Overtraining

In the past 6 days I've had ~7.5 hours of pretty intense workouts, and one of those days I didn't actually workout.
That being said, I need to be in tune with what my body is feeling like and trying to tell me.

I'm on edge of over-training because when I woke up this morning, my body was telling me to go back to sleep, so I slept for around 10 hours today.  Even after waking up and getting some food and a shower, I just don't feel  up to par, almost like I'm coming down with something.

I'm taking that as a sign to do a rest day, and see how I'm feeling tomorrow, and hop right back on to my routine.  In those 6 days here is what my schedule looked like:

Thursday 1/20:  Chest, Shoulders & Triceps (No time for Ab Ripper, time warner Tech showed up)

Friday 1/21:  Plyometrics - The most intense and rewarding plyo workout I've ever done, my heartrate maxed out at 205 at one point, and I was floored for about 30 seconds and I only completely skipped Mary Katherine Lunges ---- I'm scared of them after blowing my knee out once, and almost doing it again the following week.

Saturday 1/22: Back & Biceps and Ab Ripper X

Sunday 1/23:  Yoga X

Monday 1/24: Cardio X and Legs & Back

Tuesday 1/25:  Kenpo Cardio Plus and Chest Shoulders and Triceps and Ab Ripper X

Apparently I forgot I was going to switch to recovery week, I think I might start that tomorrow.  With how hard I've been pushing myself this past week, my goal is to leave the scale untouched until the end of my recovery week, and then hold off until the beginning of my next recovery week.  I'm keeping track of my nutrition through www.myfitnesspal.com after reading about it from another coach.  I might be down 15 pounds by the end of the next 5 weeks if I can keep my nutrition in line.

Pretty excited about what I'm doing for myself =).

A bit of an update

Had a couple of busy weeks, and my internet was out for a few days.  Fortunately, that reduced my chances of distraction and allowed me to stay on track with my fitness =)
So now before I go and do my plyometrics (and possibly back and biceps later) I have a very informative article for people who want to see more information on why watching the scale to determine fat loss isn't very effective.
http://www.leighpeele.com/water-retention-and-weight-loss-2

It appears that if you're losing fat, those fat cells will empty of fat, and fill up with water because your body is still unsure of whether or not it really needs something in there.  I really like and can relate to the 'whoosh' affect that they talk about in the article.

This is absolutely my last week of Phase II, otherwise I'm likely to plateau because I've spent almost 6 weeks in it.  When I finish P90X I might start looking into some of the Crossfit programs.

Pushing play.

P90X Plus beginnings

I'm terrible at sticking to my old toys when I get new ones, and the case follows through with my workout program.  For Christmas I got "P90X Plus" and have been very excited to give it a try.  Now once again I have extended phase II so I can use the P90X Plus doubles routine in place of the Classic P90X schedule.

The great thing about P90X Plus, is that you don't stop using the classic routines and you just occasionally substitute a "Plus" video instead of the regular classic workout (For example Upper Plus & Abs/Core Plus to replace Chest, shoulders, triceps and ab ripper X), but then later on in the week you might do ab ripper X instead of abs core plus...   without making things too confusing, you just swap up the workouts to keep variety.

I got a jump start on the Plus DVDs yesterday, instead of doing my Kenpo X, I tried out Kenpo Cardio Plus.  The first thing I noticed was that the routine was shorter, but soon after I also realized that I don't stop moving, even on rest breaks.  Afterwards I felt great, and felt like I worked harder than I would on Kenpo X.  Later that night I found out that my abs were sore as well, so without even knowing it a lot of the moves were working my core as well.

Today was the true beginning of the "Plus Doubles".  I started off with Total Body Plus and was worried.  You move between sets very quickly in this and it is definitely a full body workout.  Originally at the start, I felt like maybe it moved too fast, and I wasn't working the muscles hard enough to get gains, but as the DVD went on, I realized that it packed so much into a short period of time, I was exhausting my muscles without realizing it ---About 15 minutes after the workout, I realized that it had worked enough to cause tired shaky legs and tired shaky arms.
After that, I got a little food and rest in, and then fired up Cardio X to complete the doubles requirement for the day.

In Total Body, unlike what I'm used to in the Classic P90X resistance days, you don't do reps to failure(With good form), you do reps until you start feeling tired and get close to that burn and then quickly move onto another body part.  These mini-rest breaks make you feel like you've got a lot more in you and allow you to pump out extra reps.  I didn't realize the exhaustion until after the workout, whereas often times I feel like I'm out of pump near the end of the workouts, and was dreading the next move.

Tomorrow I'll get to see how Cardio Intervals Plus compares to Plyo, as well as Abs/Core workout compared to Ab Ripper X.  I'll definitely be wearing my new HRM for cardio intervals to do my comparison with the plyo.

Experimentation Truly Begins and Accountability

Yesterday I did my Plyometrics, felt like I did fantastic.  I'm now having more issues with my breathing/cardio than I am with my muscles giving out on me in the workouts (though they still end up like jello by the end, not gonna lie).  It appears that Plyo will be increasing my cardio performance a lot, which is good considering I have asthma that, according doctors is "exercise induced", but I haven't used my inhaler for anything except for allergy issues closing up my throat.
Something I've learned over the course of doing Plyometrics:  you feel fine after you get some food and energy in you, you feel fine when you wake up in the morning, but at about the 16 hour mark after you finished your workout your leg muscles tighten up and you whine like a baby every time you approach stairs.  However, I did Ab Ripper X last night after plyo with some excellent improvements, and I don't feel sore today.  This means I'll be ready to bring it come yoga day tomorrow.

