9-4-15 HY: Tennis + TCF.
As expected, I woke up quite sore in
my glutes and legs. Not as much in my back so that was good. I was
wondering how I would do my workout with this soreness then my son came
home early and said, "I reserved the court for 3 hours, let's play!"
What was I to say? "Let's Go!". So I played, or should I say worked
out through tennis for three hours. Conditions were perfect! It had
been a while since I had played last, so I had a lot of rust to work
out. Did a lot of drills and practice. My legs were sore to begin
with, but they loosened up a bit once they got warm. We took some time
to do some videoing of my son's serve, then got back to playing. We
tried to "groove rally" but my timing was just off that I couldn't keep
it going. But we had a good time.
In the end, I torched just under 1600kcals!
Once I stopped the running and moving, my legs and especially my knees
just stiffened up and I was again in pain. I did the Flow in the
evening, but only for a few passes because I was too sore. No splits
tonight for the same reason. I will foam roll tomorrow and do Splits. I
am also considering doing a workout tomorrow night since I will be
taking Monday off for my trip back to the USA. Can't wait. 28 hours!
So glad it's the weekend!
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Thursday, September 3, 2015
9-3-15 HY: P90X-Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X + Splits + TCF.
9-3-15 HY: P90X-Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X + Splits + TCF.
This is the last resistance routine of the week. To finish out my P90X(+) run, I only have one routine left, but it is a cardio routine so that is for tomorrow. So, I decided to test my legs and back and did Legs and Back, my nemesis routine.
The last time I did this routine, I used the assist band on all the pull up variations except the last Switch Grip Pull ups. Today, I used no assist band at all on any of the sets. Instead, I limited about 0.25 to 0.3 of all my reps to about 85% range of motion. I would do about 3 reps going 85% of the way down, then once I got warmed up and got my form steady, I went all the way down. But there was absolutely ZERO pain in my shoulder at any point during the workout. I was very VERY happy for that. The last time I did this routine, My inner thigh started cramping on move 8. Today, no cramping feeling at all during the entire routine. Again, Happy! I used 3kgs X2 for all the weighted stuff except for the calf raises on which I used 12kgs X2. Today, i upped that weight to 5kgs X2, and then 19.5kgs X2 respectively. Legs were feeling good. But after the routine, I could feel my legs just shaking like crazy! I have one comment about one move. The Three-Way Lunges. I was watching Tony do them and when he went to the side, he was basically just doing a regular lunge squaring his hips to the left or right, then added the front kick. Same thing with the 45degree lunge and the front lunge which is the only one that was technically correct. Isn't the point of that move to open your hip in three different angles with the lunge and kick? That is what I am trying to do every time. Today, I also tried to maximize every move. It was fine until I got to the Dead lift Squats. The move actually seems more like a weighted squat to me but what do I know. Tony does 20 reps. My right leg had to tap out a 15 and jump back in for the last 5. Left made it all the way to 20 reps. OUCH!!! All in all, it was a great workout. I was happy I was able to up my weights and not use the assist band. Also, I pushed myself to get at least 12 reps on all the pull up moves so I ended up with a total of 96 pull ups. So at the end, I did 4 reps to round out a good 100 reps.
I was scheduled to do RevAbs Merciless Abs today, but when Ab Ripper X started up, I got lazy and just decided to go with it. I quickly regretted it. This is a killer ab routine in its own right, but doing after Legs and Back makes it way more difficult. Just lifting the legs was like... OUCH!!! But I held on all the way to Mason Twist. I wanted to get to at least 40 reps, but I had to tap out at 20 reps. Just too killer. But I started the move over and I did 30 reps, took a 10 rep break, the did the bonus 10 reps. So I did a total of 60 reps with two breaks. I had to get that extra in there. My legs were shaking like a wet and cold Chihuahua.
I had emptied my water bottle by this time so I went downstairs to get more water and my legs were wobbly! But I refilled my bottle and got into the Splits and Flow. With my legs that warm and stressed, the splits were actually good. I felt really good and loose. Got to the mark quickly and push past it a bit. The Flow was actually better than I thought it would be. The last time I did the Flow with this much leg shake, I had balance issues, but today, no such issues. Everything was smooth and steady, except for at one point, I stepped back and accidentally stepped on my push up stand. Lost some balance there, but I worked it out and finished the Flow.
