Day 84: Love & Legs

My honey joined me for the P90X Legs & Back workout on this lovely Sunday morning. As you've read in many of the posts, I love to workout with Karen. Not only does she make it fun, but she's in such good shape that she serves as an inspiration to me.

Working out with your significant other can also be very romantic. The workout may be hard but when you participate in healthy addictions as a couple, you feel good about yourself and good about each other. You are proud of what you are doing and proud that you are doing it together.

Granted, Karen and I go out and party and get drunk and dance like fools, but we know this debauchery is offset by our love of fitness. In the photo, Karen is taking advantage of the calf raises to sneak in a few kisses. Karen's 17 inches shorter than me so I have to wait until I'm doing squats if I want to sneak in a few kisses of my own.

Day 83: Imbalanced

Every P90Xer that I speak with agrees that Yoga X is one of the most difficult of the workouts. Hell, I can't do half of the poses without some assistance. I'm 6'5" and 255 pounds of imbalanced, uncoordinated, stiff muscle.

In the photo, I'm doing the Warrior 3 pose. Normally, you are supposed grab your left ankle with your left hand, stick your right hand straight up in the air and raise your right leg perpendicular to the floor. Yeah, right. If I try this pose without using my heavy bag and yoga block for support, I'd being laying on the floor. Trust me this pose is still hard doing it my way.

Therefore, if you are doing the Yoga X workout or any of the others, you may find it necessary to use blocks, bags, walls, chairs or shelves to provide balance and support. Try to do the moves that you can do, but if you are unable, improvise.

When improvising just use as much support as needed. For example, I use a chair when doing lunges. I don't put too much weight on the chair but just enough to maintain balance and still exert myself and get the maximum benefit of the god awful lunge. Eventually, and I mean eventually, I'll be able to do most of the exercises and poses with perfect form.

In the meantime, I'll continue to give 100% assisted effort and that's good enough for me.

Day 82: Be Flexible

P90X puts a strong emphasis on flexibility. I've discovered that I also need to be flexible in my scheduling. Let me explain. Last week P90X had me scheduled to do the following:

   Mon:  Chest & Back
   Tue:  Plyometrics
   Wed:  Shoulders & Arm
   Thu:  Yoga X
   Fri:  Legs
   Sat:  Kenpo X
   Sun:  X Stretch

I do every workout that P90X calls for in a week. However, sometimes I switch the days around. For example, last week Karen wanted to workout with me on Monday but she has an injured shoulder. Therefore, we switched Monday's Chest & Back with Tuesday's Plyo workout. Karen wanted to workout again on Friday and loves Kenpo X so we did that workout instead of Legs & Back. Saturday I was exhausted so I did Sunday's X Stretch and put off the Legs & Back workout until Sunday. I got all seven scheduled workouts in for the week but didn't do the workouts on their regularly scheduled days.

Some P90X'er may consider this sacrilege, but in the real word, no one will be able to tell that I moved workouts around. I'll be just as lean and muscular and fit. P90X is tough physically but it is tougher to schedule 90 days straight especially if you are an adult with kids. If you want to successfully complete the P90X program, you have to be flexible.

Day 81: Keep Your Right Up

When I was taking Muay Thai (Thai Kickboxing) at a local studio, the hardest thing to remember (besides breathing) was to keep your hands up. You'd think you were doing a good job at this but it until the instructor began his constant mantra. Keep your right up. You dropped your left. Hands up. Quit dropping your hands. If you were sparring with an experienced opponent, they weren't as gentile when they reminded you.

The P90X Kenpo X workout is a great cardio workout, but it doesn't teach you anything about fighting. I've had some basic training from my Muay Thai classes and remember enough to take a more experienced approach to the workout. I use the heavy and standing bags to provide resistance and let me feel those punches. I also am focusing on form and trying to keep the hands up, rotate the shoulders and punch with the hips. My form is probably far from perfect but at least I'm getting a little more than just a good cardio workout.

I've only got one more Kenpo X left during this round of P90X. Kenpo has been the most enjoyable of all the P90X workouts. Actually, it's been the only enjoyable workout. The rest of the workouts are work-outs. That's why I'll always do at least one or two Kenpo workouts every week when I'm not in a structured P90X 90 day cycle. It's so nice when you can combine exercise and fun and not have to rely so much on discipline.

Day 80: Part 2 of 2 - Might as Well Jump

I get up, and nothing gets me down.
You got it tough. I've seen the toughest soul around.
And I know, baby, just how you feel.
You've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real
— Jump by Van Halen

I stepped into my home gym late this evening to do my second P90X workout of the day. I missed Plyometrics (jump training) yesterday and decided to knock it out tonight. My upper body was suffering from this morning's workout and my lower body has been sore for the last two weeks. However, I dug deep and squatted, jumped, twisted, lunged, hopped and leaped for an hour.

I felt like I was solid stone and probably gave the worst plyometrics performance since days 2 and 9 of P90X. Although my performance wasn't top notch, I gave it my best and that's all that counts. In P90X you ain't competing with nobody but yourself.

I'm so glad I made up yesterday's missed workout. One P90X workout in a day is tough enough let alone two. I'm sure I'll be paying for it when I wake up tomorrow to do my Kenpo X with Karen. Friday night I'm going to try to squeeze in an extra X Stretch P90X workout in the evening to make up for the one I missed during week 3. Then I'll be caught up and feeling good about myself again. I know I'm being extreme but that's what the X in P90X is all about, baby!

