Monday, February 28, 2011

After Round 7 - Maintenance - Week of 2/28/11

MONDAY - February 28, 2011 - Plyometrics
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Time: 58:43
Calories Burned: 659
Heart Rate - Avg: 130 Max: 157

A good workout. My heart rate was up early, and I got a good calorie burn. My knees are still hurting a bit, but not as much as a few weeks ago, so I'm cautiously optimistic they're getting better. I'm still eating good. No excessive sugar.

TUESDAY - March 1, 2011 - Interval X Plus
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Time: 44:20
Calories Burned: 476
Heart Rate - Avg: 127 Max: 156

I felt pretty good throughout and got another good calorie burn. Had a Diet Pepsi with my lunch, but otherwise I'm still eating good.

WEDNESDAY - March 2, 2011 - Kenpo Cardio Plus
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Time: 41:40
Calories Burned: 360
Heart Rate - Avg: 114 Max: 142

Not a lot of energy today. I wasn't sluggish, but it just wasn't explosive. A low heart rate and calorie burn to show for it. No junk today again, but must figure out a way to have more energy for the workout.

THURSDAY - March 3, 2011 - Yoga X
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Time: 1:36:28
Calories Burned: 579
Heart Rate - Avg: 98 Max: 126

I was debating on whether to do Yoga X or X Stretch. I decided I wanted the extra calorie burn, so I decided to do Yoga X. I was expecting a phone call later in the evening, so I was hoping to get it in before that happened. Therefore, I started out feeling rushed, and then the phone rang 12 minutes into the workout, and the interruption totally threw me off for the remainder of the workout. It was one of the worst Yoga X workouts I've had in a long time. My mind was all over the place, my heart monitor was slipping down my chest, my balance stunk, and I just wanted to get it over with. There's days like that, and I'll move on. The energy has been down a bit the last few days, so this morning I stopped at Tim Horton's and got one of their bagel sandwiches and a large hot chocolate with whipped cream. It's the most junk I've eaten in a week, but I hoped it might jump start me. I'm not sure that happened, but it tasted good. The rest of the day I ate pretty clean.

FRIDAY - March 4, 2011 - Cardio X (Modified)
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Modification: Skipped Yoga section. Did Kenpo, Plyo, Core sections, then repeated them.
Time: 58:43
Calories Burned: 545
Heart Rate - Avg: 118 Max: 151

Not a great workout. There's days when this workout doesn't excite me, and today was one of those days. The energy stiil isn't there. I need to get that figured out. I just wasn't into it, and I certainly wasn't "Bringing It". I dread doing the Dreya Rolls. The entire routine, I'm thinking about doing them, and it brings down the mood of the entire rest of the workout. I had three squares of pizza for lunch. Not because I wanted them, but because everyone in the office ordered a party pizza, and I was too tired to try and figure out something on my own. The good part is that's all the junk I had. No pop. No snacks.

SATURDAY - March 5, 2011 - Kenpo X
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Time: 59:09
Calories Burned: 466
Heart Rate - Avg: 110 Max: 138

Just an average Kenpo X workout. At one point I looked ay my heart rate monitor and saw it wasn't working properly, so I'm thinking the heart rate and calorie burn numbers are a bit lower than they should be. I'm wondering if that's happened in the past, where I think I really "brought it", but the numbers weren't there. Ate clean again today.

SUNDAY - March 6, 2011 - Weigh In
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Weight: 179.7 Body Fat: 23.4%

An increase of .6 lbs and .3% Body Fat. I'm not sure why the increase. No sweets for the week, and only a few small pieces of pizza on Friday. I did have a few meals of whole wheat pasta with veggies, including one yesterday afternoon. Maybe that's it?

Monday, February 21, 2011

After Round 7 - Maintenance - Week of 2/21/11

Between Rounds Maintenance Schedule
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The Plan is to do the same cardio schedule I did between Rounds 6 and 7:
Monday - Plyometrics
Tuesday - Interval X Plus
Wednesday - Kenpo Cardio Plus
Thursday - Yoga X
Friday - Cardio X (My modified Double Cardio version)
Saturday - Kenpo X
Sunday - Rest

I may also throw in a week of P90X Plus here and there to keep the strength up.

Also, I'm going to be adding some daily notes on my Nutrition along with the info on my workouts. Hopefully, that will hold me more accountable.

MONDAY - February 21, 2011 - Plyometrics
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Time: 58:45 Pause Time: 0
Calories Burned: 630
Heart Rate - Avg: 127 Max: 156

I was a bit nervous about the cardio schedule because of my left knee situation, especially starting off with Plyo. However, I put the knee brace on and it seemed to hold up OK. I got a good workout in.

