit the inhaler like a crack pipe just 15 minutes into the plyo workout.
For the rest of the workout I was feeling pretty run down, and I was actually worried that I was going to have to stop before finishing. Since there was no way that was going to happen I kept pushing to the point where I thought I was going to pass out. Yes, I can hear everybody already, "you shouldn't do that, be careful, don't kill yourself," etc., etc. I have yet to let Tony defeat me, so I'm not going to quit unless I'm passed out on the floor. The positive side is that I made it through the workout in one piece, and after finishing I was feeling pretty good. The bad side was that for 60 minutes today I felt like my chest was going to explode. I guess you have to take the good with the bad.
My allergies were probably the main culprit, and they are just flat out kicking my ass this week. I had my deviated septum fixed last year (and no, it wasn't the "I'm getting my deviated septum fixed" cover for a nose job - it's still as crooked as Lombard Street), and this is my first real allergy season with it being corrected. Part of the surgery was to help reduce my overall reaction to allergens, but because my sinus reaction is more minimal I don't realize that my allergies are really bothering me. I'm one of the poor suckers that's allergic to everything that sheds or pollinates, and allergies often leave me with an overall run down, wanting to die kind of feeling. My barometer for allergies used to be my nose - it would start running like Niagara Falls when things were bad. Unfortunately my barometer is now broken, and I don't seem to realize how bad off I am until it's too late.
So, once you factor in the exercise induced asthma and allergies this week has felt like week 1 all over again. I'm not as sore, but I sure as hell as just as tired.
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Hide Your P90X Addiction
Here's an interesting, and albeit, useless piece of gym equipment. I absolutely understand needing to save space on workout gear, but for some reason I'm thinking that if you already are short enough on space that jamming your home into a closet seems like a good idea, you probably need that closet to actually store things. Besides, all the miscellaneous gadgetry, extra mice, cables, and old computers would never fit with those pulleys in the way.[Hijacked from Apartment Therapy] Read More...
The 56GB Mistake or Why Windows User Are Idiots
I'm a geek who was born in the DOS generation and brought up on the command line goodness of tinkering with config.sys files to get programs to function. My first introduction to Windows came with 3.1, and up until this year that was my operating system of choice. Recently I threw myself headfirst into the Mac OSX experience by purchasing a beautiful 24" iMac, and I've been loving it since I bought it. However, last night was not the case, and I was ready to throw my piece of machine art into the fiery pits of hell.As both a user and a systems administrator I have never, EVER lost a significant amount of data due to user error. I have been the victim of drive failures like many geeks out there, but even the damage there was minimized due to good backups. At home I don't have a lot of valuable data aside from music and old documents from school, and I've gotten so used to the idea of blowing away your OS every once in a while that data was always separated onto separate drives to make that easy. Needless to say, data loss is not something I deal with very regularly.
Last night, in an effort to actually have a backup system available, I installed a new NAS device on my network. My original plan was to use the NAS for Time Machine backups so that I could back up my desktop and eventual new Mac laptop, but unfortunately Time Machine doesn't recognize non-HFS drives. No matter - I decided to move over things that I would want access to on both my laptop - that means my music, comic book collection, and some archived files. I could then free up my USB drive on my laptop for Time Machine. Sounds like a great plan, right? Well, it was until... well, we'll get there.
So I'm copying files over to my old USB drive while this Time Machine hiccup occurs, so I stop the copy. For some reason my brain kicked over to Windows mode and said, "crap... was I copying the files or moving them?" I very rarely ever copied files in Windows - I always moved them from place to place. I was even the master of the right click drag when copying to different drives so it would move the files instead of copying. Regardless of that, I wasn't sure what Mac's default action was - move or copy. In an effort to maintain my data, I dragged the folder from my external drive back to it's original place. BAD IDEA.
Again, my brain went into Windows mode. As far as I know, I've seen every single Windows pop-up a million and a half times, and I can blaze through confirmations and warnings without a thought. I wound up doing the same thing last night, but the pop-up was a little different. The key word was "replace." Windows' default action in this scenario would be to overwrite any existing files and leave the rest intact. Well, Mr. Mac here decided that when I said to replace I was telling him to DELETE the entire directory and replace it with the one I was copying over. Needless to say my comic book collection went from 56GB to 2GB in about 30 seconds.
Once I realized my mistake I frantically scrambled to retrieve my lost data, but to no avail. Unfortunately the comic book files are in a CBR format (basically a ZIP file with a different extension) and Data Rescue II only found part of the collection. It was definitely my error (I should've understood what the OS was telling me), but I do find it funny that my first major data loss due to user error was on the "easy-to-use" operating system.
The moral of the story is this - Windows users are idiots. We think we know what we're doing, but in reality it's all smoke and mirrors :)
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7/8/08
Recovery Week
During Phase 1 I couldn't wait for recovery week. I was forward to "taking a break" and letting the sore muscles heal up. This go around I'm just bored.
Over time I've not only gotten accustomed to the soreness (nothing ever came close the pain of weak one) I've come to appreciate it. When I feel a little pain it reminds that the work is actually doing something. Recovery week is just tiring. Six consecutive non-resistance workouts and no AbRipper X. On top of that recovery week is the only time you have a duplicate workout and this time it's Yoga. Wonderful.
I realize that it's an important part of the process but that doesn't make it any more interesting. At this point I'm a lot more enthusiatic about the resistance workouts. With resistance you can see your improvement on paper. You know what you lifted, how many times, how many push-ups, whatever. You compare those to last weeks numbers and voila, instant gratification.
The cardio stuff is solid, but there's no instant gratification. The only thing you can hope to do is feel at least as wiped out as you did last week. If you don't, you didn't work hard enough.
Time to suck it up and keep pushing. Next week starts Phase 3 and the home stretch.
Over time I've not only gotten accustomed to the soreness (nothing ever came close the pain of weak one) I've come to appreciate it. When I feel a little pain it reminds that the work is actually doing something. Recovery week is just tiring. Six consecutive non-resistance workouts and no AbRipper X. On top of that recovery week is the only time you have a duplicate workout and this time it's Yoga. Wonderful.
I realize that it's an important part of the process but that doesn't make it any more interesting. At this point I'm a lot more enthusiatic about the resistance workouts. With resistance you can see your improvement on paper. You know what you lifted, how many times, how many push-ups, whatever. You compare those to last weeks numbers and voila, instant gratification.
The cardio stuff is solid, but there's no instant gratification. The only thing you can hope to do is feel at least as wiped out as you did last week. If you don't, you didn't work hard enough.
