Day 49: Picture Update

"Slow-mo-throw, here we go!" -Tony Horton- Chest/Shoulders/Tris

Day 48: KenpoX this afternoon

"Give me a 'Hey!', Give me a 'HoHo'" -Tony Horton- Legs & Back

Yesterday was a tough day, workout-wise. I did my legs & back in the afternoon, and for whatever reason it was that much harder. Perhaps it was the blood donation the day before, perhaps it was the fact the last time I had eaten was 12:00pm... who knows, all I know is that when I got to the Debbie Seiber 80-20's I nearly passed out.

To give myself some recoup-time, I laid down on my back and just hung out for at least 5 minutes making sure I would be okay. I drank some additional water and then finally got back up and finished the workout. Once I took my mini-break I was more than okay to muscle through AbripperX, but I really felt light headed/nauseous during the last leg exercise.

However, I added up my total pull ups for the 1hr workout: 151!! That's up 25 from last week. Granted I was all jacked-up about the numbers, sorry Tony... I know you said not to be. Perhaps I will tone it down next week.

Which reminds me: Next couple of weeks will not be standard P90X format... I will shift next week's recovery week to May 9th week, and I will shift the last recovery week (of Phase 3) to the week of May 16th. Leaving me with 4 workout weeks (one next week) and 3 upon my return from Spain. I figure this will have the least impact on the schedule as possible, even though I'm not too keen on having two rest weeks back to back.

Day 47: Back and Bicep (post-poned)

"Time for crunchy frog, EVERYBODY gets their hands off the floor!" -Tony Horton- AbripperX

I woke up this morning, after yesterday's Apheresis adventure... and my arms just were not up to the challenge. So I decided to turn off the alarm and go back to sleep. I'll go home this afternoon and do my back & bicep before Survivor @8:00pm.

I checked my weight this morning and I've come back to 154lbs which is about where I thought I was. My biggest problem about the training class I am taking is the necessary amount of coffee required to stay away. Each day I have easily 2 large cups of coffee. But it's the cream and sugar that have me worried. I shouldn't be adding nearly as much junk to it.

**Breakfast update**
I've been adding a spoon full of salsa to my eggs+mushrooms, and it's absolutely fantastic. I highly suggest spicing up your morning egg-whites at nearly no calorie cost. The spicier the better!

Day 46: YogaX

"If you don't have a yoga block you can use a cat or dog." -Tony Horton- YogaX

YogaX still is my least favorite workout of the P90X routine... again, it's the length. I doubt it would be such a problem if I performed the workouts in the afternoon, or if yoga fell on a weekend... but because it's always before work, I always cut the end off and struggle to wake up.

Last night I had Pad-Thai. Definitely not a part of beach's ladder (or the P90X diet)... but it was fantastic.

I'm giving another round of apheresis today, so hopefully I wont have any problems performing Legs&Back tomorrow. My biggest fear would be that I have bruised arms or sore arms, where they stick the needles. That would force me to not want to do the pull-up exercises. But the last couple times I have been fortunate enough to experience no post-donation discomfort.

Also, in the past month or so, I have been having (what I will call) morning allergies. When I wake up my eyes burn, as if they have soap in them, and then my nose runs. Relating this back to my P90X blog, this burning happens during the videos and I'm wondering what could be the cause & solution to the problem. It could be my new bedsheets (which I did not wash prior to putting them on my bed), it could be Spring-time allergies I've never notice or had before, it could be my contacts, it could be something in my house (dust/etc.)

I'll see what I can find on google and attempt to fix the problem. I hate closing my eyes for the first 20mins of the workouts - but it's necessary.

Day 45: Half-wayX

"You don't have to write anything down for that one, just showin' up does the trick!" -Tony Horton- Back&Biceps

Yesterday - not a good day.

1. Brake lines on my car broke (while operating). Thankfully no accident, and happened right near a Monroe Brake+Muffler... but still repairs will cost around $350 and I needed to scramble to get a ride home and to work today. (*Pic does not accurately represent the day's events...I only wish I could crash a Ferrari*)

2. IRS sent me a letter explaining that I forgot my HUD-1 form which qualifies me for the first time home-buyer credit. So now I need to wait another 6-8 weeks for my tax return to come in.

3. Stayed up late and nearly caved on doing today's mid-point workout, which now that it's over... was pretty good.

Let's hope I can have a better experience today!

