TPX Weekly Update

Hey Team PerformanceX!

I don't know about you, but man life sure can get busy (Sorry that the update is late!). This last week has been crazy. On top of getting sick, muscling through school and meetings, going to a conference in Kentucky, and working on the house, I got in all of my workouts and meals! I had to sub in some evening workouts, and I am not a fan. I love getting up and giving it my all before I leave for school. If you haven't joined the AM workout club, what are you waiting for! Nothing can ever get in the way of your workout. You do have to go to bed earlier... but give it a try if your evenings are getting full and you want to try something new!

Weekly Update - 2/4/12

Hey Team PerformanceX!

Time to check in once again! Another week down and another week stronger. The Superbowl is here and it is time to close out the season. For me, this year's festivities will be quite different than years past. It would terrify me now to know just how many calories I consumed in food and drink at those parties. Oh the brew and fatty foods! Don't let one day, one evening, one meal offset your entire week of work. The momentary pleasure will not be worth it (trust me, I have slipped up before and it is no fun). Your body has been repairing itself and running on top fuel. That garbage will only bog you down. Take action and prepare in advance. Here are some tips:

Weekly Update - 1/29/12

Hey teamPerformanceX,

I hope everyone had a great weekend. The snow is sure flying here in Holland today. I really love snow, but I must say that the clear roads have been a nice change of pace this winter. It makes it so much easier to just hop in the car and go.

Why I Love Beachbody

This post could easily get out of hand. There are so many reasons why I love Beachbody. Their programs, products, service, equipment, mission... the list goes on and on. They are a top notch company, producing top notch systems to help any and every type of person reach their healthy living goals. Beachbody is quality through and through. This morning, one of the main reasons I love Beachbody came up as it was taped to my kitchen cabinets... community and support!

P90X2 Week 1

What a great week. P90X2 has fully lived up to the hype. I am feeling just like I did when I first started P90X. My initial thoughts about the balance portions of X2 were so wrong. I must have been in a bad place or whiny mindset. X2 ROCKS! My balance is slowly improving and with each day I am able to lift more and hold the balance moves with more stability and strength. I could not be happier with what Tony has put together.

P90X2 - Fit Test

So yesterday was my fit test day for P90X2. I failed to do the fit test on my first two rounds of P90X, but I did do one for the Asylum. Fit tests allow you to have personal benchmarks for your level of fitness. This allows you to critically analyze your efforts and the effectiveness of the program at delivering on its promises. CAUTION - you can't say that a program doesn't work it you don't do it as prescribed! That means a full commitment to the nutrition component and exercise component... (Sorry, but if I hear again that P90X doesn't work from someone who "didn't really follow the nutrition guide" and may have "missed some of the workouts," I may go crazy! It's not that the program failed to work... you failed to do the work!!!

Here is my starting point for P90X2:

1/14/2012
Wt: 163 lbs.
Ht: 6'1"
BF: 6.53% (Pollack 3-site: 12 mm for abdominal, 5 chest, 6 quad)
Lean Mass: 152.35 lbs.
Fat Mass: 10.65 Lbs.
Target weight: 156 lbs under 4% BF


Resting HR: 56 BPM
Pull-ups: 27.5 (Didn't know if I should count the 1/2... I wanted it, but couldn't get all the way back up)
Vertical: 20"
Push-Ups: 73
Toe Touch: -4, that's negative 4
Wall Squat: 2:41
Bicep Curls: 16 x 35lb
In-n-Outs: 82
HR Maximizer - 174, 146, 119, 110, 102 (Fast Jacks are hard... and uncoordinated!)

So there it is! I am going to take my pictures later today, so I will be back to update the post! My BF% sure doesn't seem that low to me. The abdominal measurement is by far the highest it has been due to bulking and lower cardio during the fall. I am still quite lean elsewhere. My vascularity is still good, but not scare the children good... That being said, I believe it now: Your lower stomach is the first place to gain fat and the last to lose it!

Blessings and X2 Core in the AM,
David Jeffries
davidcjeffries@gmail.com

P90X2 - Balance & Power

What a week of workouts! It has been so much fun getting more comfortable with the new routine. I have to apologize too... Early this week, I posted that I wasn't too sure about being able to "really work a muscle group" or some nonsense. How could I have been so wrong? These are the real deal. I can only say my opinion has changed.

