Late 2006: Scar tissue from surgery causes inflamation and severe pain down left leg, numbness in left foot.
2007: Four epidural nerve block injections from Jan - Dec. Full function returns.
Dec 6, 2008: Begin first round of P90X
----------
March 1, 2009: Complete P90X
April 2009: Begin 2nd round of P90X. Shoulder pain begins to develop.
April-Sept 2009: Jumping through hoops with doctors and insurance is about the only exercise I get.
Sep 29, 2009: Shoulder surgery - acromio-clavicular osteolysis.
----------
Jan 2010: Begin another round of P90X. Modify routines to be more shoulder friendly. See blog entry dated 1/29/2010.
March 2010: Complete P90X
March 2010 - August 2010: Maintenance workouts
Sept 2010 - March 2011: P90X
----------
July 2011: Begin Insanity
July 2011, 3rd week: Extreme back fatigue from workouts and home repairs
July 29, 2011: Pain develops in left leg. Not quite as severe, but very similar to 2006.
Aug 1, 2011: First visit to doc. Prescribed Diazepam, Hydrocodone and Ibuprofen
Aug 8, 2011: X-Ray
Aug 19, 2011: MRI - Diagnosis similar to 2006 MRI. Almost unbearable pain while in the chamber, lying flat on back.
Sept 9, 2011: Pain management center consultation. Left leg strength substantially diminished. Almost unable to rise on left toes or left heel. Cannot curl toes back. Outer 2 - 3 toes virtually numb.
Sept 13, 2011: Epidural nerve block injection.
Sept 17, 2011: Picked up an inversion table. Using approx. 10 minutes, twice daily. Feeling returning to toes. Leg pain diminishing daily.
Sept. 19 - 23, 2011: First "full" week back to work @ 32 hrs. Very moderate exercises for left leg inc. toe raisers, toe curls and hamstring exercises on stability ball.
Sept 23, 2011 - Sept 29, 2011: Week 1 P90X at low intensity, 50 - 90% duration. Concentration on form and left/right balance.
One year later, I'm now entering into my last thirty days in this second time around with P90X. Having completed the program last year, it's interesting to see the differences between this year and last. This time has been easier in some ways, harder in others.
Having done this before, it's easier to stay focused on the workouts because I know what to expect. It was very easy to settle into the routine, and my days are again, to some extent, planned around my workouts and making sure I get them done.
This time seems to be completely different in one respect though - my rate of fat loss. Last year, I dropped quite a bit of weight right away and in the first sixty days I had dropped from something like 23% body fat to about 11%. But I also discovered after the first month that I hadn't been taking in nearly enough calories according to the nutrition guide. So in the end, I ended up about fifteen pounds down from where I started and was just below 10% body fat.
Now, sixty days into this round, I've only dropped about six pounds, and have been stuck around 15% body fat for the past couple of weeks. I know that part of the reason for this is that I've been more closely following my caloric needs, so I'm probably putting on more muscle mass than I did last year. I also know that changes really start happening during the third month, so I'm hoping that there's a bit of a mini plateu that my body needs to get over as the workouts change in Phase III.
I can't help thinking, though, that part of this is simpy age and that my body is no longer able to respond like it used to. Or perhaps my body, having gone through this before, is resisting and trying to hold on to the last reserves of fat as long as it possibly can. Whatever the reason, I'm trying not to get too hung up on the numbers while I finish the last phase of this round.
I'm kinda nervous about this coming month, if only because it was during the last month that I blew my shoulder out last year. The road to recovery has been long and slow, but the shoulder seems to improve with every day and with every workout. I still have pain, but the doc says that's to be expected and he encourages me to keep doing what I'm doing. As I pointed out in previous posts, I've modified many of the exercises to adapt to my shoulder and back problems, and I'm much more careful about maintaining good form.
If I can make it through this month without injury, I'll be a happy man indeed.
Based on my personal experience and history of injury, the following modifications may be of interest to anyone going through the P90X program:
For those prone to shoulder injuries
NOTE: It is extremely important, particularly with the shoulder exercises, not to sacrifice proper form by using too much weight. Use only enough weight to allow you do perform the entire set with good form!
Chest & Back - Replace wide pushups with standard width pushups - Rotate hands slightly outward on all pushups to prevent internal rotation of the shoulder. This includes the Diamond/Heart-to-Heart pushups.
Shoulders & Arms - Replace Chair Dips with standard pushups - Replace Upright Rows with Dumbell Lying Shoulder External Rotation:
- Modify In & Out Straight-Arm Shoulder Fly: On first fly movement (to the front), keep palms facing up with elbows slightly bent. Do not go above shoulder level on either front or side movement.
