P90X Day 17 - Carlsbad Half Marathon

Sunday, Jan 20th
Start time: 7:30AM
Event: Carlsbad Half-Marathon (13.1 miles)

Today's workout is supposed to be Shoulders and Arms, but this morning is the Carlsbad Half Marathon. It's 13.1 miles of beauty scenery along the coast of San Diego's North County.

So, I am skipping/substituting my workout today for the race.

To tell you the truth, I haven't been training all that much for the race, so I'm just using this as a training run. I was my goal to do 11 minute miles.

But, the results are:

Time: 2:12:41
Pace: 10:08 per mile

Just goes to show you that the P90x greatly helped my performance. I felt strong during the entire run and actually did a negative split!

Just awesome!

P90X Day 16 - Plyo

Saturday, 1/19, 9:30-10:30am

Third time doing plymetrics... it's still a good kick in pants!

I got up a little later than usual. I think I'm coming down with a head cold. I can't let that hamper my workouts, however. I must push on.

I am slowly getting the movements down. Tony says that Phase 1 is "the learning" phase. The "rockstar" movement is still by far one of the most toughest plyometric movements.

I finished Plyo, drenched in sweat, but glad I did it!

Tomorrow is the Carlsbad Half-Marathon. I haven't been really training for it, but it's still one of my goals, so I'm going to run it as a training run - hoping to manage a 11 per mile pace. Unfortunately, I may have to skip the Shoulders and Arms workout.

Still bringing it!

P90X Day 15 - Chest, Back, Ab Rip

Friday, Jan 18th - 6:30-7:45am

I got up this morning feeling good and energized - not like the last two days - and I was ready for day 1 of week #3. Can't believe that it's already been 2 weeks and although the past few days were "jacked", I feel great.

So, I'm upping my reps now. For example, two weeks ago, my pull-ups reps were at 3. Today, my pull-up reps are at 5. I know it's nothing to brag about, but for me, it's great and I have to start at some point. Nevertheless, it will be a great measuring stick to tell me where I'll be at on day 90.

I attacked the Chest and Back video with my "Bring It!" attitude in mind. All the exercises are still killer, but as I get stronger and better with my form, there will be nothing except for improvement.

After doing Ab Ripper X - by far - abs are my weakess link. It's damn tough doing Ab Ripper after the Chest and Back, but I gotta do for me!

P90X Day 14 - Rest (nope, salsa danced)

Thursday, Jan 17th

Today was the scheduled rest day of my week, but since I rested yesterday, the plan was to do Kenpo X this morning. But damn, it's been cold in this morning this week and I have felt a little beat. I know that no excuse, but sometime you just got to deal with what life throw at you and deal with.

I was also facing a full day of work and I was scheduled to teach a salsa lesson tonight. Well, work was good and busy and got a lot accomplished, however my lesson cancelled last minute. So, I decided to stay at work until about 7pm to get some things done (It's a lot less busy when no ones around at work and I really can gets work done at time - being I'm the one in the office after 6pm).

Anyway, I knew I had to do some cardio and since I haven't ventured out in a bit, I decided to check out the Mission Valley Hilton for some salsa dancing. It's a nice salsa venue promoted by Evelio of Rumba Entertainment. The music is DJ only by Iran Castillo and lesson are given by Michael and Camille of Positive Energy.

I got there about 10pm and said some hellos to some familiar faces and left about 11:30pm. I pretty much danced for the full 1 1/2 hours with a few breaks here and there. I was pretty satisfied that I could use this as today's cardio... so I can feel too guilty. Salsa dancing is a great way to get your body moving and socialize at the same time.

I do get a great workout from it as I am always drenched in sweat and the end of the night. I did my best for what my body and my day allowed. So, "do your best and forget the rest" and move on.

I do feel a little guilty that I missed Kenpo X, but I'm glad I got to go dancing and work-up a good sweat!

P90X Day 13 - Kenpo (NOT - rest instead)

Wednesday, Jan 16th

I had planned to get up early this today, but last night's client dinner (http://www.pacificadelmar.com/) went a little longer than expected and I was beat. I have never been to Pacifia Del Mar, but it's known for it's seafood, so I had the scallops. And they were delicious! I needed to eat something relatively healthly and light, plus I do like scallops! I had a glass of the house Chard (from Napa) and tasted some of the shared deserts at the end of the evening.

