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.

Day 52: Fighting for Fitness

I hate the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC). This mixed martial arts (MMA) competition is nothing but a blood sport. Ah hell, It's not even a sport. It's a spectacle.  Yeah, they've cleaned up their act a little bit by banning lots of moves (groin strikes). How noble of them. However, when I see a couple of bloody guys elbowing each other in the face on TV, I still feel like a Roman watching  gladiators murder each other at the local coliseum. I'm sorry, but I don't find that very entertaining.

With that said, my favorite sport to practice is MMA. I love learning how to fight. I love fighting for fitness. The workouts I get boxing and kicking and kneeing and elbowing are the greatest. It's fantastic for cardio and gives me a great plyometrics style workout on my upper body. Oh how I love they achy way I feel after I've been punching the bags for an hour.

Do I practice MMA for self-defense? No way. At 6'5" and 250+ pounds no one ever blows me sh*t. If they would blow me sh*t, they'd probably my size, younger, stronger, drunker and I sure as hell wouldn't want to fight them. Furthermore, fighting sucks. When I took Muay Thai kickboxing classes, the first thing I realized is that I never want to get in a fight. Someone's going to get hurt (probably me) and someone's going to get arrested (probably me). So, MMA will always just be a sport for me. At the most, I might do some light sparring but I'll be wearing protective head gear and pads. For now though, I'll stick to the the bags and change the channel whenever it's on TV.

Day 51: Here Comes the Sun!

My workouts are so bright, I have to wear sunglasses. In other words, my son bought that big black shiny truck I'm standing in front of, so I don't have to drive him to (8:30am) and from (7:00pm) work. Now, after five long weeks, I can start working out in the mornings again! Can I get a hallelujah?!!!

This is absolutely wonderful. I don't enjoy my workouts so I want to knock 'em out early in the morning and get 'em over with. When I work out in the evenings, I spend all day dreading the workout or worrying that something will come up and cause me to miss it (I've only missed one day so far).

Now, when I come home in the evening or should I say, when I come home earlier in the evening, I can do whatever the frack I want. I don't have to spend it exercising. Believe me, I'd prefer spending the time with my boys or my girlfriend or doing one of the many home projects I have on my to do list.

Today's workout was Core Synergistics. It's a tough one. Just when I think I'm in fantastic shape, I do a workout like Core Syn and feel worthless. Heck, my sternum even hurt during some of the routines (they sawed it open back in April during my triple bypass). I haven't felt sternum pain in over a month. I thought I was past all that crap.

Well, I'm off to tackle the day. I've already done the hardest thing I'll have to do today, so everything else is going to be real easy. Oh, the day is looking so, so bright!

Day 50: Put the Pedal to the Metal

I'm starting week 8 of P90X and it is time to put the pedal to the metal and get serious. I've only got six weeks left so I have to make 'em count. From now on, I'm pushing myself and giving 100% during every routine, every workout, every day. I am going to push myself to the limit. My diet is going to be impeccable. No alcohol. No sugar. Low carbs. No cheat meals. My attitude is going to be perfect. Enthusiasm. Optimism. Drive. Determination. Confidence.

The first seven weeks of P90X have gone much better than I expected. I feel unbelievable and am in the best shape of my life. However, I'm not satisfied with the the changes in my physique. When I look at the boxing video I posted two days ago, I see a fat saggy old man. I know I'm carrying a lot of water weight from the frickini' Prednisone, but I weighed in at 258 this morning and that just sucks and that's just inexcusable. I gotta lose some weight; I gotta lean up; I gotta get cut up and ripped.

Now I'm going to find out what I'm really made of. I know I'm capable. I know I can do it. It's time to dig deep. It is time to show some real guts and crush that loser mentality. No excuses. Only results. Bring it.

Note: My son, Ryan, was finally able to get a new vehicle—can you say, hallelujah?—so I'm back to morning workouts starting tomorrow. Trust me. This is going to make life easier for the both of us. I had a very long day, so I didn't finish my Yoga X workout until 11:30pm. The workout was wonderful. I opened the garage door, turned the fans on low, and flipped off the lights so the only illumination came from my TV. Then I did what I said I was going to do and pushed myself 100% for 90 minutes.

Day 49: First Contact

Boy, did I get a surprise today. I actually touched my toes towards the end of my Stretching X workout. During the P90X assessment, 49 long days ago, I was 14" away from those 10 little piggies and today I touched them. Granted, I was huffing and puffing just like that Big Bad Wolf.


