I’m getting ready to start my second pass through p90x. My first time through was amazing. Out of the 90 day program I missed one day due to travel (yoga day). The program worked wonders for me. By the end, I was in the best shape of my life. Not hugely muscular, but fit as HELL!
You can see pictures of my first round later in the post. Read on!
Today is day one of round two.
Some lessons learned:
- Make sure you eat right. Seems like one of those duh kind of things, but in this workout if you aren’t eating well, and enough, you are screwed. The fact that the workouts are such a challenge really helped me to pass on the crap lunches and really make sure I ate the right things.
The diet guide that comes with the workout is really pretty good, although I just use it as a baseline. So what do I eat? Well, I have my staples:
- For breakfast I almost always eat a cup of oatmeal mixed with a quarter cup of flax seed, about a quarter cup of raisins, and 1 to 2 scoops of protein powder depending on the brand.
- Before lunch (about 30 to 45 minutes before) I will eat a hand full of almonds. When I started p90x I was eating turkey jerky for a snack. That worked well too.
- For lunch, it’s a crap shoot. If I eat out with people from my office I try to stick to something protein-laden like chicken. Sometimes I will bring in lunch which is usually chicken with quinoa or a sweet potato. If you have never tried quinoa, you owe it to yourself to get hooked up. It is simple to make and it is chock full of goodness.
- On my way home from work I usually eat some type of protein bar. I have tried a bunch of different bars…some taste wonderful…others, well…taste like crap.
- Dinner usually consists of a meal my wife makes (for me usually salad with little or no dressing, chicken, quinoa or sweet potato, and some type of vegetable. I’m into the green veggies…beans, asparagus, peas, etc.
- After dinner (usually a good 1.5 – 2 hours) I will do the second half of my daily workout. After the workout I eat my protein shake. My protein shakes are flippin’ awesome. I usually put a handful of strawberries, a banana, some ice, some water, and a couple scoops of protein in a blender and blend the crap out of it. As Tony says, the best part of the workout is the recovery drink. I agree. I have never tried any of the Beachbody.com supplements. Don’t know much about them.
- This is just a list of the things I eat…your experience may vary.
- I split up my workouts. On days with ab ripper I usually do that in the morning. I hop out of bed, brush my teeth, fix my breakfast and then do the ab ripper workout. After the workout I shower and get dressed. Then I eat. Remember, the rule of thumb is “optimize in 45”. That means, eat your protein/recovery drink within 45 minutes of working out. Don’t know who came up with the rule, but I follow it.
- Make sure you have plenty of water. I go through water pretty stinkin’ fast during some of the workouts. I get an extra little cardio workout by running down and up my stairs to replenish my water bottle.
- Wear the right shoes. I wore running shoes through my first round, but I really recommend some cross trainers especially for the plyo workout.
- Get the pushup bars. I researched pushup bars and found a good set for around $10 at Sports Authority. They served me well.
- Bring it! I know that is what they say in the videos, but it really is true. Every workout I showed improvement. Whether it be an additional rep or added weight. There is a bit of mental game being played, and trust me you can do it. You will condition your mind to bring it every time.
- Which segues to write everything down! I can’t stress this enough. You will see my set up in the attached video, but in general this is what I do. I plop the dvd into my computer. I have a Google Spreadsheet of my workout plan. (Maybe I will attach it…) Then, I set up my computer up in my workout area. I play the dvd in a small window and have the Google Spreadsheet open at the same time. After each set I record my weight and reps. It is really super fast and convenient. I also hook my computer up to a little stereo…
- Heart rate monitor. My first round I used a heart rate monitor for every workout (minus the ab rippers). This was great for me. I was able to see exactly how many calories I was burning. Turns out I burned a ton during plyo. (go figure.) Anyway, I use a Polar 625x (I think…). The cool thing about that watch/heart rate monitor is that it saves the workout on the watch and then you can dump the workouts to your computer. It really kept me motivated. The calendar program for the polar makes each day that you work out light up a different color. It was nice to see my progress. Kind of like counting down the days until Christmas.
- Bowflex dumbbells. I learned this after I completed my first round. Those Bowflex dumbbells that you just turn the dials to the desired weight work really well for p90x. I hated having to take the time to change plates. With the Bowflex “bells” you just dial it and go. Very nice.
- Finally, adapt the workout if you have to. Fortunately I didn’t have to do too much adapting, but there were times when my knees were starting to give out a bit so that mean for lunge or squat like activities, I had to modify a bit. For example, on a lunge I wouldn’t go down as far.
You can find the blank workout template HERE
Recent Comments