Category: DVD Days P90X to Tapout XT

Everything I think about the workouts. Including some weights, reps and sets etc. Detailed as much as I can remember or is relevant.

R9D26 – Balance And Power, Phase 2 And Standing Desk Update

I’m going to start at the end first.

It’s not pretty, but click on the graphic to the left to see some interesting stats.

It’s been almost 7 months that I have been standing at my desk at work. There are a couple of things I have noticed that are a bit of a surprise to me.  First I think I am getting more work done. I don’t know if it is because I feel more alert and mentally active due to being physically active but whatever it is my productivity seems to be up. I have noted before that it’s “easier” to wander off and do things and that is no joke. Whenever I am home watching the TV or forced to sit during meetings I develop an aversion to getting up. It’s like the chair gets hold of me and drains my will to live. At least when I am standing at work it feels like I am ready to go do something, whatever it may be and that has had an effect on my mental outlook. I find myself more helpful, more willing to go out and assist with things, possibly because I don’t feel like I am glued to my desk but rather hovering near my desk in preparation for something to do. My posture, including my back ache is much improved and for someone with my history of back problems that is reason enough to maintain my standing. My leg ache was gone after a few days, I don’t have any issue doing my workouts in conjunction with standing and even though I thought my traps and shoulders would be a big problem, that issue never developed. I find that I do unconscious active stretching throughout the day and that helps to keep things moving. It’s been a major change to my work habits, but I think it has been a positive one. 2 weeks ago I had to spend 2 full days in a Kaizen event for work and sitting all day made me irritable and twitchy, I stood up whenever I could but it made me miserable to be in a chair all day. By the end of the second day I knew I had made the right decision to remain on my feet. You should try it, it’s not as tough as you may think. People may think it’s weird, but that’s OK, working out every day is weird to some people too. I am not the only one either, there are plenty of people here, here and here that are enjoying the benefits and some ingenious ways of building the desk here and here too.

(Who uses standing desks?) More people than I’d realized, especially techies! Former Twitter developer and founder of BankSimple Alex Payne. Creator of Instapaper Marco Arment. Podcaster extraordinaire Dan Benjamin. Novelist Philip Roth. Former U.S. Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeld. Lifehacker editor Jason Fitzpatrick. Now, newly, my fellow San Diego techie Mitch Wagner. Who else?

Balance and Power is a workout that I have come to enjoy. I am a fan of balance work and I think this particular session does a great job of balancing the strength aspects with the coordination work to give a good all around workout. It’s not developing strength, but it’s developing the supporting mechanical systems to promote strength. I really enjoy it, it’s too bad it’s over for a while.

Phase 2 will start this week. I have bootcamp to lead Monday and Wednesday and I may try to kick off Chest+Back+Balance on Tuesday since my bootcamps this week are bodyweight then cardio. I am ready for phase 2, the building phase was good but I am eager to add some more challenging weight work to my schedule and kick it into high gear. I am a little frustrated with using my indoor chin up bar but there’s not much I can do. It will be above zero all week this week , so I may actually go out onto the deck whenever pullups are on the cards. I am fortunate that this winter has been mild so far and I really should have taken advantage of it more by getting out there. I did bring my gym rings indoors too and I should find a place to hang them. Lots to do!

 

R9D25 – My Yoga (Rediscovered Beginnings)

I made 2 startling discoveries over the last day or so. First, doing Yoga last night I realized that I was able to go from plank to runners pose without my leg getting stuck under my protruding belly. Since I had previously blamed the lack of ability to transition on my legs, I now look back in amusement at my state of denial:

Due to the overwhelming volume of my thighs (thanks to 18 years of rugby for that) I may never be able to go directly from plank to runners pose. My leg just won’t fit under my body and until I make it down to the 200lb mark I don’t think it ever will.

Turns out I only needed to get to 230lbs for that part to get sorted out. I am not saying my leg makes it all the way to my hands but it’s far enough that I can stand up from the position.

