Good God this workout was absolute hell. I haven’t completely recovered from whatever it was I caught over the weekend, and it was apparent in my performance. It also did not help, that I decided to go all out for the first half of the workout. I didn’t really start dragging ass until we were about two thirds of the way through the workout, but then it felt like I hit a brick wall. I was completely drained, and out of energy.

Tonight we are having family Taco night, and I can’t wait. After tacos I plan on heading home and immediately crawling back into bed, while I watch the SyFy show face off. I hope everyone has a fantastic evening.

P90X2 – Plyocide! originally appeared on Press Play Fitness on February 1, 2012.

Nancy warned me before we started that is workout was brutal, and she was right. All in all I really liked this workout, the only thing I don’t like is that all the moves are new to me so I have go down in weight. This workout had me sweating, grunting and groaning with just about every move. This is the first week where I did all the workouts as the program has them put together, and I have to say so far I am digging P90X2!

Tonight I am going to stay in and relax. I plan on making dinner, playing some Halo3, and then put on a movie and get in bed. I am stoked about sleeping in tomorrow, I think my body is telling me I need more rest. Have a fantastic evening everyone.

P90X2 – Balance & Power! originally appeared on Press Play Fitness on January 27, 2012.

Nancy at 53 prior to starting P90X2

I finished off week 2 of P90X2 with Chris.  We are still in the foundation building part of the program which focuses largely on balance and core development.  The weights we’ve been lifting are much lighter than what we’d normally do for a military press or tricep kickback move but since they are paired with balance moves, they are proving to be challenging.

What I had hoped for was an improvement over what was a humbling first week.  And I can say with a little pride that I did do better, much better than the first week.   I improved my form (much less wobbling about on one leg) and increased my reps!  Where I had done week 1 with very little weight (some moves no weight at all), I increased weights on many moves.

However, my performance is still a far cry from the near flawless execution I see on the DVDs by the select group.  I’m sure as I go along and continue to improve, that I will eventually get close to the performances I see on DVD.

I am anxious to get to phase 2 where I’ll be able to focus more on strength which is an area I do well.  But for now, Chris and I will continue with phase 1 for at least 2 more weeks.

On Sunday (my weight and tape measurement day), I’ll come back and comment on how P90X2 is changing my body. 

P90X2 Week2 Complete originally appeared on Press Play Fitness on January 27, 2012.

Nancy at 53 prior to starting P90X2

Well this week has been a humbling experience!    I went into this thinking I was in top shape with only a few pounds of fat to peel off and to my complete surprise, found out that P90X2 had something to teach me about combining balance and power.

I have felt clumsy with the moves.  I had to dramatically drop what I typically lift on different moves to get the balance component in.  And I have really felt this week in my abs, legs and booty.  Now I would have told you prior to starting P90X2 that there was nothing more it could add to my legs and booty but that was wrong thinking.

So now with week one complete, I am actually quite excited to move to week two and see how much better I can get.  That’s the real secret behind getting fit with P90X2 (or any program) is to challenge yourself to continuous improvement.  Incremental gains, no matter how small are really what fitness is all about.

No matter what shape you are in, there is a great Beachbody product for you.  If you think you are interested but don’t know which one is best for you, then click here to learn how to make me your coach for free and I’ll help you with both program choice and diet.  A better you is waiting, just make the first move today!

P90X2 Week 1 Complete! originally appeared on Press Play Fitness on January 22, 2012.

My favorite move from the workout was the four way pull-ups. the four way pull-up consists of four different pull-up grips. Tony has you start with a wide grip, then you move to a wrist facing wrist grip, followed by close grip, and you finish the set off with a reverse grip. Each time we did the four way pull-ups I was able to get out four rounds on each grip. By the second set of the four way pull-ups I was really struggling, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to get out 4 reps for each grip. I pushed through and barley got out my fourth rep on the fourth grip.

All in all I actually really liked this workout. The workout was brutal, yet affective. Tomorrow Nancy and I have the yoga workout, and to be honest I am not looking forward to it. Tony says we to do it, so we are going to do it, and bring it! Ever since we started P90X2 I have had a hard time getting out of bed, and I have been over sleeping. Since my body is telling me it needs more sleep, I am planning on going to bed as early as possible tonight. I hope everyone has a fantastic evening.

P90X2 – Total Body Workout + ARX2 originally appeared on Press Play Fitness on January 18, 2012.

Despite a little softening (i.e., fat), I still have a well defined set of abs.

entirely on strength and muscle growth and was not concerned about much else.  I did get very strong and added significant muscle.  But as I added the weight, a little fat crept on as well.

