P90X Review – End Of Week Four
© Tim Pannell Photography
The end of week #4 with P90X has come and gone. I missed most of the week because of a photo assignment out in LA. I finished up the week doing P90X Shoulders & Arms with my wife – Kim, brother in law – Jon and my 8 year old nephew Levi.
It went pretty well and was fun having a bunch of other people to workout with. I played racquetball last night for 1 1/2 hours as well. I played like crap though….never really got into any kind of rhythm. I also aggravated the torn muscle in my shoulder/ triceps. It feels like crap today and I’m worried its gonna give me problems for a long time now. I’m just getting into a nice groove with P90X and don’t want to get out of the habit again. The best thing for it is probably to back off for several weeks, but I can tell you right now….that’s not going to happen.
I really want to get this extra weight off once and for all. I’m sick of lugging it around and not feeling as well as I could if I just lost it. I have to do better.
I’m still at -9 lbs. so far for this round of P90X and expecting to lose at least 20 more pounds before the next 2 months go by.
I’m taking today off….let my body rest up a little bit and then I’ll start back up on Monday morning.
P90X Reviews – Week Three In The Can
P90X Shoulders & Arms © Tim Pannell Photography
Week # three has been an interesting week to say the least. We have lots of family in town again visiting my sister in law and I’ve been doing P90X with another brother and sister in law the last couple of days. It’s been fun. He does a lot of mountain biking and has a bunch of buddies where her works that do P90X so he was curious about the workouts and the results.
I started him and his wife out on P90X Shoulders and Arms and then went to P90X Plyometrics. They’re both in decent shape and enjoyed the workouts. Both of them were surprised at the intensity……especially with Plyometrics. We have 3 sisters and their families staying with us this week and one of the others pooh poohed the workout saying that she does aerobics all the time….blah, blah, blah.
I’m sure there are other workouts out there that can kick people’s butts as much or more than P90x……but I like these P90X workouts and I believe they’re pretty effective. It’s also really easy to say we’re whimps and sissies and criticize from the comfort of one’s jammies eating cereal at my dining room table.
There is also a big intensity difference between doing step aerobics and doing jump training. In any case…..my “exercising” brother and sister in law seem to like the P90X routines and will probably buy into the program.
I was really tired and lethargic yesterday for whatever reason. Maybe I’m just overwhelmed having 3 other families in my house with all their kids……who knows. I love having people visit and we definitely have people visiting at the moment.
Everybody that’s here with us is pretty cool….even the one that’s critical of my P90X Plyometrics workout. I wish they were here for a different reason…….it sucks that Melanie has cancer. She is doing really well though and just recently found out she qualifies for a clinical trial with the Huntsman Center that is over 80% effective at destroying tumors. She just finished radiation treatment yesterday and will start the trial in 4 weeks as long as there is no more trace of cancer in her brain.
She’s become extremely weak from the radiation and the hormones they’ve been giving her. It’s hard to believe she’s the same person that was P90X’ing in my living room everyday and looking pretty buff just 3 months ago. Cancer is just crap!
Today I’m debating on doing P90X Kenpo X or doing another Chest and Back workout. Maybe we’ll do Yoga X……I guess I’ll see what interests them. I’ll be playing racquetball for 2 hours after this workout so I don’t want to be exhausted after it…..Kenpo X is one of the easier routines for me to do….so I’m leaning that way.
My weight is about the same as last week, perhaps I’ve gained back one or two pounds……not happy about it, but we’ve been feeding an army and I’ve been eating more than is wise at this point.
My arms are starting to bulk up again which is nice to see. I gained at least an inch on them at the beginning of the year and then watched 3/4 of it disappear during the 2 months that I took it easy because of my elbow.
I did my all time best at the side tri rise exercise………30 each arm…….lets see if my naysaying sister in law can crank that out.
P90X Reviews Week Two
© Tim Pannell Photography
Ok….my P90X review of this last week is……..it was a good week even though I didn’t lose the kind of weight I wanted to. I did 5 straight days of P90x and played racquetball 4 times for over 2 hours each time. Here it is the 2nd day of my 2nd week and I’m feeling pretty good right now.
On Monday this week, I did P90X Chest& Back. I was pretty sore, I’ve still got a pulled muscle in my right shoulder as well as my right tricep. I got through everything but the military push ups. I could only do a few of those without really hurting those pulled muscles.
My wife insisted I go to a Chiropractor that day to get worked on for the rib issue I’ve been having. It’s felt as though my lower ribs have been out of place for several weeks now…mostly it just keeps me from taking a full breath.
The Chiropractor was great…I can breath again. The last time I played racquetball last week….Saturday…..I really had a hard time breathing and bending over because of the pain in my ribs. The doc said I was ridiculously tight in my thoracic region. He cracked and popped away and I could feel the tightness subside….at least mostly.
I played racquetball Monday night and was looking forward to being pain free…..instead my left knee decided to be a problem. It was pinched all night long , making it really difficult to step into any of my shots or run hard and stop quick to swing. I really struggled and by the time I went home…..I was as hammered as I’ve ever been.
