Real Life Fitness – Getting Fit With Brent

P90X Chest and Back today, along with Ab Ripper X.  My bicep tendon was a bit of an issue at time today.  I’ve actually learned that part of the problem is that my arm is internally rotated (when your arms are relaxed to your side, your hands should face each other…my left arm faces straight back).  So working on that through stretching and strengthening in place.

To help towards the end, I pulled out my medicine balls to work stability and gave myself a bit more of an incline from my knees.  This actually helped relieve the pressure on my shoulders.

I did take Beachbody’s Energy and Endurance pre-workout drink this morning.  I’ll be writing a full review of it later this week.

I’m tracking what all I eat on my diet for the next few days.  My main concern is getting enough calorie and carbs.  Not that I’m eating a lot of carbs, but I want to keep in that 50-100 range the best I can.  Today, I just barely squeaked in.

My macros for today look like this:

Calories:  1608 (-392 from my goal)
Carbs:  53g (within range)
Fat:  100g
Protein:  145g (within range, possibly a tad high)

So I need to get calories up around 400 without increasing carbs.  Carbs were okay (would be a bit higher and be okay) and fat can go higher, protein was near where it needed to be.

Brent P90X, Primal/Paleo Eating P90X, p90x chest and back, p90x primal eating, primal blueprint

This week I’ve restarted P90X to incorporate the upper body workouts.  I still have a slightly modified schedule (doing Kenpo at the beginning of the week instead of the end, to keep my PT days lined up with my resistance days), but today brought Chest and Back back into my world.

A couple of rules I had to implement:

1.  No pull-ups going beyond 90 degrees.  Doing that fine with Legs and Back, so easy to do that here.

2.  Lighter weights on all row exercises.   May increase soon, but want to start light weight and focus on form.

3.  All push-ups from the knees.

4.  If I feel pain, back off.  Keep in pain free range of motion.

So a lot of it was an experiment at first.  I did notice my right shoulder bothering me some, so I had to cut the range of motion down quite a bit.  I had no problem doing that as the point of doing this is to keep strengthening and get some exercise outside of PT on MWF’s.

Overall though I’d rate today a success.  I completed the workout.  No, not nearly as hardcore as I used to be, but complete nonetheless.

And did so without aggrevating things, which is good.

Primal food today was good:

Breakfast:  Shakeology, 1 egg, 2 slices of bacon.

Lunch:  Lots of Romaine lettuce, some shredded carrots, some bell peppers, half a on the vine tomato, some green pepper, and left over pork roast.

Snack:  1oz macadamia nuts

Supper:  6oz filet mignon, 1 cup mixed veggies sauted in butter, and a sweet potato with some butter, small dollop of sour cream, and just a small amount of cheese (had to get the fat content of this meal up!)

This was probably one of the most satisfying meals I’ve had.  I’m not a big fan of taking that much carb at night, but based on how much training I did today I felt the extra little bit was warranted.

Brent P90X, Primal/Paleo Eating P90X, p90x chest and back, p90x paleo diet, p90x primal diet, paleo diet, primal diet

Being 9 days into P90X and Primal eating, I’m learning a lot.

I’m learning that veggies are meant to be abundant, and that I’m probably not eating enough.  I read once where I should be aiming for 9 servings a day.  9 cups of veggies!  That’s a lot of stinkin’ salad!  Just kidding, but I know I have a lot of room to improve here.

I’m also learning that it is possible to function quite well on a limited carb intake.  I’ve kept mine successfully between 50 and 100 on average over these 9 days without suffering any major negative affects.  Sure, I’m still a bit edgy at times (my wife would say “most times”) but not nearly as bad as I expected.  I have plenty of energy to get through my day, do my workouts, spend time with my kids, help around the house, and not feel like I am going into a coma.

What else have I learned?  I’ve learned a lot about nutrition in general from the other end of the spectrum.  I’ve learned a lot about proper Omega 6:3 ratios.  I understand more the importance of fish in the diet, although I do not eat any.  I understand why grass fed/free range is healthier, even if not certified organic.

