So since my upgrade and since my p0roclamation that I was “back” from my ankle fracture, it became readily apparent that I was, in fact, NOT back. At least not at 100%.

After a few days of normal physical activity – that is to say, basketball and P90X related things – my ankle began to hurt once again. Specifically around the fracture spot. The first time, I dismissed it. The second time, I worried a bit. The third time it hurt, I decided to sit out a few more weeks and so here I am.

Life has gone into overdrive what with Christmas coming right away and with responsibilities I have to keep and so my weight has gone back up to 220 and my abs are almost gone. I’m not GROSSLY overweight, but I am definitely over what my ideal sports target weight is. I’m 6′-4″ and I need to weigh between 205 and 210 to be able to play with the big guys inside yet retain my mobility and agility.

In any case I’ve decided that I will, in fact, sit out another 3 weeks for my ankle to properly heal. That puts me at somewhere between 10 and 11 weeks.

Wow.

I guess It’s okay though … As long as I come back 100% healthy and pain free, it’s okay ………. really, it just lights a larger fire under my butt and makes me want the offseason more so that I can get back to a full P90X routine.

I have been down over the last few days with my PC having gone to the doctor’s. Thanks, Paul!

But now she’s back and better than ever!

You can’t SEE it, but this computer is ready to kick some ass and take no prisoners!

As I take it for a joyride, I can’t help but be amazed at how much faster, quieter, more accessible it is … and now hopefully I will be able to surf the web and post to my blog with a bit more confidence.

Since I opened up my blog for comments nearly 5 weeks ago, I have received 46 Spam messages in my comments section.

This is unacceptable and, rather than remove the ability to comment on my blog, I am adding a captcha feature that will require users to authenticate potential comments with a random series of characters before entering the submit button.

It is an annoyance, but it is better than me having to surf through spam messages and delete them manually.

My apologies for the inconvenience this may cause, but the alternative is simply not an option at this point.

I started my scheduled P90X mini cycle last night with Chest and Back and it became clear within 5 minutes that I am not ready for it yet. Doing the leg raises (steps), the pain in my ankles started of as a dull ache and turned sharper and sharper the further along I went with it.

After talking it over with my wife, I decided to not go as intense as P90X and to start with 10 Minute Trainer. So that’s what I did. Lower Body and Abs. The section with the lunges and such was hard and made me sweat. It still hurt my ankle – especially any time they talked about lunges. But I was able to power through the pain and do my workout. Then I decided to do the 10 Minute Abs simply because I was on a roll and because I need to keep my core strong.

Man, I did not think that I was THAT far out of shape!

And you know what? Until my ankle stops locking and hurting like this, I’m just gonna stick to this specific routine for a week or two. Calf raises, light lunges, balance drills and things like that. And in between all that, I will do my abs as needed.

The last thing I wanna do is re-injure myself. And so as much as I WANT to go straight into P90X and Plyo (in particular), I can’t bring myself to the point of risking another injury simply because I wanna fast track this.

I was told by a friend of mine who does Kinesiology that it would have been better if I would have broken the ankle outright as the bone would have healed better and stronger than before. But with fractures and ligaments, it’s worse because it takes longer to fully recover (if ever) from the damage done.

Hearing that makes me even more weary of starting up a tough routine like P90X when I am still experiencing pain when I flex and stretch the ankle joint.

I’ve been thinking, recently, about getting involved in something like ChaLEAN Extreme or Insanity over the last few weeks. Just something NEW to keep me focused and fresh, you know?

But there is ONE simple obstacle that is standing in my way: I have not yet graduated with a complete cycle of P90X under my belt yet!

I’m sitting here, on the eve of another restart, thinking that this will be my third time, doing the P90X thing again. But unlike the last time I did it, I KNOW it’s only a temporary attempt – simply so I can get back into playing shape for my basketball team. But from where I am standing, I feel like I simply can’t do a one hour workout per night combined with 3 weekly hours of intense basketball. It’s just not possible right now …. or is it?

Most of the time, I find that I do my workouts in the night. I guess it’s a hold over from when I was a work monkey. Nine to Five. Come home, eat, work out, sleep.

But now I’m a stay at home dad and my days run differently. By the time 8 or 9 rolls around, I’m exhausted from chasing my kids around all day and working out in the evening seems like masochism to me.

Maybe I need to rethink my schedule …. but the thing is that I literally cannot find the time, right now, to fit in a full P90X workout in the middle of my day. And I’m not an early riser – nope. Not a morning person. So, clearly, something has to give.

I can’t just keep starting and stopping the program over and over, you know? I HAVE to finish it eventually …. right?

Tomorrow, at some point, I’m gonna have to do my scheduled Chest & Back workout. I just don’t know when that will be and how that will fit in with my next 30 or 40 days. Maybe it’s something I just jump into and worry about on a day to day basis ….

In a LOT of ways, it almost feels like I am fenced in right now. Like I am trying to find a way out of this “can’t do it” situation, trying to get to the other side to the greener pastures. You know what they say about greener pastures, though ….

And seeing that I can’t even make heads or tails of this right now makes me second guess committing to a ChaLEAN Extreme or Insanity routine …..

But it is something I definitely wanna try out for myself. I just have to get my stuff straight on this side first before I cross over.