Needless to say, I am not on the P90X quite yet. I have been studying the P90X diet plan, but have not implemented it yet. I am eating healthier; however, and am watching what I eat.

So, feeling a bit beat, I decided to tomorrow's rest day for today and relax.

As they say, you got to listen to your body and that's what I'm doing for today...

P90X Day 12 - Legs & Back

This is a late entry as this week started busy (and it's only Tuesday).

Anyway, I did Legs & Back in the morning before work. I missed Ab Ripper X because it was hard to get up as the house was cold and I got up a little later than I wanted. I also have a client dinner tonight, so I had to get into work as early as I could.

Of course, I got my butt kicked again, but I am slowly increasing my reps in each set. I know I am getting stronger because my reps have increased and my form is better.

Sometime life dictates our days and nights, but if I can get my P90x done first thing, then I'm golden for the rest of the day...

P90X Day 11 - Yoga X

Last night, we ended up at Greystone's Steakhouse in the Gaslamp. It was fairly crowded for a Sunday. The waiter told us that this is the "conventioneers" season, so I assume that what were most people. The food was great, but the service could have been better. We've eaten at some of the fine steakhouses (Ruth Chris, Flemmings, Donovans) around town and the service didn't quite match up. We had the Porterhouse for two (a huge 48oz cut) with mashed potatoes. To start off, we had shared a lobster bisque and a ceasar salad. Needless to say, I need protein, so this was what I was exactly looking for.


Anyway, time to put some of that fuel to use as today I did Yoga X. I am finding that I'm enjoying Yoga, but I still need major improvement. In what other exercise can you be relaxed and still get a great workout, say except pilates.

So, I ended up doing my Yogo workout around 10pm. Once again, it's an hour and a half. It's going to take me a long time to get as limber and as in control as I need to be. However, I finished Yoga X as best as I could, and of course, drenched in sweat! What a tough workout.

It was kind of different and enjoyable to do this workout before bedtime as I felt more relaxed than usual when I hit the bed. Anyway, time for some great sleep to get ready to hit it hard in the morning again.





...

P90X Day 10 - Shoulders & Arms

Today is Sunday, shoulders and arms. I love this workout because I feel that my shoulders and arms are one of my weakers body parts. So, I looked forward to getting right to it.

But today, my San Diego Chargers are playing the Indiannapolis Colts. Colts are favored by 9, however, it would not be the Colt's day today, as the Chargers won and now advance to the AFC Conference game against the Patriots next Sunday.

Anyway, I watched the game from 10am to 1pm and did my workout from 2pm to 3pm.

I do all my resistance exercises using the power bands. I bought a set from Target which has three resistance colors: blue (heavy), red (medium) and yellow (light). Right now, I'm using the blue band only and I think it's a great level for where I'm at now.

I must say, however, that it does take some getting used in working with the bands and keeping up with Tony and crew when they transition from exercise to exercise. Well, it just another thing that I need to master. No problem, here! But, if I do feel you can best perform shoulder and arms by using a mix of bands and dumbells for ease of transition and for some of the bent-over positioned exercises.

Nonetheless, I still got a great workout and pump from the workout.

Not so bad for only the second week. I do see improvement in my body and in my body weight.

Tonight is also Karen's birthday, so we're going to eat a nice dinner, probably at LG's Steakhouse.. And Jose is having his condo/house warming party. I hope we can make it, but it's already late into the evening.

P90X Day 9 - Pyometrics

My second go at plyometrics and I must say with great improvement from the last week. I'm still learning the movements and trying to commit them to muscle memory, so I'm performing most exercises at a medium intensity right. Plus, space is limited, so I'm trying to figure out the best way to make use of it. I think a 10x10 space would be optimal for all the plyometric moves... so, I'm considering purchasing a portable DVD player and do plyometrics at my gym's aerobic room when it's free. Until then, it's my garage.