Day 44: PlyoX

"Listen to me breathe...Vrrrrrp...Vurp...VVURRRPPPP" -Tony Horton- PlyoX

So I have some time this morning before work... and with my new computer, I was able to boot up in less than 11 seconds! Which is great, I can post and eat breakfast at the same time and still be early for work.

Why I don't trust scales:
Yesterday (and the day before) I weighed 153lbs, today I weigh 156lbs. 3lbs in one day? Hard to believe... but oh well. I'm sure tomorrow's reading will be just as random as today's.

1 day away from the half-way-point! CHECKPOINT! So far so good.

Day 43: Chest Tri Shoulders

Overall, pretty good weekend. I was able to put in my KenpoX on Friday afternoon, enjoy my restX Saturday, and first thing this morning pumped out another solid session of Chest/Tri/Shoulders. My big improvement this week were the 10x2 one-armed push ups (on my knees), up a whopping 4x2 from last week. Go me!

Also, this weekend dawned the first "dessert esque" item I've had since the beginning of the program. For a snack, at the mall, I had a Mrs. Fields smoothie, which was amazing. Yes, it's not a part of the diet... yes it has lots of sugar (even though I don't know how much), and yes I do feel a bit guilty about it... But it was so good!

*While doing weighted shoulder-rolls... Phil's not feeling the burn quite yet*
"... NO!? He's a machine! They call him La Maquina!...that's Spanish..."

Work has thrown a curve ball into my P90X routine. Between May 10th-20th, I will be travelling to Madrid to do some plant-testing. So I'll to my best to juggle a rest week around so that I can use those days while I am up in Spain. This way I wont need pull-up bars and bands. But since it's about 2 weeks up there, I'll have to figure out what I am going to do with the remaining 5-6 days that I wont be on a rest-schedule. Any suggestions? I do believe the hotel will have a gym (but hotel gyms are never very good).

Day #42: StrechX & Picture Update

"This ain't no spray on... we do actual DNA removal!" -Tony Horton- KenpoX

There are so many things wrong about this statement, I won't even bother discussin it. But as promised, Saturday picture updates! I can really see an improvement in my back!

Day 41: KenpoX

"Where do you feel that!? ... EVERYWHERE!" *Dreya responds* "BOOTY!" -Tony & Dreya- Legs&Back

So Earth day is over, I'm back to my normal routine of eating an endangered species for breakfast and washing it down with a Styrofoam glass full of gasoline. Yesterday was a productive afternoon. I was able to fix my lawn mower blade, start my new computer build, and do Legs&Back all in one afternoon. Plus I was able to watch survivor!

Today I'll be doing Wesley Idol's favorite workout; KenpoX. But I won't be doing it until the afternoon. I really enjoy KenpoX, I think it's one of my favorite workouts, and quite possibly the most fun cardio workout. I've even started to do some kenpo moves when I jog... Cross, uppercut, cross, uppercut... just don't fall over, and expect people to look at you funny in the gym.

My weight is down, yet again, this morning. 153lbs. The last time I weighed 153lbs I had just taken the training wheels off my bike for heaven's sake! And I think I had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle bed-sheets too (FYI). Okay, okay, you got me. I still have TMNT bed-sheets... but only because they are awesome! That makes the total weight loss so far 15lbs in less than 6 weeks.

Day 40: Earth DayX

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

+ =


"Man, I think I just ripped my pants...nope, I'm okay." -Tony Horton- Legs&Back

Today is Earth Day (04/22/2010). I just thought I would let everyone know that I am doing my best to partake in celebrating the Earth. First, I have decided not to club any baby seals for dinner. I've also decided, on my way to work, that I should run all yellow and red lights to conserve gas by not idling. Actually, who am I kidding, I didn't run any yellows... But I decided to post this picture of the Earth-Stamp because I found it funny. Only in America can we commemorate Earth Day by placing an image on something that represents the most inefficient method of communication - the U.S. Postal Service. Seems a bit out of place to me. But all silliness aside, I carpooled into work today and will do my part to try to be eco-friendly.

But this blog isn't about Earth Day (or other random Holidays), it's about P90X! And this day has not been a productive P90X day. I was up late last night and had a difficult time waking up at 5:15am. Let's face it... I DIDN'T wake up at 5:15am, more like 6:45am. Meaning, I did not do my workout as planned. So that means today after work, I need to do Legs and Back. I new eventually this would happen, I just need to make sure I don't make a habit of it!