Nutrition: I ate like garbage yesterday (Sunday). I haven't been eating any junk lately so on the way back from grocery shopping I stopped and grabbed 2 Burger King Cheeseburgers. Not to justify things, but I haven't had one in months. I also made a homemade pizza with whole wheat dough and ate half of that. Today wasn't much better. Lunch today was a Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich along with fries and a "medium" diet coke, which looked like a tub of Diet Coke when I got it. Haven't had much of any of those items lately either. I just needed a few "bad" days.

Also, after doing a little label reading research yesterday, I found the Baked Beans I had twice last week were loaded with sugar. There are alternative flavors with hardly any sugar, so I bought those instead. However, the real eye-opener was how much sugar was in the Cliff Protein Bars I've been eating. I'm going to definitely cut down on them and see if it makes a difference.

TUESDAY - February 22, 2011 - Interval X Plus
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Time: 44:16 Pause Time: 0
Calories Burned: 450
Heart Rate - Avg: 124 Max: 154

I'm bummed a bit about my knee and my poor eating the last few days, so it was hard to get into the spirit of the workout. However, I still burned 450 calories, which is at the lower end of an Interval workout for me, but not far off from my average.

Nutrition: I really wanted to get back on track, as the poor eating is starting to get me depressed. I went back to my old breakfast of a Whole Wheat English Muffin with an egg, turkey bacon, and fat free cheese. When I got to the office I found someone had brought in a lot of sweets they didn't want. I held out for a while, but eventually caved, and had more than I should have. I realize it's affecting me mentally and phyically and I need to control it. I guess I just don't have a concrete plan. The P90X Nutrition Plan just doesn't seem to work for me, and I'm just feeling lost during the day right now. I've just been wanting to eat everything in sight. I did finish the day off with a Shakeology, which always makes me feel good.

WEDNESDAY - February 23, 2011 - Kenpo Cardio Plus
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Time: 41:41 Pause Time: 0
Calories Burned: 391
Heart Rate - Avg: 119 Max: 148

This was one of my best Kenpo Cardio workouts. I felt good, kept pace with all the moves, and pretty much kept my balance. The calorie burn wasn't my highest, but it was a success otherwise. Nutritionwise, I ate good all day. Except for about 4 very small pieces of some chocolate thingys in the late afternoon to keep my energy up, everything else was good. An apple and oatmeal for breakfast, chicken taco for lunch, and a salad with two chicken breasts and some beans (the low sugar ones) for dinner.

THURSDAY - February 24, 2011 - Yoga X
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Time: 1:35:00
Calories Burned: 605
Heart Rate - Avg: 100 Max: 133

My mind was wandering a lot, so I can't say this was a great workout. I was trying to concentrate, but found myself on auto-pilot a lot. I continued with my recent balance changes, and they worked OK in the vinyasa half, but I struggled with the Balance Postures on my left leg. Other than that, all was OK.

My eating was good and bad today. I started out good by passing up anything at Tim Horton's when I stopped to get something for a co-worker. However, a little while later, a company rep brought in some Tim Horton donuts. I ended up having a peanut one, but no more. Lunch was a tuna sub (forgot to order it on whole wheat), and I did have a can on Diet Pepsi. Post workout was an apple along with my regular low fat chocolate milk. I found myself really hungry afterwards and caved and finished the last two pieces of the pizza I'd made Sunday. It was on whole wheat, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I finished up with a Shakeology. It wasn't perfect, but it could have been a lot worse. No binges.

FRIDAY - February 25, 2011 - Cardio X (Modified)
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Modification: Skipped Yoga section. Did Kenpo, Plyo, Core sections, then repeated them.
Time: 58:26
Calories Burned: 537
Heart Rate - Avg: 118 Max: 150

I hadn't eaten enough during the day and had very little energy. Not a great workout, and not a good calorie burn. I ate good during the day. No junk at all. I just didn't eat enough.

SATURDAY - February 26, 2011 - Kenpo X
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Time: 58:56
Calories Burned: 506
Heart Rate - Avg: 114 Max: 150

This was one of my best Kenpo X workouts ever. As I began the actual workout (after the warmup), I decided I was going to concentrate on keeping my heart rate up, and went though each move with that in mind, all the way to the end. Throughout the workout I noticed my heart rate was higher than normal. However, for some reason, my calorie burn and average heart rate didn't reflect this. The only thing I can figure is that my heart rate was lower than usual during the warmup and first few moves, so this brought the averages down a bit. Regardless, I was very, very happy with the workout. I ate good again today. No junk, but again, I think I still need to eat more.

SUNDAY - February 27. 2011 - Weigh In
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Weight: 179.1 Body Fat: 23.1%

A loss of 2.4 lbs and .5% body fat. Great results. I basically concentrated on cutting down on the sugar. I stopped the Protein Bars after Tuesday, tried a lower sugar baked beans to go along with my chicken, and held myself back from eating excessive junk at work, even though it was available.

