Tag Archives: balance

Ab Ripper, Chest Back & Balance, P90X2

Chest Back And Balance Oh My

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Another week in phase two has begun. The quest for the flattening belly is nearing completion, but there is work to be done. For today it was chest back and balance oh my. Oh and I mustn’t forget abs too.

I felt better about today’s workout than I did after doing it a week ago. I did get more reps this time around. That’s a good thing. But I did find that my arms were starting to give out at points in the workout. A little concerning. I didn’t bonk.

It was the pull-ups especially wide arm ones where I had the most trouble. As the workout progressed I had to start modifying them. I know it’s because I’ve been pushing myself hard last week with the arm workouts. I’m likely still catching up to the efforts I’ve given them and they want rest.

The ab portion is starting to get a bit easier than it should. My solution is adding additional reps. Which I started today. Hopefully this will accelerate my goal. Not sure I’ll hit it by the end of the week, but I’m making the effort.

I’m off to have my breaky and a Shakeology. Let me know when you’re hitting up the phase two workout that makes you say chest back and balance oh my. If you’re not working out, it’s time to join me! Take a fitness challenge!

Ab Ripper, Chest Back & Balance, P90X2

Chest Back & Balance And Abs In Phase Two Redux

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Today I’m back in the workout saddle. I’m heading back to Chest Back & Balance and Abs in phase two redux. Why? Well, I’m still working on my ultimate goal.

What is my ultimate goal? A flat belly.

The lowest 1/3 of my 6-pack still has about a 1/2″ of remnant fat on it. Not that I was ever actually fat. But for some reason, that’s where it’s accumulated on my person. Since I started P90X a little over a year ago, my initial goal was to get into better shape. I’ve met that goal.

Now that I’m in great shape, my goal is more of a sculpting the body type of thing. The one area that is lacking happens to be the one area that is finally getting erased. Even with the much needed week off, it was still dwindling.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. I noticed the biggest change in my midsection during phase two. Which is why I’ve decided to add in a few more weeks of it. That should get me the result I’m looking for.

The workout itself was good to get back in with. However, I noticed that my arms have lost a little something in a few areas. There were some moves where I got less reps. In others I got more reps. So it was a bit of a trade. What I did notice was my arms feeling super tired halfway through. I was pushing it. Hard.

Could be a need to start doing more arm workouts as well. I don’t know if it’s a tall thing, or if my arms are just weak overall. But I’m now setting a new goal of wanting to get a bit more arm strength.

Breakfast has been had. Shakeology has been drunk. It’s time to get on with my day. Join me tomorrow for the next workout recap. Better yet, join me in getting more fit for yourself! Isn’t it time you worked out your chest back & balance and abs in phase two redux? You know you wanna.

Chest Back & Balance, P90X2

Chest Back Balance And Abs Starts Phase Two

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Hell yeah! That’s my feeling this morning. The week of doing recovery and mobility mixed with yoga has come to a close and the real workouts begin again. Chest Back Balance and Abs starts phase two for me today! 2nd phase, in my 2nd journey through P90X2. Slammin’.

Here’s my goals in this phase. One, I plan on doing the moves without assistance. I also wish to do as few moves as possible without modifications. There’s still a couple of moves I’ll have to accomplish via modifications due to a lack of equipment. Like the push-ups on 4 med balls. I haven’t yet brought myself to buy more med balls. I will soon though.

Doing the pull-ups without assistance today had me wondering what the fuck. Mostly because there are so many pull-ups. About half of today’s workout was pull-ups. Yikes. I started off strong. But by the end of the hour I was barely able to do more than 1 pull-up in some of the breakdowns.

With push-ups I did much better. However, there is one move where I was unable to do even one push-up. That was a push-up on a med ball with my feet on the stability ball. Holy hell. I didn’t do one. It was damn hard just to get my giant hands on the med ball then even attempt to get my feet onto the stability ball without falling over. I’m guessing that possibly I need to pump the stability ball with more air as it’s a little soft. I was finally able to get up on the balls as per the move. That is a huge step forward I suppose as that took a while to make that happen. It’s not easy. Thus next week my goal is to at least get up and do one push-up.

The other “bonus” is that I did the bonus round. Mind you I wasn’t able to kick serious ass. The very last move was a pull-up move and I did 1. But at least I did those moves.

Here’s my breakfast post beachbody workout:

Huevos Rancheros

Yum!

I sided it with some Shakeology. Now I’m feeling ready to tackle my day. Chest back balance and abs starts phase two and puts me just over the 1/3 mark of completing my 2nd journey. I’m going to be starting another fitness challenge – so get on board and join me.

P90X2, Recovery + Mobility

Recovery And Mobility Time

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A wonderful morning. Especially after a trying night of local card play. I experienced something while playing some cards last night that is astronomical in the odds. I got beat by the same player, who made the same mistake, twice in two separate games. Each time he had a less than 5% chance of making his hand. To do it twice in two separate games is nothing less than astounding. Ouch. Which is why it’s a good thing that today is recovery and mobility time.

