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Bring It! Warrior Phase 1 Week 3

Note: This blog entry is about my workouts for the week. I can’t find any information online about Shawna Brannon from X2 Yoga (below), but check out the rest of my Cast Profiles, also on Pinterest.

I was very pleased with my workouts this week, except for oversleeping on Wednesday. Oops! I guess I needed a rest. I was recovering from sinus headaches or something. Here’s the recap:

Monday: X2 Plyocide! Yes, I swapped the cardio and resistance days this week, and I decided to do Plyocide at least one of the two cardio days. I really worked hard today, too. I guess we’ll never know what would have happened on Wednesday…

Tuesday: Resistance. I did one full set of exercises, plus the bonus round, plus a few repeats for the start of the second set. That’s more than I did last week, and in a shorter time period. Yahoo!

Wednesday: Overslept! Hey, at least I walked the dog, which she really appreciates.

Thursday: Resistance. I did about the same as Tuesday, with a few extra repetitions here and there. I am definitely improving on certain exercises, such as the Push Up Jacks.

Friday: X2 Yoga. It’s not just because I like to see Shawna… But it’s not a bad reason, either. I really prefer following a video rather than the book in this case.

Saturday: Resistance. With essentially no time limit today, I went as far as I could, which was all the exercises for the first set, then the bonus exercises, then… I almost made it to the end (minus the last four exercises). All that, plus the warm up and cool down, in about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Not quite the 55 minutes Tony mentioned in the book! I used P90X2 Shoulders and Arms for the warm up and cool down. It’s fun to have something to watch while I suffer… I mean, improve.

Next week I want to decide if I will continue this workout routine for a while longer, or move on to something else.

Bring It! Tip of the Week: Don’t forget to write down your repetitions, weights used, and other notes to track your progress. I don’t know why Tony didn’t include sample worksheets in the book!

April 21st, 2012 | Category: Bring It book, cardio training, P90X2 Shoulders and Arms, resistance training, Shawna Brannon, tips, Tony Horton, Warrior Phase 1, X2 Yoga | Comments are closed

Bring It! Warrior Phase 1 week 2

This week started out a little differently. On Easter Monday, we were traveling home from a family visit, so I didn’t have the opportunity to do my usual workout. On Tuesday, I slept in to recover from the weekend. I did my best to take some five-minute workout breaks at the office (jumping jacks, etc.). Here are the rest of the week’s activities:

Wednesday Resistance: I used X2 Total Body for warm up, and left it playing while I did Set 1 and Bonus Round
Thursday Cardio: Both circuits, both times, with some modified moves. Used the Plyocide warm up, final exercise (instead of Fast Feet Drills by myself), and did P90X cool down stretches.
Friday Resistance: The same as Thursday.
Saturday Cardio: Plyocide! I think I like this better than the cardio workouts in the book.

Both times this week, I only got through the first set of resistance exercises, plus the bonus round, in about an hour. I will keep working towards the goal of two rounds plus a bonus round!

Bring It! Tip of the Week: Photocopy the workout lists (for your own use only!) and keep them handy, instead of having the book open all the time while you’re working out.

April 15th, 2012 | Category: Bring It book, cardio training, Plyocide, resistance training, tips, Tony Horton, Warrior Phase 1 | Comments are closed

P90X2 Fit Test (At Last!)

Let me start with a question: Does anyone besides me have difficulty actually scheduling a P90X Fit Test? I mean, it’s not the same as a regular workout. There are pictures (which I sadly never take), there are real pull ups (which I can only do at one inconvenient location in my house), there are jumps and measurements (which are also difficult to do early in the morning, when everyone else is sleeping). Yes, of course, I could do this on a Saturday or Sunday, but my weekends have been crazy lately! OK, I will stop whining now, and give you the results of my post-P90X2 Fit Test, just a couple of weeks later. Close enough, right?

Resting Heart Rate


Honestly, I don’t care too much about this one. My resting heart rate has been quite low for a while now (in the mid-50s). As a matter of fact, I requested a 24 hour Halter Monitor test, to make sure it wasn’t too low, and that my heart is beating properly. It’s fine. It’s one of the positive benefits of exercise, which can seem unusual and scary when so much of the population is out of shape.

Pull Ups


Before: 3-4 “real” pull ups, using the door frame pull up bar. At my house, the door frame isn’t high enough for me to keep my feet off the floor, so I bend my knees to make it more difficult. I was a little disappointed that I could only muster this many after so much time with P90X. That’s why I like the Bodylastics resistance bands and the printed resistance weights. I’ve been pulling harder since I bought them!

