Day 73 – Shoulders and Arms

Today was the final viewing of Shoulders and Arms in this round of P90X.   Goodbye Daniel “This guy loves to bring it” Haas,  see ya later Joe “This guy could be Tonys twin brother” Bovino.  And farewell dyke-like Dreya Weber I am going to miss all of you.  This is actually one of the workouts that I enjoy most.  With the exception of Tony finding the need to speak, it is really pretty good.  73 days into the routine and I can pretty much run this thing with the Mute button pressed and the Ipod Nano docked into the basement speakers and rocking.   So that is how I roll….  Seeing that it was the last time, I increased all the weights where I could.  I even managed to match the reps of the previous weeks with the heavier weights.   Does anyone else think that Flip Grip Twist Tricep Kickbacks sucks monkey nuts?    Aside from those things, this workout rocks.

One thing that does not rock about it… Ab Ripper X that follows.   I call it Nad Ripper X because it rips hairy gonads to do each time.  Although looking at the schedule I am down to only 4 more times of having to rip nads.   Despite losing 15 pounds of blubber and gaining tons of flexibility, I still hate pulse ups with a passion.  I cannot do them worth a tin-shit, my form blows and my back starts hurting like crazy about 10 reps in.  On the positive side, I really like the Roll-up, V-Ups and my new favorites are the Oblique V-ups.  I kick ass on those things.   Funny how things you used to hate become things you like as you progress and things you used to really like at the beginning are kind of just so-so now.

It was a weigh-in night.  I checked in at 170lbs even.  That is a gain of a little over a pound from last week.   According to my Daily Plate results from the week, I have been calorie deficient by more than 6000 calories.  That should be good for about 1.5 pounds lost.   The added weight must have been added muscle… ya right.   Really, I was expecting to be closer to my goal of 165 this week, but apparently the P90X gods have decided to punish me for making fun of Tony and Dreya.   I will stick with it, I have 17 more days to lose 5 pounds.   That is about one-third of a pound per day.  Saying it that way makes it seem like an easy goal.

Day 38 – Back and Biceps???

Oh shit, I think my mind has turned to mush from so much P90X.  For some reason I put in the Shoulders and Arms disk and started knocking out the workout as if it was the correct one for Day 38.   About two thirds of the way through I am writing down my results (just like Tony DEMANDS that I do) when I notice Week 9 at the top of the column.  I think to myself, huh… I am only in Week 6, this tally sheet must be wrong.  So I continue through to the end and I am real proud of myself for upping the weights/reps on almost all of the excercises, so I start keying them into the spreadsheet when I notice Week 9 at the top of the column.  What the Fuck!!! I click on the tab marked Schedule and there it is just as plain as day.  Tuesday, Jan 5th – Back and Biceps.   Awww damn.  I did the wrong workout.   I guess that when Week 9 rolls around, that I will end up doing Back and Biceps that week instead of Shoulders and Arms.  Like Tony says, improvise, change it up, you don’t have to follow us exactly.  So I won’t. 

Diet… Lets spend a little time going back over this little item.   I continue to plug along at 43% Protein, 42%Carbs and 15% Fat.   Looking back over the past 38 days, I have pretty much averaged out to 40/40/20 and was supposed to be 50/30/20 for the first 30 days, followed by 40/40/20 from then til now.   I think I have been to worried about the fat content of food instead of looking at the carbs.

Example:  I changed my breakfast up, and I am now eating cereal, OJ, and Whey Protein.   This puts me at 750 calories and a breakdown of 53% Carbs, 44% Protein, and 3% fat.  Now I have cut the fat way back, but let the carbs get to high.  The rest of the day I spend my time focusing on eating protein and as few of carbs as possible.  The cereal is high in sugar as well.  (Frosted Flakes or Fruity Pebbles, after all I am still just a kid on the inside)    I think I need to change this up some.  Our work cafeteria has scrambled eggs and even scrambled egg beaters available most mornings.  The eggs are high in protein and fat, but no carbs.    Maybe I should substitute the scrambled eggs for the cereal.  This will drive down the carbs but increase the fat..  Any idea which way is better? 

