Monday, March 18, 2013

WEEK OF 3/18/2013

MONDAY - MARCH 18, 2013 - Upper Body Balance (One on One)

This was a bonus workout that came with P90X2. I'd only done it once before, and that was in April 2012. The workout alternates between a pushup move done on a medicine or stability ball, and core moves which are usually in "Boat" position. I was a little rusty on some of the pushup moves because I haven't really done any on balls since I did this last year. However, I did OK. I still wasn't able to do even one "Impossible Pushup", where your feet are balanced on a stability ball, and you are doing a pushup with both hands on one medicine ball. My feet kept rolling off the stability ball. However, I did do 20 "Four Ball Pushups" with no problem. I was very good on the core moves, as I've been doing a lot of those lately, even some yesterday in Iso Abs.

Time: 53 minutes; Calories Burned: 350; Avg Heart Rate: 102; Max Heart Rate: 145.


TUESDAY - MARCH 19, 2013 - Sanity Check (Insanity)

I just ordered this workout last week. It's just been released. It's only 26 minutes long and is basically a small taste of Insanity for people who want to see what it's all about. The workout portion itself was only about 12 minutes, The rest was warm-up and cool-down. I haven't done Insanity in about 10 months, so I did get a bit winded, but not too much.

Time: 26 minutes; Calories Burned: 219; Avg Heart Rate: 113; Max Heart Rate: 141.


WEDNESDAY - MARCH 20, 2013 - Upper Body Weight Training (Insanity)

This was a bonus workout that came with Insanity that I'd never done before. I'll admit I was a bit afraid of it going in. I had a contractor fixing my bathroom all evening, so even though I wanted to get this workout over with, I had pretty much decided I'd have no time or energy left to do it. The contractor finally let around 10pm, and I was feeling OK so I got started around 10:20 pm. The workout wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. As with all weight workouts done for the first time, you aren't really sure what weights to use for each exercise. I mainly used 20 lb weights for the 12 rep moves, 25 lbs for the 10 rep moves, and 30 lbs for the 8 rep moves, and that seemed to work OK.

Time: 47 minutes; Calories Burned: 491: Avg Heart Rate: 125; Max Heart Rate: 153.


THURSDAY - MARCH 21, 2013 - Patience Hummingbird (One on One)

My second time doing this workout. I like it because it's only 36 minutes long, and you're really not doing too many twisting poses. However, it still makes you sweat because the poses you are doing, you are holding for a long time. About a third of the way into the workout, you have to hold a Chaturanga pose for about 30 seconds. My arms were really sore from yesterday, so I was shaking like crazy. There are only two real "balance" postures in the workout, and those are half-moons, which you get into from Warrior 2 position. On both sides, I couldn't even get into the half-moons, let alone hold them. Still enjoyed it though.

Time: 36 minutes; Calories Burned: 163; Avg Heart Rate: 93; Max Heart Rate: 122.



FRIDAY - MARCH 22, 2013 - One on One on One Leg for Legs (One on One)

Another bonus workout from P90X2 that I'd only one time before, back in April 2012. This was all balancing on one leg. I struggle balancing on one leg, whether it's left or right, so this was very tough for me. I pretty much had to tap down my other foot on every rep. This made the workout almost useless, but I did my best. I'll try this workout again at some point, and will do my best again.

Time: 51 minutes; Calories Burned: 326; Avg Heart Rate: 101; Max Heart Rate: 150.


SATURDAY - MARCH 23, 2013 - Cardio Confusion - Mason's Choice (One on One)

My right calf muscle was still a bit tender from doing this routine last week, but I did good. I was pushing myself a bit more during the moves and got my heart rate up a bit.

Time: 44 minutes; Calories Burned: 399; Avg Heart Rate: 120; Max Heart Rate: 150.


SUNDAY - MARCH 24, 2013 - Fast and Furious Abs (Insanity) and Weigh-In

Fast and Furious Abs
I just ordered this one a few weeks ago, and this is the first time I've done it. The entire workout is only 13 minutes long, with the main portion only 10 minutes. It's basically old Insanity moves that target your core. It got me sweating after a few minutes

Time: 13 minutes; Calories Burned: 93; Avg Heart Rate: 121; Max Heart Rate: 140.

Weigh-In
Weight: 179.6; Body Fat: 23.0%
An increase of 2.1 lbs and .6% body fat. Just pathetic. I ate like crap yesterday. I need to get more self-control with the eating.


