This past weekend saw kind of a crappy stumble into non-working-out. After Legs & Back Saturday, I did my walk with River as usual Sunday, then promptly had no time to take the run I was planning due to a work project nearing its deadline. Sunday night, a key website I needed to complete the project crashed at absolutely the WORST time, so I stayed up super late to wait for it to come up. It didn't. I went to sleep at 3am, woke up at 7 to walk River, then rushed to work early to try and get the stuff done. Everything worked out okay, but I was an absolute zombie all day Monday and felt like deep-fried shit.
I felt so incredibly knocked on my ass from something as simple as too little sleep that it shocked me. I've been REALLY good about getting enough sleep over the past couple months: paring down my coffee intake, ingesting caffeine no later than 11am, even cutting most of the TV I enjoy out of my life in order to get a full hour of no electronic light before I attempt to sleep (this simple act improves my sleep better than anything else I've ever done, even yoga. I now make a point to read an hour before actually shutting off the light for sleep). And I've been in bed by 10 on the dot without fail. The benefits have been enormous (better workouts, bouncing out of bed at 6:30 to walk River and work out, less hunger swings and food cravings, clearer thinking, vastly higher productivity in all areas of life). And I really don't miss the TV--for as much as I truly love TV, it's amazing how easily it slips out of my life when I don't have time for it.
But man. It's now clear to me how INCREDIBLE the difference is between sleeping enough and not. On 4 hours of sleep Monday, I was walking into walls, slurring my speech, experiencing noticeable and consistent word aphasia, I had no appetite, I felt nauseous when I did try to eat, I had zero energy, I had a headache, my nose felt stuffed and swelled like I had a sinus infection, and I could go on and on. It was hellish. I'm (gods willing) never doing that again, I don't care what deadline is approaching.
Monday I was supposed to do Chest and Back, but couldn't even get up the energy to take River for her nighttime walk, let alone do any working out. I got home from work, tossed the ball for River to try to wear her out a bit, half-heartedly tried to eat a small bowl of my Paleo chili, gave up about five bites in, and just straight gave up on life and went to bed at around 8:30.
Then, yesterday, it was like recovering from a hangover. I still felt crappy, still had a headache, still had no appetite. I was, however, well-rested; I slept for ten hours straight Monday night, so my energy levels were more normal, but I just felt wrung out and decided to take yet another rest day. I barely ate Monday and Tuesday and what I did eat was ridiculously low-carb (not by design at all--actually when I realized last night that I'd ingested maybe 15 grams of carbs over the past 48 hours, I quickly cooked and shoved a sweet potato down my throat), so I didn't really feel like a workout would have been effective. It would have been a junk workout. So I ate a full dinner, peaced out around 9 to read in bed and snuggle with River, was asleep by 10.
This morning! YAY! Back to normal! Woke up at 6 and snoozed only till about 6:20 thanks to the hilarious series of alarms I set myself on my iphone:
6:00 DO YOUR P90X FATTY
6:15 You won't have time later, do it NOW!
6:20 Seriously get the fuck up.
These are highly motivating. I'm the kind of person who is really REALLY motivated by yelling and insults (not, like, mean insults, but insults that are meant to highlight why I need to do something). I always felt I would do really well if I ever found myself in army boot camp. "You are a lazy piece of scum! Look at all these people running faster than you! Move your fat, lazy ass!" YES SIR OMG. Anyway.
I did something a bit new this morning: made some coffee and took it in a travel mug for my walk with River. Awesome idea. I was really charged up for P90X.
Chest and Back--same as last week, but my reps were greater and my stamina noticeably higher. Yay. I like when I can tell I'm progressing fitness-wise. Tony was... sigh. Chest and Back might be Tony at his most obnoxious, and it's the very. First. Workout. Bad choice, Beachbody. Tony really does get better as the workouts go along. But in this one, his constant "All right, boys and girls!" "You boys and girls ready?" "Lemme go check on the kids back here" is just AWFUL. It's just so DOUCHEY. He really hits a douche peak when on Decline Pushups, when the clock is about to start, he tells the cameraman, "Get close on in here... I'm about to show you perfection, my brother." Barf.
One nice thing that I feel the need to call out, because I feel bad bagging on Tony all the time--he's truly a great trainer and seems like a really genuinely nice guy--is that his treatment of the women in his videos is refreshingly un-sexist and un-misogynistic. Yeah, he is creepy toward Dreya, but they're friends and his creepering comes off more as admiring than objectifying. And in the Chest and Back video, he's constantly complimenting Maren on her form and general badassery (girl can WORK IT [cough cough literally, she's a German porn star]), and at one point before the second set of Decline Pushups, he says to the two guys, "You guys chill out on your reps here. But Maren, I want you to do these with one leg up. Maren's tough, everyone. Tougher than the average bear." And he's always similarly complimentary toward Dreya's efforts. I find it so completely awesome that Tony clearly regards the women in these videos as equals to the men and to himself, and doesn't try to "easy things down" for the female audience.