Off to Google I go.  Well guess what, no one can really answer which way is better.  They are both kind of important.   I want to try to get to 50/30/20 for the remainder of this 30 days, so I think I am going to switch the cereal for eggs.   On the good side, I have averaged 2100 total calories per day, and only 1600 net calories per day.   So I am losing the weight at a nice steady pace, but I would like to see more of the Jello come off prior to day 60 showing up.

Day 17 – Shoulders and Arms

Another great session of P90X completed today.  Increased the weight amounts on almost all of the excercises to 20lbs dumbells each.  I am now doing 12 reps of 20lbs for all of the curls and presses, and 12 reps of 15 lbs for all of the tricep kickbacks. (except the lying down ones, which are 20’s)   I really need to get off my ass and get some 25lb hex dumbells purchased, either that or just get out my old plate dumbells and set up a couple of 25’s.  

Carbs are still my mortal enemy on the diet side.  I have been keeping the fat down below 20% with ease, but the carbs have been in the 40% range.  The whey protein shake in the morning helps with the protein.  Two and a half scoops of powder mixed in about four ounces of water makes a nice thick double chocolate syrup.  Mix that into a couple of cups of coffee over the morning hours and 60g of protein is yours.  Makes the coffee taste like a crappy Cafe Mocha, but it is the best way I have found to drink the whey protein. 

According to the Daily Plate where I key in all of the stuff I eat each day (I highly recommend doing this, as it really keeps you watching what you eat) I have averaged 2,100 gross calories per day, and 1,500 net calories per day.  I am no diet expert (I have never been on one before) but I have to believe that 1,500 net per day is pretty good.   According to the site, I needed 2600 just to maintain my current weight at a sedintary lifestyle pace.

Day 10 – Shoulders and Arms II

Shoulders and Arms the second time through was just as good as the first time.  It is a well paced workout and Tony is almost tolerable in this one.   I upped the weights on most of the curls to 20lbs each and on some of the flys to 15lbs each.   I need to get some 25lb dumbells as I could move up another 5 lbs on most of the curls and presses.

AbRipper X still sucks sweaty ballsacks and I hate “Pulse Ups” as they kill my back.  Was able to do all 25 of each excercise and 35 mason twists at the end.  Within a week or so, I should be able to do the entire thing at the same pace as the DVD and do all the reps.

Diet and Nutrition:  Made some changes to my breakfast meal each day and have had a much easier time with meeting the < 20% Fat specification.  My breakfast now leaves me at 50% Carbs, 45%Protein, and 5%Fat.  I can then work in some other foods as snacks or meals that work the carbs down slightly, while increasing the Protein and Fat.   I have not felt hungry very often and when I do, I just use a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, of almonds, or a string cheese for a snack.   That seems to take care of it.  I also play hockey one night a week and on that night, my hockey seems to be struggling a little bit.  I think it is because  I complete my workout about 90 minutes prior to the game.  Just not enough time to get a good rest and refill the tank. 

Yoga X tomorrow.  Time to bend like a pretzel and try not to accidentally T-Bag myself.

Day 3 – Shoulders and Arms

So far this is my favorite of the workouts to do.  I think probably because I can get through it faster than the 60 minutes on the DVD.  Tony spends all kinds of time pointing at his flippin arms and talking about perfection, shut your cakehole dude and keep the excercises rollin.  Now I see why so many other bloggers bag on Tony, the dude acts like a douche.   After the workout I had my weekly hockey game, so today my shoulders, arms and legs are all a little sore.   Next up is Yoga X, not looking forward to that one.  90 minutes of harnessing my chi. 

Nutrition was better today: 44% Protein, 40% Carbs and 16% Fat.  

Kept the fat below 20%, but the carbs were still to high.

Shoulders and Arms trial run..

Did about 25 minutes of the Shoulders and Arms along with another 8 minutes of the Ab-ripper as a trial run.  Another thing learned.  Get some hex weights instead of the bars with plates.  It sucked changing the weights and pissing around with screwing and unscrewing the caps etc…  Today I am going out to Wal-Mart to pick up some hex dumbells, but first I will check craigslist and ebay.  

Later tonight it will be a trial run of Yoga-X.  I already know that I will FAIL big time as I am about as flexible as a steel post.  These trial runs have been a great idea as I get a feel for the additional stuff needed, i already know I will need a yoga block.  Do they make a yoga Double Block?