P90X Day 43: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps (my new Powerblocks just arrived!)

(Originally posted Feb 18, 2009)



Ok, this little update is primarily just to say that my new PowerBlock dumbbells just arrived today! Basically these things are fancy schmancy adjustable dumbbells that can serve as weights from 5lbs all the way up to 52.5lbs (in 2.5lb increments). After the past few weeks I had started to feel that my current weight selection wasn't varied enough (or heavy enough) for me to continue progressing. But since dumbbell pairs are pretty ridiculously expensive, particularly once you start getting up into the heavier weight ranges, as well as big space wasters, I thought perhaps some adjustable dumbbells might be the best solution. After somewhat thorough research, I narrowed it down to the PowerBlocks and the Bowflex Select-Techs. I ended up going with the former though since the general feedback seemed to suggest that they're a bit more durable. Also, I know that resistance bands would have been a cheaper option, but using them has never felt natural to me. Plus, from what I've heard they're better for doing mainly toning as opposed to building actual muscle mass.

All in all, I was mostly pleased after using them for tonight's workout. You can switch your weights amazingly quickly, and the setup felt fairly sturdy as well as intuitively designed. That said, I was a little bit disappointed to discover that you have to include additional 2.5lb "adder" weights in order to use a poundage that's not a factor of 5 (like 7.5lbs, 12.5bs, 17.5lbs, etc.). The problem is that these "adder" weights make it a bit more laborious to do quick weight changes, and also they are inserted on one side of the dumbbell, so it makes the dumbbell feel lopsided creating a bit more difficulty to lift the thing with good form. Indeed, a bit disappointing. Hopefully I'll get used to it over time.

Additionally, even though these weights are (generally) quickly adjustable, I still ended up having to take slightly longer, unnecessary breaks between exercises in order to change up my weight selection. Again, I'm assuming I'll get more comfortable with making quick changes over time, but it's still a little bit annoying as is. Oh well. I'll withhold any recommendation for these things until I've had them a while longer. 

Ok, that's it from me for now. Tomorrow is Plyo X again. Yay??

P90X Day 29: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps

(Originally posted Feb 5, 2009)

This is an update for yesterday's workout. For those who've been following my little notes on P90x, you'll know that last week was a "recovery" week.... a bit of a vacation from any resistance training. That's not to say it wasn't difficult! Replaced my weight-training workouts with extra yoga, core work, and cardio; not a walk in the park!

Anyway, yesterday marked the official start of Phase 2 (aka Month 2), and with it come two new exercise routines: 1) "Chest, Shoulders & Triceps" now takes the place of "Chest & Back"; 2) "Back & Biceps" now takes the place of "Shoulders & Arms". 

Well yesterday's new "Chest, Shoulders & Triceps" workout, despite the many fears I had leading up to it (particularly because I had read that the first exercise involved "slow motion pushups"), was actually pretty enjoyable as far as exercising goes. It'll kick your butt, but it's a heck of a lot more fun than Chest & Back was....primarily because of the fact that none of the 24 exercises from the routine gets repeated. Having that kind of variety makes this sooo much more engaging.

Basically, the workout consists mostly of traditional and not-so-traditional shoulder and tricep exercises (lots of shoulder press and fly moves, and lots of tricep extensions), as well as some of the most bizarrely difficult pushup moves I've ever seen. I almost threw my remote at the TV screen when they started donig one-armed pushups (at the END of the workout) and plyo-jump/clap pushups. Ugh! I'm just thankful there weren't any dive bombers like from the "Chest & Back" routine! I would have been toast

I think overall I had a pretty strong workout even though it's definitely not as sweat-inducing as some of the other weight routines. However, I usually find that I take longer than normal breaks when I'm starting a new workout for the first time so that I can see the different moves before I have a go at it myself. Hopefully next week I can keep the rests down to a minimum.

Ok, so here's the routine! (Any non-weighted exercises like pushups or dips is done to failure in terms of reps. Everything else is done as either 8-10 reps or 12-15 reps depending on whether you're looking to build muscle or just get toned)
- Slow Motion Pushups 
- Shoulder Fly In & Out 
- Chair Dips 
- Plank Pushups 
- Pike Pushups 
- Side Tricep Rise 
- Floor Flys (side moving pushups) 
- Scarecrows 
- Overhead Tricep Extensions 
- Alternate Speed Pushups 
- Y Shoulder Press 
- Lying Tricep Extension 
- Side to Side Pushup 
- Pour Flys for Shoulders 
- Tricep Extensions 
- One Arm Pushups 
- Weighted Shoulder Circles 
- Throw the Bomb 
- Plyo or Clap Pushups 
- Slow Mo Throw 
- Tricep Extension 
- One Arm Balance Pushups (pushups w/ a yoga-esque rotation at the top) 
- Fly Row Press 
- Dumbbell Cross Body Blows 

Insanity Day 13: Pure Cardio (ugh, take this out of the rotation!)