WEEKLY RECAP
Not a lot of big calorie burning workouts this week, and I ate bad. Not a good combination, so I'm not happy.



NEXT WEEK
I'm taking a planned week off, not because I'm discouraged by this week, but because my body needs the rest. It actually has been telling me that for the past few weeks, but I wanted to get the new workouts in before I start my 90-day Hybrid.

Monday, March 11, 2013

WEEK OF 3/11/2013

This week, and probably next week too, I'm going to concentrate on some workouts I haven't done yet. I ordered a few of Tony Horton's One on One's while I was doing Asylum 2, and I just ordered a few new short Insanity workouts (Sanity Check and Fast and Furious Abs). I also still haven't done Insanity's Upper Body Weight Training.

Going into Monday, I kept trying to tell myself my body needed a break, because I haven't had a day off since last October, but I knew the real reason was because I was afraid of the first workout. I've been on a roll lately with my workouts, so I wanted to keep the momentum going, and convinced myself to go for it.


MONDAY - MARCH 11, 2013 - 30-15 Upper Body Massacre (One on One)

This is all pushups and pullups. You do 12 sets of pushups (six different kinds, two times each), and 12 sets of pushups (six different kinds, two times each), and you alternate pushup move, then pullup move. The premise is you do 30 pushups in each set, then 15 pullups. At least those are Tony's goals going in. You're supposed to set your own goal numbers, then stick with them. Since pushups and pullups are my weakness (P90X Chest and Back kills me every time), and this was the first time I was doing this routine, I chose to do 20 pushups and 5 pullups, and I was able to do those numbers for each set. Tony was taking all kinds of breaks (he was doing more than I was and was getting real tired), and I didn't want to be sitting around, so I started getting ahead of what he was doing because I'd written down the moves ahead of time. I had completed the fifth series while he was still on the fourth, so I had to wait for him to "catch up" because I didn't recognize the moves for the sixth and final series. Other than that, it went well. I didn't struggle as much as I thought I would, and I realize I can increase my goal numbers down the road.

Time: 58 minutes; Calories Burned: 510; Avg Heart Rate: 115; Max Heart Rate: 156.


TUESDAY - MARCH 12, 2013 - Cardio 5-6 Plus (Super Cardio) (One on One)

After yesterday's workout, I wasn't feeling any soreness at all, and figured that after thirteen weeks of P90X and four weeks of Asylum 2 my body might not get sore, despite all the pushups and pullups. At 4:00 in the morning, I woke up and realized I was wrong. My shoulders, arms, back, rib cage, and abs are all sore. But, I'm glad. It means I worked hard. I didn't want to do another resistance workout today, and all my new ones are resistance ones, so I pulled this one out. It's not my favorite cardio routine, but it does get my heart rate up in places. I worked up a good sweat, and it did the trick.

Time: 46 minutes; Calories Burned: 410; Avg Heart Rate: 116; Max Heart Rate: 174.


WEDNESDAY - MARCH 13, 2013 - Just Arms (One on One)

This was the first time I did this workout, so I didn't really know what weights to use on a lot of the exercises. Sometimes with arm exercises, you need to play it smart and not burn out your arms on the first few moves. I've now got a better idea what to use the next time I do it. Overall, I liked the routine, but maybe not as much as I thought I would. Maybe after I get used to it a bit, and can max things out a bit more, I'll get more out of it. I also noticed my heart rate waan't getting up, and I got a horrible calorie burn for the time involved.

Time: 46 minutes; Calories Burned: 295; Avg Heart Rate: 103; Max Heart Rate: 150.


THURSDAY - MARCH 14, 2013 - Patience "Hummingbird" (One on One)

Patience "Hummingbird" is a 36 minute Yoga routine, and again, it's new to me. Tony moves real slow in this one. He cuts down on the amount of moves, instead doing them slower, and holding the poses longer. He concentrates more on the calmness and breathing aspects of Yoga. I liked it. My shoulders are still burning from Monday's 30-15 routine, so I actually had to go to my knees on one of the Chaturanga moves he seemed to be holding forever. I had a problem holding a few other poses, but other than that, everything went well. It's good to have another Yoga option.

Time: 36 minutes; Calories Burned: 212; Avg Heart Rate: 97; Max Heart Rate: 127.


