This is HARD

Well, there always seems to be an excuse for not getting around to exercising... whether it's getting the flu, not sleeping enough and being too tired, the weather being too hot, having visitors staying with us... always something...

I think this will turn into an analysis of motivation and determination rather than a record of my exercise program. This process is teaching me a lot about myself and how weak my self determination is...

Anyway, I plan on starting up the program again in August and I'll keep you informed as to how things go.

OK... Let's try this again.

Well, I fell behind on blogging... then got sick for 3 weeks, then a week later my precious daughter Kiara Charlisse arrived, and then I had too many easy excuses to not exercise and feel the pain...

So what started out as a birthday gift to my wife has now turned into an Anniversary gift for our 10th wedding anniversary which is 90 days away.

Today is day 1 of my second round... please visit the blog often and keep me fired up to

BRING IT!!

Day 9: Putting the Intensity In...

Plyometrics again...! My goal by the end of 90 days is to love and look forward to this workout.

I have a buddy, Victor, who is joined me today to check out this P90X thing... He didn't know what he was in for... Ha ha ha!

So I started at 5:45 am. He jogged over from his house (about 15 min run) so he jumped in at about 6:00. I was able to put some more intensity into the workout today, but fatigued out really bad near the end. It is amazing how different my body is reacting though. I think my muscles got the message that we are going to be working out HARD and they have prepared themselves...

After the workout I drove Victor home... poor guy has roller hockey this week so I wanted him to be at least some use to his team. It's nice working out with another person. It makes it less likely for me to slack or stop too soon.

Heart Rate Monitor Report:
High: 171
Avg: 149
Calories: 572

Day 8: Bringing It Again!

Kickin' butt with Back and Chest and Ab Ripper X again today! It's amazing what a difference a week and some rest can make... I was able to do more today than I did in week 1 and I feel a lot better! I will still be sore, but nothing like last week. I was also surprised to be able to do 25 reps of every ab exercise expect 2! My form was ugly and I had to take some rest breaks, but I was able to do much more than I thought I was going to.

Maybe my extra success came from the extra help I got today with my workout. Brianna was with me for the full 1 hr 25 min. She would encourage me by telling "Dale Papi!" ("Do it Daddy"). It was so cute! She would also participate in almost every break as I would stretch and limber up.

Once I was done, Bibi even came to see what was going on and did a few exercises in my little home gym... I will post a picture of my gym in a few days. I just have to clear a bit of the clutter and it will be good for a picture.

Thanks for your comments everyone! Keep checking back!

Day 7: I'm behind... gotta catch up!

Today should normally be my rest day (or the X Stretcher is an option). However, since I took off days during the week, I did the Legs & Back exercises. This guy has some awesome moves! I'm not new to the gym or exercising, but I've never seen some of the moves he has us do. Other than fatiguing out during the wall squats, I did pretty well. The back exercises were pull ups and I could only By no means what the people on the video are doing, but I kept up on my own pace.

Tomorrow I start the same routine over again but this time I won't miss any days. The 2 workouts I missed completely this week were Yoga X and Kenpo X. We'll see how they are next week.

Day 6: I can point at the clouds!

OK, my recovery days are over and I'm back at it! I can lift my arms and almost squat...

I'm ready to "Bring It!!"

Today I did the Shoulders & Arms and the Ab Ripper X. I was pretty fatigued at the end of the shoulders part. Our shoulders are typically pretty weak anyway and I can already tell that I'll feel this for a couple days. I was able to do at least half of every workout in the Ab Ripper section today! A significant improvement from day 1.

I have also decided to take 4 Ibuprofen before my workouts to help with the pain. If needed I can take more throughout the day. I figure if I can stay limber and not have my muscles freeze up on me, my recovery will be faster.

Day 5: I'm not giving up...

I had very good intentions of doing a workout today... but I woke up late and had to rush to work, then the day got crazy busy and I even missed a scheduled lunch meeting cause I was interviewing someone. When I got home I played with Brianna and generally procrastinated till now and it's too late to start my workout... Isn't that some sweet justification on my part? A big contributor to the ease of procrastination is that I can barely reach my arm above my shoulder still and I can no longer slowly lower myself gently down onto the "throne" (which causes great pain upon landing...).