Time to suck it up and keep pushing. Next week starts Phase 3 and the home stretch.
Photo: Muddy & Force Trainer open recovery week with some Super Smash Brothers Brawl
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Choose Your Weapon: Determining the Best Weight System for a Home Workout Program
P90Xers, just like all the others working out at home, ultimately need to make a decision on what type of weights to use for the program. One of the benefits of P90X is that you have the option to use the bands, and Tony is even nice enough to show you how to use them for each workout. However, in order to get the best results from P90X, or any other home workout program, you need some free weights. As a service to our readers, Hardbody Geeks has done the heavy lifting for you (pun absolutely intended) to determine what the best options are for all you geeks working out at home.
When work out at home they usually don’t have a whole lot of space and are usually looking to keep the costs of getting in shape as low as possible. For us geeks the task is a little more daunting because most of our free space is cluttered with unimaginable amounts of gadgets, computers, servers, and routers, and we generally like to spend our extra money on toys. Usually that means bars, plates, and other large pieces of apparatus are out, leaving the home workout geek no choice but to get some dumbbells. The first choice you’re going to have to make when getting dumbbells is which style to you want (and more importantly have room for) – standard or selectorized.
STANDARD DUMBBELLS
Standard dumbbells are those heavy looking things you see at pretty much any gym. There are a ton of options to consider when purchasing dumbbells – type of handle, shape of the weight, coated or uncoated, and so on. However, the main concern with standard dumbbells is not so much all of the options, it’s the fact that they take up a lot of room. Most people are going to want weights ranging from 5-50 pounds, and in the world of standard dumbbells you’re looking at finding a home for at least 10 pairs of weights – that means getting a rack to keep them organized. Most racks are relatively large, even the ones designed to be space savers, and once you have those weight set there you won’t be moving the rack anytime soon. Also remember that since each set of weights is discrete, matching dumbbells from 5-50 pounds are actually 550 pounds in total weight – that means you’ll be dealing with freight delivery instead of UPS for these babies.
The plus side to standard dumbbells is that each weight is separate and discrete, so moving from 10 pounders to 15 pounds is as simple as putting one set down and picking up the other. There’s also zero learning curve with standard dumbbells thanks to the ingeniously designed opposable thumb. However, if you are having trouble picking up a weight for any reason other than it being too heavy, please stop working out now since you are probably going to injure yourself and everyone around you.
The quality of dumbbells will vary depending on the brand, but for the most part any dumbbell made from a single piece or a few pieces welded together will be virtually indestructible in your world. These weights are generally designed for high volume gym use, so the minimal knocking around you do at home won’t hurt these weights in the slightest.
The Stats:
Cost: ** ($600-1000 depending on options)
Space Efficiency: *
Portability: *
Ease of Use: *****
Quality: Varies depending on weights chosen
Hardbody Geeks’ Advice:
Standard dumbbells are the easiest to use, but they take up a lot of space and can be get quite expensive once you factor in the cost of a rack. This is the best way to go, but only if you have the space and money (i.e. for the successful geek). If space is even somewhat of a commodity, selectorized weights are a better choice.
SELECTORIZED DUMBBELLS
Selectorized dumbbells were designed with the space conscious in mind. They give you the ability to have the equivalent of racks and racks of weights in only a fraction of the space. There are not a lot of choices when looking at selectorized dumbbells, and we focus on the two main brands out on the market today – Bowflex and PowerBlock.
Bowflex SelectTech
www.bowflexselecttech.com
Brought to you by one of the most prolific home gym companies around, the Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells have been a very popular choice for home gym enthusiasts for a number of years. For the most part the SelectTech dumbbells do exactly what they are designed for – giving you a lot of weight options in a small footprint. Currently Bowflex offers three different SelectTech sets, but only the top two make the most sense. The 552 set gives you weight available from 5 to 52.5 pounds per side, and the 1090 gives you weight available from 10 to 90 pounds per side.
When you select your weight on the SelectTechs the locking hub snaps in the appropriate weight and all you need to do is lift from the handle. This gives a relatively good approximation of the feel of a standard dumbbell because the handle is open all the way around. However, you need to be sure that you change the locking hub on each side of the weight before lifting since each side is independent of the other. This can lead to often times not setting both sides equally which makes the weight feel very off balance. You can easily fix this mistake by re-racking and adjusting the side not set properly, but it can be a pain when you quickly change weights and don’t realize your mistake until you pick it up. Re-racking the weights can also be a bit of a pain (especially when you’re tired) because you need to fit the dumbbell exactly into place on the stand since unused plates sit in the stand.
The major problem with the SelectTech dumbbells is the overall feeling of cheapness when using them. The plates have a tendency to shake a lot during movement, and while I have never had a plate drop when using them, some users on various boards have commented that plates have fallen off while exercising. Others have also reported that accidentally dropping or banging the weights together has led to the locking hub breaking since it’s made out of plastic. Again, while I have never experienced that problem myself, I can’t say I’m surprised. When using the weights I’ve always been as careful as possible because I was afraid something would break if I was too rough with them.
Another negative about the SelectTech’s is that you need to use the base that they come on in order to hold the plates. While this isn’t a major problem, you can’t just lift the entire weight and move it to another place – you need to make sure you have the base as well.
The SelectTech’s also come with a Bowflex price that is generally on the higher side. While Bowflex does offer financing options, these weights does come in at about $100 more than comparable weights from other companies.
The Stats:
Cost: *** ($449-699)
Space Efficiency: *****
Portability: ****
Ease of Use: ***
Quality: ***
Hardbody Geeks’ Advice:
The Bowflex SelectTech’s will do everything that you need as far as dumbbells are concerned, but the overall quality of the product leaves something to be desired. There is also no way to expand the weight – you are stuck buying a completely new set if you need more. The SelectTech’s are the most stylish of the bunch, but you should be more concerned about functionality and quality then looks.
Power Block Elite
www.powerblock.com
Power Block has been around for a number of years, and I have even found their products in smaller gyms in various areas. The Power Block system uses a simple pin system similar to what you would find on any selectorized weight system at a gym. You choose what weight you need using the color coded chart on the handle, insert the pin, and away you go. Power Block offers many different product lines that are suitable for the home gym, but the Elite set is what most geeks will need to get through their chosen program. The standard Elite 50 set gives you weight from 5-50 pounds per side while the Elite 130 set gives you weight all the way up to 130 pounds per side.
