Puddle of Warm Human

Yes, this is how I feel right now.


There is nothing that takes away your desire to get off the couch more than the P90x Legs and Back workout followed by a boiling hot shower. I stepped out of the shower and barely had the energy to towel off, nevermind get dressed and then phone my buddy Mark to see what he was doing tonight. He responded "Just went for a run outside, then had a warm shower so I'm feeling nice" and we mutually decided to skip the action-packed Friday night we most likely had ahead of us and just stay home with a book or perhaps a salad. What a healthy network I'm a part of. Tony would be proud.

Now I'm contemplating getting in the car and driving to Safeway for more Ambrosia apples (they were out last time I was there) but I'm worried I might fall asleep in the produce section right next to the Dragonfruit. I don't think the recovery week could have come at a better time for me as I was barely able to complete my workout tonight. Even though I hit or eclipsed all my previous numbers for some reason I really felt like I was dogging it. I think the mouthguard definitely helped me out and I managed to grind out my moves the best I could, however I was SERIOUSLY considering bagging out halfway through and starting over the next morning to do it properly. I don't care who you are or what you say, pull-ups are never a "Fun" exercise.

I've been doing a little research into a gym near where I'll be moving to and I've got to say I'm getting excited to start working out around people again. Don't get me wrong; working out in my basement has been fantastic and it's something I'll miss when I move to my new place, however I have to admit I'm looking forward to getting back into the "Public Gym" routine especially since it allows me to go shopping for a brand new pair of kicks. My trusty New Balances have just about given up the ghost and were literally tripping me up tonight since the material on the bottom of the shoe which has seperated from the sole was catching on my rubber mats.

I'm looking forward to some solid cardio in Kenpo X tomorrow and plan to go as hard as possible before I dip into my second recovery week starting Monday.

I'm going to try sleeping with my mouthguard in tonight, as I find I grit my teeth a lot before I go to bed (Yeah, I don't get it either...). If I choke to death on my mouthguard this will most likely be my last blog post. Go Canucks.

Mouthguarded

How much are your teeth worth to you? $2.49 before tax!


Wow, I can't remember the last time I paid less than $3.00 for ANYTHING that didn't come in an aluminum can or have "Diet" and "Coke" in the name. $2.49 is what this bad boy (The EZ Gard Strapless Mouth Protector from Sportchek) set me back today, and while reluctant to pass up the fancier ones labelled "Shock Doctor" and "Super Mouth Protector" and "Tooth Guardian" and "Bicuspid Befriender" I decided that the small price was more easily absorbed than the +$20 hit of buying the latter if my experiment turned out to be a waste of time. After arriving home and setting a pot of water to boil (got changed into my ultra-cool grey sweatshorts during the boiling phase) I followed the instructions closely on the package and let my mouthguard sit 12 seconds in the boiling water before removing it, shaking out the still very hot water and popping it into my mouth where I bit down hard and pressed my tender gums up against the searing hot plastic. I winced back tears and did my best Bulldog impersonation on the mouthguard for a solid 30 seconds while using my fingers to press it against my teeth, long enough for the Polymer blend to conform to the shape of my unfortunately British-looking grin. After trimming the ends a little bit with a pair of scissors (They stuck too far back and made me gag) I ended up with a reasonably comfortable mold of my top-teeth. Since you've already most likely viewed the picture above, you can imagine somewhat how much my incisors must protrude from my top row of teeth. Maybe I can attract some cute "Twilight" fan-girls.

Luckily as nasty as my mouthguard looked, I have to admit it definitely made a difference in my Back/Biceps workout tonight. At first it was a little uncomfortable learning to breath past it, but after a while I got used to the foreign lump of slimy plastic in my mouth and began to appreciate the way I was able to set my jaw against it during the "Go" phase of my curls and pullups. I've always had a tough time remembering to regulate my breathing while lifting, but curiously enough it was almost like wearing the mouthguard FORCED me into keeping a steady breathing rythm in which I'd inhale/grit my teeth during the concentric motion and unclench/exhale on the eccentric.

