P90X Reviews – Spent Last Week Sick
© Tim Pannell
We’ve had company for 8 of the last 9 weeks and it finally happened. I caught my 2 year old nephew’s cold. I was really sick most of last week.
I did P90X Kenpo X on Monday and that was it for the week. The rest of the time I was just one big coughing, sneezing, runny nosed slob.
My wife Kim and I got back into P90X yesterday. My brother in law Jon came over as well. We ended up doing P90X Chest & Back.
It felt like I took more like a month off. I was really drained of strength and energy yesterday. I wound up pulling something near my right shoulder blade……probably over compensating for the muscle pull I’ve had in my right shoulder and tricep for over the last month.
I did a bunch of soccer and lacrosse images with my 2 sons last week so I wasn’t completely exercise free. Even though I roll around a lot on the ground and move heavy equipment and lights all over the place……its still not P90X.
I’m going to be doing P90X plyometrics this morning by myself. My wife had to head off to work early today. It’s so much easier and more fun to work out with her……at least that will be something I can look forward to doing tomorrow.
I’ve been reading a lot about nutrition lately and am aiming at having a better defined diet over the coming weeks. I’ll share what I come up with once I come up with it.
P90X Review end of Week#2
P90X © Tim Pannell Photography
Here it is almost the end of my 2nd week of P90X. If I had to review this week I’d say that it was a turning point for me. I’ve lost 8-9 pounds over the last 12 days. I can get through all of the P90X DVD’s that are part of my routine. The first week I couldn’t make it through all of P90X Plyometrics or P90X Yoga X.
This week I got through every workout that I did. My body is over the initial soreness that comes at the startup of the P90X series. I had my back worked on twice by a chiropractor and felt much better, although at the moment, my back is hurting again. Perhaps I threw it out a little last night while I was playing racquetball. I’ve played 2 hours of racquetball every day for 4 days in a row along with my morning P90X routine.
I’m breathing better, which is wonderful. My arms feel better. My shoulder is still sore, but it’s getting better. I can tell that I’m getting stronger again.
Another benefit I’ve noticed is that my balance is much better. Its interesting how my whole body responds to these workouts. I would say it’s a pretty complete workout…..every part of my body has been sore at one point or another and at the moment the soreness is subsiding.
I have to make sure that I keep a good attitude throughout this next week because this is about the time that I let down and eat a bunch of crap and don’t stay focused. I’ve lost 8-9 pounds…..but I have 66 more to go.
I did P90X Kenpo X today and kept up with it really well. Out of all the P90X workouts this is the one that seems to be the easiest for me. I still sweat a lot while doing it, but I don’t feel like I’m going to drop dead in the middle of it like I’ve felt while doing Plyometrics.
My goal this weekend……no junk food. No ice cream, no chips, no cookies, etc.
I guess I’ll see how it goes…..have a great weekend everybody!
P90X Review – I Hate Plyometrics
© Tim Pannell Photography
Week #2 day #4………I skipped P90X plyometrics on Tuesday so I did Plyo today……I hate this DVD! This workout hurts so much it just about kills me every time I do it. To be honest, it’s more like a love hate relationship that I have at this point with P90X Plyometrics.
When I’m done with this workout……I”m always thrilled that I did it. I know I really need this one and it has helped me a ton with racquetball.
Last week I think I only lasted about 35 minutes into it. This week I managed to do the whole workout, but I wanted to quit so bad at that 35 minute mark. I just forced my way through it. I played racquetball for 2 hours last night and my legs were pretty tired going into this DVD. My quadriceps were burning for almost the entire hour. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to finish a workout as I was this morning.
The results are starting to pick up as well….I’m now down 9 pounds from where I started out last week. Now this is the point that I ususally congratulate myself into a bunch of nasty cheeseburgers and or…emphasis on and ice cream. Then the results start to back slide and I get bummed and the whole thing goes down the crapper. I will not do that this time.
I really can feel the momentum shifting this time around…..I don’t know that I can explain why there’s a difference, but trust me….there is. I’m not failing this time around….I’ve got to make it work.
Tomorrow’s Friday and we’ll have more family in town to visit my sister in law as she battles her lung cancer…….she’s doing remarkably well by the way. She is really an inspiration to so many of us as we watch her deal with this entire thing with so much dignity and class as well as determination. She is going to overcome this no matter what the odds.