Although I have a vivid memory of biting my toenails when I was 3-4 years old, I have no other memories of being flexible. I've been a stiffy as long as I can remember. I'm sure part of my inflexibility is genetic, but to be honest, I have never put any effort into it. Stretching was always a pain in the ass, so I avoided it.

Nowadays, I do an easy stretch before and after each day's P90X workout. I also do at least one Stretching X and one Yoga X workout each week. On recovery weeks, like the one starting tomorrow, I do two Stretching X's and two Yoga X's. I figure I've spent over 20 hours stretching during the last seven weeks. That's why I'm I'm finally seeing some serious progress.

After today's success, I am motivated to push myself even harder as I continue to work to increase my flexibility. Tomorrow starts my second recovery week so I'm going to be doing four days of flexibility workouts and believe me, I am going to put renewed effort into it.

Day 48: Boom Boom Pow

I like that boom boom pow
Them chickens jackin' my style
They try copy my swagger
I'm on that next shit now

I'm so 3008
You so 2000 and late
I got that boom, boom, boom
That future boom, boom, boom
Let me get it now

Oh, baby! Tonight I had that boom boom pow during my Kenpo X workout. I was on fire. I felt so good walking upstairs after the workout that I started to feel guilty and asked myself if I'd pushed myself hard enough. The answer was, yes. I kicked butt during every routine until I was wiped out. However, I am getting into such good shape, my recoveries are almost immediate. Try punching for 90 seconds straight like I'm doing in the video. That is one exhausting routine but I felt like new again within 30 seconds. I got that boom boom pow, baby!

Earlier today, I finally flipped my rubber flooring over and put three strips of heavy duty duct tape over the seams. On a 8'x16' floor consisting of 2'x2' interlocking tiles, that required over 300' of tape. In other words, that sucker is solid. After taping the floor and flipping it right side up, I did my Kenpo X workout and didn't see any splitting on the tiles. That makes an anal retentive man like me very happy.

Tomorrow's Stretching X working concludes my seventh week of P90X. Next week is recovery week so I get to change things up a little with two Stretching X's, two Yoga X's, two Core Synergistics, and a Kenpo X. It's gonna be fun.

Day 47: Shake a Leg

I did a late afternoon P90X leg and back workout and I hit it hard. This workout has lots of squats and lunges and they make my legs burn with that muscle-growing pain. In this photo I am shaking a leg and trying to get rid of that precious burn. It's easy to switch to autopilot on these workouts after you've done them over and over and forget to push yourself. Therefore, I try to stay focused and give it my all. The burn is just a indicator that I'm doing what I need to be doing and not wasting time.

As I get more and more days of P90X under my belt, the workouts are becoming more mental and less physical. As Tony Horton constantly reminds me on the P90X DVD's, you have to get your mind right. Now that I've passed the halfway mark, I need to hit the gas a little harder. I really need to push myself even harder if I am going to get the results I want. As I've said in past posts, I feel significantly healthier but any physical changes have been relatively modest.

It's time for me to shake a leg.

Day 46: Upward Dog

I started off the second half of this adventure with some Yoga X. It was hard but I had the fans on and garage door open. Pretty much all of the yoga experts I consulted told me I was better off doing my yoga with ventilation. The hot yoga I was doing only assists with flexibility. I still find the yoga to be difficult and at 90 minutes it just seems to last forever. However, I'm not suffering like I did in the beginning.

I'm doing the upward dog pose in the photo. My feet are supposed to be pointed but when I move them into that position my neuropathy/neuralgia goes haywire. It feels like someone is shocking my feet with electrodes and it hurts like bloody Hell.

I visited my neurologist today and he says the tests are all coming back negative so they can't determine why my body has triggered this auto-immune response and is destroying the nerves in my feet and hands. The disease is what they call idiopathic, a fancy name for we don't know. However, the progression of the disease appears to have slowed and the pain medication shaves off most of the pain most of the time. Fortunately, the pain medication is not an opioid so it doesn't get me high.

At this point, the doctor is going to ween me off of the Prednisone, which is not working, over the next four weeks and see what happens. I have to come off the Prednisone slowly so my adrenal system doesn't crash. I am very glad to be getting off the Prednisone because it makes me retain water and is affecting my moods. I have been quite a prick lately.

