Good Evening to all my readers,
Tonights entry must be on the short side due to some complications. Today, was really hot here where I am, and I don’t do so well in intense heats. That being said, the heat had such a side effect on me that I became ill, and found myself struck with a migraine. Right now, I’m writing a lot on the loopy side of things since I had to take a lot of pills to help keep me from going to the hospital to have them administer the really strong stuff. I’m somewhat functioning at the moment but, I am greatly impaired due to the pills that I took to help.
Its an early day for me, sorry,
James
Stick in there buddy. Keep up the good work! Keep your fluids up. Hope your feeling better soon!
Take your time and get back in it when you’re feeling better.
Yes, drink plenty of fluids and don’t work out on an entirely empty stomach. I usually make sure I’ve eaten within 1.5 hrs of my workout, but nothing in the last 60 minutes. I usually get light-headed and nauseated after particularly grueling workouts.
I work out in my garage and yesterday was HOT. It was in the high 90s most of the day, and my wife just parked the car before I was about to workout so the hot day + warm engine in an enclosed, unventilated garage made it feel like 110 d. in there. I was sweating buckets through my Shoulders and Arms but kept hydrated. Recovery drink afterwards was a must!
James… did you think I was not going to read this? Too hot? Pssshh. The migraine.. okay. I can’t call you on it because I am not you and I’ve never had a migraine. Just make sure you get back at it. Workout routines are like pushing a broken down car. It is hard as hell at first but once you get going, it is easy street. Just consider your day off a lost opportunity to make it easier. I promise, if you push yourself hard, you will do so well that you wont want to stop.
There have been some times where I convinced myself that I gave 100%. I had to call myself on it and level with myself. I KNOW when I gave 100%. I am sweating bullets and my arms are shaking… that’s 100%. It is easy to convince ourselves that 80% is enough. Always tell yourself before you start the workout “I will get what I give.” We all have our own motivations for working out. Keep them around. Many religious leaders keep religious symbols and pictures around them to keep them focused on the goal. Maybe you need to do the same. My motivation in law enforcement is to NOT die. I lose a fight, I might die. Every call I go to and every vehicle I stop, there is at least one gun… mine. If they want it, they have to fight me for it. For me, fitness is not an option. For others, it might be a bad medical diagnosis or a quality of life issue. Some are sick of the stares and comments. Some still hurt from name calling as a kid. Everyone has their motivations. Find them and keep things around to remind you. Put your before pictures around your house along with key words that you think of when you see yourself like “fat” “depressed” “tired” etc. I think this would be useful for some.
Well, let me end on a positive note. I didn’t check back here for a week but I was glad to see you were doing the workouts. Good work. Be persistent, be strong, don’t lie to yourself, and continue what you started. I will check in now and then to track you. I will be pissed if I see you stopped. THERE! There is your motivation! Don’t piss me off James!
Be proud of yourself and ramp it up.
God bless,
Corey
P.S.
I live in the Sacramento Valley, CA. It is regularly 100+. It was 95 today. No excuses. Drink water, buy a fan. That’s why humans sweat, to cool us down.
James, I would love to see posted pictures of your progress, not only for us to see, but so you can see the effect the workouts are having on your body on a daily/weekly basis. I have not purchased the P90X yet. My husband and I both want to do it. I am just such a procrastinator. I am hoping if I get it, my husband will be my encouragement.
I used to live in Vegas and it gets to 115 degrees there. Get a fan to blow on you while you are working out, this helps tremendously. Also, get a cool hand towel, wet, even frozen and put it around your neck. I have a lot of experience with dehydration and heat stroke. Make sure you are drinking lots and lots of water, that is no joke. Just stick to it. You are making yourself healthier and stronger.
Carla
James..
A little encouragement from my end. I am in a crap hotel in a small town and my AC doesn’t work very well, but I enjoy the heat and by the end of my workouts I am dripping with sweat. It is very important to always drink lots of water and make sure that you are following the diet plan to the letter. Having the proper fuel in your system when you workout will help you cope with the heat and the intensity of your workout. Push through, James, push through. My ex-girlfriend used to get migraines so I know how debilitating they can be. She would throw up and moan and have to lay down all day. She even had these emergency shots she would give herself – I can’t remember what they’re called.
I also wanted to direct you to my blog cuz I just put up my 60 day photos. James. 60 Days. That’s not long at all. You just have to stick with it and follow the diet and you will see the results.
http://dogandponyshow.typepad.com/90_day_transformations/
Let me know what you guys think..
Keep it up!!