In the end, I TORCHED 1268kcals! Legs and Back always gives me a huge calorie burn! LOVE IT!!!
This is the last resistance routine of the week. To finish out my P90X(+) run, I only have one routine left, but it is a cardio routine so that is for tomorrow. So, I decided to test my legs and back and did Legs and Back, my nemesis routine.
The last time I did this routine, I used the assist band on all the pull up variations except the last Switch Grip Pull ups. Today, I used no assist band at all on any of the sets. Instead, I limited about 0.25 to 0.3 of all my reps to about 85% range of motion. I would do about 3 reps going 85% of the way down, then once I got warmed up and got my form steady, I went all the way down. But there was absolutely ZERO pain in my shoulder at any point during the workout. I was very VERY happy for that. The last time I did this routine, My inner thigh started cramping on move 8. Today, no cramping feeling at all during the entire routine. Again, Happy! I used 3kgs X2 for all the weighted stuff except for the calf raises on which I used 12kgs X2. Today, i upped that weight to 5kgs X2, and then 19.5kgs X2 respectively. Legs were feeling good. But after the routine, I could feel my legs just shaking like crazy! I have one comment about one move. The Three-Way Lunges. I was watching Tony do them and when he went to the side, he was basically just doing a regular lunge squaring his hips to the left or right, then added the front kick. Same thing with the 45degree lunge and the front lunge which is the only one that was technically correct. Isn't the point of that move to open your hip in three different angles with the lunge and kick? That is what I am trying to do every time. Today, I also tried to maximize every move. It was fine until I got to the Dead lift Squats. The move actually seems more like a weighted squat to me but what do I know. Tony does 20 reps. My right leg had to tap out a 15 and jump back in for the last 5. Left made it all the way to 20 reps. OUCH!!! All in all, it was a great workout. I was happy I was able to up my weights and not use the assist band. Also, I pushed myself to get at least 12 reps on all the pull up moves so I ended up with a total of 96 pull ups. So at the end, I did 4 reps to round out a good 100 reps.
I was scheduled to do RevAbs Merciless Abs today, but when Ab Ripper X started up, I got lazy and just decided to go with it. I quickly regretted it. This is a killer ab routine in its own right, but doing after Legs and Back makes it way more difficult. Just lifting the legs was like... OUCH!!! But I held on all the way to Mason Twist. I wanted to get to at least 40 reps, but I had to tap out at 20 reps. Just too killer. But I started the move over and I did 30 reps, took a 10 rep break, the did the bonus 10 reps. So I did a total of 60 reps with two breaks. I had to get that extra in there. My legs were shaking like a wet and cold Chihuahua.
I had emptied my water bottle by this time so I went downstairs to get more water and my legs were wobbly! But I refilled my bottle and got into the Splits and Flow. With my legs that warm and stressed, the splits were actually good. I felt really good and loose. Got to the mark quickly and push past it a bit. The Flow was actually better than I thought it would be. The last time I did the Flow with this much leg shake, I had balance issues, but today, no such issues. Everything was smooth and steady, except for at one point, I stepped back and accidentally stepped on my push up stand. Lost some balance there, but I worked it out and finished the Flow.
In the end, I TORCHED 1268kcals! Legs and Back always gives me a huge calorie burn! LOVE IT!!!
9-2-15 HY: P90X-Yoga X + Splits + TCF.
9-2-15 HY: P90X-Yoga X + Splits + TCF.
This was a good day. I had minimal soreness from the previous day so I was able to go all out on the poses today. I went for the full experience, turning off my florescent light and only had natural light coming into my space and I also went barefoot. It was nice to just move in the semi-darkness and freely flow with no interruptions. I tried to extend all my poses and open everything that was targeted with an open stance. On the Warrior poses I really tried to stretch out my hip flexors keeping in mind to stay balanced. The difficult poses was the Half-moon sequence with the standing splits. I have never been able to get my back leg higher than 90 degrees on either side. Balance was a huge issue on my right, but a lot better on my left. I kept tapping out and falling off balance. Warrior 3 was also a lot easier on my left than on my right. In the second half, the balance poses were a lot easier than the previous time. I have never been able to touch above my head on Plow, but I'm getting closer. I don't want to push too hard because of how it bends my back. Once I lose my spare tire, I think I will have a chance, but just my body shape puts me at a disadvantage for that kind of move. All in all, it was a great session.
