The P90X...Can You Bring It?

So some of you may have heard of this insane workout program authored by the infamous Tony Horton. Well, Erik and I have decided to do it. For those of you who have no idea what the P90X is, well the only way I can describe it is pure fitness insanity. It is 90 days of super intense workouts that last between 50 minutes and an hour and a half. It is not your average pansy workout video. Just when you don't think you can do another pull up, Tony says let's do 10 more. Then it's back to triangle pushups, and then back to the pullup bar then back to chair pushups, etc. This is definitely not for the faint of heart. You need to be in very good shape and working out every day already to make it through this series.

Erik and I work out pretty regularly. Erik runs for an hour every day, and I do a lot of intense cardio classes at the gym as well as my triathlon training, so we feel up to the challenge.
When I first checked into this I thought, get extremely fit in 90 days? Is it possible? So I did my homework and read about on blogs of other swing dancers and swing dance insturctors who do this workout, and they all swear by it. So I decided to order it and find out for myself. Well my friends the answer to that question came last night after the first day of P90X. Yes, it is possible to get extremely fit in 90 days! It will kick your @$$. I am already seeing results.

Erik and I just finished day two of the P90X. We are still sore from yesterdays back and chest workout, and the Ab ripper X. Today we did Plyometrics X and wow, all I have to say, is that is one intense workout. I already feel more agile though, even though I am so sore. If you want to get in shape for ski season, Plyometric X is a good workout for that. After an intense hour of jumping around and doing a lot of agility excercises, I am worn out. I had to do the workout modified a bit though because of my hernitated disk, but I still got a good workout. Before that we also biked up city creek canyon for a couple of miles so that added to the fatigue. Tomorrow it is arms and ab ripper x. So I am trying to mentally prepare, because I am still sore in my arms and shoulders from the back and chest workout.

Erik and I have decided to follow the diet that comes with the program. Everyone who I have talked to that didn't do the diet, didn't get nearly as good results as far as appearence. So we have decided to give it a try. I must say, I have never seen a more healthy looking grocery cart. It was full of basically all vegetables, fruits and fat free products. The recipies and menue choices are actually pretty good. It isn't disgusting tasteless food like I thought it would be. So I am willing to try it. I have got nothing to lose....but a lot of fat. So here goes nothin.

I will do a weekly update of our progress so you can see how our 90 days of workout hell are going. It will also make Erik and I be accountable, and not wuss out. So Tony Horton, you can suck it, cause we are bringing it!

Erik trying to keep me from taking a picture of him during our plyometrics workout.

I can't remember the name of this exercise. We just keptjumping and switching to the opposite side. I was amazed at how much we could still do after our bikeride. I didn't think we would last the whole workout.
Rosita my awesome new roadbike. I am so addicted to riding now, I am going to have to do P90X and my bike training. I can't choose between the two.

The Chronicles of Baelzebub....

Working in the rehab department of a skilled nursing facility has it's funny moments. Last Thursday, I saw one of the physical therapists (Jeff) talking to this sweet looking 85 year old patient, while she was painting a picture. He asked her "Aren't you going to sign your masterpiece?" She replied "What should I sign it?" He responded "How about Cruela, or Baelzebub, or if you want to use symbols, how about a pitch fork?" I just started laughing to myself, and thought "She couldn't really be that honory." I looked over two minutes later, and she was painting a red pitchfork at the bottom of her picture.

The next day I was running a cooking group with a few of my patients, and this sweet patient we now fondly refer to as "Baelzebub" was ordering everyone around. She told me to put a plastic bag around the sugar before I put it away, because she thought it was leaking. I told her it wasn't leaking, and proceeded to put the sugar away. She then yelled "It's a good thing your not in my kitchen. I'm going to come over there and beat the shit out of you!" I was kind of suprised, and taken back. I then started laughing really hard, because this sweet looking grandma hunched over in her wheelchair had just threatened to "beat the shit out of me." I was not the only one laughing.

When I asked her to stir the brownies, she barked "Go get me a spatula!" I said "There is one in the bowl." She shouted "That's not a spatula, that's a spoon. Are you deaf? Go get me a spatula, and hurry up!" I told her rather indignently she could just stir it with her pitchfork. She just looked at me. So I opened the kitchen drawer and handed her the spatula. As soon as I handed it to her, she said "It's about time you got over here!" All the other patient's started laughing. She then started to order around one of the physical therapists walking by. She handed him a bowl, and told him to go wash it. He told her he wasn't even a part of the cooking group. she said "I don't care, just do it! " Chelsea told "Baelzebub" to stop being so bossy and mean. Then Jeff (her PT) said while laughing "She can't help it. She has to be bossy. It is hard running that kingdom of fire and brimstone!" she responded "Yeah it is! I need a forked tongue the way these guys are monkeying around." I couldn't stop laughing after that. I thought Jeff was exaggerating about how honory she was, but he wasn't kidding!

Later that day, Jeff was working with her and put a hot pack on her shoulder in preparation for stretching. She started complaining that she didn't want heat, so Jeff told her "I'm just trying to simulate your home environment." She laughed and said in her crackly little old lady voice "Oh ok." I tried to hold back the laughter. A few minutes later he asked her to throw the Nerf ball with him. She firmly said "No!" Jeff asked her "why not? We need to do this." She said "I don't care! I think your full of shit!" All the patients and staff around started laughing. Jeff then said "come on, just do it." She said again "No, You're full of shit!" More laughter erupted. He threw the ball at her, and she wouldn't catch it. She let it hit the ground and just kicked it back at him. I saw this go on for a couple of minutes. Finally he ended up taking her back to her room.

Since then, I have seen them banter on like this in other therapy sessions. I must say, I am always amused when she is down in the gym. It is moments like these that make life entertaining. The staff members are still teasing me about being threatened by a 85 year old lady in a wheelchair. I can't wait to see what happens next week.

The Spine Update

As I have promised, I will keep you up to date on the progress of my back rehab. So far so good. The spinal decompression therapy has been helping a lot. It has made my pain go from unbearable, to pretty much non existent. I can now sleep through the night, and I don't have pain radiating down my leg anymore, and my leg doesn't go numb now. I have had a few hiccups along the way that have set me back, but the set backs have been nothing compared to previously. For example, I tripped over the standing frame at work and landed on the tile floor with a lot of force. I came down pretty hard on my right side, and had some pretty bad bruises on my leg. I could tell I jarred my back, but even with that hard of a fall, I only had minor discomfort. I had zero sciatic pain! When I went on Monday and had the decompression therapy, the discomfort went away. I still have to be careful, and have to avoid activities that would jar my back while it is still healing. But there have been drastic improvements since I started. So far so good. Yeah for spinal decompression therapy!