In that discovery I also realized that even though I had claimed in 2009:

I know Tony, and by ‘know’ I mean we spent some time together last year in my basement while I took on the original P90 program.

I hate Tony.

It was in fact back in 2005 when Nicole and I first got into P90. She had bought a copy of Yoga Booty Ballet and I had reluctantly agreed to give P90 a shot after seeing the infomercial on late night TV. In my joy I think I am going to create a page of my entries outlining my original P90 progress. I fear it was not long in it’s duration, we will have to see.

Back to Yoga for a second. I did the workout last night in the true spirit of yoga. It was 9pm, I went down to the basement where it is quiet, I turned off most of the lights leaving just one casting a weak glow across the room and capitulated to Tony’s direction. It was a little surreal, but extremely relaxing and I even found that my flexibility seemed to be improving. Maybe it was the murkiness of my surroundings but the workout took on a completely new feel for which I was extremely grateful. I finished feeling relaxed, refreshed and full of achievement!

 

R9D24 – Bootcamp 2.4.2 – Taking It Up A Notch

It was weights day at bootcamp and I thought it was about time I introduced the gang to the barbell and some olympic style lifts. Maybe I was being a little too ambitious but I figure if Crossfit gyms all over the nation can teach this stuff to people who are ill prepared and occasionally ill equipped physically then I should be able to get my (already fit) bootcamp peeps to do it. I also wanted to get some kettlebell style swinging with dumbbells (since we don’t have actual kettlebells) into the workout schedule since it’s a great full body workout as I regularly say.

The workout looked something like this:

x10x2
Double Curls
Double Press
Dips
Squat high pull
chin ups

x10x2
Alt curls
alt press
dips
swings
chin ups

x10x2
db high pull
db clean
db clean and press
pullups

x10x2
bb deadlift
bb clean
bb clean and press
pullups

x10x2
Laying chest fly and press
Laying chest pullover 2 way
Shoulder fly side to front
Shoulder fly front to row
pullups

Each section could be performed with barbell or dumbbell but it was the teaching of the simple clean that had most people stumbling. I guess there are 2 factors here, one that pulling  a weight viciously towards your chin is perturbing for some and second that being a woman probably makes the move a little more difficult to master given the “obstacles”. They seemed to pick up the dumbbell swings OK however my comfort level with that particular move using dbs is not high. I would far prefer to get a set of 5 25lb kbs and do it that way, but I am not sure if the gym is willing to pick up the tab for that quite yet!

Since it is winter here and the temperature in my garage has been below freezing for some time now my olympic lifting has taken a far away back seat so after class I took a few minutes for myself and threw some 45’s on the bar and did the following:

10 Deadlift
10 Power Clean
10 Strict Press
10 Power Clean and Press

It has been a while since I did these movements together so I was a little wobbly, also I don’t usually do that much weight, since I typically do more reps but I was happy to crank out what I did especially given it was after a bootcamp class and I was nursing an already sore shoulder. Sad as it may sound for someone of my size but those were all PRs for those lifts since I started making notes on it over a year ago. I am fine with the notion that I may never deadlift 500lbs, my head is no longer 100% in that space and although it is hard to let go of the demon inside I think I have a much stronger muzzle on him now. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the gym.

R9D21/2 – X2 Core And Plyocide

I have to admit to feeling lazy this past week. I feel like I have eaten too many nuts and it’s making me lethargic. If I was still addicted to the scale I am sure that I would find a couple of pounds extra. However, in the spirit of the New Year I am going to try and limit my exposure to the scale to once a month. There are always times that you will find yourself straying off track a little, the problems arise when you get off track in more than one area and don’t recognize the issues. Once you get one wheel off the road you are in a precarious position, a little correction and you are back on track, a slight distraction and you are in the ditch. For me personally it doesn’t take much, for example this week I worked out 5 of 7 days but one of those days was an easy day (Mobility) and so I feel like I didn’t get the work I needed. Maybe it’s getting used to the P90X2 workouts too, rather than the crazy kettlebell and Olympic Lifting I am used to. Whatever it is, I am tackling this feeling of lethargy by not taking tuesday off. Last week and the week before I took it off because it is the day between bootcamps and I thought I would burn myself out. However I am finding that I am underworked so in the spirit of listening to my body I will squeeze another workout in tomorrow. As it happens, the schedule calls for yoga which is kind of a good fit for me.

