Injury sucks worse

So 3 weeks ago, just as I was about to start P90X again since my achilles was pretty well healed up? I got hit by a car on my bicycle.

I ended up needing hip surgery, and now can't walk without a walker or cane or something. I also broke my collarbone, yay.

This experiment is on hiatus until I am either better, or I may not be able to pick back where I left off due to lack or recovery.

I am trying to be optimistic.

Injury sucks.

Well my achilles tendon is pretty messed up atm. I overstressed it while running and am now on week 3 without running or doing P90X. I am trying to keep my activity level up but no runnin or weight bearing exercise, or anything that aggravates it SEVERELY limits what I can do. However keeping up some good food choices I am still slowly losing weight. Here is a recent before/now pic for the time being :D

Hip strain

Ah the joys of overtraining, I put in a REALLY good week, and it turns out my excessive running hurt my hip a bit.

I took this week off to recover mostly and am feeling a lot better. I am going to start week 4 next week and see where this takes me!

Some visible results.

It's been almost a month and I can see some visible results so I thought I'd share what I think is the best comparative picture between now and 4 weeks ago.

I've lost around 10 pounds, and I have dropped my rest heart rate from the mid 80's to a low this morning of around 52/53 while I was laying in bed. This is a huge difference for one month I think.

The running I have added to the program probably accounts for most of the fat loss, but I have definitely gained some muscle size as well. So far this week between my running regimen and P90X I have burnt over 5,000 calories from workouts alone, as long as I keep my caloric intake correct I should continue to lose a pound or two a week until I hit my goal body fat %

One calculator I used described my fat % as going from 16% to 14% as well.

Not much more to report. Legs tonight, Kenpo tomorrow, and then a recovery week.

Til next time.......

Repeating week 3

I have seen some changes in my body, slight, but noticeable.

First thing I noticed was my arms, the pushups and pullups are defining them a bit more. I fumbled a bit at the end of week 3, went a bit too far with my running regimen, and was too sore to effetively complete the end of week workouts, therefor i am adding a week to this phase, finish strong before my recovery week.

On the running side of things, I can run 5k without pausing now, and I have completed a 10k though it was really rough and 2 of the last km turned into more of a powerwalk than a run. I finished it strong though, kept my heartrate up and am happy about it.

My weight has been almost like a yoyo, up 1.2 kg one day, down 1.4 the next, though it does seem to be on a gradual downhill slope, maybe a touch too gradual, but I can always ramp up my running for cardio/fat burning. On that note I did a boday fat test, using the forearm, wrist, belly and thigh, and apparently my body fat % went from 16% to 14.5% Though most of it seems to be on my gut. I can't wait to see my abs :D

Til next week..........

2 weeks down.....

2 weeks down. I don't feel a whole lot different this week than I did last week.

I don't see any visual differences yet either. This is of course to be expected, but I am impatient.

I added running to my regimen. I haven't ran in almost a decade, and do no sports at all. I WAS a good runner back in high school however so this has helped me amp up my runs quick.

I ran last tuesday 3 km with a couple stops. Here I realized I need to invest in some good shoes so I picked up some nike lunarglides, they are damn nice. I ran 3 km 2days ago no breaks, then I did a 5 km run last night and made it. I might not be in a position to start racing, but hey I'm completing them and that's what's important.

I am going to do this running as extra cardio rather than the cardio x regimen in doubles, so I will just be doing the classic program plus my running.

Other than that no real updates or changes!

Stay tuned.......

One week down...

So I finished my first week of P90X

I have been doing extra cardio ahead of time, since that's always been my strength and I want to eventually get back into running so if I can handle it, why not. I equated it earlier to playing ball with friends and still not working out. Why work out if you can't enjoy your strengths right?

My resting heart rate has already dropped 15-ish points from being 85-90 bpm down to 70ish bpm. I didn't see much of a change until my rest day, showing how important that rest day can really be.

Overall I am down about 6 lbs for week 1, I was down almost 8 lbs, but regained 2 lbs over the weekend, however not due to sloppy eating. I hope it's just my body reacting to the rest day and the extra protein and supplements now in my diet.

