Quick To Fit

Fitness for a fast paced world

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Stay In Touch
  • Advertise
  • Archives

P90X Update: Sickness Plus Injury Equals P90X Reboot

By Peter 3 Comments

A few weeks ago I started the P90X program.  I was primed to start the new year off right, getting in shape and losing weight.   I got about two weeks into the program and all was going well.   Sure, my eating wasn’t as good as it could be, but it was going OK.  I was almost a month in on the program when life happened – slowing down my progress.

Sometimes Life Doesn’t Cooperate

Sometimes when you’ve got a plan and you’re determined to follow through, life just doesn’t want to cooperate.  At our house I’ve had a couple of setbacks that have slowed down my P90X progress.

First, we all got sick at our house.   We’ve all been sick off and on for the past 2-3 months it seems.  One person will get sick and we’ll all slowly take our turns.  This time we were all sick for about a week – and for a second week I was taking care of my wife and son who got sick before me.  Being sick and caring for others takes a lot out of you, so I just didn’t get any of the P90X program done during those two weeks.

After being sick for a couple of weeks – despite the fact that I had almost been a month in already, I decided to reboot the process and start P90X all over again from the start.

P90X program

Another Setback

This past week I restarted the whole P90X program from day one.   Then on the yoga lesson of week one I re-injured my shoulder.  I’m not sure what I did, but I have an old shoulder injury from a while back that seems to have resurfaced.  I never had it diagnosed, but when it hit it made it extremely painful to do certain exercises or motions.  I took a couple of days off from P90X, but continued again with Kenpo over the weekend.   The shoulder still hurt, but I was able to get through it.

Yesterday I did the chest and back workout with pushups and pullups.  I was able to get through it because most of the motions in the workout didn’t seem to aggravate my shoulder.  There were maybe 3 sets of pushups that I had to skip because they were too painful, but otherwise I made it through.

So for now I think I’m gonna continue with P90X while avoiding some of the reps that have motions that hurt my shoulder.  If it doesn’t get better in a couple of days I’ll probably head in and get it diagnosed.   We’ll see.

The Good News…

It hasn’t all been bad news thankfully.  Despite the fact that my P90X experience has now seen a couple of false starts and reboots, I’m still confident that the program will work for me.   In fact it already is.  Since December I’ve lost about 10 lbs doing the workouts and healthy eating, dropping from 255lbs to 245lbs in weight.  I’m determined that this body will never see 250lbs again!

I Started My P90X Journey Last Night. Do Your Best, Forget The Rest!

By Peter Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago I talked about how I was considering jumping in full bore and trying P90X. I had heard it was tough, but when you think about it – so many things in life worth having aren’t easy to achieve.

After considering all the pros and cons and hearing from several P90X graduates (and P90X evangelists!) I decided to give it a try.

I got the class materials a couple of weeks ago and delved into them. The class takes a whole life approach to losing weight, eating healthy, and exercising to become fit. They give you a full nutrition and exercise program when you sign up, not just a workout program.

Nutrition Is Important

One thing that becomes apparent when you watch the introduction video is that the exercise in the course is not  going to help you to be fit by itself. In fact they stress that the diet and nutrition portion is also an integral part of the plan.

Quite honestly I think the nutrition portion is the part that I’m probably going to have more trouble with.  No, not because I’ll find the exercise easy – because I won’t, but because this is usually where my fitness plans break down – on the eating side.  My love of donuts and sweets always seem to do me in.

So I’m looking at the nutrition plans and hoping to carve out some sort of routine so that I can do this thing the right way.  All I do know is that I’ll be going to the grocery store later this week to get some better foods than what we have now.  Lots more protein rich meats like chicken and  turkey, more veggies and fruits.

Last Night’s Workouts – Night Number 1

So yesterday was my first day doing the P90X program.  I followed the nutrition portion of the program pretty well, eating healthy foods all day. I had a salad for lunch, healthy snacks in between and then grilled chicken, broccoli and rice for dinner.   I plan on trying to do the workouts in the morning once I adjust to it, but this week I’ll probably be doing the workouts at night.

