Round 2, Day 36 – Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and Home Bench

invisible-bench-press

I am really happy with this workout now that I have substituted some of the weaker exercises with more bench work. When I bench I feel like I am really working. I have a hard time getting out of the gym rat mindset that unless you are throwing massive amounts of weights around then you really aren’t working. At least this way I get to stress my body, feed my desire to push 45lb plates around and still get a great varied workout.

The bench has been my partner for so many years. From being frustrated at my inability to push 2 plates right through to my bloodvessel busting 395lb singles we have come a long way together. My new partner is the chin up bar. Around a year ago I decided that my lifelong inability to do chin ups was finally going to be a thing of the past. I remember vividly not being able to do more than one chin up, and for a person who (yes I admit) thinks of themselves as pretty strong it was a real disappointment. After all, what kind of person can shoulder press and bench press well over their bodyweight and yet can’t do chin ups. It was an embarrassing secret. I committed to doing more pulldowns and to doing jump releases which are basically jumping up to full chin up and lowering yourself slowly. After much work I found that I was up to around 10 or so, something which I have to admit I always thought would be impossible. My introduction to P90X came shortly after that and since then my chin ups are where they probably should be, although not at Tony’s level, I can certainly hang with the other guys in the videos.

Maybe this is a hangover from the goal setting spiel from yesterday I am not sure. Either way, I find the bench to be a warm reminder of my many many years in the gym and the pull up bar as my hope for the future. I am missing the gym less and less but every so often it’s nice to reminisce with some heavy straight and close grip bench.

Round 2, Day 33-35. Planning your work, working your plan.

Most people don’t plan to fail, they just fail to plan.

I am disappointed in myself. Well, maybe disappointed is the wrong word. Frustrated maybe.

So far the workouts have been fine, I am working hard and although I constantly feel like I am not pushing hard enough that is not the problem. The problem is discipline with my eating habits. So far this round my weight loss has been disappointing and while I know that for most people weight loss isn’t the goal with P90X, for me it is the major aim. I don’t have a reason, and I assume that I am just like so many others out there who really don’t have a good excuse why they are still snacking at night, still buying crap at the coffee shop and waking up feeling like crap every day because they just can’t seem to stop the insanity.

Sadly, I don’t have a solution. Well, maybe I do. There are people who will say that your motivation isn’t enough. You don’t have a big enough “why” to drive you on and in some respects that is true. However, there are people out there with massive motivation, huge goals and reasons for being healthy who still can’t get the job done. The question is why? I believe it is simple, you just haven’t committed to the goal you need to set. Motivation is one thing, having a reason to do something is separate from having a goal and I think that is where I have stumbled a little. Having a reason to succeed is like being back in high school and having a crush on the head cheerleader. It’s great to think about, it makes you feel good but in reality unless there is a plan to go along with the goal that matches the reason you are just some creepy guy who stares too much. What you need is a goal, something concrete that your mind can work on while you sleep, something you can plan for and build action items towards. Without a plan and waypoint goals (with rewards, by the way) your vision is just a pipe dream.

Here is what you need to do. Get a pen and write this stuff down and stop wasting your time.

1. Write down your reason. This should be easy. Mine is to get down to a healthy weight (bodyfat level) before the baby arrives some time in June. You can have more than one reason, come up with two or three. If you can’t think of reasons to be healthy then think of reasons why you don’t want to be dead of an aneurysm or heart failure by Christmas, that usually works.

2. Write down your action plan. Make it basic. For example you should plan to work out at least 5 or 6 days a week and adhere to whatever nutritional guidelines you set for yourself. Some people want to avoid starches and sugars, some want to go vegan. It’s up to you what you do, just pick one and make it part of your plan. This is still pretty simple since it is a large framework that you should have little problem staying within. If you are having difficulty sticking to the 6 days a week thing, don’t sweat it. You are lazy. Just resolve to not be lazy 6 days and be as lazy as you want the other day.