I already feel a bit stronger, bought a better doorway chinup bar, and was messing with it a bit today before doing week 2 of Chest and Back. That complemented with the drop in weight, and drop in heart rate shows that I have seen quick improvements. I have no experience with other "formal" workout programs, since I used to always be VERY active in my younger years and didn't need any programs to outrun 99% of the people i knew, and outswim 99.5% of them too.

I hope my best days are ahead of me, and it looks like P90X may be my first step in getting there. I feel satisfied at the end of a workout, my muscles almost give out, but they feel so good after ( although weak for a while ). The protein shake in the P90X book is simple, but good, I've got a chocolate protein shake mix thrown into it ( not the P90X brand, but another fortified with all kinds of goodies as an all in one ).

I'll probably blog about once or twice a week from this point, or if there are any points of significance otherwise.

Stay tuned and good luck with your own exercise programs!

5 Days down, Gearing up for KenPo

So yesterday I completed day 5 of P90X but I didn't do ab ripper X. It was too late in the day and I wanted to get to bed. I'll do it today instead, important thing is doing it 3 separated days in a week, which I will.

I am not following the diet plan on a day by day basis, however I am making smarter choices, drinking mostly water, as well as the occasional juice or skim milk. I just started a multivitamin today geared towards active men ( from GNC supplements ) as well as a protein/recovery shake that I started last night.

I never expected results to come quickly, however I have already lost 8 pounds since the beginning of the week, and there is still sunday monday before it's been a full week. These results may not be typical, I had a pop and chips heavier diet, and a somewhat lazy homelife for the most part. I was always a good runner and swimmer as a kid, and can push myself hard, and I am doing some extra cardio ( 400 calories of burn ) each day before doing the P90X workout. Some say overtraining, but I say it's not much different than playing basketball with friends while still keeping up with a workout program.

Today I get to try out KenPo X and do my last Ab ripper X for the week.

Stay tuned.................

Day 3 and Ab Ripper X

Just finished day 3

Monday Wednesday Friday I have Ab Ripper X, On monday it was pretty brutal. Today my success with it was a bit better. Although I may not be keeping up on everything, I am able to do full reps of most of the exercises compared to Monday where I cold only do full reps for about 1/2 of the exercises. ( Apparently the last exercise mason twists, it's 40 reps plus 10 "bonus" but I have the volume down sonce I do mine at night and missed that and was only doing 25 oops ) Today I think I only had 2 exercises I fell behind on without finishing.

Shoulders and Arms aren't too bad if you have the right weights. I've found with my adjustable weights that I've got to change them a couple times so I will be buying more bars and weights for faster changes soon.

Good rough sweaty day!

2 down 88 to go

Yesterday I started with the program. There are 3 varieties, Classic, lean and doubles. Classic of course is the base program. Lean is simply a bit more cardio and a bit less upper body resistance. Doubles is the same as Classic for 30 days, with an extra 3 cardio sessions for the next 30, 4 extra cardio sessions a week for the final 30 days.

I am going to go classic for the first 30, and see if I can manage to get into doubles once they add the extra cardio.

Yesterday I did back and chest, which was a very tough workout. I had to do most of the exercises modified, but was pretty sweaty during the workout and pretty sore afterwards and this morning. I think this will definitely be one of the harder workouts for me in this program.

Today I did Plyometrics, "Jump Training" you get to basically hop around for an hour, some of the exercises very pretty easy since I work on my feet all day anyways, and some were pretty hard since they worked muscles i didn't know I had. I definitely worked up more of a sweat today than yesterday, though i felt yesterday was a much harder workout.

So far I am pretty happy with the program. I am slowly changing my diet habits, the last of the pop is out of the house, and I am drinking a lot of water. I am eating some protein bars in the morning, when I go shopping friday I will get the necessary food in the nutrition guide for next week.

The Fit Test

The P90X program has designed a test to determine if someone is fit enough to endure it. You also repeat the test after the P90X program to see how you've improved your overall physical performance. They tell you that it works best after completing another program, but I don't want to waste the money if I can dive right in. I made the first posts late last night, and did The Fit Test this morning. Here are the Results. Keep in mind for the last week I have been doing some moderate exercise including the wii fit, some cardio, and playing around with my chinup bar and swivel push-up bars.

