Day 07 - X StretchWhat a nice way to get your day going, huh? A nice hour of slow and relaxing stretches and breathing. Kinda like Yoga without the acrobatics! I am glad I decided to go for it today. Like I said my lower back was a touch kinky this morning so I had to ease into the Sun Salutations. Once I adjusted my back while in position I was fine, and eased right into the Neck Stretch and Back Up The Car.
With Head Roll, I constantly had to remind myself to stretch my fingers toward the floor, I kept tending to hunch my shoulders up which defeats the purpose. I will work on that. I'm used to the Expand/Contract Back-Chest-Shoulder Stretch and the Topas Shoulder Stretch since it's incorporated into a few of the warm-ups and cool-downs.
The first tricky move to come up was the Wrist-Forearm Flex Stretch. Those are the weakest parts of my arms (which I know is common). So the first half with the out stretched fingers was a little shaky at first. Then when it came time to turn the hands backward. OW! I settled for turning them sideways instead, which was still a challenge. I liked the Dreya Forearm Stretch. There was a lot happening from my hands to my shoulders on that one! Of course I got throught the old stand-bys of the Arm Cirlces, Shoulder-Triceps Combo, Ballistic Stretches and Standing Side Stretch just fine.
The Roller was very nice. Once I got my momentum going the rocking motion felt really good on my back. Just when I was really getting into it, it was time to move on to the Plough. Now if you remember from my Yoga X adventure, this a move that I just can't do at the moment. So I modified by stretching my legs upward and holding them in position, then spreading them when Tony and Friends did so while they were in full stretch. The Seated Spine Stretch was also slightly modified as in Yoga X in were I just grasped my raised knee and stretched back because I couldn't get my elbow inside the knee. Still got a good stretch out of it.
Cat and Glute Stretches, and Wide-Feet Forward Hamstring Stretches done with relative ease since they were repeat moves from previous workouts. The Side Twist was done best as possible. Unable to reach straight up with upward arm, just got it up as far as I could and held it.
When the Camel came up I get a little scared because I thought I was gonna have to bend backwards on that one. I was quite relieved to see that I just had to bend back some and hold my lower back with my hands for support. It was kinda hard and I was shaking a bit, but I got through it. That was followed by another set of easy Cat Stretches.
Then, wouldn't you know it!! What comes next? the Back Hero, the thing I was just dreading reared it's ugly head. The move calls for you to kneel then slowly lie backwards. I actually attempted it. Yeah, right. That ain't happening!! So I just repeated the Camel for the duration. I again had to modify my Kenpo Quad Stretch because I can't reach my rear foot while in the position. So I just raised that foot as high as I could and held it. Same for both sides.
I can only imaging how funny I looked trying to get in position for the Bow. It took me a few tries to get ahold of my right foot, and I couldn't get ahold of my left one at first. So I let go of the right one and used it to push the left one close enough to grab the back of my shoe. Then repeatedly kicked the right one up until I snagged the little loop on the back of that shoe, then grasped the back of the shoe. I had to laugh at myself while this was happening because I felt so rediculous. I was not in a position (literally) to grab the remote and restart the section so I just held onto the position a little bit passed the duration.
The Low Squat and Frog were also revisited from previous workouts, so they were done okay. As were all of the Hamstring Stretches (Seated Single-Leg, Seated Two-Leg, Ballistic and Split-Leg). As with other exercises that required raised legs, my Ballistics were done with the raised leg at about a 45-50 degree angle instead of the 90. But trust that I could still feel it.
The Toe Flexor would've been better if i weren't teetering while trying to stand on one foot. I don't have a chair tall enough to use for balance. Of course after it was over, I realized I could've used the wall for stability. Duh! Next time.
And rounding things off, the Downward Dog Calf Stretch, Upward Dog with Ankle Stretch and ending with the Clild's Pose with Right and Left Side Stretches, were very nice no-brainer ways to end the workout. Not nearly as much sweat (but a good amount) with this one, but plenty of stretch.
I'm glad I decide to do it. My back actually feels a lot better afterwards. So it was a good decision!! I am excited to have gotten through this first week of P90X exercises! 7 days of workouts down. Only a measly 83 more to go! Now, even though I have adjusted my diet, I really need to get closer to following the nutrition guide better, so I will make a concerted effort to follow that as well as I have followed the workouts.
So our song for today is "Easy (Like a Sunday Morning)". And I have two versions for you to choose from. The original by The Commodores, and a very compitent cover by Faith No More. Enjoy either or both and Happy Sunday!!!
The Commodores: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIRGNzVIz6Y
Faith no More: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOdr9FiNZoQ
:^D
Keep up the great work! Awesome!
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