CHALEAN EXTREME Day 4: Burn It Off

(Originally posted April 23, 2009)

So yesterday was Day 4 in Chalene Extreme, which means it was technically the first cardio day I've had. I actually did P90x Intervals on Monday night instead of using the ascribed rest day, but now I'm thinking that was a bad idea. I'm feeling ever so slightly overtrained! But I could just be thinking that because I've been experiencing DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) for the first time in a good while. Like I said before, Chalean has already been pretty humbling!

Anyway, the workout yesterday was called Burn It Off, and essentially it's a pretty intense cardio routine but it's also one that's on the short side at only 28 min from beginning to end (about 10-15 min less than P90x Intervals and 30 min less than the average P90x workout). Even though it was short though, I definitely was taking advantage of all the breaks. This workout certainly isn't easy! And Katie wasn't able to be there for moral support this time. I mean, it's probably not on the level of P90x's Plyometrics or Intervals Plus (both of which are easily two of the hardest workouts in the whole P90x series), but I'd say it's easily more difficult than at least P90x Kenpo X, which is an hour long! It's short and sweet, a little bit Plyo or Interval-esque in terms of intensity and style, and I like it that way :)

The workout starts with about a 4 or 5 minute warm up. After the warm up, you do a series of 5 moves. These moves are high intensity, so you really want to get moving and get your heart rate up. In between each move you get a short breather, and then on to the next move. After the 5th move, you get a much deserved, one minute break. Grab some water, and come back for 6 more moves, with a short break in between, and then the cool down.

Today is Day 5, Burn Circuit 3....so back to lifting slow and heavy. I'm mentally preparing myself for obliterating my legs and back again. As far as the upper body is concerned, it looks like I'll be getting in a bit of shoulder work as well.

P90X Day 4: Yoga X

(Originally posted Jan 10, 2009)

This afternoon I did Yoga X, and I had no idea what to expect since I've never done yoga. To be honest, yoga is just one of those things that, when you see someone else do it, doesn't look that hard. Well, I can now safely say that it is indeed quite hard!

After 40 straight minutes going in and out of "downward dog" and "upward dog" poses, and all the other other in-between poses (each of which you hold for up to 1 min), I was sweating as much as if I had been doing a full-blown cardio workout...and it didn't even end there. The total workout was around 1hr and half! But, it was kind of relaxing at the same time...at least on the poses that I was able to perform without falling over. 

Unfortunately, my wifi connection stopped working right last night, so I was never able to do the Ab Ripper routine after my Shoulders & Arms workout (all the exercise sessions are streamed wirelessly through my Apple TV rather than me having to constantly switch out dvd's). I guess I'll have to do that tonight before I go to bed. 

As a side note, I actually ordered some of the dietary supplement stuff that they recommend for the program, and they came yesterday. I'm not a big supplement guy, but I had read other people's reviews on them and they seemed to be pretty positive. The supplement stuff I got: the P90x nutrition/protein bars, the P90x peak recovery drink formula, and the daily multi-vitamins.

All I can really speak about at this point is the P90x bars and the recovery drink. As for the bars, they're mocha flavored. They taste "ok"...really dense. They're supposed to be a good snack food for the program, and maybe even the occasional meal replacement if you're in a rush. But I think there are probably better alternatives out there...either more natural or with more good supplemental stuff. Not bad by any means, but definitely negotiable.

As for the P90x recovery drink? Wow. I have never ever ever ever in my life had a protein/supplement/workout drink formula that has tasted remotely good. But this stuff is great! Tastes like an orange julius, no lie. Good amount of protein as well as other helpful stuff...even includes some creatine as well. There might be other drinks out there that are even more fully loaded with muscle-building whatever, but they would never taste anywhere near this delicious. On this item at least, I'm sold.

Aight, that's it from me. Happy Saturday night folks. Tomorrow we got "Legs & Back". Fun times.

P90X2 (Day 4): X2 Total Body + X2 Ab Ripper

So I've been saying the past few days how much I've appreciated the fact that P90X has been more approachable and how Tony hasn't gone out of his way to kill you right out of the box.  As a matter of fact, it talks in the P90X2 'literature' about how the first month is the Foundation Phase and essentially serves as the period for building up your core, synergistic base muscles as a jumping-off platform for the more extreme workouts in months 2 and 3.  Well, with Day 4's X2 Total Body and X2 Ab Ripper combo, I'd say that all that's changed.  I'm tired.  VERY tired.  I've only been finished with today's workout for maybe 30 minutes and my arms are already aching with soreness.  Plus every other part of me.  I have to say, tomorrow morning could be ugly when all this aching comes to a head!