Rather than getting depressed over this whole affair, I am looking at the bright side and that's quite easy to do. The pain is manageable with the medication they are giving me. I just have infrequent bolts of pains instead of constant pain. The medication is easily affordable with my insurance. The disease is not progressing so I most likely won't end up losing motor skills and I do love my motor skills. Also, I've survived open heart surgery when most people with a blocked ventricle would have died. I totaled my car twice and walked away uninjured both times. I have tons of great friends, three wonderful sons, and I met the woman of my dreams this year. Yes, we are very much in love. I guess to quote Dickinson, it's been the best of times and it's been the worst of times.

I have absolutely nothing to complain about. This old dog is looking upward.

Day 45: Halfway Home

Wow! I'm 45 days into P90X already. I can't believe how fast it's gone and I can't believe how long it's taken. I love it and I hate it. It's killing me and it's keeping me alive.

Six months ago, when I came home after my triple bypass, I remember laying in bed one night. I had just hobbled up the stairs so I was having the scary breathing and wondering if I'd wake up the next morning. I was weak as a baby, a very sick baby. I was depressed, on pain killers, afraid to cough or sneeze, and wondering if I was going to be a gimp for the rest of my life.

Man oh man, how quickly things change. I honestly have never felt better in my entire life. After 45 days I do see some physical changes but nothing like what I feel changing on the inside. I feel young again. I feel athletic again. I have energy again. I have stamina again. In fact, my girlfriend, Karen, often begs me to quit telling her how good I feel or as she says, "enough already!" Then she smiles and kisses me.

This P90X is doing it all for me. I'm getting proper nutrition. I'm working all the muscle groups. I'm increasing my flexibility. I'm building those fast twitch muscle and getting my spring and ability to jump back. I'm improving my cardiovascular health so I can keep going and going and going. I am turning back the clock and aging in reverse just like Benjamin Buttons. All I have had to do is show up and keep pushing play on my DVD.

I'll spare you anymore of my manic musings. I'm happy and grateful and could prattle all night long. However, it's getting late and I need to get up early. I gotta knock out these next 45 days of P90X.

Thanks for listening.

Day 44: The Garage Mahal (Almost)

I took the day off and worked on my garage. I purchased and installed 16 feet of steel shelving 5' tall and 18" deep. This gives me more than enough room to store everything and have enough space for all of my exercise equipment. Now that I can put my weights on the shelves, I have much more floor space available also. It really looks nice and only cost me about $450.

I only have a few more things to do before my garage is finished. This weekend, I'm flipping the rubber flooring and applying heavy-duty duct tape to the seams and then flipping it back over so the tape is on the bottom. This should prevent the floor tiles from pulling apart (bugs the Hell out of me). I'm also mounting plastic peg board on the wall so I can hang all my bands, clipboards, and some small tools. Finally, I am waiting for a 4' pull up bar to arrive (sigh, back ordered) and install on the ceiling. When I'm all finished I'll make a video and give you the grand tour. I really enjoy my home gym and am even thinking of dropping my LA Fitness membership since I seldom go.

Tonight's workout was plyometrics. Now that I am wearing tennis shoes and working out on the rubber flooring, I no longer am experiencing any knee pain, thank God. Plyo is still the hardest workout but it is really helping me get back into shape so I can jump again. I actually think I may be able to play basketball soon and hit those boards for some serious rebounds.

Day 43: I Hate Working Out

Pant! Gasp! Groan! Moan! OMG, when is this going to end? P90X ain't getting any easier, folks. I'm getting stronger and my conditioning is through the roof, but these workouts are still kicking my butt. Today begins week 7 of this 13 week ordeal.

My father's been visiting from Indiana and commented that I must really enjoy working out to have hung in there so long. I responded that I don't enjoy working out but rather, I enjoy having worked out. Today's shoulder, back, tricep and ab workout lasted 75 horrible minutes. I enjoyed the 76th minute. I enjoyed walking up the stairs to get a glass of ice tea knowing that I'd put another workout in the bank. I enjoyed knowing that I had made it another day and had not given into some lame excuse to skip my workout.

My girlfriend, Karen, summed it up even better when she told me last night that the only thing she hates more than working out is not working out. That's why she drags her ass to the gym five days a week. That's why this 40-something 5' tall little girl can do more push ups than I'll ever be able to do. That's why Karen looks oh so fine.

