Day 6: Kenpo X

If you are looking for a good cardio workout that is not just plain running and jumping, then I would recommend kenpo x to you guys.  After the workout my shirt is dripping wet. Prepare for second week of P90x!!  This will be tougher since I plan to do it more extreme,  I have experience the first week and my judgement tells me I can push it more since my body can still move at this rate  

Day 5: Legs & Back

Let me start by saying that I have never really worked out my legs before, so 300+ lunge reps were pretty brutal.  I am sure that my hamstrings & butt are going to feel great tommorow.  The Back workout was a little easier this time, the pull ups are becoming easier.

Day 4: Yoga X

94 minutes of yoga will kick your ass real good.  I have never done any yoga in the past and had a preconceived notion that yoga was pretty weak.  After 94 minutes of Yoga with Tony and sweating my ass off, my opinion has changed.  If you never have done yoga, it is not easy, and of course the P90X makes it even more extreme – they call it Yoga X.  You really push your body in brand new ways.  It is the opposite of heavy resistance lifting.  Instead of quick movements of hard work, you stretch that out over a period of holding a pose for between 30-60 seconds. Yoga is the perfect combination between flexibility and strength.  If you are not flexible, yoga will expose it.  It certainly exposed me.

Day 3: Shoulders & Arms

Before the P90X I would occasionally do a bench press, a set of biceps curls, and a set of triceps.  This P90X workout has me doing 3x the excercise that I ever did before…It takes a little over an hour with hardly any breaks.  That’s a long time working out you arm and shoulders.  I found using weights was better then the resistance bands.Tony tells you to pick either 8-10 reps for building bigger muscles or 12-15 for leaner muscle. The next thing is that you want to feel the burn for the last 3 reps. If you feel the burn earlier you should decrease your weight and if you don’t feel the burn at all it means you should go heavier. Its pretty straight forward.

Day 2: Plyometrics

Tony Horton (your instructor/guide) calls it the mother of all P90X workouts, and he wasn’t kidding. The routine goes for 58 mins, I was beat BIG TIME.  Plyometrics in a nutshell is a cardio workout that focuses on a ton of jumping and squatting moves, with the goal being to workout your hamstrings, gluts and build your stamina. You would be surprised how a little jumping can be so intense! So far the P90X workout is delivering as promised, I just need to hang in there until my body starts adjusting to this

Day 1: Chest & Back

Today was chest and back. WOW!  This was a grueling hour workout filled with push-ups and pull-ups.  I was really impressed with Tony Horton as an fitness instructor.   I found that I worked harder as a result.  In the past, when I workout by myself I have a tendancy not to work as hard as I can. And just when I thought I was done and I could rest the P90X Ab Ripper X workout came on. The Ab Ripper X is the most intense abdominal I have done. I could not actually complete most of the exercises. But I kept with it until I just couldn’t move. THe Ab ripper X has lots of leg raises, in and outs, and other ab exercises like that. Afterwards I felt a lot of burn in my abs. I still have a long way to go. I can barely imagine the day when I can keep up with and nail the Ab Ripper Program. But this is only the first day.

These workouts do not mess around though. Just when you hope you may be done the hardest part comes and you really have to push your way through. These P90X workouts are not going to let me cheat at all. On the plus side I feel great after the workout. I just have to keep pressing play, and somehow I will make it.

P90X is on it’s way!

Today, I ordered my P90X Extreme Home Fitness Training System.  I will use the next few days to complete a couple of different task:

1) Take a before picture

2) Take measurements of body

Before starting the P90X, I tested my baseline levels according to the Fitness Guide. Since this program describes itself as “extreme”, you are expected to be in somewhat good condition before starting. After I complete the program, I’ll test these same metrics again in order to see how “extreme” I’ve become. Below are my baseline stats along with the minimum required before starting P90X:

Resting Heart Rate: 66

Pull-Ups: 8

Vertical Leap: 28″

Push-Ups: 37

Toe Touch: -3″

Wall Squat: 8 minutes

Bicep Curls: 32

In & Outs: 40

Heart Rate Maximizer – Immediately: 163

After 1 minute: 111

After 2 minutes: 108

After 3 minutes: 72

After 4 minutes: 70