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.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Phase 1 - Day 5
Oooooooh damn. I am going to be sore tomorrow. Today was Legs & Back, and it's pretty brutal. Squat after lunge after jump after calf raise, again and again and again. And then in between all the leg torture, we get to do enough pullups sets that apparently we did 150 pullups total. I didn't, I'm sure. But I did do about 15 assisted per set, and there were 8 sets, so... 120? Go me. My shoulders are currently in some pre-pain. I can feel it coming on.
I have to say, though, I really enjoyed this workout, mostly because I can feel so intensely the muscles in my legs and butt getting stronger. All that torture is going to be worth it for the butt of my dreams. Tony's also pretty subdued on this one, although he does creepily scream at Dreya at one point, "Whoa, the shirt comes off!" when she gets sweaty and removes her t-shirt. Ew. Otherwise, though, he's not quite as manic as usual. I kind of feel like I give him a bad rap because he truly comes across as just really friendly and generous, and he's so enthusiastic with the others and with the audience. It's just tempered by this tinge of creepy, narcissistic social awkwardness that's... Michael Scott-like, is the only way I can think to describe it. Not anything to hang him over, but I see why they provide the "mute" option on the DVDs.
Yesterday River and I were able to get a run in, thank goodness, but it was a pretty bad one because it was obnoxiously windy and River was so happy to be out of the house after all the rain that she lunged after every squirrel/leaf/runner/etc. and I got yanked all over the path. Ergh. Still, got in about 3 miles, albeit slow ones.
Tomorrow will be a long run, yoga, and resting. Then I start week 2. Confuse my muscles, Tony!
I have to say, though, I really enjoyed this workout, mostly because I can feel so intensely the muscles in my legs and butt getting stronger. All that torture is going to be worth it for the butt of my dreams. Tony's also pretty subdued on this one, although he does creepily scream at Dreya at one point, "Whoa, the shirt comes off!" when she gets sweaty and removes her t-shirt. Ew. Otherwise, though, he's not quite as manic as usual. I kind of feel like I give him a bad rap because he truly comes across as just really friendly and generous, and he's so enthusiastic with the others and with the audience. It's just tempered by this tinge of creepy, narcissistic social awkwardness that's... Michael Scott-like, is the only way I can think to describe it. Not anything to hang him over, but I see why they provide the "mute" option on the DVDs.
Yesterday River and I were able to get a run in, thank goodness, but it was a pretty bad one because it was obnoxiously windy and River was so happy to be out of the house after all the rain that she lunged after every squirrel/leaf/runner/etc. and I got yanked all over the path. Ergh. Still, got in about 3 miles, albeit slow ones.
Tomorrow will be a long run, yoga, and resting. Then I start week 2. Confuse my muscles, Tony!
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.
Rest Day
Okay so yeah. Yesterday I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a bus, slogged through my morning walk with River (we walk about two miles every morning), stumbled through my shower, was so foggy-brained I forgot my phone, then my wallet, and had to drive back to my house twice. Seriously. Then I got to work and could barely think or keep my eyes open all day, even with a LOT of black coffee running through my system. My body was clearly trying to tell me something.
So I decided about halfway through the day that it would be a rest day. Yeah, it's not very P90X of me, but I've already shown myself that I can actually do six P90X workouts in a row, from when I did it last year, so my ego wasn't really at stake or anything. And I honestly think rest days are super important, especially when my body is so clearly screaming at me that it needs a day off.
I decided instead to devote my evening to preparing food for the week. I went to Trader Joe's to shop, then got home and made stuffed red bell peppers for dinner (stuffing = ground beef, crab, and kale). I also made a crustless quiche with the leftover pepper stuffing and threw the ingredients for this paleo chili into the crockpot to simmer overnight. Should do me for lunches for a few days.
