Hardbody Geeks

Anyone have a spine for sale?

2010-05-31T19:17:00.000-04:00

Just when I thought I had this whole back pain thing under control, my L4 and L5 decided to remind me that I'm not the one that is in control of my body. One emergency trip to the chiropractor later I'm feeling better, but I finally hit the breaking point today. Needless to say, it wasn't good.

It's been a little over a month since I started really taking care of my back problems (daily stretching, chiropractor care, etc.), and last week I thought that I finally had everything handled. Unfortunately I was wrong, and when I woke up this morning I was back to having a bit more pain than I could deal with. While normally I would stretch, suck it up, and make another chiropractor appointment, today was my final breaking point. While I sat there at the edge of the bed wondering what the hell I did to deserve all of this, I felt my whole mindset switch from relatively happy (I did have a great holiday weekend), to straight up doom and gloom.

I have been in a state of constant pain since I got back from overseas. At times it's better than others, but most mornings consist of me slowly getting out of bed, hobbling to the bathroom like a 90-year old man, and then starting my regimen of stretching and groaning so I can at least tie my shoes. While I've weathered the storm relatively well (I try not to complain at least), I've been realizing as of late the OTHER negative results that come from all the pain. Any weight that I lost during P90X is back. I'm constantly tired because I can't get into a workout regimen (every time I try my back protests very heavily). I find myself not giving a shit about sucking down fast food.

In simple terms, I'm frustrated. I want to work out, I want to hit my goals, and I definitely don't want to be a couch potato. Right now I'm at that tipping point where I could very easily turn into a disgusting fatbody.

My initial plan of getting into kettlebells is definitely not going to happen right now, and my previous plan of using yoga to rehab my back is out as well. So what am I going to do? Good question... here are my thoughts:

1) Take SERIOUS control of my diet - While normally I would have 60-90 minutes a day to keep my metabolism going, I don't have that right now. That means I'm going to have to go into actual diet mode. That means as of right now no fast foods (okay, I know I really shouldn't eat them, but doing it every once and a while is normally fine), desserts, fried foods, etc. Yes, it's a bit much, but I don't have a choice. We'll consider the super clean eating as a cleansing, heh.

2) Daily stretching - I've been good about this one, but I'm probably going to have to up the ante until the pain subsides.

3) Heavily restricted workouts - I thought that if I kept enough pressure off my back I would be fine, but as of right now I can't have ANY pressure on my back until the pain goes away. That rules out a lot, especially kettlebells. The replacement for now is going to be a lot of pushups, pullups, and free squats. Not exciting, but it's something.

4) Continued chiropractic care - There are people that will say chiropractics is bad, and my continued pain after a month of treatment is an indication of that. However, my chiropractor has kept my quality of life very high for a long time, and along the way he has fixed some nasty problems. I'm going to stick with this for another 2-weeks. If the pain is still there, then I'm going to investigate other alternatives.

Wish me luck!

Tony Horton Has Met His Match

2010-05-07T18:43:00.005-04:00

My kettlebells and training video arrived, so for the next I don't know how long, Anthony Diluglio is going to be my replacement for Tony Horton. Now, it's not that I have anything against Tony (well, actually, I do find his constant hitting on Dreya Weber a bit creepy). It's just that it was time for me to grow up, be a big boy, and actually try and get some strength. Like I went into it before, P90X does make you stronger, but I need to fast forward a little more and really move things up. That means more weight, and some seriously intense workouts.

So who is this Anthony Diluglio guy? First off, he's the owner of Punch Kettlebell Gym, and the person behind the Art of Strength training DVDs. According to his bio, he is one of "America's top kettlebell instructors." However, we all know what that is - marketing fluff. We're going to have to pop the hood on his training DVDs to really evaluate his skill.

While admittedly I bought into P90X because of the never ending onslaught of 3am infomercials, in the end Tony proved to be a good instructor... even if he didn't come up with the training programs himself (and he's a little less creepy than John Basedow). Anthony and his training was suggested to me by my buddy that suggested the kettlebells. He trained with Anthony, and his exact comments were, "he's a great trainer and knows his stuff, so get his DVDs. However, he's a pompous ass." I figured that his recommendation, in spite of his personal feelings, meant that the training had to be at least halfway decent.

I always looks at things from a training perspective, and I knew that in order to be successful with kettlebells these DVDs would need to be very specific and cover all the bases. Kettlebell training can be dangerous if done wrong (remember, you're swinging around a giant piece of iron), so solid training, especially if you're doing it via DVD, is essential. Well, Disc 1 of Anthony's Art of Strength Clinic didn't disappoint. He went through all the basic moves, broke them down into pieces, and even taught "assistance" exercise that are good to help your overall technique. He also had a "problem" section for each exercise which gave you common issues people have with each move. From an instructional standpoint I was satisfied.

The unfortunate part is that I can't really tell you all that much about the workouts. My back is still a mess (thankfully I'll be at the chiropractor Monday), and some of the moves really aggravate it (and by aggravate I mean send searing pain through my lower back).

And yes, for all your kettlebell masters out there, I know that I should be using my legs and glutes with a lot of the swings and lifts. However, each move is still based on your core being at least mostly serviceable, and no matter how perfect my form, there's still stress put on the lower back. If it wasn't hurting I would be fine. Unfortunately, there are just certain ranges of motion that set it off.

My plan over the next few weeks is to use the lighter of my two bells (8kg) to go through the workouts and practice the moves. I definitely won't be working my strength like I would like, but it'll give me a chance to perfect my movements. I also need to really work on my flexibility (especially in my squats), so I won't have any lack of things to do.

For now I'm going to have to hold off on running since I know that the constant pounding puts pressure on my back. The hope is that between a few extra chiropractor appointments, the lighter kettlebell workouts, and more yoga, I'll be back into shape in no time. Then I'll be able to kick my kettlebell workouts into high gear.

The New Weapon of Choice or What the Hell is Kettlebell?

2010-05-02T20:44:00.006-04:00

This past week has been fraught with my dealing with my oh-so-shitty back, so instead of not working out and bitching about it I decided to put my intellect to work. I've been going back and forth about P90X, and while I know that I will get results with it, they're not necessarily the results that I want. That brings us to the question that stifles so many on their quest to the world of pecs and abs. What should I do for my workouts?

Back in the day I was considered a "fitness professional," but I definitely wasn't what most would consider a personal trainer. As a self-defense instructor I relied on tried and true athletic training principles from traditional strength training to pilates and yoga. While I became very familiar with principles from a lot of different disciplines, I never got good at putting together traditional workouts (i.e. a weight-lifting schedule). I can smoke myself in a cardio or interval workout, but I've always been behind the power curve on how to develop strength - especially explosive strength. Sure, you can get strong doing Krav Maga, but in order to move past a certain level you need to start incorporating different things - mostly additional weight.

The problem that I've always had is that I hate going to the gym (I know, go figure). Aside from the issues that most people have with traditional gyms (waiting for a bench, people not re-racking weights, those insanely jacked guys that lift more with their triceps than I can squat), I never liked the typical strength training routines. Yes, there are proven methods to building strength, and pounding out some iron is one of the best ways to do it. Unfortunately, the traditional programs just don't keep my interest. I'm sure if I had an awesome trainer or a good training partner that wouldn't be a problem, but that's not in the cards right now. Trainers are too expensive (when I get independently wealthy I'll have Mark Verstagen come to my house), and finding a training partner with my schedule is tough. To make matters worse I will only have access to a traditional gym about 50% of the time. If I build a workout routine that requires benches and squat racks I'll just be setting myself up for failure.

P90X is definitely an option, and it will without a doubt make you stronger. However, the one thing to understand about P90X is that while it is partially a strength program, one of the main purposes of it is to help you burn fat and lose weight. While I will never scoff at dropping a few lbs, my main concern right now isn't about how I look. What I need right now is strength... lots and lots of strength.

So the requirements for my new regimen are pretty straightforward, but a little difficult to satisfy:

The main program needs to be strength training. Cardio will be supplemented with runs (which I need to do) and Bas Rutten workouts (since my Krav Maga technique has gone to shit).
The program needs to be as portable as P90X. The Powerblocks made it easy to bring weight wherever I needed.
As little additional investment as possible. I spent over $500 on my P90X investment, so I don't want to be buying a ton of crap unless I know it's going to last me.
Enough potential variation in the program that I will keep my ADD side satisfied.
The program needs to have a significant core strength portion to get my lame back into shape so this pain will go away.

In order to help with this decision I made a phone call to a good friend of mine for some advice. Not only is he a walking bulldozer, he's a training freak that is always on the lookout for something new to make his workouts more intense. His advice came in one simple word - kettlebells.

For those of you that don't know, kettlebells are a Russian torture, er... workout device, that have been around for some time. Basically it's a cannonball with a handle, and you can use the kettlebell in an almost unlimited variation of movements including lifts, swings, throws, etc. Kettlebells have gotten extremely popular over the past few years, and several of my friends have been working out with them for some time.

I never really got into kettlebells mainly because I never had access to them. Back when I ran my schools I had thought about purchasing some, but they're not the cheapest things around, and I didn't have a certified kettlebell instructor around me to work with. While normally I would just purchase them willy-nilly and figure out how to use them, I didn't want to hurt any of my students trying to use them in training when I didn't know what I was doing. Yes, from time-to-time I do make sensible decisions.

Kettlebell enthusiasts will tout these portable munitions as the greatest thing to come to strength training since someone realized lifting a weight makes you stronger. However, just like CrossFit, P90X, John Basedow's abs, and Denise Austin's workout videos, there are people that swear by them and others that think claims are nothing more than marketing hype. Since I'm a little more rational than most, I understand that the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and that the success of a program ultimately relies on the person that's actually doing it.

Just to go off on a tangent for a moment, lets look at CrossFit as an example. Yes, CrossFit is an amazing organization that has brought a lot of people to the pinnacle of human performance. Coach Glassman has pioneered new methods and principles in athletic training that are so significant that the Marine Corp modeled their new PT program after this teachings. However, CrossFit requires a lot of equipment (olympic weights, bumper plates, ropes, pull-up bars, etc.), and an experienced coach is an absolute necessity for beginners than have never attempted olympic-style lifts. For those that have access to the equipment and proper coaching, CrossFit is great. Unfortunately for me it's not really a possibility given my current constraints. And before any CrossFit zealots, ahem, enthusiasts, jump down my throat... yes, I know CrossFit posts new workouts everyday. Yes, I know they post very good how-to's for many of the lifts they do. I've gone through a lot of CrossFit workouts in my day. Unfortunately, I don't have much space for tractor tires in my 1100 square foot condo.

But I digress. Looking at my requirements/constraints, it appears that kettlebell workouts are the most conducive to what I'm looking for. Let's see how they fit my requirements:

Kettlebell workouts are inherently strength based (you're swinging around a giant piece of iron for godsake).
They are extremely portable, and starting out I will only need a few (technically just a couple - an 8kg bell and a 16kg bell).
The investment for the bells and a highly recommended workout video was only $200. While I would've rather spent $0, the money isn't a huge issue.
Kettlebell workouts are limited only by your imagination. There are plenty of great instructional videos out there with new workouts and advanced moves, so I won't be hurting for material.
Kettlebell workouts are heavily focused on core strength, which is exactly what I need.

So there you go - my new weapon of choice is the kettlebell. It'll take about a week to get the new equipment, but that's fine with me. I'm going to focus the next week on rehabing my back and getting with the chiropractor a few times. About the only downside to all of this is that yoga is the one thing that actually makes my back feel better... and we all know how I feel about yoga.

Back to square one... and then some

2010-04-26T19:50:00.008-04:00

It's been two years since the grand "Hardbody Geeks" experiment went live, and after such a long hiatus I was debating coming back here and writing about my fitness exploits and foibles (alright, more foibles than exploits). While part of me just said, "screw it, who wants to read this crap anyway," I realized that this blog serves two major purposes - and no, neither of them are self-serving, look-at-me reasons... despite the fact that I do check the web stats on the site.

First, writing here serves as a sort of motivator. When I did my first P90X iteration, I felt guilty when I didn't write because that usually meant I didn't work out. There was something gratifying about sitting here, drenched in sweat, typing out my complaints about my latest round of Tony Horton torture. Second, and probably more importantly, is that this is a sort of cathartic exercise for me. It gives me a chance to rant, rave, bitch, and complain about my pain without having to bother those around me. In a way I'm suffering in silence... minus those that actually take the time to read this.

Before going into my rant for the day, I think I should offer a few status updates regarding me and Muddy. I'm happy to report that Muddy is still looking trim, and even though there have been a few fluctuations here and there, he looks about the same as he did when we finished our first round. That's definitely not a bad feat considering keeping the weight off for two years is atypical in the world of weight loss. So, hats off to Muddy for maintaining a (mostly) healthy lifestyle.

Then there's me. Honestly, I think I'm back to square one with all of this, or perhaps even square minus two. When I finished P90X I was somewhere in the vicinity of 9% body fat, and I've probably gained back the 10 or so pounds that I lost. While some may think that's not a huge deal, going from 9% body fat back up to 14-15% is somewhat of a downer.

In the midst of all of this I did switch jobs, and that has proven to be a bit of a problem. I had a long training cycle where I was able to work out on a consistent basis, but after that I was back to a place I hadn't been in close to four years - an office. While I did spend a good bit of time in my office at my old job, I was spending 10-12 hours per week teaching Krav Maga. That's a good bit of activity, and when you add on the P90X workouts I was probably getting anywhere from 17-20 hours of "physical activity" each week. Needless to say, I'm nowhere near that total.