Day 80: Part 1 of 2 - Pull Up Land

I had a full day of appointments scheduled beginning at 9:00am so I gat started at 7:30am and hit the fast forward on all of the breaks so I could get finished in time. My first workout of the day was Disc 10 Back & Biceps with an Ab Ripper X tacked on at the end. It was one hell of a tough workout here in Pull Up Land.

This is the last time I'll do this workout in this 90 day round of P90X so I hit it hard and made it count. As I'm writing this post I can definitely feel the workout. I am sore and my muscles are solid stone. Although I've only lost about 5 pounds in the last 80 days I can really see and feel the results. I don't think I've ever been this big. It's time to buy some new shirts. Karen can you help me out?

I am really loving my pull up bar even though I still have to use the chair for support. My only regret is that I wasn't able to use the bar exclusively during this round of P90X. The bands are effective but not even close to a reasonable substitute for pull ups.

The biceps exercises were fantastic also. P90X has about eight different versions of bicep exercises that absolutely destroy your arms. You will feel the pain and discomfort during this workout. It pushes you to your limit.

Day 79: Strike Two

Oh, mercy me. I had to get up at 6:00am so I could pick up the kids from their mom's and get them to school by 7:30am (30 mile drive). Then I had to drive to my biggest client's office by 8:00am to meet a computer tech. They're in the middle of a new server installation and I have to babysit the project so no one drops the ball. Well, the computer tech dropped the ball and didn't show up until 2:00pm. Unfortunately, that tied me up until past 7:00pm. By the time I got to my girlfriend's and ate some dinner (I was starving!), it was past 8:00pm. My girlfriend usually gets up at 4:30am so she goes to bed early. I was physically and mentally exhausted and wanted to spend some cuddle time with my girl so...I skipped my P90X workout.

I did the right thing. I feel guilty. I had no choice. I'm a loser. Priories come first. If I wasn't so undisciplined I'd got up at 4:00am. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

As you can probably tell, my angels and demons are at war. This occurs because I'm obsessive-compulsive about this P90X among many other things. I skipped an X Stretch workout during week 3 so this is also my second strike. However, I have the solution. On Day 80, I'll do my regularly scheduled workout in the morning and do Day 79's workout in the evening. It will have to be late though, because I have appointments scheduled from 9:00am until 9:00pm. This is going to be tough but that's the price I've got to pay for a clear conscious.

Note: This weekend I'm throwing in an extra X Stretch workout to make up for week 3's strike one.

Day 78: My Tool Chest

P90X doesn't require a bunch of expensive equipment. Tonight's workout was fancier than usual and still only required some dumbbells and push up bars. Of course, you'll need a television and DVD player to watch the workout. If you do have some extra dough to throw around, you can always add some extra stuff.

In the photo, I have four sets of iron hex dumbbells (10, 15, 20, 25) totaling 120 pounds. You can buy these dumbbells for a little over a buck a pound. I seldom touch the $400 Bowflex dumbbells in the upper left behind the fan because I don't lift heavy very often. The pair of push up bars only cost $20. I did recently purchase the AKROwheels total body functional training system for $35. AKROwheels are like a dumbbell with wheels on the ends instead of weights. I used them tonight to do floor flys. In this exercise you put one hand on the floor and use the AKROwheel to roll the other arm back and forth to the side as you do push ups. This is not exactly how they do it in the video but it works for me. You can also use the AKROwheels to do all sorts of ab exercises.

The only other pieces of equipment you need for P90X workouts are some bands and a pull up bar. You can get a set of bands for about $50 and a pull up bar for $30. I had a lot of equipment before I started P90X and purchased some extra stuff including the rubber flooring. I probably have a little over $1,100 invested which ain't bad. I don't have any buyer's remorse because I use the hell out of my stuff and it is good for me. If you are frugal and on a tight budget, you can get setup with the basics for around $200.

I almost forgot. The set of 10 P90X DVDs cost a mere $120. They are the cheapest and best investment I ever made in my health.

Day 77: My Lesser Half

As I keep saying, you need to balance your upper and lower body workouts. Most people focus on the upper body because it is easier and they like to build up those glamor muscles. Unfortunately, when they throw on a pair of shorts, their legs look disproportionate to their upper body.

I'm a tall guy and suffer from skinny legs. Therefore, I put lots of work into exercising my legs and trying to add bulk. As you can see in the photo, I am getting some size and lots of definition but it's been and will continue to be a long battle. Trust me. I'm not being too critical of myself because I get told I have skinny legs on a regular basis and, yes, it does irritate the piss out of me.

Initially, when I started the P90X program I planned on sneaking across the street to my LA Fitness and doing some heavy leg workouts with the weights. However, between P90X, maintaining my blogs, working, kids, and spending time with my girlfriend, I just can't find the time.

I haven't lost hope, though. After this round of P90X, I'll try to go to the gym and lift heavy legs at least once a week. My home gym is great, but when you're trying to grow your legs, there is no substitute for the heavy metal.

I stated above that your strength training should be balance between your upper and lower body. However, if you're going to be out of balance, my suggestion it to overdue the legs. Just try to avoid over training and spread out your leg workouts so you can recover and grow.

Day 76: Crouching Tiger

Crouching tiger? More like squatting bull. You should have heard my knees crack when I stood up. I have trouble doing many of the moves in the P90X program. For example, in the photo I am doing deep squats. I put my hands under the heavy bag simply to keep my balance and maintain the position. This allows me to focus on the stretch instead of focusing on my balance.