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
- Pour Fly: Omit pouring motion, which puts shoulder in internal rotation. Consider replacing with Dumbell Lying Shoulder External Rotation (see above). - Replace Floor Fly with standard pushups - Replace Fly-Row-Press with Seated Two-Angle Shoulder Fly (see Shoulders & Arms routine)
For those with back problems
Ab Ripper X - Replace Crossed Leg/Wide Leg Sit-up with Hanging Knee-ups:
I received my doctor's blessing to resume working out early this month, and I've been at it with a vengeance for the past three weeks.
It's interesting going through P90X again after making it through the program this time last year. Thanks to a ridiculously poor diet during the last half of the year and a lack of motivation to do anything physical due to my shoulder injury, I started this round at nearly exactly the same stats that I began with before starting P90X a year ago.
This time, however, I've gone in with a much better understanding of the importance of the nutrition behind the program - specifically, the importance of taking in enough calories each day.
The first time through, I grossly underestimated my caloric intake and although I dropped weight rapidly, I hit a wall at around the end of the first month and couldn't figure out why until I sat down and recorded what I was eating. Turned out I was taking in only about 1,500-1,800 calories per day when I needed more in the range of 2,400 calories per day.
This time, I've been diligent about making sure I'm eating enough and the difference that I'm seeing is that I'm holding my weight but rapidly dropping body fat (measured with skinfold calipers). Three weeks in and I'm already a third of the way to my goal of getting to where I was when I finished P90X last year. This suggests to me that I'm putting on muscle mass much more quickly than the first time around, which in turn should enhance my (metabolic) progress during this round.
I've also got a better understanding of shoulder mechanics now, so I've been modifying exercises accordingly. The upright row is absolutely out the window, and I've replaced that particular exercise with an external rotator cuff exercise. Wide pushups are also out, replaced with standard pushups, and all pushups are done with the hands turned just slightly out to prevent internal rotation on the shoulder.
Interestingly, I seem to have retained quite a bit of muscle memory from last year, as the adaptive phase seems much shorter. Of course, I struggled the first week due to inactivity and all the while asked myself how I managed to let things get so bad, but by the second week I was completing the workouts with no lingering pain. This third week feels like old times again. The first time I did this, I was halfway through the program before I could complete some of the routines.
I don't know if I experienced this last year or not because I didn't keep a record of it, but this time around - despite the fact that it seems like I'm eating non-stop - I'm hungry all the time and I'm dreaming of food nearly every night. New York style pizza and Cold Stone sound really good right now.
On the subject of diet, I found that I'm able to spend a lot less on groceries if I just take some time to shop around. A major concern for me this time around was the possibility of a huge increase in my grocery bill like I had last year. Buying egg whites and protein powder at Costco and chicken breasts in bulk has helped keep the bulk of my food cost down significantly.
Looking ahead to the next month, I'm somewhat nervous about the fact that Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps takes center stage. I'm going to have to modify a lot of the exercises that I've learned put too much strain on the shoulders. Also, I've got to avoid something that I did last time - particularly with the shoulders, which was adding too much weight too soon at the expense of proper form.
Like I said, part of me asks how I let myself get into such bad shape after getting the body I always wanted. Some of it was out of my control, of course, but I let my diet get out of hand to the extreme and now I've got to put in some hard work to get things back to where they should be. But I'm really enjoying getting back into this. Mentally, it's so much easier because I've done it before. I know what to expect and it's just a matter of sticking with what I know is right - one workout, one meal, and one day at time.
It's been three months since my surgery for acromio-clavicular osteolysis (weightlifter's shoulder). The past three months have been tough, primarily from a mental perspective. I've been afraid to do much of anything, and my eating habits have reflected my deteriorating mental attitude. Up until this week, the doctor has restricted my activity, and the restriction has affected my desire, as well as my ability to work out. Additionally, pain down my arm during certain movements has made me afraid to work out, as well.
On Thursday, I had a follow-up appointment and told the doctor my concerns. After putting my arm through a few range-of-motion tests, he said he's concerned that the joint capsule has tightened up and appears to be hardening. He an I both speculate that my protective action and attitude have contributed significantly to this problem.
He has prescirbed therapy and encouraged me to beging working out again with no restrictions (six weeks earlier, he had restricted me from doing pushups, bar dips, military press, and upright rows). He said the x-ray looks great, and soft tissue has filled in the end of the clavical which had been surgically removed. From what it sounds like, it will be virtually impossible for me to re-injure this shoulder in the same way due to the fact that the end of the bone is no longer there. The other shoulder is another story, but I know the signs - as well as which exercises to modify - now in order to prevent the same happening to it.
Physically, I'm essentially back to where I started just over a year ago, but having completed P90X once, I know that I can do it again. This latest news from my doctor has me excited for the first time in months, and I started the program again this weekend. As I said in my previous post, I have to be religious about the yoga and stretching routines, as these will help - particularly at my age - prevent this from happening again. And I certainly don't want to go through another year like this last one.
javax.portlet.title.56S 
© 2011 Beachbody, LLC. All rights reserved.