Am I the only one that has had a ridiculously hard time keeping my diet clean since Halloween?

My son is allergic to tree nuts and peanuts. As such, any candy that he gets that contains (or even has the warning that it MAY contain) nuts is completely and utterly out of bounds for him. And it just so happens that I happen to have a WEAKNESS for Reese’s Pieces. And I hate to throw any food in the garbage, unless it is completely rotten – it comes from when I was a kid back in the old country.

So since Halloween night, I have found that my influx of candies and chocolates has gone up about 700%. I had completely forsaken the sugary sweets for well over 10 months and now … I’m back to munching on these delectable goodies on a daily basis. Last year, my wife took one for the team and ate all of these in order to keep me on the straight and narrow. This year, she has her own health issues to deal with so I am left to battle my demons on my own.

I KNOW that it becomes increasingly harder to lose the fat around the gut and to keep seeing changes when you up your intake of sugars and what not. I’ve written about it before. I’ve counseled friends and other peeps on the pitfalls of eating sugary confections ….. and yet right now, I can’t resist these damn things!

The WORST part is that I also decided that I would make a treat for my kids. Brownies! I thought … “how bad could they be?”

Well, the recipe I made had sugar, chocolate chips, cocoa, butter and eggs in it! Maybe I just need to find a nice healthy Brownie recipe – if there even is such a thing …

Am I the only one that finds Halloween candy to be nigh irresistible?

My appointment to the doctor was a GREAT way to start this week!

My fracture has mostly healed and I have been given the green light to start a home based rehab program!

I’m still being discouraged from doing my basketball for another few weeks, but have been given a thumbs up for Yoga-X and Plyometrics in about a week or two, after my muscles get used to being out of my boot again.

This is GREAT news for 2 reasons:

1. It means that I am ahead of schedule

2. It means that I can do a mini circuit of P90X for the next 2 months – 60 days – or so, which will get me back into game shape very very quickly.

So it looks like I am jumping back on that horse again and it looks like I am gonna restart my normal P90X routines, for another 2 months! Heck, maybe I’ll do 60 days of P90X Lean!

And who knows …. maybe some day I will actually get around to FINISHING a full cycle! This will mark the THIRD time that I have restarted P90X in about a year and a half.

I’ve got a doctor’s appointment tomorrow (Monday) at 1:40pm to do with my ankle. We’re gonna follow up and check on the progress of healing and seeing whether or not I am ready to start my physio.

The last few days, I’ve noticed that I am actually able to walk normally with little to no pain and that I am able to roll my ankle over and put weight on it as well. I can stand ion my tippy toes (ha, P90X reference!) and it’s only slightly discomforting.

I’m actually very excited at this point, to be going for this appointment. I’m hoping that the doctor says that I am ready cuz once I get the green light, I’m gonna start doing P90X again. I figure if I start with Yoga and Stretch, then I can do that for a week or so and add Plyo, Core Synergistics and Legs and Back after that. I figure that I should be back in shape in about 30 – 45 days, which would put me back to being on the court by Mid to late December, as originally planned. This is, of course, assuming that I get the green light tomorrow to start rehab – all dependant on how my ankle fracture is doing.

Of course, I’m gonna combine all that with whatever exercises the Physiotherapist deems necessary, but I’m gonna try to get back in game shape as well – and what better way to get there than by doing P90X?!??!

God, I sound like an infomercial! lol.

But I’m crossing my fingers for some good news ….. I could use it. I’m tired of walking around in that boot.

I decided early this morning that I would totally do my ab workout as scheduled and that I would do another round of Ab Ripper X, as it is supposed to be done every second day.

It took me the entire day to actually get around to doing it, but I finally did it!

My wife joined in this time (to keep me company) and that was fun. She kinda struggled through it, but she hasn’t done any major workouts like P90X in about 6 months so she is gonna be sore tomorrow!

Me? I’m good. Not as sore as I was after the first time, the muscle weakness is fading and I feel less tired as well. I am starting to slow the movements down to get maximum extension / burn on the reps, too! And I capped it all off with 40 continuous Mason Twists! I’m starting to build to 70 again! So that was good to see. I’m still taking too many breaks for my liking but I figure that it’s because I’m not doing P90X daily. So my muscles aren’t as strong as they would be if I did the actually routines.

With Halloween gone and nothing major on the horizon to keep me busy in the evenings, I think I’m gonna be doing my ab workouts daily once again!

It’s good to be back!

The marathon of missed workouts continues!

I was up all night until 8am completing a Halloween costume for my son – he wanted to go as Lightning McQueen this year. Then today, with all the Halloween activities, the workout day was pretty much a wash.

Oh well.

I have some great memories of tonight and my family is, after all, the most important aspect of my life and the reason I do what I do to stay fit.

Tomorrow is a new day, though … and I have a LOT of Halloween chocolate to work off …… maybe I’ll do a double workout tomorrow ….

I took my kids to get their H1N1 vaccine (aka – Swine Flu) today and happened to luck into the option of having one taken myself, simply because I had kids!

I decided to get it.

As a result, I am now immunized (supposedly) against H1N1 … but the after effects of the vaccine, including a headache and muscle soreness made it unappetizing to work out tonight. I am especially sore around my arm. I can barely lift it above shoulder height right now without some pretty severe pain. I took a Motrin and used some ice in order to bring down the swelling.