Day 39: YogaX

"This isnt a crazy cult or religion...its just Ohms." -Tony Horton- YogaX

This is an Ohm:


And this is an Ohm meter:

Any Questions?

So my connection to Blogspot got lost somehow and I lost my post (silly me for not saving). I don't really feel like re-writing everything I had before, because it never quite comes out the same the 2nd time around (for whatever reason, forgot stuff, implied stuff gets lot, who knows). So I'll just say the hardest part about YogaX is waking up ontime to not be late for work.

A random comment I'd like to extrapolate on: Tony mentions... "Clear out all the garbage before and after, clear your mind..." and Wednesday is garbage day! So I always get a chuckle from that. Because it reminds me to take out the trash before I go to work!

But one more thing, if you want my opinion on recovery drinks (in general) I gave a fairly long answer to a simple question regarding them in my previous post's comment section. If you're too lazy to read it... I basically think the P90X recovery drink is a gimmick more than anything (even if it does work, it's way too expensive).

Day 38: Back and Biceps

"I almost blew out my esophagus!" -Tony Horton- Back&Biceps

***Happy Hippie New Year*** 4/20/2010 something smells funny...

I've decided that I really like the Back&Bicep workout from P90X. It's a shorter workout, with plenty of opportunity to increase the resistance. Last week, I found myself doing lots of Red-Band (30lbs) exercises. This week, I decided I needed a bit more, except I don't have any heavier gauge bands. So to fix the problem I deiced to use two bands. It's a little awkward for the grip, and near impossible for hammer curls, but for the regular bicep curls and lawnmower style exercises, it worked fantastically!

My only gripe with the Back&Bicep workout is the girl in the video, Katie. She looks a little bit like Jenna Fisher (Pam from The Office). But she's so bubbly and cheery and Tony's little A+ student answering all his questions and seemingly so excited to be in the video. I don't know why that irks me, but it does.

I love what Tony says at the end of the video though, in the last seconds before it switches over to AbripperX...

"TIM-EE, BOB-EE, KATE-EE, and oh, by the way, I'm Ton-EE! *under his breath* don't forget to drink a recovery drink"

Almost a full workout without hearing about the damned recovery drink... but alas, he mentions it at the very last possible moment. What a salesman!

Day 36+37: Chest/Tri/Shoulders + PlyoX

"Hamburger bad, fries bad, coca-cola bad. There you go, I said it, drink your water people!" -Tony Horton- PlyoX

Two solid workouts, back to back. I didn't find Chest/Tri/Shoulders any easier the 2nd time around, still as challenging as I remember it was the first time through. PlyoX, however, is starting to get pretty easy. I still get sweaty and gross, but I'm not nearly as tired when I finish.

This morning, I feel a bit crummy about my breakfast (a power-bar purchased back from 2005). I think power-bars and Twinkies have the same longevity properties... after a nuclear explosion there will be 3 things left at ground zero; Twinkies, power bars, and cockroaches. It's not that power-bars are necessarily bad for me, it's just hyped up junk food. Still has saturated fat, has 14% carbohydrates, and for whatever reason, chewing on them makes my jaw go numb. It's like gnawing on leather.

This weekend I opened up the diet a bit. I still do not believe I cheated... but some of my meals included Sushi, Kabobs, and buckets of fruit. The portions were probably more than necessary, which is probably why I just feel genuinely bad about the weekend... more so than the food itself.

I received my bedroom furniture from Ashley Furniture over the weekend. So hopefully I'll have some good night sleeps in the near future.

Day 35: Picture Update

35 days into the program...

lost: 13-14lbs
gained: considerable definition around the mid-section





***note***
I accidentally wrote day 29 twice, I'm really one day ahead of where I thought I was (day 34).

Day 33: Sleep in + KenpoX

Technically, Saturday is my official rest day. However, since the start of my program, Friday has been my day of rest (in the most literal sense). Originally I planned that I would do all my workouts in the morning before work. In reality, I end up doing KenpoX Friday afternoons. This makes it possible for me to obtain large amounts of extra sleep at little cost to my daily routine.



