Today is Day 27 of my P90x workout and the routine for today was yoga. This week is recovery week and it calls for 2 yoga workouts. 2 yoga workouts in one week is hardly my idea of recovery, yoga is tough. I continue to improve though each time I do it and I think my jujitsu is improving also because of yoga. I am getting to me more flexible and limber and am able to move my body easier. The P90x yoga workout will definitely increase overall athletic performance for any sport.

In the video below Tony Horton hits it right on the head when he says most guys say, “I don’t wanna do no yoga, its silly, its weird, and they do these crazy ohms at the end.” That is what I initially said, but after already seeing the benefits, yoga is going to be a part of my workouts for the rest of my life. I hate yoga, but I love it.

This is Bill’s story. At 56 years old he is in great shape. After a really bad bike crash Bill had to have neck surgery and now has 2 titanium rods in his neck. His insurance would not cover the physical therapy he needed to get his strength back. Bill’s girlfriend recommended instead of physical therapy he do P90x. Bill had great results and is proof that P90x does work for older people to.

“Before P90X, I couldn’t do any pull-ups. I was out mountain biking one day and went over a ramp, and the trajectory flipped me over backwards and broke my neck. When I heard the snap, I thought I was gonna be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. After the surgery, they put titanium rods in my neck, and the insurance company told the physical therapy people that they don’t cover physical therapy. And it was at that point my girlfriend Lisa, she said, ‘Well, I’m doing these videos. Maybe you can just do these videos and get your strength back.’ Tony, the trainer, just makes it fun, keeps you going. Once you push the play button, the workouts just fly . . . People look at me and they can’t believe that this body is 56 years old. And I love it; it’s great. Thank you, Tony. Thank you, P90X.”

I have been slacking the past couple of days with my workouts, but it is ok because it is recovery week.  Day 24 of P90x was supposed to be Kenpo X, but I don’t really like that one and have been substituting it with my muay thai kickboxing training, so I went to that class instead and skipped the Kenpo X. My muay thai class is pretty tough and I work up a good sweat there so I don’t feel guilty about missing Kenpo X. I think the muay thai class is even tougher than the Kenpo workout so it is better.

Day 25 of P90x was supposed to be the stretching routine. I decided to skip this one too but I made up for it by going to my jujitsu class. The jujitsu class is always pretty tough and usually leaves me wiped out so I really don’t feel guilty about missing the stretching either. Day 26 was Cardio X. The Cardio workout is pretty good, it is light and fairly easy. It is a little bit shorter than the rest of the workout at about 45 minutes. I worked up a decent sweat though and am planning on going to my jujitsu class tonight also.

I think I am doing pretty good except for with my diet. This past weekend I had pizza, beer, cheeseburgers, fries, and ice cream. It was a bad weekend and I need to start being more disciplined in what I eat. It will be tough but I can do it.

Here are Anthony’s P90x results, they were great!

This What Anthony had to say about P90x.

“I went to the gym trying to lift weights; couldn’t do it. Saw people there that were more fit than me. That was very discouraging itself, so I just went home. I end up Googling ‘how to get fit,’ and I see a lot of people on YouTube. Reading people’s feedback when they tried P90X, not one, zero, zero negative feedback about P90X. Just watching those videos, I was like, I gotta do it. I want to do it. Just seeing them makes me want to work out. But when I first started, I couldn’t do nothing. P90X, they laid it out for me and made it very simple. Here’s an analogy: it’s like how to work a computer for dummies. All you have to do is Push Play, follow the nutrition guides, and you’re good.”

Awesome Work Anthony!

Today was day 23 of my P90x workout and the routine for today was Core Synergistics. This was my first time doing this workout and it is also second into the recovery week so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the workout. I thought maybe it was going to be light becasue they are calling it a recovery week, but the Core Synergistics workout wasn’t very light. The workout was basically a combination of everything. There were variatons of push ups, sit up, lunges, curls, shoulder presses, yoga poses, and more.  It was my first time doing the workout so I took it a little light but still pushed myself.

The Core Synergistics workout focuses on strengthening the lumbar spine and trunk muscles, which are the foundation for all the muscles in the body. This workout recruits multiple muscle groups to build and support the core muscles, while at the same time conditioning your body from head to toe. This is a very important workout for overall improvement in strength and conditioning.