I also spent a few months overseas, and that was the final blow to any hope for a workout regimen. Even though the gym was about 20 steps from my door, I had enough work to keep me busy 60-70 hours per week, and when you're in the middle of a not-so-nice place, a cookie, cup of coffee, and some TV makes you feel much better than a workout in air so thick you can slice it with a knife (yes ladies and gentlemen, that is an excuse. I'll get to those later).

When I got back I swore up and down that I would start back up, but my routine was thrown all out of whack because, well, I couldn't get on one. I have been traveling pretty regularly (excuse #2... back off, I'll get there), and my schedule has been in flux for the past few months (excuse #2.5... they're related). Put that all together and you have the recipe for a muffin top.

Since the restarting of a workout regimen is never complete without a set of excuses as to why you stopped it all in the first place, I want to offer you:

Force Trainer's Reasons Why He's a Fat Lazy Slob
(I told you I was getting there)

My schedule is anything but regular, so I don't have any time to work out.
Traveling makes sticking to a workout regimen hard, and I don't always have the equipment I need when I need it.
I spend a lot of time at the office, and the last thing I want to do is workout after commuting upwards of four hours per day.
I'm lazy and don't feel like working out all the time.
I just purchased a $2,500 gaming rig (I am a geek after all), and I want to maximize my enjoyment by playing on it as much as possible.
I've recently discovered the joy of playing guitar, and lose track of time while practicing.
I would rather spend the free time I do have with my family.
I've rediscovered the joy that is fast food, including Chipotle, McDonald's, and Burger King. A few months without it can seem like a lifetime.
My back is a complete and total mess... again.
Working out has become discouraging because I feel like I'm behind where I was when I started P90X two years ago.

Okay, okay, I admit, those excuses are just that - excuses. You can make excuses all day, but in the end they're just a replacement for motivation and drive. Since I do recognize that excuses are the easy way out, I'm going to take the over achiever route and tear apart each one in succession just so you all know I realize how much of a pansy I'm being. So, without further ado:
Force Trainer's Rebuttal To His Own Lame Excuses

Not having a regular schedule means that I need to work harder to stick to the best regimen possible. On days where I know I'm going to be out of town, I need to plan accordingly. I spent $400 on stackable weights that are extremely portable, so utilizing that feature is probably a good idea.
See my rebuttal to #1. If I absolutely can't bring the weights with me, I just need to keep some alternative workouts on hand that are body weight based, replace lifting with cardio, or shift around my workout days.
After a long day at the office, the best thing I can do is workout. It's a stress reliever, helps me wind down from the day, and ultimately helps me get to bed on time. Would I like more free time? Yes. It's just going to take a little more planning on my part.
This is just sad. I'm actually saying outright that I'm just too lazy to workout. I'm now ashamed that I even wrote that.
$2,500 on a gaming rig? Damn right. Number of hours that it's actually on in a given week? 5-6, and that's mostly work related. Honestly, that wasn't even a real excuse.
The guitar thing is legitimate since I can play for 2-3 hours and not even realize it. I'm just going to have to go back to what my Mom used to tell me when I was 6. "You can play when you get your work done." So... no guitar until AFTER the workout.
Seeing my family is legitimate, but honestly I see my family more now with my crazy job and travel than I ever used to. Again, I just need to plan a little better so I can fit in my workouts. I wonder if my 5 and 6 year old nieces would be able to do a deep swimmer's press.
Yes, fast food is wonderful, and when I got back into the country I gorged myself. I tried to be a little better by having a Chipotle burrito bowl (that damn tortilla is 400 calories), but the experience left me feeling hollow and sad. I will be treating myself to those wonderful, fatty, fried, artery clogging foods every now and then. However, that's no different than my first trip through P90X. The occasional trip to the mecca of guacamole and sour cream didn't have any negative effects.
My back being a mess does pose a problem, but I found a local chiropractor that is pretty damn good. Let's mark this one as "in progress." I don't foresee it being a problem for much longer.
The last one is a mental hump that I need to get over. In all honesty I'm probably not worse off than when I first started, but it sure feels like it. This is where that whole "self-motivation" thing comes in. I just need to remember where I left mine.

There is also additional motivation as to why I need to get back onto this bandwagon. When we first start P90X Muddy was hitting about to hit the milestone of 40 years young, and he didn't want to start off middle age looking like it. Well, this year I'll be reaching the three decade mark, and while my crisis is not nearly as bad as his, I understand the need to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

The second reason is that I'm going to most likely be heading to a new position within my organization next year that will require a higher level of physical performance. While technically there's no standard that I need to adhere to, if I'm going to take the position then I want to be in the best shape possible to be successful. That means on top of looking good I need to actually be able to perform (5 mile runs, wearing tons of equipment, etc.), and that's going to add a whole new wrinkle to this. I'll be using P90X for the next few months to get me back to where I was, but after that I'll be forced to kick things into high gear to actually get to a level of performance that I'll be happy with. It should be an interesting journey, and I'm looking forward to bitching, I mean, sharing it with everyone.

Off Into the Wild Blue Yonder (and where I've been)

2008-09-10T00:32:00.004-04:00

I feel that a bit of an update is necessary since I've been MIA for a long time now. As I may have posted before (I can't really remember and I'm too lazy to read through my previous posts) I've been preparing for a major job switch for the past few months (and no, despite the title I'm not going into the Air Force). It's a major life change for me and I'm really excited about all of the new opportunities that I'm going to have. The downside is that it's taken a lot of my personal time to get ready. Therefore the first thing to get dropped is blogging. Not that I don't love all of you, but priorities are priorities.

I definitely want to thank everyone that has read and posted comments for their support through my P90X journey. Like I said before I'm not going to be giving up the healthy lifestyle. Admittedly I've slacked for the past month or so, but for the most part I've held myself at the place where I was at day 60. To me that shows that P90X has the staying power that you need for it to be a "real" fitness program. On top of that I've gotten several of my friends to start the program and they're really excited about it. Part of my job as an instructor has been to help people live a healthier life and giving them P90X definitely does that.

The next few months are going to be absolutely crazy and for the most part I'll be offline, so this is going to be my sign-off for the next few months. Thanks again to everyone that has supported us and I'll see you in 2009!

XBOX Live Issues: Resolution and a Bit of Thanks

2008-08-19T15:29:00.003-04:00

My post yesterday about my issues with XBOX Live billing was picked up by the kind folks over at Consumerist.com. There was a flurry of comments on the topic all throughout the day with some people blaming me while others understood my situation. I did find it interesting that some people thought I was trying to get something over on MS, but that definitely wasn't the case. In the end after a 20 minute chat with James in escalated support my issue was handled quickly, professionally, and to my satisfaction. Here's what happened.

I spoke with James at XBOX Live billing in their escalated support section for about 20 minutes. Right off the bat he explained to me what MS would be able to do, and I was offered the option of a full refund of the amount that I paid or they would provide me with a 12-month XBOX Live Gold membership code that I could redeem. I opted for the full refund since all I wanted originally was to downgrade to a Silver membership.

After getting that cleared up, James asked me to explain the entire situation to him, and I gave him the story pretty much verbatim from what I sent to the Consumerist and posted here. When I finished James apologized for the confusion that occurred, and he explained a few things including why he thinks the situation occurred:

- His first comment was that I was absolutely right that I should have received a full credit for the time paid for (vindication!).

- My case should have been escalated by default when I first spoke to billing because my request and situation were non-standard. My account was in a decline state which the billing department can handle, but since I wanted to downgrade to a Silver account while in a decline state I should have been escalated immediately.

- James believes that the major confusion occurred because my annual account was in a decline state, and that it is very rare for a billing CSR to deal see. Decline states are common with accounts paid on a monthly basis (which makes sense), and the CSR treated my annual account like it was a month-to-month. With month-to-month billing if you get declined your payment to bring your account current gets you paid for that month. Basically you're just paying for time that you've already used. However, with the annual membership, when you pay your balance there is time that is owed to you. The CSR that I spoke with just pretty much screwed this part up.

I absolutely believe that James was sincere in his evaluation of the situation, and his point that decline states don't occur often with annual accounts means that the CSR I talked to may have never had that exact situation before. While that doesn't mean that what the CSR did was right, mistakes happen and MS worked quickly to fix the mistake. James said that they will make sure to address this in training with their CSRs. Whether that happens or not I don't know, but the fact that they called me directly speaks volumes.

I did ask James if he knew why I received a call from their department, and his response was that he was just told by his boss to call me and not given any other information. This to me was a pretty big clue that it was the Consumerist post that sparked the phone call. I'm definitely not going to complain about that!

Most importantly (because I want to help other readers that have been trying to deal with XBOX Live billing) I brought up to James that there were other Consumerist readers that were having similar problems, and I asked if there was anything they could do to make getting their situations resolved a little easier. This is what I was told:

1) If you are having billing related problems with your account, call XBOX Live support at 1-800-4MY-XBOX.

2) When the IVR (known as Max) answers, wait for the option to speak with billing. This option is AFTER the choice for XBOX Live support. He said that many users choose the option for XBOX Live Support when in fact they need to speak with billing (obviously they should be changing their prompts).

3) If you account is in a decline cycle (meaning your credit card expired, etc.) tell the CSR that you know you are in a decline cycle, and explain exactly what you would like to have happen. This could be anything from just paying your bill to downgrading to a Silver membership. Be clear and things should hopefully shake out.

4) If at any point you feel uncomfortable or confused with what the CSR is saying, ask to be escalated to the next level of support. They should do this immediately without any objections.

5) At this point the escalated support should be able to help you out. They have authorization and additional information to handle most requests including refunds if necessary.

The main reason I didn't escalate my call was because I was rather angry, and I didn't want to yell at someone that was just trying to help me out. In the end everything worked out, and I thank the Consumerist for that! With the information that I got from James as well I think that other people with billing related problems should be able to get squared away. If not, just write in to the Consumerist :)

How I Got Screwed by Xbox Live

2008-08-18T13:22:00.003-04:00

I’ve been a faithful Xbox Live Gold member since I first bought my Xbox 360 a few years ago. When I first signed up for my account I chose the annual option, so for the past two years I’ve paid my $49.99 like a good little gamer.

This year was probably going to be no different, but my billing ran into a little snag when my credit card on file was replaced. I started receiving emails from Microsoft telling me that I needed to update my card info so that I could be charged for the next year, but I kept forgetting. I finally received a final email saying that my account had been closed and at that point I could no longer sign onto Xbox Live. Honestly I couldn’t care less about having a Live account, but I have a good amount of DLC, so I immediately gave Xbox Support a call so I could at least get switched to a free silver account so I wouldn’t bork what I had already bought.

After a minute or two on hold (I called 1-800-4MY-XBOX) I got through to a very nice woman. I explained to her that my account had lapsed and that I just wanted to convert my Gold account to a Silver one. She said no problem, but informed me that I would need to speak with billing. “Not a problem,” I thought, and I got forwarded immediately.

After another minute on hold I was through to the billing department. I was pretty impressed at the lack of hold time, considering it was a Sunday night, and I even made a comment to my brother over IM saying, “Wow, Xbox support is pretty good.” Needless to say my comment was a bit premature.

I again explained my situation to the billing rep, and he asked me to sign on to http://billing.microsoft.com so I could update my billing information there. That seemed like a pretty simple request, and he said he would stay on the line with me to make sure that everything got updated properly. Again, I was impressed because most reps would just tell you where to go and hang up. He verified that my billing information was updated, and he told me that I would be charged $49.99 because I had an owing balance on my account. While all I wanted to do was convert to a Silver account (hopefully for no charges), I was half expecting this since my account had technically lapsed in June. I asked if it was possible to just pro-rate the two months that I was given service after my account lapsed, and I was told because I’m an annual member that wouldn’t happen. Alright, fine, no big deal – it’s just $50. The charge was put through and I figured all was set. Here’s how the rest of the conversation went:

Me: Alright, so my account is settled. Since my account lapsed in June I’m assuming I should have about 10 months left of Xbox Live Gold service, right?
Rep: No.

Me: Ummm… what do you mean no? When I paid the $50 I was paying for service from June 2008 to June 2009. I understand that I won’t get a full year of service from today, but how come you’re telling me I’m not going to get Gold service at all?

Rep: By paying the $50 you settled your account. Your account has been reactivated as a Silver account.

Me: Okay, I understand that my account is now settled, but I just paid for 12 months of service. If you date that from June 2008 I should have a Gold account until June 2009.

Rep: No. When you paid the $50 that was just to settle the account and bring it current. Your account was almost sent to collections, so your payment stopped the process.

Me (Getting very pissed off right now): Okay, so what you’re telling me is that I just paid $50 so you wouldn’t send me to collections? With Xbox Live service you PRE-PAY for the service! If I’m paying you $50 I just PRE-PAID for services that you owe me. Now you’re telling me all I did was stop you from sending me to collections?

Rep: Yes. However, now that your account is settled you can go ahead and purchase a Gold account if you want.

Me (To the point of ripping my hair out): So what you’re telling me is that I just paid you $50, and if I want to get a Gold level account I will need to pay again for it even though I just paid you $50?!?

Rep: That would be correct sir.

Me (Trying not to yell at the guy so I can ask pertinent questions): Okay, that makes no sense, but let’s continue. Can you tell me exactly what I was charged for? Was the $50 I just spent for Xbox Live Gold service, collections fees, account reactivation… what?

Rep: The charge will be for Xbox Live Gold service.

Me (Ready to rip his throat out through the phone): You just said that I was being charged for Xbox Live Gold service. If that’s the case then how come I am not getting the balance of the months?

Rep: Because that charge was to bring your account current.