The way I have it figured, it was a good investment (safety net, insurance) over the long term of this year – especially if I come into contact with peeps who have H1N1.

So as a result, I did not work out tonight.

Oh well. Marathon, not a sprint, right?

So let’s hear from you, on something other than P90X ….. have you gone to get your H1N1 flu vaccine? And was there a reason for your decision?

After forgetting to work out two days ago, I decided last night that it was time to punish myself for that mistake. So I went ahead and popped Ab Ripper X into my DVD player.

The last time I did ARX, I had a hard time just finishing the reps and capped off the Mason Twists by only doing 25 – a hard fought and well earned 25.

Last night, I was able to keep up with the DVD (with a few breaks in between) and ended off the night by doing the 50 Mason Twists that they do on the DVD. I was tired afterward, but not as severely drained as I was the first night.

Today, I don’t feel as sore and could EASILY go ahead and do another round of ARX, albeit probably with more pain the next day. I’m not gonna push my luck or test my limits right now, though.

The only thing I have noticed is that my hip flexors are a lot tighter than they normally would be and that I am suffering from a slightly stiff back. I don’t know what that’s all about, but I know that strengthening my core will help with any back issues …. it’s a never ending cycle, I guess. AS for the flexors … a round of Yoga or Stretch can’t hurt either.

Since joining the blogosphere back in 2007, Ihave remained pretty much a hermit. I’ve been pretty closed off and started doing it, primarily, to catalog my deep love of basketball and more recently, P90X.

As of late, I’ve started to reach out. I have befriended 2 people in particular. One of them, Jeff, has his own blog called Life isn’t over (at 40 or any age) and he chronicles what it’s like to work out as you age and the effects it has on him. I’ve become a fan of his blog because , although I’m only 33, I want to be old someday too (sorry, Jeff!).

So we’ve written back and forth over the last few days and he agreed to graciously provide me with a guest post for my blog today. I hope you guys enjoy it!

First the Proof

Exercise is something we are taught at a young age.  Remember PE (Physical Education) class?  When I was 9 I remember PE class well.  I finally got even with my teacher by nailing him with a Dodgeball – but I was only able to do that with the techniques taught in PE.  And it was fun.

As we get older, physical education is given less attention.  School curriculums have changed and many do not require this to graduate to the next level.  So as we get out into the real world, exercise evolves into different motivations.  Some attend to keep their shapely physiques.  And the rest of us attend to get back that shapely physique (or acquire it for the first time).  But as we get older, our ability to exercise is diminished and we soon lose the ability to exercise at all….NOT!

Circulation magazine, from the American Heart Association, did a study starting back in 1966.  Five men who were 20 years old at the time had their aerobic capacity measured before and after 20 days of bed rest.  The bedrest cause a huge loss in their fitness.  But after 8 weeks of intensive training, they were able to suprpass their original level of fitness and get back into shape.  This study was later used by NASA to predict the fitness levels of astronauts in space.

Thirty years later the same men were located for a follow up study.  After 6 months of moderate exercise, all five men, now in their 50’s, had brought their fitness levels back to the when they were 20 year olds.

In another study, the Stanford University School of Medicine followed 500 runners for more than 20 years.  What they found was that as these runners entered their 70’s and 80’s they had fewer disabilities than non-runners, were half as likely to die early deaths, and kept them clearer of strokes, heart attacks, cancer, neurological diseases, etc.

Now IS The Time to Act!

I’m almost 42.  I’ve been off and on the fitness wagon, but with children of my own, I have gained a new perspective on life.  As I like to say, Life Is Not Over – At Age 40 or Any Age.  The activity you do today will help as you get older.  Sure, there are pitfalls along the way:  excuses, achey joints, and friends of similar age around you who use those same excuses.  Silence those voices in your head!  Those achey joints today can become new joints tomorrow.  The days of soreness related to a new program will soon give way to greater strength, vitality and a zest for life.  But it takes action – not just consideration.

There are countless programs to get you started back on the road to resurrection.  Many people enjoy a health club or gym while others feel judged or “not attractive enough.”  If that is your reason for not working out, then look no further than P90X.  This revolutionary program provides the user with a workout program AND a nutrition guide to help you get back the days of many years past.  Whether you are 20 or 50, this home-based program provides the tools needed to succeed.  Best of all, it’s founder, Tony Horton, a personal trainer, was in his mid-40’s when he developed P90X.  Today he is 51 and still looking great.

It’s Up to You

At the end of the day, it’s up to you.  Exercise can be initiated by anyone at any age.  But the sooner you do it, the sooner it becomes habit.  And the sooner you become more active, the more enjoyment there is to get out of life.  The sooner you become more active, then excuses fade away and your vocabulary involves more of what you CAN do versus what you cannot.

For more information about P90X or other home workout programs, please visit my Beachbody Site or check out my blog for more information.

OMG !!!

I forgot to workout!

I just simply wasn’t feeling it.

I went through my entire day, today, feeling heavy and a little blasé about my workouts. Not just today, but over the last little bit. The thought of having to endure broken ankle pain AND ab pain was a bit overwhelming today, for some reason. Maybe it was the 3-4 days of ridiculous ab pain I endured over the last little bit. Regardless, I wasn’t feeling like my old, gung-ho “Let’s do this!” self.

