March 04, 2012
P90X2 phase 3: Whew! ...
Posted by Joe Litton
I started P90X2 on 10-Dec-2011. Yesterday I started the 3rd phase of the program. It's a 3 month program - approximately. Each phase can be 3-6 weeks, depending on how one feels. I think I did the first phase for 3 weeks, then we had a vacation out of town and I did other workouts (crazy insane hike, some Insanity workout stuff, etc). There was also a conference I was at for a week in January, so during that week I did 200 pushups a day and a whole bunch of walking between hotels going from session to session.
I spent 5 weeks on phase 2, in order to get up to what I wanted to see in terms of form and reps on some of the exercises, and then took a few days "off", just doing a treadmill 5k and some other stuff before starting up on the final phase 3.
So...Yesterday was day 1 of phase 3: "P.A.P Lower" was the workout (P.A.P., by the way, stands for Post Activation Potentiation). OMG, I'm sore today. I think the main contributor to the soreness was 4 sets of "Step Up Convict", which was holding a 12lb dumbbell in each hand, stepping up with one foot onto a 24" plyo box I'd made, raising the opposing knee as high as possible, then stepping down off the box and backward into a lunge. 8 reps each side. There were 7 other exercises, but that one nailed it! I'm feeling it today from the butt down through the calves :)
Today was "P.A.P. Upper". It was another great workout. One thing that does bug me is that BeachBody (the company that sells some great workout DVDs, including P90X, Insanity, Asylum - I've done all of those - along with others that I've not done and now P90X2) ...BeachBody provides workout sheets for most of the workouts. But not for the P.A.P. ones. That bothers me. Tony Horton (the guy on the videos) states at various times in these workouts to write down how many reps one does or what weight was used.
So I've done what I feel BeachBody should have done, and have made a workout sheet for P.A.P. Upper. I'll make one for P.A.P. Lower as well, but I have yardwork and studying to do, so that other worksheet will come later.
My unofficial worksheet: P90X2 X2_PAPUpper.pdf (353.6K)
Posted by Joe Litton | March 4, 2012 in Fitness | Permalink | Comments (0)
February 06, 2012
Farewell to a friend...
Posted by Joe Litton
A friend of mine passed away yesterday. I never told her thank you, but I know she can hear me now. Some of you are atheists and that's fine. I'm not. I believe that we continue to learn and grow with or without a physical body, but that's not the point...
Kristin and I met in high school and for a time we were a couple. Fortunately, we each found our true soulmates later :) ...Along the way, Kris got me to open up beyond the rather rigid boundaries / mores I'd wrapped around myself. Her family was (and is) wonderful, and I am thankful that we've not lost touch. Watching her folks interact showed me that marriage can actually work (I admired her dad, Jim, and was deeply saddened when he left this earth). One of her brothers taught me martial arts; another brother (since passed away) and I worked on the old (very old) VW bug that he'd bought from Kris ...I don't know that he realized what he was getting into :) ...Her sister is freakin' brilliant (I never told her that her scholastic prowess was rather intimidating ...but I guess I just did!)
The most important thing that came out of the relationship is something that I have rarely (if ever) mentioned to anyone but my wife. When I was going to The Evergreen State College and Kris was up visiting, we saw a poster about a Transcendental Meditation lecture. I thought the Hindu monk in the pic looked weird, but Kris wanted to check it out, and we went to the lecture. It was not her cup of tea, but that year I started meditating. Meditation quite literally changed my life, and in a very positive way. Who knows if I'd have started meditating if we'd not gone to the lecture that day? I know if it'd been solely up to me, we would not have gone.
Up at Evergreen College, Kris met her soulmate, Doug. Together they grew in their shared religious beliefs, and I am hopeful that their religious fellowship will provide Doug with a support network now, as I can't imagine the loss he must feel.
I met my own soulmate at a Spring Celebration gathering among a group of meditators at the home of my buddy Gene. OK, he went on a couple of dates with Shirley before I did, but I know that she could tell that not only was I short, but one day I'd be bald as well, so she had no choice but to follow her heart (eventually, at least), and we're now in our 32nd year of marriage.
Toss a stone in a pond, and watch as the ripples move outward and touch so many other ripples, or roots on the bank, or jostle a bug floating on the water. It's impossible to know all of the effects. And it's impossible to know all of the effects of our life's events and our actions and our words on the lives of others.
So Kris, I never told you, but thank you for helping me open up, thank you for getting me to that lecture that day, thank you for sharing your artistic talents with so many.
Peace.
Posted by Joe Litton | February 6, 2012 | Permalink | Comments (3)
