My P90X Story: Day 5

I can honestly tell you...I was not looking forward to this workout. Legs....and back. My legs are still sore from earlier this week. Do we really have to do more legs? I guess that is why they call it P90...X!?!

This was a very interesting workout, but again I discovered something. I think that if you plan to work out with someone else, you need to have your own equipment as much as possible. It is just really hard, and slows things down a lot when you have to pause to share.

So....we got started late on this workout. We were trying to call my daughter who is staying the night at Grandma's house. Couldn't reach them...tried for nearly 20 minutes with no luck, so we finally gave up and started the workout....at 9:00 PM. Not too bad actually, but later than we would have liked. This was supposed to be a 59 minute workout. We didn't finish the workout until sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 PM...then we still had Ab Ripper X to do.

Since it was so late I decided that I was just going to try and keep up with the guys on the DVD as best I could, even if that meant not completing all 25 reps for each exercise. I think I did myself an injustice. I still ended up pausing for several because I wanted to do more than I was able to in time the DVD was doing 25. However, I short changed myself on a few of the exercises. Must do better next time.

Day 6: Kenpo X. I think I'm gonna sweat a lot.

Day 7: Rest.....The Lord's day. Sunday. Taking it off. Start it all again on Monday for week 2!!!

My P90X Story: Day 4

Can you say Yoga....X?!?!? I was actually looking forward to this workout. I thought it would be a little more relaxing and less strenuous since pretty much every muscle in my body hurts at this point.....I was wrong. Sort of.

This was a 90 minute workout. The first 45 minutes are pretty much constant movement from one pose to another. This was very difficult because I was unfamiliar with most of the poses, so I had to keep looking up to try and get it right, and some of the poses are hard to look up in. Also, I was getting tired. The first 45 minutes was pretty intense.

The last 45 minutes I felt was much easier, except for the whole balance part. I had a hard time balancing in a lot of these poses, so I don't know that I quite got what I should have out of the second half.

But, it was a good almost relaxing day in the middle of the workout week. Gave my legs a little bit of a rest, and when we got done, they didn't hurt as bad, even though we used them more.

My P90X Story: Day 3

Just completed Shoulders & Arms plus Ab Ripper X. I've gotta say I felt it a lot more on Ab Ripper x today. I decided to actually pause, and slow down a little so that I could do the full 25 on each exercise. It sucked I could barely do some of them, but at least I finished all of them (except for one of the exercises...I don't remember which one now).

Some advice for anyone who wants to d P90X that I discovered today...

1. Don't skimp on the weights. Make sure you have a good range.

2. Read through the exercise guide book before hand, and try to lift a weight for each exercise first.

3. Don't be afraid to have a really small weight for some of the lifts...it will make a huge difference.

4. Seriously consider getting the BowFlex Selectec dumb bells.

Basically, the Shoulder and Arm workout should have taken about 50-60 minutes. It took us 90 or a litter more because I had to keep changing weights on my dumb bell bars. Yes...I decided to go with the bars and adjustable weights thinking I would save a little money. I probably saved some money, but I made it much more difficult on myself. Basically, if you don't count the small bar I have a range of 5 to 35 pounds in increments of 5. This actually turned out to be a pretty good range, the problem is trying to change the weights quickly between exercises...or having to wait while my wife uses some of them as well.

Overall....very pleased with myself and my wife. We are sore and feeling it every day when we wake up....but we have 3 days down and 87 to go. We are gonna make it...and maybe when I'm done I'l post the before pics along with the after pics.

My P90X Story: Day 2

Just rocked day two of P90X. Okay....maybe not rocked, but it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be. Plyometrics today. Felt the burn about halfway through, but pushed through it and finished. Holy crap I sweat a lot. My shirt was completely soaked through. Good feeling though. Let's see how I feel tomorrow. Don't remember what tomorrow's workout is...I think its biceps & triceps plus Ab Ripper X. Yoga X on Thursday. Almost looking forward to that one, except for the fact that I am totally not flexible.

Good night everyone. See you tomorrow....if I can get out of bed.

My P90X Story: Day 1

So, it is now the end of the first day.

It was tough this morning, that is for sure. I did pretty good on the Chest & Back workouts. I completely died on the Ab Ripper X workout. I'm going to have to work really hard if I want to get those being effective.

It was an interesting experience this morning. My hip flexers were killing me, making it nearly impossible to even raise my legs off the ground. I was a bit sore for about half the day, but by the end of the day I wasn't doing too bad.

The diet part has definitely been the hardest part to this point. It took a bit to get all the shopping done over the weekend to pretty much change our entire diet. It took quite a bit of prep last night for today. Rachel did most of it because I wasn't quite sure what to do or how to do it. I did make my own lunch for tomorrow tonight. We'll see if things go as well tomorrow as they did today.

I'm really proud of myself...I resisted temptation on the diet twice today. At work, the Visitors' Center Director had brought donuts for those who helped unload the new exhibit shipment. Normally, I would've eaten 2 or 3 of them. I didn't even have one today. Then, after we finished that I headed over to my office. It was about snack time, and I was feeling a little hungry. Well, when I got to my office there was a partially eaten bag of M&M's on my desk that I had been given a week or so before. It was very tempting to eat them instead of the cashews that I had packed for my first snack. But, I resisted and didn't break the "diet".

My P90X Story: Motivation

Why did I decide to do P90X?

Well, it was first mentioned to me by my wife. She saw the infomercial about it, and thought that it would be a good idea for us to do it. We are pretty out of shape.

The real clincher for me though, was the fact that over the last month or so I have broken the buttons on two different pairs of paints, and had the zipper break out of a third. The clothes that I used to fit into (which were bigger than I ever really wanted to wear) were starting to get too tight to wear comfortably. I no longer have any clothes that I actually need to wear a belt with. I could wear every single pair of pants without a belt.

Just this morning, after day one of P90X I started to split the seam of a pair of pants just trying to put my socks and shoes on.

I took the before photos, which I am debating on posting because I am thoroughly embarrassed by what I see. I am doing P90X so that I never have to be embarrassed about having my shirt off again (even if it isn't off very often).

Two Choices

What would you do?....you make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. The question is: Would you have made the same choice? At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by any who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?' The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.' Then he told the following story: Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.' Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this juncture, do the others let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first! Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay' Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!' As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!' Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team. 'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'. Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day ! AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces. If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.' So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process? A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them. You now have two choices: 1. Delete 2. Forward May your day, be a Shay Day.