After: 7 real pull ups! It wasn’t just a fluke, either. I went to a nearby park, where they recently installed a whole circuit of exercise equipment, including pull up bars. I did several sets of 7 pull ups (with breaks). I’m still not ready to take on Tony and Drea, but I can do a few more than before!



Vertical Leap


About the same before and after, at 86 inches. By the way, I am 5′ 10″ for comparison.

Jump with Step


Improved by two inches, from 93 to 95 inches. This is 7 inches higher than my vertical leap (before), then 9 inches (after).

Push Ups 

Before: One set of 25
After: One set of 35, with better form

P90X2 has finally drilled into my head that when you do push ups, your heels should be pushed back, the back of your knees pushing up, so that your butt is tight! All those Sphinx Plank warm ups paid off, I guess.

Toe Touch

No improvement that I could see. I can reach past my toes up to the middle of my fingers (2 1/2-3 inches).

Wall Squat


Before: Just over 60 seconds, then my shoes started  slipping on the floor. Oops!
After: 69 seconds. Maybe I could have held out a little more.

Bicep Curls


Before: 12 reps, 30 lb resistance bands (See how handy that is?)
After: 11 reps (barely), 39 lbs (as close as I could get to 40 lbs by combining bands)

This is an increase of 10 lbs, more or less. I’ll take it.

In & Outs


Before: 45
After: 45

These are my nemesis. Well, it’s one of several exercises that are difficult for me. I suspect the cause is tight hip flexors. That’s why I like Ab Ripper X2, which does not require use of the hip flexors as much as the original Ab Ripper.

Heart Rate Maximizer


Before: Completed 2 minutes. Maximum heart rate 150 bpm, down to 84 beats in 4 minutes.
After: Completed 2 minutes. Maximum heart rate 135 bpm, down to 82 beats in 4 minutes.

Statistically, it’s not that big of a change. As I said at the beginning, I’m not as concerned about my heart rate as I am about those pull ups and push ups (and maybe the In & Outs).

Weight and Waist Size


I’ve lost about three pounds since I started P90X2. My waist size is about the same, at 32.5 inches, which is fine with me. I like the way my abs are improving, slowly but surely. Clearly, I could make quicker progress by committing to the P90X2 Nutrition Guide, rather than my own calorie-based food log, which keeps me accountable, but does not match up in terms of protein/carbs/fat. Maybe next time around?

Did I Really Improve?

I can say with certainty that P90X2 has helped me to become more sure-footed, with improvements to my balance and stability, on one foot or both. I have mentioned how my push ups are better, which is surprising after all this time, and my pull ups are, too. What I’ve learned about P.A.P., and the variations on familiar exercises, will be helpful for any future workouts. And of course, it was great to see Tony in 2011 with some new “kids.” Oh, did I forget to mention all the new toys? Stability ball, medicine balls, foam roller…

I’ve been following this thread on the Team Beachbody message boards, in which someone was asking for help after not seeing the desired results in her physical appearance after 10 weeks of P90X2. She has received several replies from people with similar results, as well as suggestions of what she can change. It will be interesting to see how people benefit from, or struggle with, their P90X2 experience.

April 14th, 2012 | Category: Ab Ripper, Bodylastics, Fit Test, fitness equipment, home fitness, improvement, P90X2, pull ups, push ups, resistance bands, results, success, Tony Horton | Comments are closed

Bring It! Warrior Phase 1, Week 1

As I mentioned in my P90X2 recap, I wanted to try something a little different after the many weeks of P90X2 workouts. Just as I did in February 2011, after a round of P90X, I am switching to the similar-but-different workouts found in Tony Horton’s book Bring It! Last time, I did the Striver Level workouts (that’s the “medium” difficulty level). Now I’m ready to go for the Warrior Level, which are supposed to be the most difficult workouts in the book. Let’s see if P90X and P90X2 have prepared me for this!

All the workouts follow the same schedule, which seems pretty simple by P90X standards:

Days 1, 3, and 5: Resistance
Days 2 and 4: Cardio
Day 6: Yoga
Day 7: Rest, and/or a fun activity

I tried to find how many weeks Tony recommends for each phase, but I couldn’t. I think it’s four weeks, or maybe six. Anyway, since workouts don’t change much from day to day, I will be updating my progress weekly.

My first week was interesting, because it was like going back in time to the P90X days. I used the good old Shoulders and Arms DVD for the warm up and cool down on resistance days, since Tony’s recommendations for the Bring It! workouts are very similar. I used the P90X Plyometrics DVD for the cardio days. No foam roller, no newfangled stretches or stability ball, just to see how I liked it.