And I’ve learned that I LOVE eating like this, even if I’m not eating enough veggies.

What’s great about this diet is this:  I’m not counting my calories.  I’m not even measuring my portions.  I’m just eating until I’m full, eating when I’m hungry, and if I’m hungry and it is not time to eat, I don’t eat.  Pretty simple.

Combining that with my P90X workouts, I seem to be doing well.  Obviously right now I’m not doing all of P90X because of the pesky shoulder issue, but still doing abs, plyo, kenpo, legs and back (and I hope to add in shoulders and arms soon).  In one month the results will not lie.

Speaking of P90X….

I miss the heavy lifting.  I know I need to diligently rehab the shoulders, but I miss pumping out push-ups and pull-ups on Chest and Back day.  I miss the upper body work in Shoulders and Arms.  I love those two routines…they incorporate my favorite areas to work on overall.  And the shoulders are getting better, and the intensity of rehab is increasing (slowly), but I’m ready for the X again.

And then I’m ready for P90X2.

So those who are doing P90X currently, enjoy the upper body routines for me, will ya?

By the way, the picture above is from FitBomb.com.  I saw it some time back and though it was cleaver.

Brent P90X, Primal/Paleo Eating P90X, p90x chest and back, p90x2, paleo diet, primal blueprint

So didn’t get a chance to blog yesterday, so writing a bit today about P90X.

Yesterday was day 15, Chest and Back, Ab Ripper X.  Put it this way:  I’m more sore today…the day AFTER, than I was the day after last week.  Pushed harder on my push-ups, worked harder on my pull-ups.  Hoping this extra work pays off in the end.

Today was Plyo X.  Woke up tired.  Really wanted an excuse to skip.  Didn’t skip.  Burned 640 calories.  Not great, not bad.  Was so glad I didn’t skip.

Nutrition today was pretty good minus being a bit under calories.  But hey, no one is perfect.

Brent P90X P90X, p90x ab ripper x, p90x chest and back, p90x plyo calories burned, p90x plyo x

Wow, day 8 already.  P90X week 1 went by fast!  Back to push-ups and pull-ups today.  Day 8 of P90X’s Chest and Back workout was INTENSE today.  I learned that I really need to eat half a banana or something before doing this routine.  I was pretty wasted by the end (we did do Ab Ripper first, which probably didn’t help).

Some of my numbers were up, some where down.  It was a mixed bag.  But I felt I pushed harder overall today, focusing a bit more on form, larger weights, wider grip on the pull-up bar, etc.  I’m hoping small changes like this will pay off.

Nutrition was pretty good today.  I did choose to have some desert at lunch, but kept my calorie goals in mind and did not overdo it.  I feel pleased with this weekend overall.  Usually weekends were a massive cheat meal for me (read this as a big burger and fries type of cheat, or pizza), but instead I kept thing in mind, at fairly clean, and feel good about it.

Tomorrow is Plyo day.  Ready to see if I can push myself a bit more tomorrow than what I did last week.

Brent P90X P90X, p90x ab ripper x, p90x cheat meals, p90x chest and back, p90x nutrition, P90X-Diet

So, I disappeared for a while and took care of some personal things but continued to exercise up until vacation. And even on vacation I did several days of workouts.

I did eat bad on vacation and put a bit of weight back on, but nothing major.

Today, my wife and I started P90X together. I have been missing the straight forward workouts and lifting. And my wife was real trooper on her first day.

Chest and Back was a challenge with my shoulders today. It was mainly my left shoulder that caused issues. But the more I got into the routine the better it felt.

My goal is to follow the P90X nutrition plan this time around and see how things go. Today I was a bit short on calories, but did keep my carbs in line.