Speaking of the schedule, I am going to finish up this week and move on to phase 2 which looks like this:

Phase 2 – Strength:

1. Chest + Back + Balance & X2 Ab Ripper
2. Plyocide
3. Rest or X2 Recovery + Mobility
4. X2 Shoulders + Arms & X2 Ab Ripper
5. X2 Yoga
6. Base + Back & X2 Ab Ripper
7. Rest or X2 Recovery + Mobility

It’s much the same but there are more specific strength components than there are in the Core of Total Body workouts. I am really looking forward to this because the workouts that I love the most from P90X are the bodypart specific workouts. I am also going to post reviews of PAP upper and PAP lower to complete the collection.

On the injury front I strained my rotator cuff last week spotting the girls at gym and it’s been insanely painful. It’s a little better now but it meant no pressing during the workouts this week. I am sure that compounded my feeling of lethargy and in return for laying and trying to rest my shoulder I made my back sore (maybe from overstretching..). Quite some time ago I had a very sore toe, and in fact it wasn’t just the toe, it was my whole front of my left foot was sore to flex or contract. I panicked and thought I may have gout so I treated it with strawberries. I am not sure exactly what it was but I am thinking that I may have bruised the ball of my foot doing something during the summer in my VFF’s. Whatever it was, I noticed a couple of weeks ago that it is gone which is a relief. Other than that I am pretty healthy at the moment other than the viral thing that we all got during Christmas. I have been feeling good after my workouts but I still know that I could use to get an extra hour or two of sleep each night. I just can’t seem to get myself to bed on time. I think that is my final frontier, if I can conquer my bad sleep habits, I think I may have this wellness thing licked.

 

R9D18&19 – Bootcamp 2.3.1 and X2 Recovery And Mobility

Bootcamp went well considering it was the first day back after the break for most people. The spin bike warmup was more challenging than I thought it would be for some people and the introduction of pull ups was a rude awakening for most. I have to say I am not surprised, I mean the pullup motion is not something that you use in your normal life, most other things you can say have some practical application but the pullup is pretty unique in it’s lack of day to day application. It would be an understatement to say that they struggled however I am confident in a few weeks we will have them all doing at least 1 free pullup.

I opted for the mobility DVD last night, I was sore from bootcamp and knowing that I had the cardio bootcamp coming up on Wednesday  I wanted to give my body a rest while treating it to a bit of an active recovery. It’s a little weird workout, I guess because you end up chasing your own sore spots with the roller and at least in my case go ahead oblivious to what is happening on the screen. The roller made me sore, the actions are very painful in places but that just goes to show even when you are not that sore, the muscle itself can always use some work. I find that the end of my triceps near my elbows are sore, my quads right up high by my hip flexors are bad and the inside of my quad by my knee. I haven’t really found a good way to get the shoulders worked and I find that rolling my entire back at once doesn’t quite hit the areas right. I will have to figure that out, all I know is when I use the stability ball to elongate my back it makes me sore where the foam roller does essentially the same thing but leaves me feeling refreshed.

I have not done any of my measurements for the beginning of the year but I think I know where I am except for my actual inches. I should do that soon, but the photos on my bar (to the right, top and bottom) are quite recent so they will do for now.

By the way, if anyone wants to buy me a mini (or large) rumble roller, I would be forever indebted to you!