Your plan should also include what method you want to use to get to your end result. You may decide that you are going to do P90X or Insanity or just to go the gym but decide what your vehicle will be. Also, plan ahead for what you will do afterwards. 60 or 90 days is a long time, and to be honest most people won’t make it but the ones who do are often struck down at the finish line by a lack of planning of “what’s next”. (That was me, by the way). The plan can get pretty detailed but if you are using a program like P90X then it becomes very simple.

3. Most people don’t plan to fail, they simply fail to plan. Make a list of your goals and rewards. This is where you start to get concrete. This is the detail that goes into your framework with dates and goals attached. These don’t need to be daily goals, they can span the year if you wish, just make sure that they are measurable and attainable

GOAL COMPLETION DATE REWARD Next Goal
Workout 6 days a week for 4 months (96 days total) June 1 2010 Vibram 5 finger shoes Another 4 months
Weight to 250lbs May 1 2010 Patriot Media box for TV 240lbs
Waist to 36″ May 15 2010 New Jeans and Khakis Waist to 34″

If you structure your goals along with your plan then you have it all in place, you just need to execute the plan. If you find yourself slacking or not executing, then start paying more attention. Write down your progress daily like so many of the online blogging community does. State your goals to people around you or post them in your cubicle or on your fridge. You will find no lack of commitment and drive when you take time to think about your goals. The problem is keeping them at the front  of your mind with so many other things going on. If you have a goal such as a certain waist measurement or a certain number of chin ups then write down your progress on a chart where you can see the improvements.

This is what I need to do because my problem is that my reason is overshadowing my plan and my goals. I spend lots of time thinking about what will happen when the baby gets here and not enough time thinking about what I need to achieve before it happens.

Round Two, Day 32 – Pure Cardio, Pure Hell

Pure Cardio is the epoch of everything that is wrong with the Insanity program. Well, let me rephrase that, it represents everything that is wrong with the way I am approaching these workouts. I am so used to Tony giving us breaks and time to recover before again blasting the bodypart that my feeble brain is trying to comprehend the logic to Shaun T’s method. You see, Insanity is not the same, not by any measure. The fact is that it will take you at least one run through of each Insanity DVD before you get the hang of it. Maybe it’s just me, but I like to know where the end of the workout is so I can focus on it and work towards it. I can’t push myself hard not knowing when the break will come, it’s just not rational for me. So I end up taking breaks in various places and ending up not having worked at my optimal rate. However, now I know what Pure Cardio is like, the next time I do it I won’t be taking breaks because I will know that there is really only 18 minutes or so of pain to the workout.

Last night, regardless of my back pain, I worked through the Pure Cardio DVD and was happy with the workout as a whole with the exception of the timing being difficult to manage. What I did realize at the end is that unless you really push yourself as Shaun encourages you to, you may not get the workout you were expecting. It is easy to underachieve during these sessions if only because they are so short. As long as you go in knowing that the counter on the screen indicates the total time left minus about 4 minutes you will be fine. Work as hard as you can for as long as you can and then take a break. But… if the counter is sitting at 8 minutes, push through. You can do anything for 4 minutes or so can’t you? For me, the workout was a little frustrating. I was tired, I was pushing but I was in pain. It was not a pretty site. By the end I was left wanting more, only because I had neglected to heed the timer. Had I realized what little time there was left, I would no doubt have pushed harder. Next time…

Pure Cardio, then, is in fact everything that is right with the Insanity program. It is truly a High Intensity workout with only around 18 minutes of lung busting cardio as long as you don’t include the “warmup”. Learn to manhandle that 18 minutes and you will learn the joy of Insanity. It may not be for the faint of heart or the “fat burning zone” treadmill losers but in order to get what you can out of it you should be prepared to push yourself harder than you have done before and that, my friends, is no joke.

Round 2, Phase 2, Week 1 – Back Tweak = Back Day!!

