Not even two weeks in, and I’m already in love with P90x. Sounds cheesy, but I feel like Tony Horton shows up once a day to kick my ass for an hour or two, and he’s the cheapest personal trainer I’ve ever had. I was warned that he was annoying, and he is slightly, but it doesn’t bother me so much. I can deal with it if he whips me into shape!
I catch glimpses of myself in the mirror and I like what I see. I feel stronger, better, more energetic.
Should I mention that I’ve had a chest cold too? And I still feel better about myself? That’s pretty good, no?
I mentioned before that I would not review the individual workouts until I’d had a chance to do them at least twice. Because I tend to find the first time doing any new workout to be not as intense as the times thereafter. I spend a lot of time trying to figure out the moves the first time.
This was no exception. So, I’ll give you a brief overview of what I’ve been up to the past couple of weeks. FYI, this is my routine for 3 weeks, and then it will change.
Sundays – Chest and back, abs
Chest and back – This is probably the hardest workout for me so far. Reason being that pull-ups are tough (impossible for me), and pushups are tough, and this routine is 90% pull-ups and pushups. The great thing, though, is they accomodate those like me who can’t do pullups. I am able to use a chair to create assisted pull-ups. The first day I was still feeling my way, and I probably used the chair a little too much. The second time I tried it I was able to focus my intensity into my arms and just let my feet make up the difference. I anticipate being able to do an actual pull-up or two sooner rather than later, with these workouts!
Abs – 16 minutes is all you need to kill those abs! The first day I was unimpressed. I’ve been to abs classes at the gym and I thought this wasn’t as good. I was also feeling a bit creaky if that makes sense – some odd feelings in random places that was hindering my range of motion. Odd pain in my arm, odd pulling in my foot, some hip creakiness – probably all just getting used to doing these new routines. I’ve done this workout 4 times now and I’ll say the more I do it, the more I can actually focus on my abs, and the better workout I feel like I’m getting. This is certainly a good one.
Cardio – Ok, so I got a little confused the first day. I thought that I was supposed to incorporate cardio on my own, either using the cardio DVD they provided or doing my own thing. So I tried the cardio DVD. I thought it was ok but nothing special. Then I found that instructional DVD that I’d thought was missing from my purchase – turns out I’d just overlooked it! I watched it and realized that the routines do include cardio, and this DVD is provided for people who want an easier workout if they can’t do the hard ones (no wonder it seemed so easy!) or for people who want to add more cardio. However, even those people aren’t supposed to try it until week 4. Oops! It was a mix of yoga for warmup, then plyometrics and kickboxing.
Mondays – Plyometrics
Plyometrics – I love this workout! It’s all cardio, I sweat my ass off, and I’m doing something different. It’s a lot of jumping. Standard moves like jumping jacks and fun moves like you’re dunking a basketball or pitching a baseball. There’s even one where you play air guitar while jumping like a rock star. So much fun. The hour flies by.
Tuesdays – Shoulders and arms, abs
Shoulders and arms – The first time I did this my arms were still sore from all the pull-ups and pushups from chest and back. That’s ok, though, it’s still a great workout. I love that everything is broken down into a routine, and I’m not some lost child wandering around the weights section of the gym wondering which machines I’m ‘supposed’ to be doing. It’s an hour long, and it’s hard to believe you can spend a whole hour on something so isolated, but it doesn’t get boring, that’s for sure!
Abs – see Sundays.
Wednesdays – Yoga
Yoga – I’m not flexible. For this reason, I need this workout. For this reason, this workout is so hard for me as well. It’s an hour and a half long. The first week, my mind was going a million miles an hour and I had a to-do list a mile long, so it was hard for me to focus. The second week, I was ready for it.
Thursdays – Legs and back, abs
Legs and back – I love doing leg exercises. Squats and lunges, ahhhh. Maybe it’s because I used to go to Group Power class and I perfected the form there. And my former personal trainer told me once I did them so well, so I feel like that’s my thing. Squats, I got this.
Abs – see Sundays.
Fridays – Kenpo (kickboxing)
Kenpo – I’ve done kickboxing classes at the gym and always hated them. So I expected to hate this too. I was wrong! Maybe because I was prepared for it. Maybe because there was no one there to know when I went left when they said go right. Who knows? I liked it though! Not as much as Plyometrics but not bad either.
Saturdays – Rest or Stretching
Running – At the end of week 1 I was feeling like I really missed running. So I went out for a really, really cold 8-miler. And although it was windy and miserable and gross outside, overall the running felt great. And to follow it up with an hour of stretching was awesome …
Stretching – Wow, so glad I picked stretching over rest! This workout is amazing. I feel like it’s just what I need to improve my flexibility (which is totally lacking.) It’s an awesome conclusion to a week of working hard.
Overall, I love this workout. I can’t wait to see the results. I already lost 3 pounds the first week according to the scale. Not sure I’m trusting that completely but like I said before, I feel better, I think I look better, and that’s all I really care about! The second week I stayed the same. Is it the dreaded “second week curse” that everyone talks about on The Biggest Loser? Ha.
Update – it looks like I may need to take a break from P90x for a few weeks. I am in Phoenix helping Anil with some family stuff, and this weekend Jeff and Anil and I are going to Vegas. I actually brought P90x with me (of course!) but Anil doesn’t have hand weights or a pull-up bar or workout mats. And of course the hotel in Vegas won’t either! Anil considered grabbing a pull-up bar but there’s really no need for him to have all those things since he’s got a gym so close. So I will table P90x, exercise the old-fashioned way for the next few weeks (running and hiking ftw!) and start P90x over the second I get back to Charlotte. I will miss it, but I just look at it like this – I get 100 days from the workout!