So today is day 45 of my P90X transformation. I have made it half way through this grueling workout. I must say that it lives up to its hype. This is a very intense workout. I love to hate it. With each and every daily workout i can feel myself getting stronger and doing the moves that i can remember not being able to do at all when i first pushed play. It is an amazingly, satisfying feeling to say, "hell yeah, I just did that!". If you've every said that after completing something you once thought was beyond your reach, you know exactly how that feels.
One thing that i cant stress enough about the P90X program is that when Tony says "write it down", DO IT !! I have been able to track and see my improvements over the weeks and that helps me to challenge myself to push harder and dig deeper for the next time i do that particular routine. Today, for instance i have Back & Biceps then Ab Ripper X. I plan on doing more chin ups than last time, and using heavier weights for the curls. I now have dumb bells from 5 lb to 25 lbs and i use them all. Think 5 lbs isn't heavy? Try doing 40 arm circles with them and then get back to me.
When i first started doing this Back & Biceps workout, i didn't have a way to do pull ups. None of the door ways in my house could be used for the P90X chin up bar, so i had to use bands. I had to find a way to attach the band into the top of a sliding glass door. I finally figured out a reliable (safe) way to do this and used that set up for 2 or 3 weeks. I finally designed a chin up bar out of 1 inch black steel pipe from Lowes. It was a monster setup. 7 feet tall, 4 feet wide and rock solid. (pictures can be seen on my Facebook page, teamleebee) The following proves that i am NOT an engineer, or maybe it does, i don't know. The ceilings in my condo are just about 8 feet high. Anyone see the problem yet? Yeah, when i set the bar up in the room and grabbed the bar, i noticed that if i did a pull up, my head would hit the ceiling if i attempted to get my chin above the bar. Hmmmmm. Redesign time. Long, boring, story short, i now have a 4 foot tall chin up bar that works great. I rest my feet on a chair, hang from the bar and do my chin ups. I know its not a true chin up, but it works for me. I would estimate that i am using 75 to 80 % of my body weight when i do a chin up though. I currently still struggle with the corn cob pull up, but i will master it.
Oh, back to my original point. Not only did i not have a way to do chin ups, i could only do 2 or 3 total. That is quite painful for me to admit. I have a background in gymnastics and have always had a pretty strong upper body. In high school, which i know was decades ago, i could consistently do 30 or more chin ups, and most of them were in a L-Seat position.(legs straight out in front of you). Oh time has not been good to the upper body. Ok, i admit it, its my fault. Sorry off track again. Now i can do this entire workout and i wind up doing over 50 chin ups in a hour, along with all the dumb bell curls. I love what P90X has shown me that i am capable of.
The next 45 days are going to be even more grueling because i am going to dig deeper and bring it harder than i ever thought i was capable of. I am amazed at the results i have gotten so far, and I will only get stronger, healthier and RIPPED.
Stay tuned.......check out my Facebook page for my before pictures, and my soon to be uploaded 45 day pictures and measurements.
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