Power Blocks are a nested set of plates that each weight 10 pounds that attach to the handle with a metal pin that slides underneath. There are also two, 2.5 pound ballast weights in the handle that can be added or removed for more discrete weight changes. The plus side is that this 2.5 pound increment gives you more potential weight choices, but when you move up to the next plate you are stuck with a 5 pound weight increase. For example, the handle weighs 5 pounds, and you can then add the ballast weights for 7.5 and 10 pounds increments. However, when you add the first plate and remove the ballasts you jump up to 15 (5 pounds handle plus the 10 pound plate).
The overall quality of the Power Blocks is top notch. The handle is made of a solid plastic, and all of the weights are made from steel which gives you a nice feeling of quality and stability. The downside to the handle is that it is a framed rectangle, so you don’t have the openness of a standard dumbbell. Sometimes you will find the frame hitting your wrist, but most of the time it’s minimal and can be avoided with proper form.
There is a bit of a learning curve when using the Power Blocks because sometimes you will have to lift out the handle to change out the ballasts and then select the appropriate weight. After using the Power Blocks for a while you will get used to the change with practice, and even in fast paced workouts like P90X you will be able to change weights and keep up with the workouts. If you’re not the type of person that loses things, I would suggest removing the elastic band that attaches the pin to the weights since it can make moving the pin a bit of a pain.
Because of the way the plates stack, the weights are fully contained without a stand. If you want to move the entire set, just put the pin below the last plate, pick it up, and move it. This makes it very easy to hide the weights away in a closet when not in use and then bring them out for your workouts.
The major downside to the Power Blocks is that you need to be mindful of which side the pin is on. When doing certain workouts, like biceps curls, you will want to make sure that the pin is never facing down because it can come loose if moving the weights around quickly. A little pre-planning when grabbing the weights should avoid this, but I have had times where the pin comes a little loose and I have to put the weight back down to secure it back in place. The design of the pins is such that a plate will never come flying off, but it is a little disconcerting when they shake loose a bit.
Probably the greatest asset of the Power Block Elite site is that you can increase the total weight of the dumbbells after your initial purchase. If after buying the Elite 50 set you find that you need more weight, all you need to do is purchase the Elite 5-8 add-on set to bring the total weight up to 90 pounds per side or the Elite 8-11 set to bring the total weight to 130 pounds per side. This is a major added value because instead of having to replace what you bought completely you can just add on for the additional weight. Power Block does offer discounts if you buy more weight, so if you find that the 50 pounds weight limit is too low and you know you’re going to turn into a hulking, weight pushing beast, you can buy the Elite 5-11 Big Block kit for a slight discount over buying them separately. It’s definitely not cheap to do this, but if you’re pushing that much weight you’re probably willing to make the investment.
The Stats:
Cost - **** ($359 - $898)
Space Efficiency - *****
Portability - *****
Ease of Use - ****
Quality - *****
Hardbody Geeks’ Advice:
The Power Blocks are the weight of choice for Hardbody Geeks – no questions asked. It does take some time to get used to adding/removing ballasts and moving the pin around, but the weights feel very solid and can definitely stand up to abuse. Power Block also has phenomenal customer service. When I first received my weights one of the pins was bent, and after a quick email describing the problem to their customer service department they had a new pin out to me immediately at no charge.
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When work out at home they usually don’t have a whole lot of space and are usually looking to keep the costs of getting in shape as low as possible. For us geeks the task is a little more daunting because most of our free space is cluttered with unimaginable amounts of gadgets, computers, servers, and routers, and we generally like to spend our extra money on toys. Usually that means bars, plates, and other large pieces of apparatus are out, leaving the home workout geek no choice but to get some dumbbells. The first choice you’re going to have to make when getting dumbbells is which style to you want (and more importantly have room for) – standard or selectorized.
STANDARD DUMBBELLS
Standard dumbbells are those heavy looking things you see at pretty much any gym. There are a ton of options to consider when purchasing dumbbells – type of handle, shape of the weight, coated or uncoated, and so on. However, the main concern with standard dumbbells is not so much all of the options, it’s the fact that they take up a lot of room. Most people are going to want weights ranging from 5-50 pounds, and in the world of standard dumbbells you’re looking at finding a home for at least 10 pairs of weights – that means getting a rack to keep them organized. Most racks are relatively large, even the ones designed to be space savers, and once you have those weight set there you won’t be moving the rack anytime soon. Also remember that since each set of weights is discrete, matching dumbbells from 5-50 pounds are actually 550 pounds in total weight – that means you’ll be dealing with freight delivery instead of UPS for these babies.The plus side to standard dumbbells is that each weight is separate and discrete, so moving from 10 pounders to 15 pounds is as simple as putting one set down and picking up the other. There’s also zero learning curve with standard dumbbells thanks to the ingeniously designed opposable thumb. However, if you are having trouble picking up a weight for any reason other than it being too heavy, please stop working out now since you are probably going to injure yourself and everyone around you.
The quality of dumbbells will vary depending on the brand, but for the most part any dumbbell made from a single piece or a few pieces welded together will be virtually indestructible in your world. These weights are generally designed for high volume gym use, so the minimal knocking around you do at home won’t hurt these weights in the slightest.
The Stats:
Cost: ** ($600-1000 depending on options)
Space Efficiency: *
Portability: *
Ease of Use: *****
Quality: Varies depending on weights chosen
Hardbody Geeks’ Advice:
Standard dumbbells are the easiest to use, but they take up a lot of space and can be get quite expensive once you factor in the cost of a rack. This is the best way to go, but only if you have the space and money (i.e. for the successful geek). If space is even somewhat of a commodity, selectorized weights are a better choice.
SELECTORIZED DUMBBELLS
Selectorized dumbbells were designed with the space conscious in mind. They give you the ability to have the equivalent of racks and racks of weights in only a fraction of the space. There are not a lot of choices when looking at selectorized dumbbells, and we focus on the two main brands out on the market today – Bowflex and PowerBlock.
Bowflex SelectTech
www.bowflexselecttech.com
Brought to you by one of the most prolific home gym companies around, the Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells have been a very popular choice for home gym enthusiasts for a number of years. For the most part the SelectTech dumbbells do exactly what they are designed for – giving you a lot of weight options in a small footprint. Currently Bowflex offers three different SelectTech sets, but only the top two make the most sense. The 552 set gives you weight available from 5 to 52.5 pounds per side, and the 1090 gives you weight available from 10 to 90 pounds per side.When you select your weight on the SelectTechs the locking hub snaps in the appropriate weight and all you need to do is lift from the handle. This gives a relatively good approximation of the feel of a standard dumbbell because the handle is open all the way around. However, you need to be sure that you change the locking hub on each side of the weight before lifting since each side is independent of the other. This can lead to often times not setting both sides equally which makes the weight feel very off balance. You can easily fix this mistake by re-racking and adjusting the side not set properly, but it can be a pain when you quickly change weights and don’t realize your mistake until you pick it up. Re-racking the weights can also be a bit of a pain (especially when you’re tired) because you need to fit the dumbbell exactly into place on the stand since unused plates sit in the stand.
