Crazy week!

Well I have been working on week one of P90X again, and I forgot how intense the first few weeks were!  My butt and legs are sore, my shoulders are sore, and I can't WAIT to do some serious stretching tomorrow lol.  I've been doing some extra stretching here and there, but it still hurts to sit down and my leg muscles are not liking me again.  I'm trying to focus on some real strength training this time, now that I've got most of the exercises and routines down.  I'm happy with the direction things are going in.  I've dipped below 160 pounds now - barely, but still under - and most of my jeans are too big now.  This is good and bad; now I need to get some new jeans or pants.  I would love to buy some yoga gear, but dang that stuff is expensive.  So I'll have to stick with my old taekwondo pants for that.  Other than that everything is going great so far.  Week 14, or 1, is about over and I'm ready for more! 

P90X complete!

Yesterday I finished my first P90X run!  90 days of intense workouts in the books.  The first weeks seemed to go by so slow because I didn't look forward to doing most of the routines.  But as time went on and my body adjusted, I started looking forward to most of the exercises.  I'm happy with where I am today, as far as fitness is concerned, but now I want more!  Today I started the program all over again.  I've come this far so why stop now?  There is still so much I can improve on, and things that I am still learning.  Oh, a couple days ago I did another weigh-in and finally got under 160 pounds.  That made me extremely happy because I was worried that I wasn't making any improvements in the last week or two.  I want to stay around 160 pounds or so, mainly for taekwondo purposes, and because I feel I'm at a comfortable weight and fitness level.  Eventually I will start (or hope to start) gaining a little bit in the way of muscle mass, but not a lot.  Round two, here I come lol. 

Oh Em Gee

It was only a stretch day in my last week of P90X and it was much needed.  I tried to focus on more on the leg muscles, especially after yesterday evening's sparring.  I didn't do any sparring today, but chose to observe and do extra stretching before the extended class.  Master Martin was in town (my instructor's mentor) to do some special classes and seminars over the weekend.  Tonight he led most of the extended class, which was friggin awesome.  We went over a few good kicks for sparring, and some techniques to land them quicker.  We also did grappling for the second half of the class and that was a blast.  Despite how much fun we had, my muscles are exacting revenge on me and my chest is terribly sore.  I'm doing some extra stretching tonight to try and help out my legs, but I think they are just sore and need a break.  Got the weekend to rest, that's good.  I'm caught up on classes now and next week I'll be starting the P90X all over again.  Time to get healing!

Kenpo and Sparring

Today I was a little wary about the kenpo workout, but it worked out okay.  Just kept my kicks a little low and did the best I could.  It went much better than I anticipated.  I had a great evening of sparring, and tried to be more aggressive tonight.  That tactic really paid off because I think I did very well.  Usually I am more on the defensive/counter attack and I do alright with that strategy.  All of the working out and training has paid off a lot.  I'm able to keep my wind more, go longer rounds, and kick with more ferocity.  One thing that I really need to work on more is my reaction time.  I'll have to work on that somehow. 

Nearing the finish...

I  can see it... the light at the end!  Its almost the end of my first 90 days of extreme workouts, and I can say I really enjoy working out now.  Some days are harder than others when searching for that extra bit of motivation, but when all is said and done I feel good about it.  I won't be trying to post every day now, but maybe every other day.  Doesn't seem necessary to post every day now, because I'm sure I'll still miss a day or two every once in a while. 
So today was the second day of week 13, and another great core workout.  Did all of the bonus segments, all of the required reps, and went for maximum reps on individuals exercises.  I sweat like crazy, burned a bunch of calories, and not really looking forward to taekwondo tonight.  On Monday night I pushed my hamstrings a little too far and I'm still feeling it.  My groin is also sore too, so that may pose a problem.  I think I may have to take it easy tonight, despite how much I don't like doing that.  I was hoping that yesterday's yoga routine would help my legs out, but that didn't happen.  So I'll do some extra stretching and lighter-than-normal warmups this evening.  Gotta get better before the tourney next month!

Dang it all!