This is by far the mother of all workouts, as Tony loves to call it. Just from doing the warmups, I know I'm in for the burn. As with the popular sayings that Tony uses: "Bring It!" or "Do your best and forget the rest", I take these to heart.

To be honest, I'm not jumping right out of bed to hit the workout. It's especially difficult to do that and even more difficult to do this on weekend mornings. But, I pressed on and set up shop in the garage. In some ways, you have to play mind games with yourself much like when you run long distance to give you the extra motivation you need.

One of the toughest movements for me is the "rock-star" jumps. To perform this, you stand as if your holding a guitar and jump up in the air, lifting knees and feet, and with your upper body, strum like you would be playing the guitar. This is extremely difficult to do with proper form and to land softly. Try for 20 or so time and you'll know what I mean.

I finished the workout with a feeling of accomplishment and now I'm ready to enjoy the rest of my Saturday.

P90X Day 8 - Chest & Back, Ab Rip X

Workout time: 6:30am - 7:45am

It was really cold this morning, so it made getting up tough. I usually target 6:15 as a start time, even 6:00 as optimal, but 6:30 wasn't too bad. I finished in time to hop in the shower and hit the road to make it into work by 9:00am. It's Friday, so traffic was relatively light. Maybe most people are taking a long weekend or went in really early.

Anyway, today's workout was to repeat the sequence of Week 1. So, Chest and Back followed by Ab Ripper X.

First, chest and back. I decided to increase my push-up reps by 2 and my pull-up reps by 1. Although this may not seem to be a lot by you "fit" guys out there, for me this was perfect. Recall that I've only been on the program for 1 week now, so I'm still getting my body used to the workout and I really need to pace myself. Believe me, I'd love to crank out 40 push-up and 20 pull-up per set, but I'm just not there yet.

I really like the Chest and Back workout. All of the exercise use your own body weight, so it really depends on you. You work as hard as you want. Of course, this isn't called P90X for nothing. You really need to push yourself (almost to failure) to get the results you want.

By far the hardest exercises for me to do are: the triangle push-ups and the dive-bomber push-ups. For the triangle push-ups, place hands on the floor, touch both thumbs and index fingers together, making a triangle. Now, perform push-ups in this position. This is very difficult for me right now, however I was still able to do my goal reps. For the dive-bomber push-ups, use wide hand and wide feet stance - somewhat of a downward dog position in yoga. Now perform a push-up as if you are try to get under a fence: first lower the head, chest, and waist, then reverse the order on the way back. Oh.. my body was screaming...

Alas, Ab Ribber X - Tony and his crew does a total of 339 reps throughout the 15 minute workout. I could probably do only 100 at this point. There is a little break between exercises, so your abs are on fire. Needless to say, I complete Ab Ripper X, but need much improve here...

P90X Day 7 - Rest Day

Today, is a scheduled rest day from the P90x fitness program. You are allowed one rest day. I guess after 6 straight days of getting your butt kicked big time, you deserve it. And, rightfully so!

However, since I'm still in training mode to run the Carlsbad Half-Marathon, I still need to get my run workouts in.

So, at lunch, I ran my usual 6 mile out and back. The funny thing (or great thing) is that just from one week on the P90X, my run felt great! My body responded well and my training run time was down a good 20 seconds per mile. Now, I'm no speed demon by any stretch of the imagination, but for me - that was damn good.

Tomorrow, I will start the 2nd week of phase 1 and to tell you truth, I know it will kick my butt, but I can't wait for tomorrow to come!

Bring it!

P90X Day 6 - Kenpo X

Workout time: 6:30am - 7:30am


Literally, it's time to kick a--! What another great workout. This time, no resistance, just plain ass-kicking cardio.


As with all workouts, this is structure with warmup, exercises, and cool down. Now, I don't know s--t about kenpo, but it's a martial art. Tony takes you through arms and legs by punching and kicking. It's a lot tougher than I make it sound, but if you've done some type of cardio kicking-boxing, it's probably similar.

Well, at least I know I got a good cardio workout today and some moves to kick some major butt (well.. not really), but I'd like to think so.