The major problem with the SelectTech dumbbells is the overall feeling of cheapness when using them. The plates have a tendency to shake a lot during movement, and while I have never had a plate drop when using them, some users on various boards have commented that plates have fallen off while exercising. Others have also reported that accidentally dropping or banging the weights together has led to the locking hub breaking since it’s made out of plastic. Again, while I have never experienced that problem myself, I can’t say I’m surprised. When using the weights I’ve always been as careful as possible because I was afraid something would break if I was too rough with them.
Another negative about the SelectTech’s is that you need to use the base that they come on in order to hold the plates. While this isn’t a major problem, you can’t just lift the entire weight and move it to another place – you need to make sure you have the base as well.
The SelectTech’s also come with a Bowflex price that is generally on the higher side. While Bowflex does offer financing options, these weights does come in at about $100 more than comparable weights from other companies.
The Stats:
Cost: *** ($449-699)
Space Efficiency: *****
Portability: ****
Ease of Use: ***
Quality: ***
Hardbody Geeks’ Advice:
The Bowflex SelectTech’s will do everything that you need as far as dumbbells are concerned, but the overall quality of the product leaves something to be desired. There is also no way to expand the weight – you are stuck buying a completely new set if you need more. The SelectTech’s are the most stylish of the bunch, but you should be more concerned about functionality and quality then looks.
Power Block Elite
www.powerblock.com
Power Block has been around for a number of years, and I have even found their products in smaller gyms in various areas. The Power Block system uses a simple pin system similar to what you would find on any selectorized weight system at a gym. You choose what weight you need using the color coded chart on the handle, insert the pin, and away you go. Power Block offers many different product lines that are suitable for the home gym, but the Elite set is what most geeks will need to get through their chosen program. The standard Elite 50 set gives you weight from 5-50 pounds per side while the Elite 130 set gives you weight all the way up to 130 pounds per side.Power Blocks are a nested set of plates that each weight 10 pounds that attach to the handle with a metal pin that slides underneath. There are also two, 2.5 pound ballast weights in the handle that can be added or removed for more discrete weight changes. The plus side is that this 2.5 pound increment gives you more potential weight choices, but when you move up to the next plate you are stuck with a 5 pound weight increase. For example, the handle weighs 5 pounds, and you can then add the ballast weights for 7.5 and 10 pounds increments. However, when you add the first plate and remove the ballasts you jump up to 15 (5 pounds handle plus the 10 pound plate).
The overall quality of the Power Blocks is top notch. The handle is made of a solid plastic, and all of the weights are made from steel which gives you a nice feeling of quality and stability. The downside to the handle is that it is a framed rectangle, so you don’t have the openness of a standard dumbbell. Sometimes you will find the frame hitting your wrist, but most of the time it’s minimal and can be avoided with proper form.
There is a bit of a learning curve when using the Power Blocks because sometimes you will have to lift out the handle to change out the ballasts and then select the appropriate weight. After using the Power Blocks for a while you will get used to the change with practice, and even in fast paced workouts like P90X you will be able to change weights and keep up with the workouts. If you’re not the type of person that loses things, I would suggest removing the elastic band that attaches the pin to the weights since it can make moving the pin a bit of a pain.
Because of the way the plates stack, the weights are fully contained without a stand. If you want to move the entire set, just put the pin below the last plate, pick it up, and move it. This makes it very easy to hide the weights away in a closet when not in use and then bring them out for your workouts.
The major downside to the Power Blocks is that you need to be mindful of which side the pin is on. When doing certain workouts, like biceps curls, you will want to make sure that the pin is never facing down because it can come loose if moving the weights around quickly. A little pre-planning when grabbing the weights should avoid this, but I have had times where the pin comes a little loose and I have to put the weight back down to secure it back in place. The design of the pins is such that a plate will never come flying off, but it is a little disconcerting when they shake loose a bit.
Probably the greatest asset of the Power Block Elite site is that you can increase the total weight of the dumbbells after your initial purchase. If after buying the Elite 50 set you find that you need more weight, all you need to do is purchase the Elite 5-8 add-on set to bring the total weight up to 90 pounds per side or the Elite 8-11 set to bring the total weight to 130 pounds per side. This is a major added value because instead of having to replace what you bought completely you can just add on for the additional weight. Power Block does offer discounts if you buy more weight, so if you find that the 50 pounds weight limit is too low and you know you’re going to turn into a hulking, weight pushing beast, you can buy the Elite 5-11 Big Block kit for a slight discount over buying them separately. It’s definitely not cheap to do this, but if you’re pushing that much weight you’re probably willing to make the investment.
The Stats:
Cost - **** ($359 - $898)
Space Efficiency - *****
Portability - *****
Ease of Use - ****
Quality - *****
Hardbody Geeks’ Advice:
The Power Blocks are the weight of choice for Hardbody Geeks – no questions asked. It does take some time to get used to adding/removing ballasts and moving the pin around, but the weights feel very solid and can definitely stand up to abuse. Power Block also has phenomenal customer service. When I first received my weights one of the pins was bent, and after a quick email describing the problem to their customer service department they had a new pin out to me immediately at no charge.
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7/7/08
Week 7 Repeat
Since I took a few days off to help rest my battered elbow I decided that it would be best to repeat Week 7 so I'm not going into recovery week with barely any work under my belt. Recovery week is designed to help your body build muscle after putting yourself through torture for the previous three, and I just don't think I've done that. Lets hope one more week puts me on the right path.Chest, shoulders, and triceps was the workout of the day, and let me tell you can tell when you take three days off. I was lethargic, tired, and overall just not happy with having to move weights up and down in the vain attempt to have a Men's Fitness cover model body. I chalk a lot of this up to the fact that I was visiting family over the weekend, so my diet was about as bass-akwards as possible. I tried my best to eat well, but sometimes you just have to give in and realize that you can't control what you put into your mouth 100% of the time (sometimes the best you can do is control the volume). When your father has friends over and prepares a great meal you don't scoff at it and say, "bah, that doesn't fit in my psycho-P90X diet." You smile graciously and do your best to make things fit. Thankfully my father is a food snob - he only puts the best on the table. This usually means great cuts of beef, fresh vegetables, and the like. Unfortunately I had to limit myself to only a spoonful of the pasta salad which was oh so yummy.