There's something comforting about being able to grit your teeth as hard as you can during a pullup without smashing the enamel on them into powder and feeling it the next day when you dunk your front teeth into a stream of hot coffee. This is a great new twist to my workout regime and I can't wait to apply it to Legs/Back on Friday! I'd recommend that anyone pick up one of these cheapos and give it a shot, it's definitely worth the $2.49.

Delt Burn/Real Estate Rush

Come on Supes, 8-10 for mass...12-15 for toning



So I just bought a house...

Unfortunately it was in the middle of Shoulders/Chest/Triceps when I got a call from my Real Estate Agent asking if I wanted to accept the buyer's counter offer, so with endorphins flowing through my body the conversation went a little like this:

*ringa da ding ding ding dee donng*

"Hello?"

"Hi Sam. They've countered with ___________________"

*Tony Horton yelling in background*

"Wow, alright. Let's go to __________ (my original intended offer)"

"Ok....are you alright?"

"I...I'm bringing...it"

*click*


Anyway, after getting another call 20 minutes later in which I learned the house was mine I did about 6 more clap pushups than last week, strictly from adrenaline and excitement coursing through my body. Without said adrenaline, pushups are kind of a weird exercise in that once you're toast you're toast, and no amount of cheating or bad form is going to get you off the ground. I find that the Switch Speed Pushups are what consistantly "get" me and I can do no more than 14 or so before my torso glues itself to the basement floor and I end up snapping a couple more millimetres off my front teeth as I grit and grind trying to get up. I guess it's a good thing to wreck your muscles that badly, but at the same time I'd like to see a little more progress in that move specifically.

I'm also considering buying an athletic mouthguard while doing my workout, just to keep my jaw in place and to prevent me from actually gritting my teeth (I'm serious when I mention chipping my teeth from trying to smash out a few last reps). Put a comment under this post if you've got any input on what would be a good kind of mouthguard to buy.

On that note, it's time to browse colour palettes and alternative decor for my new place.

*grunt*

"Yo Adrian, write down "16 reps" for me!"

Pull-ups and Kenpo and Rest...oh my
After a weekend of Legs/Back, Kenpo X and a rest day for good measure, I'm still waiting for these workouts to get easier. Maybe the fact that I "feel" my legs should be stronger than they really are is what drives me to give 100% everytime, because after my lunges, squats and calf-raises I feel somewhat like Rocky did after the first time he fought Clubber Lang. My pull-ups are increasing each week by a few reps every week, however I think it may be a stretch to say I'll be counted in among the people that do "Over 160 pullups" like Tony claims at the end of the video. That's insane. That might be exactly double of what I'm doing right now.


Diet, or lack thereof...
My diet this weekend was probably the worst it's ever been. I partly blame the beautiful weather for both my appetite and for the flawed reasoning that had me think Friday night's touch-football followed by an 18 hole performance on Saturday means it's perfectly acceptable to have 6 pieces of Pizza for supper. It obviously won't make too big of a difference in the long run, but I'll admit I felt like a spanked dog today and could barely look at the pictures of my 18 blog-followers (including the anonymous silhouettes) without feeling shame.

I'm looking forward to trying a few different things for meals this week and hope to bring everything back under control again diet-wise. It'd sure be a pain to drag my sorry rear through these workouts for a full 90 days but not get the results I want because I was too busy stuffing my word-hole with crispy, golden-brown, topping-laden dough.

ugh, brb...time to supplement with an apple.

So here's the next shirt I'm going to buy

I wish



Back and Biceps
It kind of makes me cringe to think of a hardcore bodybuilder reading this blog and thinking "What's this kid know about a bicep pump?" after I go on and on about how this workout made my biceps feel like they were about to hop outside my arms, wave jauntily and shout "See ya later, Sam".

