I'm Still Here!

So I know I've been a bit lax in reporting lately. But rest assured that doesn't mean I've stopped working. Just been feeling a bit lazy about blogging. So Here's a brief overview of how things are going . . .

Day 63: Back & Biceps and Ab Ripper X
This was my first time incorporating different strength bands into this workout. Overall, the numbers held steady throughout. A slight dip on the places where I upgraded to the green band. But otherwise par for the course. My continued focus on form made this one challenging, but it was a strong workout.

Ab Ripper X was equally strong as well. Managed to squeeze out 11 V-Up/Roll-Ups again. My goal is to complete 15 by the end of this round. Overall, par for the course and finished strong.

Day 64: Kenpo X
Another great Kenpo workout. This one continues to be my favorite. As usual the second half was much more strong and vigorous than the first. I love how this one always builds up to good end.

My planned workouts for the rest of the week (Legs & Back and Yoga X) got pushed aside due to another full weekend of activities. I at least managed to get a good bit of brisk walking in, so it wasn't a total washout, but still I feel bad about letting that happen. But that's behind me and we move on . . . .

Day 65: Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X:
So my plan was to replicate last wee'ks double with Legs & Back with this one. But time constraints, energy level and realizing that the Back would've been double worked, sort of put the brakes on that and I opted to just do Chest & Back. And trust me, it was plenty!! So again my goal was to do all of the Push-Ups off of my knees again. And I did! And the numbers were not too bad. I actually managed to increase my Standard Push-ups by 2/3, Military Push-ups by 1/3, and Declines by 2! Otherwise, numbers held pretty steady throughout with the other Push-ups and all of the Back work.

Ab Ripper X proved to be a bit of a challenge this go 'round. My V-Up/Roll-Ups dropped back down to 7. I almost gave out of steam at 5 but I was determined to get past that number and squeezed out 2 more. I was totally spent by the end of ARX, but I got it done.

Day 66: Plyometrics
This one is getting ever closer to being equally a favorite of mine up there with Kenpo X. It still kicks my butt, but it's feeling stronger each time. Much like Kenpo, I get a second wind in the second half, after the bulk of the squatting exercises are done. Finished with a strong Sports Bonus as usual. I look forward to this one more and more every week. Never thought that would happen.

Also, I am still incorporating my daily 2 mile walk to work instead of taking the train and that has been making a big difference. After a little stagnation, the weight seems to be dropping again, slow and steady, and I am noticing even more subtle physical changes happening as well. Saw some people over the past weekend that I hadn't seen in awhile and more than a few of them commented positively about my appearance, so that really motivates me to keep it up!

I will try to be more diligent with the postings from here on . . . .

Plyo Psycho

Day 62: Plyometrics Just a quickie to say that Plyo today kicked my tail. And I enjoyed every minute of it. Am I sick or what?

Yoga Sunday, Double Trouble Monday

So some social engagements (again), plus some much needed sleep disrupted my plans on Friday and Saturday, so things kinda got pushed around a bit.

Day 60.1 Yoga X
Pulled out the mat and block on Sunday for probably one of the best sessions of Yoga X I've had in awhile. The whole Moving Asanas section went quite well. I am really getting the hang of making adjustments in my positioning to get to and maintain the holds as well as possible. And breakling a huge sweat at the same time.

The Balance Postures were okay. My problematic right leg threatened to betray me, but I managed to hang in there and not completely fall out of the poses. Also got throught the Floor Work and Yoga Belly 7 on par with the last time. The more I do Yoga X the more confident I feel about it and that hour and half actually seems to go by so much quicker now. So now I am getting the days back on track with the whole Phase 3 re-boost.

Day 61: Legs & Back, Chest, Shoulders & Triceps and Ab Ripper X
So today I was determined to make up for lost time and pull my first double! Wow, that was quite intense. Pretty much everything got worked on today. Starting with Legs & Back, pretty much went toe-to-toe with Tony & friends on the leg exercises. A little shaky at the start with the Balance Lunges, but after that things went on swimmingly. I up graded to the green band on the Pull-Up exercises. Numbers dipped slightly due to the added resistance. But I was sort of expecting that. Still did respectably on those.

I held off on Ab Ripper X and went right into Chest Shoulders & Triceps. So this workout had some adjustments to it from last time. I was determined to continue my quest for completing all Push-Up exercises off of my knees. I was pretty successful with that notion during the first half of this workout. I was pretty spent from the Legs & Back workout and numbers on the Push-ups took a downturn. But since I was doing them extended legs, I am okay with that because the effort was definitely there.

Returned to my knees for the second half of the workout and numbers went back yo where they were before. The other adjustment I made to this workout is using different bands on the shoulders and tricep exercises. Now that I have a better variety of bands to choose from I was able to up grade to the green on the exercises that were becoming less challenging. And I was able to downgrade to the burgundy which allowed my to get proper extension and form on the ones that the red band would not allow. this was very evident with the Shoulder Flys, Scarecrows, Pour Flys, Slo-Mo Throws and Fly-Row Presses, of which I got a personal best of 11 done! Numbers were the same for the most part, but better form was the norm and I am happy about that.

So Ab Ripper X finally rolled around and as wasted as I was starting to feel, I knew I couldn't quit now, so I dived right in. This session was on par with the last one, which was good. At this point I am still modifying when necessary, especially on the sit-ups, which are still glorified crunches for me at this point. Plus I still have to hold up my legs for the Pulse-ups. But I can feel definite improvement in completing the exercises.

