P90X Begins: Mon. Jan. 7 Workouts

Morning:
P90X Chest and Back + Ab Ripper

Lunchtime:
40 minute walk

Tony Horton, you're a crazy, crazy man. Just when I thought you couldn't get any more animated or chatty, you pushed Power 90 to the next level AND somehow managed to amp up your personal energy by 110%. You're an insipration -- I mean, actual laughter during a crazy chest/back workout? Insanely great.

My body woke me up a full 20 minutes early this morning. And of course, with this being Day One of 90, how could I deny an early start to the most intense, exciting body transformation my body will ever experience?

I knew I was in for a treat when the DVD began. (Here's Tony talking about it.) The warmup was a real warmup, no dumbing down/robotic moves for the newbies like Power 90. And when we hit the workout, my first chin ups were right at the top of the routine. I managed 4 full pulls, then 2 more after a short rest, on every rep. (I know it'll get better, and next time I'll have a chair close up to help me amp up the reps and dial down the intensity. As I said before, there's a LOT of Tim to pull up folks!)

There was plenty of stretching and deep breathing between moves, so the pace wasn't a problem at all. I pulled 15-20 reps on all the moves besides the chin ups and, well, heck... those heart push ups. I mean, Tony, buddy, pal o' mine -- whoa. Just when I thought incline pushups were the bees knees, you went and added insanely close chest pushups? Ouchies!

In several of the moves, I experienced my first real muscle failure in many, many months. It reminded me of the start of both Power 90 levels in week one:

1. I experienced muscle failure near the end of several of the rep sequences and couldn't go any further. Ouch.
2. When I got into the shower later, I had a hard time getting and keeping my arms over my head. Again, ouch.

But ouch X 2 in a great way.

Then came the new and improved Ab Ripper routine. The 100 level was easy in Power 90 1-2. 200 in 3-4? Tough, but not un-doable at all. And after a year of doing 200 X 3/week, I could get through all 200 every time with some sweat and some soreness every time. (Honestly, though, no a lot in my stomach area.)

But 349 in P90X? Wow. The routine had all new moves mostly, and some are pretty hard to understand. I managed 15-20 of each, some more, some less -- with a goal of hitting 30 as we move forward. It hurt, I crashed several times, and I loved it.

Woot! (Or w00t, right dictionary gods?) I made it through Day One, have some chest and (mostly) arm pain, but it's the good pain.

On top of that goodness came a kick butt breakfast. No sooner was the cool down over and the water downed, than I was in the kitchen cutting up my strawberries, scooping my 1% cottage cheese, and making my mushroom scramble/omlet.

Post-workout, my body was aching and I could feel a small headache from a lack of nutrients. Within a few minutes of slowly eating my way through the meal Tony and his team planned for me, both went away. I still feel the good pain, but I have a ton of energy, my stomach is happy, and I'm alert as heck with the workday beginning.

Day One of P90X -- awesome. I'll fit in my usual noontime walk, intake the rest of my planned meals and snacks to keep my blood sugar high and the protein kicking the crap out of my fatty stomach -- and keep pushing play over the next 89 days.

Update: Scary. At pretty much exactly 9:30 a.m., my body told me it was time for more food. Got a tiny headache, stomach gave a little rumble, and I realized that, yea, Tony had a small shake and bar on the menu for pre-lunch. Gobbled it up, back to feeling good. Scary = obviously, these guys know what they heck they're talking about with this menu. Good stuff!