Nutrition is very important, especially when doing an extreme and intense workout like P90x. Here is a video of Tony Horton drinking Shakeology. This video was after Tony’s free pay it forward workout video. This workout is for people who have not worked out in a long time and are really out of shape. A workout like Insanity or P90x might be to difficult to start with so a workout like this, done 3 times a week for a few months should get you prepared for P90x. This video below is great because you get to see Tony working with some who has not met their goals yet and who is not a “model type”, just a real guy trying to get in shape. I think Tony acts the same way in real life as he does in his videos. He seems like an all around good guy.

Today was the first day of my recovery week. The schedule for P90x  is 3 intense weeks followed by a recovery week. Today’s workout was yoga x. I hardly consider the p90x yoga routine a recovery though, yoga is tough stuff. I can tell I am getting better though. The very first time I did the yoga x workout I struggled with almost every pose the entire way through. Now I’m able to do the poses and hold them the entire time. I concentrate and focus on my form and try to make sure I’m doing it right. Little details like not keeping your arms or legs straight can make the poses much easier to do, which is the wrong way to do it.

I’m still using an empty Nintendo Wii box as my yoga block. This helps out a lot because I’m not flexible enough to bend over and put my hand on the ground, so instead I put my hand on the Wii box. I”m hoping I will be able to get rid of the box within the 90 days. Tomorrow will be a new workout for me, core synergistics, I’ve never done this one before and I am kind of excited to be able to do a new workout. What is great about the P90x program is that it is made up of 12 different workouts, which means you are really only doing the same workout 8 times in those 90 days, not the same workout each and every day. Switching up the workouts is what keeps the body changing and is also what makes the workout fun and not boring.

Today was day 21 of my P90x workout. Already 3 weeks down. The fourth week is a rest and recovery phase that involves some yoga, stretching and cardio. I hardly consider yoga rest and recovery…lol. Anyhow, I mentioned in earlier posts that I am skipping the kenpo x workouts and replacing them with my muay thai kickboxing class. Instead of me trying to do both this will work out good for me. So today was supposed to be kenpo x, but instead I did the strectching workout, then went to my muay thai class. This catches me up for the day I missed a after yoga last week.

As you can see I’m following the P90x workout pretty closely but I’m also making a few changes to help tailor the routine to my needs and schedule. I’ve been taking 1 rest day a week but on 4 or 5 days a week I’m also attending a jiu jitsu class or a muay thai kickboxing class. I was worried about how P90x would interegrate with my other training, but since my day job is on hold at the moment I’m able to do it.

Today was day 19 of my P90x workout and the routine for the day was legs and back followed by ab ripper x. Today I didn’t feel right. I headed in the basement full of energy and ready to go but once I got down there I felt super tired and completely out of energy about 10 minutes into the workout. I almost felt like I was going to have to cut my workout short and head upstairs and lay down. I’m not sure what was going on, maybe I’ve been pushing myself too hard and my body needs a little bit of a break. I am approaching the first rest and recovery week of the program and I think I need it.

I did complete the entire workout and I was able to do more pull up in my first couple initial sets. I was pushing myself through the workout but my body just didn’t feel right. I also wondered if it could be because I changed allergy medicine. I usually take Zyrtec D, a common medicine for indoor and outdoor allergies. My prescription ran out so I bought the CVS brand which is much cheaper and is supposed to have all of the same active ingredients as Zyrtec D. Since I’ve been taking the cheaper brand I have been feeling drowsy. I wonder if it is because of the pills or if it is all in my head. I may have to go back to the drug store and pick up my normal brand.

The ab ripper x portion of the work was tough as usual. I still think I’m getting better and better at it each time I do it and I can feel muscles in my midsection that I’ve never had before. 19 days into P90x and I have to say that is working. I’m definitely feeling stronger and can see results when I look in the mirror.

I came across this article about 2 brothers and their dad who had a 90 day weight loss competition. They all took a different route and all had success at losing weight. Together the lost a total of 90 lbs. between the 3 of them. I’m not surprised to that the winner of the competition is the one who chose to do P90x for 90 days. He lost a total of 45 pounds. The full article is below and was take from www.custercountychief.com.