I am sporadic in my updating only due to the fact that I am sporadic in my work. I tweaked something in my back the other day and being cautious doesn’t really jive with what I am trying to achieve. However, I have found if I am careful and warm up properly that I can still achieve what I need to while hurting. The Insanity Plyo was the worst. Trying to keep up with Shaun T while feeling like you have daggers up and down your spine is not optimal. But, as they say, you do what you can.

I am really happy to be in Phase 2 if only to enjoy the “other” DVDs in the P90X set which you only get to do during weeks 4-7. Maybe it is a reflection of my enjoyment of a good shoulder workout I am not sure. Anyway, I managed to get through my Back and Biceps day yesterday despite being incredibly uncomfortable. I figured if I was going to be home all day with a sore back, the least I could do is try and get some bodyparts done. As strange as it may sound, doing pullups when my back is sore is a great benefit. By the time the workout was done (it took me almost 90 minutes) I did feel a great deal better. However, I couldn’t manage any Ab Ripper today, it was just agony.

The Pain... It's in there somewhere.

For those of you who have sore backs, don’t let the workouts slip if you can. Especially if it is a back day. I have an inversion table which works wonders for me, but before I got it, doing pullups was an acceptable substitute. The one thing it took me many years to figure out was that moving, exercising, walking and doing chinups made me feel better not worse. The temptation is to lay down and do very little, in fact I posted a page once on what to do when your back goes out however when I wrote that page, I was still far from understanding that the key to rehab of a back injury is exercise. I was also under the impression that back pain was in your back. Since then I have come to understand that my personal pain is a mixture of piriformis, ITB and hamstring issues all rolled into one causing pain through my sciatic nerve and down my leg.

So I am moving a little slowly, just around the time that I am realizing that I am not doing enough and need to step it up a notch.

Round 2, Phase 2. Day “29”. The Next 3 Weeks

I am posting this again only because I had a hard time finding it the other day. Today is day 1 of Phase 2 which means technically it would fall on day 29. I am currently on day 26 having skipped the rest days and probably employed some horrible math.

Day 1: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 2: Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Day 3: Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 4: Pure Cardio with or without Cardio Abs
Day 5: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6: Cardio Power and Resistance
Day 7: Cardio Recovery

I will most likely kill Cardio Recovery in order to ensure that the 2 days coaching are my days off. In light of Tony’s rant that I posted yesterday I am going to stop being “a bitch” and taking that additional day off. It’s time to man up, Tony style!

Today saw the return to Chest Shoulders and Triceps and that also meant a return to using the bench in the gym. Some of the tricep stuff that Tony does is what we in the weightlifting community would refer to as “finishing” moves. In other words, they don’t do much but give you a pump but really aren’t useful in any muscle building way. Any tricep extension that you are only using 10lbs for isn’t worth anything. Not even the time to hit next on the remote. You see, the triceps are a vastly underutilized and underestimated muscle group and in order to get any kind of response from them they need to be worked very hard. Dips and close grip bench are terrific exercises for triceps. Overhead extensions, not so much. If you really want to see your bench press (or in P90X terms, your push ups) improve, blast your triceps with heavy weights for a few weeks, you will be amazed at the results. Of course, this would require you knowing just how powerful your triceps are… Let me just say that in gym terms, you should be able to do about 75% or more of your heaviest bench in a close grip bench grip. If you rely on push ups as your benchmark, you should be able to do 75% of your max regular push ups in military and at the very least 50% in diamond. If not, it could be that your triceps are lagging and need heavy work. Doing anything with a 10 or 15lb dumbell just won’t cut it I am afraid.

That being said, the workout is good, if you substitute enough tricep work to make it worthwhile you will definitely be sore the days following.

Tony Goes Off

OK I admit, Tony is a certain way on his videos that some of us find a little hard to take. However, it’s about getting the message across and in case any of you were in any doubt as to Tony’s true feelings towards you and all those P90X users out there then check out the Tony Rant from the chat room some time ago. It’s a good read and puts Tony right back at the top of the respect list where he belongs. Just until the next time he does the bait and switch with the 40lb dumbbells and hangs his participants out to dry.

