Category: Planning

R4 D74 – Beginning of the End

Since without a plan, nothing ever happens, here is the push to the end for Round 4.

W 74 – TGU plus WOD
R 75 –  RKC Swings
F 76 – P90X and Insanity Fit Tests
S 77 – 5K run
Y 78 – off

M 01 – Round 5

That should about do it. I am at Wednesday now and the way I figure it I should be able to put round 4 to bed and get Round 5 ready to go by Monday. It’s going to be a bit weird, since my workouts have been somewhat sporadic over the last 2 weeks but I think there is still some value to doing the fit tests anyway. For what it’s worth, my weight is down, my back seems to be bothering me much less and my feet seem to enjoy doing everything barefoot so all in all I suppose I am reaching my goals of general fitness and as Tony puts it, “less vulnerable and more durable” out in the real world. The question is, what is my fitness goal for the next round? I think I am at the point where I need to start documenting weights again. Much as I wanted to get away from that particular facet of working out, I think at this point I need to see my reps and max weights increasing in order to justify my efforts. Moving away from following a DVD schedule means you are vulnerable to coasting and losing sight of the goal at hand. Since I will be moving towards more Olympic style lifting and Crossfit type work, I guess note taking will be par for the course.

Forget What You Believe. Find Out What You Need To Know. Then Change (Now With Links!).

Comrade, I Have New Hero. His Name, Pavel Tsatsouline.

pavelETKI picked up a kettlebell and it may turn out to be the best thing I have done in years. Well, that and going Paleo along with my discovery of High Intensity Training. You can’t help but love Pavel, and you can check out a review of his Enter The Kettlebell here.

It’s tricky trying to accept things that we believed to be unalterably true. Sometimes it’s almost impossible especially when you have spent half your life telling other people the wrong thing. But we are all here to learn, to adjust and to judge what is the best for us.

As Pavel says, “If you don’t have good judgement, why don’t you stay on the machines you big sissy?”

Eating 5 or 6 smaller meals is physiologically better. Not true. It may help you to snack less since you have no time to do it, but it’s not based on scientific evidence. It may help with digestion, something which I am sensitive to but as long as the caloric amount is the same, the time doesn’t matter.

Spending time on cardio machines is hurting you, not helping you. That’s because the calories burned vs time spent is pitiful and it’s making you hungry so you overeat. Try higher intensity, shorter duration instead such as Crossfit inspired Olympic Lift workouts.

Want 10 reasons why that elliptical 30, 45 or 60 minutes is no use? Here you go.

How about the myth of skipping meals slowing your metabolism? More bull. Just check out any writing about IF (intermittent fasting) to find out why skipping meals can be good for you once you get the refined carbs out of your life.

BMI? Bullshit Medical Information. I know this being a muscular dude, but it’s true for everyone.

Let’s not forget the overwhelming evidence that carbohydrate not fat is the reason for the obesity epidemic. There is too much info to list here but authors like Gary Taubes, Mark Sisson and good link pages like this are a great place to start. Any information on the Paleo movement will help, as may reading the free version of “The Vegetarian Myth” over at Amazon.

You can also go to Whole 9, paleohacks (for great tips and general info from Paleo people) or The Paleo Diet.

Sadly, starting here may lead you on a journey that makes you uncomfortable, frustrated and confused. Keep at it, and slowly but surely you will come to see the new truth about fitness… The so called experts don’t always know what they are talking about but the truth is out there.

Eat bacon!

How Great Are You? The Winners Paradox.