R9D17 – X2 Core And Bootcamp Plan

Every time I have done it, I come away thinking that X2 Core is more of a leg workout than anything else. maybe it’s because the leg portion is quite challenging, maybe I am not noticing the abs and core work because I am resting after the leg stuff I don’t know. Whatever it is, I enjoy it! I did find however that I was getting ahead of the workout as I was doing it, there are specific numbers to some of the movements and I find myself able to do them quickly since my balance is pretty good. At one point I found myself to be 3 exercises ahead having inadvertently skipped the water break. This is not something I am unfamiliar with, in fact I have commented in the past on the workout being too long partly due to the large amount of rest given between exercises. I could condense the X2 Core workout into about 40 minutes if I went at my own pace, and I know from experience with P90X that I will probably end up doing just that. As you get more proficient, you don’t necessarily want or need to do more volume of work, so a shorter time becomes more desirable.

It’s time for bootcamp to resume at the gym, I will be leading the group tonight with weights and lower body / back workout including pullups for the first time. It’s going to be a bloodbath, after almost 3 weeks off I can just imagine what they have been doing during their time off and I would bet it wasn’t chair dips and decline pushups!

Here’s the plan:

Legs and Back

Spin bike warmup – Up & down 10-10-20-10-30-10-40-10-50-10 x2

Air squats 20
walking lunge x 20
long jumps 2 length
jump chin ups (10 max)

MK Tucks (2 mary Katherines + tuck jump) x 10
Lunge to knee raise x 10 each side
Side jump to single leg squat x 10
beat chin ups (10 max)

squat jump half turn
warrior 3 to lunge x 10 per side
warrior 3 squat x10 per side
strict pull ups x 10

med ball Mary Katherines x 20
med ball squat jump quarter x 16
med ball long jumps
chin ups x10

wall ball x10
med ball 1 leg squat to calf raise x10 per side
med ball single leg hip raises x10 per side
med ball single leg laying hip raises

med ball burpees x15

 

 

R9D16 – X2 Balance & Power And Time Magazine Acts Stupid

Finally got back on my P90X2 track again last night. I will probably do another week of phase 1 just like the original P90X to give me 3 weeks on 1 week rest. Last night’s workout went OK, I need a better stability ball though since mine is a low quality and too squishy. I was a little short on some of the moves because my quads were screaming after my KB workout the day before. I guess I hadn’t done enough squatting while I was away and the KB workout just fried me. I have to say I do like this workout, even though it is a little heavy on the balance work (it probably should be since it’s CALLED balance) like a lot of this P90X2 system. It’s a decent full body approach and I only noticed this time around how much leg work there was because of my pain levels. I probably managed around 90% of the program, I fell short on the crabby dumbbell press due to the stupid ball and I can’t quite manage the Lolasana yet but I will get there!

Time Magazine has once again proven that years of misinformation fed to us from interest groups and commodity crop behemoths is something that will take years to overcome. The article is ridiculous but the retort I found on Bulletproofexec is pretty good. Here’s a clip to get you started:

On January 4th, Sora Song of Time Magazine published an article called, “It’s the Calories, Stupid: Weight Gain Depends on How Much — Not What — You Eat.”  This is one of those articles.

The article focused on a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association titled,

“Effect of dietary protein content on weight gain, energy expenditure, and body composition during overeating: a randomized controlled trial.”

The goal was to find how over consuming protein or fat affected total weight gain and lean body mass.  Basically, does eating more of protein or fat have a metabolic advantage over the other macronutrient.

Sora Song, an editor for Time Magazine, writes, “…it’s not what you eat but how much that matters when it comes to body weight.”

Like many people, she assumes the only variable when it comes to food  is the number of calories, which ignores the role of macronutrients like protein, starch, and fat.  If it was true that the only variable that mattered was how much you ate, you could eat a low carb diet of damaged seed oils, fructose, and whole grains it would have the same effect as a high carb diet of sweet potatoes, seafood, and coconut (like the Kitavans).  As the Kitavan research shows, the difference is obvious.  While a high carb diet is not necessarily bulletproof, it’s a lot better than a high toxin diet -regardless of the macronutrient composition.

This is starting to sound suspect but if you read on you will find that the study (as is normal with “sponsored” studies) claims that you gain less weight on a low protein hig carb diet than the other way around. Unfortunately what they fail to show is that the type of weight gain on carbs is almost pure fat where the weight gain on protein is at least 50% muscle mass. But Kellogg’s don’t want you to know that, they want you to eat Pop Tarts and continue to believe eggs and bacon are the devil. It’s an interesting expose of an irrational and irresponsible article.

