Day 17: Shoulders & Arms followed by Ab Ripper X

I finished the herbal cleanse program I've been on for the last 2 weeks and starting taking some new supplements that are supposed to increase calories burned during your workout. All the supplements are Advocare products which my wife now represents through Peak Performance.

Workout felt really good today and my arms & shoulders are still burning about 45min after my workout. I was happy to see myself at 191 today as well. I went out to a ballgame last night. I had one bratwurst and really felt hungry for a second. I avoided the urge and went for the chicken breast instead. I also really limited my alcohol intake. I had one tall white russian & one beer. Usually when I'm tailgating with my college buddies it's 2-3 bratwurst and 6-8 beers. Hmmmm, how did I ever get fat?

Day 16: Plyometrics

I think this is my earliest post yet! 2 workouts in less than 12 hours.

Sacrificing an hour everyday to workout is tough enough but to try to get it in before work is insane. Especially when you start work at 7:30am. I'm leaving early from work today to go to a baseball game. Since I wouldn't be getting home until 10-10:30pm I knew the only way to get my workout in was to get up at 5am.

Luckily little Eva slept through morning and I could go without interruption. Working out in the morning is a lot tougher than the afternoon I think. I never enjoyed morning workouts. Since taekwondo practice was always after 6pm my body has been use to training at night for the last 21 years. Plyometrics are tough enough on a warm body but first thing in the morning is killer. I was definitely tiring more quickly this morning but I felt energized after.

We'll see how long I last today now!

Day 15: Chest & Back followed by Ab Ripper X

This has got to be the toughest workout session. To make it worse, it's followed by 15 minutes of abs. It's just killer!!!

I showed some improvements though from last week. I did 130 total push-ups compared to 96 last week. I consider that a sizable accomplishment. Here are the types of push-ups in this workout:

You do a set of pull-ups or weight lifts in between sets of push-ups. Then the whole routine is repeated - that is why there are two numbers for each set:
Standard: 22 & 17 reps
Military: 6 & 0 reps I was outta gas the 2nd go around
Wide Fly: 19 & 17 reps
Decline: 16 & 8 reps (compared to 4 & 4 last week)
Diamond: 10 & 5 reps (hate these!!!)
Dive Bomber: 6 & 4 reps

I'm not going to even go over pull ups. I still suck at them. I keep at them though but I'm still using the chair for assistance.

Day 14: Rest & Weigh-in

Well, I'm a little disappointed in my weight loss this week again. I really minimized my alcohol intake this week (3 drinks total) and avoided soda. I ate lean, no junk food or snack food. I really thought I would have dropped more. Though I finished today at 192, I was as low as 190 a few days ago. It's frustrating.

Well, there wasn't much rest today. I had a taekwondo class to teach. I got there early and warmed myself up. 100 jumping jacks, some running and then hard forms practice. Class was spent working on proper falling technique and some jujistu as demonstrated by our guest instructor. My left thigh is killing me from taking a knee there while in a sweep.

Some good things to take from this week...

Yesterday, I was able to go a full 8 minutes of heavy boxing on the heavy bag. I've never gone that long. Not only did I feel I had more energy, I felt a lot more strength behind my punches. If I had this strength & endurance the last time I was in the ring I would have won by KO instead of by decision.

I also feel I'm running longer & stronger.

I'm using a new notch on my belt!

I'll just keep plugging. Tomorrow starts a new week.













Final weight: 192.2 lbs.
Weight lost this week: 1.2 lbs.
Total weight lost: 2.6 lbs.

Day 13: Cardio

Bleh!

I went into work at 6am today to make sure I could get everything finished and I could get home on time. Not in the cards today. I didn't leave work until after 6pm tonite. Last thing I wanted to do when I got home was work out. At least it was cardio. I decided to wrap up the wrists and work out on the heavy bag. The heavy bag is a great way to get a full body workout. I mixed the heavy bag with jogging and sprints. Definitely worked the stress out.

Day 12: Legs & Back followed by Ab Ripper X

I'm beat. Not sure what else to say today. Lot's of pull-ups. For those not familiar with Ab Ripper X, it's 330 sit-ups in a 15 minute session. That's after an hour workout. Damn, these people are mean. I can't do all 330. It's several different sit-up exercises with 25 repetitions in each. On half of them, I can do all 25. On the others, I can get to about 15-20. Sometimes it's because my stomach is just burning and on others, my lower back starts to give. I have a really weak lower back. I don't think it helps that it has to support my gut. Hopefully as I progress here, there will be less for my back to hold up.