I’ve been there. I have been the guy on top, the winner, the best at that time. I have also been the runner up, gone home without the trophy, been hurt, knocked around and beaten down but I am proud to say that I never stayed down. There is a philosophy of winning that goes against the notion of the top prize and that is to say that in order to win, you don’t always need to come first. It is true, there will be a winner, of that there is no doubt, however on any given day there may be one person out there who is better than you. So how do you reconcile that loss with your psyche? How do you continue to rise after each fall and as a coach how do you help your athletes to realize that winning isn’t about winning at all but about striving to be the very best you can be with no regrets? It is paradoxical to say that winning isn’t about winning. After all, there is a trophy and a payday for the winner, there is a place in history for the winner. Nobody knows who came second to Lance Armstrong during his 7 Tour De France wins, nobody remembers who lost to Michael Jordan during his 6 NBA Championships and you would be hard pushed to find anyone who could tell you the runners up who followed Michael Schumacher to the podium during his 7 Formula 1 World Championships. However, in the end, there can be only 1 and that leaves no room for error. So in order to keep ourselves motivated, in order to make sure that we have something against which we can measure ourselves winning becomes secondary. It takes a back seat to the individual struggle and victory over ourselves. There is a saying I used to repeat to my rugby players and to my gymnastics athletes that there is always somebody somewhere who is working hard enough to beat you and it is your duty, your responsibility to yourself to disappoint them. But it doesn’t always work out that way and when it doesn’t, there is only one thing that matters. The ability to look yourself in the eye, to look at your teammates, parents, children and friends and tell them that you did everything you could. There is no greater pain in the world than knowing that you could have done more. But in contrast, there is nothing that will comfort the sting of defeat like the knowledge that you worked as hard as you could, and gave it everything you had.

You may not think that you are a hero. You may not think that what you do on a daily basis matters in the grand scheme of things but you are wrong. Each time you do anything that challenges you, each time you take part in a project, a game or a workout that pushes you, you are taking stock of yourself and either building yourself up or tearing yourself down. From a fitness perspective, every time you cut your workout short you hurt yourself both physically and psychologically. Each time you finish the last set and wonder how you made it through you add to your stock as a person. You owe it to yourself to do your best, if for no other reason that at the end of the day you can look at yourself in the mirror and be proud. So pick yourself up one more time, push through the pain one more day and trust that in the end, victory will be yours.

Believe me, you don’t want to be in a place where you can’t look yourself in the eye because if you can’t be proud of you, nothing else matters.

R4 D57 – My Name Is Cardio, Max Cardio. My Rant About My 4 Rounds.

The picture that brought it all home

December 2010

That’s the picture that brought it all home…

It seems like forever since I did an actual DVD instead of messing about and mixing bits and pieces. Why not do a Max workout to get back into it then? Actually, the workout was surprisingly easy and enjoyable. I think I remember being pleasantly surprised when I started doing Insanity back in the day as to how much I enjoyed the workout, partly because at the time I wasn’t able to give 100% for the whole workouts so I was better off giving 75% for a longer time. At least that way I felt like I got a better workout. This one was only difficult due to the pain in my shoulder but aside from that it was quite a lot of fun.

I am getting concerned as to what I should be doing after I am done round 4. I don’t think that I can even really call them rounds any more other than it gives me a nice 3 month structure into which I can put my test workouts and see how they work. It’s hard to believe that my first round started in June of 2009, 18 months ago, and since this is round 4 obviously I suck at math. There was a failed attempt at taking P90X into the gym for a while there but the rest must just be poor adherence to the plan. In fact, when I check, this should really be round 5. See here:

Round 1 – P90X Classic Started June 19 2009
Round 2 – G90X Trying to take P90X into the gym Started Oct 19 2009
Round 2 Remix – Forget the gym, mix P90X and Insanity) Started Jan 30 2010 (Apparently I was in horrible shape)
Round 3 – P90x Insanity Hybrid. Started June 9 2010 after the baby was born. This was my decision to really start taking it seriously)
Round 4 – P90X, Insanity and Crossfit. Started Sept 29 2010. Also started eating Paleo Oct 11 2010. Big difference… huge!

I really took the first round seriously but I found that when I got to the end I had no continuance plan in place so I fizzled out with rest week and fell into the most common problem of all, post P90X laziness. My attempt to take P90X into the gym started in October 2009 and I claim to have been around 255lbs. My own records indicate that in fact I had been 252 during my wedding in August of 2007 and then ballooned to 291 almost exactly a year after that in September of 2008. So the fact that I thought I was around 255 in October 2009 was only because I had managed to lose some weight doing P90X. I remember I didn’t follow the diet plan at all and of course I had an excuse for that however I do recall that I lost a little weight during that 90 days. I started around 270 and dropped to about 255 by the end of the program.