And what does a guy who wants to avoid working out turn to? TV, of course.

On the platter tonight was last week’s episode of The Biggest Loser. I didn’t wanna be two episodes down and my PVR really could use the 120 minute purge from the memory …. so on it went!

Boy was that an inspiring episode! Contestants were chosen to go home and deal with losing weight in a real life setting – away from the trainers, the dieticians, the gym …

Watching them struggle through their workouts, work through their mental and emotional hurdles and making the right choices in eating was very uplifting. Like, they CAN do it! … And so can I!

There was a point where I looked at my wife and said … “Well, now I HAVE to go work out after this.”

See, it’s not that I was forced … it’s more that once you open your eyes and are able to see the truth, bound by none of your preconceptions and excuses, it becomes hard to NOT do the right thing …. and the right thing for me was to continue to follow through on my Ab Challenge.

So after my show, I went to my basement and proceded to start light – Ten Minute Abs. I figure I’ll do this til I work up my muscles to be able to tackle the grueling sessions of Ab Ripper X again …. it won’t take long … maybe a week?

And “Light” is WAY too soft a term to describe the workout ….. it was tough … but a positive note is that my ankle is getting stronger. I was able to put more weight on it than last time. And some of the exercises I had skipped because of pain, I was able to do this time! So that was definitely uplifting.

I feel sore now … but really … pain is the only thing that we have to let us know that we are living, right?

If you are stuck in a rut and are having a tough time finding motivation I say this: Either watch the Biggest Loser, or try to understand that the only way to make THAT type of change is to struggle. You can do it …. WE can do it.

And I am glad that I did it tonight …

I really wanted to get things going again after taking a few days off, but life got in the way. My youngest was very sick this weekend and needed a whole lot of attention. On top of that, we’re just a few short days away from the unofficial start to our winter – it’s gonna snow in the next few days, I imagine – and I had to get our house’s final exterior repairs and upgrades finished.

So unfortunately, it means that today was a wash. But I got plenty of exercises what with walking all afternoon in my boot and climbing up ladders and stairs in order to get stuff done …

Tomorrow. I will make a concerted effort to do my abs workouts tomorrow.

So it’s not like Tony KNEW all of these things just like that. He had to be taught them as well and there was a learning curve to getting it right!

See? Even the pros have to start somewhere!

Keep going!

It’s my birthday today. Took the day off. Nuff said.

I’d like to say that I persevered despite the pain and discomfort I have been feeling … but I can’t. Instead of struggling through the workout, I decided to take another day off just to give my body an extra day of rest.

I’m feeling a bit better and feel like I could definitely go tomorrow but tonight, in between the pain and everything, life got in the way and I didn’t much feel like arguing over this workout tonight. I always do this when starting something new. I overdo it and cause more pain than I need to have.

I should actually be working right now instead of blogging, but decided to at least keep something resembling a routine in place.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day. And the Spartan abs will still be in fabrication.

So it appears that my decision to modify the workout was a good one. Today was a day off – 2 days on, 1 day off to start – and I was S-O-R-E.

On top of the fact that I am doing an intense ab isolated routine for the next 30 days (supposedly), I am also having to use a walking boot which elevates the left side of my body by about 2 or 3 inches with shoes, about 4-5 inches without shoes. So I am always walking with a limp that LOOKS much worse than it is. And what that does is that it throws my body’s balance and posture off. On top of that, it propels my body forward and I am always having to fight the boot’s tendency to lean me forward – which means I am going from forward to back motion in my lower back. So that extra strain on my hip flexors, combined with my ab workouts has spelled intense discomfort on my abs and upper legs today.

It’s been so intense that I have had to force stretching multiple times throughout the days because the hip flexors and abs tighten up and hunch me over pretty bad. If I fight it, the pain intensifies. If I stay hunched over, it doesn’t hurt. But then my back hurts because of improper posture. Needless to say, stretching has been an important aspect that I had not taken into account until Jeff and my wife pounded that into my head a day or two ago.

So thanks to both of them for insisting that I revise the routine. You are wise like Yoda but without all the facial hair and backwards speaking nonsense.

I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, as I am scheduled to do ARX at some point in my day. Maybe I’ll do it … maybe I’ll skip it and stick with 10 Minute Abs for a little longer.

The bottom line is that my abs are WORKING right now and I can already feel positive changes from the workouts. I knew it would be intense, so the pain neither intimidates me or surprises me.

What about you? Does the pain of a P90X workout invigorate you or discourage you from working out the next day?

I awoke early and found time to do my 10 Minute Abs workout by around 8am. I felt really good off the start, but there were a few of the exercises that I was unable to do because you have to balance on the sides of your feet and ankles and that is virtually impossible right now.

So I skipped about 2 minutes worth of the workout and, while watching the video, I kept thinking to myself …

“Tony Horton, you are a criminal! You should be locked up for making so many people hurt this much!”

It was all, of course, in jest. I love the hurt. It means I’m doing something positive to my body.

Then I scrambled to keep up with the video.

When it was all said and done, my core was tight as a guitar string and I felt very blocky as I made my way up the stairs. I spent the rest of the day trying to recover. I felt it especially in my hip flexors. I think adding a day of Stretching in there is brilliant as the amount of tightness you feel from back to back ab workouts is pretty intense.