Other than the fact that I wanted to put the weights down and just sit on the couch and shove bon bons into my face this morning, the workout wasn't half bad. I kept pace with my numbers from last week, so at the very least I didn't get any weaker. I do find it funny that when working out I'm bitching, moaning, and complaining about feeling like crap, but in the end I did exactly the same as last week. I did get my arms to feel like jello and my chest was definitely feeling it, so overall the workout was solid.
Unfortunately I can't say the same after what was apparently a one-hit wonder with ab ripper a few weeks ago. Since then I just have not been able to repeat the performance. I know that I'm getting stronger through the entire routine, but I haven't had another amazing, "holy crap I think I did all 349 reps" kind of workout. Part of the problem is probably due to the fact that I'm not completing all the reps, but as I get stronger I find that I work slower and with better form through the beginning of the workout. This leaves me just as toasted halfway through as I was when I first started. I bet that if I tried to blow through the workout quickly I could do most of the reps.
My main goal with ab ripper now is just to build myself so I can complete as much of the workout without stopping as possible. Right now I'm solidly through crunchy frog (the fourth exercise out of 11) without stopping, but I can't get through 25 reps of cross leg/wide leg sit ups in the prescribed time. I did switch to the harder, cross-leg version about two weeks ago, so it'll probably just be a matter of time. I think the real accomplishment will be getting through fifer scissors. Those things make my abs scream!
On a completely unrelated side note, thanks to Muddy and Portal I have had the stupid song "Still Alive" running through my head for three days straight. It was so bad I actually downloaded the MP3 from Amazon so I could at least hear the real version. I curse Muddy, GlaDOS, and JC Coulton right now.
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7/6/08
Day 90 Fashion
I ran across this today on Gizmodo and thought that this is perhaps the best day 90 shirt out there. Anyway willing to try one out? It definitely makes the whole exercise of showing the 6-pack to the friends a lot easier. Check'em out over at Shikisai.
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GlaDOS is my hero - The superquick and very late Portal review
Typically when I go to visit Muddy we geek out like there's no tomorrow. Usually there's some game or subject that can keep us occupied until the wee hours of the morning, and this weekend was no different. We started out at around 8:00pm with a new Nintendo Wii and I ended at about 6:00am the next day after completing Portal. To put it simply - I love Portal.Like most people I've read a lot about Portal, seen some gameplay footage, and read reviews. I know that the game has been showered with accolades and awards and that the theme song (if you can call it that) is available on Rock Band. Even with having seen the game and reading about it I was still kind of in the dark about what Portal was, so after jamming to the theme song Still Alive in Rock Band (available in our Amazong player of course) I figured I should pop in The Orange Box and have a crack at it. When I started the game I was looking to Muddy for guidance, but since he hadn't really played the game either we were both experiencing it for the first time. Since Muddy was useless in the advice department I grabbed the 360 controller and got ready for the unexpected.
Before really delving into this, I have to tell you that it's difficult to understand Portal without really playing it. Even after seeing all the gameplay demos I was not 100% sure what the game was like mainly because you can't compare it to anything else. When the latest and greatest FPS comes out you can usually make a solid judgment if you've played FPS' in the past. I think that rule applies for pretty much any game of a specific genre. While nothing can replace the actual gaming experience, games do tend to fall into categories and you can get a good sense of the game without playing it. It's not very often that something truly original is realised, and therefore games are more often than not very similar. For example, Devil May Cry 4 and Ninja Gaiden 2 are very different games, but being from the button-mashing action genre they have a generally similar gameplay style. While I've played Devil May Cry 4 for many hours and only five minutes of the demo for Ninja Gaiden 2 I could pretty much tell you that except for different weapons these games are basically the same thing. When it comes to Portal you can't do that - there's nothing in your gaming background to compare it to. Sure, you can say it's "like" an FPS, but that would be like saying a Mac is "like" a PC. Sure, they have a lot of the same pieces, but the presentation, look, feel, and overall experience are much different.
I started off Portal in my little containment cell and was given my first taste of GlaDOS - my direction giving, computer overlord. I followed her directions as I made my way to the first puzzle area. When I shot out my first portal I was confused - I had no idea where the other side was and stepping through it led to more confusion since I saw myself from the back entering the portal as I was exiting the other side. The only word to describe the experience was "trippy."
The first few puzzles weren't overly difficult since you can only create one side of the Portal. It becomes very clear (especially once you complete the game) that the first puzzles are your training ground for understanding the game mechanics. When you gain the ability to create both sides of the Portal the game becomes much more complex and a whole lot more fun. While completing the puzzles was obviously the objective, I found that creating portals in bizarre places, sending cubes through walls, and launching yourself in various direction when falling through a portal were just as entertaining. I was particularly amused by GlaDOS' comments each time I shot down a security camera.
The puzzles did get more complex, but since Portal was never meant to be an extremely long stand alone game we were able to get through most puzzles without a whole lot of difficulty. While Portal is a single player game, having a second person yelling, "no no, put the other portal to the left. No, not THAT left, the OTHER left" makes for even more enjoyment.
What somewhat disappointed me about the game was the ending portion after escaping the grips of your sterilized confines. The final test culminates in your escape (yielding some achievement points as well), which then sets you loose in the bowels of the test facility. The test facility puzzles were clear in their intent - get to the exit. While the path to the exit may have been complex, you at least knew where you were going. Outside in the quasi-real world the goal of the puzzles were not necessarily as clear, and I found myself shooting portals into random places just to figure out what was going on. More often than not if you were able to get a portal into a place you haven't been you were on the right track. While this made the game feel less linear and planned it was also somewhat foreign since you spend the first half of the game in the very clear puzzle rooms. It almost feels like Portal is two separate games, one when you're in the test facility and the second when you're trying to escape.
Since this is a game from Valve, a company who made their fame on creatures that would jump out at you and attach themselves to your face, I was expecting things to come jumping out at any point and turn this game into some freewheeling FPS. I was on edge for the first hour or so just waiting for something to jump out and kill me, but it never happened. The robot turrets did try and riddle me with bullets many times (and some succeeded) but they were stationary and not nearly as scary. The most surprise I received during the game was catching an energy ball in the back out of nowhere due to a misplaced portal.
