P90x Week 11: Day 3 - Shoulders and Arms

We have filled up our workout sheet for Shoulders and Arms - we won't be doing this routine again... for this round of p90x anyway.

A funny thing happened during the workout today - my (almost) 2 year old daughter tried to help me during the Crouching Cohen Curls - she has never done that before. I guess I looked like I was struggling and needed a spot.

P90x Week 11: Day 2 - Plyometrics

I noticed today Tony recommended slipping some recovery drink into the water you would drink during the exercises - we tried this when we played in a volleyball tournament a few weeks ago. We both highly recommend NOT doing this! I don't know what it is about the recovery drink, but if it gets warm, or sits out at room temperature for awhile it tastes way too sweet - it's nasty! There is only one way to drink it - put in half the recommended water, dump in a whole tray of ice, blend it, and drink it immediately. It tastes really good if you do it that way, and gives us something to look forward to at the end of the workout.

I felt good today doing the workout. I went a bit over on the carbs last night and I think that helped with my energy level during the workout. I was still sweating up a storm though.

P90x Week 11: Day 1 - Chest and Back

We're back at it - feels like we have worked out back a lot, but the amount of reps we can now do is the payoff.

I've been slacking on the diet portion of the workouts. I get busy in the mornings and don't get enough to eat before the workouts - as a result, I can feel my energy level is lower. I'd love to have a chief to prep all the food and make sure we are eating proper portions. If there is anywhere I can improve, it would be diet. Maybe if we video taped our meals I would be more consistent in eating according to the plan... who would watch that?

No complaints about the program through - we are both seeing results from being consistent in our workouts, but there is always room for improvement.

P90x Week 10: Day 6 - Kenpo x

We didn't get back until late tonight from visiting family, so this was the first time we had to do our workout in the evening... which one do we prefer? For me, it is nice to get the workout out of the way in the morning. Actually, we usually do our workouts at 10am 6 days a week; to accommodate this break in my workday I start work early; it turns out that this is a nice break about mid-way through my workday.

Shilleen noticed tonight that she was getting stomach cramps - it was most likely from the food that we ate an hour earlier. So, working out in the evening didn't work well with our eating schedule. We would have to adjust some things if we wanted to continue working out in the evening.

I think we are both happy continuing to workout in the morning - we may try something different after we complete the P90x program.

Here is today's work:

P90x Week 10: Day 5 - Legs and Back

Wow, you'd think this workout would be getting easier on week 10... I don't think so. This is the first time I've had a stomach cramp in any P90x workout. It could be diet issues, but I have another theory. The better you get at doing these exercises, the less rest-time you have between exercise. For example, on week one if someone was able to do 5 pull-ups, and now is able to do 20... there is a lot less time to stand around and watch Tony and the crew finish up their last reps (or the majority of their reps). The workout becomes more demanding!

See what I mean here:

P90x Week 10: Day 4 - Yoga x

Our fat calipers and our body tape measurer finally arrived today! We expected to take a bit longer than usual to arrive up here in the Great White North - Amazon was only a week off in their estimate:) So, we will be able to do some measurements soon and post some results.

Yoga felt good today. It seems to go by faster now since we have almost memorized all the moves. I still struggle with the last move of the moving options, but all the others seem to be coming along fine. I didn't feel like I sweat as much as last time, although as my son was climbing my back during the exercises he mentioned that it was wet...

P90x Week 10: Day 3 - Back and Biceps

The real challenge with this workout is keeping pace with Tony and the gang - it some parts it seems like I barely have enough time to record what I did and then adjust the weight for the next exercise. I try to keep my reps between 8-10 which does give me a bit more time to make adjustments.

Today was pretty intense - I sure didn't feel like doing Ab Ripper; but I was happy when it was all over! See for yourself:

P90x Week 10: Day 2 - Plyometrics

We still sweat like crazy on this workout and the heart gets pounding pretty good. Thanks to muscle confusion, I don't think this workout is going to get any easier in the next couple weeks.

