Week 1, just one of the kids

Drawing parallels with Mr. Rogers and Mr. Horton is a good way to end week 1 of P90X. I can’t help but think about Mr. Rogers coming on TV after a workout with a kind, courteous tone saying “kids, today’s word is SORE, can everyone say SORE with me.” Then he introduces a special guest, Mr. Horton who explains sore is the by product of “bring-it”. They are friends; they go together like peas and carrots. Then he summons the little train to bring magical drinks and an extra helping of turkey, just turkey.

OK….I exaggerate the entire point of being sore. I know the soreness wears off once the body adjusts to the routine, but it is fun to poke at.

Overall I am very pleased with the first week. The schedule worked perfect to plan and the workouts are exactly what I needed. About results? My scale is broke so nothing to report there, except I have pants that feel loose already. It seems I lost an inch from my waist. Somehow the sore shoulders and arms help me “walk tall” and feel better about myself. So…I think the biggest result this week is my changed attitude about my body.

Some initial newbie comments about the workouts:

CHEST and BACK
Impressive workout, with plenty of room for improvement. I was a star at the warm-ups and nailed everything asked of me. Move arms, swing arms, circle arms…. I am a killer! Superstar status was short lived, as nearly everything following that needed some assistance. Doing a controlled decent on each rep of pull-ups worked great, giving my body some help to the bar and fight gravity every inch going down. I quickly reverted to push-ups from my knees when my chest went numb. Overall, I set a goal to complete the workout, hopefully within the 90.

AB RIPPER X
Wonderful Ab workout, best I have seen or done. I envisioned some monster crunch-athon but was surprised. It had some good core work and particularly impressed with the emphasis on the oblique’s and entire range of muscles in the Ab’s. Most of the movements were very practical and challenging.

PLYOMETRICS
Fun, Fun, Fun workout. I must admit, I almost did not do this workout. Like a good boy I got up at 5AM and limped to the back-room on my somewhat bum foot from an injury last week. The injury is a slight strain and makes my foot sensitive to impact, but nothing damaging. I pressed play thinking “go back to bed dork, Plyo=Impact and you’re gonna hurt”. Well…. right away Tony introduces his workout companion with a prosthetic leg who is doing the workout without excuses. Right on, needed that… .let’s bring it. I enjoyed the entire workout and know how much strength and power can be improved by plyo’s. I used to be addicted to plyo’s when I played college football. Nothing adds power better than plyo drills. I did an extra helping of “bring-it” each drill as I focused on dumping all my cycling buddies on the big climbs this summer.

SHOULDERS and ARMS
Glad I bought some iron! Overall a good workout but not as intense as Chest and Back. The movements were good and the entire workout is scalable with the amount of metal you are moving. Hopefully we’ll have a gun show coming to town in about 87 days :o).

YOGA X
I have a long, long way to go to be a yoga boy!

LEGS and BACK
Good work out, especially the legs. I was very curious to see what lifts were used to build legs, so I was pleased to see ample helpings of lunges and dips. Lot’s of good horsepower building in that DVD.

KENPO X
“I am the little grasshopper” I thought as I kicked and punched my invisible friend for 40 minutes. What a blast! Great for arms, shoulders, and especially hips. I think next week I’ll get a big yellow robe and start yelling “Adrian, we did it”.

CARDIO X
I fit this in as a bonus the first week. I was curious and had time for another workout and pushed play. It was a bit slow with many stretching activities at the beginning. Once rolling it was OK, but may decide to sub a long ride or run for this workout during the program where I can get several hours of conitnuous elevated heart rate.

Week 0, a new greeting

This week when asked, “hey, how’s it going?” I reply with “great” or something cordial with a little voice in the back of my head usually agreeing. With starting P90X tomorrow the greeting won’t change, I’ll still be “Great”, in fact, it will mean I am better than great. I am on a plan to change my life, just wait and see. However, that little voice in the back of my mind will be saying I am SORE, I hurt all over, legs, shoulders, arms, abs…..but it feels so good! I’ll label it “CAUTION, construction in progress”.

I worked on a “detox" diet this week trying to stabilize blood sugars and get ready for some action. I did sample several of the P90x workouts to ensure I have all the equipment and space to “bring it”. I also took my fitness benchmark and found it to be an equal blend motivation and humiliation. There are some things you can learn from a fitness test…..

- If you don’t stretch for 10 years you may be able to touch your knees, but not your toes!

- Pull-ups are a hard way to get your feet of the ground
- Push-ups sucked in 6th grade, and they still suck

Plenty of room for improvement!

I am encouraged to find some other Christians that share the same passion to be the best in mind, body, and spirit. It’s so easy to approach these programs with “self” as the focal point, so I will fight that urge every step. I have been through a few “seasons” of life and know the best results in everything come with trust, faith, and humility. I have experienced some radical blessings when I first transformed from fat to fit about 12 years ago. I am not exactly sure where this is headed, but it’s clear the first step starts Sunday.

The Sequel, a new beginning

Over a decade ago I lost 50 lbs and transformed from a grand fella to fitness fanatic. It started with a decision to trust God in all things and then a curious pursuit of all things possible. Leading me to marathons, ironmans, and anything I thought was impossible

Over the last 5 years my “next steps” in life turned from the race calendar to family, 401k, and career. Each day loosing ground to normality, gant charts, and Taco Bell. Like a sequel, I am looking to weave a chrysalis and emerge a new person with the freedom to fly.

Some of the most important, and best things in life take a decision that transcends our daily choices. I have chosen now to break monotony and the general tendency towards above average. I am looking forward to a good, ole fashion world of hurt coming with P90X.

Ordered P90X today

The feet have left the diving board today, P90X order is on the books. In a few weeks I'll be jumping into the program and hopefully a great experience. I hope to challenge my faith, physical limits, and charter on life with this workout program. Expectations too high... perhaps. However, I have been so inspired by others I too want to break the mold of monotony.