Tony Horton: socially awkward douche-esque meathead, but forward-thinking 21st century nice guy, and training genius. That pretty much sums it up.
Tonight I REALLY hope I have time for a run. I think I'll run in my Vibrams. Haven't had a nice barefootish run in a while.
Tomorrow: Plyo. OH GOD OH GOD. Whimper.
Showing posts with label Tony Horton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tony Horton. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Phase 1 - Day 3
Shoulders & Arms! I love this one because it's almost like a rest day. It's still hard, but it involves really isolated movements, so you're not in the full-body, shaking, sweating exertion that is required by... just about every other workout. Ab Ripper X, however, was just as brutal as I remember. It's not so much abs pain as quad and hip flexor pain, because the WHOLE THING has your legs raised and there's some form of drawing them into your chest. Then there is indeed some ab pain. It's so hard.
I'm doing P90X with resistance bands rather than weights, and for most exercises it doesn't really feel different--I find that it's actually harder for some things, like shoulder presses--but on some exercises contorting the band to get the proper tension and position is just too weird and difficult. I end up not really doing the exercise because I'm trying to figure out how I'm supposed to be doing it. And then I have to rewind and do it again, once I've figured it out, and the last thing I want is to have extra Tony Horton time. I straight up changed one of the exercises because just absolutely could not figure out how to make it work with the band. They always have one dude demonstrating, but the camera doesn't show him enough or give us enough time to get the band situated before starting.
Speaking of Tony. Wow. Some great soundbites tonight. First, we have him relentlessly hitting on Dreya. This isn't the workout with the "skin like a baby" comment that I remember, but he's still creepy. Then at one point he starts screaming "BRING IT! BRING IT! X ME! X ME!" in what I'm sure he thinks is a motivational way, but it's just freaky and cracked out. Shudder. He looked pretty good in this workout, though. His hair was in a flattering style and I liked his sleeveless grey shirt. And it's not like I blame him for hitting on Dreya Weber. She's really super pretty and fit, and also blonde. I do blame him for being creepy, though.
Today was a pretty good food day, although it was another day where I just wasn't hungry and probably didn't eat enough calories. Black coffee, water, and some tea before 11:30; I had some of the crustless quiche for my morning snack, then I had some mini heirloom tomatoes and carrot sticks, and only got halfway through that before I was full. Then I wasn't hungry again until about 3-ish, and I wasn't so much hungry as just really aware that I needed to eat so it could settle before my workout. So I had some of the chili I made, which was really freaking good. I was too full to eat my stuffed pepper that I brought; it'll be tomorrow's lunch. At home I had nothing until my post-workout shake.
Which, by the way, consists of:
1/2 cup Trader Joe's light coconut milk (let me just say that I have no qualms about the fat in regular coconut milk, in fact I welcome it, but the TJ's milk is the cheapest available and has no funky chemicals or preservatives in it)
1/2 cup water
1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
1/2 cup frozen spinach
1 egg
It perfectly fits in my Magic Bullet shake cup and it's delicious. I only ever have it post-workout for recovery. Well, and this one time when I was really craving dessert of some kind, so I made a shake of coconut milk, whey powder, sweet potato, and cinnamon. Tasted like pie, totally killed my craving, and I think it was all of 15 or so grams of carbs. GOOD CHOICES.
As far as shakes go, I really recommend getting a Magic Bullet. Not only are they easy to use and relatively cheap (mine was 30 bucks), but they inherently restrict the portion so you don't find yourself gorging on a whole blender pitcher of shake.
Today was pouring rain for the ENTIRE day. Except, somehow, the hour in which I took River to the dog park. I was totally prepared to get soaked, but somehow the rain let up just enough for a little while so that I could let her get her energy out at the park. She chased that ball for a solid hour until she was panting and exhausted and the rain started coming down again. Now it's pouring again, so no nighttime walk. Needless to say, there was no running today. Siiiiiiigh.
I'm doing P90X with resistance bands rather than weights, and for most exercises it doesn't really feel different--I find that it's actually harder for some things, like shoulder presses--but on some exercises contorting the band to get the proper tension and position is just too weird and difficult. I end up not really doing the exercise because I'm trying to figure out how I'm supposed to be doing it. And then I have to rewind and do it again, once I've figured it out, and the last thing I want is to have extra Tony Horton time. I straight up changed one of the exercises because just absolutely could not figure out how to make it work with the band. They always have one dude demonstrating, but the camera doesn't show him enough or give us enough time to get the band situated before starting.