Day 42: Sunday Stretch

Imagine walking into your kitchen and seeing something like this. Although it looks like a picture of a corpse with severe rigor mortis, it is merely me doing a shoulder stand in my girlfriend, Karen's, living room (view from the kitchen). In fact, it is quite the opposite of rigor mortis these days, because I am finally becoming much more flexible.

I'm haven't become a Gumby yet, but I am noticing quite significant changes in the way my body can move now. I am able to squat and bend more easily and without any pain. My father and I assembled the bunk beds from Hell this week and I had to move my body around into all kinds of angles and positions. Except for the fact that I am a large ogre and require lots of space, I had not trouble bending myself into various contortions during the 4-hour assembly process.

Stretching used to be a pain and something I always neglected. Now that I am stretching almost daily and experiencing the benefits first hand in my life, I now look forward to my stretching workouts. In fact, stretching and yoga have become my two most important workouts. I have a long way to go but I have also come a long way. Seven weeks ago, if I'd tried a shoulder stand, my girlfriend, Karen, would have been calling 911 instead of taking this photo.

Day 41: Why Am I Blogging?

One of my buddies asked me recently, why I'm doing this blog. He wanted to know if a lot of people were reading it. When I told him that I thought only 10-20 people had visited the site, he said I was crazy. Why would anyone want to put so much effort into such an endeavor for so few followers? Well, this is why I am doing Jeff 2.0. I think my reasons are pretty sound.

• I want to document this whole P90X adventure, so I can see my progress.  I've gotten in shape before but never taken measurements or before-and-after pics. By documenting my efforts, I will be able to clearly see my progress and measure my results.
  
• When I'm finished, I'll be able to print a book of this blog using Blog To Print.
  
• Blogging forces me to write. By maintaining this and my other blogs, I am forced to exercise my writing muscle daily. I really want to become a better writer and that requires daily practice.
  
• Blogging releases my creative energy. When I write the posts and edit the photos, I kick that left brain into high gear. This whole process gets me high. I love the way it makes me feel.
  
• When I write the posts I become more introspective. I look inside myself and learn more about myself and what I am going through. Healthy introspection is always a good thing.
• I want to inspire and help other people who want live healthier lifestyles.
  
• Who knows. Maybe I will develop a readership if I continue to blog. Who wouldn't mind that?

That's pretty much it. I do another blog called Jeff & Sons about me and my boys and the things going on in our lives. Soon I will also be starting another blog called Jeff On Tech where I write about effective technology that I use for business and in my personal life.

BTW, I did the Kenpo X in my crowded garage that I am remodeling. It was so, so frickin' fun. Kenpo is my favorite workout.

Day 40: In the Wilderness

"And immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted ..." Mark 1:12-13

Yep. That pretty much sums up my last 40 days. I'm not equating myself with Jesus, but I've been in the P90X wilderness for the last 40 days facing nothing but temptation. Temptation to blow off workouts. Temptation to not push myself hard enough. Temptation to eat unhealthy foods. Temptation to eat too many carbs. Temptation to drink alcohol. Temptation to smoke cigarettes. Temptation to take the easy path.

P90X is physically demanding. Most of the time I'm walking around sore and achy. My back often feels like it is on the verge of injury. If that happens, I'm going to be out commission for a week minimum. That would really suck.

Scheduling is also a challenge. I'm trying to raise two teenage sons, spend quality time with my girlfriend and fulfill the demands of my business while running my household. This means that some days I have to workout at screwball times like 5:30am or 10:00pm. When I listen to other people tell me why they can't workout, lack of time is always the number one reason I hear, and I can't say I blame someone for not wanting to exercise at 10:00pm.

However, as I said in my post on Day 38, P90X is not only benefiting me physically, it's doing something on the inside. By pushing myself hard, by digging deep, by always showing up,  I'm not finding out what I'm made of, rather I am creating who I want to be. I am getting stronger but I'm not referring to muscles. What's happening to my body is just a side-effect. The real change is occurring on the inside. That's why I chose this silly spiritual-looking photo for the post. I'm doing a simple yoga chair pose and putting a helluva hurtin' on my legs. However, the effort, drive, discipline and determination required is quasi-spiritual at the same time.