I use chairs, yoga blocks, my heavy bag, the wall and my garage shelves to assist me in many of the exercises, yoga poses and stretches. Some exercises like the Camel and Hero yoga poses are just too much for me. I don't want to risk injury so I do a safer stretch that benefits the same muscle group. My biggest fear is injury. I'd be devastated if I had to stop exercising.

One of the things I love about the P90X workout videos, is that Tony Horton always tells you how to modify the exercise if necessary. Let's face it. At 47 years old, I just don't have the athletic ability of a younger man. I'm doing my best to recapture my youth but my springs are sprung. I'll never be able to dunk a basketball again. Nonetheless, I still get a lot of benefit from doing these exercises even if I'm using a heavy bag to keep me from falling on my ass.

Day 75: The Couple that Fights Together...

The couple that fights together, stays together. Karen wanted to do P90X with me today but her legs were killing her from yesterday's workout (her personal trainer is tough). I love to exercise with my girl, so I switched Friday's Legs & Back for Saturday's Kenpo X. Karen loves Kenpo, so we had a great workout together. We were both slugging away and kicking and sweating. I use the heavy bag most of the time and Karen uses the standing bag. Karen refuses to spar with me because she's afraid of that terrifying right upper-cut in the photo. I'll pay for that.

The workout went quickly and we both thought it was much easier than usual. Fortunately, by the end of the day all the muscles in my upper body were real sore. Karen also remarked that she was feeling the pain; we both love the pain. It means we pushed ourselves.

After I finish this 90 day round of P90X in 15 days, I'm going to do intense interval training for a few weeks. Interval training involves bursts of high intensity alternated with periods of low activity. This is great for cardiovascular build-up and more effective at inducing fat loss. I'm not overweight (255 pounds) but I still want to burn off this last layer of fat and drop my body fat under 7%. Last time I tested I was just over 10%.

To accomplish this, I just ordered the P90X Plus workouts from Beach Body. This series includes a Kenpo Cardio Plus workout that is more intense and looks like a lot of fun. In addition, I ordered Beach Body's Insanity workouts. Insanity is just plain crazy-ass over-the-top interval training. If these workouts don't lean me up and melt off the rest of my fat, nothing will.

Day 74: Downward Dog (254 lbs)

This yoga pose is called Downward Dog and it's a toughie. This pose kills my biceps after I've done it only  once or twice and, unfortunately, you have to do it a lot during the Yoga X workout. Also, the pose is supposed to look like an inverted 'V' when done properly, However, you'll notice in the photo that Senior Stiffy looks more like an inverted 'U'.

Today's photo was symbolic of the workout. I had no energy. I felt tight and sore. My muscles were weak and it was very hard to focus. It was just a downward dog kind of day.
However, I pressed on and finished the workout. I paid my dues and now I have another Yoga X behind me.

I've done 13 Yoga X workouts so far and only have three more remaining in this round of P90X before I'm free. I'll still do yoga workouts at least once a week in the future, but it's nice to pretend that yoga will be behind me in two weeks. I love to pretend. I need to pretend.

Well, I'm off to work. I have a very long day ahead of me. I'm just hoping that I get my post-Yoga X euphoria blast gets here in the next hour or two.

Day 73: Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps, Repeat

Shoulders Biceps Triceps Shoulders Biceps Triceps Shoulders Biceps Triceps Shoulders Biceps Triceps Shoulders Biceps Triceps Shoulders Biceps Triceps Shoulders Biceps Triceps Shoulders Biceps Triceps Shoulders Biceps Triceps Shoulders Biceps Triceps. All done!

I wish it was that easy folks but in case you weren't counting, that's 30 sets of shoulders, biceps and triceps up there. Those exercises were crammed into 50 minutes so this workout required a lot of hustle to boot. On top of that, I bumped up the weight in each set by 5 or 10 pounds from last week's because I wanted to really push myself. By the time I finished the workout and the Ab Ripper X that followed, I was crushed.

After the workout, I took a quick shower and threw on some jeans and one of my last clean tight t-shirts (I really gotta do some laundry). I was in a hurry because I had to meet a client for breakfast and wanted to run a few errands first. I drove across the street to pick up my mail from the UPS store. As I was walking up to the store, the kid who cuts my hair walked past and gave me a thumbs up. "Lookin' good bro!", he said. I walk into the UPS store and bumped into one of the Asian ladies from the salon next door. "Oh wow, you lose lotsa weight. How much you lose?" I told her that actually I had gained about 20 pounds but she didn't believe me. Then the guy who runs the store found out I was doing P90X and peppered me with questions. Of course, I was happy to answer. Throughout my workday, I got half a dozen more compliments.

I guess this P90X is really starting to work. After 70 days, I've started to get a little discouraged at times and worn down physically and mentally from the constant workouts. However, it's mornings like today that make it all worthwhile. People let me know that my efforts are starting to bear fruit. All I did differently today was wear a tight t-shirt. Tomorrow when I'm suffering through the dreaded 90 minute Yoga X workout, I'll remember this morning and try that much harder.

Day 72: Push Up City

I spent the morning in Push Up City. Today was my fifth and last Chest & Back workout (disk 1) in this 90 day round of P90X. All I can say is, thank God. I cranked out 99 push ups and 75 pull ups with some heavy dumbbell exercises thrown in for fun. Oh, I had the pleasure of suffering through another Ab Ripper X workout at the end.

