Core Synergistics- I consider CORE an overall great workout, it hits every muscle group including your cardiovascular system. I am not participating in the “doubles” routine this round of P90X but you could swap out  the cardio-x option with CORE one or two days a week. I may use this workout as an indoor alternative to interval training when it’s raining outside. It’s definitely not a good idea to run sprints on wet grounds as you are just asking for an injury.

I will be updating my pictures and measurements on day 118 and I am very curious on the outcome. I feel like my arms a bit bigger and abdomen area looks the same but pictures and the measuring tape will not lie. I have been allowing myself weekly cheat meals this round of P90X and there were a couple of weekends that I cheated even more than once on my nutrition. I feel like I paid my dues during round 1  so that is why I am allowing myself to splurge a bit in round 2. I may have to reconsider my weekend cheating habits if I feel like I am heading in the wrong direction…day 118 will determine that or not.

I do not recommend incorporating weekly cheat meals if this is your first round of P90X , especially if your goal is to get ripped. I am trying to gain muscle mass which requries me to increase my calorie intake so I figured I will eat more on the weekends and continue to be strict during the work week. Also, my metabolism is pretty high right now but I had to work for it. Your metabolism will start to increase after day 30 or so but it usually starts cranking  for everyone between day 60 and 90…keep in mind that I started my weekend cheating after day 90.

Interval Training- I may have to re-evaluate my rest week, I am exhausted from it…

I started off with a 2 mile steady pace jog and then did my ten 50 yard sprints. I changed it up a bit though, I sprinted 25 yards and then sprinted back 25. Not sure why but this was much harder than just sprinting 50 yards…it must be that “stop and go” action that made it more challenging. There are really no set in stone requirements with interval training, just make sure you increase / decrease your workout pace.

Interval Training – I winged it this morning during my workout and I am not so sure I want to do that again. It was pitch black out at 5:30am so I decided to do plyometrics in place of running sprints. I did not want to do plyometrics this morning (rest week) but I figured it is similar to interval training so it would be a great indoor alternative to sprinting. I just was not feeling it and I did not feel obligated to finish so I stopped after 25 minutes. Once I stopped, I did about 30  ”prison cell push-ups” with a small break in between. I wasn’t sure what to do next so I ended up calling it quits but felt like I did not get a good enough workout in so I justified ending it by claiming I will run during my lunch break. When lunch was approaching, I was thinking of every excuse to not run…but decided to do it last minute.

This was a bizarre day as far as my workout went. I am happy that I ran 4 miles, did 25 minutes of plyometrics, and completed 30 “prison cell push-ups”….it’s just too bad that I had to battle myself to do it all.

Core Synergistics – Between taking two weeks off in between P90X rounds and only having to do this workout during the rest week, it’s been about 6 weeks since I last completed it. I would consider this morning’s session the best CORE workout I have done since starting P90X back in November 09. In theory, I should be improving on every workout so I guess it’s not saying too much other than I am getting stronger and my cardiovascular endurance is increasing. It was easy to determine that this was the best CORE workout I have done because I was finally able to do the “prison cell push-ups” up until the VERY end. I am not sure I kept the same pace as Adam but if I didn’t I was just behind him…it’s hard to keep track of your rep count on those.

Interval Training – Today is the start of the P90X MASS rest week. My focus this week will shift from building muscle to losing fat. This weeks schedule…

Day 1 – Interval Training
Day 2 – Core Synergistics
Day 3 –  Interval Training
Day 4 – Interval Training
Day 5 – Core Synergistics
Day 6 – Interval Training

The beauty of interval training is that you can incorporate it into most fitness activities whether it’s running, biking, swimming, etc… Ultimately, the goal is to increase / decrease your pace throughout your workout. My plan is to continue doing what I am doing which has been sprinting. Sprinting may be one of the best activities for burning fat and I do not mind doing them so no need to change it up. I may also double up on a  couple of the days with a  4 mile steady pace jog. Since I have started P90X MASS, I have not been doing much cardio as too much can hinder muscle growth. Seeing that there will not be any resistance training this week, my plan is to step it up a notch on cardio…then cut back again after this week is over. 

For more information on interval training, click here…

This morning’s workout – Started with a mile warm-up while increasing/decreasing my pace a bit. I then performed fifteen 40 yard sprints. I would sprint 40 yards, jog back, sprint 40 yards, jog back, etc… I continued this until I completed fifteen of them. My goal is to increase the number of sprints I run to twenty by the end of the week.