I was back to 11 of the V-Up/Roll-Ups! My goal is to get back to and surpass 12 and finally get to 25. But I think the nature of that exercise combined with my still prominent girth will make that a long journey. But I will get there.

All-in-all, very happy with how my first Doubles turned out. Not sure if I am ready to do that on a regular basis, but my messed up schedule necessitated the need to do it today. I think this week will be free and clear without distractions and I can get through week 2 of Phase 3 with any bumps in the road.

This was a good day . . .

This was a good day! My new shipment of Shakeology arrived, along with some new resistance bands, which now gives me a better variety to choose from for my workouts! I went into this one ready to Bring It!

Day 59.1: Shoulders & Arms and Ab Ripper X

So I got a change to change things up somewhat with this workout and used a variety of bands for maximum effect throughout. Numbers were steady for the most part. A little lower where I upgraded to the green band. And a few more when I used the lighter burgundy band for the exercises I was having form issues with. Overall a great workout and feel like I really pushed myself from beginning to end.

A few highlights include extending my legs for the Chair Dips instead of bending my knees managed to knockout 24/25. And personal best numbers on the Tricep Extensions. Overall, my numbers were up on all of the Tricep exercises. I worked so hard, I actually felt slightly queasy after I was done.

I feel like redeemed myself somewhat with todays Ab Ripper X. Got another strong set of Hip Rock N Raises done. And completed 10 of the V-Up/Roll-Ups, after only doing 5 last time. Now I just need to get back to 12 and eventually get up to 25. That will come in time. So I am quite happy with todays work.

Switching things up a bit and doing Kenpo X tomorrow and moving Yoga X to Saturday. Phase 3 is continuing on a high note.

Oh, yeah. I hope it's not to soon to make this call, but it looks like the weight is starting to drop again. At least as of the last weigh in. Where the number had been holding steady and even going up a pound or two in the last couple of weeks or so, I was down 3 pounds from this time last week! I feel like I am pack on track after a shaky Phase 2.

The Fun Continues . . .

Day 58.1: Plyometrics
This one will be short and sweet. Had one heck of a Plyo session this evening. At first I was gonna do it this morning after getting home from work, but I was quite tired. Decided instead to get to bed and get some sleep. Woke up refreshed and ready to go. Got a really good sweat going. As usual, had the speghetti legs in the first half, but picked up steam in the second half and finished good and strong! Plyo kicks my butt everytime, but I LOVE it!! Phase 3 re-boot continues on a positive trajectory!

Off Your Knees!!

So after two weeks of off-and-on, I decided to just re-boot and start Phase 3 again from scratch. And I feel like I did so with a bit of a bang . . .

Day 57.1: Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X

So this turned out to be a reboot in a couple of different ways. First, since my red resistance band decided to go to workout haven by snapping on me last week, I was forced to move up to the green band, which is a bit heavier and provides more resistance. I had been contemplating moving to green for awhile so it was good that I was sort of forced to. So I decided I need to step things up a notch for the whole workout, so I also decided it was time to get off my knees for all of the push-up exercises. It was a challenge, But I am proud to say that I did not drop to me knees on any of them. Of course, this drove my rep numbers down, but not nearly as much as I expected. Where before I was averaging 20-25 on my knees, I was going from 12-15 off my knees. I actually managed 20 Standards at the start which certainly set the tone for the rest of the workout.

The banded exercises were pretty much comparable to before, but I had to put much more effort into getting those numbers with the increased resistance provided by the green band.

Overall, a great re-booting to this phase.

As for Ab Ripper X, it was kind of a mixed bag, but mostly positive. I was pretty spent heading into it, but it had to be done. Oddly enough my nemesis, the Hip Rock and Raise was probably my strongest effort yet. However, I really struggled with the V-up/Roll-Ups today. Where before I had been averaging 10 - 12, I was only able to do 5 today. I don't know what was different, maybe the amount of time since I did them last was a factor. Other than that ARX went pretty much as well as it has been.

Feeling good about today. It felt good to get off the knees on the push-ups. Hope to keep this momentum going. Plyo returns tomorrow!

Okay, okay . . . .

I know I've been a bit lax in reporting here of late. Well, the last 2 weeks have been sort of crazy. I have to work extra hours on the job a few days and also had other engagements and all of that sort of threw my routine off and I was not able to consistently workout during that time. Plus, I fell a bit off the wagon with the diet. Not too badly, but enough. My biggest saving grace was continuing to do my nightly 2 mile hike into work. So at the very least, even though I haven't lost any more weight during this time, I also didn't gain any. Therefore I wil be starting Phase 3 all over again tomorrow and go all the way to the end. I will work hard and re-focus on eating healthy again like I did for the first 2/3 thirds of this round. And I will be bothering you again right here and keeping you up to date.

Now, on to something else! So I was going thru some of my pics on Facebook and was looking at ones that were taken between late fall and early winter of 2010 and then looking at some of the more current ones. Even though I know my body has changed a little, i.e. clothes fitting looser, and people telling me I look like I had lost quite a bit of weight, I really didn't truly see it until I compared the pics. I picked one particular photo from back in November and compared it to one that was taken of me last week. Even if the difference was not huge, the difference was definitely there. So I am planning to use that as further motivation to keep working hard and keep Pressing Play . . . and most of all KEEP BRINGING IT!!

Below is the side-by-side comparison.

Like I said, not a major difference, but a noticeable one. I know I can keep this going and I will! Thanx to all for the support and kind words and I will see you here tomorrow with a new update!!