This ordeal continued for another 10 minutes. He told me that my payment was solely to bring my account “current.” His rationale for not giving me the balance of the months on my account was that my account was almost sent to collections. Well, first off, my account was never sent to collections, so that’s the biggest BS story I’ve ever heard. Second, how can you send me to collections on a debt for services that I was never given? Microsoft cut off my account when it went delinquent, and at the very least I got a free month out of them. I absolutely understand them wanting me to pay for that, but how can you send me to collections for an entire year of service that I haven’t even used yet? I also asked him that if I had called last month to settle my account would I have been given the balance of the months. His answer? Yes. Rationale? Because my account wasn’t being sent to collections last month.

After all of this I informed the rep that I would dispute the charge with my credit card company. He told me, “Fine, we get that all the time. However, we always win because we will show that it’s a legitimate charge.” I tried to argue with him saying that yes, while the charge itself is legitimate (I did authorize it), Microsoft is refusing to give me the services that I paid for, and that is grounds for a dispute resolution in my favor. He didn’t really seem to care and I knew I was getting nowhere, so I just hung up at that point.

So where do I stand? Yesterday I was charged $50 for 12-months of Microsoft Xbox Live Gold service which should have been dated from June 2008. However, my account is currently at a Silver level, and the only way to upgrade the account is to pay again for Gold service.

There are several problems that come up with this entire phone call. First, I only had the choice to pay $49.99 to bring my account current even though there are monthly and quarterly payment options available. If I had been a month-to-month member I probably would’ve just paid for a single month and lost a month of service, not 10. If I had been paying via Xbox Live Cards that you buy at retailers nothing would’ve happened because there are no recurring payments. So for the most part, a dedicated customer who makes an annual commitment to the service gets screwed the hardest. Thanks Microsoft!

Feel free to hit me up on Xbox Live on my handle ForceTrainer. However, don’t expect to game with me since I’m just a Silver level subscriber now. I guess taunts via voice messages will have to do.

A Random P90X Discussion

2008-08-17T14:17:00.003-04:00

Last night I found myself in the role of a P90X salesperson. I had a promotion test for my students yesterday, and afterward we were hanging out at a bar talking about the test (5 hours of hell for them) and other random topics. One of my students said, "I was up late last night and saw this ad for P90X, have you ever heard of it?" I look at one of my other instructors (who's planning to start the program once his shoulder heals) and just laughed.

When she said that to me I immediately launched into my "how I chose P90X" story. It started with how I had my first discussion with a SWAT friend of mine a while ago and wound up buying the program myself. Before I knew it I was singing Tony's praises and saying that she should definitely look into the program. After about 10 minutes of droning on about Ab Ripper X, my hate for Yoga, and Plyo I realized I had become my worst nightware - a miniature Tony selling P90X!!

In all actuality P90X has done amazing things for me thus far, so I guess it's not that bad. However, I still feel kind of weird admitting that it was an infomercial workout that got me into great shape. Considering I'm supposed to be some sort of fitness professional it's slightly humorous. Oh well, it works and I can't deny it.

Getting Back on the Horse

2008-08-17T14:12:00.002-04:00

After two weeks of hell with my back I think I'm finally ready to get some workouts in. I definitely did a lot more than I originally thought because it took three trips to the chiropractor to get things back into shape. My last appointment was on Thursday and for the most part it's pretty loose, but I didn't want to try and jump into things and wind up screwing it up all over again. On top of that I've taught close to 12 hours over the past few days, so I figured I would be tired enough from that.

So, I'm going to pick up at he beginning of Phase III and get this thing finished. Because of the break I know I won't be where I wanted to be at the end, but I can tell you that I'm much better off than when I started.

Enemy Mine

2008-08-09T06:53:00.003-04:00

By birthright I'm a NY Giants fan and have always reserved the right to cheer for the Jets should they ever decide to do something worthwhile in my lifetime (if only they could get hold of a decent quarterback). For the last decade, however, I've been geographically positioned that the Philadelphia Eagles are my "home team". As painful as that is under normal circumstances today I am agonized by having to acknowledge a smart move on Philly's part. It's not a trade or strategic overhaul that's going to carry them through the playoffs to steal the crown from my beloved team. Oh, no. They're going to beat us with my own medicine. Seems that in the off-season kicker David Aikers and trainer Rick Burkholder have started using P90X within the Eagles organization including prescribing portions of the program for use by injured players during their rehab.

I guess it's my turn

2008-08-04T19:41:00.003-04:00

No no... unlike my slouch of a brother I'm not dropping P90X ;) Actually, he's not really dropping it - I'll be addressing that in this post. However, I did think it was time for an update so people know where I've disappeared to. Apparently Muddy and I have been running into the same problems, and our solutions are pretty similar.

Alright, so where have I been? Working, heh. Yeah yeah, it's the typical excuse, but I really have. The past couple of weeks have been insane. First off, as I've probably said a few times I'm switching jobs in September, so I've been spending a lot of time getting ready for that. We've had to spend a good bit of time to determine who will be taking over for me, and while the decision wasn't mine it did take up some of my time. This past week we also were hosting a national instructor certification at my training facility, so that took up time because I wound up teaching on a few of the days. While teaching students can be draining, teaching instructors is worse because it takes a lot more brain power. Your job is to give them everything they need to prepare them for teaching their own students, so you have to be 100% on the ball.

To top it all off, on Saturday I threw out my back - badly. I was teaching my kids and doing some self-defenses with them, and it aggravated my back. I should know better by now not to go hard on them without warming up first, but that's neither here nor there. I went home, plopped myself down on the couch and decided to relax with my Xbox. After about 2 hours I stood up and *WHAM* the pain hit me like a ton of bricks. I've historically had problems with my lower back so it was nothing new, but when I went to stretch it out something in my lower back popped in a very gruesome, cartilage grinding on bone, kind of way. I collapsed to the ground screaming many obscenities and then managed to get back on my feet after a few minutes. Lets just say I didn't work out on Saturday.

Sunday I spent most of the day sleeping in a drug induced haze or lying on the floor with an ice pack. I was able to get to the chiropractor today, but I did enough of a number on my back that I probably won't be doing much until at least Friday. So basically this entire week (which should be week 3 of Phase III) completely out. Add to that minimal workouts in Week 1 and Week 2 and this month has sucked. However, there are some positives.

First off, to go back to my comment about Muddy, he's not a slouch :) He's actually doing exactly what we had discussed when we started this. He knew that he wasn't going to adhere to P90X for the rest of his life because 1) time is tough with a family and work and sometimes you're going to miss workouts and 2) he doesn't like some of the workouts (i.e. 90 minutes of Yoga hell). However, what he is doing is sticking to the diet, making his own routine out of the workouts he likes, and sticking to a healthy way of life. More than anything I'm uber-proud of my big bro because he went from doing nothing to completely changing things around. He looks friggin' awesome, and I'm excited that he's going to continue to stay in shape. The most important goal - the healthy lifestyle - is the one that he's achieved. Now that he knows what to do he's stubborn enough to stick to it, heh.

As for me, well, come next week I'm going to completely repeat Phase III. While I've fallen well behind of the 90 day mark, I haven't come this far not to complete the program. It might be closer to P120X, but hey, I'm going to finish. My plan was always to continue after finishing anyway, so the most important part is that I continue eating properly and put together a workout regimen that I'm going to stick to.

On the ultimate plus side, despite not doing well for what is going to be three weeks, I still look pretty good! Since leaning out and discovering that I have abs, I have admittedly gotten very vain and I look in the mirror every day to see how I'm doing. While I don't look much different than my pics from a few weeks ago, more importantly I haven't gone backwards. That's definitely a testament to eating well (err... mostly well) and having built a solid base. I've probably gained back a few pounds of softness, but that will melt away as soon as I hit the weights again. So really I look at it as nothing lost, nothing gained. I've just stalled for the past few weeks because of life.

Like I said in one of my posts a little while ago, the true test of P90X is being able to continue this for the long haul. I've never been a gym rat, and I know I'll never become one. I would like to say that I'm going to work out 6 days per week for the rest of my life, but the reality is that there's no way that can happen. The new job I'm switching to will just not allow that (the hours will be long and I will be traveling a lot), but I've learned a lot because of P90X. I know how to eat right no matter where I go, I have great workout routines that I can do almost anywhere, and I now care enough about my body to not allow myself to go back to where I came from. Monday will begin (again) Phase 3, and I'm looking forward to finishing this.

Come September my life is going to turn upside down, but the good part is that PT is going to be part of daily living for the next 7 months, so I know I'll be able to keep up with what I've done this summer. Even though I haven't finished yet, I will finally tuck my tail between my legs and say, "Thank you Tony." Yes, you heard it - Tony Horton is the man. I'll even say that he's moved out of the douchebag category. However, I'll still be using the "Silent with Cues" version of the workouts :)

Change of Plans

2008-08-04T12:19:00.003-04:00

When I started P90X I knew I had a window of opportunity to get through the 90 day regimine. Unfortunately that window has narrowed to the point that I'm forced to hang it up.

Now, before I start getting jumped on let me clarify. As of today I am giving up the P90X program, but only from the "do these routines, this often for 90 days" point of view. Tony Horton and I are still going to be familiar with each other for a long time to come.

Like I said, I knew I had a finite window to adhere to a 90-day, everyday system. I have events starting shortly that will make swiss-cheese out of my workout schedule and having been sick a few weeks ago I lost my margin of error time (and then some). Add to that the unexpected event of going under contract for a new house and my ability to keep to the program on a 6-day a week basis has dropped to nil. So it looks like Day 69 is going to be my day 90. I'll do photos and results later in the week.

All is not lost however. I've already picked up the P90X+ program and am looking forward to working with it. P90X+ isn't a full program in itself, it's designed to merge with P90X creating an alternate or advanced program. It's a series of workouts that, while shorter in length (~45 minutes versus ~1hour+ for P90X) works multiple groups simultaneously so you get "just as much of a workout".

So this week and next is likely going to be an informal introduction to P90X+. I'll split the workout time I do have available between the stuff I know and the stuff I don't, disregarding the P90X sequencing. After that I'll play the mix and match game with the goal being to come up with a 4-5 day repeatable program with enough flexibility that I can stick to for the long haul.

Even though I won't be making it through the "official way" I fully support this program, it does work. I'm thrilled with the results I have seen thus far and am confident that even an improvised system is going to produce greater results and benefit me for years to come.

Oh yeah, I'm sticking to the diet.

New iPhone and lack of time

2008-07-30T09:52:00.002-04:00

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 :)

8.5-9.25%

2008-07-25T15:06:00.006-04:00

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 :)

Alternative Weapons: Resistance Bands

2008-07-22T19:47:00.000-04:00

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.

Semana de la mierda

2008-07-22T16:45:00.002-04:00

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.

New Playlist Songs

2008-07-22T15:09:00.003-04:00

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!

The Soreness Is Back

2008-07-22T14:53:00.004-04:00

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!

I'm Hungry

2008-07-21T18:57:00.005-04:00

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)

Total Pull-Ups

Week 3 - 56 (93% assisted)
Week 9 - 35 (0% assisted)

Unfortunately there's no straight comparison for the pull-ups, but look at it this way. When starting P90X I was scared shitless of pull-ups because I was always so bad at them. Today when I hit the bar my first question was, "alright... how many are we doing today FT." That's a significant (and much more positive) attitude change.

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!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Waterbreak #3

2008-07-21T18:20:00.001-04:00

GRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!

Chest and Back - During the workout

2008-07-21T18:06:00.001-04:00

I'm posting during my water break. Tony will be my bitch!!

Phase III - BRING IT!!

2008-07-21T11:41:00.006-04:00

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.

Recognizing Success

2008-07-20T09:10:00.002-04:00

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.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE SIS!!

2008-07-17T01:00:00.004-04:00

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!

Eat? What's That? Why would I do that?

2008-07-17T00:36:00.006-04:00

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.

Back in the Swing

2008-07-16T21:32:00.003-04:00

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.

AbRipperX Forcified

2008-07-14T23:38:00.005-04:00

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.

P90X - AbRipper X Tip

2008-07-14T20:54:00.004-04:00

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.

P90X - Day 57: History repeats itself

2008-07-14T20:17:00.005-04:00

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.

Escaping Recovery

2008-07-14T13:17:00.002-04:00

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".

Life Lessons - A Prelude

2008-07-13T21:25:00.005-04:00

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?

Turning It Around

2008-07-11T00:44:00.007-04:00

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?

Week 7+ Feels Like Week 1

2008-07-09T20:50:00.005-04:00

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.

Hide Your P90X Addiction

2008-07-09T20:31:00.004-04:00

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]

The 56GB Mistake or Why Windows User Are Idiots

2008-07-09T09:00:00.006-04:00

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 :)

Recovery Week

2008-07-08T21:09:00.005-04:00

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.

Photo: Muddy & Force Trainer open recovery week with some Super Smash Brothers Brawl

Choose Your Weapon: Determining the Best Weight System for a Home Workout Program

2008-07-08T16:50:00.011-04:00

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.

Week 7 Repeat

2008-07-07T22:55:00.006-04:00

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.

Day 90 Fashion

2008-07-06T22:39:00.003-04:00

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.

GlaDOS is my hero - The superquick and very late Portal review

2008-07-06T13:04:00.006-04:00

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.

Unplanned Consequences

2008-07-06T12:19:00.004-04:00

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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P90X vs Weight Loss

2008-07-04T13:33:00.002-04:00

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.

Taking a Few Days Off

2008-07-04T11:02:00.005-04:00

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!

Rock Band Guitar: Expert PWNED!!

2008-07-04T01:57:00.007-04:00

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!).

To Bonk or Not to Bonk

2008-07-03T16:16:00.005-04:00

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?

Another Day Another Workout

2008-07-01T23:08:00.006-04:00

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.

Are You Serious? Just Shoot Me...

2008-06-30T22:07:00.003-04:00

I was all excited when I woke up this morning to pull doubles this week to make up for my food orgy yesterday. I was only able to squeeze in 30 minutes of cardio this morning due to time constraints, but I wasn't worried since it was my extra workout anyway. I definitely should've finished, because in the end there was no workout for me tonight.