Monday, February 14, 2011

ROUND 7 - WEEK 13

This is a Recovery Week

MONDAY - February 14, 2011 - Yoga X
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Time: 1:34:58
Calories Burned: 738
Avg Heart Rate: 109
Max Heart Rate: 142

I felt pretty strong going in, and wanted to make this a good workout. I succeeded. It was one of my best Yoga X workouts ever. My mind didn't wander too much, and during the Vinyasas section I was able to concentrate on each move and tried to improve my balance my taking the weight off my inner heel and instead putting it on the front outer part of the foot. This was difficult to get used to, but it seemed to work. On the back foot of some of the moves I tried to do the same thing, but it was hard to keep my foot from rolling inwards. My ankles just don't bend that way. However, it's all a starting point, and I'll keep working at it. I pushed it during the second half of the workout also. My balance postures were OK, but not great, but everything else went well. I even held Crane for quite a bit of time. All in all, the extra effort seemed to pay off, as I burned 738 calories, which I believe is the most I've burned on any workout this round.

TUESDAY - February 15, 2011 - Core Synergistics
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Time: 57:49
Calories Burned: 577
Avg Heart Rate: 123
Max Heart Rate: 157

A good Core Synergistics workout. I did my best on all the moves. Can't ask for more than that.

WEDNESDAY - February 16, 2011 - Cardio X (Modified)
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MODIFICATION: Skipped the Yoga section. Did the Kenpo, Plyo, Core sections, then repeated them.
Time: 58:35
Calories Burned: 519
Avg Heart Rate: 115
Max Heart Rate: 150

I can't say the effort wasn't there, but the energy certainly wasn't. I just had no gas from the get go. I don't think I've been eating a lot of carbs lately, so that might have had something to do with it. I really noticed it in my Swing Kicks, as I felt like I was in slow motion.

THURSDAY - February 17, 2011 - X Stretch
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Time: 57:46
Calories Burned: 212
Avg Heart Rate: 86
Max Heart Rate: 106

Everything went pretty good. I had a bit of a problem getting back on Camel becuse my quads were tight, but I was able to get flat on my back during the last 10 seconds or so of Hero Pose. I also got my stomach on the floor in Frog.

FRIDAY - February 18, 2011 - Core Synergistics
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Time: 57:44
Calories Burned: 611
Avg Heart Rate: 126
Max Heart Rate: 160

Core is one workout where I'm pretty consistent. I'm usually doing the same number of reps with the same amount of weight, and I end up burning somewhere around 580-600 calories. Today was no exception. I did a few extra Staggered Hands Pushups to get things started, and a few extra reps on a few other moves, so it was somewhat of an improvement. It's still not my favorite workout, but overall it went well. The energy was there and I did my best.

SATURDAY - February 19, 2011 - Yoga X
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Time: 1:36:21
Calories Burned: 735
Avg Heart Rate: 108
Max Heart Rate: 139

My last workout of the Round. I wanted to finish it off good and continue the momentum from Monday's excellent Yoga X workout. I did that. I continued working on my balance points, and they seemed to become more natural. Except for a minor interruption during Yoga Belly 7, my mind didn't wander too much. I held both Warrior 3 poses perfectly, and I only tapped the floor once during any of the Half-Moons (the last one). During the Balance Postures, I held all the ones on the right leg perfectly. I stuggled a bit on my leg leg ones, but they were better than usual. Crane wasn't as good, so I guess I'm not perfect, but overall I'm very, very happy I was able to build on Monday's effort and finish the Round off strong. I'll post my final thoughts on the Round tomorrow along with my Weigh In results.

SUNDAY - February 20, 2011 - Weigh In
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Weight: 181.5 Body Fat: 23.6%

An increase of 1.4 lbs and .2% Body Fat. I don't know where that came from. I thought I ate great this week. The only sweets I had were a few pieces of peanut brittle on Thursday. I did have a protein bar each day for breakfast instead of my egg and turkey bacon on whole wheat english muffin. I also had another protein bar later in the day a few times, so maybe that's it. I also had two meals of pasta this week, and two cans of Bush's Baked Beans (one with chicken breasts and the other with pasta), so it might be one or both of those. I guess I'm going to have to figure out what it is because this is the second time this round I thought I ate good for the week and added on a bit of weight. Obviously I'm not happy with it, but I could, and will, look at it as an eye opener and an opportunity to find the problem, and therefore a solution.

