Pushing Play

Day 26 – I was beat up after playing basketball the previous night. I took a hip check to my lower back which brought back some of the most intense back pain I had felt since my herniations and I messed up my shoulder so that I couldn’t lift my arm beyond my 90 degrees.

But I did my X-Stretch routine twice this day and stretched some more at various points throughout the day. By the time night time came on the 26th day I went back to basketball and was able to run but not without some discomfort. Fortunately, it wasn’t as intense as the Monday, so I was not as physically beat up as Monday. A quick shower, protein shake and an early bedtime capped what was a very successful night.

I was scared when I took that hit in the back. It brought up some of the fears I had when rehabbing my lower back 3 years ago. I never want to go back to feeling that way again. The fact that I was able to play and get my mind right about the challenge was a huge step forward for me. The one thing I recall thinking and saying various times over the previous 24 hours was “Thank God for P90X” because if it wasn’t for the core that I have struggled so hard to reinforce and strengthen over the previous 25 days, this hit in the back might have put me out for a few weeks if not months.

Day 27 – After 2 days of basketball, I awoke to a fair amount of pain on Wednesday. Combined with a workday in the late evening and life during the day, was unable to get to my workout. It was Yoga. It would have hurt. But

I could have used it. In retrospect, I regret not having the time to do it. But I was pretty sore and it was “rest week” so I made a conscious decision to not force the issue.

The rest of it until now

We had a cousin visit us from Vancouver on Thursday and they stayed with us over the weekend. It was great. The only thing is that they lived in our basement which also doubles as my workout room. So from Thursday night until Saturday, I was not able to get to my workouts. I was happy to see family, but the start of my Week 5 routine took a massive hit with the first 2 workouts essentially canceled.

On Saturday, we had youth group and that took us from 2pm all the way til about 8pm. After that, I was so wiped that I fell asleep early after cleaning up.

Sunday was a work day for me and by the time I got home at 7pm I was so discouraged that I did not want to work out. At this point, I had missed a total of 5 days in my Week 5 routine and I was not happy about it. Then again the lingering pains from the shoulder and back injury that happened on the previous Monday were still there, so I also had an excuse as to why I had not worked out.

Monday and Tuesday were basketball days. I stretched a little bit, but not enough to call that a workout. Basketball was great. Although missing 2 weeks (Recovery week is pretty lax so I don’t really count it), essentially, was rough on the cardio. It’s amazing how fast you lose it when you don’t use it. After thinking about it hard on the Monday, I made a conscious decision to NOT workout anymore this week until next Thursday, when my new week cycle begins again, just to maintain consistency.

So Wednesday I watched basketball and just enjoyed time with the family. I reflected on the fact that my diet has been very poor this week (I eat when I am upset) and am making more of an effort, as the new cycle starts up, to be more disciplined once again with my diet. I had a doctor’s appointment today as I am dealing with a few minor health issues and was pleasantly surprised with news that my sugar and cholesterol levels are 100% normal. I already knew that, but it was nice to get reassurance from a medical professional that I am, in fact, healthy … if a little paunchy.

Thursday meant the start of a new week in my P90X cycle. After a lot of thought, I decided rewind and do Week 3 Reloaded just to get back in the groove. The way I have it figured, I want to redo my Week 3 just to get back a bit of what I lost last week ….

Day 28 (Rewind) – I started off with Chest & Back again. The workout was good, I guess. You can definitely see the effects of one week off already. Some of the exercises were fine as far as reps, but others you could definitely see a drop in numbers; not much, maybe just one or two reps. But it’s still something that I am conscious of and upset about. I lost a lot of that momentum that I had built up. And trying to rebuild that is gonna be a small challenge to overcome.

Most of the workout was a challenge, which was good in a way because it meant that things are working again. Ab-Ripper was a bit of a disappointment because I struggled with most of the exercises again. They did not come as easy as they did before. Not that the workout was easy at all. In fact, ABX has always been hard. But once you get the muscles strengthened to a point, the workouts come easier even though they are just as hard as before. I was still able to do all of the moves, but it felt more forced and less fulfilling than before. The one bright side was Mason Twists where I was able to rip off 40 in a row with the crew on the DVD. I skipped the bonus 10 they did but I was very satisfied with doing 40 in a row after a week off.

Day 29 Rewind (aka Plyometrics and the frustration of life) – Today’s workout was Plyometrics. Life called at various times throughout my routine; everything from phone calls with relatives to potty training my 3 year old and driving my mother around the city but I was able to squeeze off about 2/3 of the Plyo-X DVD before I had to unplug for some more “responsibilities”. Working out in the day is very difficult, I’m finding. Life calls a lot. It reminds me why I chose to work out at 10 and 11pm on most nights during my first 2 cycles. But I was at least able to eek out 2/3 of it. Painfully.

