Project Exercise

I am on a scheduled rest day.  It was also a good day for watching football.  I was hoping it would be the Vikings and Jets in the Superbowl, but the Saints and Colts deserve to go.  Its cool that the Saints finally made it to a Superbowl.

Speaking of football, I have finally retired from coaching football after something like 16 or 17 seasons.  It will be nice to sit in the bleachers and enjoy watching my son play.  The problem with coaching is that my head is always strategically engaged in the game.  It makes it difficult to just sit back and enjoy my son playing the game.  When he makes a great play, my mind is already thinking about the next down and I don’t take the time to just relish the moment.  Also, being the coach’s son is difficult.  I am very surprised that he did not want me to quit coaching.  However, after so many seasons, I am burned out and my brain just wants to have fun watching the games.

So I completed the Insanity program.  What do I think of it?  Well, it is definitely a butt kicker of a program.  Even the folks in the video collapse at various stages of the workout, including Shaun T.

Insanity is, hands down, more intense than P90X.  Unlike P90X where the workouts get easier as you get better conditioned, Insanity actually gets more difficult.  The workouts for the second month are more intense than the first month (and the first month is a butt kicker on its own).

Like an idiot I did P90X while doing Insanity.  I don’t recommend doing that.  It’s not only because doing 2 high intensity workouts at the same time is difficult (which it is), but also because you will often do the same muscle group on consecutive days.  For instance, you may do a P90X chest and back workout and then do a bunch of plyo type pushups during the Insanity workout.  That will affect your recovery time.

Although Insanity is more difficult than P90X, it doesn’t mean it is superior to P90X.  In fact, I personally think P90X is a better workout program.  I think Insanity is too plyo/cardio centric with little real strength training.  P90X is a much more balanced workout with its strength training, plyometrics, core/abs, yoga and cardio components.  I also think Ab Ripper X, Core synergistics and P90X+ Abs/Core Plus are better abs/core workouts than the Insanity abs/core workouts.  When you do a P90X workout properly and with intensity you can still feel it through the day and even into the next day.  I like that pump.  When I do an Insanity workout it trashes me during the workout, however, after a couple hours, I don’t really feel anything.  If I wait a few hours to do a P90X workout, I can do it as if it was my first workout of the day.  Of course, on those days that I did the workouts back to back, I was owned!

So I personally like P90X over Insanity.  However, I will continue to use the Insanity Max Interval Circuit and Max Interval Plyo workouts.  After doing Insanity, the P90X plyometrics workout feels a bit “weak” so an Insanity workout would be a good substitute on plyometrics day.  I would also prefer to do an Insanity workout instead of Kenpo X for the same reason.  Actually, doing a hybrid of P90X and Insanity would provide a great intense and balanced workout program.

Steve turned me on to a couple workout videos so I thought I would share one of them with you.  The abs/core routines are great.  They also use an agility ladder and a chute.  I have used both the agility ladder and the chute myself.  They are great training tools.

To be quite honest Kenpo X is a little weak.  Don’t flame me, I am not trying to be arrogant.  It is really a testimony to P90X and Insanity.  The workouts have gotten in me in good enough shape so that Kenpo X has become fairly easy.  It is kind of fun, but I really wanted to do something with a little more bite today.  Although I officially finished Insanity yesterday, I decided to substitute one of the Insanity workouts for Kenpo X.

Sometime during the workout, I wondered if I made the right decision.  Maybe I should have done something a little less intense.  Yeah, right!  At the end of the workout, I was glad I decided to go with Max Interval Circuit.  It is an a$$ kicker, but it hurts so good!  Heck, its a whole lot better than getting kicked in the head by a mule!

Ok, now time for me to get up on my soap box.  Don’t worry, I will get up on the box using plyo box jumping techniques!  Anyway, while there may be ways to improve our health care system, I am not in favor of big government controlling our lives.  I am not a fan of Obamacare and having Reid and Pelosi ramming their brand of health care reform down my throat.  I am willing to entertain tort reform and making the system more competitive by allowing folks to buy insurance across state lines (deregulating the market).  I am a big believer in our free market system.  Yeah, I hear you all, “hey, Boomer, tell us how you really feel!” LOL!!!  Anyway, I found this compilation of President Obama (yes, I give him the proper respect by using his title because I respect the office of the presidency).  In the video he makes it clear that he will get his brand of health care reform done by the end of the year (that would be last year, 2009).

Boomer’s video pick of the day….

I made it to my last day of Insanity!  Man, it was a wild ride.  Today I had to do my final fit test.  Here are the numbers…

Not much of an improvement from my last fit test.  In fact, I was only able to do 14 Globe Jumps.  That was the same number as the last test.  Globe Jumps are the most difficult for me.  It looks deceivingly simple.  Trust me, they are a lot harder than they look.

