Tag Archives: beachbody

Core, P90X2

No Vacation From X2 Core

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It’s a national holiday in America. Memorial Day. To take a moment to thank the men and women who give their lives to our country in the name of freedom. Many of us will spend time with family and or friends while we eat BBQ. I myself am having no vacation from X2 Core. No sir. I did my workout today.

The beginning of week three on my 2nd journey through P90X2 from the beachbody people has been performed and done. I’m definitely feeling much stronger than this time from the previous journey. I’m adding more reps and holding things as they should be.

Some of the moves involving the med ball or the stability ball are still a little tricky. But they are getting better and easier. That alone makes me see the progress of going through this. I love that.

For a moment I thought having done Balance and Power yesterday would have hampered today. I thought wrong. I didn’t have an issue. Though in two days time I will be looking forward to the recovery and mobility downtime.

Time for me to down a Shakeology, make a hearty breakfast, then likely I’ll sit in the sun for a moment. After which I will continue on my quest of watching all of AFI’s top 100 movies of all time – many of which will be the 2nd time I’ve seen them. There’s a break from music, but no vacation from X2 Core.

Wanna get in superior shape? Join me in my next fitness challenge! Contact me now to get the details.

Core, P90X2

X2 Core Continues

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Week two inside of journey two of P90X2. All sorts of twos there. Inside today is how X2 Core continues the saga of working out beachbody style.

Normally I do my workouts in the morning. Not this time around. I had a very late night working on a piece of music, looking to get a gig for a commercial. Thus I woke up late despite having a recording session this morning. Fortunately a meeting that was scheduled for this afternoon got pushed to tomorrow so I was able to get my workout in this afternoon.

For the most part I got more reps than last week. There were a couple where I did not. Mostly because last week there was a power outage before the last several moves. One of them involves a med ball with a burpee style move and a push up. Not very effective for me. I fought through that and got about half the number of reps with not so great form.

The rest of the workout went well. I pushed myself harder. I did have to pause a couple of times to catch my breath, but I’m feeling good. Time for a Shakeology and start to think about what to make for dinner.

There is a new fitness challenge coming at the beginning of June. Will you be joining me? It’s a great way to get in shape and feel better. Then at some point you’ll be saying how X2 Core continues for you!

Balance + Power, P90X2

Balance & Power Closing Week One

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Pow! What a week. Today marks the start of my second journey through the P90X2 workout. I have Balance & Power closing week one. Improvements abound.

Comparing to the final parts of phase one of my first time through to now with my return I’m already blowing myself out of the water. In all the moves that are utilizing weight. Upped by 5 lbs per move is a pretty good increase.

There are moves where I’m going to have to play catch up though. Those are the moves the involve the stability ball. Why? Well, I was modifying in my first journey. The moves the first time around were easy when modified. Now with the stability ball, oh my. Hard. Reps went down and my core was engaged even more. Makes me think that had I had the stability ball the first time around, my belly might be flat already.

Even in the bonus round I increased weight. That’s a huge plus to get there. But then I’m already in pretty good shape from doing beachbody workouts in the year that’s gone by. I’m happy that Balance & Power closing week one has come. I can now take a day to rest and stretch and get ready for next week.

New fitness challenge coming June 4th – are you in?

P90X2, Total Body + Abs

Feeling The Total Body And Abs

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I really enjoyed getting my stretch and foam rolling on yesterday. By yesterday afternoon I was actually feeling the remnants of the plyocide workout in my hamstrings. Wow. It’s so odd to have a workout catch up to you a day later. Today I was getting into feeling the total body and abs workout.

I pushed it pretty hard in the first half. I was feeling really good. Did the most unassisted pullups I’ve ever done, that was a great sensation. The hardest thing this time around was the boing pushups. My first time through P90X2 90 days ago, I did not have a large stability ball. Thus I was doing a modified version then. These were hard. Such that my reps were very low. The bonus of that is, the only way to go from here is up.

A weight increase also happened for a lot of the moves. Despite the weight increase I was also doing more reps in most moves. Which means that next week, I’ll likely increase the weight a bit more.

Ab ripper X2. Need I say more? Seems my core or rather my abs have missed this workout. I kept up with most of it, but there were some moves where I had to let go a little early. I think by next week, I’ll be back in full swing on the abs.

I wonder if I’ll be feeling the total body and abs workout tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? Who knows. I’m sure it will be a wild ride either way. Looking forward to that goal of a perfect flat belly with no fat on it. So close. So close. Time for some Shakeology, Yum.

P90X2, Plyocide

Living The Plyocide Of Plyolife

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Ah, how I missed the idea of jumping around for a workout. Ok, maybe I’m lying a little bit. Today is the return to one of the hard workouts for me. Bring on the sweat cause I’m living the plyocide of plyolife.