I’ll be playing racquetball again tonight for a couple of hours and then tomorrow I’ll end up doing P90X Kenpo X which will feel like cheating or not doing anything compared to P90X Plyometrics. It’s almost like a day off!!!!!
P90X Setbacks
© Tim Pannell Photography
This was a crappy week for P90X! There’s no other way to describe it.
I had a number of setbacks this week, mostly soreness in my left elbow and a fair amount of lower back pain.
I did the P90X Chest & Back workout on Monday and the P90X Shoulders & Arms workout on Tuesday.
On Wednesday I could barely move my left elbow.
This type of pain would come around fairly often in my right elbow when I was playing racquetball.
This is the second time I’ve experienced this in my left elbow. If you’ve ever had tennis elbow…….that is what this feels like.
It got so bad I could barely play any low notes on my guitar without serious pain.
The twisting motion is just horrible.
I decided to take it easy the rest of the week……thinking that it would get better.
Well, it hasn’t really. The left elbow is still really sore.
I’m guessing I overdid it with any of the bicep exercises in the P90X Shoulders & Arms routine.
I’ve added a lot of strength to my arms and I guess I just pushed it too hard.
As far as my lower back is concerned….I haven’t got a clue. Throughout most of my experience with P90X I’ve been pain free in my back.
I did P90X Kenpo X yesterday with my wife, sister in law, brother in law and niece.
I figured this wouldn’t hurt my elbow any. It was more painful than I expected it to be, but not too bad.
This workout actually helped stretch out my back and as of this morning the pain in my lower back is almost gone.
There is still some pressure, but nothing like the last couple of days.
I think this next week I’ll stick to the P90X Yoga X, Kenpo X and Aerobics X workouts to give my elbow some rest.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
P90X Workout – Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
© Tim Pannell Photography
Well, we finished day 4 yesterday by doing the P90X Chest, Shoulders & Arms Workout.
It feels so good to be doing P90X consistently. It’s only been 5 days since I started working out with my wife and sister in law, but I can tell that this is becoming a repeatable routine.
We started working out on Thursday with P90X Shoulders and Arms. Friday was Kenpo X, Saturday we did Core Synergistics.
We took a break on Sunday and started back up on Monday with Chest, Shoulders & Triceps.
I’m not sure what workout we’ll do this morning, but I know we’ll be doing one of them.
My body is sore in a few places, but not too bad when you consider the intensity of the workouts.
Some of the different types of push ups done in the “chest, shoulders & arms” workout really tax me.
I’m feeling tightness right where my chest attaches to my shoulders.
It’s a good feeling. That’s one of my favorite parts of working out…….feeling my muscles and being just a little bit sore.
The beauty of the P90X routines is that they work different areas with different exercises from disc to disc.
The soreness I feel in my body moves from day to day to different muscle groups………..I love it.
That feedback from my muscles lets me know the workouts are doing what they’re supposed to do.
The bottom line for me is this – I am at a stage in my life where I can’t wait any longer to get committed to changing my lifestyle.
I started P90X last year and have made a lot of improvements in my life.
I’m eating better than I was. I’m working out more often than I was.
This year I need to get more consistency. I know it’s unrealistic for me to cut out sugar completely, it’s just not gonna happen.
Though I can and will do a better job of limiting the amount of sugar I take in.
I have a better system in place this year to keep me on track with my workouts.
I’m basically just piggy backing off of my sister in law since she’s been working out on a daily basis for years.
My wife and I are accountable to her and since she’s coming over to the house in the mornings for P90X with us, we have no excuses.
We have to show up.
In fact, she just walked in so I’ll have to finish this post after today’s P90X butt kicking.
I’m back after an hour of P90X “X Stretch”. It felt pretty good.
I definitely need to work on my flexibility. This workout helped me easily identify the areas of my body I need to work on.
I know that by keeping with it my flexibility will improve.
I’m so glad I’m in a position to be working out every morning. It just improves my entire outlook for the day as well as gets my body in shape.
If you’ve struggled with your weight year after year or decade after decade you have to make a choice.
I’ve decided that I can’t continue to live my life with an extra 100 pounds. I’ve lost over 45 pounds and have about 55 more to go.