This morning I took on Balance and Power for the first time. There are three main rounds with an appetizer and bonus round. The moves all live up to the name of the routine and require a perfect combination of balance and power. There were multiple times during the workout that I thought to myself, "oh easy, I bet I can knock out 30 reps." Ten reps later, not only was I scaling back that number but I knew that the power I had would not make up for my lack of balance. Focus was a necessity today. I had a blast!

The official challenge starts on January 16th. I have a friend at school that just ordered P90X2 as well! I believe she will be joining up to for the challenge. Fitness with other people is just so cool!

Blessing and BRING IT!
David

P90X2 - Plyocide

PLYOCIDE!!!

Oh yes, jump training is back and the new workout is awesome. I gave this workout a test drive last week... I enjoyed it, but didn't leave it all out on the field. This week was different. I knew more of the moves... I didn't waste the first 5 seconds watching Tony... I got after it! 

Plyocide is a shorter workout, a bit over 50 minutes (with warm up and cool down). Tony has it right though; it is all about turning up the volume on this one. How high can you jump? Are you doing full squats when directed? Are you toe tapping or staying balanced? Did you do you push-ups for punishment? If you are doing every move with 100% effort, there is no way that you won't be spent.

My favorite thing about this workout is that there are no repeats. There are five different distinct sets of moves. The pace is fast and some moves still have that currently bothersome element of balance (though I am already noticing improvements). I really enjoy the Frog Burpee Jumps (at least I think that is what they were called). Those send my HR through the roof. I was able to manage 13 today. Big improvement from last week. All in all, I love this workout.

My diet has been great for 2 days now! It has seemed pretty easy to fall back into the swing of things. I have noticed that some of my bad habit had crept back... a few M&M's here... bigger serving there... but not anymore! I have decided on my goals, committed to them, and I will succeed! 

Blessing and BRING IT!

David Jeffries

P90X2 - Core

January 2, 2012 - It has begun!


So I have jumped the gun and started P90X2. TeamRIPPED will be officially starting on January 16th, but I have decided to begin a little early. I am going to lengthen the Foundation Phase and do my official start on the 16th still. This will give me 5 weeks of much needed balance and core work.

X2 Core was a lot of fun. The workout was on the shorter end of things and featured 18 different moves... no repeats! I could feel everything as we went. This is totally different than any other workout I have been doing. It was very challenging and yet really rewarding when I was about to focus in and find my balance. I really liked the medicine ball, one leg burpees at the end. At first I thought, "Oh really nice... I am wiped out and I need to kick back on one leg while holding a medicine ball?" But I brought it and by the last 6 reps, I had found the pace and balance.

I snapped some photos of the garage too! I moved out there to pick up some head room and offer the family much needed silence in the AM. Who knew an 18-month old doesn't want to be woken up at 4:00 in the morning? And wait, Mom doesn't care for that either... hmmmmm?

It is cluttered, but I still have to be able to get the shop up and running from time to time in the winter.

Good ol' pull-up bar.... how I love you...

That's what was outside... and inside sort of, did I mention the garage is not insulated?

Layers are a must... I was able to lose the sweatshirt and gloves. The hat stayed on!

653 calories later and I am so glad to be started. I am going to be hitting ABX in the evenings, so that is still on deck today. Not enough time in the mornings before school. Got to go out and play with my son in the sled and then shovel/snowblow. A nice little added burn I suppose. My eating is officially on track today as well. Have a great day and BRING IT AGAIN!

Blessings,

David Jeffries

davidcjeffries@gmail.com

Tools at Hand Hybrid

Monday 6/27/11 will mark the start of my new hybrid... the Tools at Hand hybrid. It is a combo of P90X, Asylum, and some One-on-Ones. It puts the focus back on lifting, and I am really looking to use this round for two things. First, I want to get a little bigger while dropping a little more fat. Building muscle and dropping fat is a slow process. Normally, you should only pick one and do it. Drop the fat, get ripped, and then build. Or bulk up and then cut down to get shredded. I am happy with my current leanness and just want to building muscle and strength while tightening up what I can. This round's second purpose is to get ready for P90X2. That should launch this fall (2011) and be killer! My hope is to do a full on, daily blog of that journey.