After work I did my P90X workout.  Legs, back and Ab Ripper X was on the schedule.  The workout went well.  After completing a couple rounds, the workouts get much easier and, in fact, I find that I need to extend each exercise while Tony is talking so that I can bring up the intensity.  I will admit, however, that wall squats on one leg are still tough.  Btw, I now do them with an exercise ball between my back and the wall.  After the legs and back workout I did ARX.  As before I added overhead cable crunches.

I will give you folks my thoughts about Insanity on Sunday, my rest day.

Here is a good alternative to dumbbell flyes…

I did a whole bunch of jumping today thanks to Max Cardio Conditioning.  I spiked my heart rate several times during the workout.  By the end, my legs were toast.   I did not bother to do the cool down, instead I went right into Yoga X.  However, since my legs were a bit unstable, I dropped a lot of the moving asanas and stability movements and went straight for the stretching moves.  Yoga X was a great way to top off that Insanity workout.

Well, tomorrow is my last day of Insanity.  I will be doing my last fit test.  I don’t think my numbers will go up much, if at all.  I will do my best though.

So I finally got a Gymboss.  That will help with my new workout.  I know, I know… I have been talking about it for a while.  However, am still tweaking it up.  I have experimented with it and, personally, I think it rivals P90X with its intensity.   The great thing about the workout is it is adaptable for those training for other sports.

Today’s video pick shows a young man “bringing it” with some plyometric training…

I am on day 61 of Insanity.  Actually, I should have finished up this past weekend, but the trip I took to the mainland got in the way.  I only have a couple more days to go!

Today’s workouts were tough.  I am still kind of recovering from my trip.  I was not looking forward to Max Interval Plyo because it is an absolute butt kicker.  I must admit, though, that it is easier now than it was 3 weeks ago, but it is still a tough workout to complete.  Even Shaun T is exhausted at the end.

After Max Interval Plyo I took a small break then tackled my P90X Shoulders, Arms and Ab Ripper X.  I used my T.O. Bands for the workout.  I got a really nice pump with the bands.  The bands are adjustable so you can get a pretty respectable amount of resistance from these things.  I kind of like using the bands for biceps over using my dumbbells.  I like the way the resistance increases when you are at the peak of the lift.  It doesn’t break over and drop in resistance like dumbbells.

After Ab Ripper X I did a few sets overhead pulldown crunches.

Btw, just because I having been using bands lately doesn’t mean I won’t ever use weights. I just kind of like mixing things up. My video pick of the day is about a dumbbell workout…

I’ve returned from my trip and I am really tired.  I was with the kids from my football from breakfast until around 10:30 – 11pm every night during the trip (5 days).  The kids had a blast (and so did a few irresponsible parents).  I got in last night.

I really did not feel like working out today.  My batteries need some serious re-charging.  However, I am so close to finishing Insanity that I decided to just do it.  I also needed to catch up with my P90X schedule since I was 2 days behind schedule.   I had to do P90X Chest, Back, Ab Ripper X and Plyometrics.

I first tackled Chest and Back.  I pretty much just went through the motions since I couldn’t wrap my mind around the workout.  While I got it done, I did not put as much intensity into the workout as I would have liked.  However, towards the end of the workout I somehow got a second wind.  So I went ahead and knocked out my Insanity workout, Max Interval Circuit.  This is one of the hardest of the Insanity workouts.  By the time I got through the first third of the workout I was pretty much done.  I pushed through in ugly fashion.  I blew off the cool down.  I just wanted the workouts to end!  That trip took a lot out of me.  I used Max Interval Circuit as a substitute for P90X Plyo.  Trust me, it is a more than suitable substitute!  I was supposed to do Ab Ripper X tonight, but that wasn’t happening.

Ok, so I did a couple of ugly workouts today.  I hope I can get back in the groove by tomorrow.

Btw… big time woot for Scott Brown!  Hope he gets sworn in before Pelosi does any damage.

Always make sure your workout equipment is in good working order.  Today’s video pick of the day…

It is a little a 1am and I finished my workouts.  This morning while my son was sleeping I got up early and did Max Interval Circuit as a substitue for Kenpo X.  I tried my best considering I did not have much room in my hotel room.  I could not do some movements due to the limited space, however, I got a pretty good workout done.  I realized that it takes very little room to get my butt kicked!

I put my son to sleep about 90 minutes ago.  I used that time to do Legs, Back and ARX.  I used my T.O. Bands for the back workout.  I got a pretty good pump considering I used the bands instead of doing pull ups.  Of course, with these bands I can really crank up the resistance.  Again, I had limited space, especially for the legs, but I did the best I could.

I put Insanity on hold until I get back to Hawaii.  I only have 4 days left.