Since I hadn't worked out beyond a 30-minute easy walk, and I wasn't planning any more activity beyond a nighttime 30-minute walk, I kept my food very low-carb and minimal yesterday. I also wasn't very hungry all day. As usual, I had nothing but black coffee and water with lemon until about 11:30, then I had my sardines/avocado "salsa". I wasn't hungry again until I got home at about five, when I had a small salad of baby spinach, olive oil, herbs, a can of salmon, and mustard on top. Then for dinner a couple hours later I made me and my mom two stuffed peppers each, but I only ate one because I just wasn't very hungry. We also had roasted brussels sprouts--basically my favorite vegetable ever--on the side. Those are like candy to me.
Here is a FitDay chart for my day:
I'm very happy with the fat and protein ratios there. Very good. However, the total calories were only 1,154, which is not nearly enough, way way way too low. I just wasn't hungry yesterday and was so exhausted. I think maybe I've been battling the cold that's been going around and yesterday was the climactic battle, or something. I was in bed by 10 on the dot and fell immediately asleep. And it was hard to stay awake that late! I only did because my mom and one of my friends LOVE American Idol so I'm watching it this season, and I text with my friend the whole time we're watching.
This morning it was pouring rain, which always makes my body want to sleep in, but luckily I felt much better than yesterday and got up right on time to take River for our walk. We got soaked. It was still a pretty lovely walk.
Tonight will be Shoulders & Arms, what I remember being my favorite of the P90X workouts, and the dreaded Ab Ripper. Christ it hurts.
So I decided about halfway through the day that it would be a rest day. Yeah, it's not very P90X of me, but I've already shown myself that I can actually do six P90X workouts in a row, from when I did it last year, so my ego wasn't really at stake or anything. And I honestly think rest days are super important, especially when my body is so clearly screaming at me that it needs a day off.
I decided instead to devote my evening to preparing food for the week. I went to Trader Joe's to shop, then got home and made stuffed red bell peppers for dinner (stuffing = ground beef, crab, and kale). I also made a crustless quiche with the leftover pepper stuffing and threw the ingredients for this paleo chili into the crockpot to simmer overnight. Should do me for lunches for a few days.
Since I hadn't worked out beyond a 30-minute easy walk, and I wasn't planning any more activity beyond a nighttime 30-minute walk, I kept my food very low-carb and minimal yesterday. I also wasn't very hungry all day. As usual, I had nothing but black coffee and water with lemon until about 11:30, then I had my sardines/avocado "salsa". I wasn't hungry again until I got home at about five, when I had a small salad of baby spinach, olive oil, herbs, a can of salmon, and mustard on top. Then for dinner a couple hours later I made me and my mom two stuffed peppers each, but I only ate one because I just wasn't very hungry. We also had roasted brussels sprouts--basically my favorite vegetable ever--on the side. Those are like candy to me.
Here is a FitDay chart for my day:
I'm very happy with the fat and protein ratios there. Very good. However, the total calories were only 1,154, which is not nearly enough, way way way too low. I just wasn't hungry yesterday and was so exhausted. I think maybe I've been battling the cold that's been going around and yesterday was the climactic battle, or something. I was in bed by 10 on the dot and fell immediately asleep. And it was hard to stay awake that late! I only did because my mom and one of my friends LOVE American Idol so I'm watching it this season, and I text with my friend the whole time we're watching.
This morning it was pouring rain, which always makes my body want to sleep in, but luckily I felt much better than yesterday and got up right on time to take River for our walk. We got soaked. It was still a pretty lovely walk.
Tonight will be Shoulders & Arms, what I remember being my favorite of the P90X workouts, and the dreaded Ab Ripper. Christ it hurts.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Phase 1 - Day 2
Aaaaand we stumble right out of the gate.
Monday night saw me scrambling to get work done, stop at the store for puppy and person dinners, and arrive home with barely enough time to eat before bedtime. Certainly no time for the planned 3-miler, and the weather wasn't cooperating anyway. So, I skipped it, and by the time I had made dinner it was too late for Ab Ripper *and* eating. So I skipped Ab Ripper too. I apologize to the P90X gods. Clearly, there are some issues with the whole "split workouts" concept, namely that if things go crazy at work, the rest of the evening gets thrown into flux to such a degree that my exercising gets boned.
