After being out of the loop for about a month it feels good to hit my stride again. I'm doing P90X mostly with a little Insanity to mix things up. Coming off a long break, I was worried if it would be like starting over - for me, the mental game is as big as any other.
With a few weeks into the new year, I am as pumped about doing P90X as I was the first time I did it. In fact, I am seeing progress in both reps with pushups/pullups and weights that I have not seen in a while and my workouts feel like I am making progress.
I picked up a little body fat over the break but have worked it back down to around 12% and at the same time have gained a few solid pounds (I guess that would be muscle!). My goal for a long time has been to break the 10% body fat barrier but so far that has been elusive. I'm pretty sure the difference will mostly be nutrition??
Well, here's to a new day, a new month a new year!
Almost always I am able to schedule my daily routine around my workout schedule. But, every now and then things get crazy enough that my workouts get bumped. If you are like me, when that happens I cop an attitude because it is usually stuff that I would rather not be doing that gets in the way of my doing what I really enjoy.
This past week I missed most of the week because I am in the middle of packing the house for a move and I have not felt very good (haven't gotten the flu but have just been dragging and head aches, tired, etc)
The challenge for me when this happens is to stay focused on eating right and not getting frustrated to the point where I get out of my groove. It's happened to me in the past and if it goes to far, too long, it is like starting over and I hate when that happens.
Got my fingers crossed that I can squeeze in my workout this afternoon and get back on track with the last month of a 90-Day P90X/Insanity Combo
Well, i finished the new Insanity program last week and I LOVED every minute of it - actually I hated it but there is something about a real fitness routine that pushes me beyond my limits that keeps me coming back for more! No gimmicks, no goofy moves, just plain old hard work.
I have to say that this program made me fit in ways that are different than the other programs. I shed some fat, increased my strength and my plyometric-type moves & cardio have improved like crazy.
I'm done, though - so what do I do now?? I decided to take it up another level by combining routines from P90X with routines from Insanity. Basically I replaced all P90X cardio days with MAX Insanity routines, followed the same 90 day pattern in P90X (3 weeks followed by recovery week, etc) and have a routine for the next 90 days that I am excited about!
I am finishing up the first week and am pleased with how Insanity has improved many of my P90X moves - Hello Wall Squats!! And, my body is telling me that I have done something that has caused me to dig a little deeper.
If you are interested, here is the 90 Day P90X/Insanity Routine I am following. You are welcome to join me at your own risk!!
I was reading a good discussion in the forums the other day about someone working hard in one of the programs and over time having gained weight. The discussion that followed was a great explaination of the difference between fat & muscle.
Essentially, with a good fitness and nutrition program you can expect to both trim down and gain weight! The explaination is simple. Muscle is more dense than fat; therefore, 5lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5lbs of fat. And the added benefit of replacing fat with muscle is that muscle burns more calories than fat. So, more muscle means your metabolism rate is kicking along at a higher rate and burning more calories.
I started Power 90 at 210lbs in August of 2005, moved right into P90X and in a little more than 6 months I had hit my high school weight of 155lbs. For some reason hitting that weight meant something to me at the time - it had something to do with turning 40 and hitting it and being in better shape than when I was in high school!
I have casually set a goal since then to add weight and keep my body fat % low. This has been a pretty good challenge. It is easy to increase your caloric intake but it is more difficult to do that and maintain the low body fat.
I am currently at 190lbs and approx 11-12% body fat. Insanity is helping me rip off some of the excess fat.
My new goal is to reach 210lbs with about 10% body fat (or less but I think I can more easily maintain that with a fairly normal daily routine...but who knows until I get there!)
Here is the reason why....I have my picture before I started this whole process when I weighed 210lbs (the one in the orange shirt or as it has been affectionately referred to as "The Great Pumpkin"). I would really love to have a picture of me having come full circle and weigh in at 210lbs - but this time it would be lean muscle and a lot less fat.
Recovery Week following the first month of Insanity is over and Fitness Test #3 is in the bag! I still made improvements in each exercise over the last test and compared to my first test, the results are simply amazing!
