My 6 Pack
P90X- Day 5
Today begins with Chest and Back and is to be followed with my favorite (just kidding) Ab Ripper X.
I got into my workout clothes immediately after breakfast and started getting my exercise necessities together. The Chest and Back routine will last for 58 minutes and all that is required is water, a mat and the intestinal fortitude to stick with it for the full session. At least I have the water and floor mat…lol
The Chest and Back workout involves a special group of muscles, muscles that can only be worked out efficiently by doing a series of chin ups (pull ups) or pushups. Today was a combination of both. Pushups with legs spread apart wide and hands close together (thumb and fore finger of left hand touching thumb and fore finger of right hand). My instructor and his team did between 15 and 25 (I did considerably less). Then it was chin up time. Since I do not yet have a chin up bar, I did a series of pull ups with the bands. No where near as difficult as the chin ups were, but at least I wasn’t sitting there doing nothing. I have already compared quality and pricing on various chin up bars and soon I will be pulling myself up, chin to bar (I will probably do 1 for every 5 or 10 they do – but that’s okay).
The entire routine today was continuous switching from various types of pushups (legs apart, legs together, arms wide apart or closer, elbows in, elbows out, feet on a chair or with bent knee). There was even one type of pushup where your body swung like a pendulum, down and forward, lifting your upper torso high up before swinging back to the original position (like a cat with arched back). Yes, I did them all, starting out like the manly man I am…until 5 or 10 pushups were behind me. At that point, it was knees on the ground, while I squeezed out another 5 or 10 the girly girl way. I like the girly girl way…A LOT!
Once the routine was over I decided to get right into the Ab Ripper X dvd. If you remember my Blog posting from last Friday, I didn’t get past 8 or 9 minutes before having to stop, from exhaustion. My goal today was to last at least 9 or 10 minutes. I made it past 11 before running out of water, thus ending my workout for the day. Since Ab Ripper X is added to each Monday, Wednesday and Friday routine, I am sure by the end of this week I will be completing the entire 16 minute program. But don’t get me wrong…that doesn’t mean I can complete each exercise as they want me to. It will take awhile before I will be able to bend and crunch the way they do – or maybe I never will. But at least I am trying.
One of the encouraging things that the instructor said during the Chest and Back routine is that form or quality is more important than quantity. He also suggested that one should not worry about quantity during the first month of P90X…that will come with time. First, the focus should be on perfecting the form of the movement to maximize the efficiency of the workout…Wise Words.
I do like running every day but I think I will change my 3 mile running schedule to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays…the days when there is only one P90X routine to complete. Monday, Wednesday and Friday routines have the added Ab Ripper X … I think that will be enough for one day, at least while I am training my body to do things it really doesn’t want to do.
Yesterday, Kerry and I went to our first Christmas party of the season. It was great seeing neighbors and friends (and new people too) gather around to share conversation, food and drink. I have a real hard time saying no to my favorite foods…so I said yes, but with Portion Control determination.
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