For Tools at Hand, I will be sticking right at my maintenance calorie mark (2400/day) and using the ratios of 40/40/20 for my macros. Right now I am hovering at 156 lbs in the morning. I may decide to do a tiny surplus after I see what my daily burn is actually accomplishing and if my weight is maintaining or still decreasing. I will post some days with menus of what I have been eating to give you a rough idea of what has been making up my diet. I am still eating 6 times or so a day and limiting carbs in the evening... other than that, good clean food. Watching for and avoiding added sugar, HFCS, enriched white flour, saturated fats, etc.

So on to the plan:
TOOLS AT HAND HYBRID

Keep working hard and you will accomplish your goals. Let me know if I can help with anything!

Blessings,

David J

davidcjeffries@gmail.com

Switching Gears AGAIN!!!

Can this guy stick to just one thing? I think I can, I mean... I did fully rock P90X and Asylum... It is just this mass lifting. I am going to have to give it up (for a while). Here's why!

About 2 weeks ago, I was contacted by a manager at Beachbody. She had received my results from Asylum's Earned T-shirt offer and had a question for me. Would I be willing to share my results and a little interview with BB and see if they can use my story? OF COURSE I'D BE WILLING!!!!

I have no clue if this will turn into anything, but I had to jump at the opportunity. So back into the Asylum I went. They want about 30 minutes of exercise video and a set of interview questions. I needed to get dialed in and quickly. I have dropped back to 1900 calories (I miss you 3000... ) and have been hanging out with Shaun T. again. My plan is to do at least 15 days again of straight Asylum and then head into my "Tools at Hand" Hybrid.

My "Tools at Hand" Hybrid will be fully detailed in a bit, but it uses what Beachbody DVDs I have and mixes in some fun. For a sweet 1st Father's Day gift, my son (with Erin's help I am guessing) got me 3 One on Ones with Tony Horton (30-15, Diamond Delts, and Just Arms). I will have an awesome hybrid now!!!

Keep posted to Xshred, it is summer and I will be blogging much more. I will also be including more multimedia stuff as well. Reading is great, but live action is cool too.

I leave you with a recently uncovered picture of the David of old... enjoy... or don't...

Blessings,
David J.
davidcjeffries@gmail.com

I'm out of the Asylum!!!

The review board has decided to release me from the Asylum... I hope I am rehabilitated!

The last 30 days have been crazy to say the least. The Asylum from Shaun T. is like nothing I have ever done. The cardiovascular aspect of the workouts is truly extreme. You should not even begin to think about this program if you are not already in great shape. I was fresh out of a round of P90X and I still was humbled. P90X gave me a great base, but the Asylum needed more. I burned more calories in 40 minutes of the Asylum than I ever did in a full hour PlyoX day. Even the lifting day requires great cardio. Shaun takes you through what he calls a "cardio dumbbell rotation." These begin with a curl into a squat, dropped/kicked out to a plank, push up, and back up to start again. Each time you add moves to the plank portion... spiders, and then mountain climbers. Running 30 lb. dumbbells did the job nicely.

I ate cleanly again for the Asylum. I started with going back to 50p:30c:20f at 1800 calories. I then bumped to 2000 as I was feeling really tired. I evenly ending up at 40p:40c:20f at 2200 calories. Still below my maintenance, but I didn't feel I could push without the extra carbs and calories.

What did it do? Well I dropped 3 lbs... and roughly 2% BF. Oh and this is about sports performance: I dropped 36 seconds off my mile: 5:59 to 5:23!

Here are my fit test results:
Agility Heisman: (10) - 12
In-Out Ab Progression: (52) - 57
Pull-Up/Push-Up (specify): (40 push) - 48
Mountain Climber Switch Kicks: (75) - 99
Agility Shoulder Taps: (5) - 7
X Jumps: (37) - 43
Moving Push-ups: (5) - 6.5
Agility Lateral Shuffle: (17) - 19
Agility Bear Crawl: (13) - 16

The Asylum - Overall Impressions

If you have followed Xshred at all, you know that I am taking on Shaun T.'s newest creation, The Asylum. Designed to be a graduate program of sorts for Insanity, The Asylum is all about sports performance. Repeated all over the place in the program is the goal of getting faster, jumping higher, and hitting harder. The workouts are a little shorter than P90X (about 40-50 minute average, Game Day at a full hour), but they are SUPER intense! There is no quit in The Asylum.