Mat
shouts outs to everyone that started the workout..I mix what p90 offers with my own workout its called the house of pain…. but look at it like this its either u live it or not….some talk about it, some do it…..stay movtivated and god bless…. this cassandra husband
James,
I can (I think most people can, actually) understand what you mean about the workouts and feeling wasted before you’re finished. Just wait until the first day of week 5 when you start doing one-handed push ups
As Tony says, “Pace yourself”. On the Chest and Shoulders workouts, I pushed it the first two weeks and could hardly do a single push up by the middle of the second set. On the third week, I paced myself on the first round, then pushed to max reps on the second. I ended up doing a higher total amount, and better than that still had the energy to push it on the second round.
Make sure you’re also getting enough protien and water. I’m not an expert in nutrition, but it seems to make a huge difference.
Keep it up! Before you know it you’ll be on Phase II!
Cheers,
Colin
last night was day 12 for me, Legs and Back round 2. I felt like crap – the worse of the workouts so far. I just felt exhausted the entire time, but I drank plenty and focused, and the Ab Ripper at the end I spent 1/2 of the time on my back sucking wind.
right now i still feel like crap (maybe I’m getting sick?), but am glad I showed up, made and effort, and completed the set. I’m looking forward to tomorrow – recovery day!
James,
It might be helpful to have a picture in your mind of what you want to eventually look like while you are working out. As you slowly whittle away the fat you can sort of imagine that you are just slowly uncovering that new you. I know it kinda sounds metaphysical but a lot of body builders and other athletes will use visualization to motivate themselves and to help them get the most out of their workouts. And Ryan Reynolds used it when he got all cut up for a movie..
http://www.sixpacknow.com/ryan_reynolds_workout.html
Don’t be afraid to have a few pictures of in-shape people around the house or on your computer that you can look at to remind what you are going for. None of those people came by those results easily – they all had to work their asses off for it. Every day, never stopping. I certainly am and you will, too.
m
James, where you at? For this to work you need consistency. You need to man up and do this EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!
I’m on day 11 and for a week now my lower back has been bothering me. I know there is a good chance that this isn’t going to heal as long as I keep working out but I’m not about to take time off.
It all comes down to you and how much you want this. So far it seems like you don’t want this very bad. Right off the bat you were going to give up and now apparently you have. Have you really given up over heat James? Because it’s freakin hot?!?!?! Are you kidding me?!?!
Buy a fan, work out in the middle of the night when it’s cooler, jump in a cold shower in the middle of the work out, do whatever it takes to get through each work out. Be a man!
James,
While I don’t disagree with the Gary and Corey that you need to pull up your skirts and get busy, I still think that Power 90 might be a better choice for you to start out with – especially if you couldn’t pass the fitness test for P90X. Embarking on an intense, life-changing workout plan is great, but if you get discouraged by the workouts you are going to have great difficulty motivating yourself to keep at it.
More importantly, you are also putting yourself at risk for injury trying to keep up with Tony and co. If you don’t have adequate strength and flexibility, especially in key joints like your knees, lower back, or shoulders, you can and probably will pretty easily hurt yourself and then be out of commission for weeks or even months instead of a couple of days. Last fall, long before I started this program (when I was hopelessly out of shape), I pulled my quad playing kickball. Kickball, of all things. I couldn’t play for two weeks (not that I missed it). It wasn’t a seriously injury but it hurt like the dickens and I couldn’t do anything else until I fixed it. This is the main reason for the fitness test – that, and beachbody doesn’t want to get sued for emergency room and physical therapy bills by people who aren’t up to the program.
Not to scare you off from this, but this is about taking care of your body and if you overdo it you will pay dearly – that’s not exactly taking care of the body, is it?
So either fall back to Power 90 (again, I defy anybody to diss P90 after seeing my results after only 60 days) or continue P90X at a 1/4 pace and only do half the workouts until you can do everything with decent form. Then bring it. You are clearly very much out of shape and it’s going to take you some time and a lot of work before you will be able to get your form perfect, let alone increase your intensity level. It’s a journey not a destination. It’s also supposed to be fun. No sh*t!
You have to understand that what you are doing right now is waking your body up from a sedentary lifestyle and your body is protesting loudly. But the thing is, once you get past this initial waking up period, you will find that your body prefers to be in shape; it prefers to eat clean food in smaller portions; it prefers to be strong and flexible (pizza, beer, and wings will make you sick and you will feel guilty sitting in front of the tv for hours when you could be outside running with your lady). And I still don’t think you really, truly understand what this will do for your emotional health. You won’t want to go back to sitting in front of COD4 for 11 hours, empty Cheetos bags and Mountain Dew cans piled up around you (I’ve been there more often than I care to admit). You’ll want to go clothes shopping with your girlfriend because none of your clothes fit any more. You’ll want to be out and about and you will be smiling at everybody because you will be so happy. And people will smile back at you. It will change your life, but you have to do the work. It’s gonna take time, but you can do it. We all can do it. If you still don’t believe it, then you need to have a little faith in ALL of the people who are doing it and have done it and are trying to encourage you here. Despite what you might think, you really aren’t that different than the rest of us. We’re all just people, you know. You have to find that determination and fire in yourself to do this. And you can, just like we did.