Work got a little busy when I was ready to leave, so I decided to stay for an extra hour and help out one of my instructors in class. Generally the chances of me getting injured when teaching are about 0.0001%, and today didn't seem to be any different. About halfway through the class we were up demonstrating an elbow technique, and my instructor was actually doing it while I was holding a focus mitt. He throws the elbow and *WHAM* he hits the pad solid while somehow hitting me right below the elbow in a nerve. It hurt like hell, but I was more confused as to how he hit my arm since he hit the pad square. After we finished the demo I look at him and said, "does you elbow hurt? I think you hit me." He just kind of looked at me and said, "yeah, but I'm not sure how." Yeah, we're meatheads, I know. Anyway, I have to give him credit though - he hit the nerve hard enough to send pain shooting down to my hand and make me lightheaded. I haven't had that happen in a while.

Anyway, on my way home my whole arm was throbbing and my elbow was starting to tighten up. I figured it would go away soon, but by the time I got home it was worse and even a little swollen. I downed a few ibuprofen and went through Ab Ripper X hoping my arm would feel better at the end. Everything was going strong until right when finishing mason twists I collapsed (like I normally do) right onto my arm and elbow. Normally I wouldn't have even noticed, but that landing sent a shockwave through my arm that unleashed a fury of expletives from my mouth. Yeah... it hurt.

I tried doing a push up and the pain was pretty bad. I know I could've been a tough guy and made it through the workout, but I've gotten this far without any major injuries by listening to my body. There's no reason to push to the breaking point since an injury will just side track me longer. With 30 minutes of cardio and Ab Ripper X done today I at least got some work done, but missing chest/shoulders/triceps really ticked me off. If my arm is feeling up to it tomorrow I'll try and get it done in the morning and do plyo later. If not, I'll see if I can circle back around at the end of the week.

Hardbody Geeks just got a little geekier

2008-06-30T22:01:00.005-04:00

I figured since I've been spending a good amount of time on this silly blog that I might as well make it official and get us a domain name. I hopped over to my completely overused GoDaddy account (yes, the same one whose VP is driving up the prices on auctions), and decided to register Hardbodygeeks.com! Much to my surprise it was completely untouched - I guess I am just that creative in my titling.

Anyway, you can now enjoy reading your favorite blog at www.hardbodygeeks.com. However, you if try and reach us by going to hardbodygeeks.com (sans the www) it may not work immediately - I'm waiting for some DNS forwarding to propagate. Enjoy!

The Path to Being a Hardbody Geek

2008-06-30T16:26:00.016-04:00

While it's been great fun relating my stories of pain and anguish while going through P90X, part of my hope in writing this blog is that other geeks out there will see what we're doing and realize that you don't have to condemn yourself to a life of being a Mountain Dew swilling code monkey in order to keep your geek credentials. Personally I think most geeks sell themselves short on the physical end and just assume that since you're smart and enjoy the glow of an LCD screen at 3:00am that you need to look like a pear. Well, I'm here to say that isn't so, and I've put together some ideas on how to get yourself on the path to being a hardbody geek.

The first step for all your wannabe hardbody geeks is to realize that being in shape is not just reserved for gym rats and muscle-bound freaks. Anyone is capable of getting into good shape, but you also must realize that it’s going to take some time and effort. From my experience we geeks are notoriously obsessive about things (hence the reason why we can play WoW nonstop for 12 hours), and so we need to take our OCD tendencies and put them to work for us.

Step 1: Become the Expert – On Yourself

Part of the geek mantra is to become an expert on anything you’re about to buy or do. I think we do it because we like to flex our intellectual muscle when we’re around our friends, but the reason doesn’t really matter. Eventually we want to become experts on nutrition and fitness, but first we need to become experts on ourselves. This is usually the most depressing step – owning up to realizing you’re out of shape and actually taking an inventory on it. Here’s where you can get some help:

Body Fat Percentage Estimator – Body fat (and its loss) is one of the best indicators of how well you are doing on a fitness and nutrition plan. Tons of people rely on the scale only, but that’s just part of the equation. Personally I can fluctuate 5 pounds up or down on a given day just by how much water I drink. This calculator is based on the Navy Circumference method and is an estimate only. However, it does give you a decent idea as to where you stand.

Body Fat Percentage Information - Now that you have your approximate body fat, look on the chart and see how you are doing. Just so you know, being in the “Adults in the Unites States – Average” box is not necessarily a good thing. It means you’re not classified as obese, but you know you can do better.

You may decide later on to get more in-depth in this personal inventory, but for now this should hopefully start getting you going in the direction of wanting to become a hardbody geek.

Step 2: Become the Expert – On Nutrition and Fitness

Like I said before, we geeks like to be experts on everything we do. Well, there’s no way we’re going to work out if we don’t know every tiny little intricacy in doing it right. With that in mind, here are a few places to turn for information:

Nutrition.gov – Your tax dollars hard at work. The feds have put together a site that gives good general information about nutrition. This is the place to start if you know nothing about nutrition.

How to read food labels - I’ve always been amazed at how people still don’t know how to read food labels. Here’s a primer on the art of understanding what is in your food.

EXRX.net – Probably the most comprehensive online source for fitness information out there. This site offers a little bit of everything, so take your time and look through it extensively. If you read everything on here you’re definitely on your way to becoming an expert.

Step 3: Find the Right Program for You

Alright, so we’ve been honest with ourselves and realize that we’re officially out of shape. We’ve even gone as far as becoming an expert in the fields of fitness and nutrition. But what are we supposed to do from here? Buy all new food, join a gym, buy some sweatbands, and start pumping iron? Well, unfortunately that’s what most of the inexperienced folks do, and that’s going to lead to failure. Yes, I know – you did all this reading and you’re now an expert... right? Actually, you’re pretty much the equivalent of a paper-MCSE. You have all the knowledge, but no real experience to put it effectively into practice. What you need is someone (or something) to guide you through the workout and nutrition at least for a little while. We need to crawl before we can walk, and trying to design our own fitness and nutrition plan from scratch with only the internet as guidance is like strapping a pair of rocket boots on to a 3-month old. In theory it will work, but the sickening splat at the end reminds you that it wasn’t the best of ideas. There are a couple of ways you can go about this:

Get a trainer AND nutritionist
This is by far the most expensive option, but if you are a successful geek then maybe this won’t be a problem. Notice how I said get a trainer AND nutritionist. A trainer is someone that will develop a workout plan for you, guide you through it, and be a constant source of motivation. However, a trainer is not necessarily a nutritionist. A nutritionist needs a college degree and usually some type of state certification. Many trainers will give “nutrition advice,” but there’s no guarantee that they know what they’re talking about. By pairing the two up you get the best of both worlds. And since you’re able to afford both of them don’t skimp on the workouts – work with your trainer 4-5 days per week. Some lame, 3-day a week workout program isn’t going to keep you on track.

Find an at home workout program
This option is probably about 1/100th the cost of the above option, and for many it can yield the same results. Why are there no steps in-between the two? Well, I’m assuming that the wannabe hardbody geeks are workout n00bs, and joining a gym is just going to be a colossal waste of money. Sure, you can hire one of their trainers, but if you don’t have the ability to pay for 4-5 sessions per week then save it and head back home. Besides, heading into a gym with a bunch of jocks is like walking into freshman year of high school all over again. Save yourself the trouble (and possible humiliation of dropping a barbell on yourself).

Since this blog is primarily about using the P90X then obviously that would be one of my top recommendations. The main reason I chose the P90X program was because it had the complete package of fitness and nutrition. You are more apt to stick with a program that is simple, and P90X is about as simple as they come. However, the workouts are extremely intense and may be too hard for somewhat just starting a fitness program. If that’s the case, I would recommend P90X’s little brother, Power 90. The program includes both the fitness and nutrition portions, so it will get you on your way to being a hardbody geek.

Step 4: Track Your Progress – In Public!

Usually when people start fitness working out and eating well (notice I didn’t say the word diet – more on that in subsequent posts) they tell everyone they know – sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts, co-workers, and passersby on the street. Then about two weeks later no one hears about it anymore (then again they don't ask), the thrill of telling people is over, and then before you know it you’re back to your old ways. In most areas of our lives we are accountable for what we do, and I think that one of the best ways to get yourself on the path to being a hardbody geek is to be accountable in a public forum. A blog is probably the easiest way to do it, and you can even gain some notoriety from your friends and family with your witty and insightful posts. If you’re so inclined you can even venture into the greater blogosphere and try and get other people to read what you’re writing. Before you know it you’ll build a network of people that can support you through your endeavors. While it’s nice to know that mom still loves you, you can’t beat intheface34 giving you a thumbs up about puking during your last workout.

Step 5: Set Geek Incentives

One of the great joys in taking part in a fitness and nutrition plan is that you get to reward yourself for every tiny little thing that you do. Use this to your advantage and set some geek incentives for doing well – think of it at Xbox 360 achievements for real life. You can set these incentives with pretty much anything – body fat loss, consecutive workouts, you name it. Got a gadget you’ve been wanting for a while? Buy it for yourself as a present after successfully completing your first 30 days. Dying for a new laptop? Get it after you finish 90 days. You were probably going to buy those things for yourself anyway, so why not double the enjoyment of purchasing by satisfying both your geek and newly christened hardbody sides?

Yes, these steps are somewhat simplified in that they skip over the sweat dripping, pain filled, puking inducing workouts. However, it's the workouts that are the easy part. They take up a grand total of 60 minutes of your entire day – barely enough to get in the way of a TF2 frag session. The hard part is staying focused on the overall idea of getting into shape and not getting discouraged. There’s also the issue of allowing yourself to find excuses that get in the way of your workouts – excuses suck and they’re a waste of time. Your boss wouldn’t let you get away with, “well, I didn’t get the project done because I was in my raid party until 2:00am” so why should your body be any different?

Be sure to check out the Hardbody Geeks store for all of your P90X and Power 90 program and equipment needs.

About the Author
Force Trainer is a geek turned self-defense instructor that realized you can still devote hours of your life to gaming while staying in good shape. He has coined the terms “hardbody geek” and “Mountain Dew swilling code monkey” as ways of describing the opposite ends of the geek workout spectrum and is currently working on an equally original scale to describe levels of muscle soreness in the common geek. He still considers himself to be a “wannabe hardbody geek” because he does not yet have a six pack to show the ladies.

Sins of our Brothers

2008-06-29T21:35:00.004-04:00

If Muddy's Red Robin outing was considered a failure by him then today for me was nothing more than straight up sin. As I commented on Muddy's post, while it's great to follow your diet to a "t" there's also the fact that we live in the real world where you're not always 100% in control of when and where you eat. Today was my test to see how I could survive in the wild.

I knew when I woke up this morning that I was heading over to a friend's for a house warming party. I've actually known for quite a while, and since I accepted the invitation to the party I started thinking about how I was going to handle the food. I knew there was going to be hamburgers, hotdogs, tons of side dishes, desserts, and god only knows what else. All of my friends know that I'm taking part in P90X, but at the same time I was in a bit of a quandry when it came to the food at their party. I was worried about being "that dieting guy," showing up with my own food despite the plentiful buffet that they worked hard to provide. I chatted with Muddy briefly about what I should do because I didn't want to insult my friends, but at the same time I knew that they would completely understand and wouldn't mind what I did. Regardless, I felt that it was rude to snub by nose at their hospitality. Am I being overly polite? Probably... but that's just me.

In the end I ate a decent breakfast and snack before I went so that I wouldn't be starving when I got there. While at the party I ate the following:
- Hamburger with lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mustard, and a bun.
- A little bit of potato salad and coleslaw.
- Two small helpings of baked ziti (mmmm.... goooooood).
- A brownie (yes, I know, don't even say it. And yes, it was worth it).

It was pretty much like walking into the belly of the beast. At best I figure I consumed about 1000 calories with more fat than I can probably calculate in my head, and worst case scenario I was around 1500 calories. While not great, I gave myself some wiggle room with what I ate at breakfast and dinner, so I'm thinking that I came in about 200-300 calories over what I normally eat. Not so bad considering.

Obviously this is not something I going to make a habit out of (this gets classified as a special occassion), and I'm going to have to eat very clean this week to avoid any negative effects. However, I got through the party without any major downfalls, I was able to show my appreciation by eating their wonderful food, and I left without feeling too guilty.

And what about my workouts? I would've been on track to finish up week 6 today (I got a day behind because of my Tuesday schedule), but when I got home from work last night I felt horrible and took a little nap. That nap turned into a fitful, sweat-filled sleep and when I woke up I felt worse than when I first fell asleep. Why I felt like crap I'm not sure, but I was not in any shape for a workout. Instead I got as much sleep as possible, and this morning I took legs and back by storm. I managed to squeeze out a few more pull-ups which is great, but that didn't help the fact that I missed Kenpo this week. I hate dropping workouts, but I guess it happens. Instead of beating myself up about it now I'm going to beat myself up next week and do doubles on Monday and Wednesday to make up the difference. That should make up a not so hot week 6.

Master Chief - Take 2

2008-06-29T20:44:00.014-04:00

Alright, I admit - I'm cheating right now because I'm changing my pics. However, to be fair - they friggin' sucked. I've been staring at myself in the mirror every day for 43 days and I KNOW for a fact that I look better than those monstrosities. I've been actually brewing over them to the point where I was pissed thinking, "holy crap, I've worked harder than that!!" So, taking a few cues from Muddy's pics (he looks awesome by the way) and some manscaping tips from our faithful reader Prophet I present to you Force Trainer on day 43 :)

And before you ask, yes... I took down the old pics. It's one thing to have a reminder of how you looked back when. However, those pics didn't represent me the way I look NOW, and a lot of it was due to the fact that I was standing in front of a yellow curtain. Since I'm already of the banana-colored persuasion (half-asian for those that need to know) it's a definite no-no. I was always told by my mom that wearing yellow made me look jaundiced... I've also learned it makes me look fat! So, these second set of pics were taken in a room that was a little more white, and I was able to compensate for the flash with as much other light as possible. Since these pics look MUCH better than the last set I know it was due to the way they were taken, not because I really look like crap.