The workout was so hard, I actually pressed the pause button. I consider it a matter of pride that I seldom do this. However, this workout was whooping my ass and I was in desperate need of oxygen.

Push ups are one of those perfect exercises. They work your chest, hands, forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, traps, upper back, lower back, abs, glutes, hamstrings, quads, calf, feet, and your heart. You can also perform them anywhere and anytime. No equipment is required and there are many variations. Also, if push ups are too intense, you can always do them on your knees and make them much easier.

Overall, I've been impressed with the P90X Chest & Back workout. I'd consider it the third hardest workout after plyometrics and yoga. If you want to get your upper body toned up and increase your strength, this workout comes highly recommended.

Day 71: The Mother of All Workouts

You can't judge a book by its cover but you can judge a workout by your sweat-soaked shirt. As you can see in the photo, the P90X plyometrics workout is truly a soaker. My girlfriend, Karen, tried the workout with me today for the first time and loved it, even though it kicked her butt. Tony Horton, the creator of P90X, refers to plyometrics as the mother of all X workouts. In my opinion, that's an understatement.

Wikipedia defines plyometrics as a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system, generally for the purpose of improving performance in sports. Plyometric movements, in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence, use the strength, elasticity and innervation of muscle and surrounding tissues to jump higher, run faster, throw farther, or hit harder, depending on the desired training goal. Sounds exactly like what I'm looking for.

Unfortunately, plyometrics is very difficult and probably the hardest of the P90X workouts. Something about exercising those fast twitch muscles creates an extra burn in your legs. Even the people on the DVD are huffing and puffing and moaning. However, despite the pain, plyometrics is still one of the four P90X workouts that I will include in future weekly workouts.

The four workouts that I plan on doing weekly are: X Stretch, Yoga X, Kenpo X and Plyometrics. None of these workouts develop the glamor muscles, but they do improve performance. I like big muscles like everyone else, but at this stage of my life, I care more about function than I do form. That doesn't mean I won't include some type of upper and lower body strength training in my weekly workouts but the focus will be on maintaining muscle rather than growing muscle.

In today's photo I am doing the Airborne Heisman. During this exercise, I jump from side to side bringing my opposite knee up as high as I can and holding it briefly. This exercise gives you a strong cardio workout and works everything from your glutes to your calves. When doing a plyometrics workout, make sure you wear shoes and use some type of padded mat to absorb the shock. Plyometrics is a high impact workout and you can easily injure yourself if your not careful. When I did my first plyo workout 70 days ago, my knees and hips were killing me for a couple of weeks.

Day 70: Get Into the Groove Boy

Boy, does that feel so good. I finished up my 10th week of P90X with a Sunday morning X Stretch workout. As Tony Horton, the creator of P90X, says at the beginning of the workout, X Stretch is all about taking care of yourself.

I woke up early this morning and did my workout at Karen's while she left to attend her daughter's horseback riding lesson. People that know me can tell by the photo I'm not at home because Karen actually hangs artwork on her walls. My place, although nice, has often been described with such adjectives like barren, sterile, bacheloresque, spartan or boring.

The workout was wonderful. Although, I'm still exercising technically, it's nice to take a day off from the jumping, lunging, lifting, pulling and punching.The stretching is such a great way to start the day.

As my flexibility improves, I am noticing less back pain. I spent the weekend doing some heavy duty yard work around Karen's. In the old days, I would have been extremely sore and stiff afterward. Now, I only feel slightly tired. My flexibility workouts are definitely improving my quality of life more than anything else I do. After 70 hard days of exercise, it's nice to finally start yielding some results.

You could say, I'm finally getting into the groove.

Day 69: The Great White Hope[ful]

Look at me
I'm the great white hope[ful]
Can't you see
I'm up against the ropes
Don't you know
It's so hard to cope
When you feel
Like the great white hope[ful]
 - Styx

I love the Kenpo X and feel like I'm doing great, but I have to admit, when I look at this video, two words come to mind: Sloooow Mooootion. My God! I'm not trying to be overly self-critical, but I look like I'm at an underwater tai chi class. Granted, I do have some force and if I caught an opponent with a fist, foot or knee, I'd definitely hurt them. But that assumes that I would actually be able to catch them. Thank God, I just do this for exercise. Thank God, I'm an accountant and not a bouncer.

Karen joined me for the workout today and really enjoyed herself. She's becoming more and more of a P90X fan and works out with me at least once to twice a week now. It's always more enjoyable to workout with someone else. I especially enjoy working out with my girlfriend and sharing our healthy past time together. Karen and I started dating last Spring after we met at an exercise boot camp.

Karen's and my next goal is to convert the third bay of her garage into a home gym. Currently, when we want to do anything other than an X Stretch or a Yoga X workout, we have to go to my house. This is inconvenient on the weekends I stay at Karen's house. Therefore, I'm compiling a To Buy list and will start working on this project soon.

In the meantime, I think I'm going to try to try to speed things up a little bit. At my size I'll never be a fast-forward kind of guy, but I definitely don't want to be Mr. Slow Motion either. Don't worry. I guarantee you that I'll keep at it. I may look a little hopeless in the video, but on the inside, I'll always be The Great White Hopeful.

Day 68: Pain & Suffering

The P90X Leg and Back workout was miserable this morning. If the 80+ pull ups weren't difficult enough, this workout has some killer leg exercises. Your leg muscles are the largest muscles in your body which means means you will experience pain and suffering on a larger scale.