I was thinking to not do the splits, but I wanted to see if there would be a difference after Yoga. BOY! WAS THERE EVER!!! I was able to hit my mark right off the bat and later, push way past it. This was the lowest ever to date. Very happy about that. So, I extended the times a bit for more work.
The Flow was also very good. I did a slow run and was very smooth, again keeping watch of my hip tuck and steady speed on all points. Breathing as well.
In the end, I burned a solid 460+kcals during this workout. YEAH!!!
This was a good day. I had minimal soreness from the previous day so I was able to go all out on the poses today. I went for the full experience, turning off my florescent light and only had natural light coming into my space and I also went barefoot. It was nice to just move in the semi-darkness and freely flow with no interruptions. I tried to extend all my poses and open everything that was targeted with an open stance. On the Warrior poses I really tried to stretch out my hip flexors keeping in mind to stay balanced. The difficult poses was the Half-moon sequence with the standing splits. I have never been able to get my back leg higher than 90 degrees on either side. Balance was a huge issue on my right, but a lot better on my left. I kept tapping out and falling off balance. Warrior 3 was also a lot easier on my left than on my right. In the second half, the balance poses were a lot easier than the previous time. I have never been able to touch above my head on Plow, but I'm getting closer. I don't want to push too hard because of how it bends my back. Once I lose my spare tire, I think I will have a chance, but just my body shape puts me at a disadvantage for that kind of move. All in all, it was a great session.
I was thinking to not do the splits, but I wanted to see if there would be a difference after Yoga. BOY! WAS THERE EVER!!! I was able to hit my mark right off the bat and later, push way past it. This was the lowest ever to date. Very happy about that. So, I extended the times a bit for more work.
The Flow was also very good. I did a slow run and was very smooth, again keeping watch of my hip tuck and steady speed on all points. Breathing as well.
In the end, I burned a solid 460+kcals during this workout. YEAH!!!
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
9-1-15 HY: P90X- Total Body PLUS + Abs/Core PLUS + Splits + TCF.
9-1-15 HY: P90X- Total Body PLUS + Abs/Core PLUS + Splits + TCF.
A new month is upon us and in one week my ultimate challenge will begin. Maintaining a good and healthy diet while in the USA and keeping up my workouts. I won't have time to go to a gym and there is no equipment at the place I'm staying at so it will have to be all body weight and I am also going to bring a set of bands. If I can find a good set in the US, I'll get a new set there. Kind of excited for the challenge. But planning ahead, I am scheduling a 3-Day Refresh all ready to go when I get back home!
Today was a really free day. No appointments, no chores, totally free, so I took my time and did my workout at my leisure. Great workout today with a huge calorie burn coupled with a raging pump and burn all over my body!
As the name states, it was "Total Body" today. And BOY was it ever! A lot of push up variations, a lot of pull up variations, a lot of weighted twisting variations as well. Then at the end, there were some killer combos that I really liked, "3&3" and "1&1". Get the program to find out what those are. You won't regret it! Also, a lot of lunges and squats that BUUURNN!!! With a tiny bit (one move) of yoga to keep me honest. A lot of the names of the moves do not reveal what the move actually is like in other routines. For example, "1/2 Dervish". I assume, if you are majorly into fitness, one might know what that is, but it is similar to the Discus Throwers in the Ab/Core Plus routine. Or a variation on Loading Dock. Another challenging combo was "Kid Play" or more descriptively named, "Push up to Bridge Combo". It was really tough to keep pace with Mark. One tough but great thing I liked about this routine is that it mixed resistance with cardio somewhat. I really like doing that because for me personally, it give me a bigger calorie burn that just one or the other. Love this routine!