Speaking of Tony. Wow. Some great soundbites tonight. First, we have him relentlessly hitting on Dreya. This isn't the workout with the "skin like a baby" comment that I remember, but he's still creepy. Then at one point he starts screaming "BRING IT! BRING IT! X ME! X ME!" in what I'm sure he thinks is a motivational way, but it's just freaky and cracked out. Shudder. He looked pretty good in this workout, though. His hair was in a flattering style and I liked his sleeveless grey shirt. And it's not like I blame him for hitting on Dreya Weber. She's really super pretty and fit, and also blonde. I do blame him for being creepy, though.
Today was a pretty good food day, although it was another day where I just wasn't hungry and probably didn't eat enough calories. Black coffee, water, and some tea before 11:30; I had some of the crustless quiche for my morning snack, then I had some mini heirloom tomatoes and carrot sticks, and only got halfway through that before I was full. Then I wasn't hungry again until about 3-ish, and I wasn't so much hungry as just really aware that I needed to eat so it could settle before my workout. So I had some of the chili I made, which was really freaking good. I was too full to eat my stuffed pepper that I brought; it'll be tomorrow's lunch. At home I had nothing until my post-workout shake.
Which, by the way, consists of:
1/2 cup Trader Joe's light coconut milk (let me just say that I have no qualms about the fat in regular coconut milk, in fact I welcome it, but the TJ's milk is the cheapest available and has no funky chemicals or preservatives in it)
1/2 cup water
1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder
1/2 cup frozen spinach
1 egg
It perfectly fits in my Magic Bullet shake cup and it's delicious. I only ever have it post-workout for recovery. Well, and this one time when I was really craving dessert of some kind, so I made a shake of coconut milk, whey powder, sweet potato, and cinnamon. Tasted like pie, totally killed my craving, and I think it was all of 15 or so grams of carbs. GOOD CHOICES.
As far as shakes go, I really recommend getting a Magic Bullet. Not only are they easy to use and relatively cheap (mine was 30 bucks), but they inherently restrict the portion so you don't find yourself gorging on a whole blender pitcher of shake.
Today was pouring rain for the ENTIRE day. Except, somehow, the hour in which I took River to the dog park. I was totally prepared to get soaked, but somehow the rain let up just enough for a little while so that I could let her get her energy out at the park. She chased that ball for a solid hour until she was panting and exhausted and the rain started coming down again. Now it's pouring again, so no nighttime walk. Needless to say, there was no running today. Siiiiiiigh.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Phase 1 - Day 1
Oh P90X, you sassy bitch, I've missed you.
Chest and Back. One of my more preferred workouts, because it's fun, but also really difficult. There's like five different kinds of pushups and the workout seems to go on forever. It's painful. But you also feel a little badass, doing pushups and pullups till your arms won't raise above your chest (blowdrying my hair after my shower was a feat).
Nothing really to report here. Chest and Back is as I remember, Tony is just as douchey as usual--the two douche moments that really stick with me from this workout are when he says to another guy, "Those are nice shoes. Almost as cool as mine." and when he asks what weights the others are using and then manically runs back to the rack to grab heavier ones, screaming, "Ain't you ain't liftin' more weight than me!" (Seriously, he says that exact sentence.) Oh, and when he makes fun of Maureen's accent. "GEH-MAHN POH-TAY-TOH SOOOOP!" Shut up shut up shut uuuuuuup. Oh, Tony. Please change your entire personality and speech patterns.
I do appreciate his enthusiasm, though. And he's a beast. The man can just knock out decline pushups--on raised bars--for EVER.
Whenever Ab Ripper is called for, I'll be doing it in the evening after my run, because I just can't bring myself to do 1.5 hours in the morning. So I'm splitting it up.
Tonight: easy 3-miler with River (the puppy), Ab Ripper X.
Chest and Back. One of my more preferred workouts, because it's fun, but also really difficult. There's like five different kinds of pushups and the workout seems to go on forever. It's painful. But you also feel a little badass, doing pushups and pullups till your arms won't raise above your chest (blowdrying my hair after my shower was a feat).
Nothing really to report here. Chest and Back is as I remember, Tony is just as douchey as usual--the two douche moments that really stick with me from this workout are when he says to another guy, "Those are nice shoes. Almost as cool as mine." and when he asks what weights the others are using and then manically runs back to the rack to grab heavier ones, screaming, "Ain't you ain't liftin' more weight than me!" (Seriously, he says that exact sentence.) Oh, and when he makes fun of Maureen's accent. "GEH-MAHN POH-TAY-TOH SOOOOP!" Shut up shut up shut uuuuuuup. Oh, Tony. Please change your entire personality and speech patterns.
I do appreciate his enthusiasm, though. And he's a beast. The man can just knock out decline pushups--on raised bars--for EVER.
Whenever Ab Ripper is called for, I'll be doing it in the evening after my run, because I just can't bring myself to do 1.5 hours in the morning. So I'm splitting it up.
Tonight: easy 3-miler with River (the puppy), Ab Ripper X.
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