P90X: Day 2

Subtitle: Holy shitballs, everything below my neck is tapped out.

Soooo.... I asked P for P90X for Christmas.  And he got it for me.  I have a good history with workout tapes.  Or DVDs, whatever.  When I first started trying to lose weight in 2007, I started with Tae Bo.  And it really helped me.  Eventually it got too easy and became my "fun" workout.  But I was always (and still am) glad to have it on tap for rainy mornings, or freezing cold mornings, or bored mornings, or short-on-time mornings.  I also have a yoga DVD that I still pop in on occasion.  And I love it.  It is my go-to for stretching.  In fact, the day after the EP5K?  Yoga DVD.  For a triathlete, there is something really nice about not having to leave your bedroom to get a workout in.

Anyways, I had seen the infomercials for P90X, and I had been intrigued.  For a long time, in fact.  Then I talked to a guy at work who dabbled in it, and he had nothing but good things to say.  And P had a buddy at work that said good things too.  And I want my old body back.  Or better. ;-)  So I asked for it for Christmas.

I haven't tried it until now because I'm in terrible shape.  I think I could have done great things with P90X before I had the Zig.  But now?  I struggle to complete my 100 crunches.  And I've always had a weak upper body.  And my legs were on vacation for 4 months, and I only started trying to get them back for real last month.  I read the book when I got the DVDs and figured I was in no shape to start.  I was really disappointed, actually.  But I didn't want to get hurt.

So last month I focused on getting something back.  I'm nowhere near where I want to be, but the other day I just got this itch in me, and I really wanted to try P90X.  So I did.  I started with no expectations.  I knew I wouldn't be able to hang with the whole DVD.  I have no real intention of doing the full 90 day program at this point.  As we learned last month, that kind of commitment is not flexible enough for me at this time in my (Zig's) life.  But I reckon I can add it to my morning rotation.

So yesterday morning I did Chest and Back X.  I felt totally tapped out as I was doing it.  I mean, after the first 20 push-ups I knew I was in trouble.  I struggled through the whole thing, resorting to only 5 "girlie-style" reps of the "weird" push-ups.  P hasn't installed my chin-up bar yet, but let's face it, if I had it, I wouldn't be able to do a single chin-up.  Instead I used a band for a lame (but still arm-kicking) modification.  My back was a little better off than my arms - I was able to do those without mods and for more time.  I made it through the whole DVD... well, I did every exercise.  What is really interesting to me is that my arms didn't really bother me for the rest of the day.  In fact, it is probably a figment of my imagination, but I felt stronger.  I knew that I'd be sore today, though, and I am.  Oh boy, am I sore!

Day 1 also calls for Ab Ripper X, which fits perfectly into my February core goal, so I did that when I got home from work.  Holy shitballs, that was a hellish 15 minutes of abs!!  I mean, I know I lost my entire core to the baby.  All of it.  But I think at my peak, when I was able to do Cores I, II, and III all in a row, I'd still struggle with this.  I mean, damn.  Ab kicker.  For serious.

This morning called for Plyometrics.  I knew going in that I'd need to mod the shit out of this to get through it because I have no intention of re-injuring my knee.  So that's what I did: as little jumping as possible.  But, holy shitballs, I still got my ass and legs kicked.  I don't think I've ever done so many squats.  When I got to work I could barely get up the stairs.  But again, interestingly, I don't feel awful.  I feel pretty good, but know I'll be sore tomorrow.

I'm curious at this point to see if I could get through a whole week of P90X, but I don't know if it is going to happen.  This morning I barely got out of the house in time, and 3:30am is about as early as my mind can handle for a wake-up call.  I think the rest of the DVDs are longer, so I don't know if I'll be able to do it... but then again, tomorrow is my last day of work this week, so maybe I can make something happen.

After only 2 days of P90X, I believe I can comfortably say that it would work.  If you do it, you'll get a good, possibly even great workout.  And if you completed the program I have no doubt your body would be better.  And more importantly, you'd be stronger.  If you're me, much stronger.  And I even think it would be great for the long term: since it is really weights and reps, you could always up your weight or reps, so it would continue to challenge you even as you got stronger.  I'm already envisioning it as a long-term addition to my workouts.  I'll keep blogging it to see where it goes.