Tag: Tony Horton

So one of the goals I wanted to do for the new year was get into shape. I think I made this resolution last year, but I’m not sure what happened there! It included an unused gym membership for which I’m still paying :S. It was also due to some ‘drama’ that occurred in the latter half of 2009, of which I’ve stopped trying to understand. BAM! Breath, Accept, and Move on. 🙂 And my ongoing saying: ‘Don’t try to understand people and why they do the things they do. Just be content with the way in which you react and deal with those situations.’ That’s just an aside, but I realize that thinking that way eliminates a lot of mental energy in the long run. People are funny in general. Not ‘haha’ funny, but ‘I don’t get you’ funny :D.

So here I am, making an attempt to get into the best shape ever.  I’ve tried the original Power 90 program, and although I didn’t complete the full 90 days, I definitely saw positive results with it after 60-something days.  So for this new year, I decided I would take the plunge and order P90X- the Extreme Home Fitness program by Beachbody.com.  And let me tell you, it’s a crazy intense program with a pretty strict nutrition plan.

As I write this, I have now completed Day 5. I’m am sore. Very very sore. But it’s been good so far, and I’ve been impressed with my ability to remain completely motivated even after cursing at the TV or laptop (depending on where I’m watching the DVDs).  Believe me, the cursing is warranted.  My life has basically become work/exercise/squash/eat/sleep. Yes, in the midst of this crazy program, I’ve committed to playing squash twice a week for that extra cardio. Silly me.  And to add to my work day, most of the workouts last about 1.5 hours each day.  I even found myself getting up at 6 am on Day 2 just to get the workout in, because squash is on Tuesday nights :S.  Oh, and the nutrition plan basically calls for me to eat about 2400 ‘good’ calories a day, with lots of protein in there. Needless to say, I have been eating non-stop, and ingesting WAY MORE than I’m used to…  sigh. That alone is getting quite costly…. especially the protein shakes and bars. And lots of chicken breast. LOTS! But overall, so far so good :). So here’s a quick run down thus far of Week 1:

Day 1: Chest & Back, and Ab Ripper X.  Ridiculous. WAYY too many push ups and pull ups. I realize I’m quite weak and can’t really do any of the pull ups without the assistance of a chair for support. In any case, I’ll work my way up ;).  My entire body basically cramped up once I tried Ab Ripper. Overall, it was a painful day.

Day 2: Plyometrics. And so I was up at 6 am to do an hour of jump exercises, which killed the legs and the buttocks! Think jumping then squatting, then jumping then squatting. Rinse and repeat.  By the end, the legs hurt. The butt hurt. I hurt. Oh yeah, squash that evening didn’t help the legs. I could barely walk the next day.

Day 3: Shoulders & Arms, then Ab Ripper X.  Not as bad as chest and back, but it still hurt. I realized that I need some heavier weights, because I should be maxing out at 8 reps or so, but was able to go beyond that for some exercises.

Day 4: Yoga X. My goodness, who knew that yoga was so ridiculously intense! I sweat more than anything… and it’s an hour and a half long! I think I have the ‘tree’ and ‘frog’ positions under control 🙂 Those push ups and downward dogs are killer though :S.

Day 5 (Today!): Legs & Back, then Ab Ripper X. I’m starting to make some progress with the Ab Ripper stuff, with less cramping.  The moves are still tough though, and sometimes I’d rather be reading an article on diagnosis codes for administrative data (i.e. WORK! eek) than doing ab work. But it’s a good pain in the end I suppose. As for the legs and back, the pull ups for the back exercises are still not going so well, but the chair helps tremendously. I actually like the leg exercises. Though the wall squat for 90 seconds was a bee-otch.

Day 6: Kenpo X. I’m looking forward to this one, as there’s going to be lots of punches and kicks. That’s right… don’t mess with me.

Day 7: Rest or X Stretch.  Well, clearly to keep the momentum going, I don’t plan to use it as a rest day. So hopefully the stretch is less intense as the rest of the week! I’m thinking it will be… how painful could stretching be??? I may retract this statement following Day 7.

Then I have to repeat that routine for Weeks 2 and 3. Fun times indeed! Then Week 4 is a bit of a cool down week, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy! Not sure what that week will be about, but I anticipate lots of sweat and hopefully visible results. Although now, I’m in shape. Round is a shape :). After Week 4, it’s a whole new playing field :S.

And who’s Tony Horton?? The guy who developed this program, and my new ‘personal trainer’ in the DVDs. His photo is above. The guy is like 51 years old or something, but he’s in amazing shape. I hope to be in shape like him after 90 days… and when I’m 51! I love and hate Tony Horton all at the same time… “Curse you Tony!!!! I will NOT do one more downward dog!!…. Alright fine, I’ll BRING IT!!!”