P90x Week 10: Day 1 - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

What a workout! I don't know what it was, but my triceps were dead today - I was really feeling them in the first few exercises. It was a real struggle to match what I did last time we did this workout. It may be that I was using the pushup bars for most of pushup exercises... does that put more stress on the triceps? Anyway, it was a good workout.

P90x Week 9: Day 6 - Kenpo x

Here we are end of week 9 - kenpo is a great workout to end the week with. Some are wondering if we are seeing any results - we have both lost some weight and have lost body fat and inches, but we are waiting to get our fat calipers and measuring tape that we ordered from amazon some time ago... We expect to have it by the end of week 12 at the latest; at that time we will do comparison measurements and post them... whether we like it or not :)

P90x Week 9: Day 5 - Legs and Back

I'm beginning to think this is the "mother of all workouts" - legs are dead, heart is racing, and it ends with the ab ripper... happy to be through it!

P90x Week 9: Day 4 - Yoga x

We decided to give in today and let the kids watch a video while we worked out - we don't usually do that, but it is so much easier doing yoga not having an extra 50lbs on your back or a monkey swinging from your neck. Our son did return for vocal oms at then end - he loves that part.

I not sure why today's workout made us sweat so bad - I remember this being a bit easier last week... my triceps were pretty sore for the first 20min or so; must have been from the other exercises this week.

P90x Week 9: Day 3 - Shoulders and Arms

The kids seem to realize we are tied up when we workout and are not able to watch them as close as we do at other times. Today, for example, they pulled a box of corn flakes from the cupboard, took it to their room, and dumped it all over the floor... the whole box! By the time we realized it, there was corn flakes all over the bedroom and into the hallway... lovely.

We're still feeling it from the weekend volleyball tournament, especially in the warm-up.

P90x Week 9: Day 2 - Plyometrics

This workout came a bit too soon after our volleyball weekend - it worked the same leg muscles that were still in pain. We made it through with as much sweat and tears as ever. During the workout Shilleen asked if this workout ever gets easier... I think if we could remember the first time we did this workout we would see that it's actually getting better. But it is still a tough one as it should be; it is the MOTHER OF ALL P90X WORKOUTS!!

P90x Week 9: Day 1 - Chest and Back

Sweet Ibuprofen!
As mentioned on Friday's post - Shilleen and I were involved in a volleyball tournament on Saturday. We played about 14 games in 6 hours... it was a long day! We both felt better about our performance compared to six months ago when we competed in a similar tournament - we are chalking that up to being fairly consistent in our P90x workouts. We thought our workouts would help the soreness, but the next day we both had to dope up on the Advil to help with the the moaning and groaning each time we moved.

I think the workout will help with the soreness and hopefully we will get back to feeling good in the next day or so.

P90x Week 8 Day 5 - Rest day

No workout again today. We both decided to lay low and rest for tomorrow - we hope to be well enough to play in a volleyball tournament... we'll let you know how it goes.

P90x Week 8 Day 4 - X Stretch

Shilleen Goes Solo
After yesterday's workout experience, I'm still not feeling up to doing a workout -even if it was the easiest p90x workout there is. I will be back at it tomorrow. In the mean time, enjoy Shilleen's first solo workout (on tape anyways):

P90x Week 8 Day 3 - Kenpo x

We were both feeling fairly good this morning, so we decided to do the Kenpo workout... not sure if that was such a good idea. We now feel very tired and sore all over. The sore throat is back in full force too. This may be the way we would have felt later in the day. Oh well, we did it and we'll see how we feel tomorrow.

Here is us giving it our best while being under the weather:

P90x Week 8 Day 2 - Sick Day :(

Sick or Using Banned Substance?
It's official, Shilleen and I both have strep throat. We thought we were going to sneak by without catching it from our kids, but didn't quite workout. We took a sick day today and went to the doctor and got the necessary antibiotics - we should be good to go in a few days... we'll play it by ear.

P90x Week 8 Day 1 - Yoga x

Sweet recovery week! We are all a bit sick with colds, but recovering. Yoga felt good today.

P90x Week 7 Day 6 - Kenpo x

Last workout of the week!! It has been a rough week with the flu spreading through the house, but we made it! We are both looking forward to the recovery week next week - time to confuse those muscles again before they get too used to the program.

