P90X: Week 1

Week 1 of P90X is done and over! What did I do for the first seven days?

Day 1: Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X

Day 2: Plyometrics

Day 3: Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X

Day 4: Yoga X

Day 5: Legs & Back and Ab Ripper X

Day 6: Kenpo X

Day 7: Rest of X Stretch

My thoughts?

All in all – not too bad! Yes, it’s hard, and yes you will push yourself. But (I can’t believe I’m about to say this) it’s actually kind of fun. And completely attainable! There are ways to still push yourself, even if you can’t go all the way yet. One perfect example: push ups and pull ups. Chest & Back is basically an hour of push ups and pull ups. But with all the variety, it truly flies by. You can easily alter these moves so that you can still do it. For your pull ups and chin ups, you can use a resistance band and work up to being able to pull your body weight, or you can use a chair for an assisted pull up. For push ups, it’s ok if you have to do “girly push ups” on your knees, as long as you’re still working and pushing hard.  I’m actually writing this post after already doing Chest & Back today (my second time) and I already see an improvement. And that’s the most important thing!

I think my favorites were Kenpo X, Plyometrics (dang, it’s CRAZY, but fun) and Cardio X. Wait a minute, don’t see Cardio X up there? That’s because I ditched Yoga X part way through and did all of Cardio X instead. I talked about this earlier this week, but Yoga X made me angry! I think it was a combination of a huge amount of stuff going on in my personal life, but also, it’s not the “real” yoga I was used to, and loved. In “real” yoga, the instructors aren’t encouraging you to just add another push up between a chatarunga and upward dog. After talking to Katy who tried Yoga X with her husband last night and didn’t like it/ wasn’t impressed, it made me realize it wasn’t just me. I just need to get past Yoga X for the next 12 weeks and then move on and get back to my more preferred types of yoga.

There were actually a few tips and a question from the P90X: The Intro post that I wanted to address quickly:

Q: Are you taking before and after pictures?

A: Yes. We actually took B&A pictures last night, as well as measurements. I don’t think it’ll make that big of a difference doing it a week late, because I don’t notice a huge difference physically, more just the strength that I feel. I’m still uncertain if I’ll be sharing the pictures on the internet, but we’ll see. Maybe if I do such an awesome job and the results are that amazing, maybe. We’ll see.

Tips: There were miscellaneous tips for extra stretching, don’t do too much for risk of injury, etc. I just wanted to let you know I am being careful! It’s why I’m not killing myself that I have to do assisted pull ups right now. And yes, yes, yes – lots more stretching is needed! We actually bought a foam roller yesterday and it’s lovely. I find myself frequently stretching whenever I have a few down moments of my day, so yes – thank you for the tip!

My only other thoughts from week one is to maybe try doing the Ab Ripper X workouts before the other workouts or at a different time in the day. It is SO hard to do Ab Ripper X immediately following an hour long workout, and I really feel like I could do it more effectively at a different time. Plus it is so annoying to be here, sweaty and gross from an hour workout, and to have Ab Ripper X pop on the screen with this bright lit room, fresh-faced and calm people – yeah, it aggravates me.

I’m definitely looking forward to keep doing this, to keep eating clean, and to hopefully see some results, soon! It’s fun doing it together with Ross, so that when one of us is in pain, the other can sympathize.

Any other questions? Ask away!