Round 2 in both forms saw me get off track and although I was working out, I was apparently eating for two. My documented weight at the start of Round 2 after G90X failed was 272lbs. I had managed to gain an extra 2 lbs over and above my pre-90X weight. My weight didn’t move much and about half way through the round I hurt my back quite badly and was out for a while. I recall that the weeks seemed to slip by very quickly as I struggled with my next move and although my records have gone awol I can tell you from the frequency of my posting here that the time wasted as quickly as my motivation. I did have an injury, I did have a viral infection and I did still have to coach twice a week but add into that waiting for the baby to be born and the stress alone would have been enough to stall me out.

Round 3 and the baby may have saved my life. I went almost 2 months with sporadic and half-hearted workouts but then as the baby suddenly appeared along with her came my renewed sense of adventure and commitment. I built the decks, started my hybrid schedule and started to turn things around. Still no diet plan though. So I was back working out, looking after the wife and the baby, doing construction and enjoying being off work for 3 weeks. That short time really shot me out of the cannon when it came to my fitness. I quit the gym and committed to having all the equipment and motivation I needed at home. Since then it has been tough but consistent. Once my parents left after their visit in September I realized that in fact being fit at 282lbs may be OK for an NFL lineman, but not for a sedentary Network Engineer. So I jumped on the Paleo bandwagon and rode off into the sunset. 20+lbs later and I am still committed to the process and the diet and feeling amazing.

me nov 15 2010

As you can tell, my “concern” about what to do for R5 is causing my mind to race. R4 has been very enjoyable and for the most part I get the biggest kick out of doing the Crossfit type workouts. So I may scale back the cardio to 2 days and let  Crossfit take the other weight days and the responsibility for bench on board for the remaining 4 days. I am only about 10lbs off being my lowest weight ever while involved with P90X and I have to be honest, it is not the workout that is doing it, it is the diet.

For all of you out there who are doing P90X or who are thinking about whether it will get the weight off you or not hear this… A typical P90X workout is 1 hour. You sleep 8 hours. What you put into your face during the other 15 hours is by far the biggest part of your success. Anyone can work out. Anyone! But it takes a smart individual to realize that stuffing themselves with fruits and veg and good cuts of meat will get them where they need to be. Put away the packaged food, eat only things with 5 ingredients or less and OH GOD I AM ON MY SOAP BOX AGAIN!!!

Just don’t try to kid yourself that you can do the workouts without the diet, you can’t possibly be that stubborn / stupid / weak.

By the way… that picture (the one of me at the top), everyone has one, should be on your wall along with your best picture to make sure you understand that the limits on your life are up to you. Only you can determine how far you can fall and how high you can climb.

 

If you have a big enough WHY, you can endure almost any HOW.

Towards The Light

56 Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
57 Max Cardio
58 Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
59 OFF
60 WOD with Pullups
61 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
62 Max Interval Plyo
63 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
64 OFF
65 WOD with Pullups
66 Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
67 Max Interval Circuit
68 Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
69 OFF
70 WOD with Pullups
71 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
72 Max Cardio
73 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
74 OFF
75 WOD with Pullups
76 Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
77 Max Interval Circuit
78 Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
79 OFF
80 P90X Fit Test & Insanity Fit Test
81 Max Rep Pullups 10 min max
82 5K Timed Run
83 Max Rep Bench 10 min max
84 FINISH!!

The next few weeks which I can’t help feeling will be usurped by my every growing love for the Crossfit HIIT type training. But, there’s nothing like a plan is there? Also, I know it says “FINISH!!” but let’s be honest this is really just a new beginning especially given the Paleo diet that is working wonders. I have to think that 6 months from now I will be a different person if only physically than I am now. That will be the first time I haven’t had to go on a “summer diet” to satisfy my ridiculous sense of self.