Happiness is that I did not bonk in this workout. Doesn’t mean plyocide has gotten easier. No. Actually I pushed myself harder to keep up on all the moves. About halfway through I needed to start pausing in-between moves due to the fact that I started getting winded. I attribute that to pushing myself on each move to go above and beyond.

I want to see what kind of things will change in this 2nd journey through the P90X2 system if I go a little more extreme on the moves. Keeping up is no longer the goal, the goal is to go beyond.

This is my 4th time through a beachbody workout regimen. No longer about being in shape. It’s becoming a complete change in how I’m living. The original goal of getting in shape and working for looking good naked – along with a flat belly is within reach. I imagine that I’ll have the flat belly in less than 90 days from now. I can’t wait. It’s a wonderful feeling. That’s the drive.

Once I can push Plyocide to the extreme and not pause the DVD, I’ll be a really happy camper. Until that happens, I’m happy to be living the plyocide of plyolife.

Core, P90X2

Getting Back Into The P90X2 Saddle

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It really isn’t that long of a stretch of time when I finished P90X2 about two and a half weeks ago. In a way it feels like an eternity. In another way, it doesn’t. Initially I felt unmotivated on a lot of things knowing I was fully completed. However, that little break has ended. Today marks the return. I’m getting back into the P90X2 saddle today.

Not sure what it is about starting something new, but there’s always a kink or two to work out. This morning was no exception. I got started with the warmup and was getting familiar with the first phase moves in X2 Core again. I got about 90% of the way into the workout when all of a sudden, the power went off.

Apparently in another area of town there was a car accident that killed power to where I’m at. Thus I ended up not completing a couple of the moves. Bummer. Despite that, it was still a good start. I did better in most of the moves. Except for Plank Stability Ball Pushup, or at least I think that’s the name. See last time through I didn’t have a big stability ball, so I did the modifications which were easy. This time around I have a big stability ball to use and found that I could only manage three reps of the move. Yikes! Hard!

I finished early by no fault of mine. Did so with a grand sweat going. I feel good. I’m ready to tackle tomorrow and move on. Where are you at with your workouts? Are you ready to be getting back into the P90X2 saddle? Are you interested in changing your life? Next Fitness Challenge group starts in two weeks and I have a couple of spots left – join us!

P90X2, PAP Upper

PAP Upper Ends The First Journey

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Oh oh oh it’s magic. To steal a line from an old hit, I’m feeling pretty good. Another chapter of accomplishing something is coming to a close. I’m happy to say, or rather write, that with today, PAP Upper ends the first journey through P90X2.

I started off really strong, made it through the first round of the first complex kickin ass. The rest of the first complex had me backing off on reps with Renegade Row and the Plank Med Ball moves. Those in combination are the hardest thing I’ve encountered in the entire Beachbody workouts I’ve done.

In the second complex I was able to keep up with everything but the max pull-ups. I’ve never been good at pull-ups. Technically when I started all this a year ago with P90X, I probably could do 1 full pull-up. I did a lot of the pull-up modifications. In X2 I felt I was hindering my ability to do more pull-ups with the modifications so I stopped and pushed – actually pulled – myself to do them as they should be. Now at the end of X2 I can roughly 7 pull-ups in a round. That’s a big improvement for a tall guy.

Overall I’m ready for a short break before I start up my next fitness challenge. I’d like to encourage you to join me. You’ll be happy you did. I’ll push you, you can push me. Seriously join me for a May 14th start date on the next Fitness Challenge I’ve got coming up. Join NRG!

I want to take a moment and look back on the journey and the previous year. Here’s what I’ve got…

Some stats in P90X2:

Beginning stats on 01/31/12:

Chest:        39.5”
Arm:    11 1/8”
Arm:    11 1/2”
Waist:        34 3/4”
Hips:        37”
R. Thigh:    21 1/4”
Thigh:    21 1/4”

Total Inches:    176.125”
Weight:     172

After stats on 04/26/12:

Chest:        39 7/8”
Arm:    11 3/8”
Arm:    11 3/4”
Waist:        34 1/4”
Hips:        37 1/8”
R. Thigh:    21 3/8”
Thigh:    21 3/8”

Total Inches:    179.125”
Weight:     174

I wish I had stats from a year ago when I started doing the P90X workouts. Alas, I don’t. Only the pictures. Yet if you look at the numbers with the last 90 days, there’s an overall 3 inch increase in size. That’s fairly impressive. Weight wise I’m still a bit shy of the 182 lbs that I’d like to be. I attribute that to exercise, I eat well and I cook a lot.