I'm not a Christian but I do appreciate the wisdom the Bible has to offer. After Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, He was ready to face the biggest challenges of His short career and kick some serious butt. I've got another 50 days of wilderness ahead of me. By the time I'm finished, I think I'll be ready to kick a little butt myself. Whether that metaphorical butt-kicking is being a better father, rebuilding and growing my business, being a wonderful boyfriend, or just becoming a better person, I know that everything will improve along with my health. P90X is definitely making my candle burn a little brighter.

Day 39: And the Wheel Goes Round and Round

It was a late workout again with Yoga X. I opened the garage door and turned on the fans this time though. No more energy-sapping hot sweaty yoga for me. This makes the yoga workout much easier, of course, but now I'm able to focus on form instead of just trying to finish. I can officially state that Yoga X is not longer the hardest workout in P90X. That honor goes to plyometrics.

I was pleased to notice recognizable improvement in how well I performed many of the forms. My flexibility, although still way below average, is improving dramatically. Also, I am able to do forms that I didn't even try during my first few yoga sessions like plow, shoulder stand, crane and I even tried the wheel (see photo). I know. It looks more like a flat tire. When I finish this round of P90X (yes there will be more), I will continue to do one to two yoga workouts each week. However, I plan on taking a few yoga classes so I can get some professional guidance. Yoga is such a vital component to overall fitness and I want to do it right.

The most difficult thing for me tonight was relaxing and clearing my mind. The demons were whispering in my ear the entire workout distracting me with all the problems, trials and tribulations I am facing in my life right now. I'm not crying but it has genuinely been the toughest year of my life as well as the most fortunate. I really want achieve the mental clarity and peace that yoga offers. As much as I need to limber my body, I also need to limber this mind. I need a place of peace and solace. I know it sounds like bullshit but it's true.

Time for bed. Legs and back at 6:00am.

Day 38: A Hard Day's Night (249 lbs)

I don't know if it was the lack of carbs (I only had 120 grams today), or if it was the lack of sleep (I woke up a dozen times last night with severe cramps in my calves), but tonight was probably the hardest P90X workout I've had. Disc 10 Back and Biceps was a piece of cake last week. Unfortunately, tonight was nothing but a struggle. Sure I was working my back and biceps real hard but nothing compared to what I was doing to that self-discipline muscle.

The neighbors could hear that large scary-looking exercise freak cursing and grousing as they walked their dogs past my garage (I heard a few barks follow by a quick shush). I was tired and angry and suffering and wanted to quit after every damn one of the 24 routines. I was making excuses in my head and looking for justifications to quit, but I couldn't. I knew if I didn't complete my workout, I'd be laying in bed hating myself tonight.

As I type out these last few sentences, I am totally exhausted. I am spent. However, I feel pleased and content with myself because I made it another day.  There's 52 days left in this program and it is going to get a lot tougher. If I'm going to succeed, I need to do what I did tonight and keep pushing on. P90X strengthens your body but I'm discovering that it also strengthens your spirit.

Bring it!

Day 37: How I Eat (249 lbs)

No one would take a picture of me working out last night. The boys piss and moan whenever I ask now, so I'll talk about my dieting strategy instead. Diet, in my opinion,  is probably more important than exercise.

I follow a strict diet for three reasons:

1. To manage my weight:
   First, I do not want to get fat again. I've been as high as 305 pounds in my tubby days of old and was wearing a 46" waist. The inside of my thighs were chaffed because they rubbed together. Secondly, one of the best ways to make your muscles bigger is to make your fat smaller.
2. To grow my muscles:
   I have to eat properly if I want my muscles to grow. They require fuel and fertilizer.
   
3. To be healthy:
   I had a triple bypass in April of 2009. One of my left ventricles was completely clogged and it is an absolute miracle that I am still alive. My cardiologist said that the bypass added another 25 years to my life. I'm going eat healthy and not blow this second chance.

These are the diet rules I follow:

1. Know what you're eating:
   Know how many calories, carbs, fats and proteins you are consuming. Last year I started keeping a food journal because I was frustrated with my lack of weight loss. My weight started dropping immediately and I lost almost 50 pounds. Not only did I learn how many calories were in the foods I was eating, but I started making more intelligent food choices. I'm not going to eat at 360 calorie donut because that takes over 30 minutes of P90X just to burn it off. It just ain't worth it. Currently, I use http://mynetdiary.com to track everything I eat. This is a great tool and it has an excellent iPhone application which synchronizes with the website (see the picture).
   
