Chronicles: Alan B. Rowley II - Success Warrior - ECoach - P90X

Answering email quickly

My inbox is full of email from people who probably expect an answer from me, sooner or later.  Sigourney Weaver hasn't shown up yet and the Alien in my stomach is extremely resilient to bismuth.  It might be slowly working like Kryptonite laced with nicotine but until the good alien and bad alien duke it out in the junk yard of my stomach, I'll keep praying to Fed for relief.

What I've decided to do is answer all the email in one blog post to save time.  I won't post the names here because some people might be embarrassed by their questions.  Those of you that have sent email should be able to pick your answers out.  Let's get started.

No, I don't need any repl1ca watches, thanks.

Yes, by all means, forward that on to me and I'll have a look.

Really, you're that flexible.  I'm going to have to talk to my wife about that one.  Gotta luv Yoga.

No thanks on the watches.

Have you talked to your doctor about that.  That doesn't sound right to me. 

I'd love to.  Thanks for the invite.

Still no to the watches.

Yeah, that was funny.  Can I use it in my blog?  I'll substitute PTE Rick's name into the story so that you don't look stoopid.

More scramble?  I thought you had learned your lesson by now.  =)

Yeah, the whole book will have to be changed right from the start.  In the beginning Fed created the heaven and the earth.

Sure, give me a fake r0lex if it'll get you to quit sending me email.

I'm not sure that will work.  Yeah, it counts as burning calories but how many are you burning in those few minutes.  You might want to try jogging or something.

Calories in versus calories out.  It's simple but it's not always easy.

Dude!  No way!  Is there a pool to bet on for the number of stitches you're gonna need?

If I have missed anyone, just pick one that most closely matches the answer that you think I would have given or pick the one that answers in a manner that would most benefit you.

Success Warrior Diet Program: P90X Journal (Cruise Plan Days 77 - 73)

Disclaimer: P90X is tough and you should be in decent shape before going all out using this system.  You could certainly use P90X to get fit but listen to your body and only do what you can.  This is *my* journal and I do not advocate that anyone do what I'm doing.  Some of it is probably very foolish and you should do your own research and/or consult with a doctor before doing crazy stuff like this.

Day 77 - I weighed in and I lost 5 pounds this week.  That's wayyyy too much.  I'm sure some was fat and some was water but some might have been muscle.  I'm probably going to have to increase my calorie intake.  I took a guess based on some old numbers that I had in my computer.  I obviously wasn't doing P90X back then.  =)

I did Plyo X for my workout today. 

By the time I got to the end of the day, I hadn't eaten nearly enough so I grabbed some cookies to make up for it.  I don't know that I would recommend this to others but I know I'm not eating enough and it was a quick way to get calories in.

Walking: 1.54 miles.

Success Warrior Diet Program: P90X Journal (Cruise Plan Days 80 - 78)

Disclaimer: P90X is tough and you should be in decent shape before going all out using this system.  You could certainly use P90X to get fit but listen to your body and only do what you can.  This is *my* journal and I do not advocate that anyone do what I'm doing.  Some of it is probably very foolish and you should do your own research and/or consult with a doctor before doing crazy stuff like this.

Super condensed version today.  It's been one of those weeks and I'm behind on just about everything.

Day 80 - I did P90X Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps.  Two words: Pike Presses.  Three more words: Wear a helmet.

I postponed Ab Ripper X because my ribs hurt.  Later in the day, I did Turbo Jam's 20 Minute Jam and did the Ab Ripper minus a couple of the exercises that my ribs wouldn't allow me to do.

Walking: 4.26 miles. 

World Made by Hand

I finished reading World Made by Hand by James Kunstler a couple days ago.

It's a fictional account of life for a guy after the oil runs out and several US cities have been nuked in retaliation for interfering in the operation of other countries. 

Robert, our hero lives in what used to be a city but now is more of a village where life has reverted in many ways to what it was like before electricity.  Most people grow or catch their own food and barter their services with others.  People mine what used to be landfills retrieving stuff that was once garbage but is now valuable.

