Day 3 - Pushing Through the Pain

Day 3

It dawns on me that I haven't formally introduced the authors and subjects of this blog. My name is Jason (that's me on the right) and to the left of me is my right-hand woman and wife of 3 years, Kirsti.

We took some far less flattering pictures this evening so we would have something to compare ourselves with in 87 days, but those won't be going up here quite yet.

Anyhow, now that the formalities are done, back to the P90X experience...

Today was arms, shoulders, and abs. Our bodies were still aching from the day 1 beating we took doing push-ups and pull-ups, but there's no rest for the weary. We were put through a series of curls, shoulder presses, and tricep extensions. we both agreed while this was a tough exercise, it was by far more managable than the previous 2 days. Today's exercises allowed us to choose a weight to lift whereas with push-up and pull-ups you are pretty much stuck with what God gave you (or what you made yourself). I started off the session with a set of resistance bands, but quickly abandoned those for a set of dumbells. The bands I had were uncomfortable and there was no way I could make it through an hour with the handle digging into my wrist. I would recommend that you come into today's workout with dumbells of varying weights. I was stuck with one weight and could have used more weight on some exercises and less on others.

We ended with the Ab Ripper X just like on day 1 and after 3 days of intense workout, the last thing our bodies wanted to do was a situp. I would say that was by far the most difficult part of today's workout. We both had to modify the exercises so we could at least do something.

Post-workout feelings: Kirsti - sense of accomplishment, Jason - worn out

Day 2 - Plyo-what?

Day 2

While still recovering from day 1's brutal treatment of our chests and backs, we were thrown into the torture of plyometrics. Plyometrics are jumping exercises designed to increase your jumping and agility. They are also apparently designed to destroy your thighs.

Maybe in 88 more days...

Today's workout consisted of squats, lunges, high kicks, and long jumps. While we both felt more competent during today's workout than yesterday's, by the end of the workout we were modifying it so we could actually complete the exercises.

I would like to give Kirsti the props she deserves. It took me probably 10 minutes longer to complete the workout with all the breaks I had to take. Kirsti, on the other hand, blasted through the entire thing without hitting the pause button once. Color me impressed.



Tony called this workout the "mother of all workouts", but I could have swore he said the same thing yesterday. Anyhow, I am not going to argue with him. I just hope he doesn't say the same thing about tomorrow's workout.



Post-workout feelings: Kirsti - proud, Jason - weak

Day 1 - Milk was a bad choice!

Day 1 (which actually occurred on Tuesday, Jan 20)

You ever make a decision that you instantly regret? P90X is completely unreasonable. Neither of us can do a single pull-up let alone multiple sets of different styles of pull-up. And yet that is what was asked of us in day 1 of P90X.

Day 1 was chest and back and "Ab-Ripper". Coincidentally, those are the exact parts our bodies that we can no longer use. The workout consisted of alternating push-ups, pull-ups, and weight-lifting. Once you get done with doing everything once, you go through it one more time, pushing yourself to a limit that you didn't know you could be pushed to. Tony says that's the "X" in P90X.

Kirsti and I both have no pull-up skills and we were worried about how we would do that part of the workout, but we were able to use a stool so we could use our legs to make up for our lack of arm strength. It was still very effective.

Post workout feelings: Kirsti - exhausted, Jason - nauseous

Day 0

--Day 0 was actually Monday, Jan 19, but we just set the blog up today so I am posting after-the-fact (post-posting?)--

I think the X stands for X-treme

Today was the day we decided to start the P90X exercise regimen. We weighed ourselves and took all our body measurements (an exercise I found particularly humbling). It was somewhat scary that we had to take a test to determine if we were fit enough to even do this, but with the exception of pull-ups, we both met or exceeded all the requirements. That makes me feel a little better. It is nice to know that people less fit than me are doing this too.



After little discussion we decided not to post our measurements or weights online until we see some actual results. Maybe after 30, 60, or 90 days we will share those numbers. We are both excited to start this, although my excitement is definitely packaged with a little hesitance and fear. I think we are both more excited for day 90 than we are for day 1.