Day 74 - My Yoga Belly getting smaller

It's the same-old-same for Yoga today. It's become a workout that I highly look forward to doing. I close myself off from the outside world, put on some nice smooth relaxing music, push play and the Breathe. That's it!!

I'm not going to lie, Yoga really wasn't/isn't that enjoyable at the beginning of my journey. All through Phase I and most of Phase II, I was Mr. Uncoordinated, Mr. Off-Balanced, and Mr. "OH MY GOSH, THIS POSITION SUCKS!". I counted down the minutes till the workout was over. Not anymore! Each and every time I've done Yoga, my "inner-self" has become stronger, "balanced", stretched out, and "quieted".

I don't know how it worked out, but after 3 days of some intense P90X, work, family, problems, bills, "you name it", having Yoga on day 4 is perfect. It couldn't go in any other days' spot.

Yoga has be the aid to "put my mind right."

Over the course of the past three months, the following is what I've learned by incorporating Yoga X and Stretch X to my life: (It's what I "think", it may not be true for everyone, but it's what I belive Yoga and stretching has done for me).

If you watch someone practicing yoga, you will notice that they are not straining or breathing heavily and that their face is placid and calm. Perhaps you may even notice that they seem very focused and they are not distracted by what is going on around them.

Yoga meditation and breathing techniques can relieve many of the physical symptoms of stress (palpitations, shortness of breath, insomnia, nervousness and more). It will help to tone and stretch your muscles and keep your body flexible, and they bring live-giving blood and oxygen to every part of your body.

How Yoga accomplish this? Essentially, the total yoga workout (physical, breath and meditation) works on the central nervous system and through that conduit, it lowers blood pressure and evens breathing to take the strain off your body and mind.

Yoga requires you to enter and remain in an altered state of mind and focus. When you focus your attention on your breathing, you allow problems and other thoughts to pass through your mind and continue on their way, and you remain connected to your body in the here and now. You don't become distracted by other thoughts or stressors. This takes some practice, but it is something that ANYONE can do!

When you relax your breathing and take longer, deeper breaths, you feed your body and help your mind and emotions relax and focus as well. Instead of the short, shallow breath you take when you are under stress or worried, your breathing becomes even and slow and you breath into your abdomen instead of up in your chest.

P90X has become more than one of those fly-by-night workout programs that come and go like a One-Hit-Wonder. Being that I'm in the final two weeks of P90X, I thought I'd try (knowing what I know now) to find a workout/nutritional program that can match (or beat) P90X. I've looked, and without going into a lengthy list of the programs I've read into, I have NOT found anything that comes close to matching what P90X can do for someone.

P90X has become a lifestyle for me that I will never give up. Not P90X itself, but the process of working out in a set pattern, eating healthy, incorporating jump training, stretching, and Yoga.

P90X... "It IS the Best, so forget the rest..."

I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.

Day 67 - Yoga saved me $1320

Another great Yoga Workout done!

Today is going to short entry day because Yoga for me hasn't changed.

However, I would like to comment that I'm very excited about my flexiblity increasing since I started just 2 months ago. But what I'm most happy about is how it has helped me more than in my flexibilty.

If you look at my Back view Week 1 photos, you'll notice that I'm "off-balance". If you look close, you'll notice that my whole right side looks higher than my left. I think it is due to the past years of having to sit infront of a computer screen.

Prior to P90X, I would wake up with stiff necks, lower back pains, and stiff upper back. I've gone to chiropractors who want me to come 3x a week for at least 3 months to help fix my body to go back to "normal'. These hour long sessions are $40. If you do the math, that's $120/week -> $480/month -> $1440/complete.

While I didn't have the $$$ to do this, and insurance wouldn't pay for it since it wasn't work/medical related. I decided to go for about a month. Well, after a month of this chiropractoring and $480 later. I did not feel or see any results. I still was waking up with stiff necks, lower back pains, and stiff upper back. Plus, that's $480 being taken away from being used towards bills and family. I decided to discontinue.

Well, after just one month of P90X, and looking at my Day 1/30 comparison photos there is are huge "SEE-ABLE", "FEEL-ABLE" results.