I clocked in finishing the game at 2 hours and 44 minutes. Despite it's extremely short length I felt completely satisfied at the end. I managed to escape the grips of the homicidal, HAL-like GlaDOS, and while the ending leaves you with more questions than what you started with you do feel pleasantly accomplished.
Finishing the story mode of the game also does not by any means end the game for you. You can go back and replay every chapter, and starting with Chapter 5 there are constraints you can set to make completing the level harder such as using a minimum number of portals, taking a minimum number of footsteps, or completing the level in the least amount of time. The levels also have an advanced option which make the levels significantly harder by making various changes. Needless to say, the 2 hour and 44 minute initial game time can easily be multiplied by 2, 4, and probably even 8 depending on how good you want to get at the game.
The scalability of the game, and the various challenges at the end, actually make the game perfect for almost anyone. I usually hate puzzle games to the point where I have almost thrown my controller through a fair number of TVs. However, during the initial run through the puzzles were just hard enough to make me think, but not so frustrating that I couldn't figure them out in a few tries. Subsequent run throughs make the game much more difficult, and almost anyone's gaming style can be satiated by the various additional challenges.
Overall Portal is an absolutely brilliant game. What sets it apart is that it does not try to distract you with flashy graphics, a controller layout built for an F-16, or wave after wave of bad guys. It's the utter simplicity of the game that makes it so appealing. You can pick it up and start playing immediately and be entertained for hours without even noticing. So do I have any complaints? Yes - there was no multiplayer! Not that Portal was ever intended to be a multiplayer game, but the idea of multiple people running around with portal generators just makes me giggle with excitement.
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Unplanned Consequences
While it's pretty obvious that one of the reasons I started P90X was to get into better shape, I never intended it to be as a weight loss program. Going into this I knew that my weight would fluctuate up and down as I lost fat and gained muscle, and I was also prepared for the inevitable loosening of my clothes. What I wasn't prepared for was when I stepped on the scale on Friday.When visiting Muddy and the Muddettes (his wife and little girl) on Friday I was informed that we were going to our mother's house for dinner. We ventured over with all elements of the ForceTrainer/MuddyBulldog clan converging on "grandma's" house. Of course the conversation turned to working out, weight loss, and P90X [editor's note: If you don't know why this happened, please read The Path to Being a Hardbody Geek and reference the section on Be the Expert].
Our mom had just returned from visiting our froggy family in France, and she was astonished about how her "baby boys" were so skinny. This prompted Muddy to want to find his body fat percentage, so a few minutes later a fabric tape measure was produced and we're standing in the kitchen measuring his body to plug the stats into a calculator. Since the body fat estimators are shoddy at best the number that popped up didn't really matter, but it made me want to find out my approximate body fat as well. We got all of the important points measured, but I still needed to get the last vital statistic - my weight.
I actually haven't stepped on the scale since the beginning of this program. I firmly believe that weight by itself means nothing (it should only be used for body fat calculation) so I've really had no incentive to step on the scale. It would also be hard to do so since I don't even own one.
We headed upstairs to the bathroom to step on the scale. The verdict - 183. "Wait a second," I thought. "This can't be right." Since Muddy's weight was known he jumped on the scale to verify - about 195 or so (he was fully clothed). So we knew the scale was right. I moved it around to another place on the floor and stepped on it again - 183. I bounded around a bit on the scale, and the result was the same again and again - 183.
I think the words "holy shit" escaped both Muddy's and my lips. I've lost about 15 pounds in the past two months, and it was completely unplanned. The resulting body fat calculation didn't really mean much - I was just astonished that I have lost 15 pounds in the past two months. There's definitely a feeling of accomplishment when you can say, "I've dropped 15 pounds in the past two months." I find that fact amusing since I'm the one preaching that weight loss by itself doesn't mean squat. Well, I take part of that back (at least for this post). I've lost 15 pounds and feel damn good about it :) Unfortunately I have another month to go before I can take part in Prophet's trademarked Skinnyshopping™
.
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7/4/08
P90X vs Weight Loss
I started replying to a comment from Nick to an earlier post and it got lengthy enough to warrant a full post. The question was with regards to calorie consumption. Like FT my initial target was the 2400 calorie range. Since then it has fluctuated more wildly than is advised.
P90X is the first product that Beachbody published that didn't have weight loss as a goal. It's actually quite common to gain weight by the time you're done. Those who are interested in weight loss should be starting with Performance 90, establish a baseline fitness level, then move on to P90X to polish the results.
While weight loss isn't a P90X goal, it is one of mine. While I am a geek that doesn't exempt me from the "must have bigger, stronger, faster" mentality that is so typically male. Once I knew that there was a P90X, the concept of doing the "easier" Performance 90 wasn't an option. As a result I had to tailor P90X to my needs.
Using the rough formula provided by the program I should have started at 3000 calories a day. That would have set me up to maintain my weight of 212 pounds. Since I was looking to drop weight I immediately moved myself to the next lower class, 2400 calories.
General consensus is that to lose weight you need to cut 3500 calories from your diet to lose one pound. It's advised you do this over the course of a week to achieve long-lasting weight loss. That's 500 calories per day. The 2400 calorie diet was right in line with my desire.
We're at day 47 and I've dropped 21 pounds total, which is triple the result that the above approach should bring. How does that work?
Fact is a percentage of this IS water weight and I could pick it back up over the course of a day. Another factor in this accomplishment is glycogen stores.
You glycogen (energy reserve) stores account for about one pound of glycogen and about 3-4 pounds of water. When your glycogen stores are empty your weight could potentially be 5 pounds less than when they are full. This IS a factor in my weight because I step on the scale first thing in the morning. A portion of my glycogen stores have been used up while I slept. The body does replenish these stores by burning fat but not as quickly as you use them up so I'm a little lighter than I was before I went to bed and it's not all "real" weight loss.
So what's the real deal? My best guess is that I've probably dropped 15 pounds and there are about 6 pounds of volatile weight loss that would very quickly be gained back should I change my regimen. That's why my "goal weight" is seven pounds lower than the weight I really want to be. Even though I intend to keep up a healthy lifestyle after I complete P90X I do expect to return to a more natural diet, particularly with regards to fat consumption. As a result I expect to gain back some of the weight I've lost. By shooting under my goal up front hopefully I'll slingshot back up and settle in where I "really" want to be.
But still, fifteen pounds is a lot for seven weeks. The reward is very gratifying but there are risks involved with my approach. That brings me to the downsides of P90X as a weight loss plan.
