One week down!

As of yesterday, I completed the first week of P90x, as best I could. For those wondering, the daily workouts for the first three weeks are:

Day 1 (for me, I started on Monday): Core Synergistics. As the title implies, this workout does focus on the core. It's not quite cardio, but with me being not in great shape this one definitely gets my heart rate up. The workout is all about engaging, so even if it seems like the particular movements aren't directly targeted at the core (like say, Ab Ripper X is), the power center of each movement is still meant to be the core. I'll definitely wake up tomorrow (Tuesday) with a sore butt and probably sore abs as well - at least, this is what happened last week.

Day 2: Cardio X. This workout incorporated some cardio-kickboxing type maneuvers, as well as other assorted aerobic motions/exercises that are meant to get the heart rate into your target zone as well as strengthen muscles.

Day 3: Shoulders & Arms + Ab Ripper X: This is a muscle-targeting day. It's weights-intensive for the shoulders and arms (whoda thunk it), so I definitely felt soreness in those areas the next day. This and parts of Core Synergistics are very tough for me because I've always been very weak on the upper body, so it's really difficult for me to get through the push-ups. I'm hoping that it won't take me *too* long before I'm actually able to complete the suggested repetitions. And Ab Ripper X is, well, basically what it sounds like. By far the hardest abdominal workout I've ever done, and I was unable to do full reps of this as well. By the time I get to the last exercise, my abs are jello and I'm pretty sure that I would look truly pathetic to anyone observing me try to do it. Again, it will be interesting to track not only the way my body changes visually, but how well I actually am able to complete the workouts themselves.

Day 4: Yoga X. This is the one I skipped last week, so I'll have to report back with how it goes. From flipping through the video, it looks like I can expect the usual P90x treatment, which is to say: yoga on steroids. It will in all likelihood be great for muscle strength and control.

Day 5: Legs & Back + Ab Ripper X. This day didn't go so well either, because nearly all of the exercises intended to target the back were pull-ups related. 1) I can't do pull-ups; 2) I actually don't have a pull-up bar. I'm headed to Sports Chalet (or equivalent) to get something like that to put in a doorway because I only really got the legs parts of this done last week. The routines were tough, but for me, very do-able compared to some of the other movements throughout the week - perhaps I still have a bit of residual leg fitness from years of dance and soccer? One can hope.

Day 6: Kenpo X. This was cardio, and fun! But hard, obviously. It was a lot of martial arts maneuvers: punching, kicking, etc. Toward the end of the rep sets, the video instructor suggested doubling the pace and making vocal fighting sounds (think hieeeeya!) to keep intensity up. At the beginning, I did double my pace but I refused to do the sounds. I was all, "I'm by myself, what difference does it make?" But by the end of the video, I was making sounds throughout the whole workout and wishing I had done so earlier. It really did make it more fun and easier to keep going! Sometimes people's crazy tricks actually do work.

Day 7: rest, or X stretch. Out of time constraints, I just opted to rest and not do the X stretch video. It was a nice day off!

I was back on Core Synergistics today. I had forgotten how much it sucked. Like I mentioned above, there were surprisingly a lot of push-ups. I had traditionally thought of push-ups as all upper-body, but the truth is that to really maintain good form and get maximum benefit, you really do need to control the core muscles to keep your body straight. Which makes it a great addition to Core Synergistics, but really tough for me because of the obvious upper-body element. I'm doing everything on my knees right now, which the video says is okay for beginners, but hopefully it won't be long before I can firm up and try the real deal.