1. A HUGE difference can be seen in my alignment of my hips/shoulders/spine.
2. I've stopped having upper/lower back problems.
3. I'm not waking up with any type of stiffness.
4. My posture has improved significantly
5. My shoulders and hips are parallel with the floor now.

These results came within the same time frame that a month of going to the chiropractors couldn't do. Plus, w/ P90X at $120, that's only $40/month rather than $40/hour.

P90X not only has improved my body's skeletal support structure it's also saved me $1320!!!!!!!!

I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.

Day 60 - Yoga and Progress Report

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DAY 60 PHOTOS POSTED!!!!!

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Well today is the DAY. Today was JAM PACKED with P90X. I had to do:
1) Yoga X -- Have to stay on schedule
2) Fit Test -- See where I'm at on Day 60
3) TAKE PHOTOS!!

Let's go down the list and see how today went.

First off is Yoga. So far, this workout has gone from being rough and tough and almost impossible to go through without having to take a break from all the sweating your doing, or crying out in pain from the positions you have to put yourself through to a workout that is almost that "ZEN-like" state.

I've gone against the grain and instead of listening to the P90X music, I've been using the music off selection and put in a meditative CD of mine. I turn up the volume to where the sound fills the room (without being obtrusively loud). So I just have to hear the queues on when to change. If anything comes out of this workout it's that I'm calm, collected, and more approachable after Yoga. The little things don't bother me as much after Yoga. The cry son, the barking dog, the bills in the mail, the mess I have to clean up after son spills something. It just doesn't bother me as much. But of course, that "zen" state can only last for so long ;). HAHA.

THE FIT TEST! DAY 60:
I know that they say you do the fit test after Day 90 in the program, but just like the photos and seeing your progress, it's also nice to visually/graphically see your progress in numbers as well. That's why I've decided to do the fit test on day 60 and day 90. I've incorporated a simple graph system for each of the steps in the Fit test in my Interactive P90X Workout Spreadsheet.

While I did surpass all my Day 1 numbers, it was my pull ups that completely shocked me. While on day 1, I was fighting/kipping/struggling to bump barely 3 pullups (it wasn't a pretty site) I am so proud of myself for getting 7 (really 7.5 but it wasn't a full 8, so I round down) pullups. Here are the numbers:

	Day 1:	Day 60
1: Resting Heart Rate	65	60
2. Pull Ups	3	7
3. Vertical Leap	20	25
4. Pushups	30	47
5. Toe Touch	-1	+4
6. Bicep Curl w 20#	19	30
7. In & Outs	55	90
8. Heart Rate Maximizer
Immedite	179	172
1 Min Rest	146	135
2 Min Rest	130	117
3 Min Rest	126	111
4 Min Rest	108	108

PHOTO TAKING TIME!!!
Now it's come down to taking photos. Can it get better than this? Working out solid for 60 straight days. Through all the ups and downs, I have something to show for it. Oh in this case, something I don't have: My dwindling stomach fat. Hopefully with the extra cardio that I'm doing in Phase III, my 90-day pictures will be amazing.

I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.

Day 55 - Recovery Yoga

Ouch! Eww! Oh! Uhhh! Eeeep!!!

Those are just a few of the noises I was making today during yoga. I get going hard and strong in Core this week, as well as "mistakenly" doing Chest/Shoulders/Triceps on Monday kinda put my muscles into "I hate you" mode and decided to stiffen up and become sore on the one day that being sore and stiff DOES NOT HELP!!!

Eventually, after the hour and a half of contorting my body into positions that are equally as painful to be in as they are to get into, I became pretty stretched out and actually pretty good afterwards.

Once again, if you don't have a Yoga Block, I highly recommend buying/borrowing/making one. This really saved me today. I was able to get a nice stretch, and use the different heights of the block to support me so that I didn't have to "hang" there.

My left rotator cuff still gives me problems when I do my left hand high in the air. So modifying for me, I just put my hand on my waist and point my elbow as high as I can.

One of my friends even used a 5lb bag of sugar once because they didn't have a yoga block and needed something ASAP. Another friend used a small, but thick, hardback book. So you see, there are lots of items around the house that one could use to get the job done.

