Working out with P90X: Part 3
Three weeks have passed since I started using P90X and I'm coming up on the first recovery period. These last couple weeks have been eye-openers, in a good way of course. The first week was killer and here's a quick breakdown of the last couple weeks.
Week 2
Oh boy. I still sore from the first week and starting the second week workouts only compounded the soreness. One saving grace was the stretching I did on Sunday before starting again. On the positive side, my muscles didn’t stay sore as long as they did the previous week.
I decided to increase the weight for some exercises. It certainly made the workouts tougher but I still found that sweet spot of feeling the burn and getting enough reps in. Using weight bands for the pull up exercises was challenging but pull ups would be better, so I ordered a pull up bar.
Unfortunately my flexibility and balance were still pretty poor — as evidenced by the yoga and stretching parts of P90X for week two. There was some improvement but only a minimal amount. My coordination was much better for the kenpo work though, which made the workout more fun.
Week 3
It's amazing just how much a person's body can change and adapt to in a short period of time. Even though I'm not following the meal guide — I haven't even read it yet to be honest — my body is getting trimmer and more toned all over.
Having skipped Sunday last week, I was really looking forward to getting started on week three. Even though I was a little tired from the toll all this exercise was taking, I still pushed myself as far as I could.
All the various push ups are starting to get a little easier. I'm happy I can get through more than one rotation without changing to knee pushups. Well, for most of it at least.
I did kind of dog it a little bit during this week's plyometrics though. It's a lot of jumping and apparently it rattled the floor, which woke the downstairs neighbours.
Finally there’s some improvement in my balance, flexibility, and coordination. Yoga is killer but in a completely different way than plyometrics. It's a long slow burn where plyometrics is shorter, faster movements. Looks like I'll have to hit up Sports Basement and grab some heavier weights soon too.
Preparing for the next phase
For the back workout it feels like the exercise bands are getting a little too easy. The P90X chin up bar should provide a much bigger challenge and I’ll be using it from this point on.
Next week is a recovery week so I'm looking forward to a change of pace. Guess that means it will be time to take some progress pictures soon. Can't believe it's been three weeks already. Time sure flies.
Getting started on P90X was rough. There are some complex exercises and movements that I didn't get the hang of during the first week. So, how did week 2 and 3 stack up?