Ok first of all, today was the big 2-9 on the 'ol birthday meter!  And what better way to start the day than with an early morning bout of Pure Cardio????


Katie and I were back at it again, and for those just now joining us (as they say) this is easily the toughest of all the Insanity workouts as far as the first month is concerned.  Just a beast!


Anyway, not much to report today since y'all should have a good idea by now of what to expect from this one: ~11 min of killer warmup; stretch sequence; and then 15 min of non-stop, 100%, keel over and try not to pass out, cardio intervals.  


Again, we have pretty much got this warm-up thing down, but today (because of the extreme resistance stuff I did yesterday with P90x) I was very very sore.  Doing "pushup jacks" when your chest starts off the workout already fried is not an easy proposition.  With that in mind, there were a few more of the pushup exercises than normal where I had to modify due to sheer exhaustion.  And I'm actually STILL sore as I type.  Oh well.


I do have to say though, as hard as this workout is, it gives you a VERY satisfying feeling after you complete it.  


Diet Update
Not too too much to report today, but there were still some pretty delicious items had throughout the day that fit the diet plan:

• Breakfast: green smoothie
• Mid-morning snack: almond milk & gluten free puffins
• Lunch: Udi's gluten free artisan bread, avocado, sliced chicken breast, mustard.  Delish, but a bit messy.  Those avocados do not want to stay on the sandwhich!
• Dinner: Katie took me to La Residence in Chapel Hill.  Scrumtralescent tuna tartare and pork tenderloin.  Pork isn't technically on my diet but is still "more" allowed than red meat
• Dessert: Katie made a homemade dairy-gluten free "ice cream" cake with peach sorbet, Pamela's cake mix, and caramel frosting.  Wowzers it was good!

Going Forward

Just as an update on where my little reviews will go from here.  Since the workouts don't really change for another two weeks, I'm going to take a brief hiatus and pick back up when the new workouts start hitting the schedule.  If I can make it that far :)

Insanity Day 12: P90X's Chest, Shoulders and Triceps (aka, too much cardio = let's do some P90x!)

Hey all,

So I had been warning of this, but the cardio overload is getting to me, and I can tell the upper body isn't getting near as much love in these Insanity workouts. To rectify this, last night I decided to swap in Chest, Shoulders & Tri's from P90x in place of Insanity's Cardio Power & Resistance. This being my first time to pretty much do a P90x and Insanity workout back to back, I can definitely tell a whole lot of differences in the way these two programs are designed.

Chest, Shoulders & Tri's is 1hr long, and rather than cardio it simply massacres your upper body with a seemingly infinite number of pushups, flys, shoulder presses, tricep extensions, etc. It was the first time in a long time that I've gotten that "pump" feeling in my muscles from exercise, and I like it! My arms and chest can barely move today, so even though Insanity has definitely been getting me in VERY good shape VERY quickly, there are still gaps in program in terms of its focus.

Plus, Tony Horton, in my opinion, simply does a better job of warming up and cooling down in a logical flow, whereas Shaun T's warmups are way too intense and his cool-downs jump straight into static stretching without taking time to let the heart rate come down.

In any case, here is a list of the moves from Chest, Shoulders & Tri's
(Any non-weighted exercises like pushups or dips is done to failure in terms of reps. Everything else is done as either 8-10 reps or 12-15 reps depending on whether you're looking to build muscle or just get toned)
- Slow Motion Pushups
- Shoulder Fly In & Out
- Chair Dips
- Plank Pushups
- Pike Pushups
- Side Tricep Rise
- Floor Flys (side moving pushups)
- Scarecrows
- Overhead Tricep Extensions
- Alternate Speed Pushups
- Y Shoulder Press
- Lying Tricep Extension
- Side to Side Pushup
- Pour Flys for Shoulders
- Tricep Extensions
- One Arm Pushups
- Weighted Shoulder Circles
- Throw the Bomb
- Plyo or Clap Pushups
- Slow Mo Throw
- Tricep Extension
- One Arm Balance Pushups (pushups w/ a yoga-esque rotation at the top)
- Fly Row Press
- Dumbbell Cross Body Blows


Diet Notes
I can actually say that 1) the diet is becoming a lot easier in terms of resisting temptation, and 2) it's helping dramatically with the results I'm getting from Insanity in terms of noticeable toning, etc.

Some of the goodies I munched on yesterday:

Sweet potato chips
Unsweetened Almond Milk from Trader Joe's with some multigrain Puffins (gluten-free)
cliff z-bar
An awesomely healthy yet delicious salad Katie made: greens, onions, some sort of oil based dressing, strawberries, nuts