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Wow! Has it been 8 weeks of 13 ALREADY!?!? I feel like I'm an oldie now. I'm about to start the Final and Last of the phases: Phase III.

It's almost like that senior in high school feeling when you know that your going to graduate and move on to bigger and better things, but you have to leave your friends behind. Well, I'm not really leaving anyone, but you guys get the idea.

I'm excited about this phase because it changes every week!!! WOO HOOO!!!!

My wife made be go buy some new pants the other day because she was tired of me wearing pants 2 sizes to big.

I'm going to be posting my week 8 photos tomorrow and Day 60 photos are coming up on Thursday.

I truly don't think I would have gone this hard, this long and stay this focused if it wasn't for:

1) Me keeping this blog of my progress

2) Keeping/Posting all my workout weight/reps and Photos

3) All of you checking in on me

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So tomorrow will close this chapter of Phase II with the posting of Week 8 Photos. Yet, another chapter will open with Phase III.

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Countdown till Progress Reports (& Pics): 5 DAYS
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I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.

Day 46 - Yoga

Nothing to end a long day of sitting and working than to stretch out and work my "inner" self.

I think today was my best Yoga workout (if you can call it a workout). Since the start of P90X, yoga put me in some painful and uncomfortable positions that I could barely even do. Each time, I became alittle more and more flexible, alittle bit more and more relaxed, and my inner body became stronger each and every time.

Today, all I did was BREATHE! I was the most relaxed during this workout than I've been. The positions just seem to lock into place. I didn't focus on my balance, it just happened. I didn't focus on my flexibility, it just happened. I didn't focus on the time, it just passed on by.

I think the key this time was that I turned off the volume to the DVD, and put in some meditation music. I've been through the workout enough to "kinda know" what's coming next, so I just used Tony's changes in form to queue me to change.

There were/are still some positions that I cannot do YET, and there are some moves I have to modify so that I take care of my left shoulder. Alot of those moves are the poses were the right hand is on the ground, and the left one is stretching up and back. Those positions put mine/your rotator cuff in the fully open position, and if my muscles are fatigued or weak or pushed to far, my shoulder has a susceptibility of popping out. Which is NOT on my list of things to do. So I just put my left arm on my side/hip and try to open up my chest as much as possible.

Also, it was just me in the room. No son running around, no dog, no TV on the background. No outside noise.

It was great.


I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.

Day 39 - Yoga w/ my son

Nothing like a good day of Yoga. Unless it's a good day of Yoga w/ my son. He has become obsessed with Yoga. Every night he wants to do yoga, he carries around his Yoga block. Before bed he says: "I have to do Yoga Daddy." It's a riot. He's learned to 1)Turn on the TV, 2)Turn on the DVD player, 3)Push play.

Sometimes I'll be in the other room and all of a sudden hear Tony in the back ground. (I leave my DVD's in the dvd player.) I walk in and my son says "He HAS to do Yoga." Even though, the Yoga DVD isn't even in the player.


Here are two pictures while doing Yoga. He lasted about 15 minutes this time before having to go to bed.

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I'm getting better and better with this thing called Yoga. I'm able to hold some of positions that I couldn't get before.

One positive about this workout, is that I was able to go from downward dog to runner's pose every time on each leg with my foot hitting the ground early and I have to grab it and pull it up into place. (If that makes sense.)

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Steps Taken Today: 8, 125
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I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.

Day 32 - Me and My Yoga Belly

Before I go into today's Yoga workout, I wanted to show everyone my son yesterday trying to keep up w/ Dad during Back and Biceps. My wife got a shot up him doing this while I was on the chin-up bar.

He has the form almost perfect ;) He gives them back to me, saying that it's my turn. So I do a few. He looks at me, and says "You did good Dad." HAHAHA.. Well, Thanks Son.

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Almost through the first week of Phase II. Today was a much, much needed yoga day. My biceps, triceps, forearms, chest, and back were all crying for yoga to come save them and to be stretched out.

I was able to get off alittle early today, so I rushed home and threw in a round of Cardio X. My work schedule 7am - 430pm makes it impossible for me to get a workout in the morning. So this was a treat to have some time to get a round in.

