Round 5 Day 1 – The Plan And The Future

lots of kettlebellsSo as you can no doubt tell, I did kind of bail on Round 4 leaving with about 2 weeks left to the 3 month mark. However, the timing was problematic, with Christmas, new weights, new methodologies creeping in I thought it was finally time to move along. I am coming to the realization that this time around, P90X, the reason for starting this blog in the first place, may not actually have a place here. It’s a little sad, and since I am going to commit to having a cardio day during my workout days then a revisit to Kenpo or Plyo may be in the cards. However, the days of following Tony along through mind numbingly boring set after set of curls or pushups are gone. That and his unbearably inane commentary. So what next you ask? Well, as you can probably guess it will involve kettlebells, Olympic Lifts, WODs and a dab of cardio. Here is the plan for the first month, more to follow later as I get into the schedule for the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge). I am also going to try and stay within a calendar time frame rather than a set 90 days, I would like to finish Round 5 around the start of April when my parents and sister come to town to see the baby. Once the weather is nicer, I will have more flexibility in what I can do using the deck outside as a workout platform, so things will change by necessity.

I need to be flexible with the days off, so what I want to do is commit to a 4 day stretch, sometimes it may get to 6 days in a row, other times I may be forced into a 2 or 3 day hiatus. Either way, the rotation is going to be 8 day. 2 4 day stretches containing everything I need. The variety will no doubt come from the WOD which I will mostly take from the Crossfit site but reserve the right to do a named workout should I feel the desire. I won’t be counting days off this time around either which will probably fit me in around the 75-80 day mark. I’m kind of making this up as I go along right now so bear with me. I need to satisfy certain things, I need bench, I need pullups, I need the RKC and I need some form of cardio day to keep my endurance up. I also need deadlifts, clean and press and for the time being some form of squat without getting under a bar. So here goes.

Day 1 – RKC Minimum Swings (The RKC Minimum is 4 weeks, then transition into Rite Of Passage)
Day 2 – RKC TGU and WOD
Day 3 – Bench and dips (Chest, shoulder, tri)
Day 4 – Cardio or stretch or Yoga

Day 5 – RKC Minimum Swings
Day 6 – RKC TGU and WOD
Day 7 – Deadlifts and Squat (Legs and Back)
Day 8 – Cardio or stretch or Yoga

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.

R4 D73 – RKC Is Taking Over

treadmill-catsHappy New Year everyone, and I hope now we are 4 days in that your renewed commitment to health and, for some, beauty, is intact!

I am at a bit of a crossroads at this time. Being the start of the year, it is a logical time to start anew and get things rolling in the right direction. Even though I am only on day 73, the fact is that I had only planned on an 84 day program anyway and the last week (79-84) was slated as a testing week. So I think what I am going to do is to do a couple of Crossfit and RKC workouts, get the fit tests done while I build the next phase plan. The thing about the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) workout to start is that it is really only 4 days a week, 2 of which are just 5 minutes of Turkish Get Ups. So I think I can use the swing/clean days as a full day workout, and add the TGUs as a start or an end to an existing Crossfit or compound lifting day and that in itself would give me a 4 day split. The problem would be working in the lifts and skills I want to do to the program.

I figure I need the following as a minimum to maintain my current skill level:

Deadlifts
Squats / Power Leg Training
Pull ups
Bench
Some form of compound shoulder press (not military press)

Mostly these would be covered off by the WOD I would hope (except the bench), plus I can work some in as the Active Rest during the RKC. I will stick with an Insanity workout I think but I feel like for the first time I will be stepping back from P90X as a staple. It’s not that I don’t like it, or don’t believe in it but I think that I am a little worn out with it and really my skills have outgrown the methodology. As far as Insanity goes, I enjoy the workout and the structure is still entertaining to me. I know I don’t need it for aerobic stress, but rather for a mental break.