TONY GOES OFF – AND USES CAPITALS THE WHOLE WAY!!!!

Round 2 Rest Week 1 Ends – Quit the gym, build your own.

chinupgarage

I am not claiming to be the best handyman, you won’t see me on the next season of Handyman Superstar Challenge but I was impressed with myself at getting the chin up bar installed in the garage. It is nailed to the rafters and is high enough so that a) my feet can’t touch the ground and b) it is above the garage door when it opens. This also keeps my ego in check and will prevent me from doing workouts in the garage with the door open. Not that I would dream of doing that now… but who knows about the summer. I am also going to build some crossfit boxes that you use to jump up onto in order to increase leg power and in addition, I am thinking of building some dumbell holders that I can then install in the basement to get the dumbells off the floor.

I also quit the gym this weekend. I have put the membership on hold indefinitely so that I can spend the next few months on my DVD based fitness and taking full advantage of the gym I faithfully built in the basement. It will also save us $70 a month which will, I assume, go towards a cloth diaper service and not towards a new exhaust or HID headlights for the Jeep or Tony Horton’s 1 on 1 fitness.

The buildup was pretty simple, I suspended 2×4’s from the ceiling joists using 4 large nails each. I will eventually put a lag bolt through each one but for now they are OK. I had bought a hollow metal bar, 48″ long and drilled a similar sized hole through each 2×4 as you can see. I simply threaded the bar through the holes and as you can see, the last support is a little off in alignment. That was due to the fact that when I drilled the holes, at least one of them was at a slight angle. I am not sure how you would combat this without the use of a drill press but it doesn’t seem to have affected it in any way.

The bar was around $25, the wood I had laying around as spare pieces as I did with the nails. I will have to buy the lag bolts / carriage bolts.

I am around 260lbs right now and the bar I set up in the basement (which I will discuss at a later time) has a very slight bow to it now after some vigorous use. However, that one is across a 36″ door frame. I don’t expect this one will bend at all given the 3 support points.

My plan is not to hang from between the 2x4s since I would bang my head on the central support, but rather to use one hand on the outside of one end support and the other between the two far supports to give my head room to clear the bar.

Round 2. Rest Week Review.

So I have been at this a month already and pitifully I find myself unable to crush the workouts like I did during round one. I know I am still some distance from the weight I was during round 1 and that may be enough to explain however I find myself disappointed at my effort level. This week, being rest week, does nothing to assuage that feeling. In fact, I find that I am angering myself by not pushing harder during the workouts. However, this being a week “off” I am not really supposed to push that hard. So I opted for 3 sessions of Core Synergistics from P90X and 3 sessions of the Core, Cardio and Balance from Insanity. With the delay in scheduling due to coaching I am taking approximately 10 days to get through a rest week which is, lets admit it, sub-optimal. So much so that I am thinking that tonight I should bust through into Phase II with a Chest, Shoulders and Triceps workout. I guess I will have to see how I feel however since I will be able to leave work at 330, maybe the planets are aligned in my favour. The two rest week workouts I have been doing have been pretty good, enough of a rest from weights, enough of a boost from cardio. However, the test will be getting back to Phase 2 and seeing if I am really rested enough or not.

So it is time to plan for Phase 2. I am uncertain as to whether to add the Max line of workouts to the mix yet. I think that is going to have to happen at least 2 weeks from now, maybe even into Phase 3. I still have Cardio Power and Resistance, Pure Cardio (with and without Cardio Abs) and Cardio Recovery to add to my current schedule. So here is the plan for the next 3 weeks.

Day 1: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 2: Plyometrics
Day 3: Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 4: Yoga X
Day 5: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6: Kenpo X
Day 7: Rest or X Stretch

Day 1: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 2: Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Day 3: Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 4: Pure Cardio with or without Cardio Abs
Day 5: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6: Cardio Power and Resistance
Day 7: Cardio Recovery

I am modifying slightly to go back to a 7 day workout, given that I will still be off 2 days with coaching at least this will give me an opportunity to fit all the workouts in. Once I have tried Cardio Recovery, I may scrap day 7.