Abs are the funniest things. You work them to failure and then marvel at how you can’t even hold your own body weight upright while getting out of bed.

It’s stopped hurting, though …. okay, it’s not pain so much as it is discomfort and complete numbness combined with mini spasms that make my muscles incredibly weak. I laugh now, more than anything, when I do collapse. I find it funny.

But I was unable to do my second 10 Minute Abs workout tonight. My team had a basketball game and rain or shine, I have to be there. So that took me to midnight (where I am now) and I don’t really wanna lose another 30 minutes of sleep.

And really, after taking a half day to analyze how my body feels, in conjunction with advice from my new friend (Jeff) and my wife, I’ve decided to scale back the scope of my workouts. I’m gonna drop to 1 ab workout daily with ARX being every second day. And I’ll build from that, I think. Once I feel like my body can take an extra workout, I’ll do it. I’ll take it one day at a time. Pushing my body to its limits and seeing what I can accomplish.

But for the here and now … once a day is good enough.

Wow …. just …… WOW.

What the hell was I thinking?!?!? I committed to this for 30 straight days?!?!

Wow ….

So life got in the way this morning and I was unable to do my 10 Minute Ab workout as scheduled. By the time my “adult” responsibilities were done, it was 2:00pm and I did not wanna do 2 strenuous ab workouts within 6 or 7 hours of each other. So I skipped this morning’s workout.

And boy am I glad I did.

I did ARX (Ab Ripper X) as scheduled in the evening and man, did it hurt. After I stopped gasping for breath and hyperventilating, I thought about things and this is what I came up with ….

1. I have a fractured ankle.
2. I haven’t done physical activity of any kind in over a week
3. I haven’t done any P90X workouts in over 40 days

And through this all, I am committing to 2 massive ab workouts DAILY!

I must be insane.

Tonight’s ARX was intense. I started off okay, but by the time crunchy frogs came, I was struggling – and that was about 4 or 5 minutes in! But I stayed with it and did every rep (with breaks in between) up until Mason Twists, where my body literally gave out after 35 reps – even with breaks in between! I got to a point where I couldn’t even hold my upper body up at an angle!

So I decided that, rather than try to be a hero, I would simply stop and live to fight valiantly another day.

This is gonna be tougher than I thought.

It’s no secret that I have fractured an ankle.

Since that happened, I’ve been given a 4-6 week MINIMUM prognosis for return to health. More likely targets put me at 8-10 weeks including rehab. So in thinking about stuff this week, I came upon a few key realizations regarding my health this basketball season:

1. My Cardio is gonna disappear.
2. My Leg Strength – particularly the Left – is gonna disappear.
3. My Abs are gonna get jellier than they’ve ever been.
4. My basketball skills are gonna rust.
5. I am unable to do any of the major P90X routines for the first 30 days

I am unable to do anything about 1, 2, 4 and 5 as they require a fully functioning leg to deal with. But #3 …. number three I am able to control.

As one of my most favourite all-time poems says ….

Do not go gently into that good night …. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And so, I intend to rage. In thinking about what I was going to do, I have opted for a 30 Day Ab Challenge using only Ab Ripper X and 10 Minute Abs.

I have a feeling that the first 14 days are gonna feel like being kicked in the stomach by a mule … daily. But I am determined now, more than ever, to do SOMETHING for my own health and well being. Having the next 2 to 2 1/2 months off doing NOTHING is simply unacceptable. I cannot sit idly by and watch as all the work that I have done to get back in shape over the last year and a half simply withers away.

And really, what better way to use the first 30 days of prescribed inactivity than to blast my abs in a Gerard Butler kind of way?!?! It can ONLY benefit my core and my game to have nice, strong abs. Plus my wife will love it too …. the finished product, not the journey that has me groaning and begging for mercy for the first 20 days or so.

I don’t know what will happen, but it should be an interesting experiment.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

So what am I planning on doing for the next 30 days?

Well, Tony Horton says that we don’t NEED to work our abs every day. And I agree with him – we don’t NEED to. But we COULD, if we WANTED to …

In a worst case scenario, when the going gets tough, the t0ugher are gonna do Ab Ripper X every second day and in between, the full 10 Minute Abs routine – twice a day! Once in the morning and once in the evening.

Oh yes, I’m gonna try to go the Conan route!

Tomorrow is gonna be Mega Abs – Day 1.

Spartan Warriors aren’t born, you know. They’re Fabricated.

One of the BEST things that I can advise people to do when deciding to revisit P90X once their first cycle is complete is this: EASE INTO IT.

If you were anything like I was, after finishing my P90X cycle, I took some time off. Most of my own personal reasoning was that it was intended to be a rehab boot camp, so to speak. See, in February 2007, I herniated 2 discs in my lower back (L4 and L5) and after trying conventional rehab for 1 year, I wasn’t where I wanted to be and I was unhappy.

I had been living for over a year with an injury that terrified me. I had thought that if I didn’t take it easy and just do nothing, I’d further injure my back and I’d be left crippled … or worse, paralyzed! I worried about surgery and the recovery, the possibilities of failure of said surgery and the implications that would bring. I worried about feeling the pain any time I did anything … it was a personal jail cell of fear.