56 Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
57 Max Cardio
58 Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
59 OFF
60 WOD with Pullups
61 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
62 Max Interval Plyo
63 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
64 OFF
65 WOD with Pullups
66 Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
67 Max Interval Circuit
68 Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
69 OFF
70 WOD with Pullups
71 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
72 Max Cardio
73 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
74 OFF
75 WOD with Pullups
76 Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
77 Max Interval Circuit
78 Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
79 OFF
80 P90X Fit Test & Insanity Fit Test
81 Max Rep Pullups 10 min max
82 5K Timed Run
83 Max Rep Bench 10 min max
84 FINISH!!

Round 4 (Phase 2) Day 29 – Chest and Tri (No Shoulders)

facepalm2

I have made a subtle mistake in my schedule. There seems to be too much chest in this second part of the schedule. My goal was to take the shoulder work out of the Chest Triceps and Shoulders routine so that my gym days would not include all 3 body parts. However, I seem to have mixed up the order and got an additional chest workout in there. This 3 weeks are based on my old gym workouts, a 3 day split with no legs however due to the fact I am doing Crossfit workouts and Insanity cardio, legs just aren’t necessary. If you saw my quads you would agree 😉
So I have modified the schedule a little (and gone back and noted the change in the previous posts) and come up with this for the next 4 weeks. Note that I have changed from a 4 on 1 off to a 6 on 1 off which given the failure to stick to my schedule so far probably won’t matter.

29 P90X Chest & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
30 Max Interval Plyo
31 P90X Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
32 WOD with Pullups
33 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
34 Pure Cardio
35 OFF
36 GYM  Chest and Triceps
37 WOD with Pullups
38 GYM Back & Biceps
39 Pure Cardio
40 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
41 WOD with Pullups
42 OFF
43 P90X Chest & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
44 Pure Cardio
45 P90X Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
46 WOD with Pullups
47 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
48 Max Interval Plyo
49 OFF
50 FOY Yoga
51 Core Cardio and Balance
52 Core Synergistics
53 FOY Yoga
54 OFF

29 P90X Chest & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
30 Max Interval Plyo
31 P90X Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
32 WOD with Pullups
33 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
34 Pure Cardio
35 OFF
36 GYM  Chest and Triceps
37 WOD with Pullups
38 GYM Back & Biceps
39 Pure Cardio
40 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
41 WOD with Pullups
42 OFF
43 P90X Chest & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
44 Pure Cardio
45 P90X Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
46 WOD with Pullups
47 GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
48 Max Interval Plyo
49 OFF
50 FOY Yoga
51 Core Cardio and Balance
52 Core Synergistics
53 FOY Yoga
54 OFF

So for day 29 I did the Chest and Tricep portion of Chest Tri and Shoulders. It was about 30 minutes but was actually hard on me since you don’t get the rest of doing shoulders. It is basically a quick circuit of chest and triceps. Since I am doing dips instead of some of the stupid and frankly useless tricep moves Tony provides, my triceps get an awesome workout.

Following such a good day I was disappointed in my Insanity Plyo workout for day 30. For some reason I felt listless and tired. I didn’t make it through many of the sections and given that each one is only an minute that really sucked. Hopefully it was just a reflection of too few calories or not enough sleep.

Round 4 Day 9 – The Stuttering Start (And Paleo Saves My Life)

October 8 2010

While I should have taken 9 days to get to day 9 in fact I have already taken 12 days. This is partly due to the fact my parents are in from out of the country and that we were away last weekend. That being said, I could have put up better numbers. I am averaging 2 days on one off which at the current intensity isn’t going to cut it. This is the sad attempt so far:

P90X Chest & Back, Ab Ripper
Plyometric Cardio Circuit
OFF
P90X Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
WOD with Pullups
OFF
OFF
GYM Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Cardio Power and Resistance
OFF
GYM Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
WOD with Pullups

P90X Chest & Back, Ab Ripper
Plyometric Cardio Circuit
OFF
P90X Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
WOD with Pullups
OFF
OFF
GYM Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Cardio Power and Resistance
OFF
GYM Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
WOD with Pullups

I also am getting the feeling that I am doing too little insanity however I guess that as long as I include the MetCon part of the WOD I will be fine with the cardio workout. Also, if I can keep up walking in the morning 3 days a week it should be enough.