The key to making this workout work is to learn the proper techniques - I am still learning, but it seems to get more intense each workout. If you are just starting out, don't toss this routine away (like I wanted to), be patient and you will feel it.

P90x Week 7 Day 5 - Legs and Back

Couching from the couch
The kids have been hit with some nasty bug that has zapped most of their energy from them - they really aren't themselves (as you will notice in the video they aren't climbing all over us today); it is really strange to see. They went to the doctor today and got the antibiotics that they need, so it should clear up soon.

It was funny to observe how even though my son, who barely has enough energy to move, he was still able to give us pointers on our technique as he laid on the couch in a daze. He was telling me that I was doing some of the exercises wrong, or that I needed to do them like "mommy" - he must get that from the other side of the family :)

Needless to say it has been a rough couple days for the kids, and some long nights for their parents.

Here is today's performance - please excuse my technique imperfections. I hope to have them mastered with my "coach's" help soon...

P90x Week 7 Day 4 - Yoga

I felt pretty sore today after yesterday's workout. Yoga is exactly what I needed to get loosened up. Shilleen is back in action today too.

Week 7: Day 3 - P90x Back and Biceps

Ugh, I can't bend my arms... That was pretty intense. I think my form suffered quite a bit. I tried to do an extra rep or increase the weight on almost all exercises, and I'm feeling it.

Shilleen had to bail on this workout - she was up all night with sick kids, and she isn't feeling to hot today.

Here's my solo effort:

Amazon.com Fat Calipers purchase

Last week I had to return the borrowed fat calipers, so today I decided I would buy some of our own. Since there isn't a fitness store nearby, I looked online to see if I could get them there. Since currently live in Canada, I was hoping to find a seller this side of the border to save on duty and currency exchange (even though the CDN dollar is currently worth $0.97 USD, and there probably wouldn't be duty on an item like this). I found a couple Canadian sites, but their prices seemed unrealistic compared to what I found on USA sites; sometimes 3 times as much! I finally found what I was looking for on Amazon.com; Amazon.ca is pretty weak in the variety of items they sell - they don't even have a health and wellness section on their web site.

I have purchased from Amazon.com/ca and I like purchasing from them for a number of reasons:
1. they have the ordering and delivery system mastered - smooth transactions and quick shipping
2. their guarantee - if there is a defect or it was damaged in shipping, they will replace it! You don't have to pay extra for insurance as some other online stores do
3. quick customer service - I was able to talk to a customer rep today in a matter of 2 minutes... a live customer rep who spoke great English... that is rare in customer service today

Something I learned from today's Amazon purchase
One thing to note - as I was looking for the fat calipers I noticed that there were several sellers selling the same product for different prices. Naturally, I chose the lowest priced and went to checkout. I then found out that they didn't ship to Canada (a bit annoying). I was a bit confused as to why they didn't ship to Canada, so I called the Amazon customer service rep and they pointed out that I need to read some of the small print on the item description that spells out who they ship to - this was a great help.

Eventually, I found an Amazon vendor that ships to Canada, but when I went to checkout - the shipping was twice as much as the product! That was unacceptable for me; I could have bought it from a Canadian vendor for that much.

After a bit more searching I found a vendor that cost a bit more for the product, but shipped to Canada for $2.95 USD. The total price for product and shipping: $14.90 - done deal! If you are interested, here is a link to the calipers and measuring tape.

What did I learn?
Amazon is still a great reliable place to purchase product, but you need to check the fine print to find those that will sell and ship for a reasonable amount; shipping and handling can kill any bargain price!

P90x Week 7 Day 2 - Plyometrics

Still on of our favorites - Plyo x is going well. Sill makes us sweat!

p90x Week 7 Day 1 - Chest Shoulders Triceps

Weighted circles are a killer - I am only using 10lbs, but it brings a tear to my eye every time I do them.

This program has been good for my shoulders though. I had been suffering from bicep tendinitis for the past 5 years or so - the pain has seemed to go away since doing these exercises. I don't know if it is this workout that has helped, or if it is yoga or x stretch - regardless, I can now sleep though the night on my shoulders!