Yesterday I got up early enough to take River to the dog park before work for her exercise, then after work I did Plyometrics. GAAAAAAAAH I hate that workout. It's SO HARD. And SO LONG. Oh man. Just hate it. But I finished it, limped into the kitchen and had a recovery shake, then took River for a 30-minute walk in the fresh night air before bed.
Tonight will be (hopefully, time and weather permitting) a run with River, Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X, a bedtime walk with River, and plenty of sleep. However, the weather report says it's gonna start raining pretty much right when I get out of work, so the run might have to be canceled. Gah. The weather is really messing with me lately.
Monday night saw me scrambling to get work done, stop at the store for puppy and person dinners, and arrive home with barely enough time to eat before bedtime. Certainly no time for the planned 3-miler, and the weather wasn't cooperating anyway. So, I skipped it, and by the time I had made dinner it was too late for Ab Ripper *and* eating. So I skipped Ab Ripper too. I apologize to the P90X gods. Clearly, there are some issues with the whole "split workouts" concept, namely that if things go crazy at work, the rest of the evening gets thrown into flux to such a degree that my exercising gets boned.
Yesterday I got up early enough to take River to the dog park before work for her exercise, then after work I did Plyometrics. GAAAAAAAAH I hate that workout. It's SO HARD. And SO LONG. Oh man. Just hate it. But I finished it, limped into the kitchen and had a recovery shake, then took River for a 30-minute walk in the fresh night air before bed.
Tonight will be (hopefully, time and weather permitting) a run with River, Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X, a bedtime walk with River, and plenty of sleep. However, the weather report says it's gonna start raining pretty much right when I get out of work, so the run might have to be canceled. Gah. The weather is really messing with me lately.
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.
Back to the drawing board
What a year. I'm back to this blog after basically a full year away. I definitely didn't stop working out--in fact I feel the past year has really solidified my workout strategies more than any other time in my life. Now I know what works, what I like, and what I can sustain.
So what happened to this blog? Well, quite simply, the first time around, P90X was not sustainable. The biggest reason for this was that I didn't have any equipment in the tiny basement room I was renting, and had just moved to Canada from the US with nothing but a single suitcase and my cats, so I was relying on the gym for weights, pull-up bars, etc. The other reason was time: all told, because I didn't have a car and was relying on the bus, it was taking me a solid three hours to get to the gym, do the entire P90X workout for the day, shower/change for work, and then go to work. Just not sustainable.
I basically kept doing modified versions of the P90X workouts every other day or so, or whenever I could make it to the gym. But then during the summer, I got really motivated to work out due to an upcoming high school reunion of sorts (I haven't even hit my ten-year reunion yet, but all the choir kids were getting together for a mini-reunion). On the same week as the reunion, I was going to go to the Outer Banks with my family. I decided I wanted to impress in a swimsuit and also impress my former classmates, so I started looking around for a more sustainable, convenient home workout option.
Enter Bodyrock! If you've never been to bodyrock.tv, check it out. Zuzana and Freddy, a husband-and-wife team who are both ridiculously fit, come up with daily HIIT workouts that they film and clearly explain. The best part is, most of the workouts use only bodyweights--I think the only other equipment ever used is a kettlebell, a jump rope, a pull-up bar, a dip bar (which I don't have, I just use a chair/bench/table/whatever's nearby), and a Gymboss interval timer. I managed to assemble all of these items for less than 100 bucks. The other great thing about Bodyrock is that the workouts are 20 minutes tops, and usually end up between 12 and 15 minutes. And they're incredibly effective. No overtraining and exhaustion, no three-hour gym trip, no expensive equipment.
So last summer around May I started doing a Bodyrock workout in my backyard every day. I added some of my own ideas to the workouts, too, being that I could take advantage of being outdoors in a backyard that was woody, with variable terrain. I basically did interval workouts, about 1 minute on/30 seconds off, with exercises ranging from kettlebell swings to pushups to hill sprints to plyometric jumps, and more. I lost a little weight and really toned up, and ended up looking great in my swimsuit later that summer.
