Round 6 - Week 13

This is a Recovery Week

MONDAY - August 23, 2010 - Yoga X
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This is the last week of the Round, and I really wanted to do Yoga X right. During most of the Vinyasa section I was able to concentrate on my breath and movements more than I have in the past. Everything was going fine, and I felt really strong. However, I started losing concentration after the Chair Poses. I even fell during one of the Half Moons. The balance postures and crane were a joke. I don't think I held any of the balance postures on my left leg more than 10 seconds, and I'm not even sure I held Crane for 10 consecutive seconds at any point. The right leg balances were a little better, but not much. I was so inflexible, I could barely get into the Seated Spinal Stretch.. I did a lot of yard work yesterday, so that may have contributed to my lack of flexibility. Despite all that, I did make progress in the concentration area, so that's something to build on. Calorie burn was 535. A bit low for Yoga X, but my last few sessions have all been low.

TUESDAY - August 24, 2010 - Core Synergistics
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I'm still not a fan of this workout, but I told myself before it started that it wasn't so bad, and to have fun with it. On the third move in, the Leaning Crescent Lunges, that idea started to go out the window. However, I still pushed myself. I realize I don't have to like a workout to work hard and get something out of it. I always sweat like crazy when I'm done with this one, and today was no exception. I burned 548 calories, which is about average for this workout.

WEDNESDAY - August 25, 2010 - Cardio X
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Once again, I did the modified version of Cardio X that I tried last month. I did the warmup, skipped the Yoga section, did the Kenpo, Plyo, Core sections, then repeated the Kenpo, Plyo, Core sections, and finished with the cooldown. A 58 minute workout, and I burned 573 calories. Cardio X never really tired me out completely until I did it this way. Now I'm dripping in sweat, and totally worn out. Once again, I deem the modified version a complete success.

THURSDAY - August 26, 2010 - X Stretch
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I'm excited. Today was one of those breakthrough moments, one of those "little victories" I speak about. Why? Today I layed flat on my back during the Back Hero Pose. That's right, I was "taking a nap" with Shawna. When people talk about P90X, it's how good they look, how much weight they've lost, their six-pack abs, how many pushups or pullups they can do, how much weight they lifted, and all that is very important, even to me. However, nobody talks about the flexibility it gives you. No man at my age should be able to get on their knees, lean back, and lay flat on the floor, but I can. Thank you P90X. (Calorie burn was 193.)

FRIDAY - August 27, 2010 - Core Synergistics
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Looks like I'm finishing up this round strong. I was up early this morning to play golf, came home and did Core almost immediately because I have to be out the door soon. Also, my dad had some surgery today that I was little anxious and stressed about. Just before I started the workout, my mom called to say everything went OK. So my heart was pumpin' a bit before I even started the workout. As I've mentioned before Core is not exactly my favorite routine, but I flew through it today with no problems (probably on adrenaline alone), and burned 646 calories, which is by far the most I've ever burned on Core, and the third most I've burned on any workout this round. I'm very pleased.

SATURDAY - August 28, 2010 - Yoga X
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Today is my 53rd birthday and my last day of my 6th Round of P90X. I finished it up with Yoga X. The last few days have been quite hectic. I'm eating like crap and not getting any sleep, I'm still concerned about my dad, and the last thing I wanted to do after I got home from an 8 hour fantasy football draft today was 90 minutes of Yoga X. I've been so looking forward to the end of this round just to give my body a break, so for the first part of the workout I was thinking "let's just get this over with". However, at some point I did let all the other stuff that's been going on take a back seat, and I concentrated on making it a good workout. I held all my Warrior 3 / Half-Moons and most of my balance poses. I was in and out of Crane, but was probably in it more than out. By the end of the workout I was a lot more relaxed than when I started. The heart rate monitor says I burned 686 calories, which is the most for any workout this round. I don't know if it's because my heart rate is elevated because I'm anxious about other things, or what the reason, but if 686 calories burned is correct, I'll take it.

All that's left is tomorrow's weigh in. I'm not expecting good results because of the poor eating this week, but it is what it is, and I'll move forward.

SUNDAY - August 29, 2010 - Weigh In
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WEIGHT: 174.3; BODY FAT: 22.1%

I lost .3 lbs, which is a total shock. As I mentioned last week, I had wanted to get under 174.0, but I ate so poorly the last few days, I seriously wouldn't have been surprised if I'd put on 5 lbs. However, I did have very high calorie burns on the last two workouts, and I think my metabolism is at the point where I can still eat poorly for a few days and still be able to have it burned off. I'm not going to use that as an excuse to continue to eat bad, but a few days here and there isn't going to kill me.

I started the Round at 177.5 lbs with 22.7% body fat. Therefore, I lost 3.2 lbs for the round and .6% on my body fat percentage. Those might not seem like big numbers to someone looking in, but I'm at the point where losing a pound here and there is tough. I still need to eat better, which will get the body fat % down, so I'm not going to be complacent here, but overall I'm feeling pretty good about the results.

Combine all that with the fact that I increased my reps or lifted more weight on a lot of the exercises, even doing some moves I couldn't do before, and I'm very happy.

My only regret is that I didn't stick to the Nutrition Plan as well as I'd hoped to. I started out with good intentions, but kind of got off track and lost my way around week 3. I still ate fairly well, and had it in the back of my mind most of the time, but there were periods where I just didn't feel like taking the time to cook or prepare a proper meal. That's a mindset I need to continue to work on. I also have to decide how important it is to me as an individual, because there's times when being told what I can and can't eat makes me miserable, and as I said before, making myself feel miserable is not what this is about. I'm sure there's a happy balance somewhere in between stuffing my face with pizza, fast food, sweets, and junk food everyday, and not being able to eat any of it at all. I have to find that balance that works for me, and then stick to it.

The end of each round for me is always bittersweet. In one way, I'm glad I don't have to beat my body up for a while, but at the same time I miss the structure of the program, and the working towards the 90 day finish line. As in the past, I'll continue to do the cardio workouts on a set schedule until I decide to do my next round, but that may be a while. I started Round 5 on Valentine's Day and only took a two week break before starting Round 6. My body is pretty beat up right now and needs a rest. I'll throw some weightlifting in once in a while, along with some pullups and pushups periodically, but for the most part it'll be cardio for a least a few months.

I'll still be posting my progress through the Cardio period, but perhaps not every day. I'll at least post my weigh-ins and thoughts on a weekly basis.

I do want to say that posting on this blog has been very therapeutic. By doing so, I'm able to get my thoughts together, find out what's working and what isn't, and what I need to do to make things better. It's now become a very important part of my P90X experience.