I read a book called “A Consultation with The Back Doctor” by Hamilton Hall – it was a gift from my mother in law (Christmas 2008) – and one of the things that stood out for me and REALLY made me rethink my stance on my injury was this:

“Pain does not equal permanent damage”

So I decided that perhaps it was time to change perspectives. I decided to BLAST my body with a full body workout, pain be damned. I chose P90X based on my brother’s advice. And that first month (May 2009) was a lesson in self torture. But little by little, my back pain left. And by the fall of 2009, I was a new man. I was back to playing basketball without any pain and actually IMPROVED my game. I got compliments on my new physique and conditioning and I felt great!

I didn’t touch my P90X DVDs again until April 2010, when my basketball season was done and I was ready to take the next step. Where I used P90X in 2009 for rehab and to improve my quality of life, this year (2010) I was using it to increase my overall physical performances, especially in relation to basketball. I felt good! But I guess my body was not as good as I imagined it to be.

I started off with P90X, as prescribed, but decided to add in Bike Riding to work AND basketball twice a week in conjunction with my P90X – I thought I could handle it. I wanted FASTER results. I figured, I made it past Day 75, so I was ready to go HARD into fitness. Problem was, my mind was ready but my body was NOT.

I got tendinitis in my knee (May 2010) and then sprained my ankle later in the summer and that was pretty much it for my cross training off-season this year. It’s taken me almost 4 months to recover from the injuries I sustained due to negligence.

I got greedy ….. Lesson Learned.

My mind may have been ready to go hard, but my body had to be retaught what it is to be a P90X machine. It had to LEARN how to combine multiple demanding daily activities a little bit at a time. And my pain is YOUR gain.

Here is my advice …..

Don’t rush into a second cycle of P90X, or increase the workload that you do, physically, without a period of adjustment. Let your body get used to the persistent self-ass kickings and then, one by one, introduce new activities to the formula, otherwise, you’ll be like me!

I find that I have regressed, physically. My belly is back, my cardio is down, my muscle tone is less than it used to be and my overall conditioning has tailed off significantly. I suppose I could try out P90X again, but with winter back on us, I find that my time is non-existent right now for a P90X program. It is something I am willing to revisit once things quiet down a bit and once my body is used to the grind of 2 – 2 hour practices and 1 – 2 hour game per week.

But I will be back. I’ve got the fire in me to go at it again. And that is all you REALLY need aside from time, to do a second cycle of P90X: The Desire.

How about you? Do you have that fire?

I think the thing that I am asked MOST about P90X is “Do I HAVE to follow the diet?”

My answer is always the same: “No, you don’t HAVE to, but it will help speed up the results you want to see.”

See, the diet portion of the P90X cycle is EASILY one of the hardest things to follow and, I think, one of the things that people fear the most. I have noticed that just hearing the word DIET makes people second guess trying the P90X program out. It just scares people away! People go:

“Oh, uh, diet? Yeah, well … uh … I go to the gym .. and, uh …. I lift weights and shit, so I’m good …. I don’t need no stinking diet …”

People think that just because you are on a “diet” it means that you have to survive on celery sticks and water for the full 90 days. That could not be further from the truth.

Now, PERSONALLY, I didn’t follow the diet to a “T” but I tried to stick to the ideals and the suggestions as much as possible. My own experience was that it was very rewarding. I lost about 35lbs in 90 days and completely eliminated the upset stomachs and the mood swings I had (something I attribute to my sugar intake).

The P90X diet consists of 4 basic principles that you have to observe at all times to see results:

1. Watch your Carbohydrate intake - You need to hit a “sweet spot” of carbs ingested to carbs burned at the end of the day. There are a ton of great websites out there that can help you figure this out, if you are willing to invest the time and energy into this. This means a lot of label reading and addition, for the math dummies out there.

2. Eat High Protein Foods – This will help rebuild muscle tissue that is torn from workouts (that’s how you build muscle), it will help with muscle recovery between workouts AND it will help increase your energy level during the P90X cycle – and trust me, you’ll need ALL the energy you can get.

3. Eliminate (not reduce) intake of foods high in Sodium, Refined Sugars, Fat, Caffeine and cholesterol - This includes 95% of canned foods, all soda pops, confections (pies, cakes, cookies, etc), candies, chips, donuts, coffee and every other typical unhealthy food you can think of. This helps your body detox and get rid of excess chemicals and toxins a lot faster when on the P90X program. This is EASILY the hardest part of the diet as most people are prisoners to junk food. Hey, I’m one of them, man.

4. Increase intake of water, veggies and fruit - For obvious reasons, eating a carrot or an apple is healthier than a can of coke. But more than this, eating fruits will help replenish the sugars you are used to intaking as well as adding antioxidants and vitamins to your diet. Most adults don’t get enough vitamins as it is, so this influx of fruits and veggies can ONLY be a good thing. As for veggies, they can give you everything from Vitamin A (carrots) to Vitamin C (green peppers), Calcium (Kale and Green Peppers) to anything else your body needs to stay energetic and active. Personally, I noticed a HUGE difference once I started to drink more water and eat more fruits. I suffered from upset stomachs a lot less, felt more vibrant and happier and found that foods tasted better in general. Eventually I got so that I did not MISS the junk food and noticed how unhealthy those foods made me feel when I DID eat them!