I am also going to start making a concerted effort to jump on the Paleo bandwagon. Now, lots has been said about Paleo and the caveman diet but without sounding like a jerk I was into this when I was in high school. I remember one summer I followed the meat and fruit/veg diet and got pretty amazing results. However I was subject to much ridicule in my house and from my coworkers due to the fact that I was a “weightlifter” but wouldn’t touch pasta or bread, something that back in the late 80’s made you seem like a complete idiot.

After reviewing FitBomb’s entry about his reasons for going Paleo I find that the same reasoning resonates with me now just as it did back then. So for the forseeable future ( now that the weekend carrot cake has finally been finished) I will do the Paleo dance and attempt to reign in my weight before Christmas. I should be hanging around the 220 mark, something that is barely on the horizon from where I stand at this point. Sure I am fit and strong but I also feel like I am a heart attack on legs due to my weight. Given my advanced age (40+) and my family history of heart problems it’s probably time I took steps to stay out of the pine overcoat as long as possible and exercise alone isn’t going to cut it. Not that my diet is usually filled with fast food and donuts but making the switch to Paleo and getting away from the refined sugar and flour is something I think is really going to make a difference.

It’s my WOD day today and rather than sticking with my pullups/jumpups/squats I am going to try a real MetCon and try to see how I do. My choice is Cindy as follows:

As Many Reps As Possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes:

5 pullups
10 Push Ups
15 Squats (Air Squats)

This is supposed to be mixed with an indeterminate amount of Turkish Get-ups, something that  I will have to try before I commit. I think weightless Turkish Get-ups may be all I can manage for now.

P90X / Insanity / CrossFit / Weights – Round 4 Tentative Schedule

I am going to try to work in some Crossfit type WOD workouts in with my Beachbody stuff. Not only that, I have incorporated Gym days as well as P90X days to give me the best of both worlds. Since I have a bench for chest and shoulders I may as well get it used, not only that, it will help me to maintain my strength as well as the flexibility and bodyweight work from the DVDs. I find that having done this for a while that I miss the heavy weights of bench and shoulder press. I miss the massive pump that I get from doing free weights and since I have the ability to work it in, I am going to schedule it as part of Round 4. Having said that, here is the tentative schedule for the next 90 days. You will notice that I have opted to do a 4 on 1 off rotation. I find that doing these workouts is extremely hard on the body and you really do need to schedule more than one day a week off if you are mixing up the workouts together. I find that if I don’t I will get to around 8 or 10 days and suddenly be unable to do the workout and end up taking 2 days off or more. That is not productive in any way so I will try to get the rest I need while still maintaining the work rate. I hace also scheduled a “rest week” to give me a break from the monotony. This is subject to change, obviously, but for now, I think this looks like a fun way to get me to Christmas.

ROUND 4 – P90X / Insanity / WOD /Freeweight  Mix

(Modified after day 28 – Too Much Chest In Phase 2)

1P90X Chest & Back, Ab Ripper
2Plyometric Cardio Circuit
3P90X Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
4WOD with Pullups
5OFF
6GYM Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
8GYM Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
9WOD with Pullups
10OFF
11P90X Chest & Back, Ab Ripper
12Pure Cardio
13P90X Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
14WOD with Pullups
15OFF
16GYM Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
17Plyometric Cardio Circuit
18GYM Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
19WOD with Pullups
20OFF
21P90X Chest & Back, Ab Ripper
22Cardio Power and Resistance
23P90X Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
24WOD with Pullups
25OFF
26Core Cardio and Balance
27Core Synergistics
28Core Cardio and Balance
29P90X Chest & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
30Max Interval Plyo
31P90X Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
32WOD with Pullups
33GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
34Pure Cardio
35OFF
36GYM  Chest and Triceps
37WOD with Pullups
38GYM Back & Biceps
39Pure Cardio
40GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
41WOD with Pullups
42OFF
43P90X Chest & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
44Pure Cardio
45P90X Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
46WOD with Pullups
47GYM Shoulders Traps and Ab Ripper X
48Max Interval Plyo
49OFF
50FOY Yoga
51Core Cardio and Balance
52Core Synergistics
53FOY Yoga
54OFF
55WOD with Pullups
56Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
57Max Cardio
58Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
59OFF
60WOD with Pullups
61Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
62Max Interval Plyo
63Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
64OFF
65WOD with Pullups
66Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
67Max Interval Circuit
68Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
69OFF
70WOD with Pullups
71Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
72Max Cardio
73Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
74OFF
75WOD with Pullups
76Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
77Max Interval Circuit
78Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
79OFF
80P90X Fit Test & Insanity Fit Test
81Max Rep Pullups 10 min max
825K Timed Run
83Max Rep Bench 10 min max
84FINISH!!