The reason for this extra push for Cardio is that I want to get this tire off my stomach ASAP. I'm not seeing it go away as fast as I would like. So I'm trying to kick it into overdrive.

I know that Yoga is making my inner-self stronger. I'm able to hold my positions longer, my lunges are deeper. And what makes me the happiest of all is that my flexibility is getting better and better each day.

For the first time EVER, I've been able to grab AROUND my feet during the sitting straight leg stretches. I've NEVER been able to do that.

I highly recommend getting a yoga block. Either go buy one, borrow one, or make one (that's what I did - 4"x6"x9"). It has helped me get that "controlled" stretch.

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Another day added to the books of sticking to the meal plan. The food this phase is easier to make and better tasting. They say that the first step to weight loss is the food you eat. Well, I can contest to that. I'm down 10lbs since day 1. AMAZING!!! But I think p90X had alot to do with it also. However, I'm not seeing as fast of results in week 4 and week 5 like I did in the first three weeks. Hopefully, the change in diet and adding Cardio X will change that.
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I did 11,583 steps today. That counted Cardio X too.

I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.

Day 27 - Yoga Belly

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Yoga X is steadily growing to be my #1 (without weights) workout.

Working on my inner strength, is just as important on working on my outer strength. I impressed myself today. For the first time, I was able to hit and hold EVERY position!! Usually, I have to come out early because of the pain, or I fall over due to my inability to balance. This marks a new mind barrier that I've had through this program.

On the stability/balance positions, I've had a hard time clearing my mind. So my "chi" is off and I'm wobbling all over the place. Not Today! I focused on my breathing, had some different music playing instead of the provided music, and I did it while there was no wife, son, or dogs in the house.

Nothing and no one but P90X and me. It was great. This recovery week has surpassed my expectations. I was first afraid that I'd digress from the progress I've made in the three prior weeks. That I'd start to slack. However, the exact opposite occurred. I stayed focused to the nutritional requirements even when I ate out w/ friends and family. Core, Kenpo, and Yoga kept me mentally connected to the End Goal. And the MDB community and especially the WOWY workout schedule and buddy system kept me focused and dedicated to pushing play every night.

PHASE II... LOOK OUT, CAUSE I'M COMING FOR YOU!!

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Countdown till Progress Reports (& Pics): 1 DAY
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I'll be back tommorow pushing play.

Day 22 - Recovery Week (Yoga)

Today is the start of the recovery (last) week of Phase I.

I'm excited about having a "new" workout week having yoga, kenpo, and core synergistic. I still want to have all the pushing and pulling of weights that I've had the prior three weeks. But just like everything else in life: "Too much anything, good or bad, can kill you." While I know that P90X will not kill me, I know that I need to take this week to let my body recover from last week and get ready for the NEXT level of workouts in the coming week.

Today, was Yoga. Which, I might add, is starting to become on of my top workouts to do. I feel it making me stronger on the inside. My flexibility has increased; my stamina has increased; my balance has increased. Tony adds this phrase: "A longer body is a stronger body." Most people just want to push/pull and get "big", but in doing so they also get stiff.

After you have used weights (or other means) to overload and fatigue your muscles, your muscles retain a "pump" and are shortened somewhat. This"shortening" is due mostly to the repetition of intense muscle activity that often only takes the muscle through part of its full range of motion. This "pump" makes the muscle appear bigger. The "pumped" muscle is also full of lactic acid and other by-products from exhaustive exercise. If the muscle is not stretched afterward, it will retain this decreased range of motion (it sort of "forgets" how to make itself as long as it could) and the buildup of lactic acid will cause post-exercise soreness. Also, strenuous workouts will often cause damage to the muscle's connective tissue. The tissue heals in 1 to 2 days but it is believed that the tissues heal at a shorter length (decreasing muscular development as well as flexibility).

This is exactly why I look forward to Yoga. It clears my mind, and it helps my body grow by stretching and strengthening every muscle, tendon, and fiber in my body.

Yoga X is another great addition to the P90X program. Before P90X, I thought only women and old people did yoga. But now I know different, Yoga has/will help me in every part of my daily life from my posture, detox my body, improve my flexibility, and tone my muscles.

Can it get any better than that???

I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.

