6-14-11 Plyometrics and Puddles of Sweat

Starting weight this morning: 253 lbs.

Firstly, I did NOT just lose 4 pounds from my first workout.  I weighed myself yesterday BEFORE the first workout but I decided that I need to weigh myself first thing in the morning to get an accurate and consistent reading.  I was 253 lbs after I pissed this morning.  There you go.

I was a bit nervous before this one because I've heard that it's ridiculously difficult and as someone who has been in 10 minute dogfight Judo matches, that shit sucks and it literally feels like death every second you have trouble catching your breath.  Feeling your heartbeat in your throat is a strange sensation and I haven't felt like that in a long time.

Despite me just getting home from work and wanting to sit down and relax, I decided that I couldn't be a lazy fuck this early on in the program.  I think the most difficult part of doing something like p90x, or any workout program in particular, is finding the mental fortitude to keep coming back for more.  "Keep pressing play" Tony Horton says to me and millions of other people and it's exactly what you have to do if you want to see the results you desire.  You can never prepare to feel like Ali fighting Foreman and getting pounded and ropeadoped for round after round until you actually make the leap and get into whatever workout program you've decided to execute.  After thinking all of that, I threw the DVD in and just hit play and said "Fuck it, I'm just going to do this, get this shit done, and I can relax afterward." And so I did.

6-14-11 DAY 2 - PLYOMETRICS


I shouldn't have been as scared of this section as I initially was.  The primal conditioning mechanism came alive in me and I had flashbacks of my Judo days, jumping and sweating and pushing and feeling like I couldn't do another rep.  It was FANTASTIC.

I don't watch the videos much before I actually do them so I'm never quite sure what to expect.  I suppose this feeling will pass as I do the workouts more and more but for a first time, I feel like I kicked ass.  I only started to truly "dog it" around the the second to last sequence.  Sure, I didn't do every single rep like the participants in the video but I feel that for a 250 pound guy in mediocre shape, I kept up pretty well.  I can think of smaller people that couldn't do what I did for an hour this afternoon.  And believe me, my body was and still is paying for it.  My hips are absolutely cooked as well as the psoas muscle in the front of the groin going up into the abdomen.  I'm going to get up early tomorrow and hit up some good stuff from http://www.mobilitywod.com on stretching out the psoas and getting my grody joints in check.  This isn't the highest impact workout, but it DOES have impact and as you become more and more fatigued it becomes easier and easier to let your form slip and that's when you hips and spine and ankles and knees really start to howl.

If I could offer any advice to other first time plyo players: Try and be as intense as you can be WITHIN the realm of good form and proper mechanics.  If you're flailing around just because you want to try to keep up with Tony and crew, STOP that shit immediately.  You're going to hurt yourself or break something in your house and you're going to feel like a god damn idiot when you're 2 days into p90x and get hurt.  Stretch, hydrate, stay loose, and USE GOOD FORM.  You can get a very good workout from this session even if you don't do everything exactly as prescribed at first.  That's why this is p90x, not p2x or p3x...you don't become a great athlete overnight and you can't expect to kick ass the first or second or third time you do something this intense.  And if you can, then you fucking slacked and you need to step your game up.  If you're someone who doesn't find the prescribed work that hard then you, of all people, know that you need to push yourself to improve and that you need to take it to the next level and get it done.

RESULT


Overall, I'm extremely pleased with myself after this workout.  My back and triceps are extremely sore from yesterday's workout and my hips, as I mentioned before, are sore as hell and it was a task to do some of the exercises today.  Despite all of these distractions and seeming hardships, I did well and kept up better than I could have expected, especially on my first run-through.  We'll see how long that holds up as I become more and more sore and get into the real grind of things.  However, I am VERY encouraged.

Oh, and my compression shorts were soaked through so thoroughly that I think I accidentally fell in the pool and then did plyo.  Holy shit.

Tomorrow is Shoulders and Arms.  Seems like I would be an easy day but I test ran this one earlier and it's definitely no walk in the park.  I'm using adjustable dumbells (plate loaded) and the biggest hassle is being able to change weights quickly enough to keep up with the exercisers.  I will do my best, though, and I plan on bringing it HARD.