Using the previous formulas to lose 15 pounds over seven weeks I must be shorting myself by 1000 calories a day. Using the 3000 calorie plan as a baseline I needed to drop to 2000 calories a day. Problem is that since I dropped under 200 pounds my class changed and I should be on a 2400 calorie diet to maintain my weight. In order to continue my loss at the previous rate I needed to drop to 1400 calories a day, whew.
Drawback number one, as you lose weight you feel hungrier.
The worst habit I have is that I don't apply as much precision as I could in both keeping track of exactly what I eat. I tend to add "about" the right amount of ingredients when making my meals and have a "pretty good" idea of what I ate throughout the day.
Turns out I have a tendency to underestimate and after a few days underestimation compounds to become gross underestimation and you end up where I was last week. After my bonking episode I went back and duplicated my previous days eats using FitDay. Turns out I actually ate under 1100 calories two days in a row.
Drawback number two, you need to pay extremely close attention to your diet or risk making yourself sick (or worse).
The last big problem may not affect the public-at-large as badly as it does the geek sector. Geeks are notorious for bizarre schedules. Long hours in front of glowing screens of one sort or another are commonplace and time is frequently manipulated and stretched in bizarre ways to fit the needs of the geek (spending an hour working out tends to take an hour, spending an hour writing code tends to take a lot longer).
While I've been lucky enough to get myself into a nine-to-five style job that allows me to integrate into society a bit more smoothly than many of my brethren it does little to suppress my natural genetic urges. I frequently push the limits of the clock in order to satisfy the need to hit one more website, reply to one more email, read one more issue of Ultimate Spider-Man or conquer one more Super Mario Galaxy.
Weekends are where this really falls apart. Since there is no requirement to be awake at 6am to be to work I can push the night further than the rest of the week. The first downside here is that I avoid eating after 7pm. This allows the requisite minimum 3 hours between last feed and bedtime. On the weekends I can't say for sure when I'll be getting to sleep so I stick to the 7pm rule. As the night creeps on I find myself getting hungrier and hungrier. By 2-3am I'm starving but it's too late to do anything about it so I end up going to bed hungry with weakened glycogen stores. Now it becomes even harder to wake up the next morning because those stores have now been completely eaten away and you can actually wake up bonking.
Drawback number three, and the most difficult for the geeks of the species, you need to maintain a regular schedule.
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P90X is the first product that Beachbody published that didn't have weight loss as a goal. It's actually quite common to gain weight by the time you're done. Those who are interested in weight loss should be starting with Performance 90, establish a baseline fitness level, then move on to P90X to polish the results.
While weight loss isn't a P90X goal, it is one of mine. While I am a geek that doesn't exempt me from the "must have bigger, stronger, faster" mentality that is so typically male. Once I knew that there was a P90X, the concept of doing the "easier" Performance 90 wasn't an option. As a result I had to tailor P90X to my needs.
Using the rough formula provided by the program I should have started at 3000 calories a day. That would have set me up to maintain my weight of 212 pounds. Since I was looking to drop weight I immediately moved myself to the next lower class, 2400 calories.
General consensus is that to lose weight you need to cut 3500 calories from your diet to lose one pound. It's advised you do this over the course of a week to achieve long-lasting weight loss. That's 500 calories per day. The 2400 calorie diet was right in line with my desire.
We're at day 47 and I've dropped 21 pounds total, which is triple the result that the above approach should bring. How does that work?
Fact is a percentage of this IS water weight and I could pick it back up over the course of a day. Another factor in this accomplishment is glycogen stores.
You glycogen (energy reserve) stores account for about one pound of glycogen and about 3-4 pounds of water. When your glycogen stores are empty your weight could potentially be 5 pounds less than when they are full. This IS a factor in my weight because I step on the scale first thing in the morning. A portion of my glycogen stores have been used up while I slept. The body does replenish these stores by burning fat but not as quickly as you use them up so I'm a little lighter than I was before I went to bed and it's not all "real" weight loss.
So what's the real deal? My best guess is that I've probably dropped 15 pounds and there are about 6 pounds of volatile weight loss that would very quickly be gained back should I change my regimen. That's why my "goal weight" is seven pounds lower than the weight I really want to be. Even though I intend to keep up a healthy lifestyle after I complete P90X I do expect to return to a more natural diet, particularly with regards to fat consumption. As a result I expect to gain back some of the weight I've lost. By shooting under my goal up front hopefully I'll slingshot back up and settle in where I "really" want to be.
But still, fifteen pounds is a lot for seven weeks. The reward is very gratifying but there are risks involved with my approach. That brings me to the downsides of P90X as a weight loss plan.
Using the previous formulas to lose 15 pounds over seven weeks I must be shorting myself by 1000 calories a day. Using the 3000 calorie plan as a baseline I needed to drop to 2000 calories a day. Problem is that since I dropped under 200 pounds my class changed and I should be on a 2400 calorie diet to maintain my weight. In order to continue my loss at the previous rate I needed to drop to 1400 calories a day, whew.
Drawback number one, as you lose weight you feel hungrier.
The worst habit I have is that I don't apply as much precision as I could in both keeping track of exactly what I eat. I tend to add "about" the right amount of ingredients when making my meals and have a "pretty good" idea of what I ate throughout the day.
Turns out I have a tendency to underestimate and after a few days underestimation compounds to become gross underestimation and you end up where I was last week. After my bonking episode I went back and duplicated my previous days eats using FitDay. Turns out I actually ate under 1100 calories two days in a row.
Drawback number two, you need to pay extremely close attention to your diet or risk making yourself sick (or worse).
The last big problem may not affect the public-at-large as badly as it does the geek sector. Geeks are notorious for bizarre schedules. Long hours in front of glowing screens of one sort or another are commonplace and time is frequently manipulated and stretched in bizarre ways to fit the needs of the geek (spending an hour working out tends to take an hour, spending an hour writing code tends to take a lot longer).
While I've been lucky enough to get myself into a nine-to-five style job that allows me to integrate into society a bit more smoothly than many of my brethren it does little to suppress my natural genetic urges. I frequently push the limits of the clock in order to satisfy the need to hit one more website, reply to one more email, read one more issue of Ultimate Spider-Man or conquer one more Super Mario Galaxy.
Weekends are where this really falls apart. Since there is no requirement to be awake at 6am to be to work I can push the night further than the rest of the week. The first downside here is that I avoid eating after 7pm. This allows the requisite minimum 3 hours between last feed and bedtime. On the weekends I can't say for sure when I'll be getting to sleep so I stick to the 7pm rule. As the night creeps on I find myself getting hungrier and hungrier. By 2-3am I'm starving but it's too late to do anything about it so I end up going to bed hungry with weakened glycogen stores. Now it becomes even harder to wake up the next morning because those stores have now been completely eaten away and you can actually wake up bonking.