Last night I did the first workout, the chest and back workout, and then the ab ripper workout.   Let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.

I struggled my way through the chest and back workout first.  There are lots of pushups and pull-ups in this routine.  If you want you can modify the pull-ups a bit to use a chair if you’re not confident in your pull ups  – or use bands to simulate pull ups.  I used a chair part of the time as my pull ups have never been very strong.  Something to work on.  I think I was still able to get in a pretty good workout. The pushups near the end I had to modify a bit and do from my knees –   as I started getting pretty tired.  Just goes to show how out of shape I am!

I was able to complete the hour long routine though, despite having to keep my number of reps significantly lower than the folks on the video.    As they say in the video, however, doing less reps when you start out isn’t a problem, just “do your best and forget the rest“.

On several days of the week you’re supposed to also do the ab ripper workout after your initial workout.  So that’s what I started to do.  Let’s just say that I made it through about 3-4 of the exercises in the ab ripper workout before i was complete toast.  I didn’t complete it. I was so sore from the first workout that I was just spent.

I have a feeling it will get better over time as my body adjusts to working out again, but let’s just say it was rough that first night.  The question is – did I miss something in the manual?  Are you supposed to split the two workouts out – one in the morning, one at night?

Sticking To It

So tonight I’ll be moving on to workout two – Plyometrics.   I hear this one is also good but will leave you exhausted. I can’t wait – my tired sore body and all.

Get Ripped in 90 Days

My Fat Butt Is Back On The Workout Wagon

By Peter 6 Comments

Ok, if you’re a regular reader of this site you may have noticed that I have pretty much dropped off the face of the earth the past few months (probably longer).   I haven’t been exercising regularly, and my diet hasn’t been one to be proud of either.

I’ve been full of excuses as to why I haven’t been working out, and why I’ve been consuming a steady diet of fast food garbage.  Among them:

  • Family Health Issues:  My wife has been having a ton of health issues the past 2 years. She’s been in and out of the hospital several times, and has had 2 surgeries for unrelated problems.  She’s also now pregnant with our first child, and I’m taking on an extra load at home because of it.  As a result I haven’t been focusing on myself as much.   Yes, I know it’s an excuse.
  • My Blogging & My Day Job:  I work an 8-5 day job, and also blog at night at my personal finance blog.  Focusing on all those things takes a lot of time and effort!
  • No Motivation: I just haven’t been motivated to work out or eat healthy.  I’ve been tired.  I’ve been focused on other things, and I’ve been lazy.

I know I’ve just been making rationalizations for my own laziness, and it’s time for this all to change.

Re-starting My Workout Regimen

As of yesterday I’m restarting my workout and health eating regimen.   After realizing that many of my clothes are no longer fitting me – I decided that it’s time that I take some of the weight off, and get back on track to living a healthy life.  After all, with my first child on the way I want to be here for a long time – for him and for my future grandchildren!

My workout plan that I’ll be engaging in:

  • Day 1: Upper Body Weights
  • Day 2: High Intensity Interval Training
  • Day 3: Lower Body Weights
  • Day 4: High Intensity Interval Training
  • Day 5: Upper Body Weights
  • Day 6: High Intensity Interval Training
  • Day 7: Day Off

So basically I’ll just repeat this pattern week in and week out until I reach my goal weight of around 200 lbs.   I’m currently a little bit over 270, so I’ve got a long ways to go.

I’ve lost weight in the past using this same workout plan, and on average I was able to lose 10-15 pounds per month.  Last time I did this plan for about 4 months and lost over 40 pounds.  That was back in 2007.  Here we are in 2010 and I’ve gained it all back and then some.  Time to lose it and keep it off for good this time.

Update: I just bought the Xbox 360 Kinect sensor and Your Shape : Fitness Evolved workout video game as well, so I’ll e adding this to my workout regimen once it arrives.

I Started Last Night

I started my workout program last night with a upper body weight lifting routine.  It was tough, and I could tell it’s been quite a while since I’ve worked out.  I know I’ll be extra sore tomorrow.

Tonight I’ll be doing some running using interval training as discussed in yesterday’s post.  Hopefully I don’t pass out,  have a heart attack and die. We shall see!