Good Calories Bad Calories is a great place to start if you are wondering how to make sense of it all. Move on to The Paleo Solution and you will have all the unbiased info you need to get to work. Either that or watch Fathead, it’s on Netflix now!

Also, if you want to get an idea of who is writing more sensible and helpful books, check out the review of The Smarter Science of Slim: What the Actual Experts Have Proven about Weight Loss, Health, and Fitness on the Fathead site.

R9D9-13 – Tough Break

We have been away for a while, unfotunately that also means we have all been sick for a while. As a family we all have had varying degrees of sinus colds / infections and the flu, for myself I had a man cold which is VERY bad… We spent a miserable 10 days in Switzerland including a very painful flight with a very sick 1 month old. It has not been a good ending to 2011 that is for sure. But I shall not dwell on the sickness, it was wonderful to see my family again and I did manage to squeeze in a few P90X2 workouts using 2 bowling balls instead of medicine balls and all in all, with the exception of not being able to hear out of one or both of my ears and having lost almost all coordination and balance it was nice to be away. We returned just after Christmas and still today I am not even close to 100%. That puts it at around 2 weeks of fluid behind my ears and coughing like a miner.

Anyway, Happy  New Year to everyone, I thought I would start off the year with a crossfit workout since I will have the erg available and a whole gym at my disposal this afternoon while my wife works on the floor routines for the girls. Then starting tomorrow I will be back to what I think I will call week 3 of the P90X2 schedule with Balance and Power. The last few weeks have been a real dogs breakfast workout wise, but I am ready and eager to get back to work. The bootcamps will be back in motion next week and I will be ready to take on the rest of the P90X2 schedule.

I hope everyone had a better break than we did here, at least health wise and my Christmas wish for you all is that you will get your New Year’s Resolutions to come true!

And for those of you who are wondering here are 2 things to ponder.

It was 22 years ago on Jan 1 2012 that I quit drinking.

For the first time in my living memory, my New Year’s Resolutions did NOT include “lose weight”.

P90X2 Base + Back Review

It’s Plyo and Pullups!

This workout includes X2 Ab Ripper and starts with the standard warmup:

Warmup:
Stability ball work
twists, squats, side bends, lunge back, shelf stockers.

Foam Rolling – Myofascial release using the foam roller
This is a great section to do daily and even better to go into more detail with when you have tight spots or knots.
Roller Sphinx
Worlds Greatest stretch (runners stretch with a double twist) alternating legs with brief hold each count.
Inch Worm – from standing, hands on floor, walk out to plank and back
Scorpion – Laying face down arms out 90 degrees, bend knee bring your foot up to your butt and lift away from the floor. Gently twist the leg to the opposite side of the body but don’t go too far!
Groiners – runners stretch jumping foot switch
Leg Swing – A well knows ballistic stretch to soccer players. Basically swinging leg forward and backwards and side to side with the leg straight.
Scapular Retraction – can be done on a chin up bar or with bands, extend the shoulders up and out from the sockets then pull back and together with the shoulder blades

The Workout:

No Kip Pullup – Strength only, no beat, no swing
Plyo Frog Squat – Legs wide, squat touch floor then jump with hands up or in prayer
Wide Leg Close Grip Chin Up – Reverse grip, legs apart
Chair Jump –  From Chair position, bring hands down and jump up
Chin Pull –  2 narrow then 2 wide pullups alternating
Plyo Lunge Press – Mary Katherines with a shoulder press during the jump
V Pullup –  Pull ups with chin meeting hand, switch each side each time
Surfer Spin – 1/2 or full jump turns
Kippy Cross Fugly Pull – AKA Cheaters, F’ing Ugly or End Of Days. Lift knees to assist, or beat swing
Jack In The Box Knee Tuck – Touch floor to tuck jump
Water Break

Second Round Is The Same Again!

Cool Down