Round 6 - Week 6

This week was a "PLUS" week in my schedule. I do the P90X+ routines in the middle week of each phase, which is Weeks 2, 6, 10, 12. It means I'm never doing the exact same week back to back, which really adds to the "Muscle Confusion". The PLUS workouts are a lot shorter, in the 40-45 minute range, but they move a lot quicker, and they're more synergistic than the Classic Workouts. They're also more time-based, and don't really give you the chance to "Max-Rep" things. I'm not sure what's better, but I like the variety.

MONDAY - July 5, 2010 - Upper Plus
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I ate horribly on the 4th (hot dogs, hamburg, pasta salad, potato salad, ice cream, brownies), and I felt it today. I was sluggish the entire day. It took me an extra 12 minutes to complete the workout because I had to keep pushing pause. Some of the extra time was to write things down and adjust weights, but a lot of it was because of all the "sludge" in my body. However, I got through it, and my arms felt like "jello" afterwards, which is a good sign. Aside from the extra time needed, I felt it was a good workout. Prior to the beginning of this round, I bought a heart rate monitor which shows the calories burned for the workout, and also your average and max heart rates. Ultimately, I care more about the amount of reps I'm able to do than about the calories burned, but it's another factor in the equation to use as a comparison to past workouts. (Calories burned = 506, which is 20 more than last month, but that's factoring in an additional 5 minutes over the time it took me last month, so actually I think it was a less effective workout calorie wise.)

TUESDAY - July 6, 2010 - Interval X Plus
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Still feeling the effects of the 4th a bit, but not as bad as Monday. While doing the second of the 30 moves, I wondered how I was ever going to get through it. However, I pushed through, and finished it with no pauses. (Calories burned = 476, which is roughly what I did a month ago.)

WEDNESDAY - July 7, 2010 - Total Body Plus
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With the new Powerblock weights I have, I was able to adjust the weights for each move much easier. Last month I used 25lbs for the bicep moves and 13lbs for the triceps, 1/2 dervish, and Weighted Warrior. This time I used 25lbs for the biceps, 20lbs or 15lbs for the triceps, and 10lbs for 1/2 Dervish and Weighted Warrior. Overall, the rep counts were similar to last month, except for the 10lb exercises, which I did a few more reps of both. I might need to bump those back up to 12.5 lbs next time. Took a few small pauses to write things down and to adjust weights, and only a couple small ones to catch my breath. (Calories burned = 528, which is 40 less than last month.)

THURSDAY - July 8, 2010 - Yoga X
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I'm not one of these people that hates Yoga X. I can appreciate the importance of it. However, I have bad ankles and knees, which affects my balance, so some days I'm good with it, and some days I'm falling all over the place. There's also days where I'm relaxed, and other days when I can't "shut off my mind" as Tony says, and I can't wait to get through it. Today was one of those strange days where I was relatively relaxed, but still couldn't wait to get through it, especially the first half with all the vinyasas. My half-moons and balance postures were OK, but not perfect. They're the toughest for me. Overall, I only burned 500 calories, whereas I usually burn between 570 and 600 for Yoga X. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Was my heart rate down because I was more relaxed, or was it down because I was unconsciously "dogging it"?

FRIDAY - July 9, 2010 - Legs and Back
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I've never had a problem with the leg exercises, except for a few where I have to balance, such as the Super Skaters and the Deadlift Squats (again, the ankle thing). I used the bands for the pullup sections in my first four P90X rounds because doing real pullups was causing serious pain in my right elbow. In Rounds 5 and 6, I've been using the pullup bar to do them, and haven't had a lot of elbow pain. Last week I did 76 pullups throughout the workout, which was my record. Today, I was a bit sluggish because I had my first Whopper in 2 years, and I was feeling it. I started off weak on the pullups because the energy just wasn't there, but rallied in the second half to finish with 75 overall. I figure if I can do that many when I'm not feeling it, then I'm getting much better. (Burned 551 calories, which is about what I've been averaging for this workout.)

SATURDAY - July 10, 2010 - Kenpo Cardio Plus
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By far, my favorite workout. Kenpo X was my favorite from the Classic P90X, but this one is more synergistic. Most of the moves are combinations of the Kenpo X routine, with a few new ones thrown in. It's only 41 minutes long, but there's no down time. As Tony says in this one, "we're not just standing around doing blocks". Overall I thought it was a good, but not great workout. I caught myself being uncharacteristically uncoordinated for a few of the moves, and I totally butchered the "Gladiator" move. I still can't get that one down. I'm going to have to watch it in slow motion or something. (Calories burned = 404, which is 30 less than last month.)

SUNDAY - July 11, 2010 - Weigh In, and Abs/Core Plus
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I weigh in on Sunday mornings about an hour after I get up.

Today = 176.4 lbs and 22.6% Body Fat.
Last week was 175.8 and 22.4%.

A small increase, but I'm guessing the 4th binge and the Whopper Value Meal on Friday didn't help things. The rest of the week I ate pretty clean. Also, it was in the 90s most of the week with very high humidity. I didn't move around any more than I had to. Overall, my calorie counts were way down over the same workouts last month. Maybe I didn't have the energy because of the heat, or maybe because of the two days of poor eating, but whatever it was it's something I'll keep an eye on.

ABS/CORE PLUS: On Sundays I do the Ab Routines (Ab-RipperX on Classic Weeks and Abs/Core Plus on Plus Weeks) , as opposed to the Monday, Wednesday, Fridays they are normally scheduled for. I've done AbRipperX so many times in the past, I think my abs are strong enough, and I really don't want to extend those M/W/F workouts the extra 15 minutes. ABS/CORE is 20 moves in 20 minutes, and more core-centric than the ab-centric AbRipperX. I do still feel it a bit on Mondays, though not as much as AbRipperX. (Calories burned = 200, which is 36 less than last month.)