Bonus Post!! Day 3.5 - Run

Well, after Christy got home, she wanted to go for a run. I thought, what hell, I'll give it a try. I hate running. It's not enjoyable for me. The last time I ran was with Christy about a month ago. It was a 3 mile run. I had to stop and walk 4 or 5 times.

Well, today we ran 3.5 miles and I didn't have to stop once! All that work on the heavy bag in the garage paid off for my cardio.

Day 3: Shoulders & Arms followed by Ab Ripper X

This morning I woke up and felt I was hit by a truck. A truck that was hauling another truck and towing one in the back. My shoulders, chest, back & abs still hurt from day one and now my whole lower body from the plyometrics. I'm also short on sleep from putting in 50hrs in at work, plus teaching taekwondo, plus starting the P90X program not to mention getting up late & early with our 7 month old. I seriously need some sleep.

Todays workout was an hour of Shoulders & arms. 15 different exercises: 5 Shoulder, 5 Bicep & 5 Tricep. I picked up some more free-weights today and was using a mix of 10, 15 & 25lb weights. I think I need to add a 20lb set and then hopefully someday need a 30/35lb set.

I also picked up a tub of protein powder. My wife Christy reminded me that when strength training, I should be getting at least 20g of protein at every meal. I'm off to have a shake.

Day 2: Plyometrics

Very sore this morning. Very sore. My back & shoulders were on fire. Today was 1 hour of plyometrics - a workout focused on the lower body and using your own body weight for resistance. I've never jumped, squatted & lunged so many times in one day! These hour-long workouts are brutal! For the last month I've only been doing 20-25min workouts. Talk about a kick the butt.

I found this workout easier than the last but by no means easy. I have very muscular legs and great balance from 20 years of taekwondo. I'm very comfortable on one leg and jumping around. I did find I had to modify a lot of the routines towards the end because of burning hammies.

Weight: 194.0

Day 1: Chest & Back followed by Ab Ripper X

Starting weight: 194.8-lbs.
Waist: 36-38

Okay, let's get the pics out of the way. Damn, that USE TO be a good looking dude. I guess I should be happy I don't have man-boobs but the pale skin & beer gut are pretty bad. Looking at these pics and sharing them for all should be good motivation to keep up with this. I'll take pics everyday for the next 90days but I'll spare you all and only post weekly pics. Hopefully they get a little better each time. I promise to try to get some sun too.

Wow, what a workout. My back, shoulders & arms are still burning and it's about hour later. I'm going to hurt big time tomorrow but I know I'll sleep good. It was about an hours work of chest & back - mainly various types of push-ups & pull-ups mixed with some free weights. That was followed by a 15 minute ab workout. I could not keep at all with the people in the video. I did much better with the push ups than expected but I've been working on those a lot this summer. I can pop out about 20 before I start to tire and max out at about 30-35. I think I did about 100-130 push-ups throughout this workout. I'll have to start keeping a journal so I can better track my results.

That's all for now. Time for bed.

Who am I and where am I going?

Welcome! Thanks for joining me in a journey of sweat & transformation. I've decided to give the P90X workout program a try for the next 90 days and you're all invited to watch. If you haven't seen the infomercial, here's the the short of it:

Work out for 90 days following their DVD workouts & nutrition guide. You follow a specific training guide working 6 days in a row followed by a day of rest. The idea is total muscle confusion to avoid the dreaded workout plateaus.

Who am I?
I am the 29 year old father to a beautiful 7 month old girl Evalyn. I am husband to a gorgeous personal trainer. I am a graphic designer for Kohl's department stores. I hold a 3rd degree black belt in taekwondo. In my spare time I make customs football figures for fans & athletes all over the country - check out www.4StarCustoms.blogspot.

How did I get here?
I am no longer in great shape. Was I? You bet I was. Freshman & sophomore year of college was my peak. I was hitting the gym 1-2 times a week and martial arts training 6 hours a week. My strength was great and my endurance even greater. I was competing in the taekwondo nationals & junior olympics. I won two bronze medals. In 2000 I took the gold at state by beating the reigning national champion. I was sure favorite to take the gold at nationals. Unfortunately, just a month after state, I tore my ACL. I passed on surgery because it would mean missing nationals. Instead I competed with a torn knee. I held my own for the first two rounds but by the third I could no longer stand. I came back home and had surgery.

The long rehab brought my activity level to an all-time low. My partying however didn't slow one bit. I continued to indulge in our fine Wisconsin brews and kept Toppers, Papa Johns & Dominoes in business. I quickly went to from a 145lb. mean middleweight fighter to a 210lb. out of shape heavyweight joke. Sure, I can still kick above my head, break bricks with ease and hold my own in the ring but I know there's a better fighter inside.

Where am I going?
I'm now on a journey to get back in shape. My goal is not get my college sophomore body back - it's to get an even better body back. I'm done with excuses: bad knee, long day at a desk job, no time, sore this, sore that. I'm ready for a new me, a better me.

How will I get there?
Hopefully P90X will the answer. It seems like a varied enough workout to keep me interested. I'll be heavily relying on my wife Christy. As a personal trainer, she will be my guide. She'll be helping me with my form, my nutrition and my motivation. Hopefully those of you reading will follow me and keep me motivated - comment, critique, harass me & encourage me.

All right, let's get transformed!

Note: I do not work for P90X, I'm not sponsored by P90X and my results are indicative of what I put into my workouts and my nutrition. If I fail, I'm not going to blame the program, I only have myself to blame. It's merely a tool that works as good as the person wielding it.