Drawback number three, and the most difficult for the geeks of the species, you need to maintain a regular schedule.
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Taking a Few Days Off
Originally may plan was to go away this weekend and do some whitewater rafting, but those plans have changed a bit so instead I'm going to be heading up to see Muddy and the rest of the family. The plus side of this would have been that I can work out at Muddy's, but I'm going to be taking a few days off. My elbow has been bothering me since I went out for training a few months ago, and the bang on Monday didn't help matters. It's still somewhat stiff, and back and biceps yesterday just aggravated the damn thing. I'm going to give it a few days off to heal - I don't need to sideline myself with an injury I can prevent. Since I'm missing three workouts this week I'm going to repeat Week 7 (woohoo!) due to good ol' Tony Horton's advice. I'm not missing out just because my elbow won't cooperate!
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Rock Band Guitar: Expert PWNED!!
This is in no way related to fitness unless you count the calories I burned twiddling my fingers on a fake guitar. After what seemed like ages I FINALLY beat Rock Band on expert with the ol' guitar. The Outlaws' "Green Grass and High Tides" has been my nemesis for quite a while, and after an untold number of attempts to beat it I finally gave up a few months ago. Tonight on a whim I decided to jam a bit to the new Disturbed track and looking through my track list I remembered that I only had one song to beat to clear expert. "Why not" I figured. Worst case scenario is that I get pissed and put my fake guitar through my very expense LCD TV. That's TOTALLY worth it. Anyway, after a few practice sessions and FINALLY figuring out how to play the turns I conquered the beast. With fire blazing in all directions I triumphantly raised my rock fingers in the air and took in the virtual glory (check out the preview of the track in our Amazon player so you can know what I was up against!).
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7/3/08
To Bonk or Not to Bonk
I'm a day behind here on reporting workouts, but thankfully something weird happened during both of my workouts so that I have something interesting to write about. Muddy last week wrote a post about bonking - the dreaded lack of calories fatigue that sends you into nasty downward spiral until you collapse on the floor like a sack of potatoes (this sack of potatoes is however much different than the sack you create when falling due to letting go of the pull-up bar). I finally got my own taste of bonking, but then I realized that it was not an unfamiliar feeling.To understand my point, lets rewind and bit and understand what I do for a living. I teach self-defense at a fairly high level, and over the past five years I've had to go through some pretty nasty weeks of training to get higher levels of certification. During these certifications we typically train 8-hours per day for upwards of seven days. Our last day is our test, and that's anywhere from 4-6 hours of complete and total hell. I've gone through six of these various certifications, and at several points during each one I've either wanted to our successfully hurled my guts out, felt like I wanted to pass out, or just collapsed to the ground at the end of the day only to be moved by someone yelling at me that I needed to get off the floor.
So now we move forward to this P90X experience. Some of my workouts have been great, others good, and still others downright awful. Normally in the downright awful ones I feel a little nausea or that I want to just drop the weights and sit on the couch for a few hours. Yesterday and today were both like that. Normally I attribute this "wanting to die" feeling during workouts as 1) a normal part of the workout that is testing my willpower and 2) not drinking enough water. Basically I just thought I was a tad dehydrated for the past two days and that was it.
Then I went back and read through several posts referencing the so-called "bonking" phenomenon. I put together a mental checklist of things that occur while bonking: 1) extreme fatigue, 2) nausea, 3) overall want to just collapse and die. Check, check, and check. Wait, what?!? So I went through the list and I got the same result - check, check, check. So now I find myself sitting at my computer going, "I've been bonking for the past five years and didn't know it?" Check-a-roonie!
I always looked at bonking as something that wouldn't happen to me - I usually eat more than enough. Besides, I'm tougher than that, right? I'm a big bad self-defense instructor. The problem is that in my hardened (alright, stupid) way of looking at things I just assumed that what I was feeling was part of the process. It always seemed like these things happened when I wasn't drinking enough water, but when I don't drink enough water there's usually a reason - I'm not eating. AHA! Suddenly the light bulb goes off and I can put another tick mark on the big epiphany board.
So why the big story about all my training? Well, first off I need you all to know how much of a hardcore, thug-killing, badass I am. More importantly though, the way I've been feeling for years while working out is not a necessity anymore! Instead of thinking it's part of the process I can make a preemptive strike against bonking by eating more carbs when I'm working hard. It sounds like such a simple solution for something that sucks so bad.
Now I'm sure you're wondering, what's the deal with the bonking over the past few days? Simple - I guess I'm just not eating enough. I know that I've been eating a little lighter than normal, but it's pretty clear that my required caloric intake has increased over the past two months, so I need to keep pace with that. I know I've lost weight because my belts are running out of holes, so as the fat stores deplete I'm going to need to up the 2,400 calorie count. I guess it's 3,000 calories for me every day (oh darn). Does Coldstone Creamery fit into the diet?
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7/1/08
Another Day Another Workout
It seems like the past week or so has been a flurry of activity here at Hardbodygeeks.com (gotta love the new domain name!). We've introduced a lot of new readers to the goodness that is our site, we've added new functionality, and we're official with our own domain name. It seems like posting about nothing but a workout is such a let down :( But, since this is about getting in shape I should give you an update, so here goes.Thankfully when I woke up this morning the throbbing pain that was in my elbow the night before was gone, so I was able to hit chest, shoulders, and tris. The workout went well and I managed to squeeze out either more weights or more reps on pretty much every exercise. It still doesn't seem like I'm making that much progress, but the fact that I'm moving up across the board almost every single time I workout means something is working - well, either that or I've been sandbagging it since week 1 :)
Unfortunately I don't really have any thoughts about the workout - either positive or negative. It's not the most entertaining, but it keeps me moving enough so I don't have time to get bored. I chalk this one up to being just another workout. I guess I'm not able to have a love or hate relationship with every workout, right? When I think about it this workout is like the white bread of P90X. Not particularly exciting, but it keeps you going.
I wasn't able to double up today like I wanted, but at least I'm getting the discipline to get workouts done in the morning. Tomorrow I'm planning on plyo in the morning and then getting through whatever the actual Wednesday workout would be (I think it's back and biceps, but I'm not sure). Then of course on Thursday I have the spiteful bitch that is yoga - expect plenty of bitching then.
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