Thankfully, this 90 day process is also a Birthday Gift to my sexy wife! So I can't give up on it! I have my head in the right place, I just am letting my poor poor muscles recover for another day!

Today was supposed to be Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X. I will get to it!

Day 4: Extreme Pain

My rest day yesterday did not help my aching muscles... I am not only in pain today, I am also all stiff. I tried to warm up and just doing some quick jumping jacks was so painful that today will also be a rest day... more like a recovery day.

Today was supposed to be Yoga X... this is much worse than I though it was going to be...

Day 3: I have never had so much pain!

OK, so maybe I am in worse shape than I thought I was... I am in such excruciating pain in my back and chest from Day 1 that I can not even wash myself properly in the shower. Now my legs and abs are so soar from Plyometrics on Day 2 that I can barely get down on the carpet to play with Brianna, not to even mention getting back up... That must be done with the assistance of a table or chair or it won't happen.

With all that said, I decided to try to let my body recover for a day before doing the Shoulders and Arms plus Ab Ripper X workouts scheduled for Day 3. So this is an impromptu Rest Day for me to dose up on Ibuprofen and see how my body does at getting some of this lactic acid out of my muscles.

I'm going to try to double up on Day 5 to catch up...

Day 2: I hate Plyometrics

Today I was introduced to Plyometrics: Jump Exercises... I HATE Plyometrics!

I know my muscles are a little weak, so I can understand my sorry performance yesterday. But I've always prided myself about being able to stay in pretty good cardiovascular shape... to put it simply: I have no pride left.

This was a 1 hour session and 20 min into it I was looking at the clock wanting it to be over. On the lateral squat moves near the end I could barely step sideways, not even bending my knees... I am wiped out! See a video clip of the Plyometrics exercises under "Interesting Links" to the right.

Heart Rate Monitor Report:
High: 178
Avg: 148
Calories: 546

Day 1: OH MY GOODNESS...

OK, I knew this was an extreme workout... but I did not expect that!

I've just finished my first workout: Back & Chest and Ab Ripper X. I couldn't even do half of the reps on each set. Pathetic! Here's this 40-something trainer guy, Tony Horton, banging out multiple sets of 25 pull ups and multiple sets of 30+ push ups and I managed 5 pull ups, twice, and 15 push ups twice... after that I was just groaning in pain.

Then came the Ab Ripper... sets of 25 reps... I only got 15 reps on one of the exercises... I am dead tired and can already feel the pain I'm going to be in tomorrow.

This is going to kick my butt...

Day 1: Before Pictures

These are the six poses that the P90X program had me take before starting my 90 Day Challenge. We'll see how things look in 30, 60 & 90 days.

I know... this isn't the nicest thing to look at, but you chose to visit my blog... I didn't force you.




OK, let me have it with the wise cracks... I can handle it!!

Ready to Start

Well, tomorrow I start my training. I think staying consistent is going to be the biggest challenge. I will also need to get to bed much earlier than I usually do... my body is going to need to rest.

Anyway, my home gym is almost all done. A couple hooks on the walls to hang stuff is all that I still need to do. I guess my next post will be my before pictures... Oh well, I can put up with a bit of embarrassment... At least I'm not going to stay looking like I do right now.

Getting Ready

I am in the preparation stages of giving a 90 day gift to my wife for her 33rd birthday. I will do the 90-day P90X Extreme Fitness Program to get into excellent shape.

Bibi, my wife, is a certified personal trainer and has kept herself in amazing shape, even after our first child. Now she's pregnant with our second little girl and is still in top physical shape.

I, on the other hand, have more of a gut than I thought I EVER would! My posture is bad and I don't regularly exercise... so I know I'm not in very good shape.

Anyway, I finished installing my pull-up bar in the garage today and I plan to start Day 1 on February 15, 2009.

I will be posting my thoughts, progress and regular pictures if you're interested in following my 90 Day Challenge