I was going to do RevAbs Merciless Abs today per my schedule, but since today was so free and I had a lot of time, I just went on and did the longer ab routine. 20 moves in 20 minutes. 5 rounds of 4 moves. A crunch variation, a lying move variation, a hanging off the pull up bar variation, and a balance/yoga variation. Also, several of the moves were weighted to give that extra little something something. The only move I couldn't do because of space issues is the second to last move, "360 Chataranga Run" I just don't have the space in my room to spin around, so I was just doing a multi-directional plank walk. I wish I could have done it in Chataranga, but just couldn't. One of the toughest moves for me was the Seated Backstroke. It is a weighted move. I initially tried it with 5kgs, but with the first rep, I said, "NOPE, Too heavy!" I just wasn't able to control the dumbbells. So I dropped down to 3kgs. I might have been able to do 4kgs, but I decided to stay safe. At the end of each set, I was happy for the decision. OUCH!!! This routine gave me an exceptional core burn which I am still feeling a few hours later. That's what I like!!
Moved right into the Splits which were a bit better than yesterday. But for some reason I accidentally mixed up the order and did something new today. But still got a good stretch in and got to the mark and even a little passed it. Finally, the Flow was good. I moved well and had no big balance hiccups. Slow and steady was on the menu for today.
In the end, I torched a huge 1267kcals. When I looked down at my HRM I was like WA WHAT??? Oh Happy Day!!! And Happy September!!
A new month is upon us and in one week my ultimate challenge will begin. Maintaining a good and healthy diet while in the USA and keeping up my workouts. I won't have time to go to a gym and there is no equipment at the place I'm staying at so it will have to be all body weight and I am also going to bring a set of bands. If I can find a good set in the US, I'll get a new set there. Kind of excited for the challenge. But planning ahead, I am scheduling a 3-Day Refresh all ready to go when I get back home!
Today was a really free day. No appointments, no chores, totally free, so I took my time and did my workout at my leisure. Great workout today with a huge calorie burn coupled with a raging pump and burn all over my body!
As the name states, it was "Total Body" today. And BOY was it ever! A lot of push up variations, a lot of pull up variations, a lot of weighted twisting variations as well. Then at the end, there were some killer combos that I really liked, "3&3" and "1&1". Get the program to find out what those are. You won't regret it! Also, a lot of lunges and squats that BUUURNN!!! With a tiny bit (one move) of yoga to keep me honest. A lot of the names of the moves do not reveal what the move actually is like in other routines. For example, "1/2 Dervish". I assume, if you are majorly into fitness, one might know what that is, but it is similar to the Discus Throwers in the Ab/Core Plus routine. Or a variation on Loading Dock. Another challenging combo was "Kid Play" or more descriptively named, "Push up to Bridge Combo". It was really tough to keep pace with Mark. One tough but great thing I liked about this routine is that it mixed resistance with cardio somewhat. I really like doing that because for me personally, it give me a bigger calorie burn that just one or the other. Love this routine!
I was going to do RevAbs Merciless Abs today per my schedule, but since today was so free and I had a lot of time, I just went on and did the longer ab routine. 20 moves in 20 minutes. 5 rounds of 4 moves. A crunch variation, a lying move variation, a hanging off the pull up bar variation, and a balance/yoga variation. Also, several of the moves were weighted to give that extra little something something. The only move I couldn't do because of space issues is the second to last move, "360 Chataranga Run" I just don't have the space in my room to spin around, so I was just doing a multi-directional plank walk. I wish I could have done it in Chataranga, but just couldn't. One of the toughest moves for me was the Seated Backstroke. It is a weighted move. I initially tried it with 5kgs, but with the first rep, I said, "NOPE, Too heavy!" I just wasn't able to control the dumbbells. So I dropped down to 3kgs. I might have been able to do 4kgs, but I decided to stay safe. At the end of each set, I was happy for the decision. OUCH!!! This routine gave me an exceptional core burn which I am still feeling a few hours later. That's what I like!!
Moved right into the Splits which were a bit better than yesterday. But for some reason I accidentally mixed up the order and did something new today. But still got a good stretch in and got to the mark and even a little passed it. Finally, the Flow was good. I moved well and had no big balance hiccups. Slow and steady was on the menu for today.