As far as Day 73 went, I did the first day of the RKC again with the swings and the active rest. It is by far the toughest 22 minutes I have encountered to date! Looking at my final week, I think I will still do the P90X and Insanity Fit Tests and the timed 5K run (just to run the 5K run would be a big improvement!) but that will only be 3 workouts. Add to that 1 more RKC and 2 WODs and I have 6 active days and maybe 2 rest days until I will need to start the next phase. Better get to work!

By the way, I hit my goal, albeit a day or two late.

2494

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

Dining on Accountability

Sometimes letting your mind go is worse than letting your body go

It has been a while since I posted however this was something I realized was going to happen and was prepared for. It is something I am also prepared to counteract. However, not posting to this blog every day has taken a toll on my momentum mentally speaking. A large part of my commitment to fitness is also a commitment to public (albeit not popular) accountability via this site and while I knew I would have a hard time trying to recover from  my back injury and going to baby classes and taking trips out of town I didn’t realize that not posting to my blog would have such a profound effect on my attitude. I find myself listless mentally, a state I was hoping to avoid since mental apathy is the worst thing you can do to your workouts.

Of course, like anything in life you should plan for an overextension of time, with projects at work we like to plan an extra 50% of time in order to achieve realistic timelines and I had done that with my back. However, it is now time to take back control and unfortunately as I stepped on the gas yesterday I found I was in neutral. So it’s time to wake up my mind and get back in the game. My back is still terribly sore however now I am thinking more from inactivity than from the injury. This week and the next couple are tailor made for catching up with my workouts. Today I have coaching so it is a wash but hopefully I will be able to engage my brain and get my attitude straight for tomorrow. This weekend is the final gymnastics competition of the year and as such is the final push and since it is at our club, the Thursday class will likely be compromised anyway leaving today as the last real training before the end. Given that I coach older kids too, for some of them it will be their last competition of their gymnastics career so this week is particularly significant for many reasons.

We are 3 weeks away from our due date, which means that basically the baby could be born any day now. I am hoping not during vault on Sunday, if we can make it to Monday with the baby still inside, we will be fine!

So in order to get my head back in the game and hopefully encouraging my body to follow here is the schedule that I will be following for the next 14 workouts, regardless of timing.

P90X Insanity Hybrid
Day 1Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 2Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Day 3Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 4Cardio Power and Resistance
Day 5Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6Pure Cardio
Day 7Rest or X Stretch or Yoga X
Day 1Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 2Plyometric Cardio Circuit
Day 3Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 4Cardio Power and Resistance
Day 5Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6Pure Cardio
Day 7Rest or X Stretch or Yoga X

P90X Insanity Hybrid

Day 1Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X

Day 2Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Day 3Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X

Day 4Cardio Power and Resistance

Day 5Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X

Day 6Pure Cardio

Day 7Rest or X Stretch or Yoga X

Day 1Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X

Day 2Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Day 3Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X

Day 4Cardio Power and Resistance

Day 5Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X

Day 6Pure Cardio

Day 7Rest or X Stretch or Yoga X

This is, in fact, the start of my insanity Hybrid that I originally had planned to do after my P90X Round 1. However, I got sidetracked and looking at my “reality hybrid” tracker I realize that I was so far off this it is ridiculous… So I am going to patch up my Round 2 and get back to work regardless of the fact that I have had almost 50 days off. The reason being that I don’t want to call it Round 3, it will give a false sense of achievement that I don’t deserve and haven’t earned.

I don’t have a problem calling this Day 43 and putting 47 days in to make up a full Round 2. I just hope that I can get started in good faith this week and not be too sore for when the baby gets here since I secretly have a plan to blast my body to pieces with my new home made gym equipment and to build a lower deck outside my basement gym so I can spill out into the summer heat while doing my workouts.

More on the home made equipment as soon as it is done. I am working on a dip station and something to store my dumbbells on not to mention the replacement for the chin up bar in the garage. As a hint I have found that the metal bar I was using (which was hollow, bought from Home Depot) has been usurped by a plumbing fitting used for pool and spa plumbing. A very solid 4ft bar, much thicker than the other one which I am confident will support my weight with no problem at all.

I feel better already…