Day 18 - Oooooommm! Yoga

I can't believe I'm saying this: I needed to do Yoga X. The last three days I've pushed my body to it's limits and I needed a good stretch and inner peace stimulation.

Being the 3rd time of Yoga X, I didn't need to see the TV at all. All I needed was Tony's que's on the next pose. I focused on staying completely relaxed and deep breathing. WOW! WOW! WOW! My body feels completely "un-kinked" and stretched out.

There are still some poses that I just cannot do (Runners Triangle pose) where you grab underneath your leg and over around you back.. Not gonna happen. But I at least help a "sorta" pose.

My flexibility, stability and core have increased in these three sort weeks. Week 1, I couldn't hold one pose for more than 3 seconds, couldn't get through all the vanyasas to downward dog, and I struggled at -1 on touching my toes during the leg stretches. This week, I was in control, of both my mind and body. AND!!!! now I'm about +2/+3 on my leg stretches.

At the end, I really got into the ooooms w/ Tony. I feel energized, relaxed, stretched out, and pumped up to BUST IT in Legs & Back tomorrow.

I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.

Day 12 - It's WARRIOR day!

Another Yoga day down in the books (or worksheets). In hopes of getting this spare tire off my body, I've decided to do alittle extra cardio. Maybe 2x a week. Nothing major because P90X classic is already pushing my body to the extreme.

Today, instead of going for a jog on the treadmill during lunch today, I'd thought I'd take an early day off of work (Don't tell my boss.. hahaha) and do the Cardio X dvd. Since today is Yoga day, I didn't think I'd be that worn out. So, I got home early, set up the living room, got my towel, my water, and pushed Play.

Cardio X is GREAT!! It's Plyo; It's Kenpo; and Yoga all roled into one. Definitely alot better, and more fun than running on a treadmill. I was drenched at the end of it (like usual). Had my delicious recovery drink. Dominique was in this video, so I had someone to keep up with. This guy is freakin crazy in Plyo, so if I can keep up with him, I'll be on the good path to becoming Tireless.

After acouple hours rest and dinner, I put in Yoga. Since I've already been through this dvd before I knew what positions where what, so I was able to focus more on my breathing and relaxing than trying to look up and see what position Tony was talking about. This time, I was able to hold the positions alittle longer, go deeper, and had more stability than last time. This time I was ready for all the Downward dogs, Vinyasa's, and all the Different Warriors. I held them like a Pro.

I also had my 2yr old son doing the first part of Yoga with me tonight. It is hilarious seeing him mimic me and Tony. I'm going to make him a P90X shirt and take a picture with him in it.

All-in-all, it was a good day. Cardio and Yoga.

One comment though, the meal plan is getting alittle harder to follow by the day. It's not making the meals, it's having all the ingredients to make them. You run out fast, and sometimes you just don't have 30-45 minutes to make dinner that night or lunch for the next day. What I've been doing is switching out days. Monday's Bfast, Thursday Lunch, Sunday's Dinner. It's what I have in the fridge at the time. I'm still sticking to the plan.. Just mixing it up... hahaha. It's kinda like Stomach Confusion, instead of Muscle confusion.

I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.

Day 4 - Yoga X

Today I did Yoga. This is exactly what I needed. It's not all about going, and going, and going. Tony and the P90X crew got it right by putting this at day 4. After walking around like Frankenstein the past 3 days, alittle stretching inner peace was the trick.

It's still no easy task, the first ~30ish minutes, I'm still sweating once again putting my body into positions never seen before. LOVED THIS WORKOUT!!!! Even thought I couldn't full get into all the positions, I stuck w/ it the ENTIRE workout and did the modified positions when I had to.

I've never done yoga before so this was an experience. I felt refreshed and energized after, I don't know how or why, but THIS STUFF WORKS!. For the rest of the day, I felt engergized, my legs, arms, and the rest of my body lost that Frankenstein stiff feeling. I picked me up some that Recovery Drink, DELIIIIIIIICCCCIOUS! Hope it works like they say it will.

Also, I added in Ab Ripper X after because I forgot (Don't know why) to do it yesterday w/ Arms&Shoulders.

I'll be back tomorrow pushing play.