P90X, Days 57 — 63, Week 9

Posted on September 6, 2009 by The Average Joe

Last week’s recov­ery week couldn’t have come soon enough. I was beat and it was tough get­ting up to work­out. Well, the rest did the trick. This week I felt great. I was ready to go for the final Phase of P90X.

P90X Chest and BackI know I’ve said it before, but the Chest and Back work­out is my favorite. It’s all push ups and pull ups. It’s hard­core. About halfway through I start drag­ging, but then I catch my sec­ond wind and start to cruise. When I’m all done, I feel like a mil­lion bucks. Last year when I did P90X for the first time, i actu­ally saw some losses on this work­out going from Phase II to Phase III. This time around I’m see­ing gains in both the num­ber of reps and stamina.

The ben­e­fits from the Yoga X rou­tine con­tinue to show, even in the other P90X work­outs. I don’t feel as stiff when I do Ply­o­met­rics and find it eas­ier to move around. I also see some ben­e­fits with the Legs and Back work­out. If you’re feel­ing uneasy about Yoga X, or are think­ing you would rather do one of the mus­cle build­ing work­outs, give it a chance.

P90X Core SynergisticsI’ve also called an audi­ble with my lineup of P90X rou­tines. I enjoy Kenpo X and it’s a fun work­out, but it hasn’t been doing it for me. I guess it’s because it’s just not as intense as some of the other work­outs. I’ve liked the feel­ing and results I’ve got­ten from doing Core Syn­er­gis­tics more fre­quently. Core Syn­er­gis­tics is def­i­nitely intense and it tar­gets some of my weak areas, my abdomen, my lower back, and my legs. I see myself sub­bing in Kenpo X at times in future, but for right now, Core Syn­er­gis­tics is in the start­ing line up.

Here’s what this week looked like:

Day 57 — Chest and Back

Day 58 — Ply­o­met­rics

Day 59 — X Stretch

Day 60 — Shoul­ders and Arms

Day 61 — Yoga X

Day 62 — Legs and Back

Day 63 — Core Synergistics

Posted in Exercise, P90X, Routine, Workout | Tagged Chest and Back, Core Synergistics, Legs and Back, P90X, Plyometrics, Shoulders and Arms, Yoga X | 3 Comments

P90X, Days 50 — 56, Week 8

Posted on August 30, 2009 by The Average Joe

By the end of last week I was look­ing for­ward to the recov­ery period of week 8. I was feel­ing really beat and fatigued by the time week 7 finally came to a close.

The fatigue con­tin­ued into the begin­ning of this week. I still needed to push myself to make sure I didn’t slack off and that I worked out while I was also rest­ing up to regain my energy.

P90X Kenpo XI don’t have much to write about this week. It was an enjoy­able week that I used to focus on stretch­ing with the Yoga X and X Stretch rou­tines as well as my mid­sec­tion with Core Synergistics.

As I sit here and put my thoughts of the week together, I’m feel­ing refreshed and re-energized. I’m look­ing for­ward to the start of Phase III tomor­row with a return to the Chest & Back workout.

Here’s what week 8 looked like:

Day 50 — Rest

Day 51 — X Stretch

Day 52 — Yoga X

Day 53 — Core Synergistics

Day 54 — Kenpo X

Day 55 — Core Synergistics

Day 56 — Yoga X

Posted in P90X, Routine, Workout | Tagged Core Synergistics, Kenpo X, P90X, Recovery, X Stretch, Yoga X | 1 Comment

Hatha Yoga – “The Yoga of Vitality”

Posted on August 28, 2009 by The Average Joe

Hatha Yoga is known as the foun­da­tion for all of the yoga types. The name, hatha, has some real mean­ing: “ha” means “sun” and “tha” means “moon,” so “hatha” is refer­ring to the sun (pos­i­tive) and the moon (neg­a­tive) cur­rents within the body. These cur­rents are sup­posed to be bal­anced and mas­tered so that the prana (vital force) can be reg­u­lated, the mind can be cleared, and a super con­scious state can be experienced.

