This morning it occurred to me that I am 3 days into week 3! Immediately questions starting forming like, “Am I still supposed to be using the chair for help with pull ups?” “Should I be able to get through Ab Ripper X without pausing the video to finish certain routines?” “Will I see more results soon?” I am sure these are common questions that  people have during different phases of the P90X program. However, the questions and doubts are still there. I decided that I would take Tony’s advice and “Do my best and forget the rest.” That being said, I pumped out a good work out and noticed some good improvements on my stat sheets. It was a solid Monday morning workout and I followed it up with a round of Ab Ripper X.

Hitting the Pause Button

For some reason, I have never hit the pause button during the routines to finish a preset number of reps. For example, when Tony says we are doing 16, I would do as many as I could until the time ran out. I realized getting in these set number of reps is crucial to achieve results. Especially finishing the sets with good form. So, I have now added the note of hitting the pause button to finish sets when there is a predetermined number to do. This is really helpful for Ab Ripper X. The total 339 will help me achieve the look I am going for.

Time for an Upgrade

I have been talking about upgrading the amount of weight I work out with for a few weeks. Yesterday afternoon I stopped over to Play it Again Sports and tested out a few different weights. For exercises like lawnmowers I want something that I have to really struggle to get 6-8. I tried a 55 lb dumbbell and was able to do 8 reps on both sides. When I bumped up to the 60, my left side was a little tougher to get 6. I believe I am going to get the 55 and try a round of Chest and Back. If I am able to get through both rounds of lawnmowers with the 55 and good form, I will stick with them. Otherwise I will be taking advantage of the 14 day return policy . I am also planning on upgrading my regular routine weights to 25 from 20. I am getting good form reps in with the 20 lbs and I believe I am ready for the next level. I will be sure to post my results of the weight upgrade, if I can still type after it.

I enjoy all the cardio workouts in P90X and Plyometrics is no exception. There is some lingering soreness in my chest and arms from yesterday’s Chest and Back workout. That being said, I continued to push it for Plyo today and decided to used my 2lb weighted gloves for the first time with this routine. Man, this is pushing it! By far, this was the most I perspired during any P90X exercise yet. Even though I was huffing and puffing, I felt great! I am embarrassed to admit that I do not know how to pitch a baseball. I can throw one no problem, but pitching is awkward if you have never done it. The pitching technique was a carry over from last weeks Plyo that I wanted to work on. I do believe I have the mechanics down now, but it is still a little weird.

Soreness

I have noticed some soreness in my lower spine when I wake up in the morning the last few days. It does not impact my ability to workout, it is just a little soar when I first get up. The different warm ups and stretching help get it ready to workout. Today I am going to do some research and figure out if it a technique issue or something else.

Overall, I am happy with today’s Plyometrics routine. I worked hard and my heart rate stayed in the 170s for almost the whole routine. It did drop to 160s a few times, but only for a few seconds. For the sports special, I really pushed it and tried to keep the heart rate in the 180s! What a way to finish a workout.

This is the start of week 3 for me on my P90X program. I have been through all the exercises twice and know the proper technique for just about all the routines.  While I was waiting for my JACK3D to kick in this morning I was reviewing my progress sheets. I am happy with the progress made thus far, however there is room for improvement. I told myself” it is time to push it”.  For Chest and Back, I was ready to leave it all on the floor for round 1. Round 2 was a best effort at the routines. Pull-ups are getting better. I can do a few unassisted, however I need to pull the chair in often.  My push ups for round 1 felt really solid. The range of motion was very deep for a few and the rest were deeper than previous rounds.

By the time round 2 came, I was pretty spent. Even with the extra energy from JACK3D, I was dogging it. My push ups were not great and my pull ups were worse. All my reps for pull ups in round 2 were assisted with the chair. During my Military Push Ups, Tony went on a little tangent about the brain telling you that your body is done and pushing through it. It was timely considering I was red faced struggling for number 7. The rest of the workout I kept telling myself “mind over matter”.  It is cliche, however it did help.

Ab Ripper X

After pushing it hard for Chest and Back, I was not looking forward to ARX. However, I took the same approach of mind over matter. My form was good except for the v-ups. I struggle my ass off with those. I did try something new today, I hit pause to finish each set to get the 339. It worked well and I was pumped to finish the WHOLE routine.

I have said before I need to get more weight, especially for lawnmowers, etc. During the sets today I wrote down how much I thought I needed and the routines to test the new weights with before buying them. So tomorrow may be the day I go the upgrade. Like I said, week 3 is all about pushing it!