Most people ignore legs when they workout. This is a big mistake. We've all seen the big muscular guy who never works his legs and ends up looking like a light bulb. Your legs are half of your body and therefore require at least half of your strength training. P90X hits your legs three times each week. The plyometrics would be considered a leg workout and the Yoga X has a lot of poses that work the legs. That's one of the things that I love about P90X; the workouts are so well balanced between strength, cardio, flexibility, upper body and lower body. No areas get ignored or neglected.

In the photo I am doing wall squats. Although, this exercise looks fairly easy, don't let appearances deceive you. Wall squats are 60 seconds of pure quad  and glute torture and they make you do it twice. However, this is the price you have to pay, if you want to have lean muscular legs and a nice firm booty.

Karen joined me for the workout today. She thought the workout was pretty intense and enjoyed it. However, like me, she was surprised on how quickly she recovered after the workout and questioned whether she pushed herself hard enough. Karen did push herself hard but when you're in good shape, you recover quickly. That's a good thing.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go squeeze Karen's nice firm booty.

Day 67: Namaste

How appropriate that my Yoga X workout would fall on Thanksgiving. In the photo I am doing the Namaste pose. The word, Namaste, is a common greeting in Southeast Asia that means, "I bow to you." Namaste also has many other cool multi-religious meanings that go along with the spirit of Thanksgiving. Click here if you're interested in reading more.

I am very thankful this Thanksgiving. If you look at all the crazy things that have happened to me this year (e.g. open-heart surgery, totaled my car twice, etc.), you'd probably think I was one of the unluckiest people you ever met. However, I consider myself very fortunate.

First, I survived my heart surgery. Most people die before they discover they had my problem. I walked away from two major auto accidents with nary a scratch. Business has been slow but at least I'm still in business. I have three wonderful sons and we all have a great relationship. I met my soul mate, Karen, this year. I've dated lots of girls, but this is my first serious relationship since my divorce 15 years ago. I'm in better shape than I was in high school thanks to the P90X program and my remodeled heart. The list goes on and on.

It is so easy to look at life negatively, to see the down side of things. However, you can just as easily flip things over and see how bad luck is quite often good luck, tragedy is triumph. Even though times are hard, I think we all have a lot to be thankful for. Life is truly golden.

Namaste

Day 66: Now We're Talking

Today was my first P90X workout using my new pull up bar. Now we're talking. P90X just got a whole lot more intense. As I sit here writing this post, I can feel the difference. My muscles are singing like a choir full of little boys. Can you hear 'em?

You'll notice the top of a folding chair under my foot in the photo. I can't do a single unassisted pull up, so I have to use a chair to provide some support. Believe me, these pull ups are still tough as hell. I did eight sets of pull ups totaling almost 70 reps. That's about half the number of reps I would have done if I were using the bands but I feel twice as sore and tired. This pull up bar is really going to kick up the intensity during these last four weeks of P90X. Yeah, baby!!!!

I also increased the intensity of the other exercises during today's workout. I bumped all of my weights up five pounds. If I did static bicep curls using 20 pounders last week, I did it with 25 pounders today. I can feel the extra burn. Thank God I brushed my teeth before working out because I don't think I could lift my toothbrush to my mouth if I had to brush them now.

As you can tell, I am very, very excited about taking my P90X workouts up to a higher level. Perhaps now I'll start seeing the results I've been fighting for.

Day 65: Just Breathe

I don't know if it was the warm weather or the lack of sleep but today's plyometrics workout was an ass kicker. I was huffing and puffing and gasping for air. It took everything I had to just breathe.

Sometimes when I exercise the wind is at my back and sometimes it's against me. You can probably tell by the photo which way the wind was blowing today. However, I hung in there and pressed on and finished the workout. This is what the X in P90X is all about. X means extreme. If P90X were easy, everybody would be doing it.

As I've stated before, plyometrics is in my opinion the most difficult of the P90X workouts. Plyometrics is also one of the most beneficial workouts. This is the workout that's going to condition me to run and jump. This is the workout that's going to help me backhand a tennis ball or rebound a basketball. This is the workout that's going to make me young again.

When I'm finished with this round of P90X and I develop my own workout regimen, I will include at least one plyometrics workout into my weekly schedule. This type of exercise is vital if you have an active lifestyle. Plyo will kick your butt and make you gasp for air, but the best things in life don't come cheap.

Day 64: Plateauing?

Today marks the 10th week of my P90X journey. I only have four weeks remaining and I don't expect major changes. In fact, I feel as if I have plateaued. Quite often when people exercise, their bodies adapt to the workouts and their muscles stop growing. P90X purports to avoid this by cycling through different workouts and creating muscle confusion. The muscle confusion prevents your body from adapting and keeps your muscles growing. When I look in the mirror, my muscles don't look very confused though. However, in the photo my head does appear to still be growing. Eat your heart out, Shrek.

This week I'm going to try to get a body fat percentage test, take some photos to compare to my Before photos and do the same with my body measurements. This will let me know if I'm actually plateauing or if it's just in my head. Facts don't lie.

I'm finally close to weening myself off of the Prednisone. I have less than two weeks before I'm done. I'm hoping that I'll drop a lot of water weight once I'm completely off the medicine. My appetite should also decrease so I'm hoping it will be easier to reduce my calories from 3,500 per day to just under 3,000. I'm always hungry on this Prednisone. This is the first time I've dieted and exercised and not lost significant weight and it's frustrating. I'm still hovering around 255 pounds and I was hoping to be down to 240 by now. Maybe I'm just getting old and my metabolism is slowing down.

