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