DAY 90: I DID IT! HOLY P90X, I DID IT! (Finishing the Home (X) Stretch!

In the words of the greta Stephen Colbert, "I Did It!"

With "X Stretch" in the books, I officially completed all 90 days of P90X.

It was fitting to end with the X-Stretch, which was the biggest surprise of the program. It was both enjoyable and beneficial. I am so glad that I never skipped the stretching. An awesome routine that I will turn to again and again no matter what workout I am using.

Quick thoughts:

I'm stronger. Still not a guy you are going to be intimidated by, but I can lift heavy objects if needed. And I'd be ready to bring my Kenpo on in a New York minute if surrounded by attack Ninjas!

I lost 13 lbs.

I feel great. I look as good as I have looked in years (not just according to me!).

I have kicked my Dr Pepper addiction (although I will still drink it, just not as constantly!)

Anyway, that is just a quick summary. But I am really excited about the fact that I committed to the program and I did every single day without missing a single workout.

I will probably take a few days, maybe even a week off, but I will be back to working out soon. I needed to prove that I could do this program and I did it.

Bring it!

I'll take my "Post Test" and post the results (and compare them to the pre-test) as soon as I figure out when I should take it. Tomorrow? Tuesday? Any suggestions? I guess I can look it up in the manual!

Day 89: Yoga Finale. Namaste.

It took the entire three months to fully appreciate what Yoga has done for me. As much as I hated doing the program, my development here is unquestioned.

I am more flexible.

I am stronger.

I have a solid core.

I have better balance.

I have mental durability.

Thank you, Yoga X.

My last real workout was excellent. I improved the one leg/half moon leg killer. (Thanks for the tip , Jeff! My leg was still dead and I had to take a break, but only one on each leg. It was intense, but satisfactory.

I rocked the balance postures.

I was almost perfect with Crane.

My hamstring flexibility was excellent. I could completely grab the Yoga block (horizontally- not vertically) without having my legs bend even the slightest.

I did "Ohms" as long as Tony!

Yoga, I'll appreciate a break from you, but I don't hate you!

Namsaste

Day 88: Wow. Core Synergistics is Tough!

But Awesome.

I really feel great after completing this workout (and there is no Ab Ripper to intensify the torture!) and it ranks up there as one of my favorites.

Fuelled by my Rangers win against the hated Devils I pumped myself up to "bring it" for the last resistance workout. I found that I was doing more reps than the allotted time, so I had to keep pushing pause for more than one reason (usually it's to catch my breath, which happened a few times today). Either I got much stronger, I have a strong core, or I am doing something wrong. Hmmm. I'll go with "A" Regis? B? C?

I'll just call it a good workout and leave it at that.

Keep Bringing it!

(Holy crap! I only have one more workout and one more stretch! Yahoo!)

Day 87: Midweek Stretch

It almost feels like cheating, but it feels so good. (Insert Political Scandal and your own joke here...).

As much as I feel like the last week should be a all out, no holds barred (Don't actually know what that means) kick a** routine, I just love the midweek stretch.

I broke the 170 lb. barrier today. I am officially at 169.8. Not that I had any kind of desire to get much lower than 170, it's nice to know that I am still losing weight during the recovery week.

Anyway, Three days left and then I have to figure out when I will do the Fitness test and take my pictures (don't talk to me about posting them, there are technical difficulties at this time!)

Keep Bringing It!

Day 86: Sigh. Last Kenpo. So Sad. (Updated)

But I brought it!

I was exhausted from work, had to go out two hours after getting home, so I forced myself to bring it in that tiny window. It was awesome. I had a second wind and although I had fantasized about collapsing on my bed, the energy I got from this workout was awesome. I will turn to this Kenpo DVD on my own (even without a schedule telling me to do so, which is strange, since I am basically a slave to the schedule right now!)

I want a punching bag or one of those blocking dummys they use for football and karate. Punching is fun, but I'm sure it is even more fun to actually feel the result of your power punch/kick!

I am so pumped that it is the last week and I have made it thus far!

Keep Bringing it!