Well, regardless of whether or not I'm plateauing, I do know that I'm going to keep working out hard. I may not be all ripped and cut up like I was hoping but I sure do feel amazing. I guess that's the most important thing in the end.

Day 63: The Pull Up Bar Hath Arrived

Today concluded nine weeks of P90X. I had a great Stretching X workout. I'm getting more and more limber. Blah, blah, blah. Here's the real news, folks. My pull up bar has been installed and is ready for action! No longer do I have to throw an exercise band over one of the fire sprinkler pipes and do simulated pull ups. Now I can do the real thing!

I ordered an excellent pull up bar from http://studbarpullup.com for only $140. The bar is 4' wide and made of heavy duty steel. My son, Ryan, mounted it to my cement ceiling in the garage and this bar ain't going nowhere. It will support over 2,000 pounds. When the pull up bar arrived in the mail a few weeks ago, I realized I had ordered the wrong size. I ordered a bar for a 10' ceiling and my ceilings are 9.5'. Fortunately, a good friend and client of mine, Gerald Huff of J&J Fire Protection, modified the bar and provided me with all of the hardware to mount it to my ceiling. Thanks, Gerald.

I do have one problem, however. Before my triple bypass in April of this year, I could do three pull ups. Tonight when I tried, I couldn't do a single pull up. If you look at the photo, that was as high as I could pull myself up. To do a full pull up, I had to put one leg on a chair for additional support. That's how they advise you to do in the P90X videos, but I was still disappointed as I watched Ryan effortlessly crank out 15 pull ups.

The good news is that my workouts will be changing. These pull ups, even when using the modified chair approach, are still much harder than using bands. I believe I will get better results and hopefully someday be able to one pull up unaided. Maybe in a couple of years, I'll even be able to do two pull ups.

Day 62: Me versus Me

Kenpo X is still my favorite P90X workout. It's 60 minutes of Me versus Me. I'm not a a competive person when it comes to other people. I don't care if I can beat you and I don't care if you can beat me. I've never been wired that way.

The only person I compete against is myself. Am I pushing myself as hard as I can? Am I giving 100%? Is my performance improving? Am I eating healthy? Am I not smoking? Am I getting enough sleep?

My old self, Jeff 1.0, doesn't like P90X. He wants to make excuses to skip workouts. He wants to coast and give less than 100%. He wants to eat crappy food. He wants to smoke a Marlboro Light. He wants to stay up late. He wants to keep Jeff 2.0 from coming to be.

You get the picture? When I do my Kenpo X, I'm kicking and punching Jeff 1.0. It's Me versus Me. It's Jeff 1.0 versus Jeff 2.0. Every day, every workout, I'm fighting the Jeff 1.0 that wants to park my ass on the sofa and stuff me with nachos while I watch hours of non-calorie-burning television and chain-smoke cigarettes.

I can't let Jeff 1.0 win. He's the son-of-a-bitch who fattened me up to 305 pounds, destroyed my health and nearly killed me with a triple bypass at the young age of 47. How dare he.

It's Me versus Me and I am going to kick Jeff 1.0's ass.

Day 61: P90X Followed by P90XXX

I once asked a former girlfriend what she wanted for Christmas. She gave me a coy look and said, "get me something that makes me look sexy." Boy was she pissed when I bought her an exercise bike.

I don't have to worry about that anymore. My girlfriend, Karen, loves to exercise as much as I do and she already looks sexy. Whenever Karen's not working out with one of her trainers or taking an exercise bootcamp, she's doing a P90X workout with me in my garage. Karen's incredibly athletic and can do more reps with better form on most of the exercises. Thank God, I'm still able to lift more than her.

Today, I want to tell you about one of the best side-effects of exercise. Your sex life gets a whole lot better! As your cardiovascular health improves, you can be much more enthusiastic in your endeavors and have the endurance to go a long time and hold unusual positions. Of course, you want to have the muscular strength required for those unusual positions. As you increase your flexibility you will also open up a wonderland of possibilities. Finally, exercise is scientifically proven to reduce the two biggest libido-killers, stress and fatigue.

When I was fat, out of shape, and smoking a pack a day, sex was the last...er...maybe not the last, but it wasn't the first thing on my mind...like it is now. Since I've gotten myself back into shape, I feel like an lion. Hear me roar. Part of this is probably a result of the better self-image you have when you are fit; you look in the mirror and like what you see. Your partner's also going to like what they see and probably let you know it.

In the photo, Karen is doing the Mason Twist during the 15 minute P90X Ab Ripper X workout that follows the hour-long P90X Leg and Back workout. I'm feeling so good and Karen's looking so good that I'm going to see if she wants to do a special P90XXX workout when were finished. Can you blame me?

Editor's Note: To any prudes who are offended by this post, go buy yourself an exercise bike.

Day 60: Tranqulity

Yoga was very tranquil today. Every time I looked to my left, I saw the new pegboard that took me until midnight to install last night. Now I have a place to hang all my bands, clipboards, small tools, etc. Although I vacillate between chaos and order, between Felix and Oscar, I have an anal-retentive OCD spirit trapped inside me desperately trying to get out. Last night he got out.

I wish I was organized. Everyone thinks I'm organized but I am not. Well, I am but I am not. Let's just say that I am the most organized slob you'll ever meet. Parts of my life are in perfect order. Parts of my life are shear chaos. I am a walking contradiction. Lately, I've had the organization bug and have been putting things in order. I've installed new shelving in the garage and put everything in its place. I just purchased a huge set of bookshelves and finally found a home for all of our books. My walk-in closet is immaculate. My car trunk is empty. I love it. I just have to finish my living room, kitchen and the boys' room and I'll have my home in perfect order.

