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.