Then winter came, and without the space in my room to really work out effectively (seriously, NO SPACE at all), I turned back to the gym and my workouts sort of petered off into the typical 3x per week, strength + treadmill routine. It was boring. I did get a puppy, and when she was old enough I started taking her for runs and it got me back into running, which I love. But all in all, I was really glad to move back to the States in December, where I now have a big bedroom with plenty of space for workouts, and where it's not so cold when I want to run.
The past couple months, though, I've really been slacking. I've been averaging maybe 2 Bodyrock workouts a week, 2 runs a week, and general laziness otherwise. I've also been lazy about my food. This, combined with winter weather that has me moving around a lot less, has led to some noticeable weight gain and a loss of muscle tone. I'm not too happy with myself (I think I probably look the worst I've ever looked), but thankfully, I know how to fix it. I just need a jump start.
So, I'm doing P90X again. The time commitment is much less severe this time around, being that I have the equipment (pull up bar, resistance bands) and space to be able to to it at home. It's just about an hour a morning. I won't be doing the Yoga X day since I do yoga anyway (more on that in a minute), and I'll do the Kenpo X if the mood strikes me, but otherwise will probably leave that out too. I'm doing this--leaving out days--because of a couple other fitness things I have to squeeze in:
1. I'm signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon in October and need to train for that.
2. I'm doing a five-week intensive yoga teacher training in Victoria, BC this summer, and have to get serious about my yoga. No more "oh I'll do yoga if/when the mood strikes a few times a week". I have to do five yoga practices a week, period.
Another motivator for me right now is the fact that I'm going to be dressed skimpily in a hot yoga room about six hours a day for the entire month of June, and I want to look good. Right now I'm not happy with the way my flabby, untoned self looks in my yoga clothes.
I've set up my workout schedule so that it's sustainable and so that I incorporate five runs and five yoga practices per week. I don't think this will be too much because my runs are mostly low-mileage for the time being, with the longest one I might do being 10 miles. Once I get back from yoga training, I'll ramp up the mileage in preparation for the marathon. I'm also hoping that P90X will get me to a place where I can maintain my fitness with Bodyrock, yoga, and marathon training. I just need to shock my body right now and I saw great gains with P90X last time.
I'm also going to be really diligent about my diet. Primal all the way! I've been great with staying away from wheat and grains lately, because they so obviously affect me poorly, but I decided I also need to fully cut out the dairy, and to spark a weight-loss mode, cut the fruit for a few weeks. I'm basically doing Whole30, but I am eating a whey protein shake post-morning workout (it's my breakfast), and I find it unnecessary to give up the small amount of caffeine I enjoy in the morning. But otherwise, no dairy, processed sugar, continuing with no grains or white starches, and no fruit for a month to see if it has an effect. (I'm not counting avocados or sweet potatoes as fruit, both of which I view as essential parts of my diet, especially with all the running).
The end! Back to ripping! Honestly, the hardest part of it might be waking up with the douche extraordinaire (though a truly great trainer and a very fit individual) that is Tony Horton. He makes me stabby.
So what happened to this blog? Well, quite simply, the first time around, P90X was not sustainable. The biggest reason for this was that I didn't have any equipment in the tiny basement room I was renting, and had just moved to Canada from the US with nothing but a single suitcase and my cats, so I was relying on the gym for weights, pull-up bars, etc. The other reason was time: all told, because I didn't have a car and was relying on the bus, it was taking me a solid three hours to get to the gym, do the entire P90X workout for the day, shower/change for work, and then go to work. Just not sustainable.
I basically kept doing modified versions of the P90X workouts every other day or so, or whenever I could make it to the gym. But then during the summer, I got really motivated to work out due to an upcoming high school reunion of sorts (I haven't even hit my ten-year reunion yet, but all the choir kids were getting together for a mini-reunion). On the same week as the reunion, I was going to go to the Outer Banks with my family. I decided I wanted to impress in a swimsuit and also impress my former classmates, so I started looking around for a more sustainable, convenient home workout option.