One last thing: I noticed that you haven’t said much about the diet and your progress with that. Are you following the diet to the letter? Keep in mind that even if you insist of blowing off the workouts, the diet alone will yield you some results. Like I said before, I started eating much smaller, more frequent meals back in February and by April I had lost 15 pounds from dieting alone. Any knowledgeable personal trainer will tell you that you can lift and workout all you want and get in great shape, but if you don’t eat right you won’t be able to see those results (and the results won’t be as good). But the main reason you need to follow the diet is so that you have the energy you need to complete the workouts AND recover from them.
You also might try working out in the morning before you do anything else so you have it out of the way and you aren’t tempted to use the “today was too busy/I’m too tired” excuse to blow it off in the afternoon or evening. You will find that you have tons more energy throughout the day if you workout in the morning (it also burns more fat if you do it before breakfast).
Come on, James. We know you can do it. Your fitness and health is your number one priority ahead of everything else (your fiance will understand, I promise). Even work. Especially work.
Everybody here understands that you have had some psychological and physical issues in the past. But remember that those things are in the past. You don’t drive a car forward by looking in the rearview mirror, do you? Nope – you’re just asking for a wreck if you do. Stop thinking and obsessing about things you can’t change and things that have happened in the past and focus on the future and on the things you can change – your health and fitness. Everything else will improve once you take control of your health – it really will.
In fact, stop thinking about it and JUST DO IT.
Mat
ps–I’m not sure how many more pep talks I have in me. You have all the information you need and you have our support. It’s up to you from here, brother.
I think the message here for anyone reading this blog and thinking about the P90X is to really ask yourself if this is the right routine for you. Compare this to any other aspect of your life. If you decided to play piano, would you sit down for the first time and play Chopin? If you had never run before, would you expect to be able to complete a marathon?
This routine is not for beginners. This does not imply that anyone finishing this routine is “better”, it’s just that they’re likely starting from a different fitness point. If you have never worked out before and you’re starting to exercise for the first time, regardless of what routine you’re doing, you’re probably working as hard as someone in relatively good shape doing the P90X.
For some context, I’ve been going to the gym for 10 years. In the past couple years, I’ve mostly only been doing cardio with some light weightlifting. I was maybe 5 pounds overweight when I started this. I easily passed the fit test at the beginning, and I have struggled with this routine. THIS IS HARD.
The number one mistake made by people starting out is they go too hard, too fast and burn out very quickly. Ego trumps the goal of getting in shape.
To sum:
“I want to do P90X and therefore get in shape” = WRONG
“I want to get in shape and therefore will do P90X” = RIGHT
Do you see the difference? Your goal CANNOT be to do this routine. Your goal has to be to get in shape. This routine is a TOOL. Your goal is not to master the tool, you use tools to reach your goal. Don’t confuse the two.
James..?
(sound of crickets)
Maybe a re-read of page 1 of the P90X Fitness Guide is in order?
Mat
Where or where has our little James gone?
James? Do you read? Over?
In other news, I can’t believe how sore I am today. Thankfully it’s my rest day. I woke up very stiff and sore yesterday but managed to do Kenpo/Cardio Plus. Today I thought I’d do more cardio but me thinks maybe I really should use the rest day for just that.
Well, I think James has given up on himself. This will be my last post here. One of the most important things to have in a pursuit of fitness is a support group. You had more than most people have. Perhaps you’ve been working out and not posting? I assume you found some credible excuses and stuck to them. Well, I refuse to help those who refuse to help themselves. Life is full of responsibilities. You cannot depend on others to constantly keep you on track. P90X is a challenge, but it is NOT THAT HARD! People concede that they are bad at math because it is a challenge. Math is not hard and no one is “bad” at math. Certain people just try harder than others. How do you learn math? YOU CRACK THE FREAKING BOOK OPEN AND LEARN! How do you get fit? YOU GET OFF YOUR A$$ AND WORKOUT!
I have to say, I’m pretty disappointed. Once you decide that fitness and health is more important than whatever lame excuse you use to get out of it, start this site over again. Just the other day, Tim Russert died of a heart attack leaving his son, wife, and even his elderly father. If you could talk to him now, he would likely agree that fitness should have been a priority in his life. Sometimes we need to realize what is important in life. You can’t wait until you have a stroke to dedicate yourself to fitness! Good luck James. I hope these words resonate and kick you in the a$$. There is no room for excuses in this life. You either do it…or you don’t. Take care of yourself.
Corey