This post is my way of keeping myself accountable, and putting an end to the excuses. It’s time to get moving!

Have you ever been to the point where you just get sick of it – and end the excuses?  Are you still in the excuse making phase? Tell us your thoughts on beginning a weight loss plan, and what it takes to get started in the comments.

Week 1 Back On The Workout Plan: Semi-Success

By Peter 3 Comments

blueberry hill:stronger girl
Creative Commons License photo credit: visualpanic

This past week was my first week back to working out,  and it was a week of ups and downs.  I worked out 4 out of 7 days, and my eating was decent except on the weekend.

I started the week out really well, working out the first 3 days of the week (Mon-Wed) .  I got in a good run on Monday, some upper body weights on Tuesday and another good run on Wednesday.

On Thursday my new computer arrived from Dell, and I got distracted.  I didn’t exercise again until Saturday!  i was entranced with our fast new computer.  I took the nights for several days in a row to get it set up, transfer files from the old computer, and get things going.   I took my eye off the ball.

My eating this week was so-so.  The beginning of the week was pretty good.  Then my healthy groceries ran out.  I kept putting off going to the grocery store, and as a result I ate out most of the days last week. Not good for my diet – or for my checkbook!

This week, I’m getting back on the plan.  My computer is now setup, so I don’t have that excuse.  We’ll see how it goes! Wish me luck!  (I’m off to workout now!)

Help Track Your Fitness Goals By Using Your Iphone Or Ipod

By Peter 4 Comments

Over the Christmas holiday I got a new Ipod Touch through some work I did for another website.  Since my old classic Ipod was stolen a few months back I had forgotten how much I loved having an Ipod.   It was useful in so many ways,  but then again it was limited for some applications.  It was mostly just a music/movie/game machine.

Now that I have an Ipod touch, I’ve realized that it can be oh so much more.  It can do email, surf the web, play games, and use custom apps that can help you do anything from keep a shopping list to track your workouts.  I realized that the touch can help me fulfill my workout and weight loss goals I’ve set for the new year! What is my fitness goal for the new year? I’ve set a goal of losing 35 pounds by July 1st. Wish me luck!

Helpful Health and Fitness Apps

I’ve downloaded some useful health and fitness apps, and I thought I’d give a quick review of some of my favorites.

weightbot

  • Weightbot from Tapbots:  The weight tracking app is one of my favorite new apps.   The app is extremely simple, but has a beautiful design.  What does it do for you?  You can enter your weight daily through a simple interface, and watch as your weight decreases (hopefully) over time.   It’ll show you your BMI, and after you enter your goal weight it will show you a beautiful graph showing your progress, or lack thereof.  Basically, it is a great way to motivate yourself.  You can also make backups of the data through your wi-fi connection, and in the future you’ll be able to export your weight data.   Also, if you want to make sure that no one else views your data, you can lock it with a passcode!  Not bad for .99 cents!
  • Gym Buddy: This app provides a nice way to keep track of your workouts. Define your own exercises, set up your own workouts. Allows you to keep track of your workouts by time, repititions, weight and notes. Also includes a way of tracking your cardio after a recent update. Only $2.99, and a good replacement for a workout notebook.
  • PushupFu: A while back i was doing the 100 pushups challenge. I’m not doing that right now, but if you enjoy pushups, here’s a fun little pushups app. The application allows you to do pushup training, compete against others, and get scores for your pushups. Hard, but fun! $2.99
  • Run Chart: This little app allows you to time your run workouts, as well as gives you audible cues as to how long you’ve been running. Set up specific routes in the software and setup goal split times to reach. The software will give you audible cues when those times are reached. Nice little piece of software for $2.99.
  • Ifitness: A nice fitness app that shows you over 115 different exercises that you can perform, categorized by body region. Also allows you to log your workouts. Affordable as well at only $1.99
  • Ipump Free Workout: Try out a free workout from Pump One, created by fitness professionals. They’d like to you to buy one of their paid apps, but give the free one a try first. Includes pictures of exercises, logs, exports via email. Can’t go wrong with free.
  • Fit Phone: Another workout log that helps you keep track of your workouts, and then has some nice graphs to help you see how you’ve been progressing. $4.99
  • Ishape: Calorie, nutrition and exercise diary. Set weight loss goals, and use the app to help you achieve them. Currently on sale for .99 cents!