That said, even though today's workouts brought their "A game" in terms of toughness, which at my current fitness level isn't necessarily a plus in terms of my enjoyment, I still have to reiterate my preference so far for P90X2.  The exercises continue to be more synergistic in nature, with lots of compound movements.  In a single move you may be combining the use of dumbbells, a stability ball, and a medicine ball all at the same time.  So if nothing else, P90X2 does a great job of keeping things from being static or boring!  (It may be worth noting that I still wouldn't classify this as being anywhere near the near-death-experience I felt like I had doing "Chest & Back" for the first time during the original P90X.  :) )

I'd even have to say that I enjoyed X2 Ab Ripper, which is somewhat of a surprise to me.  Unlike most P90X advocates, I hated the original Ab Ripper as it put a lot of pressure on my back and tail bone.  Plus it really was just a modified crunch marathon, with you busting out crunch after crunch for 15 minutes.  X2 Ab Ripper on the other hand focuses much more on isometric holds, which I tend to prefer as its more obvious to me that I'm actually working my abs.  Also, a lot of the moves engage most of the body rather than simply the abs, so in a way its somewhat of a mini total body workout.  It actually reminded Katie a lot of pilates programs she's done.

Anyway, on to some specifics...

NOTABLE THINGS ABOUT X2 TOTAL BODY

• Sort of a cross between P90X+'s Total Body and maybe some Core Synergistics (very core, strength, and resistance based)
• Background exercisers
• Drea Webber is back!  Everyone's favorite "world famous" dancer/gymnast extraordinaire is back in P90X2, and I have to say she actually looks quite a bit more fit.  Like in P90X, she and Tony have some sort of odd, amusing, bizarre flirty thing going on, although at this point it's kind of old hat. 
• One background exerciser in this one apparently used to weigh 370lbs.  He started doing a heavily modified P90X a few years ago, kept at it, and now is apparently just a fitness stud.  He seriously put me (and actually Tony a few time) to shame on almost every move.  
• General note: I'd say that on average, the P90X2 background exercisers seem to be a lot more fit (especially the females) than those who were in the original P90X.  At first I thought it might be because they had decided to hire fitness models or something, but apparently almost every one of them is either a returning person from P90X or, more likely, is someone who did the P90X dvds and had a great success story.  Seriously, there are a lot of crazy successes in the P90X2 program besides the guy who used to be 370lbs!
• Craziest Moves
• "Boing Pushups"
• Starting in plank position with your hands placed on a stability ball, push your arms off from the ground, launching your upper body up (still holding the ball).  Then come back down, do a pushup on the ball, and repeat.  
• Mule Kick Burpees
• Rough!  In a crouched position with your hands on the floor, launch your legs up into the air behind you (letting them catch some hang time) before landing them so that you're in a plank position.  From there do a push up, then crunch your knee to your elbow, pushup, crunch your other knee to your other elbow, pushup, then repeat the whole thing.  It's sort of like Tony Horton and Shaun T. decided to add Tony's Prison Cell Pushups with some Shaun T. Insanity moves.  
• One Arm Stability Ball Tricep Kickbacks
• Ok, this is probably the first move I pretty much haven't been able to do.  You're supposed to be basically in a version of a plank position where one of your forearms is positioned on a stability ball below you for support.  From there, you use your other arm to do tricep kickbacks with a dumbbell.  This would have been hard enough without the stability ball, but with the ball in play I could barely even get myself into position without collapsing onto my arm.  It requires tons of core engagement, strength, and balance.  I ended up just placing my forearm on the floor.  Not quite there yet I guess!

Summary

Great workout.  Killer workout.  Still prefer it to P90X (and I loved P90X!).  It was fun to see Drea in the background, and I did appreciate the slight change in pace from having a more hardcore resistance workout thrown in.  And the X2 Ab Ripper, with it's focus on isometric movements, seemed both more effective and definitely more my speed than the original.  When you added up the amount of time it took to do X2 Total Body and X2 Ab Ripper back to back, Katie and I worked out a solid 1hr and 1/2.  After finishing, Katie looked at me and said, "if this doesn't get me in any better shape than just doing Jillian Michaels dvds, I'm gonna be ticked."

Insanity Day 4: Cardio Recovery (thank the maker!)

Finally!  A break!  Well...kind of.


This morning, bright and early before my first day back at school, Katie and I got up to do Cardio Recovery, a 30 minute relief from the craziness of the first few days.  If you've done P90x or other similar workouts before, this is basically Insanity's version of Yoga X.

However, my enthusiasm for this workout has more to do with the fact that cardio was minimal (sort of automatically making this the easiest of the bunch so far), not because it made me feel like it was helping me actually recover.  As a matter of fact, this workout really did a number on the lower body, and Katie and I still couldn't finish a few of the movements.  Holding an isometric lunge or squat for minutes on end (or at least what seems like minutes) is brutal whether cardio is involved or not!


Also, the little amount of stretching that was done was disproportionately skewed towards the legs.  I'm not sure any upper body stretches were even performed despite the fact that the workout had enough plank position exercises to send your arms and shoulders into shock.


At this point, I have to say I enjoyed the workout, but Katie and I might end up swapping it out with another that would hopefully be a bit more comprehensive.


Latest Thoughts on the Program So Far:
If you aren't in pretty decent shape already, don't start with Insanity.  It's probably even a mistake for me to be doing it.  Also, if you do Insanity and don't end the 60 days in great shape, you must not have been doing it right!  That's pretty much the same assessment I gave for P90x the first time I did it, but at least with P90x I think there's a lot more flexibility in terms of what your starting fitness level should be.  Tony, unlike Shaun T, is constantly pointing out ways to modify exercises based on a) what equipment you have available, and b) what your fitness level is.


See you tomorrow!