Photo Day

2008-06-29T15:40:00.010-04:00

Thanks to all who expressed their support with regards to yesterdays diet dilemma. As Force Trainer can tell you I'm not renowned my my social interaction. I'm generally a loner geek, the one who complains when a quest in an MMORPG can't be done solo. Better example, I have fourteen instant messenger accounts containing a total of seven contacts, and two are my wife. As you can imagine the concept of sharing my P90X experience with the general public was not one I was initially warm to. Right now I am officially glad that I have. Having a support group is surprisingly helpful and I want to extend thanks to those who have taken a few minutes of there day to chime in with positive thoughts.

That out of the way, it's my turn to share.

Fortunately I did take day 1 pictures. I never expected them to see the light of day but today's pics would be meaningless without them. I didn't take the time to label them out, I think it's pretty obvious which are day1 and which are day 42.

I'm looking forward to day 90 more than ever before.

Day 41 - Major Fail

2008-06-28T22:54:00.002-04:00

My workout today was uneventful, but I failed miserably in the diet department. We had a family day, taking my daughter and niece to see Wall-e. I avoided the snack bar knowing nothing good could come of it but we were later faced with a lunch decision. I thank my family in that they've been plenty supportive of my diet needs but honestly I hate to be fussed over so when it came time to eat I insisted that it was okay if we trekked across the paring lot to the local Red Robin family restaurant. I figured there must be at least one thing on the menu I could eat. Bad assumption.

After bypassing the appetizers and the obvious villainous treats I found a quite disappointing salad selection. The cobb salad was out for sure. While most people would say, "Hey that looks healthy", I knew better. Crisp greens with tender chicken breast, hickory-smoked bacon, hard-boiled egg, avocado, black olives, ripe tomatoes and crumbled Bleu cheese. Served with house bread & your choice of dressing. Even if you skip the house bread and the dressing that breaks down into protein, fat, fat, fat, fat, not available due to the potential to kill you right now, oh, and another fat. The Fajita Fiesta salad has cheddar and pepper-jack cheese and a creamy dressing so that's out too. Crispy Chicken salad gets eliminated simply by the presence of the word crispy. The closest you get to crispy in the P90X diet is fresh celery.

Granted I could have stripped away the bad from one of the less offensive salads but then I would've been put in the position of paying $9 for the same lettuce and random greens that are currently filling my fridge (for only $1/lb at Pathmark, mind you).

So I turned to the chicken burgers. If I'm going to spend $9 I'm want to at least taste something. I settled on a Whiskey River BBQ Burger. Leave out the mayo and I knew I could stomach the extra carbs from the sugar in the BBQ sauce (turns out that was the least of my worries). Turns out I also had to scrape away the "funions" (batter dipped and fried shredded onion bits) before I ate. In the end I was left with the chicken, the bun and a minute amount of cheddar-like cheese. It tasted pretty good and while I was disappointed that it wasn't up to the quality of the food I have been eating I felt comfortable I could make it up by keeping dinner clean.

As we were waiting for the food to be delivered I noticed a family of three getting their lunch served. The dad had the Cobb salad and it looked like mom and daughter each had the Grilled Chicken Caesar salads. As they poured on their creamy dressing it occurred to me that they were all probably proud of themselves that they were eating healthy. Damn, ignorance IS bliss. Lucky bastards.

Anyway we ate, came home, worked out, went food shopping (now that my wife has picked up the diet we go through protein bars and bananas like crazy) had a good salad and a clean deli sandwich (mustard, no mayo) for dinner and watched some TV.

I probably could have put aside my culinary transgression had it not been for my insides. Under the P90X diet your bodily functions are VERY predictable. I can put my trips to the bathroom in my calendar three days in advance with confidence. Today my insides told me I did bad.

I decided I needed to know how bad. While Red Robin makes it as hard to find as possible, you can get the nutritional information of their product on their website. I couldn't actually find it when I went there, I ended up finding an external link into it from another site.

I plugged in my chicken burger -mayo -onion straws -salmonella = (oh, gak) 609 calories, 48g of protein (not bad), 56g of carbs (Phase I would've been bad, Phase II a-ok) and, wait for it, 21g of fat. Nooooo! Oh shit, blah, pooey, gaak, yak, omg, lol, gg, qq n00b!

The only saving grace was that by passing on the mayo and the funions I avoided an additional 30 grams of fat.

After my heart started beating again I decided to dig deeper into their menu. That Cobb salad that the dad went for weighed in at 832 calories w/46g of fat and the mother-daughter tag team on the Chicken Caesar salads cost them each 811 calories w/57g of fat.

Holy shit, I'm glad I had the chicken.

It's no wonder the U.S. populace is in as sad a shape as we are collectively. While most of us are aware that eating out, especially at a mass market place like Red Robin, isn't the healthiest of living nobody would expect that kind of evil coming from non-fried chicken and and salad greens.

Lesson learned. I definitely won't be eating out again an time soon.

Out of curiosity I took a look at one last item on the RR menu. Every family restaurant from Tony Roma to Beefsteak Charlie has some sort of onion ring type appetizer that I love. The Outback calls it the "Blooming Onion" and RR has their "Towering Onion Rings". I've been known to kick back an entire tower by myself before delving into an entree. While I may be disappointed by what I ate today, my former dietary choices make today's lunch seem like cookie crumbs. That tower of rings, 1837 calories; total fat, 124g.

Love it or hate it, P90X has put me on a path to a better life, even if I don't have an 8-pack after the first 90 days. And with 49 days left to go, who knows what can happen.

Not my finest day

2008-06-27T18:43:00.008-04:00

Until today this week had been pretty uneventful. I'm kind of scratching my head wondering where the time is going. After Kempo tomorrow week six will pretty much be a thing of the past. Phase II has been moving along much more quickly than Phase I did. Next Wednesday will mark the midpoint of this adventure and it's all downhill from there. Time can fly even when you're not having fun.

I'm not knocking P90X in any way, I think it's a great program. I just hate working out in general. I've never gotten off on it, even when I was in the Marine Corps. While all my buddies used to jam as much time in the gym as possible I avoided it like the plague. There was no shortage of physicality in my day to day life in the Corps, I wasn't going to spend what little free time I had volunteering for more.

Anyway, back to today. I had the day off so I decided to bang out my workout this morning rather than wait to my normal late afternoon. I had slept in 'til about nine and then had my morning protein shake. About 11:30 I decided to hit it and then have lunch.

Forty minutes in I started feeling pain in my belly and it wasn't from the exercise. It didn't take long before I was gasping for air and feeling like I was going to be sick. I ended up taking a break and realized I was bonking. I knew I was behind on calories yesterday but apparently I didn't realize how far and it caught up with me since I had eaten only about 300 by the time I started my mid-morning workout. Need to pay more attention.

Not wanting to get my ass kicked by my own stupidity I resumed my workout later in the afternoon. I felt fresh and knowing I only had about 30 minutes of work to do I went into cruise control and started hitting it hard. It felt good but I guess I cruised a little too deep. I was doing my switch grip pull-ups drum stool assisted (the drum stool is mandatory geek gear ever since Harmonix released the Rock Band video game). When I finished I completely brain faded and let go of the bar. Of course I still had my left leg on the stool and my right leg curled towards my chest. I fell like a sack of poatoes (mmm, potatoes) on my ass. It was more bone-jarring than painful but the first thing that came to mind (well, after "ow") was that I really shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.

Albeit inelegantly, I did get my workout done without further incident. I have to say, I'm feeling pretty good about things. While there's no washboard to be seen around my abs I'm feeling stronger every day and am pleased with the slow but steady progress I've been making. And those two pounds that I didn't really lose earlier in the week, well I've lost them since then so my scale can go frak itself.

Yoga Rocks!

2008-06-27T14:35:00.005-04:00

Okay, okay... I'm lying. It still sucks ;) I think I stated a few weeks ago that I'm treating Tony like the enemy and I'm not going to let him defeat me. If Tony is the Supreme Commander of P90Xistan then Yoga X is his most trusted general - quiet, unassuming, but with the ability to decimate all that oppose him (or would would it be a her... I'm not sure). I came with my full arsenal for my assault on Yoga X, but as usual it was the equivalent of feces throwing monkeys trying to take on a battalion of Marines.

Despite my complete and total lack of yoga ability, I made sure I approached today with a "not-to-be-defeated" attitude. I pushed every single technique to the point where my entire body was shaking like a crackhead waiting for his next fix. Thankfully I've noticed that my body is beginning to loosen up and when going from a runner's pose back to plank I'm able to put both hands flat on the floor instead of having to get up on my fingers tips to shoot my leg back. It may be a minor victory, but when I first started the idea of getting back into plank from a runner's pose was in the realm of "are you frackin' kidding me?!?"

I've mentioned before that my take on yoga is a little "unorthodox." The whole clear your mind, cleanse your soul, understand the universe thing just isn't for me. First off, I'm way too cynical to do any of that crap - I think it's BS. If the almighty wanted me to cleanse my mind he would've given me a spigot on the side of my head. Second, I'm lucky if I can go five seconds without a millions thoughts popping into my head. Sometimes I have profound thoughts, but more often than not they're nothing more that pre-adolescent fart jokes and boob references.

Since I'm not able to clear my mind, the next best thing is to drown out the voices so they don't disturb me while I'm working out. Here's a little taste of what I listen to while doing yoga (click the link for a preview - opens an M3U file, so if you have iTunes or similar you'll be all set):

Alter Bridge - Before Tomorrow Comes
Disturbed - Inside the Fire - This is also awesome playing in Rock Band!
Egypt Central - You Make Me Sick
Saving Abel - Addicted
Seether - Fake It
Theory of a Deadman - Bad Girlfriend

On an unrelated but kind of important note, I'm sure many of us are music lovers, and I'm always looking for the cheapest way to get my music in digital format. Since certain *legal* music download sites are having problems accepting payments I highly recommend Amazon.com's digital download service. They have a slick little download applet, it's cheaper than iTunes, and there's no DRM on the songs. In all honesty I would pay the same price just to avoid DRM protected songs - I hate that crap. I paid for the song and I'm going to play it on anything and everything I want dammit!! Besides, it's bad enough that Google has their hooks in in pretty much every part of my life. I don't need a second corporate giant horning its way into my personal life.

Written on my 24" aluminum iMac while listening to iTunes and browsing articles about the new 3G iPhone.

Disclaimer: The final statement of the above post was a complete and total load of crap. I'm a recent Windows convert turned total Apple whore. Remember, the first step is admitting you have a problem.

The Path to Redemption: Be A Geek

2008-06-27T13:03:00.005-04:00

Since today is a new day and I'm not one for dwelling, I got up this morning thinking about what I could do to get out of this mini-slump. The answer? Pure, unadulterated, geekiness. It's my day off, so I decided to bask in the warm glow of my iMac (please no Mac vs. PC arguments... I own several PCs so back off) before doing my yoga. Ahh, but there's still a lingering question... what have I been doing?

In case you haven't noticed I decided to add a few little features to the blog. If you ever delved into custom templates in Blogger you know that it can be somewhat confusing. They have their own template tags that you need to become familiar with, and you also need to understand where all the little bits and bobbles are. I got a pretty good lay of the land when adding the "Read More..." piece to the blog. It's a rather simple hack, but I'm surprised it's not a standard feature since it seems like every other blog program out there has some type of read more function.

As we continue with our P90X journey and I'm getting back into web development and other things, don't be surprised if you start seeing posts that are a little off-topic. While I'm loving P90X, sometimes I want to write about more than just workouts and what I'm stuffing in my face. Obviously we're geeks so posts will probably have the usual nerd-like flair, and I promise I'll try and make them relate to P90X at least a little. At the very least it's the P90X program that sparked this entire blog, so that makes everything P90X related... right?

Finally, I want to thank Antonio Lubetti for his code snippets at his Woork blog. His examples were clear and concise and enabled me to put in the deli.cio.us and Digg links with little trouble. My next larger project is going to be a full redesign of this template since it's driving me nuts. If you see changes and something breaks, just let me know :)

Frustrated, but why?

2008-06-27T01:53:00.007-04:00

With day 40 came back and biceps. Since last week was my first time doing the workout I spent a lot of time figuring out what everything was and jockeying weights, but today went much smoother. Having a record to look back on makes everything much easier. I moved up my weight across the board which was great, and I kept pace almost 100% with Ab Ripper X (which I'm sure I'll pay for tomorrow). Despite doing relatively well over the past few days for some reason I'm not feeling good about everything... so my question is why?

I've actually been kind of bummed about my workouts for the past week or so. Even though I'm increasing my weight each week, keeping pace much better, and obviously losing weight, I still feel like I'm not on track. Taking pictures today on day 40 didn't really help much - I just looked at those and said, "Are you serious? I still look like absolute shit!" I know that I need to be fair to myself since I don't have comparison pictures to day 1, and if I had those I would probably see some distinct differences. Regardless, for some reason things just aren't clicking.

My first thought is about my workouts. Yesterday I mentioned how I felt like I wasn't "Bringing It" enough, so I made sure that I pushed through as hard as possible today. I pushed higher weights on pretty much every exercise today which is no small feet since there's so many, and I banged out Ab Ripper X until I was ready to cry. By all accounts I had a solid workout day.