Regardless of the ultra-high amount of hardcore Bodybuilders that read/scoff at my blog, I apologize for NOTHING when I say that it does not change my opinion on how this workout is able to annihilate your muscle fibers, especially if you're doing all the exercises with the most weight you can manage using good form. In fact, I like this routine so much that even several months from now when I'm off of P90x and on the beach knocking a volleyball around with many fit, beautiful women (Like the commercial promises) I can totally see myself returning to Back/Biceps because of the scaleable intensity it offers. If you're feeling strong you can just keep the weight high and blast out your curls but if you're not looking to chip the ends of your front teeth and pop your eyeballs onto your cheeks as you grit out your last 2 reps, you can always lighten the weight and STILL lather up a good burn. To me that spells "versatility" and "Rad mental image" and those are the top two things that I'm always looking for in a workout.

Ab-Ripper X
Nothing to report. Mason Twists at the end are laughable now. Can almost do the entire thing for max reps start to finish, but am still plateauing at oblique side raises (at 16 or 17 reps I fail)

Me > Plyometrics

Whoosh

Before I credit a supplemental 3 pm cup of coffee for my stellar workout tonight I'd like to first mention that I was amped and in the PERFECT mindset for Plyometrics, so it may have been a little more than the caffeine.

I had hardly stepped through the door and taken my shoes off before I was already humming the theme for Football Hero and visualizing doing my Rockstar Hops and Gap Jumps in my cool grey sweat-shorts. As expected, my silly and positive attitude suffered a big, sloppy hit after the first 30 minutes of Plyo X in the way that only silly and positive moods meeting Plyo X can...however the difference this time was that I was still going deep in my squats, high on my jumps and faster on all my repeat-moves than I ever had before!

Maybe it's my cardio improving or maybe it's the newly-renovated state of my overall physical conditioning. Heck, maybe it really WAS that last cup of Keurig-brewed coffee that I slammed back while staring at an estimate during the dying hours of my business day. Regardless of what it was, I'm trying to memorize exactly how it happened in order to harness this effort for next week. For crying out loud, I was so pumped after my workout that I still had energy to shower, grab my clubs and hit up the local driving range to slash a large bucket of yellow Srixons.

How's that for motivation?

Still plugging away...

Not much to report. Everything's going great and I wish something a little more exciting would have happened in my Chest/Shoulders/Triceps workout tonight. I bumped all my numbers after a mediocre effort last week and I'll go into next week's effort with a renewed sense of confidence.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this last time, but I finally figured out how to do the Oblique Raises. Originally I wasn't putting any weight on the arm laying flat on the ground, but I realized that you're supposed to balance a little on that arm in order to get up and crunch your obliques. Great discovery...now they can suffer like the rest of my abdominals.

Weight.
I'm still sitting at roughly 161lbs, so after my initial 6lb loss I'm now sitting comfortably at a weight that seems to be where my body prefers me to be at. We'll see how I end up after day 90, but it's nice to know that I don't need to continually stuff myself in order to gain weight beyond what I'm capable of maintaining.

Tee-Time at 2:17

Left arm straight Sergio!! LEFT ARM STRAIGHT!


Saturday Afternoon, 18 Holes!
There is no better mix of concentration and relaxation than 18 holes of one of the world's most distinguished pastimes. Being able to shunt aside the pressing issues and frustrations of the world and focusing your rage completely on a little white ball marked "Titleist" (in my case "Sportek" or "RAM Laser") does wonders for your stress levels and really helps you mellow out. Granted, certain personality types don't jive well with the game of Golf and occasionally you get the odd meltdown on the course, putter-throws and club-slams being the direct result (Not from personal experience, of course). When Golfing so early in the year, I find that it's fun to just be outside and to enjoy the fresh air without having to worry about freezing the surface of your skin to death. Winter's gone and now it's finally time to start DOING stuff again...hopefully my P90x schedule doesn't suffer as a result.