So there you go, there’s a handful of good fitness apps for your Iphone or Ipod. They are certainly only a few of the apps that you can use to work towards your goals, and there a ton more waiting for you to discover them at the Apple Apps Store.

Do you have any Ipod or Iphone apps that you’re using to help further your fitness goals? What are they?

Progress Update: Down 4.5 Pounds

By Peter Leave a Comment

Just a quick progress report on how I’ve been doing with my workout routine. I’ve been back exercising for almost a week and a half now. Two nights ago I did my upper body weight training routine, and then last night I ran a couple of miles using HIIT.

It’s getting back to the point now where I feel good when I exercise, and not as much when I don’t. That’s a good place to be at. Now I just need to be a bit more disciplined about my eating habits.

Since I’ve restarted the workout plan I’ve dropped about 4 and 1/2 pounds. Not bad for a week and a half! My goal is to lose 1-2 pounds a week, and at this rate I’ll be at my goal in no time!

Exercising – Hitting Your Stride

By Peter Leave a Comment

It’s been just over a week now that I’ve been back on the exercise wagon.  Since last monday I’ve ony taken one day off from my cardio and weight training routine, and I took that day (Saturday) off by design.  In my plan I workout 6 days a week, with alternating days of weights and cardio.

arrow to the action
Creative Commons License photo credit: shoothead

On Sunday I did my lower body weights routine for the second time since I re-started, and while it was hard, I wasn’t as sore as last week when I did the same routine. The routine is starting to set in.

Last night I went running on our treadmill using a built in high intensity interval training (HIIT) program.  In the program you start out walking, and work your way up to running 6.5 miles per hour at a higher incline after a few minutes.  The routine repeats this pattern 4 or 5 times.

By the time I was done I was soaking with sweat and was extremely short of breath. I think I am right at the point where I’m doing just the right amount -not enough to make me collapse, but enough to challenge me.

Tonight, I’m back on the upper body weight routine that I talked about last week.

My workout plan does get a bit repetitive, but I know it works since I lost so much weight last year doing the same thing.  After I’ve been doing it for a few weeks I may switch things up a bit with some workout tapes or other types of cardio to make sure I don’t burn out on the routine – and to keep me motivated.

What types of things do you do to keep motivated, and keep things interesting?

Went Running Last Night. Boy Am I Sore

By Peter Leave a Comment

Treadmill
Creative Commons License photo credit: maHidoodi

I went running last night on our treadmill for the first time in months.  The weather here has cooled down a bit, and sometimes its just nice to run inside, instead of freezing outside.  I know I shouldn’t mind the cool weather because it’s going to get a whole lot colder than this very soon.  Oh well, sometimes I just like running inside so I can watch some TV as well.

I did a high intensity interval workout on the treadmill last night, running for about twenty minutes.  Man was it tough!  I can feel the results of not working out for a couple of months!

For the interval training I started out running slow, and then worked my way up to running 5 minutes later – doing this 4 times.   Top speed for me tonight was about 6.3 mph, which for some might  not be too fast, but for me is fast enough with the shape I’m in.

I am so sore today.  I had forgotten how tough things can be when you don’t workout for a while.  The first time you lift weights or run after a long hiatus, it can be a big wakeup call. Luckily I usually am able to bounce back after a few days, and the soreness gets better. Read about why you get sore in this previous article.

Tonight I’m doing upper body weights – wish me luck!

I’m Back On The Wagon

By Peter 1 Comment

Earlier this week my wife and I decided that we needed to finally start exercising again, and actually watching what we eat.  We had slipped into a bit of a malaise where we didn’t care much what we were eating, or where we were eating.

So this weekend we made a pact with each other that we’re going to get back to exercising 5-6 days a week, and eating healthy.