This is pretty much what I've been trying to do with my health through the P90X system. I've been trying to take charge and organize my healthy habits. Maybe the P90X is spreading to other areas of my life? Hmmm? Regardless, I'm feeling better. I have more energy and my candle is burning much, much brighter. I really think I could learn to live with this tranquility stuff.

Day 59: Midnight Muscle

It was a busy day. I couldn't workout yesterday morning because I had to get started super early and finish a big project for one of my clients. After that, I raced off to appointments and didn't finish working and get home until after 7:00pm. I fussed with the kids for a while and then went down to the garage to hang the pegboard that's been sitting on my shelf for three weeks. By the time I was finished and ready to start my workout, it was midnight. Well, better late than never.

The workout was great. Last week was recovery week so I'm back to hitting it hard again or should I say harder. I popped the P90X Disc 3 Shoulders and Arms into my TV and got my butt kicked for an hour. This is a hard workout but I love the way it pumps me up. I feel like the Incredible Hulk when I'm finished.

After the main workout, I had another 15 minutes of Ab Ripper X. This ab workout is getting much easier and my form is improving on all of the exercises. Most importantly, my abs are harder than a brick wall. I still don't have a visible six-pack but that's just because I can't burn this one inch layer of fat off my middle-aged belly. I still have two weeks on the Prednisone my neurologist prescribed. Hopefully, when I'm totally off of this horrible medicine, my weight will start to drop again and I'll get the abs I've been killing myself for.

I am writing this post early in the morning and I only had about four hours of sleep. I am tired. Now it's time to drag my ass downstairs for 90 minutes of Yoga X. Alas, there is no finish line.

Day 58: Keep Pushin' Play

I'm 58 days into P90X with 32 days to go and I am stuck in the Doldrums. Although doldrums means a dull, listless or depressed mood, the term also refers to an area near the equator noted for calm periods when the winds disappear or are very light. The Doldrums were notorious with sailors because this region's periods of deadly calm could trap ships for days or weeks on end as they waited for enough wind to power their sails.

That's how I feel. I'm waiting for some wind to fill my sails and get things moving again. At this point, P90X is nothing but work. The enthusiasm is gone. The motivation is gone. Everything is moving by sheer willpower alone. That's why today's plyometrics workout was just hellish.

How do I keep going if P90X is nothing but a joyless workout at this point? How am I going to survive another 32 days? I just keep pushin' play. That's my new mantra. I heard Tony Horton say it on one of the first DVD's and now I understand exactly what he meant. When you wake up with the demon of excuses sitting on your chest, you just keep pushin' play. When you dread your P90X workouts, you just keep pushin' play. P90X isn't about having fun. If it were, everyone would be doing it. America wouldn't be having an obesity pandemic.

P90X is about sweat, effort, discipline, and commitment. P90X is about going down to my garage gym early every single morning whether I feel like it or not. P90X is about hanging in there when I'm stuck in the Doldrums. The Doldrums may appear calm for long periods of time, but this is also where most hurricanes are formed. All I have to do is keep pushin' play. Sooner or later the winds will pick up, the sails will fill, and I'll have a hurricane on my hands. Keep pushin' play.

Day 57: Girly Pushups

Back in the old days, we called these type of push ups girly push ups. You had to be careful though. If the coach or one of the other boy caught you doing them, your life was over. You would be forever ridiculed and teased . Never again would you be permitted to be part of the boys club. You would be permanently labeled a pussy. For some reason, the fact that I wasn't able to do one regular push up was never a problem.

Well, you can call me a pussy. I've been fighting off some type of virus making today's P90X workout absolute hell. Twice I was dry-heaving into the waste basket. I was weak, achy and tired. I did lots of girly push ups. It's the only way I completed and survived the workout.

I don't know what all the fuss was about. Trust me. Girly push ups are hard. I switch to girly pushup when I can no longer do the regular push ups but want to squeeze out a few more reps. I also do girly push ups because that's the only way I can do some of the push ups like the one-armed or clap push ups. Girly push ups are also great for those of you just starting your physical conditioning. You don't want to be a stud. You want to be smart and work your way up. Don't worry about what the other boys are going to say.

Now, I think I'm going to go be sick.

Day 56: Yoga Hungover

Yeah, I know I swore off alcohol in a previous post. Call me a hypocrite, but I went to a club with Karen last night and the only way this white boy can get on the dance floor is with some liquid courage. Let's just say that by the end of the night I was one courageous dancing fool. I had a blast though. The music was great. The crowd was a blast and I was dancing with the cutest girl in the place. I had no regrets.

When I woke up at 7:30am this morning, I did have regrets. I wasn't totally wrecked, but let's just say that my mind and body didn't feel like they were in the same location. I was feeling schwimmy. Unfortunately, I needed to start my P90X Yoga X workout by 9:00am because I had a busy day scheduled. Why did I drink so much? Why did I mix vodka, tequila and beer?

Karen left shortly before 9:00am to take her daughter to riding lessons and I begrudgingly started to assemble my yoga gear. I knew the yoga was going to be hard but within minutes of starting the workout, I discovered that it was going to be even harder than expected. For the first 45 minutes I was slightly dizzy, sluggish and having esophageal spasms (feels like a mild heart attack). However, I pressed on because I won't let myself miss another workout. I'm going to complete all 90 days of P90X with only one miss and then I'm going to go one extra day to make up for that missed day. Yes, I'm obsessed. So sue my lean, muscular, physically fit ass.

