Kenpo-X – Seeing that it’s New Year’s Eve, I am calling it a cheat day (nutrition) so I decided to do what I did last week and swap yoga-x with kenpo-x. I will make up the first 45 minutes of yoga-x on Saturday so I am not completely abandoning it. I am not sure if there are any benefits of doing a cardio-type workout on the days you cheat but I know I will feel better about myself if I do. Some people think kenpo-x is too easy and maybe I will think that some day but as of now, I consider it a great cardio workout. I bring a lot of intensity to this workout and I almost wish I could bring the same amount of intensity to the others but I know that will come with time.

ARX – I missed yesterday’s ab ripper x workout so I made it up today. I am still unable to complete this routine but I should be able to by the end of 90 days. I am not sure how many other people struggle with this routine but I know I do and consider it the toughest workout of all P90X workouts. I think the biggest reason why I struggle so much with this is the size and weight of my legs. I have always had thick legs, my day 1 thigh measurements confirm this (27 ½ inches). My legs are much smaller today (24 ¾) which also means they are lighter. Most of the ARX exercises require you to lift your legs up off the ground. On a positive note, the weight of my legs is making my abdomen muscles work much harder than someone that has smaller lighter legs.

Nutrition – I met up with a friend last night for a couple of drinks so needless to say I exceeded my calorie intake with empty calories. My goal is to finish the second half of this program very strong and that will require a decent amount of discipline as far as nutrition goes.

Have a fun and safe New Year!

Back & Biceps – Not sure if this is a good thing or not, today marks the half-way point of this 90 day program. A part of me feels like I have been doing this a lot longer than 45 days. Aspects of both the P90X workout and nutrition plan are starting to become second nature in my lifestyle…which is a great thing! I am not sure I will see the same significant changes the second half like I saw in the first half but I am going to shoot for it. Most people start to see thier best results half-way through so today marks that point. I am going to continue to push myself hard and just take it one day at a time. My intention was to do the basic classic version of P90X but I am now contemplating on doing the P90X double routine. P90X doubles consist of cardio-x three days a week in phase 2 and four days a week in phase 3. I started doubles in phase 2 to offset the extra food I am eating during this hoiliday season but I may continue it in phase 3…not 100% sure though so don’t hold me to it just yet.

I had another great bicep workout. I am waiting for the day I can bang out pull-ups like the people on the video can. I don’t even attempt the corncob pull-ups, I replace them with standard chin-ups. I think for me, I need to shed more weight as I am currently pulling up 204 pounds.

Cardio-X- I had the day off from work today so I had the time to do the cardio-x workout right after my primary one. My plan was to do ARX as well but I pushed that to a later time, I did not have enough energy to even attempt it. If I don’t do it tonight, I will bang it out tomorrow.

Plyometrics – I redeemed myself a bit from yesterday’s workout, I had a great plyometric workout this morning. My legs felt a little heavy during the warm-up so I was uncertain if I was going to have another day like yesterday. Now that I am in phase 2 of the P90X program, I define a great workout as completing all of the exercises until the time clock runs down to zero while maintaining good form. I pushed myself hard enough to accomplish this and it’s always a great feeling when it’s over. The key to complete each exercise to the end is all mental, most people give up too early and they do not fight for those extra reps. It common to do this, I did it more in phase 1 and I still have to remind myself during  a workout to step it up.  If you take a 45 minute workout and minus out the warm-up, cool down, and small breaks, each workout is pretty much only 30 minutes. If you physically do not have enough in the tank and have to stop before the time clock runs down, make sure you give it your all. At some point, either being in phase 2 or 3 or  even another round of P90X…you will be able to perform these exercises to the end. I still am unable to do all the push-ups during the chest workout so I started doing the last few reps on my knees just to complete them.

After I put the kids to bed last night, I definitely was not in the mood to do both cardio-x and ARX. I knew I had another cheat day scheduled for Thursday (new years eve) so I pushed myself to do it. I was very glad I did it when it was over!

Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps – I did not have the best workout this morning. I usually enjoy this one and the whole time I couldn’t wait for it to end. I think it was a combination of a few things. It’s Monday, I have a cold and I did not eat too good last night. I followed my nutrition plan all day yesterday but ended up cheating a bit last night. The few times I have cheated I did not feel the best the next morning. My body has been accustomed to eating healthy so when I eat foods that are not on my nutrition plan I don’t feel as energized.

My plan is to do both ARX and cardio-x tonight. I have plyometrics tomorrow and I am determined to BRING IT!

I have lost 4 1/2 pounds since Day 28 so I am happy with that. I feel that I need to shed at least another 5-10 pounds if I want to get more defined in the ab area. My focus is not on losing weight (it’s on body fat) but it would be nice to get shredded abs. I have never had abs before so it would be a first for me! Other than the weight loss, my measurements pretty much stayed the same when compared to Day 28 but when compared to Day 1…there has been a significant change.

Here are my Day 42 measurements:

Body fat % – 8% (Day 1 – 18%)

Weight – 204 lbs (Day 1 – 220lbs)

Chest – 42″ (Day 1 – 40″)

Waist – 37  (Day 1 -391/2″)

Right thigh – 25″ (Day 1 -271/2″)

Left thigh – 25″ (Day 1 -271/2″)

Right arm – 16 3/4″ (Day 1 -16″)

Left arm – 16 3/4″ (Day 1 -16″)

Here are my Day 42 Pictures: 

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