About the Asanas or Pos­tures Used In Hatha Yoga

The best way to prac­tice Hatha Yoga poses (asanas) is to come to the prac­tice in a calm, med­i­ta­tive mood. After sit­ting qui­etly for a few moments, one can begin the series of yoga poses, with con­trol and grace, and being slowly inwardly aware as the body does the poses selected for that prac­tice ses­sion. The asanas are not a com­pe­ti­tion, with oth­ers or with one­self, though one should want to do one’s best and seek to improve.

The Value of the Asanas

In order for our bod­ies to be reju­ve­nated and have vital­ity, they need three pre­req­ui­sites: a healthy cen­tral brain and spine (ner­vous sys­tem), healthy inter­nal organs, and healthy glands.

The brain and spine are helped by so many of the posi­tions in Hatha Yoga! Con­sider the head­stand, and the spinal posi­tions. These increase cir­cu­la­tion to these organs and areas of the body. The spine needs to be kept flex­i­ble by asanas to keep proper align­ment for opti­mal health. The inter­nal organs of the body are ben­e­fited by the asanas by being mas­saged and stim­u­lated. This makes the inter­nal organs func­tion bet­ter and last longer.

Hatha YogaThe endocrine glands are greatly affected by the asanas. These glands secrete pow­er­ful hor­mones that con­trol much of how well our bod­ies func­tion. The thy­roid glands ben­e­fit from Hatha Yoga poses like the head­stand and shoul­der stand. Sex glands and adrenal glands are also affected by many of the asanas. The asanas also help other bod­ily aspects, like a healthy diges­tive sys­tem, joints, and skin.

In Con­clu­sion

The asanas are cer­tain poses that are com­bined with spe­cific breath­ing exer­cises. There are poses in all body posi­tions – supine, sit­ting, stand­ing, twist­ing. Orig­i­nally, the poses were designed to cre­ate the phys­i­cal sta­mina, strength, and con­cen­tra­tion that was needed for effec­tive med­i­ta­tion – which was used as a path to a more spir­i­tual life. Many yogi still prac­tice yoga for that purpose.

Today, Hatha Yoga has become very pop­u­lar in the United States because it is easy to learn and a basic form of yoga. But it is usu­ally prac­ticed for the sense of health and well-being that it pro­vides, and no note is taken of the spir­i­tual con­tent. How­ever, Hatha Yoga is not just an ordi­nary stretch­ing exer­cise pro­gram. There is a focus and dis­ci­pline to Hatha Yoga that helps pro­vide inner and outer bal­ance. Many – even those why didn’t expect it to be so – will find Hatha Yoga to be a path to enlight­en­ment. And mod­ern med­i­cine is mar­veling at its many health benefits.

Posted in Yoga | Tagged Asanas, Hatha, Yoga | Leave a comment

P90X, Days 43 — 49, Week 7

Posted on August 23, 2009 by The Average Joe

P90X Core SynergisticsWhile last week was about see­ing gains, this week was a real chal­lenge. I know, I know P90X as a whole is a chal­lenge, how­ever, this week my body was very fatigued. It was dif­fi­cult get­ting up in the morn­ing to work­out and I had to push harder than nor­mal to get going.

I looked at it a cou­ple of dif­fer­ent ways. This is the half way point for P90X, so of course my body is going to feel beat at this point. Next week is a recov­ery week, so I should be able to regain some of my energy then. Plus, with the changes I want to make, it’s not going to be easy.

While I still love this work­out and I still push play every­day, there are going to be days and weeks like this where every ounce of my body is exhausted and doesn’t want to work­out even though my mind does. That’s the mind­set I real­ized that I was going to need about halfway through the week.

The week started out with a needed rest day due to a work com­mitt­ment. The fatigue really hit me about halfway through when I really had to push myself with Back and Biceps. I decided to sub­sti­tute Core Syn­er­gis­tics for Kenpo X this week to do some more work on my mid­sec­tion. With the recov­ery week com­ing up, I’m look­ing for­ward to doing that rou­tine twice in one week. Here’s how the work­outs broke down through this week.