Kenpo X this morning, Legs/Back yesterday evening
I'm sitting here at my kitchen table oozing sweat from my pores once again as Kenpo X is a 10 minutes-distant memory in the back of my mind. My side-kicks still suck, but I'm pretty confident I could break your nose/smash your face with my front kicks. I'm not sure why such a thing is, but I really want to go out and try to kick someone/something with these moves. It's a good thing I didn't discover these videos when I was in High School...

Yesterday I had to go home early in order to let the Locksmith in to re-key my front and back doors. Since they stayed too late for me to go back to work, I was able to get in an earlier Legs/Back workout and was EXTREMELY relieved to find out that I maintained all my old pull-up numbers from week 3, while even bumping a few. I've definitely been eating more since my recovery week so it really shouldn't have come as such a surprise to me. The secret now is to find that fine line between continuing to build on that strength, but also shedding the blubber that had been falling off pretty easily through the four weeks previous.

Time to go practice my chipshots in the backyard.

Two Tickets...

To the Gunshow?

Nope.

Paradise! (Press play, and then read the rest of my blog for an out of this world experience)



Now we're rocking.



Back and Biceps
My energy levels have never been better and I absolutely LOVED this workout...loved it so much that when Tony asked me if I "had my tickets" I felt like responding "Tony, I'm already there..." but then he busted out the tired old Gunshow-line and I realized that I was probably born in the wrong era. This workout is basically curls on top of curls on top of curls and as a result it's something you can really sink your teeth into. I found that if you keep your intensity level and weights as high as you can manage, you're able to get an insane pump running to your "guns" and feel fantastic when you take your standard post-workout mirror-glance. I ran out of gas during pullups near the end (See: 0 pullups for the "Max Reps" exercise) but that didn't come close to discouraging me or minimizing the pump I got from the arm exercises. The frat boy in me cannot wait to get back on the curls.


Om nom nom
As far as my diet goes I've decided that my calorie intake should increase and I'll be shooting for more meals throughout the day, subsequently adding 300-500 calories of clean carbs/protein where I can. I'm getting more in-tune with my body and feel pretty confident in being able to guess when I'm at a deficit where perhaps the calories I've already taken in aren't going to cut it before a workout, etc. The target calories I set for myself are more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule and I'm guessing that by the 60 day mark I'll have a pretty clear idea of where I'm at, where I should be and what I need to eat in order to get where I want to be. I've already pre-made my meals for this week but am planning on mixing it up next week with a wider variety of foods and storing them in smaller portions to keep it fresh, new and exciting like the rest of my fresh, new and exciting life. Baby.

Anyway, I've got Yoga tomorrow night and then legs on Friday before heading to Mom and Dad's for my sister's birthday supper. She turns 22 tomorrow (April 15) and reads this blog so I figured I'd give her a shoutout. Anna, by the time you read this it'll be your birthday or else many days past it, so consider me the first to say Happy Birthday! (The Facebookers who wished you happy birthday two days ago don't count).

Plyometrics is still pretty awful

Nice glasses, bro

Like Pete Townsend....
My brother and I went to see Sonata Arctica last night and didn't end up getting home until about 11:15ish. The fact that I was dead tired, plus the fact that I hadn't gotten a great sleep the night before should've automatically put me in the sack and had me taking a day off. HOWEVER, that's not the P90x way (Right?) and I hammered play just the same as any other day. I should also mention here that it sure helps to bear down in fitness when you split a pizza at Sorrento's with your brother while watching the Blue Jays before the show. Even though it was the only thing I ate after lunch and probably JUST put me over my calories for the day, I was still harbouring some serious guilt.



A few things:
1. Even though it had been 5 hours since I had eaten, pizza in the stomach is still not advised for Plyometrics...AT ALL.

2. I hate that Dom guy. What a showoff. Stop jumping so high and please stop lifting your legs kind of "sideways" during the Rockstar Hops...you make me want to smash you.

3. Don't leave Plyometrics to that late at night. Even though I was able to shower and then pass out in bed immediately after, I'm convinced that my body was still doing Squat Switch Pickups until about 4:40.

4. 30 Days up, 60 days to go. Still feeling great, still feeling motivated!