Enter Bodyrock! If you've never been to bodyrock.tv, check it out. Zuzana and Freddy, a husband-and-wife team who are both ridiculously fit, come up with daily HIIT workouts that they film and clearly explain. The best part is, most of the workouts use only bodyweights--I think the only other equipment ever used is a kettlebell, a jump rope, a pull-up bar, a dip bar (which I don't have, I just use a chair/bench/table/whatever's nearby), and a Gymboss interval timer. I managed to assemble all of these items for less than 100 bucks. The other great thing about Bodyrock is that the workouts are 20 minutes tops, and usually end up between 12 and 15 minutes. And they're incredibly effective. No overtraining and exhaustion, no three-hour gym trip, no expensive equipment.
So last summer around May I started doing a Bodyrock workout in my backyard every day. I added some of my own ideas to the workouts, too, being that I could take advantage of being outdoors in a backyard that was woody, with variable terrain. I basically did interval workouts, about 1 minute on/30 seconds off, with exercises ranging from kettlebell swings to pushups to hill sprints to plyometric jumps, and more. I lost a little weight and really toned up, and ended up looking great in my swimsuit later that summer.
Then winter came, and without the space in my room to really work out effectively (seriously, NO SPACE at all), I turned back to the gym and my workouts sort of petered off into the typical 3x per week, strength + treadmill routine. It was boring. I did get a puppy, and when she was old enough I started taking her for runs and it got me back into running, which I love. But all in all, I was really glad to move back to the States in December, where I now have a big bedroom with plenty of space for workouts, and where it's not so cold when I want to run.
The past couple months, though, I've really been slacking. I've been averaging maybe 2 Bodyrock workouts a week, 2 runs a week, and general laziness otherwise. I've also been lazy about my food. This, combined with winter weather that has me moving around a lot less, has led to some noticeable weight gain and a loss of muscle tone. I'm not too happy with myself (I think I probably look the worst I've ever looked), but thankfully, I know how to fix it. I just need a jump start.
So, I'm doing P90X again. The time commitment is much less severe this time around, being that I have the equipment (pull up bar, resistance bands) and space to be able to to it at home. It's just about an hour a morning. I won't be doing the Yoga X day since I do yoga anyway (more on that in a minute), and I'll do the Kenpo X if the mood strikes me, but otherwise will probably leave that out too. I'm doing this--leaving out days--because of a couple other fitness things I have to squeeze in:
1. I'm signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon in October and need to train for that.
2. I'm doing a five-week intensive yoga teacher training in Victoria, BC this summer, and have to get serious about my yoga. No more "oh I'll do yoga if/when the mood strikes a few times a week". I have to do five yoga practices a week, period.
Another motivator for me right now is the fact that I'm going to be dressed skimpily in a hot yoga room about six hours a day for the entire month of June, and I want to look good. Right now I'm not happy with the way my flabby, untoned self looks in my yoga clothes.
I've set up my workout schedule so that it's sustainable and so that I incorporate five runs and five yoga practices per week. I don't think this will be too much because my runs are mostly low-mileage for the time being, with the longest one I might do being 10 miles. Once I get back from yoga training, I'll ramp up the mileage in preparation for the marathon. I'm also hoping that P90X will get me to a place where I can maintain my fitness with Bodyrock, yoga, and marathon training. I just need to shock my body right now and I saw great gains with P90X last time.
I'm also going to be really diligent about my diet. Primal all the way! I've been great with staying away from wheat and grains lately, because they so obviously affect me poorly, but I decided I also need to fully cut out the dairy, and to spark a weight-loss mode, cut the fruit for a few weeks. I'm basically doing Whole30, but I am eating a whey protein shake post-morning workout (it's my breakfast), and I find it unnecessary to give up the small amount of caffeine I enjoy in the morning. But otherwise, no dairy, processed sugar, continuing with no grains or white starches, and no fruit for a month to see if it has an effect. (I'm not counting avocados or sweet potatoes as fruit, both of which I view as essential parts of my diet, especially with all the running).
The end! Back to ripping! Honestly, the hardest part of it might be waking up with the douche extraordinaire (though a truly great trainer and a very fit individual) that is Tony Horton. He makes me stabby.
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