Day 44+ and 45+ Half Way - Day of Caring and Platelets

Yesterday was the anual Day of Caring, where companies all over Western NY get volunteers together and go work on community projects throughout the region and help clean things up or accompany kids to the park or train unemployeed people how to act in an interview. Depending what your skill set is, and what you sign up for, it's a great opportunity to reach out to the community. It's also a great way to take a day off work! So yesterday I spent my whole morning cleaning up Gallagher Beach, picking out trash from the rocks and raking up sea weed (interesting side note: what are the rules with sea-weed? If it's from a lake... is it still SEA weed? or is it LAKE weed?) It was physically demanding, it wasn't P90X, but I'm going to consider it as a workout day, only because I would have otherwise been sitting on my butt for 8hrs at work, not getting any exercise.

Immediately following my Day of Caring activities, I went to the red cross to donate platelets - I racked up some big points on the charity scale yesterday. So workout out really wasn't an option anyway. They're offering "A netbook-a-day" for platelet donors. The staff at the clinic already told me "Enter on a Sunday... that way you have the best chances of winning." Hopefully they haven't been telling everyone else that... it would be neat to win something!

Today will be another P90X at the gym day. My schedule is a little messed up since I did the trainer's exercises so perhaps today I'll take it easy and do shoulders/arms. Who knows, I guess I'll do whatever feels good when I arrive at the gym.

My weight has been around 151 recently. This morning I was 152.5lbs, but yesterday I was 150.0lbs. Being off the chemicals, I've noticed that I'm less EXCITED about going to the gym. But that's probably all plaecebo effets, I can't imagine creatine making me want to work out, more than the fact I'm taking creatine so in my mind I SHOULD work out... or maybe it's the Hulk Drink, who knows. Either way, it's a difference.

Day 86: Shoulders and Arms

"Did you see what Erik just said? He said he'll do his best." -Tony Horton- PlyoX

I don't think I'll use a backpack for today's workout. Shoulders and Arms just doesn't jive with added weight on my back, unlike many of the other workouts, this one is not body-weight dependent. So looks like this afternoon's workout will be pretty standard fare.

Let's review some more equipment that I have been using: Bands.
http://www.amazon.com/Resistance-Workout-Exercise-Including-Physical/dp/B002L6WO5U/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1275999819&sr=8-8

I'm using "B.M.P. Set of Five Resistance Bands". BMP Stands for Black Mountain Products, what that has to do with fitness, I don't know. But the bands were cheap and I got them for $32.53 (free shipping, but had to pay tax). The bands come in 5 distinct weight ranges 2-5 yellow, 5-10 green, 10-15 blue, 15-20 black, 20-30 red. They are fully formed handle + band, so there is no clips, handles, stoppers, or anything that you have to remove and re-attach. To date, I've primarily used the black and red bands. There are a few shoulder exercises that are too difficult to do with the heavier ones, but I have found no use for the lower-weight bands. Even when I "double up" and hold two in one hand, I stick with green/red or blue/red.

I find the grips are very nice, but I think they are just made out of thin plastic. So if you strain too much they might snap in the middle (some of the bands at my gym have snapped and the handles are terrible to work with - they really dig into your palms).

A nice bonus - the bands come with a small door-clip. This allows you to place the clip at the top of a doorframe (that has a door) and you can feed the band through it so you can perform band-pullups. It's a nice bonus. Again, I haven't used this feature, but it's there.

after almost 86 days of using them, I haven't had any indication of significant ware, tearing, or signs of degrading. They seem to hold up pretty well. And for $30, how can you say no?

My only complaint is that they don't have a 40-50lb band. I'm finding that red is not enough for some of the bicep workouts where you crouch down. Even making a double-loop around my feet.

Weighed- 149 this morning. Plyo was tough with a backpack, but do-able. Only ones I had problems with were: Twist Combo, Rockstar Hops, and Jump Knee Tuck... because the backpack has a mind of its own.

Day 17: Tip of the day "Don't smash your face"

Yesterday I resisted yet another cake! Boy, it's hard to turn down fun-fetti vanilla cake. When 90 days are over I'm going to spend a weekend in a bakery shoving my face full of deliciousness.

The workout this morning was excellent. I took out all the stops and used my red bands (the 30lb ones) almost exclusively. The only two exercises I did not use the red bands were the in-and-out straight shoulder raises and the flip-grip-twist kickbacks. For those I used black bands (25lbs). Overall I feel really good, and I definitely worked harder today than I have in other weeks.

Also, a little "F-you" to Tony Horton... During the Side-tri-rise (the last exercise), Dreya Webber does 24 on her right side. Tony gets a little pissed that she did more than him, so he does 25 right as the timer buzzes. And says "If any of you do 26, I'm coming to your house." Well Tony, the key's under the doormat, whenever you wanna visit. BOO YA! 26 sucker, both sides!

Day 10: Shoulders & Arms + RipperX

So today was another "easy" shoulder and arms day. I pretty much went all red/black bands. It was definitely more of a challenge, but still way easier than the first two exercises of the week.

The one thing I love about shoulder and arms day are the Tony Horton quotes. He says my two personal favorites, one is actually a favorite and the other is more "WTF, did he actually just say that?"

The two quotes are (in context):
*doing head rolls*
"Let the weight of your head do all the work. Mine weighs like 600lbs... and there ain't a damn thing in it."

*finishing arms and shoulders*
"I got one word for you "WOW!" and what's wow upsidedown? "MOM!"

Oh Tony... if I wasn't able to make fun of you, I don't know what my motivation would be to keep going.

Day 3: Easy Peasy.

Arms & Shoulders was a breeze compared to Plyometrics and Chest & Back. I found myself starting an exercise with blue bands (the medium ones) and progressing up to black bands (med-hard). In a 1 case I even went to red (hardest). Overall the workout was good. I felt motivated, I think dumbbells here would be a huge advantage. The people in the videos were doing well above 25lbs for some of the workouts, I think eventually I will probably want to do that too. I think towards the end of the 90 days the bands will be a limitation, but I'll stick with it.

Also, yesterday after work, I was able to put in a 3mile run with a couple small exercises thrown in at the gym. I definitely felt it a lot more now that I'm working out twice a day and eating 0-carbs. Speaking of zero carbs, it's very strange. Even after I eat, I still kinda feel hungry. There is no satisfaction feeling in my stomach when I'm done eating a big bowl of egg-whites or a lunch comprised 100% of veggies and tuna. If being slightly hungry all the time is what it takes to lose significant mid-section fat, I'm going to continue doing it. But I just want to confess to the world, that it is a strange feeling. I will continue to keep it up.

BONUS! This time I was almost able to compete with the Ab ripperX program (albiet with some form inconsistancies). Infact the only exercise I had to take a break on was the bicycle and only because Tony is a douche and makes you do 25 forward, then 25 backwards. Either way, I failed on the reverse section. But I did manage to make it through all 40 mason (Russian) twists plus his extra 7 he tacks on at the end making it a whopping 47 twists... did I mention Tony's a douche?