Now, if you DON’T follow the diet as specified in the book, but you follow the 4 points above, you will see and feel some change. But if you follow the diet as it is outlined, your changes will be shown threefold! See, the diet has been designed with 3 specific stages in mind. Each stage helps you reach a new level of physical performance and output which is crucial to the P90X routine.

These 3 phases are:

1. Fat Shredder - You eat foods high in protein to build muscle and lose fat and eliminate most carbs from your diet. This is easily the hardest part as you will find that you will be hungry most of the time and you will basically go into sugar or caffeine shock as you have to cut out all your favourite foods, cold turkey.

2. Energy Booster - You eat a combination of carbohydrates and protein with low-fat foods to increase your energy level. This stage allows you to start feeling a little more human as you are FULL more and you are given more energy by the foods you eat.

3.  Endurance Maximizer - You consume complex carbohydrates, lean proteins, and low calorie fats to provide you with the stamina necessary to push through the final 30 days of your workouts and maximize results.

Now let’s get to the MOST IMPORTANT thing about the diet which is … THE FOOD! I mean, really, if the food choices you are allowed to ingest are constricting (or limited), then no one will follow the diet. Fortunately, the Diet requirements are nothing more than watching what you eat. I have been able to eat everything from beef to pasta, with the only stipulation being portion control.

So WHAT is Portion Control?

Portion Control is understanding how much a serving size is and how many calories a serving contains. Portion control is important for weight management as any weight gain is determined by the total calorie intake minus the total calories burned. IN a nutshell, it is eating a healthy balance of varied foods in controlled amounts.

Now, the amount of food we eat is affected (subconsciously) by emotional and stress related factors. If you’ve ever gone to the fridge to get some ice cream or cookies when you feel stressed out or upset about something, that is what I am talking about. Or if you happen to LOVE buffets and eat like you were going into hibernation, then yeah …. you suffer from poor portion control habits. But we’re all susceptible to that. Part of it is a survival mechanism, but unlike a thousand years ago, we’ll never see famine or any type of nomadic journey that requires us to ingest an ungodly amount of food for the sake of our very existence. I think recently it has more to do with the fact that we’ve been trained to drown our sorrows in food and to gorge whenever we get the chance. It’s easy … and more than that, it lines the pockets of food companies.

SIDE STORY TIME!

Ever noticed HOW MANY ads there are on TV for pizza, burgers and food in general? It’s mind blowing! And then they follow that up with ads for fitness, weight loss, and artificial beauty enhancers (makeup, hair colouring, clothing, cosmetic surgery)!

Eat to your heart’s content! Order a pizza! And then after you’ve made a complete pig of yourself, go work out or spend some money and get pretty, because you’re not good enough the way you are!

It is astounding the way that we are marketed to nowadays. And the thing is that it works on most people!

Free your minds!

If you want to learn what you can do about Portion Control, have a look at Fitbomb’s Guide to Portion Control. I agree with what he has written and it is easier for me to link to it than write (or plagiarize) the whole thing.

If you can master Portion Control, watch your carbs, eat more fruit, veggies, protein and eliminate the junk food, then your battle is about 60% done. The other 40% is mustering and maintaining the willpower to stick to this routine for 90 days – and maybe afterwards too. Cuz really, the 3 phases of the P90X diet are combinations of the 4 diet principles I have listed above, so they are easy in and of themselves once you wrap your head around the principles.

Do it big, people! It’s not as hard as it seems and the reward is definitely worth the sacrifice!

Adversity or Opportunity?

How do you classify something negative that happens to you?

I suppose it all depends on whether or not you are in a good mood that day? Or whether or not your mind is centered?

I found out today that I fractured my ankle. Basketball injury. Freak accident; landed on someone’s foot and someone else landed on my leg as I was coming down. Spent 2 days of excruciating pain before I gave in and went to the doctor’s.

Long story short, I am out for 4-6 weeks. It means a loss of approximately 3 or 4 games in my season as well as 5 or 6 practices. It means losing cardio, strength and rhythm in my game.

Or does it?

This situation represents an opportunity to return to P90X, if only for a month or two.

When it first happened, my first thought was: “Aw crap. That sucks.”

But the more I thought about it, the more I was happy with it. Not because I get to miss games but because I get a chance to go back to basics. Strengthening the joints and muscles, my core, cardio work …. I am looking at this as an opportunity right now. An opportunity to do right by me. To NOT lose a step. To prove to myself that I can work past injuries and find different ways to get it done.

Maybe I can come back with better conditioning. Maybe I can come back with a stronger core, better abs and a stronger back. Maybe I can rehab my ankles with Plyo. Maybe I can work out my legs and back.

Bottom line: I refuse to get down about this.

I’ve been through too much to let this injury derail any positive momentum I had going into the season or into my second year of P90X. And really, it could have been a LOT worse … don’t click the link if you are squeamish …

Opportunity springs from adversity …

It’s all in your mind …

I’ve always been a fan of Biggest Loser. Always.

I’ve loved the premise, the way that the game is played in comparison to other reality elimination shows and the camaraderie that is shared by its participants. The nation just seems to rally and be more positive during this show. It has a good, old fashioned, POSITIVE message: Being healthy is important for a long life and nothing worth doing is easy.