Day 11: Yoga

Ahhhh, that stretching felt good after my body getting tore up from the lifting this week. I worked up one hell of a sweat though. It's amazing how much sweating you can do practically sitting still! I am just ounces away from 190 today and so close to hitting that elusive 189 mark I've been wanting to hit since last weigh in.

Bonus: Went for a 3.5mile run this afternoon with Christy. Felt great too. After we hit the halfway mark, we switched it up for the homestretch: 1 min jogging, 1 min sprinting, 1 min walking. That seriously kicked my butt.

Day 10: Shoulders & Arms followed by Ab Ripper X

Whew. Day 10. Only 80 more days to go! That's not so bad. Right? Painful today. My allergies have been kicking my but all night and day today. Perfect excuse to pass on a workout. But no, still going. Alright, shower time.

Day 9: Plyometrics

Well, this was a bit easier the second time around but still a kick ass workout. My quads were killing me the most and squatting low became tougher and tougher. I really worked up a sweat in this one today. Feel good though. I registered my lowest weight yet but I'm still not below 190. My goal for next weigh in is to hit that mark.

Day 8: Chest & Back followed by Ab Ripper X

Today starts the repeat of last weeks workout schedule. It's about 2 hours after my workout right now and my shoulders & back are burning. In course of todays 56min workout, I did 96 push-ups of differing varieties. I still suck at pull-ups and needed the chair for assistance.

Today was made especially difficult by a terrible day at work that left me just wanting to hit the couch after work. I did manage to pass on "cookie day" at work. Cookie day was something I always looked forward to in my week. How sad is that?

Day 7: Rest

Well, not much rest. I planned my rest day to land on the night I teach taekwondo so I didn't have to squeeze in a workout afterwards. I still got a good sweat going night practicing forms.

Well, it's the end of week one. I feel good about myself. The weight loss was not as much as I hoped. Okay, not nearly as much as I hoped but I actually feel tighter all around. I couldn't believe that I ran 4 miles yesterday and didn't feel tired at the end. I think I made a lot of good progress this week and it's something to build on.

On to the results and the pictures. These pics look more like I'm documenting my pregnancy than my fitness. Looks like I'm late into my 2nd trimester right now.

Final weight: 193.4 lbs.
Weight lost this week: 1.4 lbs.

Day 6: 4 Mile Run

Well, there was a change of plans today. The schedule called for the Kenpo workout. I've already tried the KenpoX Plus workout and it's mostly cardio. Since my wife had to work late and I had the baby, I had two options. Wait for her to get home and work out at 8:30/9:00 or go for a run. I opted for the run instead.

I strapped Eva into the jogging stroller and we were off. I had just planned on taking our regular 3.5 mile route since I wasn't sure I could even make that while pushing the baby the whole time. The first 1/2 mile was the hardest as usual but slowly started getting better. By the halfway point I was really feeling good. My breathing was under control and my legs felt good. I ended up going an extra 1/2 mile for an even 4. I really felt like I could have gone 5 or 6 miles today.

You have to have flexibility in your workouts for when the unexpected comes up. I could have waited until much later tonite to work out but I didn't want to risk something else coming up where I'd miss it.

The concludes the first set of workouts. Tomorrow is the scheduled rest day. Of course it lands on the night I teach taekwondo so I imagine I'll still be getting a good workout in. Tomorrow also marks the end of week one which means new pictures and a new weigh in.

Day 5: Legs & Back followed by Ab Ripper X

Having a lot of lower body strength already, the leg portion of this was not too bad. Still very challenging and I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow. The back involved a lot of pull-ups that I'm still struggling with....for now.

Day 4: Yoga

I woke up this morning again hurting everywhere. Not only that, the long work week and early Saturday morning left me exhausted today. Yoga was the perfect break for today. Not that it was easy by any means. I couldn't do a lot of the poses and holds on the DVD. I was definitely pushed but since Yoga helps build strength while stretching it felt so good on my aching calves, quads & hamstrings.

I decided against posting photos tonite like I originally said. I'll do them every Wednesday night before a new workout schedule starts. So, only a few more days until the next officially weigh-in and photo.

I'm actually already down 3 pounds and I'm really optimistic about hitting the 180s for the first weigh-in. I can't remember the last time I was below 190.

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.