See you then.

6-13-11 Starting off on both the right AND the wrong foot

First things first, before we go any further, I need to address some things that I forgot to address in yesterday's post.

First and foremost, I haven't taken any pictures of my body yet for the Day 1, 30, 60, 90 shots.  I don't have an actual camera at this time and my phone camera is both crappy and difficult to maneuver into a good position for a shot.  My girlfriend has a camera but I may not use that just yet.  My plan is to take some crappy pictures on my phone for the original and see what I can conjure for the 30 day and henceforth.  Also, while I'm not extremely embarrassed with my body, I am still somewhat self-conscious and I'm not that keen on revealing myself to the world just yet.  In time, though.

Also, I didn't mention any of my vital stats before I started.  As of today, I am 6 feet tall, wearing a 38 inch waist and weighing 257lbs.  I'm a white dude with brown hair and blue eyes.  Some would call me a bit stocky but I never really felt that way, especially after losing weight from my all-time high of 305 lbs.  I'd say it's more linebacker/fullback type now which may be giving me a bit too much credit.  Hopefully that's enough of a visual for now.  If you want to see me in my native habitat, I'll include my facebook address at the end of the column for your enjoyment.

Anyway, that's a lot of writing without saying a whole hell of a lot.  Let's get to the meat and potatoes, shall we?


P90X DAY 1 - Chest and Back


I will list the exercise, the round and the number of reps.  If weight is involved, I will list that as well.

Standard Pushups - R1: 25 reps  R2: 20 reps
Wide Grip Pull Ups - R1: 3+11  R2: 2+10
Military Pushups - R1: 15 reps  R2: 12 reps
Reverse Grip Chin Ups - R1: 3+8  R2: 1+10
Wide Fly Pushups - R1: 13 reps  R2: 9 reps
Overhand Pull Ups - R1: 2+10  R2: 0+10
Decline Pushups - R1: 10 reps  R2: 9 reps
Heavy Pants - R1: 10x45lbs  R2: 10x45lbs
Diamond Pushups - R1: 10 reps  R2: 7+2 reps
Lawnmowers -   R1: 10x45lbs  R2: 10x45lbs
Dive-Bomber Pushups - R1: 12 reps  R2: 8 reps
Back Flys - R1: 10x35lbs  R2: 10x35lbs

Ab Ripper X

This is a quick way to throw these numbers together.  I may modify this at a later time and finally find a universal way to get this done in a more aesthetic way.  Remember, I'm doing this on the fly.


HOW I DID


So first workout...I can definitely feel it.  I didn't really take Tony's advice at the beginning of the video and I burned myself out rather quickly.  You can see the steep downward trend in my pushup and pullup numbers from the very beginning.  You can also see that I am a complete pussy when it comes to pullups as I am quite heavy and despite being strong enough to pull myself up a few times, pullup endurance has never been my strongpoint.  At my peak, I was probably able to bust out 6 or 7 pullups on a good day.  I was not nearly as athletic on this day.

Overall, the workout felt great.  The pacing and the burn is different from traditional bodybuilding work and it's definitely something I'm going to have to get used to.  I'm happy to see that I'm going to get some nice conditioning work from the weight days and TONS of conditioning work from the cardio days.  These first few weeks are going to push me to the breaking point every time and I'm hoping it doesn't get to me too badly as I progress forward in the program.

I'm feeling good at this point but I'm not sure how great I'll be feeling tomorrow morning.  I've got Plyometrics coming up (which is the hardest, I hear) and I've got a LONG day of work as well.  God help me.

Anyway, that's all for this day.  It's all starting well and for not being able to do pullups and sucking balls doing pushups, I feel like I did pretty well for a fat guy looking to be less of a fat guy.  Tomorrow's post probably won't be quite as long so look forward to that.

Oh, and this is my facebook address:  http://www.facebook.com/kylesteinhauser

Later