Day 43 — Rest Day

Day 44 — Chest, Shoul­ders, and Tri­ceps

Day 45 — Ply­o­met­rics

Day 46 — Back and Biceps

Day 47 — Yoga X

Day 48 — Legs & Back

Day 49 — Core Synergistics

Weigh In

Since I just passed the halfway point, it’s time to do a weigh in and post some cur­rent stats.

Weight: 230
Waist Size: 38″

In a way I was hop­ing to see the scale move down at a bit faster rate, but it’s only one met­ric. The biggest sign of improve­ment I’ve seen is with my belt. When i first started, I was at the first notch and now I’m on the fourth. So while the scale only shows a drop of 22 pounds, I’ve actu­ally lost much more due to the added mus­cle. The increase in strength has been incredible.

My clothes have been fit­ting much bet­ter lately and have had to go out and buy some new pants already. The khakis I had been wear­ing to work started to get a bit baggy.

The dig­i­tal scale I had, which also tracked body fat, died sev­eral weeks back. I’ve been using a reg­u­lar scale for the time being. I just ordered a new dig­i­tal scale so I can track body fat % again.

Posted in Exercise, P90X, Popular | Tagged Back, Back and Biceps, Chest Shoulders and Triceps, Core Synergistics, Legs and Back, P90X, Plyometrics, Yoga X | Leave a comment

Learn­ing Yoga Poses Can Be Enjoyable

Posted on August 21, 2009 by The Average Joe

If you want to learn to try some yoga poses, you should be on an uncar­peted floor, as the car­pet­ing can adversely affect your bal­ance. You can use a sticky mat or a large towel to have a bit of cush­ion­ing while you prac­tice your yoga poses.

It is best to first prac­tice in a class, and using a book at home to help you remem­ber how to do the yoga poses cor­rectly. Also, in class you are around oth­ers doing yoga, and there is a feel­ing of “com­mu­nity” to be doing yoga poses together.

There are many places that can teach you yoga poses. There are spe­cific yoga schools, classes in gyms and health clubs, and other places. Your gym or doc­tor might be able to make a rec­om­men­da­tion – or ask around. A lot of peo­ple are doing yoga poses these days!

Yoga poseEach teacher of yoga poses has their own style of teach­ing. Some keep things very seri­ous, oth­ers are more fun. Some do more hands-on cor­rect­ing, oth­ers do not. If you do not want to be touched, be sure to let the teacher know. And for your first class or two, it is smart to sit behind the front row so you can watch other stu­dents and see how to do the yoga poses yourself.

Yoga Poses: Descrip­tions And Information

The first move­ment you will likely learn to do is the “sun salu­ta­tion.” It is the stan­dard series used in yoga classes. It helps your mind and body wake up and pre­pare for the pos­tures to come. It is con­sid­ered a “mov­ing med­i­ta­tion.” You should focus on your breath­ing and begin relax­ing as you move through many posi­tions, includ­ing another of the yoga poses known as “cobra.”

There are sev­eral basic yoga poses. One is “Sit/Easy Posi­tion – Sukhasana.” It is a posi­tion where you sit cross-legged and focus on your breath­ing. Another pos­ture is called “Dog and Cat.” It is done up on the hands and knees, and the tail­bone is rolled up and down, increas­ing the flex­i­bil­ity of the spine. There is a “For­ward Bend or Exten­sion,” which stretches the legs and spine, relaxes mind and body, and rests the heart and neck. “Trikonasana — the Tri­an­gle” is a posi­tion that stretches the spine, improves bal­ance and con­cen­tra­tion, and opens the torso. To do it, one stands with legs in a wide stance. The arms are raised up and the body bends to meet one foot at a time. “The Cobra” is done by lying down and rais­ing the head and torso up. It stretches the spine, strength­ens the back and arms, and opens up the chest and heart. There are many other posi­tions, but the final one in any yoga class is called “The Corpse.” As it sounds, the body lies on the back on the ground, and though appear­ing dead, the goal of that yoga pose is con­scious relax­ation. The relax­ation part is easy, the stay­ing con­scious – not falling asleep – part is a bit harder.

