Fantastic work folks! You guys and gals are really bringing it! Just knocked out shoulders and arms...not my most inspired workout, but it is in the books. Also ran a 5k this morning at a pretty decent pace. All in all I am sore and tired...but feel fantastic.

Stick with the yoga routine and you will get an unbelievable workout. I have to admit I was skeptical at first...but now I am a believer.

I am using select tech weights and highly recommend them. I also have a free standing (weight assisted) pull up bar that is fantastic. Picked it up at Sports Authority. A section of my garage is my X room.

JB

OK, note to self, never go mountain biking on day for legs routine. I am wiped out! I did the pull up routine using the green band, and I gotta say, I don't feel it near as much as doing the real thing, even with a chair. So looks like I'm gonna switch back to the bar. Ellen, congrats on losing the pound! My weight has been up and down all week, not sure why, but I'm gonna have to review my food log.

DC, don't worry about the tailgate. Just ask yourself what you want more, the ripped bod or the greasy burger? Chicken always sounds good to me then. It's the beer that's tough! I will be having wine this weekend, but in moderation. I justify it as getting my resveritrol!

Cheers,
IRene

Irene - thanks for the heads up. I had considered switching to bands for a few weeks, but I'll just stick with struggling with the real thing (chair assisted)

I started weighing myself daily, but I'm going to stop. I always gain weight initially, and I don't want to get discouraged. I'm doing great with the diet and bringin it during all the workouts - I'm just going to trust the process and weigh myself weekly (on Sundays when I take my weekly pictures.)

I'm a huga Bama football fan, so Saturdays are going to be hard. However, I remember reading in Men's Health that Amstel Light only has 93 calories and 5g carbs, so I might have a few of those

About to do Yoga - this should be interesting...

just did plyometrics...and i dont think i like it very much...

I had to pause a few times to catch my breath...its a lot of work! but I finished it regardless...

being tall and in a basement doesn't help either

6'2 weighing 167 lbs

WoW!! Yoga X is intense. I've never done yoga before. I've done Pilates a few times at gyms that I belonged to in the past but never yoga. It was hard but my back feels awesome. The first 45 minutes are tough. It will be fun to see my flexibility get better and master some of those positions. I did notice that towards the end my flexibility was much better. I'm a former dancer so I wouldn't be too surprised if I can reach past my toes in no time.

I do have an observation & a question. I haven't been as sore as I expected. I've been checking my heart rate during my workouts and it's right at target level and beyond at times. I burned 940 calories tonight w/ Yoga X and over 1200 yesterday so I know I'm not slacking. Or am I wrong? Should I be burning more calories? My arms and shoulders aren't sore at all from the S&A workout yesterday. I0 lbs weights are the heaviest I have. I'm really thinking I didn't challenge my muscles enough yesterday. Should I be concerned? Before starting this program I did Body Pump at my neighborhood Rec. center so maybe my muscles are accustomed to some of the workouts.

Ladies, how are you doing w/ your weight? I really need to STOP weighing myself daily. Why do we do this to ourselves???!!! I gained a .5 pound from yesterday and, of course, that disappointed me. But since Monday I'm down 1 pound. Little info about me: 38 yrs. old, 5'6", starting weight on Monday (11-9-09) 135.5 pounds.

Don't recall who asked the question about being sore, but I remember when I worked out w/ a fabulous personal trainer back in the mid 90's, she said if you're sorer the 2nd day then you had a great workout. So kudos to you!!

Good luck to everyone on our first weekend while on P90X program. It will be tough to stay away from the alcohol and bad foods but we can do it!!

Have a great Friday.

kara

You are doing fantastic and keep with the program. You might be fitter than you think...which will be a good thing. The key is to watch your heart rate and adjust accordingly. I try my best to stay under 85% and will exercise my option to hit pause if I get into the 90% range. Check your form and up the weight if you are not getting sore by the end of the week. You might need to drop down to the 8-10 rep range and really push your muscles.

Yoga is awesome and is the coolest workout. Who knew that I could sweat so much. Also, your weight will be all over the place for the next couple of weeks. Don't get discouraged...everything will accelerate around week 6. There is a great strategy out there to add aerobic activity once you get into the second month.

JB

Kara,

What are you using to do the pullups? Also, I would recommend you get weights in increments up to at least 25 pounds. I use the bowflex select techs...they are expensive but I feel well worth the money. My sister ripped up the program...she was extremely sore and is a cyclists...I am thinking your amount of weight used could be the issue

JB

jbot5 wrote:

QUOTE:
just did plyometrics...and i dont think i like it very much... :(

I had to pause a few times to catch my breath...its a lot of work! but I finished it regardless...

being tall and in a basement doesn't help either

6'2 weighing 167 lbs

Join the club! Ha! I keep telling myself..."I am going to like plyo...I am going to like plyo"

Watch your head in the basement! Quick way to short circuit your workout. : )

QUOTE:
Ladies, how are you doing w/ your weight? I really need to STOP weighing myself daily. Why do we do this to ourselves???!!! I gained a .5 pound from yesterday and, of course, that disappointed me. But since Monday I'm down 1 pound. Little info about me: 38 yrs. old, 5'6", starting weight on Monday (11-9-09) 135.5 pounds.

it's hard but i try to not weigh myself. sounds lame, but if i'm losing then i'm an extra great mood. but if i've gained i feel so down!

also, i think doing body pump is probably what's reducing the soreness. that's a great program and when i did it regularly i got great results!

