Post P90X Report

It’s been almost a week since completing the P90X routine. I’m having a ball filling up that extra hour + per day and, so far, I haven’t missed it at all. This past weekend I was very busy with landscaping projects. It was hours of digging holes, ripping up sod, racking heavy dirt, planting shrubs, moving and assembling rocks, pushing wheel barrels, a thousand squats up and down . . . . The whole while I was thinking, “P90X is nothing! Landscaping is the REAL workout.” At many times I was thankful for all those core exercises of “pick something up and put it on the shelf.” Tony even said, “This is real world” and he was right. It paid off. If I had a quarter for every time I squatted down to pick up a clump of sod . . . I was exhausted by the end of the weekend, but the great news is that I wasn’t the slightest bit sore on Monday. I was expecting to be too sore to get out of bed. I’m very pleased.

And today was the first time we went kayaking in over a year. I remember the beginning of kayaking season in the past. My shoulders would ache and I simply could not row the entire lake. Luckily for me, my husband and I ride a tandem so I could just stop and rest any time I want. But not today. Our first day out and I was as strong as can be. We ventured out to a new lake, bigger than the one we are used to, and the whole way back was bucking stiff winds. I loved every minute of it. I could feel my entire core engaging (remember that word? Tip of the day . . . engage). From my abs to my shoulders to all the muscles in my arms, I felt incredibly strong.

P90X really works!

Hopefully my next test will be a bike ride. Can’t wait to see if my legs are as strong as my arms and abs.

I Survived P90X

I did it! It's over! And I feel great. Not many things on Earth can feel better than completing your last P90X workout. Tonight is Friday and this is a typical rest day. I won't get the full effect of being DONE until I wake up tomorrow morning and just lay there in bed and wonder what I'll do when I get up. It will be the first weekend in 3 months that I don't have to get up to an hour-long workout. What will I do tomorrow morning? Or every day after work for that matter. I wonder if I'll feel as though something is missing from my life. I might have to take up a new hobby to fill all that extra time. Wait a minute . . . I have some dusty bikes hanging in the garage that I hope will fill that time.

Overall it was a great experience. I have a nice sense of accomplishment and I'm proud of how strong I am. I didn't gain or lose a single pound, but I do look better, firmer, leaner, and more defined. I get a lot of questions like, "Now what are you going to do? Will you continue the P90X work-outs?" In the short-term, I do not plan to continue with the videos. But perhaps at the end of the summer I will do a couple videos per week. Perhaps even the new P90X Plus videos (gulp). I will however get back to the gym regularly for my 15 minute weight lifting blasts. Hopefully those will help maintain my new found muscles and strength. For sure I will continue with regular pull-ups and push-ups. My new goal is to be able to do as many push-ups (in one set) as my age. So far I'm good. I can bust out 39 men's push-ups with no problem. With any luck I can keep this up for the next ten years.

I welcome any fellow P90X survivors to post my little "survivor" badge on their own blogs. BUT you have to have successfully completed the entire thing - scout's honor.

My Last Core Routine

Yesterday was my last P90X Core routine. I swear I used to like that video. It’s been 4 weeks since I last saw it and I was actually looking forward to revisiting it. Here I was, thinking that I’m 4 weeks further along and therefore much stronger than the last time I tackled Core. Well, I was wrong. It wasn’t any easier at all. Maybe I’m getting a little too over confident. Sigh.

Or maybe I’m just not as good at doing Cardio routines first thing in the morning with no food in me. This morning was my last Kenpo X and I always liked Kenpo. But yet I still dragged through, unenthusiastically . . . watching the clock, dreaming about a bowl of cereal. Today was highly unusual. I never attempted weekday morning workouts and doing them at 6 AM just stinks. But I don’t have to worry about that anymore. Three more little days and I am done. Yiiippeeee!

Reflections After 12 Weeks of P90X

Today was the first day of my last Recovery Week, and I gotta say, it feels GREAT! Last week I couldn’t help but to keep saying, “This is our last Plyo. This is our last Legs & Back” and so on. And now I’m saying, “This is the last weekend we have to get up and do P90X.” I’m not even sure the reality of it all has really set in.

This morning was Yoga X and this was my best yoga to date. Maybe I’m just on a high that I only have ONE MORE TO GO. Or maybe this was the first time I did yoga after a rest day. What a difference only one little day off makes. It really re-energizes me. My legs felt strong. My arms felt strong. I achieved great chatterungas throughout the entire session. OK, no push-ups in between plank and down dog, but come on, I’m not crazy! The best part was reverse warrior . . . when I dropped my arm down my back leg I noticed how incredibly tight my thigh felt. This pleased me greatly.

I definitely feel as though I’m in the best shape of my life, which is amazing seeing as my big 4-0 is soon approaching. For sure I am stronger than I’ve ever been. I have yet to get on the scale since I started P90X, but then again, I rarely weigh myself. The numbers on the scale are never really my concern. The only thing that matters to me is how I feel. I doubt if my weight has changed at all. If anything, it may have gone up since I converted some fat to muscle.

I have noticed some subtle changes in my body. For instance several of my jeans that were once my “tight jeans” have gotten baggier. I think some of my weight has redistributed. I also think my arms are bigger and more defined (especially the day after Back & Biceps). But all in all, with clothes on, you would never notice a difference in my before and after pictures. And speaking of those, I never really took ‘before’ pictures, but do plan on snapping a couple pics next week, when I’m completely done.

Week 12 Completed

What a wonderful feeling to be done with the last real week of P90X. And it couldn’t have come soon enough. This afternoon, out of nowhere, my seasonal allergies hit me over the head like a ton of bricks. Almost instantly, I went from feeling perfectly fine to feeling like I was going to pass out. The sinus pressure in my head was causing my entire face to hurt, my teeth and jaw to ache, and gave me an all-over nauseous feeling. Yucko

Coming home and changing into my workout attire was the last thing I wanted to do. The couch was looking so very alluring. But it was my LAST day of week 12 and to date, I haven’t missed one single day. There was no way I was wimping out. So I fired up that Kenpo X video and off I went. I got through it better than I imagined I would. The worst, or funniest, part was during cool down. I stood with my legs far apart, reached my arms up high and proceeded to completely lose my balance, in one of the more ungraceful episodes of my life, and nearly ended up on my behind (with an embarrassing little yelp to boot). Thank God it’s over

I will reflect more on the ending of Phase 3 later. Right now I can’t resist that couch any longer.