Round 2, Day 20. Rest Week Begins – Core Cardio and Balance Review

Core Cardio and Balance

This workout is a nice break from the crazy pace of some of the other Insanity workouts but it is cleverly designed that you can really modulate your heart rate to give you the kind of workout you are looking for. Each section is 60 seconds unlike most of the other workouts I have done so far and that in itself makes this a challenge.

Here’s the breakdown:

Warmup

Switch Heel Kicks – Like skipping rope with an imaginary rope. And imaginary hip hop friends
Mummy Kicks – Arms out at eye level, legs kicking straight ahead with knees straight. I’m not a fan of this one.
Side-to-Side Football Shuffles – Hands up in the famous football stance, shuffle 4 times a side
Log Jumps – Rather than jumping across the log, Shaun tells you to imagine is rolling towards you. Avoid it!
8 High Knees / 8 Power Jacks – He tends to twist slightly on the high knees.
8 Fast Feet / 8 Hooks – Fast feet are stationary football shuffles, hooks are same as Kenpo.

Stretch

Very basic stretch, after all, this is not a hardcore workout by any stretch of the imagination.

The Workout

Each move is done for 60 seconds if you can make it. If you are watching, there are times when several of the participants in the background give up and rest. That makes me feel better and is a surprise motivation to me. This may have been done on purpose, if it was, Shaun T is my hero. Likely it wasn’t, it’s just they think he can’t see them!

Moving Ski Jumps – Same as regular, just move 4x to the left and then back.
Hit the Floor – This is a single floor touch on each side with a high reach in between.
Level 1 Drills – 4 push-ups, 8 plank runs, stand up, drop down, repeat. A modified burpee.
Heismans
8 Switch Kicks & 8 Hop Squats – Switch kicks are just front high kicks with no rest. Hop squats are like stationary Groucho’s. Get into a plie squat and jump slightly, staying in your squat.
High Jumps – Jump. High. Higher is better.
Moving Plank Walk – This is hard since it’s the only real work your shoulders and chest do. No pushups, just walk side to side in plank position.
8 Elbows & 4 Suicides – Kenpo elbows with suicides*
4 Hops Switch – Hop on one leg 4x then switch. Other knee should be at hip height.
8 Jabs & Jumps – Jabs from Kenpo in a horse stance then jump half turn to face the opposite way and jab there.

* Suicides are hard to explain, easy to do. I tried explaining it to my gym kids and they were completely lost. It is basically a floor touch with your left hand, 3 steps to the right, floor touch with your right hand. Sounds simple, but apparently not. You have to be quick with your steps, they are suicides so you are supposed to be running the same way you would if you were running suicide drills across a floor.

Next comes Hip Flexor Burners.

Be warned, the problem with this exercise is that you can’t really tell how long you are going to be doing each part. It is in fact 30 seconds, I think it would have been slightly easier had I known that. It’s also 3 sections after each other.

Start with arms up in fighting stance. Lift your back knee until it is above hip level, lower and tap the floor and repeat for 30 seconds. This is the easy part.
The second part requires you to pulse your knee up for another 30 seconds, while keeping your foot off the ground and your knee above hip level. That part starts to hurt.
Finally keep the knee at hip level and kick your foot out to horizontal and back. For 30 seconds.

At this point there are only 2 moves left. Oblique Knee Lifts and Plie Shoulder Complex.

Oblique Knee Lifts - Reach your right arm up to the sky, while bringing it down to the side like a lat pulldown (or chin up I suppose) raise the same side knee to the side until your elbow meets the knee. This is a good exercise if you really squeeze the obliques. If not, it’s easy for this to be a time waster.

Plie Shoulder Complex

This is a five-part exercise, each part being 30 seconds.

