My life may have been permanently altered after plyometrics.

I have never been that sore in my entire life. Remember. It’s not the day after that you have to worry about. It’s the day after the day after that shoud be dreaded, which in my case, was today. But don’t let me skip ahead.

Yesterday was day 3, Shoulders and arms. I’ll admit that I was slightly dissapointed with the intensity of this workout, but the video was probably not to blame. My roomamte and I are doing the budget version of p90x, so we each bought one dumbell. This meant that we constantly had to pause the video so we could both get through the exercise while using two dumbells. Still, I am only slightly sore from this workout. My triceps felt it pretty badly, but my shoulder did okay. You well definitely experience some innovative and tough workouts.

Today was yoga. Let me say, wholeheartedly, that this was the most difficult video I have experienced yet (even though this is only my fourth day). By the way, unlike the other videos,which are one hour, the yoga video is an hour and a half, which slowly drips by at an excruciating pace. I have never done yoga and have never had a clear opinion of it, but I must say now, props to all of the yoga masters. You are all clearly some of the most fit people in the world. The first 45 minutes consisted of sweat breaking, puke inducing poses that tested your mental and physical endurance whic hwill teach you that you are anything but flexible. The second half is slightly more relaxed, focusing on balance, some abs, and relaxation/meditiation. I enjoyed the second half. It really got me into the zone.

So, yoga is supposed to be an exercise that works your mind and your body. Yoga is something that should be peaceful, personal, and soothing, maybe even quiet. I will say that Tony Horton does like to talk, but he does throw in an almost full minute of silence towards the very end of the video, creaking slightly before to let the audience know that he is about to stop being quiet. Still, you gotta love this guy.

Overall, I feel excellent right now. My soreness faded to the back of my mind and I feel an inner energy boost that I can not remember feeling in quite some time. Yoga X is a son of a b, but you will be better off for it.

Remember. Do your best. Forget the rest.

Okay.

So it has been a  while. School got harder at the end of the semester, as it always did, and the prospect of summer made me slightly less ambitious. However, I think I have found my redemption, my savior, and it comes in the form of 12 fairly expensive dvds with various catchphrases and sweaty muscled bodies. P90X. Props to you Mr. Horton.

Now, instead of lounging around the house each day or laying by the pool, I can devote myself to a full 60 minutes of high intensity, muscle confuisng training, sometimes 75 minutes with the Ab Ripper X. Really, it is a big deal to be able to knock some time out of my day. With the exercise, the big meals, and the satisfied state of utter exhaustion, Im able to clear out a good 3 or 4 hours from the naps that come after the workout.

Yesterday was my first day, chest and shoulders. I will admit that it was fairly dificult to keep up with the muscled men and women in the video, but I was able to hold my own some of the time. After all, I have been keeping up with a fairly consistent push-up and ab regimen for many months, many years. By no means am I saying that I set a schedule for myself to workout, but I did sprinkle them throughout my day, whether it was between shots of McCormick or reruns South Park. What I am saying though is that this workout, P90X, is more for people who are already in some sort of decent shape. It is to help the slightly ripped, toned, and lean bodies, become even more ripped, tone, and lean. Still, I would recommend it to anyone who was interested.

After the first workout, chest and shoulders, I felt excellent. I was often able to keep up with the German girl. However, day two, plyometrics, was a different story. Plyometrics, as I now know, is a high intensity, quick heart rate, ass kicking workout. Your legs will feel the burn, maybe. I have neglected my legs and only focused on working out extremities that are above the waistline for the past few years, so I had my ass handed to me today. I may now only climb the stairs in our apartment as an injured gorilla might. But, it felt extremely rewarding to finish the full hour, even if my roommate and I did pause the video frequently to grunt in various fashions and slosh water over the floor as we tried to deperately pour it into our parched mouths. Afterwards, my roommate took his shirt off and hung it over a chair. It is still dripping sweat onto the ground as I type this, a little over an hour later. EXTREME.

So, if all goes to plan, I will try to keep up with my progress, along with my roommates. I even took a day one photo that I will try and post. Also, let it be known that I am not directly following the nutrition guide for this workout series. However, I am laying off of sweets, eating plenty of protein, and consuming probably the most god awful superfood I have yet to come across in this world. I have been taking about 10-12 grams a day of both Spirulina and Chlorella. Each tasty and chalky serving is a fight for nutrition and against the gag reflex that wants me to spew green, micro algae sludge all over the kitchen. I will see how that goes.

Now, I wait for tomorrow, arms and shoulders along with a little slice of ab ripper x at the end. I can taste the sweat and feel the burn just thinking about it.

BRING IT