FRIDAY - MARCH 15, 2013 - Plyo Legs (One on One)

Another first time workout. This was Tony's first One on One video, and I think he wanted to make a point. I had seen a list of the moves beforehand, and most of them looked like they were taken from P90X Legs and Back or P90X Plyometrics. Since I don't usually have problems with either of those routines, I figured this one would be one of the easier routines for me. I was wrong. He amped up a lot of the exercises I thought I was familiar with, and did the same with the ones I wasn't familiar with. Going in, I saw there were twenty moves listed, and the workout was 64 minutes, so I'm thinking we'd do each of them twice. Wrong again. Once was enough. My legs were fried by the time I was done. Plus a lot of the exercises were cardio based, adding to the exhaustion. The one thing I have going for me was that he used 4 lb or 6 lb medicine balls on a few of the exercises, and I used an 8 lb ball. Most of the moves I kept up with. Some I did less reps than he did. A few of the moves were balance moves (Super Skaters and Dead Lift Squats), and I had to tap almost each rep because my balance is so bad. Also, I could only do 2 minutes of the Wall Squats, while he did 3 minutes. On the Single Leg Walls Squats, I held out for the full 100 seconds, but my knees weren't at 90 degrees. They were at more like 45 degrees. Overall, a very good leg workout.

Time: 63 minutes; Calories Burned: 534; Avg Heart Rate: 113; Max Heart Rate: 156.


SATURDAY - MARCH 16, 2013 - Cardio Confusion: Mason's Choice (One on One)

Keeping with the One on One's this week. I've had this one for a few years, and of all the workout's I've accumulated, it's my favorite. My legs and butt were really sore from Plyo Legs last night, so I wasn't going full blast in this one. On the 20th of 24 moves (the lateral jumping Egan Brothers move) I tweaked a calf muscle, and toned it down even further for the rest of the workout. Needless to say, I didn't get a good calorie burn, but I still enjoyed it.

Tome: 43 minutes; Calories Burned: 346; Avg Heart Rate: 112; Max Heart Rate: 156.


SUNDAY - MARCH 17, 2013 - Iso Abs (One on One) and Weigh-In

Iso Abs
Again, another new workout for me. I was looking for another ab routine to stick into the hybrid I'm about to do, and came across this one in Tony's One on One series. I saw a review on it. It looked interesting, and a bit different from the other ab workouts I had, so I ordered it. I loved it. The moves were slower than the other ab workouts. 10 moves done twice each, and 12 reps on each move. I did all 240 reps, but my legs were really burning on the last exercise. The workout was 38 minutes, about twice the time of the other ab workouts, but it went fast. If the pattern follows from the other first time workouts I did this week, I'm going to be really, really sore tomorrow. But that's a good thing.

Time: 38 minutes; Calories Burned: 217; Avg Heart Rate: 97; Max Heart Rate: 117.

Weigh In
Weight: 177.5 Body Fat: 22.6%
An increase of 1.0 lbs and .2% Body Fat. Not good. I'd like to eat great for just one week to see what happens.


WEEK's RECAP
All One on One's this week. Of the seven workouts I did this week, five were brand new to me. They were hard, and I was sore as hell after each of them, but I loved them all. Thanks to Tony Horton and Beachbody for creating these workouts.

Next week, I'll be doing a few Insanity workouts I haven't done before, and I'll throw in a couple Bonus One on One's I got with P90X2 that I've only done once each.

Monday, March 4, 2013

INSANITY: ASYLUM (VOLUME 2) - ROUND 1 - WEEK 4 - Week of 3/4/2013

MONDAY - MARCH 4, 2013 - X-Trainer

Does Shaun realize he is taking NO breaks after the Pyramid Weights, which is one of the two toughest moves in the workout (Matrix Pushups being the other), but are only one-third of the way through the workout? I upped my weight to 25's on the Pyramids. I was OK with them until I got to the 7th and 8th sets of shoulder presses where they got real heavy. Then Shaun goes into jumping pushups, and one-armed pushups, etc. I was totally fried (but I never hit Pause). I was getting better on the agility moves, then ironically watched the Agility Tutorial after the workout. Makes sense, doesn't it? I watched it in my final week of the round. It was a good workout, but it could have been better, because I had my hands on my knees more often than usual.

Calories Burned: 458; Avg Heart Rate: 128; Max Heart Rate: 160.