Round 3 – Post rest week, day 66

Well the time is fast approaching for coaching to begin and the challenges of working out while spending 2 nights a week at the gym. Not only that, but now I have the baby to contend with who I am beginning to suspect doesn’t have my fitness as one of her main priorities in her life. Each year I have a problem getting the workouts done when it comes to coaching season, not because it is particularly hard to do but because it becomes a great excuse not to do it. This year, I can’t afford to be that way. It is less than 20 days until coaching which (much like last year) won’t quite allow me to finish the program before I start. What I really need to do is to start thinking about my next quarter and what to do with my workouts that will allow me the time, flexibility and challenge to keep my fitness up.

I substituted a bench workout for my chest, shoulders and triceps workout on Monday. It is a significantly different workout than doing pushups and I found that I really missed that full pump that I can only really get from heavy benching. Fortunately due to the type of bench I have I can also do a pretty good shoulder press workout too since doing flies doesn’t really cut it for building or maintaining your shoulder mass. I did find however that I was not sore after, which speaks to the conditioning of the muscle, regardless of the diminished strength. It was great to get back to basics, and I think come the coaching season I will be incorporating a couple of bench workouts into my program. They are short and intense and remind me of why I have been going to the gym for all these years.

Insanity however, is still kicking my ass. I am doing the max workouts now which I find better since I am unable to match the intensity that is required to get the most out of the shorter workouts. I think as time goes along I should also consider getting outside while the weather starts to cool down and do some short distance runs, maybe 1 -3 km at a quick pace to get my running back. I find that jogging hurts my calves and feet but running doesn’t. Weird huh?

Round 3 – Days 6-21 and The Outline

So speaking to many people who have done at least one round of P90X they all seem to say the same thing, that once you are finished it’s time to work something else into the program. Most of them cite the hatred of at least one of the P90X DVDs as the main reason the others say its just a fact of variety. Myself, I have chosen Insanity and Fountain of Youth Yoga to help me along. I documented the first 6 days of my 3rd go around and since I have been sticking pretty well to my plan I thought I would outline it here with 2 stipulations.

1. This is not a weekly program. It is not do 6 days on and 1 day off. It is based on your schedule of breaks, do what you can when you can and rest when you must. Although the schedule adheres to the 7 day routine, by now I think we all understand that the schedule must be flexible.
2. It is not set in stone. There are options to do FOYY or any other oddball workouts you feel like on the days you need a change. Some days you know what you need, some days you don’t. If you feel like you could use a break and do a fit test to see where you are with your fitness then go for it.

The Outline below is based on the following:

Week 1 – 4 Phase 1 Regular Cardio
Week 5 – 7 Phase 2 Mixed Cardio
Week 8 – Rest Week
Week 9 – 12 Phase 3 Max Cardio

Week 1 – 4 Phase 1 Regular Cardio

Week 5 – 7 Phase 2 Mixed Cardio

Week 8 – Rest Week

Week 9 – 12 Phase 3 Max Cardio

The last week was the biggest let down for me with P90X since it is actually a rest week. I felt like I had been working towards something for 90 days and deserved a finale so this time around I am going to work out a handful of workouts that will test me for the last week and see what I can do with the new level of fitness I have achieved. For me, this may include a 5K or 10K run and a day of to-failure chinups and pushups and v-snaps. We will have to see but this time around my 90 days will go out with a bang not a whimper.