In the end, I torched a huge 1267kcals. When I looked down at my HRM I was like WA WHAT??? Oh Happy Day!!! And Happy September!!
8-31-15 HY: P90X-Intervals PLUS + Splits + TCF.
8-31-15 HY: P90X-Intervals PLUS + Splits + TCF.
I still remember the last time I did this routine. I did it as a cardio filler just because I had an extra cardio day that wasn't spoken for. I was really dying that time. It was a few months ago in early summer. I thought I would do better this time. I overestimated myself.
The routine was simple enough. It started out with just an easy three level running in place. All the moves ranged in time from 30 seconds to 90 second...s. The first round was tough and I felt winded after each of the third levels, but I was able to recover quickly and continue without any extra break. But the second round in reverse started with what essentially was a modified burpee to a super burpee. I pushed as hard as I could so as not to stop in the middle of the move, but once I finished the move, I was extremely winded and recovery took a lot longer. I needed extra break time. In fact, for almost every move in the second round, I needed some extra recovery time. I was okay during the move, but once it ended, I was so winded I needed time to rest. I tried going into a very modified level one, but found that that was even too much to take right away. I sort of recovered from that excessive windedness near the end of the second round so I was able to keep up with Tony. One interesting thing was that during the routine, Tony often announced his heart rate and asked the other two people what their heart rate was. When I checked my heart rate against theirs, mine was consistently lower than theirs was. The closest I got to theirs was within 2 points. Most of the time I was between 10 - 15 points lower even though I was more winded especially in the second round. But I did get a good sweat on, and I got a good burn on as well.
I still remember the last time I did this routine. I did it as a cardio filler just because I had an extra cardio day that wasn't spoken for. I was really dying that time. It was a few months ago in early summer. I thought I would do better this time. I overestimated myself.
The routine was simple enough. It started out with just an easy three level running in place. All the moves ranged in time from 30 seconds to 90 second...s. The first round was tough and I felt winded after each of the third levels, but I was able to recover quickly and continue without any extra break. But the second round in reverse started with what essentially was a modified burpee to a super burpee. I pushed as hard as I could so as not to stop in the middle of the move, but once I finished the move, I was extremely winded and recovery took a lot longer. I needed extra break time. In fact, for almost every move in the second round, I needed some extra recovery time. I was okay during the move, but once it ended, I was so winded I needed time to rest. I tried going into a very modified level one, but found that that was even too much to take right away. I sort of recovered from that excessive windedness near the end of the second round so I was able to keep up with Tony. One interesting thing was that during the routine, Tony often announced his heart rate and asked the other two people what their heart rate was. When I checked my heart rate against theirs, mine was consistently lower than theirs was. The closest I got to theirs was within 2 points. Most of the time I was between 10 - 15 points lower even though I was more winded especially in the second round. But I did get a good sweat on, and I got a good burn on as well.
I moved right into Splits and tried to push it hard, but I was feeling a little bendier than usual on my knees so I pushed just a bit so as not to aggravate something.
I went for the slow pass today and really tried to get back to basics. I've been trying to clean up the Flow and chisel out each move. I have been noticing that my speed is a little erratic so I am trying to even everything out. Erratic in the sense that I move slower on some moves and faster on the easy ones. I especially noticed it when I punch. I always speed up on the punch, but today, I really had to focus to keep the punch slow but intense. I worked out okay. But I still need to work on it.
In the end, I torched well over 800kcals. I was surprised at the number, but happily surprised.
I went for the slow pass today and really tried to get back to basics. I've been trying to clean up the Flow and chisel out each move. I have been noticing that my speed is a little erratic so I am trying to even everything out. Erratic in the sense that I move slower on some moves and faster on the easy ones. I especially noticed it when I punch. I always speed up on the punch, but today, I really had to focus to keep the punch slow but intense. I worked out okay. But I still need to work on it.
In the end, I torched well over 800kcals. I was surprised at the number, but happily surprised.
8-30-15 HY: P90X-Upper PLUS + RevAbs-Mercy Abs + Splits + TCF.
8-30-15 HY: P90X-Upper PLUS + RevAbs-Mercy Abs + Splits + TCF.