I definitely am not liking Plyo-X this time around. It just is the monkey on my back right now. It is hard, painful and uncomfortable. It’s good, I guess, because it means that I am struggling to do the workout. I just want the discomfort to stop. I don’t know. I try not to focus on that too much, though. Most of the time, I just focus on the fact that I am glad to be back on my P90X grind.

So now you’re caught up with where I am at. Tomorrow is Shoulders & Arms and that one should be a doozy I think.

Just overall glad to be back on the proverbial horse ….

Monday.

Our family has planned a post-mother’s day BBQ at our house to celebrate the holiday that just passed as a cohesive family unit. I love my family and am thrilled to get together for some food & funs!

But not before I do my workout!

I had to dip out to get some groceries for the dinner and spent most of the day running more errands (can’t life just stop for 90 days?) but I was able to get home and carve out some time for my routine.

I booted up the DVD late in the afternoon and did up Core Synergystics.

Last time, my performance was not very good, so I was looking to redeem myself a bit here. And I think I did for the most part. I was able to do the dreaded Superman Banana to the end of time; ditto for the Banana Roll. There are a few exercises that give me a hard time (Plank to Chaturanga Run & Iso, Bow to Boat) due to strength or flexibility issues and a few of them I can’t do because of space restrictions, height wise (Squat X-Press, Lunge Curl Press) but I worked up a sweat and do actually feel like my core got a workout now, 15 minutes after the routine.

My biggest issue right now is that I am working with a limited weight set (15lb Kettles and 20lb dumbbells) so for some of these exercises it’s either a TON of weight or none at all. I need to get better free weights … but I don’t know where to go.

I suppose it’s time to start looking aggressively because I’m at a point where I need to challenge myself if I wanna see more results.

But I DID enjoy the workout overall.

I’ll add more about how basketball was once I get to that later this evening.

Sunday was Mother’s Day and I had a very busy day. I had to lead a BBQ lunch at our church with all kinds of planning and moving involved. It went great but it took us til well past 3pm. When we got home we had to shop for food, so we went to the local bulk-shop-superstore to get our food for the next little while. By the time we got home it was close to 6pm and we had to prep dinner. We ate, sent the kids to bed, folded laundry, and I spent some time with my wife.

Long story short, my diet took a big hit what with all the hamburgers and yummy, sweet food prepped by our church, I spent the entire day running around end being “responsible” and I was never able to get to my workout.

FORTUNATELY it was only X-Stretch, which I can easily move ahead a day or two on this Recovery Week.

Bright side is that I got a chance to express my gratitude and love to all the great mothers out there who sacrifice for us every single day.

In honor of them, allow me to present you with this lovely little video by Boyz II Men.

Happy Mother’s Day, everybody.

Today I had Core Synergystics. But before I got to my workout, I had a pretty frustrating day. Phone calls from our gas company, problems with the kids at home and just a pretty lousy day overall. By the time I got to my workout I was mentally drained and not really into the idea of working out. I just needed to chill. But I did it anyway.

And my frustration and lack of energy or enthusiasm for the workout showed through big time. I struggled mightily after the 20 minute mark and found it hard to establish a positive rhythm during the routine. I started off great, but as the workout progressed, I began to dwell on the day’s happenings and it slowly sapped whatever energy I had built up. I just couldn’t get over the hump.

I was able to push hard til about the 2/3 mark and then I just fizzled. I skipped a few of the exercises (Walking Pushups, Reach High & Under Pushups and Squat X-Press) and half assed a few others (Dreya Roll, Plank to Chaturanga Run).  When the end of the “official” workout came, I briefly pondered skipping the bonus round and just going straight to the cool down, but I mustered just enough interest to finish that part.

I’m pretty disappointed in the day overall. I was really looking forward to doing a hard workout like Core today. But I just could never get off the ground or get up for it.

Oh well.

I guess it can’t all be butterfly farts and rainbows all the time.

So my kids left the house with their uncle for some chill time. I had about an hour or so free time so I decided I would try to tackle the first part of my Chest & Back routine before they got back.

I popped the DVD in and started to get ready. I began doing the leg raises and flipped the page in my binder to Chest & Back so that I could record the numbers. But there was no WEEK 4 on the worksheet. Only week 3. Confused, I stopped the tape and noticed that it went Week 1, 2, 3 and then skipped ahead to 9, 11.

I thought about it for a second, “Why would it go from Week 3 to Week 9?”

Then I flipped to the front of the workssheets that I have and it hit me square in the face … RECOVERY WEEK!

Woo-Hoo!

It’s Recovery Week, baby! I’ve been at this for 21 days! Hard! And now I get to do nothing but Yoga, Stretch and Core Synergistics for 7 days!

I get to have a slightly more chill week!

I looked at the schedule for the week and decided to split it up like this: Yoga-X, Core Synergystics, X-Stretch, Yoga-X, Core Synergystics, X-Stretch, X-Stretch

Main reason is the Basketball. I want to do Core Synergystics on Monday and follow that up with 2 days of X-Stretch like regular because of the 2 sessions of basketball on Monday and Tuesday. That way, I get a good lead up (Yoga) to a hard workout (Core) and follow that up with a rest day (Stretch).