Today is my first attempt at my double-resistance day, and I've already learned that there is no way in hell I can do both workouts within the same 6 hours.  Therefore I'm going to be working on my time management to allow for time to do a workout in the morning, and then the other after I get out of work, or later in the evening.

Shoulders and Arms was todays first workout and it is by far my favorite, I always feel a good burn and find improvements almost every time I do it, something about curling 30lbs when you're biceps are dead from earlier just feels good.  Tonight when I get out of work, I'm hoping I have the motivation and energy to do Chest and Back as well.
I'm absolutely loving the fact I can now see my arms toning up nicely, and I can feel the firmness I've attained from doing the program when running my hand across my arm.

As for food intake and my current change in workout routine, on resistance days I need a lot of carbs and a lot of protein to keep hunger at bay and energy high, so I've opted into some basic beans and hotdogs.  I understand that the sodium content is very high, but water retention is temporary and will basically only be a problem for a day or so following the resistance workouts, and will be cured with plenty of hydration.

P90Xperimenting, Bring It!

During this past weekend (was actually my family and I's thanksgiving because of work scheduling issues) I did a little bit of thinking about how the P90X program is setup, both the classic and doubles version.  I recognized the program only works one muscle group on the body more than once a week (except for abs), in all three phases.
 E.G.

• Phase 1 (All of list is going to be Classic)

Monday - Chest and Back + Ab Ripper X
Tuesday - Plyometrics
Wednesday - Shoulders and Arms + Ab Ripper X
Thursday - Yoga X
Friday - Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X
Saturday - Kenpo X
Sunday - Rest or Stretch X

Phase 2 is fairly similar where Mondays and Wednesdays get swapped out for a video that covers similar muscle groups as the previous DVDs, and Phase II has a back section on MWF.  That being said I decided it would be absolutely fine if I changed the phase 1 non-recovery weeks (listed above) to have Mondays and Wednesdays combined together, for a 2 hour total upper-body workout, on BOTH Monday and Wednesday.

When increasing your workload this much there are a few things you have to watch out for.

1. Protein intake - With all the resistance training and muscle breakdown, you absolutely need to be taking in a lot of protein throughout the day, but NOT all at once, as your body can only utilize so much of it at a time through the digestion process.  Try to have 4-6 high protein meals a day to help repair the muscle tissue.
2. Calorie intake - You're working out for 2 hours a day, and muscle building burns a lot of calories, you'll need to up your calorie intake in order to sustain energy throughout the day.
3. Rest - The absolutely most important part of any fitness program is to get 8 hours of rest a night.  Your body does most of its tissue repair when your body is at rest, and goes into overdrive when you sleep. More sleep = less soreness and quicker gains with less recovery time needed.
4. The final thing you need to watch for is over-training.  Over-training can lead to injury, and often times you'll notice lack of improvement in your program because your body hasn't had time to repair between workouts.  Other side effects of over-training can be your body breaking down and you start to feel sick, get congested and have cold-like symptoms.  If it gets that bad, your body is telling you to take it easy and get more rest.

I'm personally going to need to keep a close eye on over-training because there is a lot of muscle breakdown on my new setup.  I'll also be moving Ab Ripper X forward one day, so I do it on days w/ Plyo, Yoga, and Kenpo.

If anyone is looking for a workout schedule that doesn't  take a lot of time out of the day, or general tips on how to improve their results, or just general time management get in contact with me.
Everyone has time to get fit, but not everyone can get past their excuses on why they wont make the time available.

Plyo time!

P90X Round 2 Week 3 (Phase 1)

To begin this blog, I'll do a quick overview of my current progress with Tony Horton's fitness program P90X and some information about the programs expectations and benefits you can claim from it.

Earlier this year, in July I believe, I started the first round of P90X after deciding I felt I wanted to be fit.  I was introduced to the program through my sister and being the awesome sister she is, gave me a discounted rate on the program.  I decided I was going to stick with it, since her husband had already started, and I'm a fairly competitive person that likes to one-up others in physical/realistic challenges.

I had a rough time keeping on track with the program, but I did my best, added an extra week to each phase, and finally hit the final recovery week of Phase 3 (I think my total days on the first round was around 115 or so).  My final results were a drop from a 38 waist pant to a 34, and my weight dropped from 235 lbs to 195 lbs.  I could see the changes and so could everyone around me.

A basic overview of what this program expects, and does for you:


Things it does for you:

• You can get stronger, faster, healthier, and generally more physically fit.
• Increase your energy throughout the day
• Self confidence boost
• Stress relief

Things it asks from you:

• Follow the planned out schedule as best as possible
• Don't overwork yourself, do as much as you can, and move onto the next move
• Eat healthy, there is a guide to give you an idea of what changes you need to make to do this.
• Drink lots of water, and get plenty of rest (At least 8 hours, it'll help with soreness and energy alike)
• Bring all your energy and focus to the workout, this is NOT a get fit quick scheme, you need to work and power through the moves with good form and give your best.  I can guarantee you will see results if you do.

Tomorrow I'll try to remember to put down some thoughts/ideas on my future workouts for the rest of the program.