By ELLEN MORTENSEN
Chief Editor

There’s nothing like a little “healthy” competition between brothers. And to make it really interesting, why not throw Dad in the mix. That is just what the McCaslin brothers did.
Jeff and Tim McCaslin began a conversation about trying to develop a healthier lifestyle during last year’s weight loss challenge. Tim was on a team in that challenge, but Jeff, who lives in Kansas City, was not able to be. So the brothers started throwing around some ideas for a challenge among themselves. A week or two later Jeff approached the subject with their father, Norm, who also became interested in taking part in the challenge – especially when the boys announced they were willing to place a little wager for the winner.

The McCaslin challenge began in October 2009. It helped that all three weighed within just a few pounds of each other, at around 215. Initially they had thought they would base their progress on percentage of weight lost rather than pounds, the same principal the Healthier Central Nebraska Weight Loss Challenge uses. However, with all three weighing so close to the same they thought it would be much easier just to weigh in when they met at Thanksgiving, and again at Christmas. Whoever was the lightest on the final weigh-in would be declared the winner.
When the family all came together for Thanksgiving, the men eagerly jumped on the scale to see how they were doing compared to the others. At that first weigh-in, Norm had lost the most. With this added boost of confidence Norm suggested going double-or-nothing on the final weigh-in at Christmas. His sons took him up on his offer.
Though the men were in competition, they say they were each other’s greatest source of support and encouragement, calling each other at least once a week to check on one another’s progress.
“What was really interesting is that all three of us took completely different routes,” says Tim.
Norm made some rather drastic changes to his diet, beginning with eating smaller portions. He also completely cut out all snacking between meals.
“I am an ice cream fanatic!” says Norm. “I would usually eat a bowl of ice cream about every night, and giving that up was kind of hard.”
Along with the dietary changes Norm also began incorporating a morning exercise routine into his day. That routine consisted of daily calisthenics, such as sit-ups and pushups.
Jeff, on the other hand, didn’t change his diet much. Instead he started hitting the gym – hard! The gym is located close enough to his office that he could go in over his lunch hour, as well as before and/or after work. He went to the gym two or three times a day, and began doing lots of weightlifting along with his workout.
During the afternoons Jeff would also usually run or swim a few miles. He logged everything on to an elaborate Excel chart, and his Dad and brother say the chart would let him know how much “fun” he could have on the weekends based on how many miles he had run during the week.
While Jeff did not lose the most weight of the three, both Norm and Tim say he is by far in the best shape.
“Had body fat been the criteria rather than weight, Jeff would have won,” says Tim.
Tim’s approach was through a program called P90X. A special series of exercise routines on DVD, P90X offers a different workout each day, designed to keep your body from getting used to a specific routine. Tim says the program is very difficult, especially in the beginning.
Tim also saw a nutritionist who helped him set up a plan using dietary supplements, such as protein shakes and multivitamins. He says his goal was to add more balance to his diet, incorporating more vegetables and fruits.
The guys say the first three weeks was the hardest, and the changes started getting easier from then on.  They all say they have noticed some big differences in their lives since losing weight.
At the final weigh-in at Christmas time, it was Tim who came away the winner – losing a total of 45 pounds. For his winning effort, his brother and father each had to purchase a stock for him in a company the three have been closely watching for some time.  Norm lost 22 pounds, and Jeff lost 23 pounds. Together the three men lost a total of 90 pounds in less than three months.
“We all joked that we lost my Aunt Penny,” Tim laughs.
Norm and Tim both say their cholesterol is down, and Norm’s blood pressure has also come down.
“My knees don’t hurt now, and I don’t get tired,” Norm added.
So far all three have been successful in keeping the weight off, and all are continuing their healthier eating and exercise habits.
“I love to eat,” Norm laughs. “I still get a craving for chocolate or ice cream. And once in awhile I let myself have some.”
Tim says he believes the encouragement and positive reinforcement the men got from each other was a key to their success. He says being involved with a buddy or a team effort is the best way to go.
“We had all been wanting to do this for awhile,” says Tim. “We just decided the time had come to make the change.”