I know that as I apply what I’ve learned by cycling through the P90X workouts, ride my bike consistently and eat more responsibly I’ll eventually reach my goal.
Maybe I do it in a couple of months, maybe it takes me a couple years. I am embracing the process and focusing on that as oposed to just focusing on results.
I will be healthier from doing these things, whether or not it immediately shows up on the scale.
My mindset is changing as I do more and more of these workouts.
I’m no longer just hopeful. I actually expect to succeed at reaching my fitness goals.
I can now see myself at my target weight. I can picture it in my mind’s eye.
I can feel it, I can taste it. I will reach it
P90X Kenpo X Style
P90X Kenpo X Workout © Tim Pannell Photography
Okay! I just finished the Kenpo X P90X Workout with my wife and sister in law and feel pretty good.
I’m still struggling with my breathing, my lungs are scratchy and itchy and operating well shy of 100%, but I’m at least able to keep up with the P90X DVD for the entire hour.
The stretching is always the hardest part of the workout for me. I’m amazed at how flexible everybody is even though they’re extremely muscular.
It gives me something to shoot for at the very least.
I can say this…….I’m more flexible today than I was the first time I did the Kenpo X workout.
I’m also not nearly as wiped out as I was the first time I did the exercises.
It’s nice to be able to see progress being made over time.
I haven’t done much of anything the last couple of months because of selling our house and moving. A P90X workout here, a P90X workout there, a 1/2 hour or 45 minute bike ride, but nothing even close to consistent. Things were way too busy and hectic.
I know, I know……….I should have made time to work out more whether or not life was hectic.
Well, that’s in the past. I’ll work on that in the future if my life is ever that crazy again.
For now, I’m working on settling into a routine of getting up early and getting my workout done first thing in the morning.
I’ve got some good workout buddies, my wife Kim and her sister Melanie.
It makes it so much easier to get up and get started when I know that someone else will be working out along side me.
It’s nice to know that I have their support. It’ll help me reach my 210 pound target goal I’m sure.
In the last 9 months I’ve had ups and downs with P90X. I have learned from my mistakes as well as my successes during that time period.
2010 will be about consistency. Slow, deliberate, methodical steps that I will take to once and for all get into great shape.
I’m looking forward to feeling more healthy. Life is too short. I have to take advantage of the time I have left.
P90X Review – Kenpo X – I Want My Mommy!
P90X Kenpo X Workout © Tim Pannell Photography
The P90X Kenpo X workout is just plain and simple cardio from hell. Holy crap I am dreadfully out of shape. Every time I start feeling good about the direction I’m heading one of these P90X cardio workouts absolutely kicks my butt.
I have been reduced to a sniveling sissy man. The pre workout stretch is enough for me to start praying for the end of the world. I swear my body isn’t made to contort into so many different directions at the same time.
That being said, it’s a great warmup and the workout is intense to say the least. I really do feel borderline spastic while I do this routine and I’m sure that my wife has to hold back full belly laughs at the site of me.
I did it today with my 11 year old son, who ran screaming from the room in complete desperation to escape Tony Horton’s little shop of P90X Kenpo X horrors. This DVD should apparently be rated PG-13……..sorry buddy.
It never ceases to amaze me how much sweat flies off my body doing these workouts. It just keeps coming and coming.
Kenpo X consists or 3 major components: blocking, kicking and punching. There are extended breaks throughout this workout when you will run in place or do jumping jacks the “X” version of jumping jacks to really get your heart pounding.
Currently I am doing about 1 hour on my recumbent bike before each P90X workout that I do. It really does help get my blood flowing and get me into the right frame of mind.
There are a total of 27 exercises which consist of various combinations of kicks, blocks and punches. It’s a nice change of pace from a lot of the more weight lifting, pull up and push up oriented p90x workouts.
My favorite set of exercises is also the one that I’m the least skilled at – Three direction kicks – ball kick, then side kick, then back kick. I’m sure it’s my extra weight that I’m lugging around that causes me difficulty with this, but I like the challenge.
This isn’t quite as intense as the plyometric or core syergistics workouts, but it runs a close third. Have fun with it and enjoy the small lake of sweat that you’ll leave on the floor when you’re done.
Get your butt off that couch!
