And what have I learned from this? Don't take your before pictures with your phone because, although I have a 5MP camera on my phone, the images still come up very blurry unless they are small. Just so you future users know.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Before Pictures
So I promised I would add before pictures - or day 0 pictures I suppose I should call them- and here they are:
P90X Day Three: Chest and Back
Today, as I told you in my first P90X post, is the day that I would do my Chest and Back DVD so that I was still on track to do the aily P90X workouts. I was bad and skipped Plyometrics day... however, I do not feel to guilty about that because I do daily yoga so I will skip that DVD tomorrow and just do P90X instead. So it all will work out in the end.
So back to the Chest and Back DVD. Wow... just wow. That is about all I can remember about it. Oh, besides that I am still sore. Push ups, pullu ps, more push ups, and then more pull ups, followed by... you guessed it... more push ups and more pull ups. Ya know this DVD is probably the best DVD workout I could be doing as far as the Army is concerned. Push ups and Pull ups are a staple of the Ranger training program from what I understand, and in order to be competable in my Ranger class, I need to be able to perform 90 or more push ups and 25 or more pull ups. So this DVD is right up that alley.
I do already have a good base of fitness when it comes to push ups and pull ups, and that is why I am most impressed with this workout. This is probably one of the top 5 toughest push up workouts I have done in a long time, and that is saying something.
What is funny is I was already sore from my P90X day one workout of Arms and Shoulders, this just kind of topped it all off. I know that I am really grateful that these are not done right after the other or on a daily basis for that matter.
Ab ripper X, hell in the form of a DVD, is a pain in my butt. I actually didn't have the time to do that following my Chest and Back workout, but I will get it in tonight before my basketball game. That shouldn't be a problem at all. Although, I may have to do it after the game because having a sore core may not be the best thing for my game... not that we are that good, but hey there is hope right?
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I know I promised before pictures today... so I will get them up here as soon as I can find my camera. Sound like a deal? Ok then, I will make sure I follow through with that.
So back to the Chest and Back DVD. Wow... just wow. That is about all I can remember about it. Oh, besides that I am still sore. Push ups, pullu ps, more push ups, and then more pull ups, followed by... you guessed it... more push ups and more pull ups. Ya know this DVD is probably the best DVD workout I could be doing as far as the Army is concerned. Push ups and Pull ups are a staple of the Ranger training program from what I understand, and in order to be competable in my Ranger class, I need to be able to perform 90 or more push ups and 25 or more pull ups. So this DVD is right up that alley.
I do already have a good base of fitness when it comes to push ups and pull ups, and that is why I am most impressed with this workout. This is probably one of the top 5 toughest push up workouts I have done in a long time, and that is saying something.
What is funny is I was already sore from my P90X day one workout of Arms and Shoulders, this just kind of topped it all off. I know that I am really grateful that these are not done right after the other or on a daily basis for that matter.
Ab ripper X, hell in the form of a DVD, is a pain in my butt. I actually didn't have the time to do that following my Chest and Back workout, but I will get it in tonight before my basketball game. That shouldn't be a problem at all. Although, I may have to do it after the game because having a sore core may not be the best thing for my game... not that we are that good, but hey there is hope right?
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I know I promised before pictures today... so I will get them up here as soon as I can find my camera. Sound like a deal? Ok then, I will make sure I follow through with that.
Monday, February 8, 2010
PT 08FEB2010
Holy crap! That was a killer insane workout that we did for pt this morning. We did circuit training, which I hate more then any other workouts in the world because they just don't ever seem to be any good. Well this morning it was good. It ended up being an hour long session of intervals with basically no rest.
The idea of the workout was that we would do 1 minute of strength building exercises such as push ups, sit ups, froggers, flutter kicks, ect; and then we would do a 400m interval at our goal 2 mile pace plus 2 or 3 seconds per lap. So 1 min push ups, and a 400m interval, 1 min sit ups, and then another 400m interval... you get the idea.
After discussing what pace our group should be running - we had argued on whether we should either run 55 sec 200's or 57 sec 200's - Rodriguez and I decided to just run at a pace we felt good at. Our first interval was finished with 1:37, an outstanding pace of 12:30ish! We knew, especially with no rest between laps, that there was no way we could sustain this pace, but ... we did it anyway. In fact, I am pretty sure we got faster, because once we hit the 2.5 mile mark, we were clocking interval times of about 1:30 per 400m. That's flying!
All-in-all we ended up running 3 miles worth of intervals. Or thats what I did anyway. I even slacked a little bit beause everyone else did 3.5 worth of intervals. Damn good workout. Damn good interval training session. By God I will max out the APFT by the end of the semester. Oh, and I have more motivation now, COL Stuart agreed to taking me out to a dinner of my choice if I do max the APFT, and there is no limit on my price. As expensive as I want, or as inexpensive as I want, it is up to me.