Today I used a rest day from P90X, and did a little stretching of my own during the day.  Unfortunately, I decided to injure myself in taekwondo class today.  I'm not sure if I'm training too hard, pushing too hard, doing more than I can handle... but I hurt my groin this evening, almost pulled my hammy, and aggravated my old foot injury again.  It was a great, fun class, regardless.  I really enjoy martial arts, can't say that enough.  I want to be great, and I think I'm taking my pursuit a little too fast.  Can't be great if I'm injured :(  Guess I'll need to take it down a couple notches, heal up, and do what I can, when I can.  Thought about going to the doc to have my foot checked out, but I haven't gone.  It seems that just when my foot feels good I go and do something to make it mad.  Very frustrating...

Core and Kenpo, week 12

It's almost the end of week 12!  I missed another post yesterday, imagine that lol.  Yesterday's workout was core synergistics again.  It was an excellent workout as always, despite how I felt during the exercises.  My body wasn't liking me, probably because I put it through two consecutive days of sparring.  I was a little sore, but can't let that get in the way of a great routine.  Kenpo was good today as well.  I think I have most of those movements and exercises down now.  It is one of the longer workouts, but the time goes by quick when I'm in the groove.  Burned a heck of a lot of calories this weekend, that's awesome!  I'm so ready for the stretching tomorrow, which also happens to be the end of week 12.  Only one more week after that, which is mostly recovery and ab work.  I'm excited to finish the program, but I will continue after its all done.  Why stop there, I still have so much to improve on. 

Buuuuurn!

I completed what is close to the last yoga routine in my first go of P90X.  It's hard to believe that almost twelve weeks have gone by so far.  I had a rough go today with the yoga routine.  Last night I decided to go sparring, and I didn't stretch enough afterwards.  This left me feeling a little sore and not quite up to stretching and bending like I should have been.  My muscles were tight and my hips just didn't want to open up today lol.  That'll teach me not to stretch properly, and I should know better by now. 
On another note I went to sparring again this evening.  It was a great class and I got to spar with higher level belts.  That was a great experience, and I realized that after such a long break from sparring, I need to attend more classes.  I need to up my game if I ever want to compete in big tournaments.  Plus I love doing it! 

Grunting and Pumping

Today was all about back and biceps.  I love the exercises for this routine.  Most of my routine today saw an increase in weight, but a light dip in reps.  I've decided to go for some size now, instead of all lean.  I don't want to get bulky, but I would like to beef up a little bit.

In about five weeks or so the martial arts school that I attend will be hosting a tournament!  I'm super excited, but a little nervous at the same time.  I haven't done any hard sparring training for a while because I was letting my foot heal.  So tonight I am going to start sparring again in order to prep for the tournament.  I will probably do sparring, board breaking, and possibly forms.  There is a rather difficult kick that I am trying to learn for board breaking, but it's proving more challenging than I thought it would be.  This is a little frustrating, because up until now I haven't had any trouble performing new kicks or moves.  Oh well, I guess that's why people practice! 

Dang it!

Yesterday I did a post about my chest, shoulder, and tricep workout, but apparently it didn't post >:(  Oh well, its not like I haven't missed days before...  To sum up yesterday, my shoulders hated me again, my abs burned like hell, and my weight is down a couple pounds.  Great workout yesterday.  Today was also a great workout, burning off the goo with some cardio X.  Something kept telling me to push harder today, and sure enough, I did.  My heart rate was soaring for quite a while, and that last superman/banana bit really did me in.  Oh and it gets better!  On top of that I get to do plyometrics tonight for taekwondo!  Yippee lol.  Its time to really sharpen up what I know.  Testing is in about a month and I want to be ready.  Plus it is helping with my overall fitness. 

Butt kickin' good time

Yippee, another calorie burning kenpo workout in the books!  I felt pretty good today, and brought everything I could to the workout.  Kicks were higher, punches were more clean, and I reduced my rest time during the intervals.  Instead of doing ball kicks (ball of the foot!), I did the kicks like I should be in taekwondo.  This is one kick, front kick for taekwondo, that I need to tweek and work on.  So I just switch out the two and knock out some reps.  Concept is the same, but there are a few minor technical differences. 
Another thing that I need to work on is going to taekwondo more often.  I've been sick for a little while, or th boys were sick, or the wife was sick, and I have missed quite a few classes.  So now I need to play catch-up if I want to test in April.  This shouldn't be too difficult if I go to a few of the extended family classes. 