Most sane people would probably be saying right now, "Alright, I did a good job... and tomorrow I'm going to keep it up." Unfortunately the perfectionist in me is coming out right now screaming, "Why don't you have a six pack? Why are your arms so small? Why do you look chubby?" It's the most frustrating feeling right now because the rational side of my brain tells me to be happy with my work, be proud of the fact that I'm sticking to the program, and look at tomorrow as another day to make a difference. Unfortunately the irrational, muscle-headed, jock wannabe in me is screaming that nothing is good enough. I'm sure I'm not the only person that has dealt with this conundrum - I'm smart enough to know that my insecurities, misgivings, and frustrations are probably shared by a good number of people in this world. I'll never sit here, bitch and complain, and make it seem like I'm the only person in the world that has had these problems. However, that still doesn't get me any closer to figuring out how to make it better.

Besides my workouts the other place I have to look is my diet. While I'm not being nearly as strict (i.e. boring) as last month, I've been getting as close to my 40/40/20 breakdown as possible without international standard weights and measures. I've stayed away from pretty much everything you would consider bad. Even my "treats" have been nothing more than diet snowballs (basically ice and fat/sugar free flavoring) and some fat free, low calorie sorbet. Unfortunately my brain seems to want to keep yelling at me that I'm not eating right. I go over my daily intake in my head, know for a fact it's okay, but I find myself wondering, "Was there too much oil in that? How much fat did I take in today? Did I count my breakfast right?" I really think that I'm starting to go insane. I know the equation makes sense and the numbers add up, but for some reason I keep looking for errors and mistakes where there probably aren't any.

I can be very honest in saying that looking at other results photos, while motivating at first, is not nearly as motivating now. Sometimes it's downright disheartening. Now this is not a knock on anyone who has gotten great results - I'm proud of all of you because I know what it takes and congratulations on a job well done. However, I'm looking at 30 day photos thinking that I don't look nearly as good, and I see 60 day photos thinking there's no way in hell I'm going to do that in the next 20 days. It's probably not fair to try and compare myself to someone else like that, but it's bound to happen with so many before and after pictures floating around.

While Muddy has his "girlie" moment a little bit ago, consider this to be my "crisis" moment. In reality there's nothing wrong - I'm on track and doing well. But, my brain is screaming just the opposite which means I need to use that as motivation to work even harder. I guess sometimes you just need to have a moment of self doubt so that you can keep yourself centered. It's the being okay with your lot in life that allows people to become fat slugs anyway, right?

Day Number... Uhh...

2008-06-25T22:56:00.005-04:00

After my workout today I decided to snoop around the internet and see what some of the other P90X blogs were saying. Many of the sites, much like this one, track progress on a daily basis. Muddy and I have been doing the same thing (well, for the most part) but we have not been nearly as strict in the tracking of the actual day. With a calendar in hand, an abicus, and some creative math, I was able to figure out that we are finishing up day 39 (woot, woohoo, OMG, ROFLMAO, GG... whatever floats your boat)!

Alright, so maybe I didn't need the abicus... it wouldn't have been very helpful anyway. It doesn't have nearly the date math functionality of Excel, but I digress. In thinking about the past 39 days and how we've been doing I was on one hand very pleased with myself and on the other hand a little disappointed. Some of the blogs are really great with the people doing the fit tests, pictures on the appropriate days, and so on. I'm kind of kicking myself in the butt for not doing what I consider to be the ancillary parts of the program, but at the same time I'm also looking back and realizing that for 39 days I've been working out, following a diet, and while you may not have photographic evidence of how I look I can absolutely tell the difference.

Some of my disappointment, or perhaps frustration, comes from how my schedule gets in the way of things. I normally find myself at work relatively late (say until 9:00pm) which means I'm not home until about 9:30 or 10:00pm. On those days I really need to workout in the morning, but I've been struggling with that for the past two weeks. Some days I can do it, and others I would rather read War and Peace while listening to death metal played by a polka band then workout. The willpower to workout in the morning has been the one challenge I have not met, so I really need to "Bring It" to make sure those morning workouts get done. The main reason they need to get done is that I wind up dropping workouts which means doubling up on another day. I know in the end the fact that I'm working out is the most important, but I've also completely missed two workouts so far. While I know missing two workouts will not make or break the program, I'm pissed at myself for allowing that to happen.

What helps me stay positive is being able to feel and see the differences in my physical condition. Physically I can see the differences - the belly fat is going away, there are new muscles in my arms that I didn't know I had, and my abs are starting to show themselves. My cardio has also increased pretty significantly because I find myself getting through the workouts without feeling completely wiped. However, there's an unintended consequence from this higher performance - I feel like I'm not doing enough! At the beginning when I finished the workouts I was done - the last thought in my mind was doing anything else physical. As the weeks have progressed I've recovered much faster after the workouts to the point where after finishing plyo today I was spent, but about an hour later I was ready to go. I started thinking to myself... did I go hard enough? Was I being lazy?

Yes, I know the answer is that I'm in better shape and I'm recovering faster, but it's still a weird feeling. What I've also noticed is that the program has started to become more of an integrated part of my life versus this giant puzzle piece that I need to force into place. I still have trouble getting workouts in on certain days, but I find that the thoughts of figuring out my workout, making my menu for the week, food shopping, and so on are much more automatic. When I go to the food store it takes about 15 minutes to grab what I need, making lunch is virtually automatic (my lunch is now as essential to running out the door as my wallet, keys, and cellphone), and thinking about when I'm doing my workout is more of a logistical issue than a, "Oh crap... I have yoga today. I don't want to do that." To me that's a major mental leap because now P90X takes minimal thought. I know how I am and I like to be lazy. If I can get in shape without having to think about it then I'm all in :)

From what I've seen, people fail at workout plans and diets because they can never seem to make them work with in their daily lives. The somewhat over-intensive format of P90X almost solves this for you because there are no off-days or cheat-days. You have no choice but to make it work in your everyday life, and that's what will ultimately lead to P90X being a life change versus just another workout.

Outgeeked Myself

2008-06-25T19:36:00.003-04:00

In the spirit of posting off-topic I'll tell a little tale. A tale that involves my border brother revamping the blog.

We were both in agreement that the old template was lacking. Hell, if you have to make a post telling people that they can post comments on what is essentially a social networking site you're doing it wrong.

So yesterday FT says "Hey, let's add AdSense". I've got no issue with that. While I generally can't stand inline advertising, Google does it right. No screaming Flash ads, nothing too intrusive. What the hell, let's see if anybody actually clicks through. So he works out the inline code while we're on the phone and declares "Cool, we have ads!"

The ensuing dialog was like an excerpt from "Abott & Costello, the lost on purpose routines."

"Where?"
"Up top, near the login box."
"On the main page?"
"Yeah."
"Where?"
"Near the login box."
"On the main page?"
"Yeah."
"Where?"

I refreshed the page and figured my Firefox cache was FUBAR so I switched to Safari and we did a rinse and repeat on the previous dialog. What the hell?

Then it hit me... "Hang on, let me turn off my ad-blocker."

Duh.

Sad as that was, then I got home today and noticed more changes. Since I whitelisted the blog now I could see the ads but the login box was gone. Hmmm.

Remembering yesterday's adventure I immediately jumped to turning off all my browser add-ons... Adblock Plus, Greasemonkey, whatever. Still no good. Switch from Firefox to Safari again. Still no dice. What the hell?

Okay, jump to the Blogger main page and I can sign in. Good enough, I'll work out the details later. I spend a little time reading some other stuff and then jump into my email. Got a message from FT...

"You can't login to Blogger anymore through the site since the nav bar is gone, so you have to go to www.blogger.com to sign. Everything else works fine."

What ran through my mind immediately following was every variation and combination of Carlin's seven dirty words that I could think of, and then some.

Death of a Genius

2008-06-25T17:07:00.007-04:00

It's been a few days since George Carlin died, and since it wasn't a P90X or geek related event I didn't write about it. Then I realized that if it wasn't for Mr. Carlin's enlightened "Seven Dirty Words" routine, the colorful vocabulary that escapes my lips during tough workouts wouldn't be nearly as educated. So, my hat goes off to George Carlin for giving me the ability to curse out, swear at, and be a general expletive spewing maniac during my P90X workouts.

Please note this video is NSFW or in the presence of small children. For everyone else, enjoy 10 minutes of laughing your ass off.

Other things to do while you're here

2008-06-25T09:32:00.004-04:00

This is a public service announcement from your favorite blog writers Force Trainer and Muddy Bulldog. When visiting our site you will notice at the bottom of each post a link to comments on the page. I know that some of you may have missed it because the template we are using is not the best and it's hard to see. Unfortunately most of the other templates are quite ugly (and when I say quite I mean hideously), and I have yet to find time to put together a new one.

Anyway, comments are always welcome on our posts - it's always good to know that people are reading our site! It's also your chance to show off your wit in a public forum and generally make fun of us for being morons.

Enjoy :)

My "girlie" moment

2008-06-24T11:37:00.004-04:00

My morning routine as it relates to P90X is always the same, get up, take a whiz, weigh myself, shower, eat and go to work. Not much to it though the weighing and the eating were steps I never had to deal with before. When you a snooze button junkie like I am, the act of eating breakfast in the morning really screws up your pace. The weighing doesn't take long, but it's something that I have to think to do, can't autopilot it since you actually have to read and remember the numbers.

This morning I got to the weigh myself part and had a bit of a surprise. When we started this adventure I weighed in at 212lbs. This morning the scale shouted back at me 191.4 which was awesome, it would have put me past the 20lbs off mark. I actually looked twice because having gotten accustomed to dropping a half pound or so every few days since week three, this drop would've be 3.2lbs since yesterday, a hell of a downward surge.

I stepped off the scale and the digits turned to the letters reading ERR. This signaled that the scale is off balance and needs to be reset. It's a simple matter that only takes about 5 seconds, but I knew immediately that my last reading was now suspect. I fixed the scale and stepped back on and the display kicked back 193.4. A net gain of 2lbs in 10 seconds. I was bummed.

Then it hit, me, WTF?! I call this my girlie moment not to be rude, I realize it's a pretty sexist comment, but you simply don't hear men concerning themselves with weight in such minute amounts. You can see women talking about weight loss and diet on shows like Oprah and Tyra Banks where they encourage each other and are thrilled over the three pounds they lost in the first week and the two pounds the next of their new workout/diet/activity/etc.

Walking into a meeting or down the hallway at work you'll never hear "Looking good, Billy Ray!" -- "Feeling good, Louis! Dropped two pounds last week!"

When men talk about losing (or gaining or lifting, pushing or pulling) weight it's always in mass quantities (and usually multiplied by some random number between 1 and 5, for effect). "Dropped 35 pounds with the new workout" or "I'm looking to put on 15 by the start of ~~slow-pitch softball~~ baseball season". Certainly anything less than a 10 pound variance isn't worth mentioning and two pounds, hell, two pounds is a decent whiz, right?!

Now it's not like I'm walking around with my head hung low over two pounds but I did feel a little bummed and I can't help but make fun of myself a little for it.

Now, Tyra would tell me (I'm sure) "Chin up, man! You still dropped another pound AND you're almost at the 20 off mark in only a little over 5 weeks. You look good, you feel good. By the way, you really need a new belt. Don't worry, keep it up and tell all the naysayers they can kiss your ass!"

Okay, cool.

CRUSHED!

2008-06-23T20:01:00.006-04:00

I've got two words for ya (no... not SUCK IT) - HOLY CRAP! By now I'm sure you know that I'm not a workout newbie. At the very least the first four weeks of P90X took care of that. Anyway, when I came back for my legs workout on Saturday I was tired, cranky, and just in an overall bad mood. I decided to bang out the workout like a madman and boy have I been paying for it! Here I was thinking that I crushed the workout, but in the end the workout crushed me. I'm happy that I pushed myself the way I did. I'm especially happy that I was able to do full pull-ups for all of the exercises.

Now I'm a second day soreness person which means that the first day after a workout if I'm a little sore that means I'm going to be in pain two days after. Well, on Sunday I was pretty sore which meant I knew I was in for some serious pain on Monday. I wish I didn't know my body so well because when I woke up this morning I was a hurtin' puppy. Normally I would complain about being sore, but this time I was actually happy (weird, huh?). My upper back has always been my weakest spot, and I've had problems getting it worked properly because I've never been strong enough to do full pull-ups. Thankfully that's no longer a problem because my back felt that workout!

Today was the wonderful chest, shoulders, and biceps. My arms feel like jelly making typing this entry a bit tough. I like the workout because not only does this do wonders in making me sore, but it helps build flexibility in my shoulders and triceps. Normally triceps extensions really bother me, but that's slowly been getting better. I'm hoping that by the end of this I'll see a significant increase in my weights because my shoulders are able to keep up.

Photo of American Gladiator Crush (Gina Carano)

The missing P90X warning

2008-06-21T22:36:00.008-04:00

While I may harp on Tony for many things - such as annoying repetitive comments, referring to Drea as someone who "flies through the air with the greatest of ease" a million times, or shouts "HELLLOOOO" a little too well - now I have a major gripe. There is a missing warning for people out there buying P90X. What is it? DON'T GIVE BLOOD WHILE DOING P90X!!! Alright, that's really not the case (actually, give blood whenever you can, people need it - go to http://www.givelife.org/ to find a donation site near you), so here's the probably way too long and not nearly funny enough story behind the comment.

One of my training centers had a blood drive this past Friday, and since I'm the one in charge I figured I better be there to pony up a pint. Seeing as I was already behind a day because of a nutty schedule this week I figured I could do my yoga in the morning, give blood, hit a movie, and then do my second workout in the evening. It seems logical, right?