TUESDAY - MARCH 5, 2013 - Upper Elite

The first week I did this workout, I used 15 lb weights. The second week I used 20's. The third week (last week), I used 25's. Today is the fourth and final week, so I thought I'd continue the trend, and I used 30's. I wasn't sure it would be a good idea going into the workout, but you never know where your limits are unless you push yourself. I got through it, but my reps were down on a lot of the moves. On the upright rows, they were doing 12 reps on the video, and I could only get in eight, but I'm not sure what weights the guys on the video were using. I think if I continued to use 30's my reps would eventually get to where they are on the video. Overall, I was pleased with the effort I put in.

Calories Burned: 634; Avg Heart Rate: 129; Max Heart Rate: 157.


WEDNESDAY - MARCH 6, 2013 - Power Legs

I'm getting used to the structure of this workout, so that helps a bit. I did good, but not great, today. I'm still running out of gas a bit during the "band" section. I don't know why. I'm fine when we get to the weights. Maybe it's because we're not jumping around as much.

Calories Burned: 469; Avg Heart Rate: 128; Max Heart Rate: 188.


THURSDAY - MARCH 7, 2013 - Off Day Stretch

A nice relaxing stretch. I didn't even burn 100 calories over the 32 minutes, and my heart rate never hit 100.

Calories Burned: 89; Avg Heart Rate: 82; Max Heart Rate: 99.


FRIDAY - MARCH 8, 2013 - Back and 6-Pack

Again, I'm getting used to the workouts, so I can concentrate on the moves more. I did OK today. The pullups were roughly the same as last week. They're still my weakness, but slowly but surely, I'm getting better at them. It's a snail's pace, but in the long run, it's noticeable.

Calories Burned: 352; Avg Heart Rate: 119; Max Heart Rate: 151.


SATURDAY - MARCH 9, 2013 - Championship / Sudden Death OT

This was my best showing on this workout. I used 30 lbs on the Weightlifting moves, and I did all the reps. I think there were 7 on the 3rd circiut. I got in a little over 5 rounds in the fit test, and I think I got most of the footwork right. Overall, I was pleased.

Calories Burned: 607; Avg Heart Rate: 128; Max Heart Rate: 184.


SUNDAY - MARCH 10, 2013 - Ab Shredder, Pure Contact, and Weigh-In

AB SHREDDER
I was much better at most of the moves today, especially the Spider Plank Holds, not going down to my knees as much. A good finish to the program.

Calories Burned: 174; Avg Heart Rate: 113; Max Heart Rate: 141.

PURE CONTACT
This is a Bonus workout with the program that I hadn't tried out. I was feeling a bit feisty today, and it was the last day of the program, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I did it about 30 minutes after finishing Ab Shredder. I really, really liked it. It was only 22 minutes long, wasn't too intense, had some moves that I liked, and it did get my heart rate up. I'm glad I did it.

Calories Burned: 232; Avg Heart Rate: 125; Max Heart Rate: 151.

WEIGH-IN
Weight: 176.5; Body Fat: 22.4%
An increase of .1 lb and no change in Body Fat %. Not bad, considering I ate like crap yesterday. Overall, throughout the four weeks my weight increased .1 lb with no change in Body Fat %. I didn't eat great. I don't eat bad, but there are times I make poor choices. As I said before, I'm not going to make myself miserable with my diet.


FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE ROUND

I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this program. I don't think there were any days when I dreaded coming home to do a workout, X-Trainer and especially Upper Elite were total beasts of workouts, but I was proud of myself in that I grew each time I did them. I increased the weight I used from 15 lbs the first week to 30 lbs the last week. I felt I also got better with my footwork as time went on. Ab Shredder is a great ab workout, and I even enjoyed the one time I did Pure Contact. One of the reasons I like P90X so much is because of Tony's humor. Shaun brought out his sense of humor in this one, often ragging on some of the cast members, but in a good way. These type of things make the workout more enjoyable. Other than my lack of coordination on some of the choreographed agilily moves, there were no negatives in this program. I'm by no means saying I've conquered it. Not even close. Just as with Asylum Volume 1, there is still unfinished business with me and Asylum 2. And once again, my eating needs to get better, but that's my fault. Overall, the experience was a definite A+.


WHAT'S NEXT?

I have a number of workouts, mostly One on One's that I've ordered recently, but haven't done yet. There's also a few Insanity add on's I haven't gotten to either. I'm going to try those out over the next few weeks, then do a 90 day hybrid of all the workouts I've assembled over the last few years. I've set up the schedule for the hybrid. It should be fun. Tough, but fun.