Prior to P90X I would go to bed at 10:30PM and wake up at 6:45AM. Lending me a whopping 8.25hrs of sleep. With P90X I've been going to bed around 9:30PM and waking up at 5:15AM, cutting my sleep back by about 30mins (0.5hrs). So when Friday comes, I like to go to bed nice and early (about 9:00PM) and wake up at my regularly scheduled time (6:45AM). This recaptures my lost sleep from the earlier part of the week and leaves me feeling absolutely fantastic!

Day 32: Legs and Back + Green Bean Soup, kinda nasty dude.

"It's balistic, it's static, its Stablatic! I'm making up stuff!" -Tony Horton-

Well, I still haven't hit the 120 leg/back pullup count yet. I was able to reach 114 today. Slowly getting closer. The diet in the past few weeks has been really good. Even though I'm in phase 2, I'm still sticking with phase 1 diet. My only exception was the rice pilaf at the banquet. I've lost another pound, putting me around 155lb (unofficially).

I *think* I'm developing a 6 pack. At least after abripperX I see a pretty serious outline of what is to come. Again, I don't want to make too many claims until all the info is in. Pictures will go up on Saturday as usual.

It's getting closer to summer and I'm about 57ish days away from being done, which puts me at Friday June 11th (assuming no missed workouts because of work/personal life).

Day 31: YogaX. Do your vin-ya-sa!!

So I woke up this morning and pumped out a solid hour and 32mins of YogaX. I feel pretty good, I haven't had much trouble with yoga... but I do find it is the longest/slowest workout of the P90X bunch. I have notice my stretch/reach has increase, although only slightly.

This morning I was tempted to see if there really was a magazine called "Downward Dog" but it turns out, there isn't. At least there isn't one advertised on the internet. I was hoping to put up a nice picture of the cover of downward dog magazine for my readers (possibly with a cropped image of my face...) but alas, I can not. So to fill the void, I found the above Irish-Yoga picture, which looks a lot more appealing to me... just maybe not first thing on a Wednesday morning.

I had my first real serving of carbs yesterday at the Apheresis banquet. It was rice-pilaf and it was delicious.

Day 30: Back and Biceps

The glamor muscles as Tony would call them. This exercise was amazing! It has to be one of my favorites! I'd say its right up there with chest + back. The combination of moves is just spectacular. 1 back followed by 3 bicep. It's definitely harder on the arms, but it feels spectacular!

** watch out for corn cob pull-ups **

I still haven't added carbs to my diet yet, and yesterday I denied my 5th cake... It gets harder and harder to say no to cake as the program progresses. I have been cracking real eggs into my eggwhites recently. It's just a matter of flavor and finances. Real eggs are like $1.99 for 18, eggwhites are like $5.00 for 12, and although I like them, adding 1 (or 2) real eggs makes them that much better.

Tonight is an apheresis banquet. I've never been to one before, so I have no idea what to expect, except dinner and dessert (which I'll likely pass on the latter). I'll let you know how it goes.

Weighed myself this morning: 156lbs (down 1 from last week).

If I can remember I will snap some Day-30 photos for your viewing pleasure, but I don't see how they will be much different from Day-28's.

Day 29: Plyo Rabbit, PLYO!

Day #29. It's feeling good to get back to PLYOMETRICS. I didn't think I'd ever say that after day #2, but Plyo is a nice workout. I feel the burn when I push myself, and I get my heart-rate up and burn plenty of calories. I'm also glad to be doing plyo because I discovered something a few weeks back (I hadn't posted about it because, well I wanted to post it on a Plyo day and I haven't had one in a while).

So the one-legged man, referred to as Erik in the video... During the first time running the exercise I thought to myself "Hmm... this guy looks familiar." I shrugged it off because I don't know any one legged men. The 2nd Plyo workout, I thought, "There's no way, he must be an actor or something..." So I decided to look at some photos online of actors I thought he might look like.

After a couple minutes (really, it didn't take that long to find a match), I found a photo of a gentleman named Erik Stolhanske. Boy they look identical! And to really narrow down the probability, they have the same first name!

Recognize this PLYO MAN?


That's because he's THIS MAN:


You got it... Rabbit from Super Troopers has a prosthetic leg. And he trains with Tony Horton, perhaps P90X, perhaps personal training. I don't know for sure. But all the pieces come together! And you know what, I think it's pretty damn cool!

Also funny, Rabbit does "Jump Training" coincidence? Perhaps...

Day 29: Phase 2 "Stirring up trouble"

*RANDOM SHOUT OUT* Happy birthday Jake! The real question is, will you eat cake?