Hey...

Mind if I join in? I started independently on the 9th as well.

Because my wife is awesome and has taken over planning my meals I'm able to follow the nutrition plan about 95%. The other 5% is that we have Thanksgiving coming up, some other special events, and then over Christmas we won't be home for a week, and we won't be in a place conducive to eating/working out P90x style.

Anyway, I started at 230lbs (highschool was so long ago...sigh), and about 15-18% body fat. That was 'nekked' weight, and today I gave into a whim and stepped on the scale and discovered I now weigh a pound less than that with all my clothes on. So I've lost a few pounds already. Nice. I'd probably attribute that to the drastic reduction in carbs, more than the working out, although I'm sure the latter has helped. My goal weight is between 190 and 200, so I'm happy to begin that downward spiral.

I have to say that this week is kicking my butt. Chest and Back is brutal. I could do pull ups (at one point maxed out at 27) but doing set after set is killer. I'm switching to bands.

Plyo is downright mean. I made it 2/3 through, and although I had the stamina to continue I knew my legs were giving out. I'm glad I broke it off because I have been so sore.

I really don't like the Ab ripper. Yes, it is hard, etc., but after a hard workout where I'm sweaty and nasty getting down and writhing on the floor is the last thing I want to do. I'm getting an ab bench and will supplement my own ab workout. I used one in highschool and really liked the results.

I absolutely loved shoulder and arms. What a great workout. Looking forward to that next week.

I opted out of Yoga today. I'll do it in the future, but squeezing that much time out of my day is kind of difficult. I know the benefits of yoga, but wow is that a long time. I'll do it next week and thereafter, hopefully.

BTW, for the obscene amount of egg whites, I've taken to boiling the eggs I need ahead of time and keeping them in the fridge. I just eat as many whites as I need on a given day. Much simpler that way. Scrambled egg whites made me want to hurl.

Anyone else really hungry for carbs? I find that I'm full after eating, but I just want something crunchy. My favorite food is chips and salsa, and it is surprisingly hard not to eat it...and just as surprising to me how addicting that stuff is... wow.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. I'm excited the first week is nearly done. Can't wait for the end of week 13.

Cheers.

Woke up this morning with really sore hamstrings, of all things after Legs and Back yesterday. Who knew squats also worked hamstrings? Or maybe it's just the stretching. I dunno - I'm still pretty out of shape, but that's why we are here, no?

Oh and by the way my goals are to get down to 125-130 as I was about 7 years ago. I started dieting when I hit 202 (!!). I'm at 177 now. I'm 5'4", 48 yrs old. I want to get off my blood pressure meds, and I don't want to become diabetic like many members of my family. These are hugh motivators.

Oh, my BP was in the "green" (good) zone yesterday for the first time in 3 years! If this keeps up, I will become a Disciple of Tony lol.

Welcome all the new folks!

Maybe we all can get brave and post photos!??

ellentigh - that's awesome! Very good news about your BP. I think those are excellent goals - a lot deeper than mine, which is just to look good naked (purely narcissistic) I also want to live a while, and the path I was heading was definitely not conducive to either of those...

I guess I'll be the first one to say, I hate Yoga. I admit, it's purely because I'm absolutely horrible at it. I can hardly do 1 'Venyasa' and most of the poses required me getting to them in a much more "modified" way than the gang. I did my best, however, and tried to forget the rest (aka, how stupid I looked.) I will keep at it, but it is definitely my least favorite.

I was a catcher in high school baseball, so I'm looking forward to Legs/Back. I think this will probably be my strongest day.

A coworker (fellow programmer) and I usually work a couple days a week from Starbucks and that is where I'm headed now. I'm really going to miss not getting that Vanilla Frap (x3) today, but how many people drink 3 fraps a day and look good naked? I am really looking forward to the maintenance phase of this (after graduation), where I can enjoy a few luxuries (beer, wings, fraps) from time to time without worrying about hindering my progress. But for now, I'm a PnaziX subscriber who doesn't want to think "what could I have done differently to get better results?"

As far as "before" photos, I'll be posting those along with my week 1 "progress" photos on Sunday.

I'm with you on the Yoga....the first phase with the Vinyasas and upward dogs, planks killed me. I liked the balance stretches actually, and my girlfriend was amazed at my ability to keep a crane (I used to do gymnastics when I was a kid).

That being said, I was shocked to find out how inflexible I am...I couldn't even stretch my legs out fully for most of the poses. I question my first experience with Yoga X as I did not leave with much of a sweat, and felt as if I could have done better. Next week I'll bring it.