Posted in Workout, Yoga | Tagged Poses, Yoga | Leave a comment

P90X, Days 36 — 42, Week 6

Posted on August 16, 2009 by The Average Joe

P90X LogoThings have been hec­tic lately, so for right now I’m going to move to weekly updates on my progress instead of the daily posts I’ve been mak­ing. Also, I’ve noticed that lately the major­ity of my posts cen­ter around my progress with P90X. I also want to write other con­tent that you’ll find inter­est­ing as well. Don’t worry, I’m still here, I’m still doing P90X, I’m still dis­cussing my progress, and I’m still Bring­ing It.

It seems like Phase II of P90X for me is about mak­ing gains. That means mak­ing gains with indi­vid­ual exer­cises and entire rou­tines. Here’s what week 6 looked like.

Day 36 — Chest, Shoul­ders & Tri­ceps. This work­out comes at your tri­ceps and the mus­cles in your chest and shoul­ders very hard. The slow speed pushups that make up two exer­cises in the rou­tine are a killer, but after com­plet­ing those exer­cises, I actu­ally felt a sense of accom­plish­ment. I can’t think of a bet­ter way to start the week.

Day 37 — Ply­o­met­rics. If you told me last year at this time, when I tried P90X for the first time, that I would be able to last more than 25 min­utes with this rou­tine I wouldn’t have believed you. I may not be able to com­plete the entire work­out yet, but I keep get­ting closer. I also don’t feel as if it is kick­ing my ass like it used to. It’s still a stren­u­ous work­out and it still pushes me to my lim­its, but I don’t feel as wiped as I used to.

P90X Back and BicepsDay 38 — Back & Biceps. My goal with doing P90X is to gain lean mus­cle. Since I’m look­ing to lose weight, I really don’t want to be any bulkier than I am now. So with that goal in mind, I con­cen­trate on doing more reps. So far I feel I’ve been pretty suc­cess­ful at it since I’ve noticed my arms are get­ting stronger and gain­ing def­i­n­i­tion with­out putting on sub­stan­tial size.

Day 39 — Rest Day. Lately it seems that by Thurs­day, my body feels tired and fatigued. It’s prob­a­bly a com­bi­na­tion of the long work week and the stren­u­ous nature of P90X.

Day 40 — Legs & Back. Last week was the first time that I was able to com­plete this work­out from start to fin­ish and I was able to repeat that this week. It was a big win for me, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to take it easy. I still have a love — hate rela­tion­ship with this work­out and is still a chal­lenge. This week was about push­ing myself on the num­ber of reps per exercise.

Day 41 — Kenpo X. Last week I decided to swap out Kenpo X with Core Syn­er­gis­tics since I felt really good after doing it twice the week prior. This week I decided to go with Kenpo X for a calorie-burning, fast paced work­out. I hit my stride about mid-routine with this work­out, but feel fan­tas­tic when I’m fin­ished. While I enjoy Kenpo X, I think I may swap it out with Core Syn­er­gis­tics next week to do more work on my mid-section. We’ll see.

Day 42 — Yoga X. I’ve talked many times about the ben­e­fits I’ve seen with Yoga X, so there’s no point in repeat­ing them. Tony Horton’s pre­sen­ta­tion style is markedly dif­fer­ent with Yoga X than that of the other work­outs. Tony is usu­ally loose, upbeat and crack­ing jokes. I enjoy that style since it keeps the mood light with a very dif­fi­cult work­out. With Yoga X, Tony is much more sub­dued and there’s no jok­ing around. I find this style keeps me relaxed and focused on what I’m doing and the dif­fi­cult poses I’m try­ing to hold.

Posted in P90X, Popular, Routine, Workout | Tagged Back and Biceps, Chest Shoulders and Triceps, Legs and Back, P90X, Plyometrics, Yoga X | Leave a comment