Plyometrics. Holy crap!
agreed Bearflag70. Plyometrics kicked my ass the first several times.
Lezlers, I agree that it gets a bit boring. I usually throw one workout a week in that is not P90X. For a completely different twist, I do Tabata drills with various weights. But really, there are several workouts to chose from with the P90X. There is more variety in there than there was with my old workout routine, and I’m getting better results, so it’s the results that keep me out of boredom, not the routine.
Does Ab Ripper start to become pointless? It’s the only part of P90x that I’m still doing, since I’m getting a workout elsewhere, and I can do it every day and not be sore at all. I sweat while I’m doing it, but I can easily do all of the steps and have no problem keeping up. The first few weeks would leave my stomach muscles sore.
Well, the whole point of working out is to get stronger, right? And you get stronger from your muscles repairing themselves after you’ve caused them damage. If that’s the case logic would dictate that if you’re no longer getting sore, your muscles are no longer repairing themselves. Ergo, you’re probably not getting any stronger from doing the Ab Ripper.
Have you tried doing the modified versions of the exercises to make them harder? Or doing more of them?
I am SO not feelin’ it today. I am sitting at my desk, exhausted, almost crying at the idea of trudging through cardio x tonight. And that’s one of the easy workouts!! I’m in trouble. 
Do you have someone who can do part of it with you? My sister tried to do some of the Kenpo but it was too much for her. I told her to come back and do one exercise with me every 10 mins. Her pain inspires me 
Maybe you can get someone to help you out and do it with you? They don’t have to do the whole thing, just one exercise every few minutes so that it will give you something to shoot for (beating them!) when they’re up
So for a while last week I thought I had completely blown up the diet and exercise. When I weighed myself last week, I found out that my weight had increased from the previous couple of weeks where I had lost 7-8lbs. I had gained a lot of it back somehow and was only down about 3-4lbs. I did have one too many big meals that week and thought that somehow a few big lunches and dinners ruined everything.
That is until this week
When I weighed myself again a few days ago, I was down about 9.5lbs, the most I’ve lost in a long time! Then I thought to myself that if I was 5 lbs heavier the previous week, then it would be impossible for me to have simply lost all that weight this fast
I think what happened is that all that stuff I ate last week stayed with me in my stomach or colon or whatever, and because I was eating so much I thought that my heavier weight was part of my body instead of something a pile of shit backed up somewhere in the intestines. But just like how you can’t lose 5 lbs in a few days, you can’t gain that much by eating a lot either, not “real” weight. The exercise must be working. My real weight must be low and last week was just an abberation. It makes me happy to know that even though one week shows that I gained 5 lbs, it’s not my true weight. It’s just weight from undigested food.
Just wanted to post that to encourage people who may have had a bad week or didn’t watch what they ate for a few days.
I’m also in the middle of Month 2 so it’s getting harder to motivate myself. This week, for the Legs and Back, I tried doing all of it with the weights (instead of just some). I figured that since I’ve been doing this a long time, I should have enough strength now to push myself to use weights through the whole exercise. And I did! Now I’m all sore in the legs and ass, but it’s a good feeling knowing that I can manage at this level now. That’ll be my motivation to get through the next few weeks. I think once Month 2 is over and I start Month 3, I’ll be near the finish line so that I won’t be taking breaks, I’ll be really pushing myself to finish this thing
I’ve started P90X a few times, but this time I feel a little more motivated because I’m going to be the best man in my brother’s wedding around the end of October, so I’m really hoping I can get through the full three months. I’ll be starting Week 3 on Monday after repeating Week 2 last week… the standard I set for myself is that if I miss two workouts in any given week for whatever reason, I do the week over.
I keep a copy of all the workouts on my iPod, and I’m really lucky in that I’ve got free access to the fitness center on base. The free-weight room there is pretty nice: two pairs of every 5-pound increment from 5 to 50 pounds, so I’m rarely waiting for a pair of the weight I want, and one pair of everything from 55 all the way up to the end of the rack at 110 pounds or so. There are plenty of benches in the room, so I usually don’t have to wait around to do the exercises that use a bench. On Plyo and Yoga days, I’m in the fitness center early enough that I can have a racquetball court all to myself. The best part about the weight room, though, is the assisted pull-up machine. I can put weight on there and be able to do more than 2 or 3 of the more difficult pullups but still pull a fair amount of my body weight with each rep. In the three weeks of back workouts (2 per week) I’ve done so far the weight I put under my knees has already gone down from 105 to 85 and the number of pull-ups I’m able to do has actually gone up slightly. I weigh 205 now so I’m still pulling 60% or so of my body weight. I really hope to keep taking weight off of there!
As for diet, I started Weight Watchers about four months ago at my wife’s suggestion and I’ve been pretty much every week since. On my first day, I weighed 45 pounds more than I did at the end of basic training eight years ago! It was a wake-up call for sure. I don’t always track my points all that accurately, and even when I do I NEVER figure activity points into my daily points total. If you know anything about WW you know that this might not be the right way to go about it, but it seems to be working out for me so far. I’ve lost 25 pounds out of 50 (for now), and my weekly weight loss is typically within the 1 to 2 pounds that WW wants you to aim for.