Core city again

Yes!  Another wonderful core workout done today, and another day closer to the end of the program.  Well, the initial 90 or so days anyway.  I'm not quite sure how I come up with things to write everyday either.  Each day is a different workout, but they do repeat every week.  I guess its good to keep track of all this though, even if only a couple people read it.  I did a preemptive weigh-in today, because I was getting a little down about my tummy not trimming up so well.  The weight was 161, which is just below my average weight.  So this is good news.  I feel like I have hit a wall in the training though.  At first the weight and fat was peeling off like a banana, but now I'm kinda stuck.  My weight is the same, and certain parts of my body are looking better, but my abs are so hard to work on.  It might be because I have never had strong abdominal, or core, muscles before.  If I keep this up though, I'm sure I'll be seeing some good results in another few months.  I found some great yoga poses that work your core, and I am gonna try them out, maybe just one or two days a week on top of the P90X routine.  Plus I love doing yoga, it is such a nice change in pace from the normal routine. 

Feelin icky again, w...t...f...

Well I was doing yoga today and started feeling out of sorts again.  I hope I don't catch what my son has/had because that wasn't a good time for him.  I just got over feeling sick, so whatever I got better go away!  My plan was to do some yoga ab work today, but that didn't happen.  I at least made it to the end of the movement forms and poses, did a few balance postures, and that was all.  I have taekwondo sometime tonight, just not sure which one to go to yet.  Sparring is a much needed class, but with my foot getting stupid on me half the time, I'm worried about reinjuring myself.  There is the extended class too, but that takes up most of the evening, which I like spending at home now.  If my stomach keeps acting up I'm not sure I'll go anywhere tonight. 

My shoulders hate me right now

I think I went crazy with the shoulder exercises today, and my shoulders were on fire!  I'm not sure if it's because of Tuesday's workout, or whatever, but I was doing less reps with the same weight.  I still felt the burn and the intensity, but I couldn't hang like I normally do.  However, during the ab ripper workout I was able to put my arms up for a few of the exercises, something I hadn't done or tried before.  It looked intimidating at first, but after doing it today, it boosted my confidence a lot.  In past weeks I was struggling with my hands on the floor, so this is a big step for me.  I couldn't do all of the mason twists either, my abs were hurtin!  Overall I had a great workout today.  Looking forward to yoga tomorrow.

Cardio burn

I almost forgot to post today, it's 11pm!  I burned quite a few calories today during the cardio workout, and my shoulders are really sore from yesterday's workout.  This doesn't bode well for tomorrow's routine of shoulders and arms...  But such is life, I gotta stick with the program.  It was a good session today, and for the most part, the exercises weren't too difficult.  Toward the end I was really pushing my limit, and the core stuff really kicked my butt.  In a good way though.  I should have eaten more today, but I was so busy cooking and baking that I didn't even stop to grab a bite.  On the plus side, I did make some great raisin bread :)  Hopefully the family likes it, otherwise I'll be eating raisin bread for breakfast for  a while haha. 

Off with a bang!

This morning I decided to start week 11 with a bang; and boy do I feel it now!  Push up bars give you an increased range of motion, and that kinda decreased the number of push-ups I had been doing.  It was a little discouraging at first, but I'm working just as hard, if not harder, than I was before.  Now I just need to work on increasing my reps again so I can reach where I left off without the bars.  I did around 200 push-ups so far today, and that's probably all I'll do because I don't have taekwondo tonight.  Otherwise I'd be beyond the 200 mark.  I think that's a pretty good start.  The ab ripper was rough today, and I wasn't feeling 100 % on this workout.  I gave 110% but I didn't feel as strong today.  The push-ups really work my core, so by the time ab ripper comes along, I'm about tuckered out!  I try to do as much as I can, but some days are just tougher than others.  Oh well, it will come with time.