———-

So tonight I did Yoga-X.

The great thing about it is that because I have had 2 days of Stretch, I approached this workout fully rested and ready to push to my max. I was able to do the entire Vinyasas (or Moving Asanas, as I’ve been told they’re called) with no rest. I was literally dripping with sweat everywhere. It was great. Yoga is cool in that way, you hold a pose and somehow your body sweats like you’re running a marathon. It’s weird.

Best moment of the entire night was going into Prayer Twists. I lifted the leg up as high as it could go when I was in Downward Dog and when I went to bring the leg forward, I brought it further than I had ever done to date. It was a big distance. As my leg went perfectly into Runner’s Stretch I hear a rip and realize I’ve just torn the seam on my shorts from the stretch.

It was great. It really was. Normally, I’d be pissed about ripping my clothing, but I was able to stretch to a level I have not been able to do yet, so it was good.

When the DVD went to Warrior 3 I did not skip, instead, I did as much as I could. I even tried to do Half Moon & Twisting Half Moon. I was only able to do the Twisting Half Moons because my hips came close to cramping on regular Half Moons. I tried to get elevation on the raised leg and that had an impact for when I tried to do Half Moon. Still, I’m not upset about it. I finally had the courage to do this section as opposed to fast forward through it like I had before. I am pretty satisfied with it, overall. And I know it will only improve as the summer rolls along.

When the Balance postures finally came on I struggled with them a bit, which is a bit different from what I am accustomed to doing. Not so much Tree, but Royal Dancer and especially the Standing Leg Extensions. Those were tough. I just couldn’t muster the strength needed in my feet to hold the pose. And maybe it’s cuz I tried to extend the stretch and make the pose longer. Who knows.

I tried Crane and I am still unable to hold the pose; I’m just not strong enough yet to bear the weight of my body on my elbows and knees yet. It’s getting closer, though. I expect a week or two more and I’ll be able to do it basic. I was also able to do Plough with much more ease today, which is great because I needed the back and hamstring stretches. A personal triumph tonight was being able to easily go into Wheel. I held the pose for about 30 seconds before my armpit began to itch and I had to drop out.

Then it was Yoga Belly 7. It all went fairly well but, as usual, Boat and Half Boat were challenging.

After all that, it was just the final stretches. Seated Hamstring, Seated Spinal and Frog as well as the final Shavasana, Happy Baby and Ohms section.

It really was a blast to do it tonight. I felt great afterward and definitely strengthened the core and stretched everything out as well. Definitely makes me ready for Core Synergystics tomorrow. That one should be interesting.

I had a lazy day on Wednesday and drifted in and out of sleep with my kids on the couch for most of the day. The idea was to do X-Stretch once my wife got home in the late afternoon. But I got a jolt of reality when my wife got home and realized that I had to work that evening.

So I decided to hold off on my X-Stretch until AFTER work like I had last week. But when I got home I was so hungry and tired! My calves and knees were on fire and I just couldn’t get up for X-Stretch, even though it would have greatly helped. So I ate myself silly (healthy, though) and then just sat on the couch and watched basketball til well after midnight.

I know, I know. But it just sort of happened that way.

On the bright side, the Lakers are down 0-2 in their series and are historically set for a failure of a season.

I remember back to when I was 20 years old, playing every day and not having to worry about conditioning. I used to play with guys who were in their late 30s and early 40s and think, “Man, I don’t ever wanna get old because it means that I’m gonna suck at basketball.” It was something I had in my head; That getting older meant watching your skills and abilities erode. That getting old meant becoming a shell of your former self, wasting away and reliving days of glories past.

Well, I’m 35 now and I’ll admit that staying in good shape has been a real challenge. Married life, a career and my family place different demands and responsibilities on me than I had 15 years ago. And yes, my physical conditioning definitely takes a back seat sometimes. It takes a great deal more effort now than it used to 15 years ago. My metabolism is much slower and I have to watch what I eat. I also have to do more of the RIGHT kind of physical activity in order to be the strong, athletic guy I wanna be. BUT I don’t feel like I’m washed up or that I suck – as another 20 something child said to me about a year ago. I don’t feel like my best years are behind me and I feel like I can be as competitive as I used to be, albeit to varying degrees, using experience to help me out where youth and raw strength do not. I don’t feel like being healthy and in good shape are unattainable to me; Or to anyone else, for that matter.

So I’m sitting at my PC now, typing this out and I feel the pain all over my lower body, pain I never used to feel when I was a kid playing ball and working out 6 days a week. From my back to my hamstrings, to my quads to my very feet, I feel pain. But I really am happy about it because it shows that if you put your mind to it, it won’t matter if you are old. You can still get the results you want with a little effort and elbow grease.

And the kids?

They can eat your dust as you sprint past them going, “Come on, son. You’re getting run out of the gym by a washed up old man!”

Now THAT’S P90X!