Monday evening I re-started my fitness routine by doing the high-intensity cardio from a DVD put out by the TV show “The Biggest Loser”.   Normally I can’t stand doing workout routines via DVD – but this one is actually not too bad.  It features the trainer Bob from the hit TV show, along with contestants from season 2 or 3 of the show.

What does the workout consist of?  It starts out with some back and forth skating motions followed by some tire runs (lifting your knees high running in place) and football runs (moving your feet as fast as you can).   Then you do some shadow boxing and finish up with 1 knee lift and leg kicks.

Every time I do this workout I go in thinking its not going to be that bad, but every time I am finished I am drenched with sweat, and panting for breath.  And it feels great!

Yesterday I re-started my weight lifting routine.  I started with a lower body routine with some squats, followed by some hamstring dead lifts.  I finished up with some calf exercises and some ab exercises.  Once again the workout left me tired.

I’ve learned that if I haven’t lifted weights for a while I tend to get really sore the first 2 or 3 times I lift weights, and then the soreness isn’t as bad.  As expected, I’m pretty sore this morning.

So I’m off to a good start this week, now I just have to stay motivated in the face of all the other stuff life is throwing at me this week. Transmission problems on my car, teaching a class, just being fatigued in general. Just another week!

What kind of workouts are you doing right now? Are they working? Do you feel like you need to try something different?  Tell me about it in the comments!

Back from the trip, and recovering from being sick

By Peter 1 Comment

Cruise Ship Deck
Creative Commons License photo credit: Bob Jagendorf

Well I’ve been back from our cruise for about a week now.  The trip was amazing, we had a wonderful time, and we saw some of the most beautiful places in the world during our 2 week cruise.

I also ate some of the most amazing food while we were gone.  The cruise ship that we were on served food almost 24 hours a day – and the food wasn’t half bad either.  There was a cafeteria that had 3 meals a day, plus a pizza bar and ice cream stand that was open most of the day.   There was also several restaurants on board serving delicious meals every night.   I took advantage of all of these places. I ate – and I ate a lot.  I think I gained a few pounds back that I’ve lost over the past few months, so it’s going to be time to get back on the wagon – as soon as I can kick this flu that I’ve had for the past week or so.

On the last day of our cruise in Venice I started getting sick.  Ever since then I’ve been all stuffed up with headaches, off and on fevers, and just an overall feeling of achiness.  It’s not a fun feeling.  I’m finally starting to feel better, and I think I’ll probably be able to start working out again near the end of the week.

Boy do I need it!

So stay tuned for a renewed sense of purpose, and new workout updates coming soon. Maybe not today or tomorrow  – but soon and for the rest of the year!

  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to Next Page »

Connect With Us!

Get the feed!Follow me on Twitter!Follow me on Facebook! Circle Us on Google Plus!

Feel free to sign up for our Free email updates, chat with us on Twitter or Facebook and search our archives using the search box above!

Popular Posts

  • 100 Pushup Challenge (Series)
  • Download the Ipod 100 Pushups Workout
  • Building A Basic Home Gym Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive
  • How To Make Money With A Blog

Recent Comments

  • RC Paulsen on People Used To Be Willing To Pay Good Money To Gain Weight… Seriously.
  • Peter on Weight Watchers Weight Loss Program: Time To Lose Some Weight Again
  • Thomas Rohmer on Weight Watchers Weight Loss Program: Time To Lose Some Weight Again
  • Courtney on Does The Bowflex Treadclimber Really Back Up Its Bold Claims?
  • pam on Golf Shoulder Exercises To Prevent Golf Swing Shoulder Pain

The information contained in QuickToFit.com is for general information or entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional fitness or weight loss advice. Please contact an independent fitness or weight loss professional for advice regarding your specific situation.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, we state that we have a financial relationship with some of the companies mentioned in this website. This may include receiving access to free products and services for product and service reviews and giveaways.

Any references to third party products, rates, or websites are subject to change without notice. We do our best to maintain current information, but due to the rapidly changing environment, some information may have changed since it was published. Please do the appropriate research before participating in any third party offers.

We respect your privacy: Privacy Policy.

Copyright © 2023 · Quick To Fit | Sitemap | Privacy Policy