8-16-16 HY: Combat 30 Kick Start + P90X3 - X3 Ab Ripper + Splits + TCF.

8-16-16 HY: Combat 30 Kick Start + P90X3 - X3 Ab Ripper + Splits + TCF.

Had some work today, but got home early and was able to relax some and watch a little Olympics before working out. Still Hot, but decided not to start with that. 

I'm beginning Week 5 of Combat, but I'm a little off the schedule because of the tennis sessions with my son last week and this week.  I have one more session later this week, then I'll have to figure out how to get back on track with my schedule.  First up on the Week 5 schedule was Kick Start.  I could have gone with Combat 60 which is due up tomorrow, but since it's Wednesday tomorrow and I won't be home all day, I will be taking a recovery routine with me to school and doing my workout there. But back to today's workout.

I've done Kick Start several times now, and nothing has really changed except for the fact that I am able to get through it with less breaks.  I used the 1kg weights today, and got further into the routine before my shoulders started to ache.  On the kick interval, I felt my kicks were a lot more stable and straight.  My balance also seem to be a lot better today.  I was able to put a little more power into all the moves with the weight, and I tried to increase my range of motion on twisting my core on my punches.  I wanted to push my core work today.

X3 Ab Ripper. I don't remember any moves from this routine.  It has been a few years since I went through X3 and since the Elite Block is only a month, my memory of this is gone.  The first move was relatively easy, that Windmill Tin Man, or something like that, which is basically a variation on Triangle Pose.  Got a little core push, but seemed more like a warm up move than a hard core core move.  Yep, it was just that, just warming me up for the kill.  There were a lot of new moves, like the Dolphin hope, which killed my shoulders more, but moves like the 5 position Abernom, and the variation/combination "Banana-Boat-Mason Twist" absolutely killed me.  Then the final move, the Two-Speed Bike started off easy, but got brutal real quick.  I didn't think, at the start, that this routine would burn me out too much, but at the end, I was dying.  Great routine with killer moves not using speed or momentum, all core.

Splits were great! I got past that plateau a little bit today.  I hit a new low on my straddle splits.  I was really opening up the abductor muscles and hip flexors.  The Side Splits are coming, but they are still tight, Right side is higher than the left by about 3 inches.  I'll have to push more to get it down on the ground by December 31.

In the end, I torched a solid 780+kcals.  Got a good sweat on and nice cardio effect. Need that recovery.