I want to incorporate some of the techniques I have learned from P90X2 into the resistance workouts. This week, I experimented with some one-legged Bicep Curls, and Straight-Arm Posterior Delt Flies using the stability ball. I want to increase the weight I am lifting compared to P90X2, so I have to be careful. I am trying to maintain my balance and stability improvements while working on my strength.

The Warrior Phase 1 Resistance workout is a pretty standard combination of pull ups, curls, tricep extensions, push ups, and other exercises familiar to P90X fans. As with previous Bring It! workouts, there are two sets of plyometric squats, and a set of bicycle crunches thrown in for fun. For extra credit, there’s a bonus round of seven exercises, if you have the time and energy.

There is only one long circuit (compared to two circuits in the lower level workouts), but the circuit is repeated twice (in theory). I did not make it to the second time through. It’s a tough workout, of course; but I did not have time enough to complete two entire circuits, let alone the bonus round. It took me an hour and 15 minutes to do one circuit plus the bonus round! I’ll use that as my excuse for now to shorten the workout. I would love to see Tony do these as a One on One video, so he can show us how to do it in the recommended 55 minutes.

In contrast, the Warrior Phase 1 Cardio seems much more realistic as a one hour workout. There are two circuits of five or six exercises, repeated twice each. I’m not crazy about the emphasis on karate kicks and fighter-stance punches and squats, but I will play along for now. I am already considering substituting one day of P90X2 Plyocide, which seems like a more well-balanced cardio workout. Of course, Tony and the team hadn’t invented it when this book came out, right?

I almost forgot to mention that the Fast Feet Football Drill is included in the cardio workout, in a simplified form: Squat to the start position, jump up and stamp your feet five times, then squat again and repeat for 20 repetitions. I would rather follow along with Tony and the Kids in Plyocide for that one.

I didn’t do any yoga this week. It was Easter weekend, I was away from home, yadda yadda yadda… I did a cardio workout in the hotel exercise room instead. I plan to use the P90X2 Yoga DVD at my earliest convenience. Given the choice, it’s a lot easier than following a very similar set of exercises printed in a book. Yoga is hard enough for me to follow!

I would love to hear from anyone who has done the Bring It! workouts. What do you think? Are they a good addition to P90X? Are they good for people who are just starting out?

Bring It! Warrior Tip: Work your way through the exercises at your own pace. Don’t worry about finishing the entire workout on the first day. It’s supposed to be a challenge!

April 8th, 2012 | Category: Bring It book, cardio training, resistance training, tips, Tony Horton, Warrior Phase 1 | Comments are closed

P90X2 Round 1 Final Recovery Week

This is it! The final week of P90X2 Round 1. I am optimistic that there will be a round 2, but not right away. I have learned my lesson about back-to-back rounds of P90X leading to burnout, at least for me. Of course, P90X2 is different, as I have discussed all along, with a greater emphasis on recovery, and a focus on balance, power, and P.A.P., to use a few buzz words. I would probably do O.K. with a follow-up round, but I am taking a break anyway.

I have no fit test results to report. I’m involved with some pre-Easter concerts, so my schedule has been crazy until today. I can’t set up my pull up bar during the week, and I will be away Easter weekend, so… No fit test for a while, actually. I will write another post to discuss how P90X2 has helped me, aside from the fit test measurements.

Here’s a quick look at my recovery week:

Monday: Short yoga session
Tuesday: Foam rolling while watch NBC’s 30 Rock on Hulu
Wednesday: Full yoga session! I payed attention to pushing my heels back in plank position, which helped to tighten my core for push ups.
Thursday: Foam rolling, and back to watching The Biggest Loser on Hulu
Friday: Yoga, minus Warrior 3 sequence, due to time and bad balance (and maybe I was overtired?)
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Rest

Some comments about the P90X2 Recovery Week schedule

  • If you follow the days as planned (which I didn’t do this week), you have two foam rolling/rest days in a row (Day 7 of the previous week, and Day 1 of Recovery Week). I have never felt that I needed so much exercise recovery. Maybe I should have slept in on Day 1 instead, because I certainly need that.
  • Is doing yoga every other day of the week supposed to be penance (OK, call it additional practice) for those of us who skipped yoga in P90X, and maybe some people are still doing in P90X2? In my opinion, a little more variety would be nice. P90X included Core Synergistics, only during recovery week, which broke up the other repeated workouts.
P90X2 Tip of the Day: You might be tempted to start over with round 2 of P90X2 right away, for even better results. Consider taking a break instead, by switching to a different workout schedule for a month or so before returning to P90X or P90X2.

April 1st, 2012 | Category: burnout, Exercise recovery, P90X2, p90x2 results, tips | One comment - (Comments are closed)
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