I still have a cramp in my left hamstring, ever since Plyo...so hopefully it won't get worse after Legs & Back tonight...I'm actually looking forward to more pull-ups (not sure if its in the routine) - one of my main goals is to get a wider and more sculpted back, so the wide-grip pullups will hopefully get me there.

As for pictures, perhaps I could get to a card reader this weekend to upload.

Did Yoga last night, which was definitely difficult and looong, but I knew that going into it. I've never done Yoga before, but I feel like I brought it pretty well. My form definitely didn't look very good on some or all of the positions, but I tired my best. Definitely sweated a ton, so I think I got a good workout.

While I did feel more loose after the workout, I was still feeling pretty sore. My quads are absolutely killing me from Plyo's on Tuesday, so I was really helping that Yoga would help some of that. Well when I woke up this morning, my quads still hurt like hell. Not too upset, though, because that pain means I got a good workout.

Just did Kenpo. Had to stop about half way through because I could feel a possible spasm coming on from the kicks. I have a spinal injury and my psoas muscle on my left side can go into a major, debilitating spasm if I overdo it. Frankly, I'm surprised I'm able to get this far without a back spasm - just some stiffness (ok a lot of stiffness), but that's good, means I'm pushing it.

I stopped and did some psoas and hip stretches, and some cobra and cat stretches. Took a couple of advil and Norflex. Hopefully I'll sleep it off and be ready for tomorrow.

The good thing today was I stayed at my highest reps ever on my elliptical machine for the longest time - and I wasn't feeling like I was going to pass out lol. So my cardio is improving pretty fast. Amazing how the human body adapts.

I'm sore all over. Hope all of your workouts went well. Bed time!

iflydc10 wrote:

QUOTE:
Kara,

What are you using to do the pullups?

I purchased the Iron Gym pull up bar that's similar to the P90X bar. I did Legs & Back this evening and boy is my back going to be sore tomorrow. I really tried not to put much weight on my legs when doing pull ups. REally focused on using my back muscles and it will be a miracle if I can accomplish doing pull ups w/o the assistance of a chair. My back is probably my weakest muscle group.

Can't believe the first week is almost over. So far I've really enjoyed the DVD's. I would say the DVD that I'll least be excited to do is Plyo. It's just so intense but it will be fun to see it get easier over the weeks.

How many of y'all are resting on Sunday? I think I'm going to do Stretch X to keep me on a consistent schedule. I really want to try do something daily.

Have a great w/e everyone. College games & NFL are going to be tempting to indulge but we all need to remember what we want to look like in less than 90 days. I'll keep reminding myself when all of my friends are drinking my wonderful Justin Cabernet tomorrow night.

kara

txnlivinfl wrote:

QUOTE:
iflydc10 wrote:

QUOTE:
Kara,

What are you using to do the pullups?

I purchased the Iron Gym pull up bar that's similar to the P90X bar. I did Legs & Back this evening and boy is my back going to be sore tomorrow. I really tried not to put much weight on my legs when doing pull ups. REally focused on using my back muscles and it will be a miracle if I can accomplish doing pull ups w/o the assistance of a chair. My back is probably my weakest muscle group.

Can't believe the first week is almost over. So far I've really enjoyed the DVD's. I would say the DVD that I'll least be excited to do is Plyo. It's just so intense but it will be fun to see it get easier over the weeks.

How many of y'all are resting on Sunday? I think I'm going to do Stretch X to keep me on a consistent schedule. I really want to try do something daily.

Have a great w/e everyone. College games & NFL are going to be tempting to indulge but we all need to remember what we want to look like in less than 90 days. I'll keep reminding myself when all of my friends are drinking my wonderful Justin Cabernet tomorrow night. :P

kara

Ha! Fantastic! You will be amazed on how fast your pull ups will improve. I opt for the bands only when I am on the road living in hotels. The rest of the time I use the pull up machine I have in my garage. I recommend one for you when the chair assisted gets too easy. Item to note*** watch the sheet rock (if that is what your walls are made of)...I put nice dents in it where the bar sits on top of the door jam. Sounds like your progress is going great.

JB

I also have the same Iron Gym pull up bar, and love it.

As far as my diet goes today, I did a bad thing. That beer will get you everytime! I had 4 Amstel Lights, and I loved every sip of them!

Fortunately, tomorrow is another day. My %s aren't bad today, but they're not great either. I'll get it in gear tomorrow to make up for this little slip up. Hope the hops don't get to you guys

-D

dbhuggins wrote:

QUOTE:

As far as my diet goes today, I did a bad thing. That beer will get you everytime! I had 4 Amstel Lights, and I loved every sip of them! :unsure:

ha!Ha! Well, at least they tasted good.

Boy is my back & sides sore today. Lets me know I did the pull ups correctly. Legs are sore too...

Where are y'all posting your pictures for our group? Is there another thread for that? I'm curious to see them. I'll post mine after the 30 day mark if I see improvements.

kara

Did stretching X and 25 mins elliptical. Nice to have a little break. Advil and Norflex sure helped. Back on the saddle again tomorrow, yikes!