Resting Heart Rate prior to Day 1: 88 bpm
This is a little bit higher than an "average" resting heart rate but the guide doesn't tell you that will has any impact, just as a benchmark to see where you are after day 90.

Test 1 Pull-ups : 5 reps
Minimum is 3 for men, 1 for women using a wide arm grip. I just about popped my eyeballs out getting #5 in, but that is a pass.

Test 2 Vertical Leap: 14 inches
Minimum height is 5 inches for male, 3 inches for female. Test is determined by reaching as high on a wall as possible, measuring the height, and then taking one step back, and quickly leaping straight up touching as high up as possible. You are not supposed to "work up a head of steam" staying down and getting ready, just a quick down and up. A easy pass anyways.

Test 3 Push-ups: 20 reps
Minimum reps is 15 for male 3 for female. I purchased the swivel push-up bars and find they do help get tension off of my wrist, if you have this issue, i recommend the purchase. I went from doing 8-10 to almost 20 in a couple days thanks to them. Another pass.

Test 4 Toe Touch: +4 inches
This test you try to reach your toes and measure the distance either from or past your toes you are ale to reach. If you can't reach it's difficult to get an accurate measurement, however if you can reach past your toes it's easy to tell exactly where your toe touched. Minimum for this program is -6, or 6 inches from your toes. Easy pass.

Test 5 Wall Squat: 43 seconds
This was the most difficult test for me. You have to be in a position like you are sitting on a chair, feet directly under your knees, and your upper legs horizontal like on a chair, back against the wall. Time how long you can keep at it until your butt hits the floor, no scooting, no helping with arms, pure raw leg endurance. Minimum 1 minute to pass. I failed this test, but not by a large margin.

***I did the wall squats on the first friday, and stayed up the whole minute and a half the video instructed after I saw them actually not being as low to the ground as I was. This being said, I feel I would have actually passed this as well knowing the proper criteria for height. MY mistake :D ***

Test 6 Bicep Curls: 12 reps ( Left arm 23.5 lbs Right 24.5 lbs )
The test says to do a minimum weight of 20 pounds for men and 8 pounds for women. The idea is to max yourself out so that you get a better idea of your improvement on day 90. Minimum of 10 reps. I passed but not by a large margin. I must point out however this is better than I expected to do.

Test 7 In & Outs: 27 reps.
Minimum 25 reps to pass. Another pass by a small margin.

Test 8 Heart-rate maximizer. In this test you do hard jumping jack or other cardio for 2 minutes with an ALL OUT sprint for the last 30 seconds. Check your heart rate immediately after exercise, and then at 1 minute intervals for 4 minutes thereafter.

Immediately after test: 180 bpm
1 minute later: 136 bpm
2 minutes later: 120 bpm
3 minutes later: 112 bpm
4 minutes later: 112 bpm

This is just to benchmark yourself now to see where you are in 90 days as well. The guide says once you finish this test you should be ready for P90X

I passed all but one test, and only missed by 17 seconds. I think I will count that as an overall pass and continue my trek towards physical greatness. :D

Before Pictures

I know I have a farmers tan. It's from working outside as a painter, with a proper uniform on. I tried to flex as much as I can to make the before / after pictures as fair as possible. I am sure if the system works, I will be shirtless outside more often and will have a better tan on the after pictures.

Once again wish me luck, and I sure hope I didn't waste my money on this system!

And it begins.

MY name is Dustin. I have a wife and 2 kids. Twin 3 year old girls.

Recently I have come to the realization that I am not in my high school shape anymore. I currently weight 204 lbs, I am 5'11" tall, putting me in the overweight category.

While I do not dispute this, I DO have some muscle on me from my job, I have my own painting business and do most of the labor myself.

I recently started looking into some training programs and came across P90X. A 90 day Xtreme workout program. This is advertised as being a program for people already in decent shape, preferable after finishing an easier program, but I've decided that I am in good enough shape to dive in. I am going to try the "Fit Test" which will tell me if my condition is good enough to start the program, if not, I will do some training on my own before I begin.

This looks like it is THE best selling as seen on tv item to date, which is saying a lot. I got my set from a local wal-mart for $129 ( Canadian )

Wish me luck!