Start in a deep plie squat, with your thighs parallel to the floor (the deeper, the harder it is). Extend your arms to the side, palms down and pulse them up and down like you are gently flapping your wings.

Next, arms start at the side and clap in front of your face, arms straight. Stay in plie squat.

Next, instead of clapping to the front, clap overhead, arms straight, still in plie squat.

Next do arm circles forward just like the P90X version only you are still in your squat.

Finally, circle the opposite way and after about 20 seconds Shaun T calls it quits. If you look at the timer, as they are all high fiving and laughing it up, your timer is still running. Don’t be lazy, fill the time.

I liked this workout. It was as hard as I needed it to be and it was really easy to dial it up when my heart rate started to fall.

Switch Heel Kicks
Mummy Kicks
Side-to-Side Football Shuffles
Log Jumps
8 High Knees / 8 Power Jacks (and repeat)
8 Fast Feet / 8 Hooks (and repeat)
After five minutes of stretching, the workout begins in earnest. Ten moves are done in sequence. As in Pure Cardio) each are about a minute long, and none are repeated:
Moving Ski Jumps (just like regular Ski Jumps, but you jump 4 times to the right before jumping 4 times to the right — and repeat)
Hit the Floors (nothing new)
Level 1 Drills (nothing new — do four push-ups, eight plank runs, stand up, drop down into plank position and repeat)
Heismans
8 Switch Kicks & 8 Hop Squats (exactly what it sounds like)
High Jumps (from a standing position, jump as high as possible and repeat)
Moving Plank Walk (similar to Moving Push-Ups, but without any actual push-ups; also, you move 4 to the right and 4 to the left)
8 Elbows & 4 Suicides (throw alternating elbows while in a horse stance, and then drop down for suicide drills)
4 & 4 Hops (hop on your right leg four times with your left leg knee above your hip, and then swuitch legs and repeat)
8 Jabs & Jumps (jab the air with alternating fists, and then jump and spin 180 degrees, land and repeat)
With only a few minutes left in the session, I was feeling pretty damn good about myself.
But then came the Hip Flexor Burner

Round 2 – Day 19. Rest Week Is Here – Or I Can’t Count!

I was going through the days I have already done, trying to keep track of what days I have done and which I have replaced. Apart from being appalled at the amount of days off I have given myself I find that the numbering is getting confusing. This is partly due to the fact I am doing 5 days out of the week instead of 6 due to coaching but also because I am counting in 6 day weeks. Something is not right.

The solution would have been to plan the workouts ahead of time however there are a couple of reasons that didn’t happen. First, I was just supposed to be doing P90X with the guys at work. Then I started getting distracted and bored with the monotony and got hold of Insanity. Second, even after I got the Insanity package, my plan was to wait until at least phase 2 before I started but just like a kid on Christmas morning I couldn’t help myself and opened the package. If there is something I can’t resist it’s a challenge and seeing the Insanity DVDs opened a whole world of stuff I assumed I couldn’t do.

So here I am, after a mish mash of workouts at rest week. The plan is outlined below and what is more, I plan to figure out what to do for the rest of the P90X days to incorporate my new friend Shaun T. But I will reiterate that if you are going to try this, especially if you can’t do it EVERY DAY then set out a schedule and stick to it. Keeping track of your workouts is hard enough at the best of times, but once you start adding different packages together you risk losing touch of the balance of the workout system. So for the time being, for phase 2 I will be substituting the cardio workouts for variations of Insanity as planned. I have 13 DVDs to go through so variety shouldn’t be an issue.

Yoga X 3/1/2010 Monday COACHING 3/2/2010 Tuesday Core Cardio and Balance 3/3/2010 Wednesday COACHING 3/4/2010 Thursday Core Synergistics 3/5/2010 Friday Core Cardio and Balance 3/6/2010 Saturday Core Synergistics 3/7/2010 Sunday Core Cardio and Balance 3/8/2010 Monday