Real Life Fitness – Getting Fit With Brent

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

P90X Plyo X…get your little bucket near by!  At least, that is what I thought I was going to feel like.  Woke up at 5am, had a headache, had a 2 year old trying to make my life miserable from 4:30 until the alarm went off, but really wanted a good push today.

And push I did…while the head was throbbing!

Overall burned nearly 700 calories during the 58 minutes.  My legs took a beating though.  I worked on jumping as much as I could, as high as I could, as cleanly as I could.  And when I landed, the head throbbed.  Not a pleasant feeling at all, but managed it nonetheless.

Diet was nearly spot on today.  I feel good about how it is going, although the lower carb really takes a toll on me.  I’m trying to force myself through it until I can take no more with the 1 starch a day.  For a guy who loves oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat bread, beans, etc, little starch intake can really drag me down.  And I feel it a bit in the workouts.

Tomorrow is Shoulders and Arms.  I’m going to eat half a banana before I begin and see if that helps with the energy to push through the routine.

Brent P90X P90X, p90x nutrition, p90x plyo x, P90X-Diet

Definitely the first week of a P90X round.  I’m sore!  Chest is sore.  I’m tired (low carb + high intensity = I get sleepy earlier in the night).  But today is only day 2, Plyo X.

Plyo was…interesting today.  I was a bit tired trying to adjust back to a 5am wake-up time.  I’m working hard on being done with all my workout before 7am each morning, so 5 is a necessary time to wake up.  I also forgot how much this routine can get your legs burning (even after Insanity and Asylum).

My diet has been pretty good.  Low carb, high protein, making some minor modifications for now, but nothing too far off the beaten path (mainly using whole eggs instead of egg whites).  I am using Shakeology and using it as 1/2 carb, 1/2 protein serving, which is a bit confusing, but seems to be working for me so far.

I am looking forward to phase 2 of the diet already.  I’m never a big fan of low carb (i.e. low starch), but want to ignite my fat burning potential during this first month.  My goal is to drop down to 10% body fat over these 3 months, so watching my nutrition is key.

All for tonight, going to be pressing plan on Shoulders and Arms tomorrow (my favorite P90X workout).

Brent P90X P90X, p90x plyo x

Happy Valentine’s Day!  A holiday filled with overeating and too many sweets, but tonight was all about eating smart and having one very small cheat (shared it with one of my kids).  P90x workout today was Plyo X.  It was a “dig deep” kind of morning (to borrow from Shaun T of Insanity).  We have 2 sick kids.  They kept us up later than what we wanted, and woke me up earlier than the alarm.  Needless to say, this morning I was a bit drained.

But it’s no excuses.  No excuses not to workout.  No excuses not to eat right.  No excuses not to do my best, forget the rest, and seek the results I desire.

So it wasn’t my best calorie burn, but did burn 640 calories in the 54 minutes (skipped the bonus round, which I didn’t want to do, but got a late start this morning).

Nutrition today was good minus the cheat.  We made something we don’t make a lot but is good:  Homemade healthy pizzas!

Pre-workout:  1/2 banana
Breakfast – Smoothie and oatmeal with honey
Snack #1 – Rest of smoothie
Lunch – Turkey sandwich, steamed veggies (forgot my apple!)
Snack #2 – 1oz Almonds
Supper – Healthy pizzas (whole wheat pita bread, poached chicken, BBQ sauce, oven sauteed onions, and just enough cheese to hold things on.
Snack #3 – Leaning towards PB and toast

Brent P90X, The Abs Diet P90X, p90x plyo x, The Abs Diet

Today was P90X Plyo X.  Doing this on a right calf with a messed up sciatic nerve is not fun…

But I did it anyways!  59 minutes and somewhere over 750 calories later, I was feeling decently fried.

I have a video that I’ll add soon showing some of the moves.  You can see me work through it.  I am glad I recorded myself, I learned I can push myself that much harder!

Edited:  Here is the video.  I have a long ways to go with this routine yet.  Watching this video helped me learn a bit about what I can do better to improve and burn more calories.

Brent P90X P90X, p90x plyo x, p90x plyo x video

Yesterday was P90X day 2 – Plyometrics, or Plyo X.

Here was the problem with this workout:

1.  I did not eat enough the night before after doing a second workout.

2.  I did not get enough sleep.

3.  I did not eat enough.

4.  I did not take a second recovery drink after the second work.

5.  Did I mention I did not eat enough?

Yep, I felt a bit weak.  I almost did not feel tired, though, until the very end.  I guess Insanity has my cardio conditioning to where I am going to have to push harder during this routine, or switch it out for one of the Insanity routines.

But I’m going to give it until next week and make sure I eat enough on Monday to where Tuesday morning isn’t nearly as painful.  Still manage to burn around 750 calories during the 59 minutes.

And why did I write that I should listen to Tony?  Well, I did Cardio X with a group Monday night….and he mentions several times about making sure you eat enough.   Guess I learned my lesson!

Brent P90X P90X, p90x plyo x, p90x plyometrics

Yesterday was P90X Day 78 – Chest Shoulders and Triceps and Ab Ripper X.  These next two weeks are all about digging deep, pushing hard, and working on getting the best shape I can going into Insanity.  CST and ABX on this day were no exception.  I’ll be honest…I ate a bit like crap on Sunday (Easter dinner).  And it showed the first little bit of CST.  But by around a third of the way into it, my body balanced itself out and I started getting a good rythym and pushing hard.  I’m sore today from it!

ABX was no exception.  I pushed hard throughout, although I was fairly tired from pushing hard in CST.  It was one of my best ABX runs yet.
Today was P90X Day 79, Plyometrics (i.e. Plyo X).  I ate better yesterday for the most part and pushed very hard.  I kept my heart rate between 155 and 160 for most of it.  It was all about making my body work extra hard today.  I was very pleased with it.

Just 10 days of actual exercise left in this round of P90X!

Brent P90X P90X, p90x ab ripper x, p90x cst, p90x plyo x

P90X Day 58 was Plyometrics for me.  After just switching back to Energy Maximizer and doing the extra cardio routine yesterday (and not sleeping well at all last night), I was a bit tired today.  I pushed through but really felt lagging in a lot of it.  I sweat a ton and kept heart rate in the 140′s, but that was much lower than the 150′s I normally keep it at.

Tonight I took the time to just relax, eat healthy, ice the left knee as a precaution, and worry about saving energy for tomorrow.  I’m keeping my calories up, so I do not think this is a “bonking” issue but rather my body going through some adjusting.  I remember the first Plyo after phase 1 being very similar.

Tomorrow is a throwback to Shoulders and Arms (i.e. Shoulders, Bi’s, and Tri’s!).

Brent P90X P90X, p90x plyo x, plyometrics

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

P90X day 2 was Plyo.  This was a workout!  I chose to use a lot of the low impact modifications they built in, plus my lunges will need to improve.  There was only one exercise that I could not do much of physically.  My heart rate stayed up there for quite a while, so very happy with that.

Now, I’m sore.  Very sore.  But that’s okay.

My day 2 diet was interesting.  My breakfast consisted of 6 egg whites with 1.5 oz mozz. cheese and a protein shake.  I was so full afterwards that I simply could not finish all of my lunch.  Bad thing was, 2 hours later I was hungry.

I’ve learned that my portions may be right but my percentages are not.  This is something I’m going to work on improving in the next few days.

That’s all for today.  More tomorrow at the end of the day with the results of Day 3.

Brent P90X P90X, p90x plyo x, P90X-Diet, P90X-Exercises