There is only one more week before I leave for the USA for about 10 days. I am really looking forward to the trip, but making time for working out and eating good will be, always has been a challenge. There are so many things that I can't get in Japan that I want to have while I'm there. Last year, I solved the workout issue, but the eating was still a puzzle. I'm sort of working out a plan now, what to eat, a...nd when. I'm watching my calorie intake and logging everything, or at least I'm preparing to log everything. ANYWAY...
There is only one more week before I leave for the USA for about 10 days. I am really looking forward to the trip, but making time for working out and eating good will be, always has been a challenge. There are so many things that I can't get in Japan that I want to have while I'm there. Last year, I solved the workout issue, but the eating was still a puzzle. I'm sort of working out a plan now, what to eat, a...nd when. I'm watching my calorie intake and logging everything, or at least I'm preparing to log everything. ANYWAY...
Today was a good day. Had a good breakfast, then out for sushi for lunch with my ladies! Shake for dinner. But before that, WORKOUT!!!
This week will effectively allow me to finish all the P90X routines plus some extras. This will be the week for X+. Started today with Upper Plus. It was a lot more difficult that I remembered. This was my first introduction to the timed sets instead of rep count sets. Four groups of 5 moves each with a 30 second break in between each group. Move 1, a push up variation, 2-a pull up variation, 3-Shoulder\back, 4-Bicep, 5-Triceps. Really tough progression. It was interesting because I expected to do at least 12 reps in the allotted time, but the time changed from 30 seconds to often times, 90 seconds, sometime a minute. The longer periods were killer, I was dying to finish and the finish never seemed to come. I was happy to not use the assist on the pull up variations. The L-Chin up was especially tough. I cheated a bit on range of motion. I went down about 130 degrees instead of 180. With that ROM I could pump out only 10 reps, but I was satisfied. I got an extremely good pump and burn from this routine. One big change, I had to use my daughter's door instead of my son's door to set up my pull up bar because my kids' tutor came. It was okay today, but I wasn't able to as wide as I wanted on some of the switch grip pull ups. Also, it was a little tougher today because I couldn't grunt and groan a loudly as I usually like to when doing weights. BUMMER!!!
The door change is one reason I didn't do the Plus Abs routine. Swinging my knees side to side is difficult if not impossible to get a good range of motion on my daughter's door, so I went with Brett. Still got a super burn on the core. Still feeling the pump hours later.
The splits were a little painful at first, but once I got that initial stretch out of the way, it went well. Pushed low. I also got a good feel during the Flow.
In the end, I torched a solid 780+kcals today! Good way to start off my week!
This week will effectively allow me to finish all the P90X routines plus some extras. This will be the week for X+. Started today with Upper Plus. It was a lot more difficult that I remembered. This was my first introduction to the timed sets instead of rep count sets. Four groups of 5 moves each with a 30 second break in between each group. Move 1, a push up variation, 2-a pull up variation, 3-Shoulder\back, 4-Bicep, 5-Triceps. Really tough progression. It was interesting because I expected to do at least 12 reps in the allotted time, but the time changed from 30 seconds to often times, 90 seconds, sometime a minute. The longer periods were killer, I was dying to finish and the finish never seemed to come. I was happy to not use the assist on the pull up variations. The L-Chin up was especially tough. I cheated a bit on range of motion. I went down about 130 degrees instead of 180. With that ROM I could pump out only 10 reps, but I was satisfied. I got an extremely good pump and burn from this routine. One big change, I had to use my daughter's door instead of my son's door to set up my pull up bar because my kids' tutor came. It was okay today, but I wasn't able to as wide as I wanted on some of the switch grip pull ups. Also, it was a little tougher today because I couldn't grunt and groan a loudly as I usually like to when doing weights. BUMMER!!!
The door change is one reason I didn't do the Plus Abs routine. Swinging my knees side to side is difficult if not impossible to get a good range of motion on my daughter's door, so I went with Brett. Still got a super burn on the core. Still feeling the pump hours later.
The splits were a little painful at first, but once I got that initial stretch out of the way, it went well. Pushed low. I also got a good feel during the Flow.
In the end, I torched a solid 780+kcals today! Good way to start off my week!
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