I have been doing this for 3 weeks now and this is how it has looked so far:

1 Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X 6/7/2010

2 Plyometric Cardio Circuit 6/8/2010

3 Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X 6/9/2010

4 Cardio Power and Resistance 6/10/2010

5 OFF 6/11/2010

6 Fountain of Youth Yoga 6/12/2010

7 Pure Cardio 6/13/2010

8 Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X 6/14/2010

9 Plyometric Cardio Circuit 6/15/2010

10 Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X 6/16/2010

11 Cardio Power and Resistance 6/17/2010

12 Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X 6/18/2010

13 Pure Cardio 6/19/2010

14 Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X 6/20/2010

15 Plyometric Cardio Circuit 6/21/2010

16 Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X 6/22/2010

17 Cardio Power and Resistance 6/23/2010

18 Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X 6/24/2010

19 Pure Cardio 6/25/2010

20 OFF – Deck build all day 6/26/2010

21 OFF – Deck build all day 6/27/2010

22 Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X 6/28/2010

The Outline:

23 Cardio Power and Resistance 6/29/2010

24 Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X 6/30/2010

25 Pure Cardio 7/1/2010

26 Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X 7/2/2010

27 Plyometric Cardio Circuit 7/3/2010

28 Foutain Of Youth Yoga 7/4/2010

29 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X 7/5/2010

30 Plyometric Cardio Circuit 7/6/2010

31 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X 7/7/2010

32 Max Cardio 7/8/2010

33 Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X 7/9/2010

34 Cardio Power and Resistance 7/10/2010

35 Foutain Of Youth Yoga 7/11/2010

36 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X 7/12/2010

37 Max Interval Plyo 7/13/2010

38 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X 7/14/2010

39 Pure Cardio 7/15/2010

40 Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X 7/16/2010

41 Max Interval Circuit 7/17/2010

42 Foutain Of Youth Yoga 7/18/2010

43 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X 7/19/2010

44 Plyometric Cardio Circuit 7/20/2010

45 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X 7/21/2010

46 Max Cardio 7/22/2010

47 Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X 7/23/2010

48 Cardio Power and Resistance 7/24/2010

49 Foutain Of Youth Yoga 7/25/2010

50 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X 7/26/2010

51 Max Interval Plyo 7/27/2010

52 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X 7/28/2010

53 Pure Cardio 7/29/2010

54 Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X 7/30/2010

55 Max Interval Circuit 7/31/2010

56 OFF – Scheduled Rest 8/1/2010

57 Foutain Of Youth Yoga 8/2/2010

58 Core Cardio and Balance 8/3/2010

59 Core Synergistics 8/4/2010

60 Foutain Of Youth Yoga 8/5/2010

61 Core Synergistics 8/6/2010

62 Core Cardio and Balance 8/7/2010

63 OFF – Scheduled Rest 8/8/2010

64 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X 8/9/2010

65 Max Interval Plyo 8/10/2010

66 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X 8/11/2010

67 Max Cardio 8/12/2010

68 Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X 8/13/2010

69 Max Interval Circuit 8/14/2010

70 OFF – Scheduled Rest 8/15/2010

71 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X 8/16/2010

72 Max Interval Plyo 8/17/2010

73 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X 8/18/2010

74 Max Cardio 8/19/2010

75 Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X 8/20/2010

76 Max Interval Circuit 8/21/2010

77 OFF – Scheduled Rest 8/22/2010

78 Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X 8/23/2010

79 Max Interval Plyo 8/24/2010

80 Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X 8/25/2010

81 Max Cardio 8/26/2010

82 Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X 8/27/2010

83 Max Interval Circuit 8/28/2010

84 OFF – Scheduled Rest 8/29/2010

85 Push Ups and Triceps Test Day 8/30/2010

86 5K run 8/31/2010

87 Pull Ups and V-Snaps (abs) test 9/1/2010

88 Sprint tests with hills 9/2/2010

89 Leg and Back test 9/3/2010

90 Cardio Test 2 9/4/2010