Last week I moved on from P90X Recovery Week, to Phase 2 of the workout. There are a few changes from Phase 1 - let’s talk about them a little.

Day 1 of Phase 2 -With the new workout you are performing Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps - followed by Ab Ripper X. This is a little different than Phase 1, where you were performing Chest, Back and Ab Ripper X. This new workout pushes you like CRAZY! It is 50+ minutes of blasting your chest with push ups, shoulders with various flyes, and triceps with tons of extensions. After this workout my arms are as tight as they can be. A great overall workout.

Day 2 of Phase 2 stays the same - Plyometrics, but Day 3 you work out Back and Biceps, followed by Ab Ripper X. During Phase 1, Day 3 was Shoulders & Arms, so you can see the difference. As you can imagine, it is a boat load of curls along with a ton of time on the P90X chin up bar. Again, I like this workout, as Tony has definitely stepped up the intensity.

The rest of the week stays the same. Day 4 is Yoga X, Day 5 is Legs, Back and Ab Ripper X, Day 6 is Kenpo X, and Day 7 is Rest of X Stretch.

I just started Week 6 of P90X and love the changes they made with the program. Once you are in Phase 2, you can get a better understanding of what they exactly mean by muscle confusion.

My official “photographer” was out of town, so I had to wait a few days for my 30 day pictures. I forgot one pose (hands on hips) but let’s see if there were any changes.

Now, as you may have read earlier, I had a few weeks of poor eating. I am pretty happy with the results thus far. You can take a look at my P90X Day 1 Photos to see what you think.

Here are a couple to compare. The pictures are not the best quality, but they work. Do you see changes?

I apologize. I have completely put this site on the backburner for a couple weeks. I plan on catching up today though, and writing a couple of posts, letting you know where I have been, what I have been doing, and how things are going.

So let’s talk about last week. It was my Recovery Week. I have found a new favorite video - Core Synergistics. I had perform the Core workout on Tuesday and Friday. I love it! Good way to push yourself.

The rest of the week, I added a lot of running. Some days I ran twice. I’m not one for just sitting around and I wanted to try and build on my running. My wife wants me to join her for a half marathon in November and I trying to build up to 13 miles. I’m giving it a shot - we will see.

Nutrition

How has my nutrition been? Honestly, the past week and a half it has been pretty bad. The reason I have not been around is because I lost my job. Yea, I got fired. I have been in the middle of a really bad emotional time the past couple weeks. I have a family to support and a house/bills to pay for. I haven’t quite figured out how I am going to get back on my feet, but I know I don’t want to give up on what I have done so far with P90X. Keep pressing play, right?

Some days, well actually for about a week, I was eating apple sauce and popsicles (if that). A lot has been weighing on me, and I wasn’t much in the mood for eating. I know this probably totally screwed with my metabolism, but I tried forcing food down and it wasn’t working. The good news is that the past couple of days my body has actually been hungry! I am back on with the nutrition (as of today) and I cooked up some nice egg whites and cheese for breakfast today.

I hope that catches everyone up for last week. I was MIA and I do apologize. It’s about fighting through the tough times, and I am going to write up a post soon about inspiration. This is a 90 day program, if not more, and I am pretty sure somewhere along the trip you are going to hit a wall. What will keep you going?

More posts soon!

I haven’t been around for the past couple days, I apologize. I have had a very “eventful” week, to say the least. It was hard for me to find time to get here and write, but I have not skipped a workout. Everything has been going great. I am not going to lie, my nutrition has wavered the past couple days, but I did not ever go overboard. I am back on track, and still very focused.

I am beginning to realizing that writing each and everyday may not only start to get boring for me, but may also get boring for you to read. My workouts are always going to be well, my nutrition is going to stay consistent.

I plan on keeping you updated on my workouts and my nutrition, but maybe not everyday. What I want to do is research some of the issues with P90X and write some articles on that. What am I thinking? Off the top of my head I would like to write some articles on your ideal heart rate, dig into some nutritional issues/goals, and a few other things. I hope to get one of these new posts out in the next couple days, so I will keep you updated.

If there is anything in particular you would like me to look into, please let me know. I will do my best to get you some answers.

Today was my day of rest, or not. I decided to skip Stretch X, and go for more cardio. I was able to get in another 5 or so miles in the early evening. It gets hot here, so if you don’t do your cardio early morning, you are best to wait until the sun starts going down. It was a pretty good workout too. I felt strong throughout the run, even though I spent most of the morning tending to some yard work.

I won’t bore you today with too much more. The nutrition went well, and I am ready to start Week 3. I saw some pretty good progress from the first 2 weeks, so I am eager to “push play” for another week.

I am very confident that if you can get your mind focused on taking the P90X workout seriously, that you are guaranteed to see results. If you were ever wondering if the infomercial was a joke, it’s not.

Today is Saturday - time for Kenpo X. First some good news though, I woke up and decided to weigh myself. I am down a total of 7 lbs just short of the 2 week mark. Last week I weighed myself and was only down 2 lbs., which depressed me a little. After today’s weigh-in I feel more on track. Also, I did a little test on the chin-up bar - I am now up to 4. Last time I checked - on P90X Day 8 - I was up to 2.5 chin-ups. I’m liking the progress so far, but 4 is still pretty embarrassing. A lot more work to do here (it is only day 13!)

I decided to run first this morning. Today is my day for some extra cardio, so I did my run in the morning. My last good piece of news is that I am now up to about 5 miles. I stopped the run feeling I probably could have gotten a couple more miles in too. This is exciting and I think if things continue this way - maybe a half marathon could be in my future. There is a half marathon in my town each November, so I will definitely keep you updated on this. Right now I can’t fathom running 13.1 miles, but we will see.