Ok, so we finished up our football tournament today.  We ended up in the Championship game after eliminating all the mainland teams.  It was ironic that we ended up playing one of the other teams in our own Hawaii league for the championship.  Unfortunately we lost a close game.  The clock just ticked off a bit too early.  Our defense was awesome today.  In the last minute we were driving down the field for the win, but the clock ran out on us just before we got to score.  So we were first runner up.  We put this team together very on short notice and considering their ages (we have the youngest kids on our team) they did pretty darn good against a seasoned team.  They gave me their complete attention and worked their butts off for me.  I love these kids and I am extremely proud of them!  On all the bus rides and events, parents and coaches told us numerous times how well behaved our team is and how respectful they are.  I take pride in teaching our kids that their integrity is an important quality that will carry them far in life.  Ok, sorry, I know I am rambling on and on about the kids, but I am just so proud of them.

Aside from the football games we took them to Circus Circus, a limo ride, bowling, arcades and a movie.  They will always remember this trip.  I am exhausted and ready to go home.

How the ESPN C’Mon Man segment for week 15…

I am in Las Vegas with my football team so I missed posting my workouts. I will catch up today.

Prior to leaving Honolulu I was able to get Max Interval Plyo out of the way. For me, it is one of the most difficult workouts in the Insanity system. I also knocked out P90X shoulders, biceps and triceps. I used my T.O. Bands. They worked extremely well. I did 250 reps for each body part.

We left Honolulu at 11pm. The red-eye flights can be tough. Half my team was on this flight. The other half came in the next day. I can usually fall asleep on these flights, however, I was pretty restless. I got about 2-3 hours of sleep total. My son slept through the whole flight. When we arrived in LV most of the folks got a second wind so after checking into the hotel we took the kids for breakfast then headed to see the lions at the MGM. We went into the M&M store and the Coca-Cola store to kill time before lunch. After lunch we returned to the hotel. It was about 3pm and I was fading fast. So my son and I took a nap. I had a coaches meeting at 6pm and a team dinner at 7pm. After dinner the kids played.

I put my son to bed at 10pm and did Core Cardio and Balance. I will admit that it was a low quality workout and a half-a$$ attempt at completing it. I was really beat. There was no P90X yoga!

I am pretty much tied to the team during their waking hours. Today, after our team breakfast, we are taking the kids to Circus Circus, lunch and then a practice. After practice it will be dinner time for us. Like most team trips we will be traveling everywhere on the team bus. The kids are having a blast. Coach is happy for them, but tired!!! I hope to get my son to bed at 9pm tonight and do my workouts.

I thought I would post ESPN’s C,mon Man segment for week 16. The video pick of the day…

I was so busy packing and preparing for my trip last night that I did not have time to post my workout.  Anyway, since I was squeezed for time I let the Insanity workout satisfy my P90X Plyometrics requirement.

It was difficult to concentrate because I was getting calls and emails from our league office and the parents of the kids on my team.  I actually got a couple calls in the middle of my workout.  So I decided to blow off the stretch section of the video and just pound through the rest.  Instead of the cool down, I showered up and resumed my preparation for the Las Vegas football tournament.

I hope I can get my workouts done today before I leave for the airport!

How about Dragon Flags for an abs/core exercise.  Here is my video pick of the day…

Well, I am on my last week of Insanity.  I was looking at the schedule and this last week is a killer… but then again, all of the Insanity weeks are killer.  Max Interval Plyo is one of the most difficult workouts in the Insanity program.  Well, at least it is for me.  Today’s workout did not seem as difficult as it was last week.  It was still tough, but I think I am getting more acclimated to the intensity of the workouts.

I also had to do P90X chest and back today.  Actually, I did not do the exact P90X workout, however, I did do a chest and back workout.  I took the opportunity to try out a workout that I am developing.  Anyway, at the end of the workout I ended up doing 200 reps for my chest.  Mostly pushups (including, standard, wide, diamond, military style) and flyes.  I also did resistance band back exercises.  Again, 200 reps for the back.  So I knocked out 400 reps in 40 minutes (20 minutes for each body part).  I got an extreme pump and ran my muscles all the way to empty.  I am trying to get to 400 reps for each body part in 20 minutes.  That will be a total of 800 reps in 40 minutes.   I am not sure I can do it, but I want to give it a try.  I will outline the workout at some point.

Today was also abs/core day so I cleaned up with Ab Ripper X.  I am glad this is the last week of doubling up with Insanity and P90X.

By the way, I got a Bodylastics Resistance Band set.  These are the bands that T.O. uses in his workouts.  He has endorsed them and Bodylastics calls the set the “Bodylastics Terrell Owens”.  They have a T.O. Band site… http://www.tobands.com/.  Take a look at them.  These bands are extremely heavy duty.  They have multiple bands that can be clipped to handles for a total load of 254 pounds.  The heavy bands makes the P90X resistance band look like itty bitty rubber bands.  They are mega-thick.  When I try to curl them, they give me a pretty hard time.  I have designed a workout program that uses these bands.  Again, I will publish the workout at some point.

I have been really impressed with the Tabata workouts that Steve has been doing.  So here is another video of Tabata Burpees.  It is a bit long, but you can click ahead to check it out at various stages.  You gotta see the last set, this guys is wasted.  I give him big time props because he is getting big air during the jumps.  Here is my video pick of the day…