Just when things seem to be dandy; rest week, feeling good, eat'n healthy. Out of no-where Phase 2 comes along and kicks you straight in the junk. Chest/Tri/Shoulder workout currently has taken the leader-board as the hardest P90X workout to date. Never in my life have I done so many challenging push-ups directly followed by MORE push-ups followed by tris&shoulders. Holy cow, if you weren't feeling it before, welcome to toe big leagues. I can see why most people quit after 30ish days, they can't handle the intensity of this one routine!

Needless to say, I made it through. Exhausted. I flew through ab-ripperX, it just keeps getting easier, which is a sigh of relief.

I'm not yet sure how to tackle the new phase 2 diet plan yet. I've become so accustomed to reduced carbohydrates... I'm not sure I'm all that excited to suddenly bring them back. I'll give it a few more days to see how my energy levels are with the new workout schedule.

One bonus (which unfortunately happens all the way at the end of the video). Phil says a pretty funny line *During the famous Karen Pot-Stirrers* Tony asks "Phil, what soup do you have?" and Phil replies "I'm stirring up some trouble!" Well, Tony does not enjoy being the 2nd funniest guy in the room and gets pretty cranky the remaining 2 minutes of the stretches! Way to go Phil! You're my new hero.

Day 28: End of Phase I

I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Day 27: KenpoX instead of YogaX

Like every Friday thus far, I will be performing my exercise this afternoon. However, due to the low desire to do a 2nd day of YogaX this week, I've decided to swap it out for KenpoX. It's just a personal choice. I really like KenpoX and I think 1 YogaX per week is enough to satisfy me.

Tomorrow is my day 28 photos (which I will likely label as day 30 pics). It will be the beginning of phase 2! Rest week is coming to an end, how sad. But I am excited to pick up the new diet and the new exercise routines! Bring it Tony! I got your aging right here!

I have a lot of housework to do this weekend, so hopefully I'll save enough time to make legitimate posts.

My weigh in was 157lbs this morning. Looks like I am tracking that weight, I've been there for nearly 1 week. Perhaps that is where my body wants to stay on this diet.

Day 26: Core Synergistics

Another fun morning with core. I got to bed a little bit late last night, but thankfully core synergistics is just under 1hr, so I had lots of budgeted time to finish well before work. I really like rest-week. It's a lot less intense and gives me lots of time to run after work and wake up late(r). I'm getting excited about the new workout on Sunday! Chest, Shoulders, Arms. I bet it will be intense! I'm always looking forwards to more random things Tony says. Perhaps on Monday I'll have a whole new list of stupid things Tony says.

Core synergistics offers this little gem (among others):
Tony: "I love love love core until my daddy takes my T-bird away."

Day 25: StretchX

So this morning I bargained with myself... stay in bed for an extra 1.5hours of sleep, or wake up and do (in my opinion) the slowest, most boring of the P90X workouts, X-stretch. Needless to say, sleep won: 10million braincells to 1. I enjoyed my extra sleep and will complete stretchX after I come home from work.

I feel like running today. Perhaps a nice 5k run will get me motivated this afternoon. Looking back at the past 3 weeks. I honestly thought it would be difficult to lose 10lbs (from 168 to 158). But in hind-sight, it was pretty easy. I definitely look and feel leaner, I haven't built much muscle yet, but that's what phase 2 & 3 are for.

For anyone looking to lose 5-15lbs (depending on your starting weight)... perhaps Phase1 of P90X is for you. I only have 3 days left in Phase 1 and if I wasn't motivated by ambitions to get some muscle mass, I'd be content with the results thus far, especially considering I've been 165-170lbs for as long as I can remember.

Day 24: KenpoX and AbripperX

Strange combination...

Rest week, not a whole lot going on. Since today would normally be my YogaX day, I was up a bit earlier than normal. When I finished KenpoX, there was enough time remaining to do a little bit extra. I busted out AbRipperX and did it. Tomorrow is stretchX, I'm not yet sure if I will replace it with something more challenging (Perhaps cardioX or coresynergistics).

But since it is a boring week, let me talk about another item I've been using.

Gold's Gym Fitness & Yoga Mat:
I'm not exactly crazy about this piece of equipment. It's thick and "cooshie" as Tony would say, but I don't think it's that durable. I've only used it for 3 weeks now and it already has scuff marks and places where the foam padding is rubbing off. However, I have been using it 5 times a week, sometimes with shoes.