I have really enjoyed the program so far. It is definitely a departure from P90X. The cardio aspect of the program is far more intense. Whereas the lifting does not address each body part like P90X. Basically each set of moves are completed directly following the previous set. There aren't the nice 30 second breaks. There are times of "active recovery." Where you are still working but your HR can recover a bit, but little rest. The cardiovascular aspect is even evident in lifting. This week, in the final part of Strength, I was completing a 6" leg lift, chest press with 45s, for a minute straight (max reps), all with my HR over 155. That was crazy... probably why I am in the Asylum!


Shaun T. stresses form and "staying within yourself" all the time. You have to get the form down to increase your speed and endurance. This isn't just jumping around, this is control aimed at getting the most out of each movement.


I have realized that once I got my mindset shifting off of the P90X lift BIG picture, I was able to really enjoy myself. I've said this before, but let's face it, I'm no Arnold. I am working at this program to see what type of athlete I can become. If I really desire to get big, I will use something else. The program is for sports performance. I am getting stronger, but I know that bulk is not what I am aiming for, or really desire right now. I want to CRAZY athletic!!! I think I can get there...


The first thing I have been amazed with, even in only 17 days, is that my desire is to compete. I want to do more, run, hike, climb, bike, etc. I want to use my abilities. I want to play sports and beat people. I want to see how fast I can do a mile or 5K. I have taken my son in his stroller running 3 times in the last week. No need to do extra work (I do get to eat more then!), but I just desire it. I can't tell you the last time I have logged more than 10 miles in a week. I am even doing my first mini-triathlon tomorrow (5/20 - I will try to post that experience too!). The Asylum has changed me into a competitor and I love it!


I am leaning up as well. I dropped back to 1800 calories at roughly 50p:30c:20f for the first two weeks. Now I am at 2000 calories and still roughly 50p:30c:20f. I refeed with higher carbs twice a week. That is where I bump carbs by 100-125 grams and drop fat and protein to compensate. I still aim for around a 2000 calorie total. Those are different days. I am so used to what I eat and don't eat, that eating extra of anything feels odd.


Keep pushing play and keep it up! My wife is doing ChaLEAN eXtreme and I am going to have her post soon.


God Bless,
David

YouTube Video! The Transformation is UP!

Come check it out! My P90X transformation video is up on Youtube.... Hope you enjoy!

DAY 90 - DONE AND DONE!

The day has come and gone! Day 90! I still can't believe that it is over (P90X that is, and for now that is... more on that later!). The past 90 days have been quiet a trip. Like many experiences, I think we tend to remember the bright spots more than the negatives. I wonder if the Lord programmed us that way. If I think hard enough, I can remember being really out of it during some work outs. I remember cheating on some reps (maybe too many on Crouching Cohen Curls - still hate them). I even vaguely remember stopping short of my best, once maybe twice. Those thoughts stink. Luckily, it is really hard to bring those out! What easily comes to mind is dropping 12 more pounds and then gaining 4 back in lean muscle. The excitement of seeing my abs for the first time ever... "Erin can you see them?" It is a joy to remember adding weight to a back pack to make the pull ups harder. I couldn't even do a pull up a year ago. I also remember peaking my HR at 183 during some awesome Jump-Knee Tucks and Mary Katerine's and feeling like a million bucks. Those good memories, and many others like them, are what I remember about my round of P90X.

I also remember my coach, Wayne Wyatt. I remember getting really jacked watching his transformation video. My wife can account for this, but I also remember being straight up giddy when he would email me back about my diet and plans. His answers were always thorough, honest, and just for me. He was a huge support! He helped me dial in my nutrition and keep me motivated with inspirational and informational posts at his site. He also directed me towards keeping my eye on the ultimate prize, glorifying Christ. He is the total package of a coach. I really can't say enough about him. He is the best. If you are thinking of doing P90X, get him as your coach. It is completely free. He never pushes anything on you, he is really just there to help. Come on! Go to teamripped.com for contact info and to get started! He will hook you up!