2. Always take your food with you:
   If you're on a strict diet and don't want to cheat, take your food with you. If I'm on the road and starving and don't have anything healthy to eat, I'm 10 times more likely to eat something I shouldn't...like Taco Bell...or Wendy's...or Mickey D's.
3. No alcohol:
   I don't presently drink alcohol because I don't want the empty calories and it tempts me to smoke cigarettes. That would just be plain stupid after what I've gone through.
   
4. No sugar added:
   I just stay away from stuff with sugar in it and use artificial sweeteners instead. Some people blow me crap about using the sweeteners but they're better than sugar. I can't be perfect down to such detail anyway.
5. Healthy fats:
   I eat food that contains or is prepared with healthy fats. For example, I love broil salmon coated lightly with olive oil.
6. Nothing fried:
   Do I really need to explain why?
7. Have a cheat meal every one to two weeks:
   You've got to live a little and it shocks your body into burning calories again when it's adapted to your diet.
8. 3500 calories per day:
   After doing some research and talking to my personal trainer, I feel comfortable that I can lose fat and build muscle eating 3500 calories per day. Your calories per day will be different based on your age and activity level. Do some research and find out what is right for you. Track what you eat so you don't go way over or way under.
   
9. Eat 5-6 small meals per day:
   This keeps your metabolism burning and you'll drop weight faster.
10. Low carbs:
    Don't go crazy on the carbs even if they are the complex variety. I am currently trying to keep mine under 100 grams per day but it is tough. Everything has carbs. Even air it seems.
11. Easy on the red meat:
    I don't eat a lot of red meat. When I do I eat it in moderation and stick to the lean cuts. I do eat lots of fish and chicken, however.
12. Supplement with protein powder:
    I need to get lots of protein in my for muscle growth so I drink lots of protein shakes. I try to find the low carb variety and stick to whey protein.
13. No other supplements:
    To be honest, when I read labels on these supplements that imply some benefit and then the label states that the claim has not been evaluated by the FDA, it pisses me off. I think most of these supplements are simply overpriced rip-offs. If the stuff works, conduct medical trials and prove it.
    

Day 36: My Male Role Model

This is my 16 year old son, Maxwell, flexing for the camera. Maxwell is on the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School wrestling team and loves to workout. He's 6'2" and 190 pounds and a natural athlete. This is what I want to look like when I've finished my first round of P90X. I do hope it's not too late for an old man like me. Regardless, Maxwell is an inspiration to me and it makes me happy knowing that my sons have emulated one of my few good habits and taken a keen interest in physical fitness and proper nutrition.

I started tonight's workout at 8:00pm and didn't finished until after 9:00pm. That's when I realized that I had done the disc 1 workout instead of the scheduled disc 9. No big deal. I still cranked out over 100 push ups and just as many back reps during the 24 routines. My energy was a little low because I only ate 75 grams of carbs today. I am paying serious attention to my carb input and trying to keep it under 100 grams daily because I want to lean up. This is extremely difficult. I think air even has carbs in it.

I'm off to bed now because I have to get up at 5:00am to do the dreaded plyometrics workout. If I'm going to exercise tomorrow, that's the only time open. I can't miss a workout if I want to look like this stud.

Note: I didn't get up at 5:00am.

Day 35: Things are Looking Up (251 lbs)

I started the morning with Yoga X at 8:00am. My son, Maxwell, even joined me but had to spoil it by showing me how much better he is at yoga than I'll ever be. I kept the fans running during this workout for the first time and it was 10 times easier. I'm thinking I might do this from now on so I get a better workout. When I leave the fans off and make it real hot, I might not be working out harder. Perhaps I am just wearing out faster. I'll ask some of my yoga friends and get their opinion.

After the workout, I was very happy to tip the scales at 251 pounds. I asked my neurologist to prescribe a diuretic earlier this week to offset the water retention caused by the Prednisone he has me on. The diuretic is obviously working, because I weighed 260 pounds just this last Wednesday. I feel much better also and am motivated to eat even tighter. This week I'm going to try and keep my daily carb count under 100 grams.

The big surprise of the day was the hand stand I'm doing in the photo. To be totally honest, my son, Maxwell, and my buddy, Adrian, are standing to the sides ready to pounce if I show signs of collapsing. They also helped me get into position. Also, I'm using the wall to balance myself. However, this is the first time in my life that I've ever been able to do this and I have tried before. For a 6'5", 251 pound, 47 year old man who had a triple bypass six months ago, I think it's damn good.