Breakfast: Shakeology
Lunch: Buffalo chicken wrap
Snack: Almonds
Supper: 12oz chicken, steamed veggies, V8

I think I ended up around 700 calories short, so tomorrow I am going to have to work on getting my calorie count up.

Brent P90X P90X, p90x ab ripper x, p90x chest and back

P90X day 15 started with Ab Ripper and finished with Chest and Back. My strength is starting to come back, which is good. My brain slowing my body down in the first round isn’t happening, which is not good! I’m pushing hard in that first set of 12, and when I get to the second set of 12, I’m tired!

I mean, I’m POOPED!

But I keep at it. I really should have dropped to my knees to pump out more reps, but I’ve been gasping for air.

Today’s nutrition was a bit off. I got a late start on exercise, which caused a late breakfast, which means the mid-morning snack was skipped and went straight to lunch. I’m actually a bit short on calories today, but not going to try to get a lot in between now and the time I crash.

Breakfast: Smoothie + oatmeal with honey and cinnamon

Lunch: Breakfast sandwich (1 egg, 2 slices Canadian bacon, 1 slice low fat cheese, 2 slices whole wheat bread)

Afternoon snack: 1oz almonds

Supper – Sandwhich (3 slices deli turkey, 1 slice low fat deli ham, 2 slices whole wheat bread, 2 slices tomato, 1 romaine leaf, 2 pickles, spicy brown mustard, low fat mayo) with some (eek) ranch dip, 5 ruffles, and about 10 baby carrots. Not perfect, but had some calories to spare

Snack: Not sure yet

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Today was day 8 of P90X, Chest and Back and Ab Ripper X.  I can tell either one of two things:

1.  Either the lower carbs are coming in to zap me a bit

or

2.  Having a 3 year old kick you all night is not good to push out a hard workout.

Either way, I started off slow.  But by the end, I was cranking out reps, pushing through the tiredness from the routine.  Most of my 2nd round reps improved quite a bit.

I’m going to be doing doubles a bit later in this round.  In fact, I may start later this week.  I’m going to win that bet with my wife, and I have the energy to do doubles.  I may increase my carbs just slightly to get through it, though, so I might just wait until phase 2.  I’m trying to hold on the fat shredder diet and keep the calories controlled and carbs low.

Hoping to tape some Plyo action tomorrow.  Charging the camera now.

Brent P90X P90X, p90x ab ripper x, p90x chest and back, p90x doubles

Yesterday began P90X again for me.  It was day 1, Chest and Back and Ab Ripper X.

I was really concerned about losing a lot of strength with doing Insanity for the last month, but was pleasantly surprised.  I could still do a good amount of push-ups, and could do even more diamond push-ups than before.

But my pull-up numbers lacked a bit to be desired, so going to have to work on getting strength back in my lats and upper back.

Ab Ripper X went very well too.  I did most of the first many moves, and then started finally wearing down a bit towards the end.  I’m close to being able to do the entire workout.

Last night we also held a fit club at our church, so I got to do a second workout.  I chose Cardio X.  Two mistakes:  Didn’t take a recovery drink after working out, and did not eat enough.  Got to be later than I like, too.  My goal is to correct all of that.

So begins the next leg in my journey to get the body I’ve always wanted!

Brent P90X P90X, p90x ab ripper x, p90x chest and back

So I promised I would start blogging more, so here it goes.

Yesterday was P90X day 57 for me:  Chest and back and ABX.

As I mentioned, due to being sick and then being out of town, I am restarting this week.  I could tell that the stomach bug I had and not getting to eat enough took its toll on my strength (that and not getting much sleep).  All of my reps were down slightly.  I actually ran out of energy during ABX and just could not complete it.

I did get 5 meals in yesterday on a new, slightly tweaked diet plan geared towards fat loss (still in the P90X plan, just making a change to fit my goals).

I did weight in at 198, which means I did not lose too much weight with this mess.  I’ve been known to lose 5 lbs in a weekend when sick like that.

Brent P90X P90X, p90x chest and back