On to the results...
Start day - February 7th, 2011
Wt: 168.5 lbs
BF: 16.5%

End day - May 7, 2011
Wt: 159.5 lbs
BF: 8%

Pics-

 

So what's next...

Where do I go from here? I have got that question a few times, mostly around how I eat. I am going to change anything now that I am done? No way! This has been a total life transformation. I plan to eat this way forever. I may play around with my macro-nutrient percentages and calorie totals, but I am in it to win it! I have loved moving away from processed foods and simple carbs. I love my all of my lean meat.... no need for frying or batter. I love being healthy! I love knowing exactly what I am taking in each day. I want to see what I can do, and I am going to keep at it. One way I am doing that is by taking on the Asylum Challenge. I want to see what type of an athlete Shaun T. and his Insanity: Asylum can get me to be. I love the experimentation! After that (only a 30 day program), I am going to see what 90 days, broken into 3 phases, of traditional lifting with P90X/Insanity cardio can do. I have will being using the work and articles of Layne Norton (PhD and Pro Natural Bodybuilder) as a guide and backdrop. I will being keeping this blog going and truly see what I can do.

Thank you so much for following along. Thanks to Tony Horton and Wayne Wyatt. BeachBody, you make amazing products! Anyone would be crazy to not give them a try. I really like what Shaun T. says, "If this program doesn't work for you, you haven't done the work." Eat clean, push hard, and BRING IT every day!

The greatest thanks are owed to my beautiful bride, Erin. She put up with a lot. All of the days of chicken breast and broccoli. Morning workouts and the fear of waking up John. Money for whey and supplements. More chicken. You are the best, love. I could never have done this without you and I still can't believe that you picked me for the rest of your life. I love you.

God Bless!

David

The Final Week

I am currently in my final week of P90X. Typically, this would be a recovery week full of yoga, core work, and some cardio... Not for me! I have replaced my recovery week with the new Insanity program from Shaun T., The Asylum. As mentioned before, Asylum is a sports based performance program. It was designed to move you past Insanity and really get you ready to be an elite athlete. I sampled a few of the discs before this week. Let me say, they are some of the most intense combinations of moves I have ever attempted. Your heart rate is through the roof the entire time. This week has started well. I am thankful that I practiced some of the workouts before this week, and I believe I am going to see some great progress from the Asylum.

Part of my Asylum experience is a competition I am taking part in. I am a member of TeamRipped with Coach Wayne Wyatt. He was challenged by a fellow coach and team (TeamXcellentFitness) to see which team could dig deeper and get more out of the Asylum. Winners will get infomercial spots and free stuff. Shaun T. himself is the final judge! Since the Asylum is for sports performance, I have recorded some pre-Asylum data. I ran a mile,  40 yd spirit, 20 yd shuttle run, and vertical jump. Only time will tell, but I am very optimistic.

Pay Day
Sure my goal in all of this is to get ripped... I mean really, I want to see what my body can do. I am also very thankful that I am getting healthier. How much healthier... well I had blood-work done for my yearly physical. Here are the highlights:

Ht: 6'1" - on a tall day... which was today!
Wt: 160.4 lb (clothes on)
Cholesterol: 183 (down 23 pts)
Triglycerides: 66 (down 56)
HDL: 54 (up 9)
LDL: 116 (down 21)

CHOL/HDL ratio 3.4 (down from 4.5)

Booo yah! Look what clean eating and exercise can do... my doctor is a great guy and really funny. At one point he said something along the lines of, "I mean who knew diet and exercise would make you healthier. Thanks for listening." I was also down 25 lbs. from that last doctor visit. I couldn't be happier! Thank you Tony Horton and thank you Wayne Wyatt for showing what I could do if I stuck with it.