But I was always SHY of admitting that I DID watch it. I guess it’s because I watched it, in part, just so I could laugh at all the fat chicks trying to do pushups. And partly it was just so I could feel better about myself, like: “Well, at least I’m not THAT fat.” Looking back on my shallowness, it actually kind of shames me.

But when I suffered the herniated discs in my lower back in 2007, I watched the show with a completely different focus and new found insight.

Where I first watched the show as a guilty pleasure, I now watched it as a human being with compassion and empathy. Where I once watched “fat people trying to get thin”, I now watched people trying to improve their quality of life, just as I was trying to do with my back. The show that year tugged at my heartstrings and it was one of the main reasons I decided to opt for P90X.

Ever since then, I PROUDLY watch the show and profess its virtues.

I’ve had the theme song (Proud – Heather Small) as a Song of the Week on my blog.

It’s not about the WEIGHT. It’s about the journey: From broken to fixed, healing whatever is inside you in order to make that change. Working HARD to meet your own goals. Not doing it because you wanna look like someone else, but because you don’t wanna die before your time. You wanna see your family grow up. You want a better life for yourself.

Well, I’ve been watching this year’s edition of The Biggest Loser and have been gripped by the twists and turns. 2 shows ago a player chose to have absolute power in the game and stabbed her “friends” in the back, come weigh-in time. The ramifications last week were shocking as well, as the contestants had to make do without their kitchen and ONLY order out ALL week. The weigh in proved to be unpredictable, but not in the way you would have expected. One of the contestants has proven to be a real snake and I have gotten so into the show this year that I think I actually dislike this individual as a human being! It’s crazy.

……. Okay, I get it. I get it.

I see the blank stares. It’s a reality TV Show and it’s spawned a legion of Marketing doodads (coffee mugs, soundtracks, cookbooks, diet books, supplements, work out gear) that do no more than pander for your hard earned dollar. It’s corporate. It’s lame. And it’s a turnoff in the same way that people are turned off by Survivor or Big Brother. But don’t blame the participants for the way their hard work and good intentions are whored out to the masses for a quick buck; Blame the heartless NBC execs who are more than willing to sell out a noble purpose for the bottom line and a “fat” payday.

The core of the show, though, it is a noble endeavour: People wanting to change their lives – taking charge! – and putting in the work necessary to do it. For health or family (or sometimes more superficial) reasons, the show IS what P90X is all about: making choices and making changes. Suffering through the workouts. Eating healthier. Learning about yourself and what you CAN achieve. Finding the desire and the heart to keep going. Beating the odds and looking great afterwards.

Trust me, watch the show. But don’t watch it as a regular TV audience member. Watch it as a P90X practicing human being and put yourself in the shoes of the individual. It is hard, sometimes, for your soul to not be moved by the people IN the show.

The contestants are currently on Week 6. New episode tomorrow at 8:00pm. If nothing else, PVR it and watch it when you feel like you DON’T wanna work out.

This is a show that I consistently turn to when I feel down about my workouts. Watching other human beings go through the motions like we do ….. it makes the struggle easier. Especially if you work out on your own.

I love the Biggest Loser.

Taking a cue from a new friend, I have decided to try something new.

Originally, I had made my blog open to comments from people who signed up for an account ONLY. This was, in part, due to the tendency to have spam posted onto your blog. It was something I read about a few months ago to do with online safety and spamming tactics.

Problem was, I wasn’t having any interaction with anyone from the outside world – I guess people didn’t wanna subscribe to see me make an ass of myself.

But after 2 years and many starts, re-starts, stops and failings, I have decided that my journey is NORMAL and that perhaps I would do better if I had some more social interactions with other P90X users who are, perhaps, not eager to create another user name and password to remember.

So I have opened up my blog for comments to everyone.

It’ll be an experiment, I think. And if it fails, maybe I’ll shut it down and make the comment feature accessible only to registered users again. But for now …. here I am, world!

changes are in the works. patience please

Over the last few weeks, I have been logging on here and thinking that I might wanna change the LOOK of the webpage as I am not happy with the drab colour scheme. Grey is pretty simple, which is what I wanted, but it is almost depressing which is NOT the message I wanna convey as a writer to my audience.

So I am gonna play around with layouts and colour schemes til I find something that works for me. So please be patient with the upcoming changes. I’ll settle on something soon and will have it be pretty seamless.

It’s been a long time since my last P90X workouts and I don’t forsee them getting any nearer, any time soon.

Basketball season has finally arrived and I am now practicing twice a week with a game once a week. So that is 3 times a week where I am getting some pretty intense cardio done. The remainder of the week is just me usually just watching what I eat and icing my knees and ankles in order to prep for the next week.

My knee, meanwhile, has completely healed and I am back to running and doing activities like walking and kneeling without any pain whatsoever. Looks like all it needed was rest after all! I mean, the scar tissue in my left knee still swells and is uncomfortable for a few days after a game, but that is nothing new to me. It’s more the excruciating stabbing pain that is gone now and that is all I needed.

This is all well and good, but it looks like in the meantime, this blog will go into a slight P90X content hibernation – at least, until next spring.

So what I intend on doing is continuing blogging here, but more to do with nutrition and other interesting health based factoids that I find.

I hope people keep coming back and reading as they did before. And hey, eventually I’ll be back at the P90X, so just be patient with me, okay?

And as always, I welcome any reader comments, questions, concerns or ideas. Holla!