Kenpo X went great. As I said last time, I love this workout. There is constant movement throughout the video, a lot less breaks, and it really gets you sweating. Just what I like!

Nutrition

My nutrition slacks a little on Saturday’s, but not too badly. I had to have a couple slices of pizza tonight, but ate well the rest of the day. I plan on working in some cardio tomorrow. I’ll see if I can get in another 5+ miles.

Day 13 Review

Today was probably the best day yet. I had the good weigh-in results, I am progressing nicely on the chin-up bar, and upped my cardio. Not too much to complain about!

OUCH! Is there any other word you can use to best describe Legs & Back? I threw in the Ab Ripper X video first this morning. This workout kicks my butt, so I wanted to make sure I got in a solid ab workout first. I can’t wait until the day when I can perform all the reps that are performed in the ab video. There is over 340 reps, and I’m still taking breaks throughout them. Less breaks than my first week, but still taking them.

I’m not going to lie to you, I am cursing at the TV when Tony breaks out the wall squats. These things are killer! The only thing that makes it worse? Finishing off the day with calf raises. Ugh. I did them all this morning though - I can guarantee my calves will be screaming at me tomorrow. Especially as today is also my day to run.

Nutrition

I am probably boring you to death here, but the nutrition is doing very well. Not much more to say. I think what I will try to do next week, is give you some ideas of what to eat, and maybe show you some of the things I am eating. I think most people struggle with this part of the training and I’d really like to help anyone who is reading. If you have any questions, or anything you’d like me to discuss nutrition-wise, let me know. I’ll do my best to answer your question, even if it has to be researched a little.

Day 12 Review

Day 12 - Leg & Back went much better than Day 5 Leg & Back workout. I can feel my legs getting stronger, as well as my ability to do chin-ups. It’s just about the end of week 2 and I can feel a difference. I can’t wait for the up-and-coming weeks so I can really push myself.

It’s Thursday, so it was my day of Yoga. As with most of the exercises the second time around in my P90X workout, I found myself able to perform more of the exercises with less breaks. I was able to do more Chaturangas, which if you don’t know what these are - they can be somewhat difficult after a week of upper body workouts. Chaturangas are like a pushup, but you focus on keeping your elbows in, tight against your body. You perform these in between each Plank, before going into Upward Facing Dog. This workout is still very challenging, but I love it!

Nutrition

My nutrition is going well as usual. I am going to try and mix it up next week. I’ve been eating either scrambled egg whites with cheese or mushrooms since starting the training and I think I am finally getting sick of them. I’m going to do some research on BeachBody.com and use the Nutritional Guide to find some better breakfast meals. If you have any suggestions - I would love to hear them.

Day 11 Review

I’m starting to feel stronger, mentally and physically. I feel like I am performing more of the exercises in the videos, and I feel like I’m getting more confident with my nutrition/diet. I can feel that I am on the right path to changing my body and changing my life. To be honest with you, it’s pretty damn exciting!

Today’s workout, P90X Arms & Shoulders, was a little off my typical routine. I did not sleep well the night before, so slept in this morning. I performed the workout after getting home from work - around 6:30pm. The workout went well. This may be my favorite one of video workouts. I really enjoy working arms and shoulders. Working out in the evening, as opposed to the early morning, I could tell I felt stronger. I don’t have the time to do this every day, but it was a nice change of pace. With this particular workout, it becomes very apparent that I need a wider selection of weights. On some of the shoulder exercises I can do more weight, but definitely need lesser weight for several of the tricep exercises.

Nutrition

Everything remains the same on this front. I am still enjoying scrambled eggs in the morning, I had some left over turkey burgers for lunch (no buns), and had some very good cod for dinner. The cravings for sweets at night are diminishing, which can only be a good thing.

Day 10 Review

This is my favorite workout in the P90X workout videos, thus far. I love pushing myself on all the exercises. Today I did my workout in the early evening in my upstairs family room. It was rather hot up there today, so I finished the workout completely drenched! It really is a great feeling to know your workout is finished and that you pushed yourself as far as you could go. Bring on the Yoga!

Day 9 of the P90X workout was much better than Day 2 - Plyos. As with my Chest and Back workout yesterday, things seemed a little easier the second time around. I knew what exercises to expect and felt like I completed more of the reps - with less breaks. I’ve done plyos before, so I expect myself to pick this up pretty quickly. Some of the exercises involved in the plyos workout are - Jump Squats, Airborne Heismans, Swing Kicks, Lateral Leapfrogs, and Military Marches. The workout went great, my heart rate is at the top of my zone throughout the workout, and in the early evening I will be going for a 3+ mile run!

Nutrition

The diet is staying consistent. I am still sticking with some scrambled egg whites for breakfast, followed by a protein bar during snack time. For lunch today I had some chicken salad - made from left over chicken for last night’s dinner. My dinner was a very delicious turkey burger and a small salad. I’ve noticed my after dinner snack cravings are not as strong. I am hoping I see some more weight loss this week.

Day 9 Review

Another great day in my P90X Workout. The Plyos were intense, my diet was right on target and I can see some improvement in my extra cardio runs. I think by the end of this week I will be stretching the run to just over 4 miles.

Also, this may be from the nutrition - or maybe sweating more, but my skin has been feeling much better. Not a huge deal, but it seems a little clearer. I bet drinking more water, and less soda and/or sugar filled drinks is a big part of this as well.