The good part about it is that the padding is really thick. Great for standing poses in yoga and downward dog type positions. But if you plan to move on it, say stretching from pigeon to gluet stretch, the grippiness/friction from the pad makes it difficult to move and often the mat lifts or folds on the ground. Perhaps it would work better on a hardwood/tile surface?

I bought it for $19.00 at walmart. It will very likely survive my P90X adventure, but I doubt it'd last a 2nd time through. If you buy this item, I'd suggest not wearing shoes on it. I've found this really wears top of the material down.

Tip of the Day : Do an odd number of reps!

Tony seems to get really excited when people in the video do 11 or 21 reps.

Day 23: CoreSynergistics

Alright, so a new workout today! A fresh change of pace! And I really liked it. To start, you get hurled into staggered pushups (a personal favorite of mine), but they want you to max your reps. 45 pushups is not the most fun way to start a workout. And keep in mind there are plenty more pushups to come after that initial surge.

But the pushups get intermingled nicely with ab-poses and lunges. So thankfully I didn't burn myself out in the first 10 minutes.

Speaking of the first 10 minutes, I liked how the warmup was nice and long... and the cooldown was nearly just as long. It really cut the workout down to less than 40minutes.

The harder of the workouts were: Steam Engine (50reps both sides), Superman, and Sphynx Pushups. If you can do those 3, you've got this exercise down.

Day 22: EasterX

Today is Easter. It's a lovely day, and the beginning of my "Rest Week." I had to put it in quotes, because I doubt it will be very restful. I've already been informed that CardioX and CoreSynergistics are both challenging routines that will get my blood pumping. So although, yes, it will probably be easier than a regular week, I doubt it will be a piece of cake.

As for sticking to my diet, I think I did pretty good over the holiday. I didn't eat a whole lot extra, but I did eat a bunch of foods I wouldn't have normally ate. Still no carbs though, so I shouldn't feel too guilty. I am finding that coffee is my nemesis. It would be fine... but the beastie boy's put it best; I like my sugar with coffee and cream. I think I had a total of 4 coffees this weekend. Perhaps I should be more conscious.

I did complete YogaX.

Day 21: Photos (of Day 20)

So It's really day 20... but I am posting this as day 21. I am still the same weight ~159lbs. I think my back and chest both show a mild improvement. And with a rest week coming up, I plan to hit the treadmill a bit more than last week. But enough with the delay. Here are the pics.

Day 20: KenpoX & FastX

So, I was unaware that on Good Friday, you're not supposed to eat anything but lunch and dinner... hmm... plus you aren't supposed to eat any "meat" (I quoted meat because for some reason religious folks don't think fish - the animals that swim - are meat. Oh well. I guess the only downside to this fasting thing will be that I have to do KenpoX today. I'm glad this day fell on KenpoX and not PlyoX or Legs&Back day, because let's face it. After those days I need me food!

KenpoX was fine. I added 2lb weights to my hands for the whole routine, including the jumping jacks and blocks. It wasn't vastly harder, but I definitely could feel it working a bit more. The only downside is that I have a feeling my joints were extending fully, which Tony specifically suggets not!

Also, today I will post Saturday's photos as I probably won't be online.

Day 19: Legs & BACKPACK

I woke up this morning... I was a little nervous about doing heavy lifting. My blood donation ended at 7:30pm the night before, and it's 5:15am the next day. Clearly still within the 24hr no-heavy lifting ban. But my arms felt good, I did not experience any bruising or tenderness, so what the heck, lets do this!

I went through legs and back pretty swiftly. I didn't jump during the 80-20's... for whatever reason I just couldn't muster up the gumption to leave the ground. However... in my defense, for EVERY EXERCISE (with the exception of wall squats) I wore a backpack filled with my gym stuff + water bottle. That's right, pullups, chinups, lunges, groucho walk, squats, and even the warm-up, I wore a 3ish pound backpack! I really liked it.

When it was all over, and time to do abripperX, I felt exhausted. Most of my chinups/pullups came down significantly from 15-17reps to 10-12. Which is better for muscle building. I think next time I'll start adding some educational material to the pack. For now, I'll call it "my homework assignment." I'm looking forward to picture day on Saturday. I'm starting to see a lot of definition in my front/chest/abs.


Weekend challenge: Stay away from bad food over Easter.

Next week: Easy workouts.