Note: Seeing as there are one or two girls following this blog I thought I'd give a shout-out to http://www.facebook.com/sheafitness who gives great advice on anything fitness-related and has made great progress on P90x herself. I know of at least two girls following this blog who are doing P90x, and I recommend to both of them to check out her fansite on Facebook for some solid advice and a great resource. If anything, you can just take a look at her progress pics to get motivated!

Who's your receiver?

When Tony asked us who our receiver was during the "Throw the Bomb" exercise, I exuberantly answered "SIDNEY RICE, TONY!!!".


Back to the weights
Chest, Shoulder and Triceps day was great and I really enjoyed getting back to some resistance training after the week long lay-off, but the one thing I forgot was how much quicker you tire while doing resistance training than cardio. I've got to admit that I burned out on pushups real quickly...like, REALLY quickly. I'm not sure if it was the layoff, not enough food, not being able to get to sleep until 3:30 last night or even locking myself out of my house this morning and needing someone to come pick me up to drive me to work, but I didn't even manage ONE one-armed pushup (knees down or otherwise). I'm sure this is one of those "blah blah Don't get discouraged, blah blah it's a hard exercise to do, blah blah you'll get better" moments but this is the first time where I've not been able to do even one. I felt pretty feeble.

I've got Plyometrics to look forward to tomorrow too. Ugh. I'm so glad I made venison tacos for my lunch tomorrow. Here's to me not forgetting them at home....

Progress pics for REAL this time...

Ok, did a little more cropping...

I got a bit of flack for showing too much skin in my first edition, so I toned it back a little.

I also heard one complaint about the music I added, so you better believe I stepped it up a notch this time around.


Phase 2 Starts tonight. I can't wait!

Progress Pics

*Temporarily down...hang tight*


Also known as: "If you've ever wanted to see Sam in his underwear, here's your chance"


4 Weeks done, several long weeks to go.



Here's your chance to motivate me the best you can, my 15 faithful readers!



P.S. You're not allowed to hit "Pause" during the video.

X Stretch? More like........

What the....




Since my scheduling was all fouled up (As you must surely know if you happened to read my last blog post) the one thing I wanted to make sure I did during my recovery week was fit in an X-Stretch. My calves and rump were still pretty tender from all the lunges I did two days previous on Legs/Back day, so ANYTHING resembling a stretch felt like a tall, cool glass of water to...yes...my rump and calves.

This workout was just what the doctor ordered (especially after 18 holes of golf) because it wasn't too strenuous but enough to make me feel like I still accomplished something afterwards. There's something about stretching before an exercise that can get somewhat monotonous but when you have a whole workout that's geared towards doing only that and nothing but, it's a great motivator.


In other news
-The cardio and stretching has been good but I'm REALLY looking forward to getting back into the weights on Monday. When it comes down to it there's really no substitute for pushing the iron and getting your sweat on in a more caveman-like manner, and I especially can't wait to start socking back the protein and knowing it's going somewhere.

-I need to find a Yoga mat.

-My flexibility is surprising me. Reed Richards is so jeal.

I hate it...but I love it

The knowing glance says it all...


There is nothing better than how you feel after a P90x workout, especially if the workout that you just finished is a result of looking back through your workout log and noticing it was the one you missed while you were travelling last Friday. Seeing as how everything was hopelessly out of whack, I decided it'd be better to squeeze that workout in tonight before I got too close to the next phase of my resistance training in order to...you know... let some "recovery" take place.

Now as I flounder in a puddle of my own spent electrolytes and exhaustion, legs aching, the only drawback of this whole unfortunate event is that somehow my smallish brain has once again not failed to fail me. However, the fact that I still managed to squeeze this workout in without wrecking the rest of my schedule or demolishing my morale speaks wonders to the state of my commitment to P90x.







I hate it....but I love it.

Wow, hold on a second...