Freakin' Sweet!
The idea of the workout was that we would do 1 minute of strength building exercises such as push ups, sit ups, froggers, flutter kicks, ect; and then we would do a 400m interval at our goal 2 mile pace plus 2 or 3 seconds per lap. So 1 min push ups, and a 400m interval, 1 min sit ups, and then another 400m interval... you get the idea.
After discussing what pace our group should be running - we had argued on whether we should either run 55 sec 200's or 57 sec 200's - Rodriguez and I decided to just run at a pace we felt good at. Our first interval was finished with 1:37, an outstanding pace of 12:30ish! We knew, especially with no rest between laps, that there was no way we could sustain this pace, but ... we did it anyway. In fact, I am pretty sure we got faster, because once we hit the 2.5 mile mark, we were clocking interval times of about 1:30 per 400m. That's flying!
All-in-all we ended up running 3 miles worth of intervals. Or thats what I did anyway. I even slacked a little bit beause everyone else did 3.5 worth of intervals. Damn good workout. Damn good interval training session. By God I will max out the APFT by the end of the semester. Oh, and I have more motivation now, COL Stuart agreed to taking me out to a dinner of my choice if I do max the APFT, and there is no limit on my price. As expensive as I want, or as inexpensive as I want, it is up to me.
Freakin' Sweet!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
P90X Day One: Arms and Shoulders + Ab ripper X
So today was day one of my P90X workouts. I had to switch it up a little from the normal routine because I did not have the Chest and Back DVD with me, but I figured I could just switch the two days and it woud not really hurt anything. It was a damn good workout, and although my left shoulder is feeling like it wants to give me problems, I feel damn good all-in-all. I love working my shoulders and arms, if there was a way to maintain overall body fitness off just working those two muscle groups, I would surely do it. So this workout is right up my alley. I did find out that I needed to do a little more research though. I only had a pair of 5lb dumbbells at my disposal thinking I didn't want to go to heavy for my first time, but after putting in the DVD I came to find that you can actually use a little heavier set of dumbbells. So I decided to analyze the situation and adapt to what I had available to me. The result...
I ended up using the 5lb dumbbells and just doubling the entire workout. I ended up doing supersets as well. Three exercises per set with no rest between exercises and only 1 minute rest between supersets. So my workout went something like this:
Superset One: exercise one x 12 reps each arm, exercise two x 40 reps, exercise three x 30 reps followed by one minute rest and repeat the superset
Superset Two: exercise one x 24 reps, exercise two x 20 reps, exercise three x 21 reps followed by one minute rest and repeat the superset
Superset Three: so-on-and-so-forth until I completed the entire workout. It ended up being a very good workout and I managed to work up a pretty good sweat, which I kinda was not expecting considering I ws using lighter weights. But it worked out really well for me. Just for next time I am going to go by a set of adjustable dumbbells because I want to lift a little heavier then 5lbs haha.
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P90X Ab Ripper X
Holy crap! I used to do this with a buddy of mine a couple years ago and I do not ever remember it being this hard! My abs were killing me by half way through, but I told myself that my daily goal is to do all the reps no matter what. So 307 it is! My lower abs are still hurting, and it has been almost a half hour since I completed the workout. I do think it is a beneficial workout though. It covers a good variety of ab exercises which hit the upper, lower, and oblique portions of the stomach. Hopefully, with some luck, this will benefit my situps portion of the APFT test. More importantly, I hope it benefits my stomach and gets me that much closer to having a six pack :)
I have always wanted a six pack, and while it is now understandable because I am a fatty, it used to elude me though I ran track, played just about every sport you can imagine, and ran upwards of 9 miles a day. But I think this is the start of something new and definitely the start of a six pack ;)
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I know that it is kinda unfair to post the exercises while naming them as exercise one, exercise two, or exercise three, but I am not sure how naming rights and all of that works. I know it was hard as hell to find details of the workouts though, and that leads me to the impression that BeachBody does not like their information being posted online for everyone to look at and benefit from. I may decide to post the actual workouts on here in the future, but for now... it is better this way.
Tomorrow I will be posting my before pics up here as well as my Monday workout routine. So stop by and take a gander when ya get a chance.