P90X Day 5 - Legs & Back, Ab Rip X

Workout time: 6:15am - 7:30am

After getting my butt kicked yesterday, I realize that I have a long way to go. Nevertheless, I will "Bring It" for the entire 90 days to put the program and my body to the test. I hope(know) that this will bring huge improvement to my dancing skills as well.

This morning was Legs & Back followed by the dreaded Ab Ripper X.

Legs and Back is another great workout imploring various lunges, squats, calf raises and other legs movements as well as a great variety of pull-ups for back development. It's amazing how much of a killer workout you can achieve with body-weight only movements alone.

There's one exercise, in particular, that stands out to me - The Wall Squat. To perform this exercise, find a wall , now squat down with your back against the wall until your thighs are at a 90 degree angle to your lower legs (just like you're sitting down). Hold this for 30 sec or so then start alternating lifting your feet and holding... This will sure burn your legs quick as my thighs we screaming for relief.

Ouch.. but I love it!

P90X Day 4 - Yoga X

Workout time: 6:15 am - 7:45am ( 1 1/2 hours)

Wow... Yoga X - Another kick ass workout! I've never really tried yoga before, so I was really excited to give one a go. And boy, did I find out how hard yoga is (or from another angle, how badly out of shape I really am compared to those dudes in video). I'll get there some day...

This workout starts out with some basic yoga poses with deep breathing for warming up the body. Now, I'm a totally new to yoga, but from what I can tell the first part involves movements (going from one yoga position to another) and the second part of the workout involves holding the yoga positions.

I can say that I pushed my body further and sweat more than I thought I could. I was able to complete the workout and feeling great. Of course, I have a long way to go before I get there. And, hell ya, I'm looking forward to it.

As you hear quite a bit in the video... "Bring It!", and that's what I'll do!

P90X Day 3 - Shoulders and Arms

You gotta love it! Another grueling hour workout concentrating on deltoids, biceps, and triceps using a variety of resistance movements. Once again, I performed the exercises with moderate resistance all the while concentrating on form, proper form.

All throughout today's workout, my shoulders and arms were on fire. Just doing the arms circles in the warmup, I knew I was in for the burn today. And ouch, what a burn.

I'm starting to get into the P90x workout. It's been kicking my ass so far, but to tell you the truth, in as little as a few days on the program, I definitely feel that I do have more energy - believe or not.

Three days down and 87 to go... wish me well and hope to catch you on the dance floor soon.

P90X Day 2 - Plyometrics

A day late, but better than nothing...

Plyometrics: "The mother of all workouts!" and this is no lie. Think speed, think agility, think coordination, think power - combine all of these and you get plyometrics.

This is a great 1hour long workout. It's tough - but the great thing about this exercise program, you can adjust your intensity level to "ease" yourself in. But, make no mistake, even at a low impact, plyometrics still kick major a--.

Since this is new to me, I did the entire workout in "low impact" mode in order for me to properly learn the workout and movements to be done correctly. Man, this was still very challenging to say the least, but I pushed on.

P90X (Round 1) Day 1 - Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X

I always thought of myself being in "decent" shape. For one, I dance (a lot), run 3 times a week, and perform ab and pilates exerices at home. Now, although I haven't hit the weights in a gym setting (consistently) for sometime now, I thought I was still okay. I've run many races from 5K's to a half-marathon.

Well, I started Day 1 of the P90x fitness system this morning at 6am. (If you haven't heard of the P90x System, it's a 90 days at home extreme fitness and nutrition program. It's goal is to help you get into the best shape of "your" life.) Today's workout is Chest and Back and about an hour in length followed by an "Ab Ripper" routine which is 15 minutes long. I must warn that this is truly not a program intended for the faint-hearted. Although most excercise are body-weight based, i.e., push-ups and pull-ups, don't be fooled, this is intense.

I am "pacing" myself as the programs recommends. It's better to complete the program using good form and remain injury free.

I decided to BLOG my journey as a motivation to me to become more fit and hopefully inspire some of you a long the way - whether to improve in your own personal fitness (or dance) goals. I have begun tracking my measurements in paper and taken pre-P90x photos. I will post these periodically so you all can see my progress.

Wish me luck and send good vibs my way to keep the motivation up.

Happy New Year to all and see you all on the dance floor!