Tag Archives: x2

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.

P90X2, Plyocide

Plyocide Has Been Plyo-Flied

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Mmmm… Jumping around and around and around. Another day where I didn’t get my workout in early. This time due to waking up late for a meeting. The trials and tribulations of a musician, right? Late night, not good sleep = sleeping in to make sure I get rested. Oops. Good thing it wasn’t a money meeting. No, it was an organizational meeting for a music festival (that’s all I’m gonna say about it). Doesn’t matter, Plyocide has been Plyo-flied.

I flew threw it today. I sweated more too. I’m still pushing harder. Less pausing of the disc to catch my breath in between the moves is a good thing. The one move I’m still not real keen on is the Frog Burpee Jump. I did get them all in, but I’m not fond of that one. I used to dislike the Mary Katherines with a med ball, but I’m fine with that now.

Drip drip drip. That was me at the end of it all. A few minutes to shower and rest and its back on with the day. More music to make. Then time to blow a little steam off. The best part is, I’m still feeling the energy now that Plyocide has been Plyo-flied.

Get fit with me. Starting in a couple of weeks is the next fitness challenge. You know you want to join!

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!

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, PAP Upper

PAP Upper Still Tough

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Nearing the finish line. Into the final week of this whole X2 journey. While it’s not fun to have to take a week off due to outside forces, there’s nothing that can be done about it and all I can do is move on. What have I found as I get back up to speed with X2? I find that PAP Upper is still tough.

Overall I’m doing better with the workout. The absolute hardest move is still the renegade row. I don’t know if it’s my lengthy body or if it’s the fact that I’m primarily a guitar player and don’t need huge arms, but I find it stupid hard. I tried going to 15 lbs per arm and only got 8 reps. Next round I went to 10 lbs and still found I couldn’t get full reps.

Beyond the renegade row, I find the med ball sphinx plank hold to be difficult. I made it the first round. 2nd round I fell 5 seconds short. 3rd round 15 seconds short. 4th round I fell 20 seconds short. That’s not fun when I really feel like I’m pushing it as hard and as long with good form as I can. As soon as the form goes south and I can’t get back to it, I have to drop.

The rest of the workout has been something I can hang with. Those two moves provide the most trouble out of all the P90X and P90X2 workouts I’ve done.

Tomorrow is Yoga X2 then another two PAP workouts and one more Yoga day. At that point it will be the final photos and thoughts.

Come the 30th I’ll be starting a fitness Challenge and starting it all over again. Join me! I’ve got 2 spots left for the April 30th group. I’m pretty sure I’ll stick with P90X2 for a 2nd journey before I start mixing and matching between X2 and X. I’m hoping by the end of the week that I won’t find PAP Upper still tough. One can dream.

P90X2, PAP Lower

Getting My PAP Lower In Gear

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Aw yeah! Second week of phase three began today and hot damn if I didn’t rock the workout today. My third time and I’m already getting my PAP Lower in gear! Of the two PAP workouts I feel the lower is easier, but until today I was still dropping a rep here or there.

The difference came today. I didn’t drop a rep and I pushed it hard. I will say that had to pause the DVD before the last Side Bridge move for about 30 seconds so I could catch my breath, but aside from that, I held out. Covered all the Side Bridge holds which was previously the hardest move in PAP Lower.

This makes me wonder if tomorrow I’ll be able to rock the PAP Upper as well. I’ve stated before that I find that to be THE hardest P90X2 DVD. Not the hardest moves, but the hardest combinations along with the constant moving. I’ll be happy if I can keep up for half the workout.

Join me in my happiness of getting my PAP Lower in gear. Where are you at with it? Are you exercising? Are you eating well?

I’m starting a fitness challenge at the end of the month on April 30th. I have 4 spots left in the challenge. Let’s help each other get in better shape! Join me.

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.

P90X2, Recovery + Mobility

A Week Of Recovery And Mobility Plus Yoga

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It’s a sunny day. Snow melting. Ski season pretty much dun. D. U. N. Done. With the back back and abs workout yesterday my phase two came to a close. Now I have a week of recovery and mobility plus yoga for sprinkled fun.

I’ll be taking some photos for my 60 day interval in a few minutes. Then it’s a trip to the shower, an organic breakfast and finally some music business stuff to attend to.

The trip down the foam rolling lane today was great. I’m not sure what it releases, but it sure feels good. Technically I know what’s supposed to release. What I mean is that, I’m not all tied up in knots with my muscles. So I don’t find myself finding too many spots to sit on that need to release. Once in a while I do, but it’s not the pain that I see others hit on the DVDs.

What I do notice is that I feel a little more relaxed afterwards. That’s probably the true goal. Another thing I’ve noticed is that my flexibility is increasing. I’m nearly able to palm the floor in a forward bend. I’m about 1/2inch from being able to do that. That’s the closest I’ve been yet.

Maybe after a week of recovery and mobility plus yoga next week I may be palming the floor, who knows. Where are you at with your journey? Need help? Need a coach?

 

Base Back & Abs, P90X2

Final Base Back And Abs Of Phase Two

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Today marks the end of my 2nd phase in the P90X2 journey. I inserted an extra day due to a chance yesterday for a free day of skiing. One can never pass up a free day of skiing, especially when it’s an awesome spring day. As I say, a day spent skiing is a great day. Besides, Tony Horton is a skier and I’m sure he’d understand. As I mentioned at the beginning this is the final base back and abs of phase two.

Things I noticed. I got more reps on the pull ups. Most I’ve done unassisted. While I was an ardent follower of the “assist” method in P90X, I found that while I could do a lot of reps, I couldn’t manage to do a lot of pullups at all unassisted. Maybe it’s harder for a taller person to really do pullups. However, I’m finally working up numbers past 5 reps. That’s great for me. Being that I previously couldn’t do more than 3. Thus that’s a big 50% jump in reps for me.

For the plyo portions I was keeping up. Only had one moment where I had to pause the DVD as I was winded and needed to catch my breath, but I’m pushing it hard too. Despite a slightly weak start in this phase, I’m now feeling ready to take my recovery week then start phase three.

There were a couple of moves in the ab ripper where I lost momentum, or the ability to complete the move due to exertion. Beyond that I completed the rest of it. Hardest one right now is still Abernome and also Phelon. Ooof. But I keep my mind at it and continue to push.

Wrapping up the final base back and abs of phase two leaves me feeling great. Time to eat, and conduct the rest of my day. What have you accomplished today?

P90X2, X2 Yoga

Impromptu Break Into Yoga X2

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Got sidetracked for a couple of days. Ended up doing some work on a video thing. Then got a call to do music for a trailer. Deadlines and a little massage ended up giving me an impromptu break into yoga x2.

I was feeling a bit more relaxed going through the moves this time around. I think that’s a good thing. Mostly because I was getting further into the moves than I normally do. Had a couple of bobbles on the the left side of the warrior 3 part, but otherwise pretty solid.

Even had a moment of brilliance with the Crane move where I got fairly well balanced before losing it. It will be a great day when I’m able to move into Crane and hold it.

Time to get on with the next workout tomorrow which will end my phase two and begin my recovery week. Looking forward into getting through the final phase of the P90X2 journey. Once in a while life happens. When it does, don’t be bummed if you get an impromptu break into yoga X2. You’ll swing right back in and keep moving forward.