I ended up using the 5lb dumbbells and just doubling the entire workout. I ended up doing supersets as well. Three exercises per set with no rest between exercises and only 1 minute rest between supersets. So my workout went something like this:
Superset One: exercise one x 12 reps each arm, exercise two x 40 reps, exercise three x 30 reps followed by one minute rest and repeat the superset
Superset Two: exercise one x 24 reps, exercise two x 20 reps, exercise three x 21 reps followed by one minute rest and repeat the superset
Superset Three: so-on-and-so-forth until I completed the entire workout. It ended up being a very good workout and I managed to work up a pretty good sweat, which I kinda was not expecting considering I ws using lighter weights. But it worked out really well for me. Just for next time I am going to go by a set of adjustable dumbbells because I want to lift a little heavier then 5lbs haha.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
P90X Ab Ripper X
Holy crap! I used to do this with a buddy of mine a couple years ago and I do not ever remember it being this hard! My abs were killing me by half way through, but I told myself that my daily goal is to do all the reps no matter what. So 307 it is! My lower abs are still hurting, and it has been almost a half hour since I completed the workout. I do think it is a beneficial workout though. It covers a good variety of ab exercises which hit the upper, lower, and oblique portions of the stomach. Hopefully, with some luck, this will benefit my situps portion of the APFT test. More importantly, I hope it benefits my stomach and gets me that much closer to having a six pack :)
I have always wanted a six pack, and while it is now understandable because I am a fatty, it used to elude me though I ran track, played just about every sport you can imagine, and ran upwards of 9 miles a day. But I think this is the start of something new and definitely the start of a six pack ;)
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I know that it is kinda unfair to post the exercises while naming them as exercise one, exercise two, or exercise three, but I am not sure how naming rights and all of that works. I know it was hard as hell to find details of the workouts though, and that leads me to the impression that BeachBody does not like their information being posted online for everyone to look at and benefit from. I may decide to post the actual workouts on here in the future, but for now... it is better this way.
Tomorrow I will be posting my before pics up here as well as my Monday workout routine. So stop by and take a gander when ya get a chance.
Goals Before Heading Off to Ranger School
So I know I posted a list of my next APFT goals in my first post, but I feel that I owe it to everyone to post a list of all my goals, both short term and long term, that way I can be held accountable for my progress, as well as have a means of measure- especially since I have no desire to take the P90X or Insanity preworkout fitness test. As I said before, I will measure my progress based on the APFT, as well as the requirements and prerequisites for Ranger School.
Short Term Goals (Between now and April 30, 2010)
Run the Salt Lake City Marathon as my debut marathon- finish the race! (April 17, 2010)
Get overall weight below 180lbs (April 17, 2010)
Get my body fat percentage below 12 percent (April 30, 2010- though maybe I should put this in the long term goal section)
Max out my APFT test scores- 300 points total, 77 push ups in 2 min, 83 sit ups in 2 min, and a sub 13 min 2 mile (April 07, 2010)
Long Term Goals (no time limit on these, ideally within the next five years)
Pass Ranger School - with a dropout rate of 52+ percent, I figure this is a damn good goal to put up here
Run an ultra marathon 50 miles
Run an ultra marathon 100 miles
Qualify for the Boston Marathon
Ranger School Goals
90+ push ups in 2 min
90+ sit ups in 2 min
sub 13 min 2 mile
sub 40 min 5 mile
sub 3 hour 12 mile ruck march with 65 lbs
20+ 'good form' pull ups
So again, here are my goals that I can be measured up against. It is these goals that motivate me to continue with my workouts and to push through soreness and discomfort. I appreciate the questions, concerns, and comments so feel free to hit the comment button below and post away.
Short Term Goals (Between now and April 30, 2010)
Run the Salt Lake City Marathon as my debut marathon- finish the race! (April 17, 2010)
Get overall weight below 180lbs (April 17, 2010)
Get my body fat percentage below 12 percent (April 30, 2010- though maybe I should put this in the long term goal section)
Max out my APFT test scores- 300 points total, 77 push ups in 2 min, 83 sit ups in 2 min, and a sub 13 min 2 mile (April 07, 2010)
Long Term Goals (no time limit on these, ideally within the next five years)
Pass Ranger School - with a dropout rate of 52+ percent, I figure this is a damn good goal to put up here
Run an ultra marathon 50 miles
Run an ultra marathon 100 miles
Qualify for the Boston Marathon
Ranger School Goals
90+ push ups in 2 min
90+ sit ups in 2 min
sub 13 min 2 mile
sub 40 min 5 mile
sub 3 hour 12 mile ruck march with 65 lbs
20+ 'good form' pull ups
So again, here are my goals that I can be measured up against. It is these goals that motivate me to continue with my workouts and to push through soreness and discomfort. I appreciate the questions, concerns, and comments so feel free to hit the comment button below and post away.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
APFT Fitness Test Results
I know that I am supposed to take the P90X fitness test prior to moving on to the actualy workouts but I do not like wasting time and getting results for a test that really do not mean anything to me, or to anyone else for that matter. Instead, I took the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT from here on out) and plan on using that as my starting point because it is a test I can see results in and those results matter. So here are my results for APFT diagnostic one:
2 minute Push Ups: 67
2 minute Sit Ups: 73
2 mile run time: 15:20
Height: 69"
Weight: 206 lbs
Body Fat percentage: 25%
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So I figure that is a pretty good starting point for now and it will definitely be improved upon. I take my next APFT on March 03, 2010 - so a little less then a month away. I know I will improve the run, but here are my improvement goals for that next APFT test:
2 min Push Ups: 71
2 min Sit Ups: 73 - I do not plan on these improving, but if it happens... Sweetness!
2 mile run time: 14:48
Ht: 69''
Wt: 196 lbs
Body Fat percentage: 19%
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The plan I will use to achieve these results is pure craziness. I do not actually recommend that anyone actually follow my workout routine. It will most likely lead to over training and soreness, but there is rhyme to this reason. At Ranger School, the tacs Give a Shit Factor (GASF from here on out) for your soreness is ZERO. They could care less. I will be tore down mentally, physically, and emotionally. I will get little to no sleep and everything that can possibly seem like a bad thing will probably seem worse with compounding of stress over time. My theory is that I need to work myself to oblivian over the next couple months to ensure I am prepared for Ranger School. I am attempting to complete the P90X workouts over the next couple of months along with the complete Insanity workouts for strength and endurance, daily Yoga routines for flexibility and core strengthening, 3 times a week distance runs to prepare for a marathon I plan on running (April 17th, 2010), and finally 2 times a week interval runs to increase my 2 mile time, all of which will make me one "High Speed Death Machine" by the end of my training.
However, I feel I should make it known that the P90X and Insanity workouts will be missed a few days. I have no intention on completing either of these workouts the day before my APFT test or the day(s) leading up to my Marathon debut. With that being said, I do not aim to disappoint you or anyone for that matter and I will ensure I hold up my end of the bargain by completing my daily workouts and ensuring I post them here on this blog.
Please feel free to comment or ask questions, but I ask that you leave your negativity at home. Negativity breeds chaos and disorder and I honestly do not need to hear it. I hear it enough from people who call themselves my friends- so leave it to yourself. I am all for a good debate or for answering critiques, but random abuse just makes your look like a douche bag. Thank you for understanding.
Stay tuned for further posts!!!
2 minute Push Ups: 67
2 minute Sit Ups: 73
2 mile run time: 15:20
Height: 69"
Weight: 206 lbs
Body Fat percentage: 25%
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
So I figure that is a pretty good starting point for now and it will definitely be improved upon. I take my next APFT on March 03, 2010 - so a little less then a month away. I know I will improve the run, but here are my improvement goals for that next APFT test:
2 min Push Ups: 71
2 min Sit Ups: 73 - I do not plan on these improving, but if it happens... Sweetness!
2 mile run time: 14:48
Ht: 69''
Wt: 196 lbs
Body Fat percentage: 19%
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The plan I will use to achieve these results is pure craziness. I do not actually recommend that anyone actually follow my workout routine. It will most likely lead to over training and soreness, but there is rhyme to this reason. At Ranger School, the tacs Give a Shit Factor (GASF from here on out) for your soreness is ZERO. They could care less. I will be tore down mentally, physically, and emotionally. I will get little to no sleep and everything that can possibly seem like a bad thing will probably seem worse with compounding of stress over time. My theory is that I need to work myself to oblivian over the next couple months to ensure I am prepared for Ranger School. I am attempting to complete the P90X workouts over the next couple of months along with the complete Insanity workouts for strength and endurance, daily Yoga routines for flexibility and core strengthening, 3 times a week distance runs to prepare for a marathon I plan on running (April 17th, 2010), and finally 2 times a week interval runs to increase my 2 mile time, all of which will make me one "High Speed Death Machine" by the end of my training.
However, I feel I should make it known that the P90X and Insanity workouts will be missed a few days. I have no intention on completing either of these workouts the day before my APFT test or the day(s) leading up to my Marathon debut. With that being said, I do not aim to disappoint you or anyone for that matter and I will ensure I hold up my end of the bargain by completing my daily workouts and ensuring I post them here on this blog.
Please feel free to comment or ask questions, but I ask that you leave your negativity at home. Negativity breeds chaos and disorder and I honestly do not need to hear it. I hear it enough from people who call themselves my friends- so leave it to yourself. I am all for a good debate or for answering critiques, but random abuse just makes your look like a douche bag. Thank you for understanding.
Stay tuned for further posts!!!
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