Real Life Fitness – Getting Fit With Brent

Another catch-up post. Business has kept me busy at night, so writing here has not always been easy.

P90X Day 37 was Plyo X. I felt very, very drained when I first started. But the further I went into it, the harder I could push. I guess just getting the heart pounding and blood flowing more released some extra energy that I had stored up. I burned 915 calories during this routine today, including skipping the bonus round. I just felt to tired after pushing hard for the last 3 phases of the workout to do it.

P90X Day 38 was today, Back and Biceps and Ab Ripper X. Everytime I do this routine, I feel weak. I’m watching Tony bust out 45′s on curls and I’m using 20′s and struggling at 10 reps! Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever put on muscle but, for now, I’m perfectly content with just burning fat. Ab Ripper was a trip today. I’m trying to make it a goal to do 20 of each move in one session by the end of round 1.

Speaking of fat loss, I’m going to be curious what happens over the next week and half. Week 3 of phase 1 is when the fat really started melting off of me, as well as the weight (minus the ups and downs from the steroid pill I was taking for the reaction). So far this round, I’m not losing weight, which is odd. I’m hoping that week 3 of this phase ends up being a LOT like week 3 of the last phase and the weight and fat burns off.

I’ve also upped my calories just a bit to see if that will help me continue to burn at a better rate without bonking. Right now I’ve added 1 single carb based snack. I’ll observe over the next two and half weeks to see if that does the trick.

Brent P90X bonking on p90x, P90X, p90x back and biceps, p90x plyo calories burned, P90X-Diet

P90X Day 45 was Back and Biceps and Ab Ripper X.  I had several moves where I upped the weight or the number of reps.  Felt good about it and arms were goo afterwards.  Ab Ripper X is was also good today, although I still feel like my energy is low from this weekend.  Intake has been good, but just need to rest well.

Today’s diet was less than stellar.  I did not eat unhealthy, just did not get enough.  We had an emergency doctor’s appointment which took up my snack time.  So tonight instead of gorging on one meal I just missed the snacks (and now I’m just hungry).

Speaking of diet, with the exception of today of course, my ratios have been excellent.  At the end of the week I’m going to re-evaluate whether I want to continue with what I’m doing or try a modified plan:

1.  Go back to Fat Shredder.
2.  Go to level 2 instead of level 3.
3.  To keep from being so short on calories, do an additional double snack that is high in protein/low carb.
4.  As my energy gets low (too low to make it through the workouts), I’m doing to add one half of a carb.

My entire goal with this round of P90X was to lose fat and weight.  The P90X diet plan is designed for someone with a lower body fat % than what I started with.  Starting at roughly 34% I knew that in order to make the next round of P90X effective, I would need to drop down in the low 20% range on body fat.

Fat Shredder was an awesome diet plan for losing fat.  I shed 3.5% fat in 4 weeks and did not know as much as I do now.  I have a much better feel for the diet, for maintaining ratios, etc.  I also know a lot more about my body and how to push it for results.

So there is a good chance I’m going to make the switch in order to achieve a goal.  I’ll be smart with it and add the carbs as needed, but my goal has got to be shred the fat.

Tomorrow is Yoga X…going for all 90 minutes of it!

Brent P90X ab ripper x, backs and biceps, fat shredder, P90X, p90x back and biceps, p90x fat shredder

P90X Day 44 was Plyo X.  I could tell I am still tired from the weekend, so going to be soon (its almost 9:30, I’m about to head that way).  I felt more of a burn in my thighs and just genearlly felt tired.  It did not feel like a “did not get enough to eat” tired or a bonking tired, but a generally worn out tired.  I pushed through, kept my heart rate up, and felt like I made a good workout of it.

I’ve completed the altering of what I was eating to get my percentages correct, and believe I’m finally there.  I’m right at 40/40/20 with protein, carbs, and fats.  I’m consuming around 2700 calories, which is a tad less than the 3k they recommend, but I do not believe that will be enough to put me back into starvation mode.  I’ll monitor things and see.

My #1 goal with P90X was to lose weight and get healthier.  And while I’ve lost weight, it has slowed.  I believe the first 2 weeks of phase 2 my diet was not “good enough” to keep me in a good fat burning zone.  I’m giving this new plan a couple of weeks to see how it works, and then it will be time for one last modification:  45/35/20.  I will probably plan to drop 1 carb at that point, or at least cut one in half.  I did well during phase 1 when I had two carbs in the day, so reducing to 2 or 2.5 should be fine.

Tomorrow is B&B (back and biceps!).  I expect arms to be jelly!

Brent P90X P90X, p90x back and biceps, p90x diet ratios, p90x fat loss, p90x plyo x, p90x weight loss, P90X-Diet

Running behind on blogging again due to being gone (from my house) last night, so I’m writing blogs on both days.

Yesterday was Day 37 which was Plyometrics.  I’m getting better and better at this, pushing further into it before getting really winded.  This is such a tough yet fun cardio routine.  I stayed in the 75%-80% range the entire time.

Today was day 38, Back and Biceps.  This routine burns!  My arms were shaky afterwards, but it felt good.  I’m trying to figure out the strip set curls and how to do weight.  I did 1×20, 2×10, and 1×5, but the 1×5 did nothing for me.  I should go get some 15′s,…

Tomorrow is Yoga X, and I’m aiming to have a better day at it than last week.

Brent P90X P90X, p90x back and biceps, p90x plyometrics, plyometrics

Today was another new P90X routine for me:  Back and Biceps.

I’ve made my pull-ups harder by pushing the chair out from underneath me and using one leg to do the reps (much harder than before).  My reps are down.  I’ve been reading on the P90X forum about using more negative resistance in doing these, so I believe I’m going to incorporate this more into my back routines.

As far as biceps, tons of reps here.  I switched a lot between 10 and 20 lbs on these and really pushed for the struggle on the last 3 reps.  One set I did 20′s on and could not get 8 reps in.  I need 15′s, but have not found any around town yet.

I’m still pushing hard on Ab Ripper and only a couple of the exercises are really, well, hard.  I’m getting over half the reps of everything now.  Making progress.

I’m debating on resistance days to add some cardio in there.  Nothing high impact like Plyo, but just something to get the heart rate in the 70-75% range to help drop the fat a bit more.  I’d love to be back in tennis shape by later this summer (although I doubt I’ll get to play much), but need to drop another 10 lbs to feel real comfortable playing again.

So if you have experience here, drop me a comment and let me know what you think.

Brent P90X ab ripper x, P90X, p90x adding extra cardio, p90x back and biceps