Mostly I needed to stretch out and relax. Three days of workouts and the endurance of the idiocy of bad card play by someone else meant I needed to unwind a bit. I’m really diggin the use of the foam roller. Gets me all loosened up and ready to move on with the day. There are times where I feel like it might be worth it to spend 30 minutes foam rolling each morning.

I’ve put last night’s peeved feelings to rest. I’m foam rolled and stretched. I’m about to down a hearty breakfast. Next up it’s time to finish up another theme song, get it all slicked up and ready to slam. I’m ready because I’ve had my recovery and mobility time. How about you?

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.

Ab Ripper, Chest Back & Balance, P90X2

X2 Phase Two Chest Back Balance Plus Ab Ripper

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Let me start by writing: Holy Cow!

That’s what was running through my head during this workout. I have a very distinct feeling that tomorrow I am really going to be feeling the X2 phase two chest back balance plus ab ripper workout in a very big way.

Today marks the start of the next phase of the journey in P90X2. I’ve been looking forward to it. My oh my. I thought getting started in P90X was hard early last year. Even phase one wasn’t all that big of a deal. Now the burners are turning on and I’m feeling like a noobie all over again.

There are several moves that are like – what the fuck?!? – Especially the L pullups, and the crunch curl pull up (I think that was the name). Wow. Talk about super hard. I’m not good at pullups as it is and unlike P90X, I’m attempting to do as many as I can with zero assist. This means my reps have gone way down.

There’s another move, an pushup type of move with your feet elevated and you’re on a med ball with your hands. I did 1. Yes, that’s 1. I can do decline diamond pushups, but wow, this one was harder.

I am noticing more changes in my body in less time that it took with P90X. Thus I will say P90X2 is way more awesome. Do I think I will see even bigger changes in Phase Two? Uh, yeah. That would be an understatement.

I did take my 30 day pics today. I can’t wait to see the changes as they occur over the 90 days.

For those readers who are on the fence about getting into P90X, or who have done P90X and are looking to get into P90X2 – what are you waiting for? Get with it and then you can explain to someone why you have done the X2 phase two chest back balance plus ab ripper workout and felt good about it, despite starting with low numbers.

Tomorrow marks the next step. I can’t wait. Hopefully my body will be ready.

Balance + Power, P90X2

Have You Got Balance And Power

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Today marks the end of the 3rd week in my journey. At least the third week of the phase. Tomorrow is a stretching and mobility day. Then next week is the cool down week before phase two. I’ve done it and now I’m asking have you got balance and power?

I can really feel a difference in the workout. The sphinx moves are not necessarily easier, but I can do more of them. To me that’s a huge improvement. It tells me I’m getting a further increase in strength.

There was only one move where I lost a little ground, but I have to believe it has to do with how much harder I was pushing myself in all the other areas. And even then it was only on one half of it. The plyo burpee move 2nd to last from the end (and that’s even in the “bonus” section).

I’m really looking forward to the next phase to see what’s in store for the strengthening of the body. For if I’m feeling this much better now, I can only imagine what the weight and sweat of the next round will provide.

If you haven’t started the P90X2 journey yet? Why not? Once you start, you can ask someone else “Have you got balance and power?”

Balance + Power, P90X2

Week Two Going Down But Feeling Up

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Week two is wrapping up today. The journey in phase one continues for one more week. Then it’s a week of change followed by phase two. Balance + Power is a whole lot of moves that get you in to some great muscle movements. I’m showing small signs of improvement in only 7 days from the previous 7. Week two going down but feeling up is the name of the game.

I will say that I’m still feeling some muscles from a couple of days ago with Total Body. Especially in the back under my shoulders. It’s most likely from the lever pullup thingy. I really worked it.

As for B+P. Today I was adding some light weight to a few of the moves that I did the first time around with no weights. Also noticed that next week, I’ll need to add some weight to other moves where I’m already using weight. The hardest move so far is the balance move inside a burpee. I’m still modifying that. Must be a height thing. But I’m working on it.

Stay tune for recovery day.

Balance + Power, P90X2

X2 Balance + Power

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Mmmmm. Another piece of the journey has been put away in the books. That piece is the X2 Balance + Power workout. So far none of the workouts in X2 work with as much weight as they did in P90X right off the bat. Again I’m going to put it out there that the workouts are deceptive. Meaning I’m feeling like I’m being smart to pace myself.

Today was no different. There’s a bunch of moves that involve something called Sphinx. It’s a style of pushup that I’ve seen before in P90X, but not to the extent they do them here. The insanity is doing them with proper form. I noticed on the 2nd one that I wasn’t doing it quite right, as I did the 3rd one correctly with a lot of effort I realized I wouldn’t get a 4th in. In the video, Tony mentions he couldn’t do more than 4 when they made it up. So I don’t feel quite so bad.

Balance is definitely the name of the game in X2 Balance + Power. To that end, it’s certainly a hell of a workout. Looking forward to recovery tomorrow.