I worked on my booty over the last 7 months and like the progress there

I was looking for a good program to follow to shred up (i.e., lose the extra fat but retain all that wonderful muscle) and decided that the release of P90X2 met my needs.  I’m just starting it this week with Chris and I have to say, it’s whooping my a** more that I thought it would.  The issue is all the balance/strength moves.  I’m used to focusing on strength but when you add in the balance component, the whole equation changes.

I’m liking the workout and feel the balance elements will improve my overall fitness levels.  Balance is very important as we age and as I’m now comfortably over 50 (53 now), I feel that balance and flexibility are essential to an active life.

I will be updating my pics as I go along in the program so stay tuned for more updates.

Starting Over – What I’m up to now (P90X2 shred) originally appeared on Press Play Fitness on January 18, 2012.

Today Nancy and I started with the X2 Core workout, as the program indicated. At first I wasn’t convinced the workout would be had enough, but about half way through the workout, Tony had my eating my words. The workout was actually really tough, and I found myself struggling with quite a few moves.

I am ready to give this program my all, I will get the best transformation to date. Tonight I am going to eat some chicken sausages with traditional sauerkraut. It is one of my favorite clean meals, and I can’t wait to make dinner tonight. I hope everyone has a fantastic evening.

P90X2 – X2 Core originally appeared on Press Play Fitness on January 16, 2012.

Nancy

I like to read! So it was with great joy that I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas this year. I also got a Kindle gift card so I’m now enjoying both. I like to read good books on health (fitness and nutrition) and occasionally a fun read. I’m doing both right now – here’s my January reading:

Primal Body, Primal Mind – Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life by Nora Gedgaudas, CNS, CNT .  Ever since I read Deep Nutritoin by Dr. Cate Shanahan, I didn’t really think I’d find a better book on nutrition but Nora surprised me.  This book is very well researched and detailed in its presentation to the reader of not just WHAT but WHY we need to challenge most of what is promoted as healthful diets by the media and other sources.  Both books are consistent in their dietary recommendations.  I liked Deep Nutrition’s 4 pillars of healthy eating (and follow it closely) because it’s easy to understand – more organized than the overall guidelines of Primal Body, Primal Mind.  But PBPM is the winner overall for the explanation of how the body works and why we are endangering our health and that of our future generations if we don’t adjust our diets.

I vote this a great read for anyone with an open mind and interested in their long term health.

The Dirty Life – On Farming, Food and Love by Kristin Kimball.  I’m just starting this memoir of how a city girl left Manhattan and now lives life on a large, clean (no pesticides or herbicides) diversified, low tech, natural farm.  I’m just getting into this love story between a woman and a man and their love of nature.  Kristen has an easy, comfortable writing style and you quickly get a feel for what begins as a divided life where she’s faced with a huge life changing decision.

I am liking this book and think that its good reading for anyone who’s into eating clean, locally raised foods and wants to learn more about the farmers who do it.

What I’m Reading Now originally appeared on Press Play Fitness on January 2, 2012.

Good Thursday Morning Everyone (12/22/2011) originally appeared on Press Play Fitness on December 22, 2011.

Today Nancy and I did a new workout called TUT-Overload, which is short for “time under tension”. Today’s workout was a chest & biceps workout, and it consisted of the following. We started with our chest, and our first move was a flat bench press on the Bo-flex. The flat bench press consisted of a warm up and then 4 sets of hell. We did 8 reps each set, with a one count on the way up and a four count on the way down. After each rep we would wait for forty seconds and start up again. On the last set we did our eight reps, and then lowered the weight, and did another eight reps, and then we lowered the weight and did another eight reps. By the time we finished this first move I was feeling pretty destroyed in my pecs. The next move we did was and incline bench press on the Bo-flex, and again we did the four sets. Now at this point my chest felt obliterated, and I was expecting to move onto the biceps, but I was wrong.

The next move Nancy and I did was push-ups. And we did three set till failure, and again on the way down we did a four count. I crumbled to the floor on the third set after only 6 push-ups, just to give you an idea of how exhausted my chest was. Lastly we moved back over to the Bo-flex and finished our chest portion of the workout with chest flys. At this point I was almost in tears of joy, that we had finally made it through the chest portion of the workout. My tears of joy, quickly dried up when I realized the bicep portion of the workout, was just as difficult as the chest. The first bicep move Nancy and I did was seated curls, and once again we did four sets. After the seated curls we moved onto what Nancy and I call flip curls. The flip curls are a lot like the seated curls, except on the way down you flip your wrist. And lastly we did preacher curls for another four sets. I completely forgot about my pecs, and all I could think about was how tight my biceps were.

Tonight’s dinner is a mystery for me, as Nancy is currently at the store picking up some groceries. What I do know is that after I eat, I plan to take a nice long hot shower, and then hit my bed and watch a little TV before I fall asleep. I hope everyone has a fantastic evening!

New Chest and Biceps Workout! originally appeared on Press Play Fitness on December 5, 2011.