So I do my yoga in the morning (yes, I still hate it... don't worry, you won't convince me otherwise), take a shower to smell pretty for the ladies with the needles, and head out to donate. While I'm sitting in the chair, sipping a coke (diet of course), and waiting for the nurse to jab the McDonald's straw size needle into my arm she starts going over the post-donation instructions. Here's how the conversation went:

Nurse: "Please stay in the cantina for at least 10 minutes after you donate, do not take off the dressing for at least five hours, and no strenuous physical activity."

Me: "Well, how long until I can do strenuous physical activity."

Nurse: "Oh... no strenuous activity for the rest of the day."

Me: "So you're saying I can't workout at all today?"

Nurse: "Yes."

Me: "What if I wait until 9:00pm?"

Nurse: "Well that would be still be today, wouldn't it."

Me: "..."

So I managed to get my morning workout in but I was screwed for my second workout. DAMN YOU RED CROSS (oh wait, I'm supposed to be blaming Tony for this). DAMN YOU TONY!!! In all actuality the reason that you're not supposed to workout is because they just poked a giant hole in a vein and a spike in blood pressure could cause you to start spouting blood like ol' faithful. My workout time instead got replaced with going through some Dreamweaver tutorials - wheee!

Oh... yeah, I did work out today to make up for it. I had a 10-hour day at work, so a double was out of the question. Good thing since today was legs and back - it's one helluva workout. I was exhausted, but I pushed my way through and made some good improvements. For the first time I did all of the pull-ups without the chair! I may not have done a lot, but I did do all sets with at least a few off the chair. I then doubled up with chair assisted to make sure I burned myself out. In closing today was good and I had a fun workout. I'm actually even starting to enjoy Ab Ripper X - go figure. I think that's because I'm starting to see the beginnings of what you would consider "abs."

And for the final comment of the day we go to the ol' tape measure. My pants have been fitting a little loose lately and I realized that I was using a new hole on my belt, so I pulled out the tape measure. The result? I've lost an inch off my waist in the past 5 weeks! Giddy up!

I'm not dead, yet!

2008-06-19T18:03:00.003-04:00

Blah, blah, busy. Blah, blah, time.

Has been a rough week. Same symptoms as FT. My week started out easier because Monday and Tuesday workouts were the same as Phase I. Wednesday would've been my first new workout but I got stuck at work late and was forced into the same double up situation as FT. So today was Chest, Arms and Triceps (or something like that) rather than yesterday. Since I don't have the room in my schedule to double up during the week, Yoga X gets pushed to tomorrow and Saturday will bring Sumthing, sumthing & pull-ups in the morning and Kempo in the afternoon.

Admittedly my motivation is a little down as well. Between the new workouts and the bumpy schedule I'm not feeling "in the groove" like I was at the end of Phase I. Plus along with the new phase comes a new diet so I'm being forced to think again when I'm making planning my meals for the day.

And to top it all off I got hurt today. I'm pretty sure it's not serious but my body is letting me know I screwed up. Today's workout was the first that had back to back triceps exercises which I wasn't thrilled with as triceps is my weakest link in my arms. I guess I pushed a little hard early on and my left arm gave way doing chair dips. When my arm twisted I had that sensation that I heard something pop even though I knew I didn't. Audible or not it hurt pretty bad. I thought I was done but after about a 10 minute break I was sure I hadn't torn it and I was able to get back to the workout (for the most part). I'm going to feel it tomorrow, but hey, it's just a flesh wound.

Week 5 - Workouts good, time bad

2008-06-19T10:56:00.003-04:00

I guess I need to retract a statement from my current post - apparently Muddy is dead :) When was the last time he posted - 1989? Muddy is pretty much running into the same problem I am - not enough hours in the day. My schedule for the past two weeks has been absolutely insane, and it seems like I barely have enough time to brush my teeth in the morning before running out the door to a meeting, work, or one of 12 other things I need to do. Despite my overall lack of time I have managed to do two things: 1) stay on track with my workouts and 2) stay on track with my diet. Yes folks, no excuses for ol' FT here.

Coming into this week I was kind of bummed because I really haven't noticed any differences in my appearance or strength levels. Even though I know it's unrealistic to expect noticeable results in four weeks it's still a bummer, so coming into this week I decided that I was going to kick it into high gear. Unfortunately there was one slight snag to this - the strength workouts were new so I wasn't sure what I could or could not do. That was a little bit of a downer because your first time through a workout is usually slower since you're trying to figure things out and get used to it. Other than that though I've followed Tony's mantra of "Bring It."

Monday's workout was good, but the change in the workout resulted in something that reminded me of week one - soreness! While I usually get a little sore after the workouts the completely different routine made everything hurt again. I know most people don't like being sore, but it's a good indication to me that I worked hard. When I woke up Tuesday morning and felt that my chest and arms hurt I was definitely thinking, "Sweet!" I know, I know... I'm a masochist.

My Tuesday workout got boned because of work, so instead I had to double up yesterday. While on most days that probably wouldn't be too bad, yesterday it sucked because I had (wait for it...) plyo AND back/biceps. Having plyo as one of two workouts is never a good thing, but I didn't have a choice, so I made it work. The back/biceps workout was definitely solid, and I'm feeling it today. I feel like my back is never going to get strong, but I know it's just a matter of time. Pull-ups are my enemy, but I'm determined to be able to do a solid number before this whole thing is over.

The biggest casualty out of the lack of time has really been the blog. I'm going to try a little harder and log my workouts since I don't want readership to drop (actually, can it go any lower?). Today's a *gasp* yoga day, so I have 90 minutes of contortionist hell to look forward after work. Man am I lucky!!

I'm not dead!

2008-06-16T00:30:00.007-04:00

That's right - despite what you may have thought I'm not dead (and neither is Muddy for that matter). While both Muddy and I have survived the first four weeks of this ordeal, this weekend was what you would call a complete pain in the ass. Take a regional event which celebrates the shedding of oppressive English rule, add a little bit of Father's Day festivities, and you get me and Muddy devising ways to make a beer seem like it fits in our diet. Depending on how you count carbs it works, and if it doesn't? Oh well. If I don't get a six pack because of a beer or three I've got bigger problems.

We actually fared much better than I thought, and that's because of our very awesome sister. Knowing that we wouldn't be able to eat most of the charred mammal flesh that everyone else got to enjoy she took it upon herself to research some P90X-friendly recipes. Muddy and I got to feast on some tandori chicken and this very yummy pork loin, so there weren't a whole lot of complaints in the food department. The cake and chocolate covered strawberries were beckoning, but Muddy's assurances of "bro, it's not going to be nearly as good as you think - so it's not worth it" kept me away.

I did manage to sneak a few beers (with the help of "ingenius" diet planning), and in the end I paid for it. It's been a solid month since having any alcohol, let alone a beer, and my body wasn't happy. My stomach was is knots at the end of the night, and I pretty much had a horrible night's sleep. I can't say for sure if it was the beer or not, but that's the only thing I had all day that was out of the ordinary. Since all signs point to the beer as the culprit I'm not going to be having any problems avoiding it for the next two months. It just wasn't worth it to feel like utter crap. I guess my body really does like being fed well - go figure.

So, this week start our second month of the workouts as well as moving to the second phase of the diet. Since I was at my Dad's today I wasn't able to hit the food store, so I'll be scrounging tomorrow morning/afternoon for food until I'm able to go shopping. Muddy and I are both ready to kick things into high gear this month, and more than anything I'm ready for some CARBS!!!

A week from absolute hell

2008-06-12T19:53:00.006-04:00

I know I sound like one of those whining babies, but this week has been absolute hell. Between regular work, part-time work, and everything else in-between I feel like I've had absolutely zero time. Again I missed a workout, but I'm pulling a double tonight to get myself back on track. I've realized lately that missing a workout is more than just a slight letdown - it makes me grouchy, makes me feel fat, and gives me the overall feeling like I haven't worked out in ages. It seems kind of weird... it's just a day. But I guess when you're working out six days a week not working out feels like you missed something that day. So, to catch up for this week - I did yoga on Monday, missed Tuesday, Core Synergistics Wednesday, and Kenpo this morning. When I get home in a bit I'll be doing Stretch. That will get me caught up and then I can go through whatever my standard workout is tomorrow.

Like Muddy I feel like my diet has been a little off. The past week has been tough on me food wise. I've been out of the office a lot at various meetings, and unfortunately a giant chef salad and cottage cheese is not going to fare well in a car that probably gets up to 105 degrees. Couple that with meetings going four hours long and you can guess that I'm falling behind on my diet. On the plus side when I do eat I'm sticking to the diet. The problem is that I'm missing some of my snacks, and I know that's a bad thing.

Believe it or not my biggest problem has never been eating too much - it's always been forgetting to eat. I'm one of those morons that gains weight not because he eats too much. Being catabolic is bizarre because you basically put your body into starvation mode which means you store everything you take in as fat. For the coupe de grace when I get really busy my main source of nutrition usually comes from fast food which turns my fat storing body into a weight gaining powerhouse. The word tubby comes to mind.

I also have a slight obsessive-compulsive side to me. When I'm working it's very easy for me to get caught up in what I'm doing, and this getting "caught up" can last for... oh, five or six hours sometimes. Yes, it's bad, but unfortunately that's how I get things done. I probably going to have to start charting my food on fitday.com so that I keep myself on track (thanks to Muddy for mentioning it). I've actually had an account with them for a while, but it escaped me to use it while on this diet. It's actually the perfect tool because it not only charts calories - it breaks down your proteins/carbs/fats, give you percentages, and lets you set goals. So, say I want to eat at least 2000 calories and 100 grams of protein... I can plug that into the system and it will let me know when I'm not doing that. I'll add that to my list of things to do every day :)

Muddy did do something I've been meaning to do for a while - look up Dreya Weber. Tony always mentions her "flying through the air with the greatest of ease," which made me wonder - what the hell is he talking about? The stuff she does is pretty cool, but her wikipedia entry was the most interesting. While you can't trust everything you read on the internet, the entry lists that she is a self-proclaimed omnisexual. Whether it's true or not, I at least learned something new - I now know what an omnisexual is :)

P.S. My Spy vs Spy picture would've made sense if I wrote about what I had originally planned, but apparently I went off on a tangent and then completely forgot why I got the picture in the first place. Oh well, shit happens.

It's not the heat, it's the humidity.

2008-06-10T18:58:00.004-04:00

Core Synergistics tonight. This was my third time through and the first that I didn't have to take a break partway. I even managed to double time through Steam Engines (think standing crunches) when Tony picked up the pace. This is the next to last exercise in the workout and previously I had to maintain normal speed not because of exhaustion but because I was just physically incapable of moving that fast. Score 1 in the "improvement seen" column.

This one always ends on a high point because the last exercise is a flamboyant, high-energy move called Dreya Rolls. It's named for Dreya Weber, the amazing athlete/gymnast/dancer who introduced it to Tony. I know I'm not alone in thinking how ridiculous it is, as a Google search reveals, but it's a great way to finish out the program. I'm convinced that it's designed to make you feel as sick as possible but if you put your all into it you end up with a great euphoric exhaustion upon completion. Of course a minute later that wears off and you swear you're going to puke. I think it's worth it.

What was a real bear today was the humidity. The current heat wave on the east coast has brought a lot of moisture and in spite of maintaining my workout area at a cool 73F I was sweating harder than I have during the entire program. During a couple of exercises I kept my towel in-hand because I kept getting blinded by the sweat pouring into my eyes. I like sweat during a workout, it validates the fact that I'm pushing hard, but having a soaked shirt before finishing the warm-up stretches is ridiculous.

photo: Dreya Weber & Pink

Recovery Week.. Argh.

2008-06-10T13:32:00.004-04:00

Supposed to be the "easy" week with no strength training. Bullshit. Yesterday was yoga again and I'm coming to realize that I just don't get it. I've been through the routine three (four?) times now and there are still a few positions that I have to stop and stare at the screen and figure out what it is that they're actually doing. You would think I would remember what I did last week. Glad to hear that FT is having a bit easier time mastering it than I have been (see I can be supportive of my brother once in a while). He must have some kind of extra contortionist thing happening in his genetics that I lack.

By yesterday evening I was grouchy and exhausted. I'm realizing now that I may have been bonking and it's probably time to look at the diet. After tonight's workout I'll probably head over to fitday.com and calculate my last few days worth of calories. One I got through the first few days of the diet I started eating more by feel than by precise measurement. It's possible I may actually be eating too little at this point.

New iPhone!!!

2008-06-09T17:06:00.004-04:00

WOOT!!! The new iPhone dropped today! Alright, so it may be on AT&T's network, but they did buy Cingular and I really did like Cingular. It's thinner, has GPS, is a lot cheaper...

Oh, wait. This is a P90X blog isn't it. Screw it - I can't contain my excitement! This is me at my absolute, gadget-loving, geekdom embracing worst. I became a complete Mac convert a few months ago after buying an iMac (thanks to Muddy) and the iPhone has always given me squishy feelings in inappropriate places. Does it have it's problems? Absolutely. Does it lean just a bit to the form side of function, yes. Regardless, it's still cool as hell. For me it's not a status symbol - I just like fun gadgets that I will use everyday. Thankfully my reasonable side has kept me from spending $600 on one of those silly things. However, the new $299 price point for the 16GB model might be a bit hard to stay away from.

Alright, so back to the workout. Knowing that WWDC was today (and with my new morning workout mantra guiding me) I managed to get my lazy ass out of bed in time for.... wait for it.... yoga. Blech... talk about a let down. It's recovery week so there's no strength training, but why in hell does Tony need to torture me with this yoga thing? When I realized what my workout was I threw a temper tantrum like a two-year old, cursing up a storm and stomping around as I got all my required yoga paraphernalia.