Walls - Motivation for Pushing Through

At one point or another you will have to push through come barrier during a workout or during your round of P90X. It may be a lack of motivation. It may be discomfort and pain. It could be sore shoulders (HELLO! Week 1-3!!!). You may also have to push through some illness. I just came through a little sickness. I had some sort of head cold/sinus/sore throat/no voice/flem making illness. After a week of teaching and nights of parent-teacher conferences, I was spent. It is rather hard to feel motivated to dig deep and bring it. For moments like this, you need to refocus on your goals. Why are you committed to this program? Why be so different? Isn't it weird to be getting up at 3:45 am everyday to move around some iron, jump, squat, run in place? You need to be careful when letting these questions develop as they can get out of hand. You are doing this to be different! My coach, Wayne Wyatt, posted a great piece about this (a lot of this is coming from him - credit where credit is due!)... Normal is not working! I want to be weird.

What does a normal American have going on? Lousy food. Overly saturated with grease and fat. HUGE meals. Skipped meals. High blood pressure and cholesterol. Meds. New clothes = bigger pants... untucked shirt to try and hide the belly. No energy. More TV. Sound normal? It should, that is what Americans, in large part, have become. It is time to be different. It is time to be weird.

Most people looked at me and thought, some said, well you didn't have any weight to lose. Sure I seemed ok. I was 187 lbs and at almost 6'1", that was spread out. But I had moved up slowly from 32" waist, to 33", and to 34". I was getting ready to move again! I was carrying my weight in my gut. It was thanks to my love of hot wings and home brew.

Enter Round 1 this fall. I dropped 21 lbs. I fizzled out near the end and felt like I didn't give my all. I had skipped workouts. I had completely taken off the "recovery" weeks. It was a hollow victory at best. There were some rays of sunlight, I was down to 32-33" pants and I felt good.

For Round 2, I wanted to be different. I wanted to be weird, crazy, completely committed, no hollow victory this time. Sure there are times when I want to give in. You can skip this move, you could just eat some of that. It wouldn't be that bad. Get behind me Satan! But really, temptation is temptation. Now I am not saying you are sinning if you don't go crazy and see if you can get absolutely ripped. What I am saying is, if you make that commitment, it is a one time thing. You never have to go back and recommit. You are going to workout for an hour a day, six days a week, for 90 days. You will eat only things that fit into your day and fulfill your macro needs. Making that choice once and for all, you remove the thought of breaking your own covenant. Decide, COMMIT, succeed. You can do it.

With 4 regular workouts left, and a week of recovery (very active recovery = Asylum), I am down to size 30" waist. I initially dropped to 156 lbs at 10% body fat, I am back up to 159.5 lbs, with only 8% body fat. I have never seen my abs. Ever. Never in elementary school, middle, high, college.... never. I can say that now, I can see my abs. No more hiding under a layer of fat!

This post was a little all over the place, but be encouraged. Don't get caught up on only the end goals. Do it for today... in your nutrition and exercise. Bring it. You may be sore tomorrow, but we will still be moving forward. I had doubts, but as each week has passed, I noticed changes. My workout sheets showed increased weights and reps. Things in the mirror look different. My pants were loose. I bought new ones. Those got loose again. My mom got me a couple more pairs. Change is inevitable if you stick with it.

May God bless you and keep bringing it!
David

Insanity: The Asylum - Vertical Plyo

Today I decided to sub in the Vertical Plyo workout from the new Insanity... PlyoX has been great, but I wanted to practice Vertical Plyo before the teamRipped challenge. I should have know something was going to go wrong when I slept in a little too late. My wife told me if was time to get up, but I must have rolled over and fell back asleep... 

What the world! I mean come on?!?! The warm-up was crazy. I first noticed how bad I am at jump rope. I ended up just doing the moves without the rope for the warm-up. It was killing me, and this was only the beginning. At the 10 minute mark stretching begins. I was so thankful to stop and stretch. The workout in its entirely is only 40 minutes. Nice and sweet right? Wrong. It is devastating. Each move is directly after the previous move. Moves are completed for a minute or more at a time. I maybe kept up with about 50% of the workout. There was a lot of knee grabbing and plenty of bending over. But this is why I am practicing, to get better. The moves were not too complicated, just hard. Single leg power jumps made me feel foolish. Can't I get up more than this? All in all, it was awesome. I felt entirely defeated and determined to get better. I can't wait to do the 30 days of this program. I am sure I will be a better athlete because of it! 