ROUND 7 THOUGHTS
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I started the Round at 176.9 lbs with 22.7% body fat and finished it at 181.5 lbs and 23.6% body fat. As mentioned above, I'm not very happy with those results, and also a bit confused, but I will look for reasons and solutions. I'm sure part of it is the time of year, in that I'm not as active as I am during the spring, summer, and fall.

With that aside, I thought it was a good round. I started out slow in a few areas, notably pullups, but increased my strength in a lot of those areas. I used heavier weights on a lot of moves, I thought my Yoga improved, especially over that last week, and I was even able to trust myself to do some clap pushups. I also cut down my pause time on a few of the routines, which is also good.

The most important thing, however, is that I feel good about myself. Even though I've been doing this for almost 3 years, it's still not easy, and I feel like I accomplished something wonderful after each workout. That's the reason I continue. I still love it.

Right now, I'm concerned about my left knee, and am not sure where to go from here if it doesn't get better. I'm going to start my between rounds maintenance schedule and see how it reacts. Hopefully, it will get better.

Monday, February 7, 2011

ROUND 7 - WEEK 12

This is a P90X Plus Week

MONDAY - February 7, 2011 - Upper Plus
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Time: 47:06
Calories Burned: 498
Avg Heart Rate: 127
Max Heart Rate: 160

Easily the best Upper Plus workout I've ever had. I did as many, or more reps than I've ever done, and I cut my "Pause Time" down to about 4 minutes. The first few times I did Upper Plus this round, my "pause time' was about 12 minutes for the workout. Today, I didn't even hit the pause button until midway through the third set. By the time I got to "Biceps Everything", the second last exercise, my arms were spent, and I actually had to pause in the middle of that for about 20 seconds so I could get in my 32 reps. I took another small break and finished it up with 15 Combat Pushups, where I'd been stuck on 14 this round. I'm happy with the workout.

TUESDAY - February 8, 2011 - Interval X Plus
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Time: 44:18
Calories Burned: 473
Avg Heart Rate: 127
Max Heart Rate: 155

I looked at my numbers for this routine this round and the calorie burns and heart rates are all similar. However, there's been times when I've felt really sluggish during the workout and other times I haven't. Today was one of the good days. I felt really crisp throughout, and that always makes it a good workout.

WEDNESDAY - February 9, 2011 - Total Body Plus
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Time: 56:30
Calories Burned: 600
Avg Heart Rate: 126
Max Heart Rate: 153

I'm starting to think about this routine like I think about Core Synergistics. Not my favorite workout. There's just too many moves I don't like. I'm also gassed early on this one. It might be the long warmup, which is more like a mini-workout that a warmup. The third move, Deadlift Curl Presses also wears me out, so I tried decreasing the weight today from 30lbs to 25 lbs to see if that helped, It didn't. I took a lot of breaks, but did finish it up. I also burned 600 calories, which is good. I get another chance at this routine on Friday, so maybe I'll have a better attitude about it.

THURSDAY - February 10, 2011 - Yoga X
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Time: 1:35:27
Calories Burned: 614
Avg Heart Rate: 101
Max Heart Rate: 130

I wasn't concentrating much of the time, and I spent a lot of time being frustrated over my lack of balance. It just wasn't a great session.

FRIDAY - February 11, 2011 - Total Body Plus
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Time: 56:57
Calories Burned: 600
Avg Heart Rate: 126
Max Heart Rate: 154

My attitude was bit better, but the numbers were almost identical to Wednesday's workout. Even though it's not my favorite workout, I still put in a good effort. I do want to cut down on the Pause time in the future.

SATURDAY - February 12, 2011 - Kenpo Cardio Plus
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Time: 41:40
Calories Burned: 400
Avg Heart Rate: 120
Max Heart Rate: 148

I was felling a bit uncoordinated on a few of the moves, so I think I was maybe holding back a tiny bit so I didn't fall on my head. Hence, the low calorie burn. However, I still enjoyed the workout however.

SUNDAY - February 13, 2011 - Weigh in and Abs/Core Plus
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Weight: 180.1 Body Fat: 23.4%

A decrease of .4 lbs and no change in body fat %. I actually thought I might have an increase because my eating wasn't great this week, but it wasn't bad either. I guess I shouldn't be satisfied with just settling for what happens. If I really want my abs to "pop" and really feel great most of the time, I should be making it happen.

ABS/CORE PLUS
Time: 24:25
Calories Burned: 241
Avg Heart Rate: 122
Max Heart Rate: 205

Maybe my best effort at this routine. I tried to minimize the pause time by writing down my results for multiple moves instead of after each one. One thing I noticed is that for the small amount of time it takes to do this workout, I burn a lot of calories. And that's starting with minimal warmup and a low heart rate. I also noticed my max heart rate spikes around 200 somewhere. I'm guessing it's on one of the hanging moves. Overall, a good job.