Dummy
So while in Arizona, sometime between golfing and trying to not eat everything in sight, I realized I must have screwed up my schedule a little bit and was required to do a bit of juggling to get things back into place. When I was doing Core Synergistics, I should have been doing Yoga X and today I had to do Kenpo in order to get everything back to where it SHOULD be...ugh, how hard can it be? I know reading this blog is a stretch for most of you guys so I appreciate you not telling me "No dummy, you did Core Synergisticisics on the wrong day. FAIL". I appreciate it.

I'm finding that this recovery week is a little harder than I was expecting it to be. While the lack of weight routines is a nice break, I've got to admit that it's harder to keep my intensity and focus up with just the cardio/yoga based exercises and since my bodytype is more prone to lose muscle/fat when I'm not eating and lifting, I find it a little discouraging to feel my strength leaving me after only a couple days of "recovery". It might all just be in my head, but I've never really weighed so light before in my life (minus grade...like...9) and perhaps it's starting to wreak havoc with my psyche? I dunno...I can't wait until I finish the 90 days and am able to look back and say "well that's that...now what?".


Back on the food-wagon...
So after some SLIGHT deviation in my normally clean diet I've returned to Canada where I have my own kitchen and own pantry to deal with for meals/snacks/etc. I loaded up on Apples, 80-calorie wheat tortillas and pro-biotic yogourt cups (6 for $4.00 at Safeway) among other things to add to my meals as snacks. I still have to swing out to Costco to get a few platters of boneless/skinless chicken breasts as well as a few other things, but the aforementioned snacks combined with the loads of lean ground beef and venison in my freezer should last me for at least another month.

Core Synergisticisicics

Go get em Supes!!!



The Banana-to-Superman move in Synergistics is frustrating enough as it is, but it sure doesn't help when Tony makes me switch JUST as I'm settling into either position. Since I don't want to hear the word "Superman" or "Banana" again, I've vented my frustrations by showing a depiction of the former being punched out by a hardcore-looking robot who clearly knows what's up (EDIT: The link died, so I changed it to Doomsday smashing Superman). Take that Superman. Take THAT Tony. Aside from those moves, this was a great workout with a lot of sweat, a lot of grunting and a ton of "it" being "Brung".

My diet has been a little bit messy this weekend but I've been active enough with golf and P90x that I think it'll come to a wash calorie-wise. Week 4 progress pics might not show too much, but I've definitely felt leaner and less jiggly when I do my jumping jacks. That being said, the full-length mirror in my cousin's guest room still doesn't do me any favours when I'm crunched into "Boat" position and the midsection fat is the one thing I'll miss the least when it's gone.

Time for dry toast, scrambled eggs and a lounge by the pool/NHL 09 on Xbox

Hangin' Tough

Don't let their boyish good-looks fool you...the New Kids on the Block could hang with the toughest of them.



In the land of Putters, Woods and Irons, 54 holes of golf in two days has done it's best to try and throw a monkey wrench into my P90x journey. I'm sure a lesser man would have trembled and quaked at the thought of mixing P90x with cruising the beautiful fairways of Arizona while sipping cool beverages and draining 24-foot putts, but I'm happy to say I've persevered and am still on track.

I finished Yoga on Friday night at roughly 11:30pm and just finished Kenpo X 10 minutes ago as evidenced by my post-shower glaze of sweat and still slightly-elevated heart rate. I go into my recovery week tomorrow and luckily have a day off (from Golf) tomorrow morning to try to fit in Core Synergistics. It's the first time I'll have done the video so I'm excited to see what Tony has in store for me and I'm hoping I can "bring it" before we hit the Arizona Diamondbacks home opener against the feared and perennial National League powerhouse favourite San Diego Padres. I might limit my peanut and cracker jack intake...




Note: Before boarding our plane to Arizona I realized I had forgotten my paperback in our vehicle back in the parking lot. I sprinted all the way out, got "Christine" out of the truck and sprinted all the way back with MINIMAL heavy breathing as a result. Probably the first pure instance where I've noticed P90x ameliorating my way of life...