With that in mind, I did say that I would post a before and after pic. Mind you, I’m not that vain with taking tons of pictures. However, with X2, I did take more. Personally I know there’s been change. Yet for some reason, the pics don’t seem to show as much as I would think they would.

Be aware that I posted the after pic on the left and the before on the right. Other things to note, I was 195 lbs in the pic on the right. I’m 174 in the pic on the left. I’ve lost just over 20 lbs in the year. Actually lost more and started gaining some back. In doing some research about my body size, I’m actually pretty darn close to the weight I should be for my bone size and my height – slightly under.

My overall goals with getting into better shape and flattening the little bubble belly you can see in right side, have been achieved. This is a major goal that I wanted. I was always active and thought I was in good shape. Now I know I’m in good shape.

I have to thank my friends that I knew were doing P90X. Especially Thai Ly. It wasn’t until I saw his transformation that I really decided to give it a go. I’m really happy I did. While my transformation isn’t as eye popping, it’s still there. I enjoyed it so much I became a coach. I really want to help others meet their fitness goals, eat better and be healthier too.

Thanks to my exploration of cooking for better eating. Friends have told me I inspire them to eat better. Thanks to Thai Ly, Jason Scheff, and Tony Horton for motivating me to do a workout beyond being active. Thanks to a desire of wanting to stay away from hospitals and OTC drugs and heal naturally. All of this has combined to inspire me to create this site.

Stay tuned!

P90X2, X2 Yoga

The Palm In Yoga

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This morning’s workout was all about the stretch, relax and do those strange poses. One thing I’m starting to dig about the whole Yoga concept is that I’m finally getting to a point where I can bend over. Not that I couldn’t before, however, for me right now it’s all about the palm in yoga. Meaning I want to be able to palm the floor.

When beginning the X2 journey I couldn’t really do much more than get my fingers to the floor. Easy enough. But getting the palms down there too, yikes that was tough. I imagine that it’s a combination of the yoga and the foam rolling. I’d bet that the foam rolling is helping more than I can tell.

Another noticeable thing today was more sweat. Yup, since I was pushing moves further I was sweating more. Another accomplishment is my longest crane hold yet. A tough move for balance and somehow I was able to finally hold it about 1/2 of the time length Tony calls out for. That’s improvement.

There’s three more workouts left in this journey then it’s on to the next Challenge! I’m excited, I’m seeing results. I’m in better shape than ever. I really think the next round will push me over the edge when I get it completed. Get in shape with me! You’ll be glad you did. Pretty soon you’ll be happy about the palm in yoga too.

P90X2

A Day Of Rest

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On the 7th day there was rest. Today is a day of rest for my first week of Phase 3 in the P90X2 Journey. I’m really diggin that. Mostly due to the fact that I found that PAP Upper is damn hard.

Another thing that has cropped up is a fitness challenge. My upline coach at Beachbody has put it to me that on the 30th of this month I’m going to be a part of a fitness challenge. So I’m joining in. In addition to that I’m putting out to people I know that I’m putting a fitness challenge together on the same day as well.

That’s right, I’m pushing to get you and others that I know to get into better shape and health. Are YOU interested in getting into better shape? Are YOU interested in being healthier? Then a 90 day fitness challenge is what you need! Contact me and join up. The cool thing is, you can win prizes for participating!

Get in shape and have a shot at winning something cool too? What can be better?!?

Though it’s a day of rest, I’m thinking ahead to my next round of getting into better shape and I want you to be a part of that fun. I’ll push you, you push me, we’ll all win!

P90X2, PAP Upper

Not A Normal PAP Workout

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Despite the holiday yesterday, I ended up not posting about the PAP Lower workout that I did. That is a good workout but not overly difficult. I’m able to keep up with that one. Today was PAP Upper. I’m coming to the conclusion that upper is not a normal PAP workout.

Seriously I’m finding that the PAP Upper is the hardest of all the workouts in both P90X and P90X2. Even harder than Plyocide. And Plyocide is a workout that I’ve not only thrown up to and bonked out in.

I know I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been in, yet I’m still huffing puffing and really pushing hard to get through PAP Upper and even in the 2nd half of this first week I’m still not able to keep up. That bothers me. The fact that I had to press pause a couple of times and I still couldn’t do all the reps, ugh.

Despite the mental drain of not being able to keep up, I power forward. I pushed myself on a couple of the moves to hold out longer as much as I could. I mean really hold out. More than I’ve ever pushed myself. That’s super hard to do.

Nearing the end of the first week of Phase three, I can see how this phase might be easy to burn out in. I have two more weeks to go with it. Then at the end of the month I’m starting a BeachBody Challenge. Contact me if you’d like to join up with it. There’s prizes and that’s something that can make what is not a normal PAP workout all worthwhile.