I’m really pushing myself this week as I’m in the middle of Month 2, Week 3, so I know that a rest week is coming up. I have 20lb weights that I use for the toughest workouts and usually for last night’s Back & Biceps, I use those weights in maybe half of them. So last night I decided to really go for it and try it with almost all of the curling exercises. I think I got most of them, certainly more than usual. I’m really starting to feel a big difference! It’s so cool to feel your muscles working while you’re in the middle of the workout, though my arms feel like jelly this morning.
I’d planned on starting in September, would most of you still recommend trying Power90 or did it end up being a waste of $120?
Don’t know what the Power90 consists of though I think 2 of the workouts are included as a bonus in the P90X. If you can push yourself, I’d just go for the harder workout. However, I wouldn’t call the Power90 a waste, it was still challenging, but about 15 mins shorter
Update:
At Month 2, Week 4 now. What I haven’t lost in weight, I’ve gain in muscle (I hope). My weight’s been pretty steady these past few weeks but I’ve really noticed a difference in the size of my body. I have these shorts that are about the same waist size as my pants, but in the past week I’ve had to wear a belt with them! I’m shrinking!
Oh, and I can finally sort of do a one-arms pushup! The stupid workout has you doing it after 35 mins of arm workouts, but I found that I can do a few if I’m well rested and not all tired beforehand. I still can’t go down all the way to the ground, but I can go about halfway, which is the most I’ve ever been able to do! Yes!
I should have said P90X - I keep doing that.
:rolleyes:
Hope everyone’s been keeping up! Here’s my progress so far:
Today’s the last day of Month 2 for me. There has been some good and some bad over the past month. The bad news is, I haven’t lost much weight at all this month. Unlike Month 1 where I lost like 5lbs the last couple weeks, this month my weight’s stayed the same. That’s the bad news
However, the good news is that despite the weight staying the same, my muscle definition has really increased, moreso than in Month 1. Abs have started to push through the fat in my belly, and while there’s still plenty of fat, I can see muscle down there too. My arms have much more definition as well. There’s this stretching exercise where you sort of clasp both your hands palm-to-palm in front of you, right hand on the left side and left hand on the right side, and your shoulders and back are rolled forward. When I used to do that, my arms looked like a log, just straight and without any definition. But now I can see lines of muscles buldging up from underneath. Plus, I can flex my forearms and see them get a little veiny at the bottom, which is also something I’m going for
Workout-wise, I’ve been able to push myself harder towards the end of Month 2. I’m using my weights a lot more now and can do most exercises with them rather than just doing them empty-handed. Its still difficult to get through the exercise, but that’s probably because I’m pushing myself harder now. I’m also a lot more flexible. I can do most of the Yoga stuff including the right angle back grab and Warrior 3, along with the Half Moon and almost a full Twisting Half Moon. Still hate those though 
One more month! I’ll definitely be pushing myself as much as I can! Cut out the fats and the heavy sodium stuff! With only 1 month to go and the finish line within sight, I’m hoping this will be my healthiest month yet! Everything starts tomorrow!
Starting in Sept - my friend and I are going to to it over lunch at work…
So I’m gonna change up the stuff that I eat for this last month
I hate oatmeal, I’ve always hated oatmeal, but I got a box of the instant oatmeal that you can add water to and microwave. I’m going to be eating those for breakfast in the mornings for the next few weeks and snacking on cereal (probably Corn Pops and Honey Nut Cherrios when I run out of Corn Pops) when I get hungry during the day. I’ll try not to have a lunch and dinner that’s too fattening
I just want to get rid of maybe 10 more pounds. Off damn you, off!!
I ordered the program. I’ll start on September 1
Good luck amarinth!
As for me, I thought I had 2 weeks left a week ago but then I noticed the recovery week 13, so I guess from this point I have about 2.5 weeks. So far the program’s been dynamite for me. I’ve gotten stronger and lost weight, and even though I didn’t lose as much as I’d like, I am certainly healthier and slimmer. Pants are either no longer tight or slipping off, it’s a wonderful problem to have!
Originally I was going to go crazy and eat crap for a week after I was done, but after speaking to a few friends they’ve convinced me that it would probably destroy the work I’ve put into it for the past few months. I’m not entirely convinced that a week of binge eating will put on permanent pounds, but I’m going to err on the side of caution. Maybe eat crap once a week or once every two weeks, can’t give up burger and pizzas for good!
HEEEEEEEY!! Where is everybody?!?!? :dubious:
Well, I did Chest & Back & AbRipper yesterday and it was kind of sad. Especially the abs. I thought mine were stronger.
I’m so lazy. I quit after 3 weeks. No good reason, just laziness. Story of my life. Maybe I’ll pick it up again, uh huh, sure.
Don’t feel bad, I thought the same thing. “25 reps? Easy, I used to do 60 situps in school for PE class”. I should have continued that conversation with myself and told me “But that was over 10 years ago and you got to do 60 and then stopped. This is 16 mins of ab workout you dolt!”
My trick: Start out with half the reps, 12 for each exercise, and if that’s still too tough, take off the shoes so your feet won’t weight as much. Do 12 and next time, do one more, or do it with shoes on. Even after 3 months I’m still at only 18 reps, but that’s mostly because I’ve been working harder on the exercises before you get to the Ab Ripper
Boo! :mad: