What a busy week! Today I completed Week 2 of the P90X program. As you can see I haven’t been able to keep up with my daily P90X posts. I did manage to survive another 7 days of hard-core P90X workouts. In some aspects this second week seemed easier than the first week because I was more prepared for things to come, but I felt a lot more sore this week. That’s a good thing! Sore muscles mean that changes are being made! According to the masterminds behind P90X, I’m smack dab in the middle of the Adaptive and Mastery phase. The term “muscle confusion” has finally hit home. While everything feels sore, I feel it most today in my buttocks, shoulders and back.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the P90X program, Week 2 is the same as Week 1 and Week 3. Things don’t start changing until Week 4 which is labeled as “recovery week.” I decided to do the Classic program, although I have two weeks to change my mind. I might go totally crazy and do the Doubles program, which really isn’t that much different than the Classic version, except you add 3 more cardio workouts during the week than normal. I think this would be really beneficial, especially for someone like me that wants to improve my running ability. I’d like to run a 10K this fall, and perhaps eventually a half-marathon and marathon. Of course, it’s best to take these pursuits one step at a time . . . both figuratively and literally.
P90X follows the “three weeks on, one week off” pattern favored by professional athletes. To learn more about how P90X works and the different options available within the program, check out my post: What’s the Difference Between P90X Classic, Doubles, and Lean?
While difficult at best, I felt more confident doing Yoga X this week. Although, it was a little strange–a couple of the moves I was able to do OK last week I struggled with a bit this week but I suppose in the big scheme of things that shouldn’t be too surprising. I also had a bit of a breakthrough with Ab Ripper X. I sorta figured out how to do the Obique V-ups–a modified version at least. Far from perfect but at least I don’t have to lay there anymore like a paralyzed fish. I also learned that the pause button helps a lot for Ab Ripper–that way I don’t have to worry about keeping up with everyone else and can concentrate more on getting the form right.
I do have a slight confession to make–yesterday at my Uncle’s birthday party I had three pieces of Domino’s pizza and a piece of chocolate cake. Yum! I can’t remember the last time I had real pizza (as opposed to my Lean Cuisines). So to make up for it I woke up early today and did Cardio X even though it’s my “rest” day. I’m still going to do Stretch X later before bed because it felt good last week. It was probably the best I’ve done at the Cardio X workout so I think my little splurge was totally worth it.
Tomorrow Week 3 begins and I think I’m going to work on using a stool instead of the bands for pull-ups. While the bands seemed to work OK for the pull-up exercises I’ve done so far, I’m not sure my form has been good enough to target the right muscles. Using the bands just seems too much like cheating. Half of the Chest and Back workout is pull-ups though, so that should be interesting!
I can’t promise to keep up with my daily posts but I’ll definitely be keeping up with my daily P90X workouts. I can already tell that I’m making progress! 🙂
Amanda is a wife, toddler mom, PMAD survivor, certified nutrition and running coach, recovering perfectionist, and minimalist-in-training. Her mission in life is to help others get off the pity potty, embrace their own brand of weirdness, and get after their dreams. Proverbs 3:5-6