By the numbers: Time: 40.05 AVG HR: 146 Peak HR: 175 (would be higher, I just had to recover) Total Cal: 581

Close to 600 calories in only 40 minutes... pure awesome. I can't wait until next Tuesday to do more and to be better.

DIG deeper! (New line...) Oh and BRING IT!

Many Blessings,

David

Day 60

Day 60 is finally here! I am currently 2/3 of the way through P90X. It is great. I had been feeling well, but this morning I had some weird stomach/back discomfort. Shooting through my mind was the thought of a kidney stone. I have witnessed my wife muscle through one before... and I can't have this happen. I am not sure if I am just psyching myself out, but nevertheless, I am drinking TONS of water and moving all over the place. If it is a kidney stone, it won't stop me!

The experience so far has been so rewarding. I am frequently, and pleasantly, surprised at what my body can do. For a Day 60 treat, I added a weighted back pack to my push-ups. P90X has two days of work for your back each week and I have decided to replace the YogaX days during the lifting weeks for a bonus lift day to give other areas an extra day. I am using it to hit areas that don't get enough attention and ones that I would like to focus on more. So for my morning I focused on chest, traps, and forearms.

That backpack is money! I am a little worried that it will break... I have had 20 lbs in it for pull ups and never felt worried. My routine this morning was a repeat routine (like Chest and Back). I ran through the moves the first time with 45 lbs in the pack (chest, trap, chest, trap, forearm, chest, forearm, chest, trap). It was a little difficult to get the backpack on and off, but it worked well. I was still able to pump out reps in the 15-20 range (and I was saving some for the second round). Not too bad. For the second round, I upped the pack to 60 lbs. I have done push-ups on a scale before to see what weight I am actually lifting (crude but seems to be logical). That gave me a weight of 125 lbs for a standard push-up. Add in the 60 lbs and we are at 185 lbs. Now I lifted in college, I even worked up to repping 205 lb on a flat bench. 185 was a good working weight at the end of my year of lifting, and I would do 8-10 reps for 3 sets (135 warm-up, 185, 185, 175). This morning at 185 lbs of second round push-up mass, I banged out 20 reps on standard width, 15 on incline (feet up on piano bench), and 12 on military. I don't believe I have ever felt so good! Add to that a bunch of shrugs, forearm curls, and flies! Wow what a way to start the last 30 days!

On to the pics: Here are Day 1, 30, and 60. I think something is working.  :)

Keep pushing play and keep bringing it! God bless.
David

Day 45 - Half way!

Day 45

This is a really cool point in my program. I am feeling amazing and I couldn't be happier with what I am seeing. I feel so fortunate to have the ability and time to physically train like this. It hasn't been easy, but it has been worth it. 


Discipline is the one character trait I have placed at the top of my goals for this round. My first round was good (followed the original portion guide), but this time it is serious. My men's group studied a book by Bill Heybels about character – who are you when no one is looking. The trait of discipline jumped right out at me, and equating it to delayed gratification drove the point home. As a society, we do a horrible job putting off even acceptable, good pleasure and we want everything to be here and now. I have found such peace and satisfaction in disciplining myself. It has poured over into all areas of my life. My walk with the Lord, my relationship with my wife, my career, and of course my physical training. If you are in the mood for a good read, it was really convicting. 


Keep bringing it and let your determination for your workouts and diet enter all other areas of your  life. It is also not my adaptation of a great P90x quote by a TeamRipped member, but remember, "Do your best, and don't forget the rest!" Your life is so much more than one thing. Working out is only beneficial if your priorities are straight. Serve the Lord first and foremost and do all thing as unto him. My determination and self-discipline may have got a kick start from P90x, but now it is my determination to do all for the glory of God that allows me to BRING IT!


Share the Gospel!
Here is the God that I serve. The Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is what he has done. We have all fallen short of the high calling of God. There is nothing we can do on our own to put us back into a perfect relationship with him. We are all sinners, fully depraved. God loves us so much that he sent his son, the Lord Jesus, to Earth. Christ was perfect. Never sinning... the only one worthy of his Father's calling. Christ gave up his life, submitting to death on a cross. His death has paid your debt to God. He was raised from the grave on the third day. He offers forgiveness and atonement if you only accept him as your Lord and Savior. 


Many Blessings!
David