I could barely walk into the house….pathetic. I didn’t think I’d be moving at all for a day or two, but to my surprise I woke up yesterday and didn’t feel too bad. I had a submission deadline for a bunch of images I’d created over the last couple of weeks so I didn’t end up doing P90X Plyometrics with my wife. I skipped it…..missed it, but played racquetball last night so at least I didn’t go an entire day without some form of exercise.
To my surprise, I felt great last night when I played. I was breathing well and moving pretty close to pain free. The knee was a little tight, but none of the pain was there from the previous evening. I played for a couple hours….played really well until the last 15 or 20 minutes when I could tell I was running out of gas. I was up 5 games to 2 at that point, but lost the last 2 games. LOSER!!!!
Today I’m gonna pop in the P90X Shoulders & Arms DVD and see how my tricep and shoulder respond. They don’t feel too bad just sitting here typing away. I think I’ve turned the pain corner with this round of P90X.
I’ve been pretty sore most of last week, but am moving around much better today. I go to the chiropractor again today at 10. That should take care of the last couple of issues in my back and neck. Now I just have to really concentrate on my eating habits and get this weight off once and for all.
P90X Workout Review – Attitude Adjustment – 07/13/09
Beachbody Results © Tim Pannell Photography
Last week was actually not a great week. I got through the 4th of July weekend and actually lost weight. Monday morning I weighed in at 268 lbs. and was feeling fantastic.
The problem shift in attitude happened after I ate a bunch of junk that I’d been avoiding for the previous month or so. My oldest daughter also had a birthday on Wednesday last week and I ate cake and ice cream then as well.
In and of itself, that’s probably not such a big deal, but we had extra ice cream laying around the house….well, not actually laying around the house, but calling out to me from the freezer non stop.
I had some ice cream several days in a row and what I noticed was that I had less and less desire to work out once I started systematically filling my pie hole with a lot of junk.
In full confession mode here…..I’ve always liked ice cream, but I became and addict when my wife worked at Baskin Robbins while we were in college and I got used to eating it everyday.
In fact BR is absolutely responsible for me gaining 25 pounds shortly after Kim and I got married. It was the first time in my life that I ever even had a weight issue.
Now that you know the history, you’ll understand a bit better why this is so frustrating to me. I know better, I know I need to be careful around ice cream. It’s not like my fitness quest is over, far from it. It is a setback though.
Had I continued last week the way I had the previous week, I probably would have lost an additional 2 or 3 pounds. Instead I hung out in limbo for a week.
The interesting thing is the shift in my attitude. Prior to the ice cream binge, I couldn’t wait to get to my workout because it always felt so good. The last several days have been difficult for me to get motivated.
I”m sitting here writing instead of lifting weights and riding the bike. So……that being said, I’m gonna stop writing for the moment and go workout, even if I’m not totally fired up about it. I’ll be back in an hour and a half……………..
It’s 2 hours later and I’m feeling a lot better. I rode the bike for 55 minutes and I upped it’s intensity from 3 to 4. Then I did an hour of P90X Shoulders & Arms even though I was scheduled to do Back & Chest.
My arms felt weak and wimpy so I decided to start the week with my favorite set of exercises. I’m really glad I worked through my bad attitude and just did my workout. My body feels great, my arms are nice and tingly and I have a great “fitness” buzz on. My mind is clear now and I’m ready to tackle the week.
I know that there are people out there that once they commit to something they seem to never stumble, but when it comes to working out or eating a certain way, I’m not one of them. I’m going to have a few “down days”.
I’m not making excuses here…….I plan on doing better, but I’m not going to beat myself up for having a set back. That won’t help me reach my ultimate goal. So I’m gonna sit down and take a good long look at what I did last week and how it effected my overall plan and then I will learn from it.
All I can do today is start back on course and make a change for the better. I put in a good 2 hour workout and I feel great! That’s success in my book. The past is now in my past. I can actually do something in the present to have a positive effect on my future.
If you’ve struggled or are currently struggling with your weight, look at the past only to learn from it and then make a plan and stick to it.
Hang in there and don’t let the little or even the big setbacks get you down on yourself. Just keep moving forward and before you know it you’ll be hitting your fitness goals and maybe even moving above and beyond your health related goals.
Don’t let anyone or anything stop you from claiming what’s rightfully yours. It’s your body, it’s your health…..own it for crying out loud!
If I can get into shape, then anyone can. If you’re on the fence, what are you waiting for. There will never be a better time to start than right now. Try the p90x workouts, try a gym membership, get a personal trainer, whatever works or will work for you. Make a choice and follow it up with a bigtime commitment!
If you are waiting for an attitude adjustment to start working out, flip it around and workout so you get the attitude adjustment you want. Just close your eyes and bull your way through it if you have to, but I can guarantee you’ll feel better once you’ve done it.
The times you feel least like working out are probably the most important times to actually get your butt off the couch and start moving.
Special thanks to condron.us for promoting the Fatboy Fitness Blog, we appreciate it!