In the photo, I am performing the Crane pose which is also known as the Hangover's-Worst-Nightmare pose. I only held the pose for 15 seconds and used a yoga block under my head maintain balance, but, in hangover-time, that's the equivalent of an hour. Not too shabby considering I didn't throw up.

Is there a moral to this story? I'd say, yes, there is. Fun has a price. If you want to do something, you have to ask yourself how much you are willing to pay. A night of drinking and dancing cost me 90 miserable minutes of yoga. I was willing to pay that price and it cost plenty. However, I wasn't willing to pay the price of skipping another workout. That's just way too expensive for me.

Day 55: Obstacles

I got my P90X workout in today...barely. Actually, I switched tomorrow's Stretching X workout with today's Yoga X. I'll do the yoga tomorrow when I have more time. It may be bending the rules a little, but you won't be able to tell the difference when I finish the P90X in 25 days.

So, my girlfriend, Karen, and I drive to my ex-wife's house at 8:00am to pick up my sons, Trevor (14) and Maxwell (16) to take them to a wrestling tournament. They are supposed to be there by 8:30am. On the way to the tournament, they boys inform me that we are going to Coral Springs High and not Coral Glades High like I swear that they originally told me. I budgeted my time for Coral Glades so we are going to be 15 minutes late now. We arrive at Coral Springs High and I drop off the boys and go to find a parking spot. As I'm parking, my phone rings. It is Trevor informing me that the tournament is at Coral Glades High as I originally swore that they told me. I swear some more. And more.

15 minutes later we arrive at Coral Glades High. I'm worried that we are late, but the tournament does actually get started for another two hours until 11:00am. The tournament is enjoyable but longer than anyone expected. We finish at 5:30pm. I rush the boys home, return to Karen's and start on my honey-do list. When I make promises to do things around my Karen's house, I do them. I want to keep my word and be a good boyfriend.

At 7:00pm, I finish the biggest task on the list. I  needed to fasten 50' of chicken wire to the base of the fencing that surrounds the dogs courtyard or pooping patio as we call it in Indiana. The chicken wire is meant to keep the puppies, Trixie and Diesel, from escaping. The puppies have the combined brain power of a mosquito and wouldn't last very long in the real world or even the make-believe world for that matter.

I go inside and see that I am very tight on time. Karen and I are having dinner and drinks with friends sometime after 9:00pm. I decide to switch the Stretching X and Yoga X workouts which gives me an extra half hour. A few minutes into the Stretching X workout, the puppies find me laying on the floor (see the video).

Some days the hardest part of P90X is just finding the time to do. Some days are full of obstacles like those frickin' little puppies mauling me in the video. Some days have all sorts of unplanned surprises. I've missed one day since I started P90X and I promised I wouldn't let it happen again. Today, I barely kept that promise, but I kept it.

Day 54: The X Trials

The most important part of today's workout wasn't the push ups, the lunges, or the squats. It wasn't even the attitude, effort or determination. The most important part of today's workout was that 'X' made on day 54 of my 90 day workout calendar.

At this point on my P90X adventure, I've mastered the discipline part and am showing up every day. I give 100% every workout and never slack. I'm eating healthy and watching my calories. I'm not drinking or smoking. Basically, I'm doing everything I am supposed to be doing.

When I'm finished with the 90 days, I won't be able to point to individual workouts or exercises that transformed me. I won't be able to say it was this food or that supplement or how often I ate or when I ate or what I ate. In other words, what's going to happen doesn't depend on the details. People come up to me all the time and want to fine tune my efforts with some magical little tip that does nothing more than piss me off. "Jeff, you should be taking Protein Power because it has long chain amino acids that cause reactive binding to your neurosensors and stimulate hypertrophy." Blah, blah, blah.

What's going to cause the change I looking for? At the end of 90 days, I am going to look at that piece of paper in the photo and see 90 X's. All I really did was show up 90 days in a row, push the play button on my DVD player and let the P90X's creator, Tony Horton, kick my buck for 60-90 minutes. When the workout's over, I walk over and scratch another "X" on my workout calendar. Every day is a trial. Every day is a test.

P.S. My pull up bar finally arrived. I hope to have it installed soon. Currently, I am able to do one pull up. Hopefully, after a few months, I'll be able to do two pull ups.

Day 53: Twisted Mister

I love P90X recovery weeks. The workouts are still hard (e.g. 2 Yoga X's), but overall, it's still a light week. This morning, I did the Stretching X workout and it was sweet.

My flexibility is improving more rapidly than I could've ever hoped. Granted, by most people's standards I wouldn't be considered limber at all. However, when you've been trapped inside this stiff body as long as I have, you can tell when things are getting better.

For example, look at the glute stretch I'm doing in the photo. When I started P90X eight weeks ago, I could not clasp my hands around my shin like I'm doing in the photo. I had to grab the back of my thigh instead. That may seem like chump change to you, but I'm discovering that small improvements in flexibility yield large results.

I have practically lived my entire life like the Tin Man after he got caught in the rain. Now that I'm starting to experience the benefits of flexibility, I want to double my efforts and work even harder. Thanks to Tony Horton for developing a wonderful program that puts an emphasis on the priorities of fitness. Seldom do I spend money on something that exceeds my expectation like P90X has.