Despite my seething hatred for everything that is yoga I did manage to get through the workout. It was a little bit better today since I know the routine and I finally figured out how to get through the workout - loud, screaming, angry music. Yes, Tony says relax... I say @*#& it! If I'm going to be uncomfortable and feeling pain in places I didn't know I have I want the soundtrack to reflect that. So with Disturbed, Theory of a Deadman, and Saving Abel running in the background I got through my most hated of workouts.

Tomorrow should bring with it some relief since I think it's Cardio X. Since I'm feeling fat I'm actually looking forward to it.

Real life sucks

2008-06-08T23:09:00.004-04:00

Whew... week three was definitely tough. The first two weeks went by relatively easily because my schedule was consistent and pretty much empty. I was able to get my workouts done exactly when I wanted and there were no outside pressures (extra work, seminars, time with friends, etc.). Week three brought with it pretty much everything extra I could think of. I had to stay late at work a few times, my workouts got moved and I taught a seminar this weekend that completely drained me. Now don't worry - this isn't a set of excuses. Week three for me was a reality check and made me answer the question - how do I make a hardcore workout regimen like P90X work into a busy schedule?

In the end I wound up missing one workout - Kenpo X. I'm not really too concerned since on Saturday I taught for six hours and I'm pretty sure I got my calorie burn there. However, it's not what I wanted to do. Moving forward I think I have a pretty good plan to make sure I can keep up with my workouts. Mainly I must, must, must do my workouts in the morning. At times it's just too difficult to know exactly what my evening is going to be like and if I have to stay late a few hours it can completely throw off my workout and then my dinner. So, for the next 69 days it's going to be morning workouts for me.

I also had to eat out a couple of times this week. Part of the reason was that I just ran out of time to make lunch, so I was forced to eat out. No worries though - I managed to stay within the bounds of the diet. I kind of looked at this as somewhat of a triumph because in the real world I can't always make every single meal. It did take some time to figure out where to eat though... with McDonald's and Wendy's on the no-go list I had to be a little more discerning. My normal standby, Chipotle, is also well off the radar since my typical meal there tops over 1000 calories and god knows how much fat.

As far as meals moving forward what that means is that I will definitely have to plan a little more. I may have to make some of my lunches the evening before just to make sure I can get squared away. I also have to turn into a morning person (which sucks), but I guess it's all for the cause. Here's to a 11:00pm bed time!

Mr. Spock Does Yoga, You Can Too!

2008-06-07T09:08:00.008-04:00

I'm glad that FT got around to acknowledging my shot at his missing a workout because now I can more easily making a joke out of the fact that I missed my very next one. Essentially for the same reason, I just ran out of time in the day on Thursday. I didn't completely miss it, but it ended up being an abbreviated form. Even a little Yoga is too much in my opinion.

I hate to keep bashing Yoga, there are thousands of people who enjoy it everyday. I just can't get into it. It's not a stupid macho thing, I got over crap like that back in the Marine Corps. The potential benefits of it are obvious and there's no arguing that it's a great workout.. just measure the sweat.

Problem is that it's BORING. The ability to clear your mind is mandatory because once it kicks in the only thing through it is "damn, this is boring". It's not a balls to the wall high impact, alpha male workout like Plyometrics or Cardio X. It's slow and methodical and requires a high degree of discipline. There's very few positions that are actually hard to do, it's the tedious approach to get into and then hold them while the burn sets in that's the killer.

On top of that, it never gets easier. While you can get better at it. By design you are constantly forced to push harder so it always hurts at least as bad as it did the last time.

You wouldn't catch Captain Kirk doing yoga and he'd certainly give his Vulcan first officer a certain amount of ribbing for calling it "a workout" (of course Spock does yoga). So, falling back on geek motivation, the reason to stick with Yoga even when it hurts like hell is the fact that Spock will kick Kirk's ass every time.

Pimp slapped!

2008-06-06T21:38:00.004-04:00

In my rush yesterday to get posted and get some zzz's I completely missed Muddy's jab at my skipping of a workout. Normally this is where I would raise shield and put up a Captain Kirk like defense, but unfortunately there's no way I can make a good argument as to why I didn't work out. One simple word - SLACKER. I should've woken up on time to get my workout done... no excuses. I appreciate the very quiet, however resonating, pimp slap from my older sibling.

Since I'm a day behind on the workouts I went through yoga today. I can say that this time around it wasn't as bad, but it still sucks as much as a $2 hooker. I was drenched in sweat mid-way through to the point where I was sliding all around my yoga mat. I actually had to take a few minutes to towel off and wipe it down for fear of killing myself while trying to execute a proper crane. The workout ended without any mishaps and I'm thinking I may just be getting a little more flexible. Not a whole lot - just enough to where I can hold a twisting half moon for at least a few seconds.

Tomorrow will be fun - I get to teach for three hours, then run a four hour seminar, then come home and do legs and back! I wish I could build up some calorie credit and get myself a huge friggin' snowball, but for some reason I think Mr. Horton would disapprove. I'll just take some extra string cheese with me to work :(

I'm in a rush...

2008-06-05T21:52:00.004-04:00

Tired, sweaty, and ready for bed, so you'll be spared my normal exposition.

Yesterday's Plyo - Fine... standard fare. Of course I was tired.

Today's Arms - Good workout, weights went up across the board. Arms felt like jello when done.

Night!

P.S. Yes, I know... I should've made fun of Muddy's Word clipart that he used in his last posting. I'm just too tired...

Getting Busy!

2008-06-04T17:52:00.006-04:00

Been more than a few days since I tuned in to update my progress. Life has been getting in the way a little this week. A couple of out of the ordinary emergencies at work and a trip to NYC over the weekend to catch "Wicked" on Broadway has left me feeling a little short on free time. Unlike my brother I didn't let it get in the way of my workouts, but my desire to yak about it afterwards was non-existent.

Speaking of workouts, I LOVE ARMS. Turns out last week wasn't a one time shot of bliss, I really do like this workout. I was able to up my weights (bands) a class across the board over last week and was still able to keep form and reps up on everything except the triceps routines. Even lacking grace the triceps were still a success over my previous performance.

Fact is this week has been a good mental boost all around. I'm getting comfortable with the routines and I definitely feel it getting easier. Not easy, mind you, just not as hard as the week before. On top of that, I found I've dropped 10 pounds! Ego is feeling good all around.

Of course tomorrow is Yoga, the great ego deflater.

I've been bad :(

2008-06-04T09:15:00.003-04:00

No, I didn't go and eat and entire pizza or down a Wendy's milkshake - I missed my workout yesterday. Yes, I know... I'm a worthless piece of crap and nothing but a massive failure to this entire process. My excuse? Well, I don't really have one. More than anything I screwed up. Tuesday is my late day at work and I normally work out in the morning since I get home really late. I got up a little later than usual and I had some problems at work I had to fix. Suddenly it was 11:00am and my managers were wondering if we were having our Tuesday meeting!

Basically I got wrapped up in doing work and just forgot. I guess honestly I'm surprised it took this long to happen. I figured I'd be able to do my workout when I got home, but I don't get home until 9:30pm on Tuesdays and jumping around getting pumped is probably not the best thing if I want to get to bed at a normal hour. I also had some personal things I had to take care of.

The solution that I have is that I'm going to shift all of my workouts by a day. This is not something I want to make a habit of, so it's my short term solution for my indiscretion. That would leave plyo for today, arms tomorrow, and yoga on Friday. Since I'm off Friday and yoga isn't the most intense (just boring as all hell) I should be able to do that in the morning and then legs and back later in the day. It'll make for a long day, but then at least I won't feel like a complete and total waste of space.

On a side note, Muddy is already starting to see some results which is great (he can proclaim his own changes... I don't want to ruin his fun in that), but I haven't been so lucky. Part of it is I just don't have as much extra weight as him (sorry bro... I love ya!), so there's not as much to shed. The only thing I can do is look in the mirror each day and hopefully see some differences. Between the bad workout on Monday and not thinking I'm seeing results I do feel a little let down, but I have to be both realistic and positive. One, I should stay positive throughout this entire thing because no matter what my results are in the end, I'm much better off then when I started. Second, it's only been two weeks. If people could get shredded in two weeks everyone would look like a body builder. This is a long process and most likely to get the results I really want I'm going to have to go back through the program again when I'm finished anyway.

So there's my confession. I obviously can't make a habit of this and instead of making excuses I'll just say this. I screwed up and now I can be classified as a douche :)

$&#, $#&ity, $@#@, !@&$, @*##!!!!

2008-06-03T13:58:00.004-04:00

First off, to quell the discontent that is all three of our blog readers, I know. I know I haven't blogged in two days, but I have very good reasons. First off, Sunday I decided to take the day off... no Stretch X for me. I'm sure you didn't want to hear about me sitting around in my PJs, eating salad, and playing Age of Conan. None of that really makes for good reading. Second, I was going to write last night, but I started my workout late, a buddy came over, and before I knew it I was, uhh, well... playing Age of Conan again. C'mon... gimme a break, I am a geek! The thought of slitting the throats of those that have caused injustice in the world of Hyboria was much more appealing than sitting down and writing a blog entry - especially because my workout sucked.

I had originally planned on writing a cool little piece on Monday morning highlighting the beginning of the third week. I planned on having a nice little picture of Captain Picard with the headline "Engage (week three)!" I wanted to say how happy I was that I managed to stick through two weeks of diet and workout, but alas, it wasn't to be. As you can tell though from what I wrote, I was THINKING about writing. And as they say, it's the thought that counts - right?

So for the task at hand, yesterday's workout. Monday was back to the familiar chest and back routine. I've gotten much more acclimated to the workouts in general, and I do look forward to them each day (well, except for yoga, but you all know how I think about that). Well, this workout definitely wasn't something to look forward to or be proud of. If you haven't seen the South Park movie the headline won't make much sense, but if you have - it's one of Cartman's lines after getting in trouble for saying "F--K" (makes sense now, right?). Well, that's how I felt about the workout. When I finished and looked at my numbers I was either at the same number or reps or maybe even a little bit higher than last week, but I felt so week. Every set seemed like a struggle, and the whole time I just wanted to lay down and go to sleep. I think for some reason I'm being punished for having a good workout last week. Either that or Tony Horton has cursed me from whatever "glorious" place he lives because I called him a douche. If I have to suffer for my comment, that's fine - it's still true. But, I digress...

So the workout just felt "blah." I can't think of any other way to describe it. I got through Ab Ripper X as well, and if anything I did a little better than last time. However, I still felt like my body was ready to shut down. Maybe it was a test of my willpower, maybe I was tired, or maybe all this protein is killing me. Who knows - at least I managed to suck it up and get through it.

The one part of my workout that was a bit new was the effects creatine had on my body. I understand the science behind how it works, so I've been expecting the volumization of muscles as the cells start to take in more water. What I wasn't expecting was the absolutely insane muscle pump that I got just a few minutes into my first set of push-ups. My entire upper body, especially my forearms, biceps, and triceps, were completely rock hard, and they stayed that way for quite a while. It was almost comical because it was difficult to put my arms all the way. It wasn't because it was sore... they just didn't want to relax!

One could argue that my lack of energy in yesterday's workout could've been from the creatine since it's the only thing different in what I've been doing. Personally, I just think I had a bad day, and if anything it was a bigger test of my willpower. You can't have great workouts everyday... every now and then you need to have a bad one that brings you down and makes you, "alright, now you need to work hard." That was definitely yesterday. The grunts, groans, and eventually frustrating yelling emitting from my house were expected at some point in this entire process.

So here I stand, 15 days completed. This is by far the best I've been on either a diet or workout program. Believe it or not, it's easier to stick to the program know that I have to workout and eat well every day. When you only have three or four workouts to worry about, or a cheat day diet wise to look to, I don't think you take it as seriously. However, for P90X I don't have a choice. Every day is a diet/workout day, and I need to be on my game the entire time.

Tonight is plyo, and you'll hear me bitching about that later. My goal tonight is to run myself into the ground. I'm mad about yesterday's workout, so I'm going to make up for it today. Lookout Tony, here I come!

Sweat much?

2008-05-31T15:46:00.004-04:00

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

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

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

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

Laziness abounds

2008-05-31T08:59:00.005-04:00

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

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

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

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

Back From Break

2008-05-30T18:16:00.006-04:00

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

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

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

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

Yoga can suck my....

2008-05-29T21:57:00.005-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

Hittin' my stride

2008-05-28T20:01:00.005-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

Cardio X - Take 1

2008-05-27T19:02:00.003-04:00

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

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

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

A Haiku for Plyo

2008-05-27T13:26:00.005-04:00

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

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

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

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

FORCE SMASH!

2008-05-26T21:55:00.005-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

Back To Work

2008-05-26T18:32:00.005-04:00

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

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

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

And he rested on the seventh day

2008-05-25T20:39:00.006-04:00

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

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

The Incredible Duo Goes for Broke

2008-05-24T19:52:00.006-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

Choose Your Path

2008-05-24T12:24:00.007-04:00

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

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

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

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

Muddy's Right!

2008-05-23T21:56:00.005-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So far so good :)

Legs and Back

2008-05-23T18:36:00.003-04:00

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

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

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

I hate pull-ups, but I LOVE legs.

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

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

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

Yoga makes me feel like...

2008-05-23T13:03:00.006-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

But what about day 4???

2008-05-22T19:52:00.006-04:00

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

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

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

Even with a pink mat, yoga hurts.

Well, Excuuuuuuuse Me!

2008-05-22T19:21:00.007-04:00

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

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

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

Not so motivating blogs

2008-05-21T21:11:00.005-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Measurements... boo

2008-05-21T20:49:00.002-04:00

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

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

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

Arms? Yes please.

2008-05-21T17:22:00.009-04:00

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jump, Jump!

2008-05-21T11:26:00.008-04:00

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

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

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

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

That mind-numbing sore

2008-05-21T07:10:00.004-04:00

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

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

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