UPDATE: I thought of this while doing the Hamstring stretches before core Synergistics today (Friday). Of all the routines, why is Kenpo the only one that doesn't do the split leg Hamstring stretch as a warmup? It's the only time in any of the vids that he actually says "Be careful of your hamstrings!"

Just a thought!

Day 85: Core Synergistics: Back to Reality!

This is, after all, an extreme program. Getting ahead of myself and thinking the hard part was over was pretty much the worst thing I could do. Sure I have Kenpo tomorrow and I have Stretching on Thursday, but then I end with the Core/Yoga 1-2 punch. This week will not be cake, by any means!

I am back down to 170 lbs.

This is good.

Anyway, Here is my take on my third week of Core Synergistics:

Ow.

I kind of had this lurking feeling that the workout was a lot harder than I remembered it, but I wasn't sure until the first routine and then it was like getting kicked in the stomach (literally!).

I had pretty good intensity, but I probably didn't "bring it" in the "Banana Rolls" and "Banana-Superman"

Using Dumbbells in this routine was interesting. In some regards, I felt more of a burn using the bands. But any iso-hold benefits are outweighed (pun intended) by more weight and speed of transition between drills. "Lunge and Reach" felt cooler when I used the bands, but I ended up pausing and rewinding every freakin' time I had to switch. This way, I could keep up with the demonstrators the entire time and I got a much deeper, more cumulative burn. But for most of the drills, just using the 10 pound weights were a major upgrade over the 3 pounders I had been using. They were a little bulkier and the "Lunge-Kickback-Curl-Press" was tricky navigation in my small workout space, but an incredible burn overall!

I was more annoyed than usual with the video cutting. It's almost like the cameraman is suffering from adult ADHD and has downed 27 Nodoz and chased it with a 12 pack of Red Bull to meet a deadline. "Hey-hey-Tony-I-think-you-are-going-to-love-this-editing-I-did-I-got-everyone-in-it-just-like-you-wanted-and-I-made-sure-not-to-cut-any-of-your-jokes-do-you-want-to-feel-my-muscles-huh?-Please?"

Enough of that. Speaking of caffeinated beverages. The reason I am still awake is that I made a slight error in judgement during the workout. I ran out of water and I wanted something with a little taste. I had a 16 oz. bottle of water and a little packet called "Spark" which I had snagged from the "Tea" box at work. I thought it was a falvor enhancer, since it was labeled "Cranberry". I must say these things are impressive, as it turned the entire contents of the water bottle red in about 2 seconds. I didn't read the fine print around the word "Spark": "Morning" and "Caffeinated Drink Mix".

Whoops!

Yeah, as a caffeine addict, I realized my error almost immediately. It did give me a little energy. But it also made me feel a little full while working out and I am currently watching Lewis Black's "Root of All Evil", which is hilarious by the way.

Anyway, I'm down to one Kenpo, two Stretches, one Yoga and one more Core Synergistics. Yeah!

Keep Bringing it!

Day 84: Yoga: Early in the Week, Late at Night...

The fact that I had to do Yoga so early int he week and not have the satisfaction of being done with it for a while had me procrastinating until just before bedtime.

I did much better in many of the poses, but I took a lengthy break in the middle and it messed up my concentration. As tempting as it is to take a break between each of the half hours (you can tell I wasn't up for it at all tonight!) I think it is a bad idea. You need to commit to doing the 90 minutes and do it all at once.

I still wish Tony was better at verbal cues. If you aren't watching, you can get behind. Several times he is talking and the camera is on someone else ("I choose to not do a push-up!" and then we are watching someone else!) or he says he's going to tell us when to "go" and then he never does. It is especially annoying during the torturous "Yoga Belly 7" when he doesn't tell you when to pump it up, you have to watch the clock.

Anyway, I haven't worn my heart rate monitor during Yoga. It is one of the Polar models that beeps at you when you aren't in the "zone" so I figured it would be below "moderate" most of the time and would defeat the purpose of Yoga. But I am interested in knowing how hard my heart works durng yoga, so I might try it and see if I can turn off the alarm.

Keep Bringing it!