Everything is quiet and peaceful and running as best it can for a people who remember what life was like a few years earlier when they had electricity, cars, Wal-Mart, and grocery stores.  Life changes when one of the villagers is murdered by the owner of the landfill and several others are kidnapped and held for ransom by a thug in a town to the south.

It's an easy read and is meant to act as a warning for people about the ramifications of peak oil and resource wars.

If anyone wants my copy, let me know and I'll send it to you. 

Success Warrior Diet Program: P90X Journal (Cruise Plan Days 82 - 81)

Disclaimer: P90X is tough and you should be in decent shape before going all out using this system.  You could certainly use P90X to get fit but listen to your body and only do what you can.  This is *my* journal and I do not advocate that anyone do what I'm doing.  Some of it is probably very foolish and you should do your own research and/or consult with a doctor before doing crazy stuff like this.

Day 82 - I did not feel well this morning.  Not in the least.  My ribs hurt and I was cold.  I don't know why I was so cold.  I put on a hoody, read my email, and drank my No-Xplode.  My usual start to the day except I usually don't wear the hoody.  I did not warm up so I decided to put off training for a while and made some tea.

After a couple of cups of tea, my body warmed up from the inside and what ever had its grips on me, let go.

Success Warrior Diet Program: P90X Journal (Cruise Plan Days 84 - 83)

Disclaimer: P90X is tough and you should be in decent shape before going all out using this system.  You could certainly use P90X to get fit but listen to your body and only do what you can.  This is *my* journal and I do not advocate that anyone do what I'm doing.  Some of it is probably very foolish and you should do your own research and/or consult with a doctor before doing crazy stuff like this.

Day 84 - No weight loss.  I am exercising harder and more than I ever have.  I hope that I am losing fat from all of this.  It seem impossible that something isn't happening.

Tia is having similar results from the scale.

It can be a bit discouraging.  I lost weight the first time I did P90X.  I wasn't doing Turbulence Training at the same time though.  It throws a new variable into it. 

Tia and I talked about it and in the grand scheme of things, everything is going well.  The only pressure is the pressure we are putting on ourselves for the cruise.  We're essentially into a 90 day challenge which I thought I would never do.  Don't expect to see a picture of me with my body completely shaved holding a newspaper to show the date when I get done.

Don't expect any gratuitous speedo shots either.

Success Warrior Diet Program: P90X Journal (Cruise Plan Days 87 - 85)

Disclaimer: P90X is tough and you should be in decent shape before going all out using this system.  You could certainly use P90X to get fit but listen to your body and only do what you can.  This is *my* journal and I do not advocate that anyone do what I'm doing.  Some of it is probably very foolish and you should do your own research and/or consult with a doctor before doing crazy stuff like this.

Day 87 - I started the day by sleeping in a little extra.  Between alternating P90X and Turbulence Training workouts and my messed up ribs, I've been trying to get a little extra rest in.

When I got up I did a Turbulence Training workout followed by P90X+ Kenpo Cardio followed by ice on my ribs.  I'm able to do just about everything.  Jumping up and down and laying on my back are the things that hurt my back the most. 

I followed that up with more ice a couple hours later.  Damage control.  I'm not going to stop working out so I have to do what I can to keep things functioning.

Ab Exercises: Plank and Surfboard

It's possible to work your abs hard without even moving.  Plank will have you trembling and cursing, begging the second hand to tick ahead quickly.  Push it to the limits and you'll definitely feel it the next day.

You start the exercise by laying on your stomach.  You're up on your toes and your elbows are below your shoulders. 

From there, you simply (simply, I say) straighten your body and then hold there for a predetermined amount of time or if you're a glutton for punishment, as long as you can.  If you haven't done it before, I suggest that you try 15 seconds, take a break, and then try another 15 seconds.  You can work up from there.  It's a great alternative to doing crunches all the time and works more muscles.

When that gets to easy, you can switch to an advanced alternative that I came up with the other day: the Surfboard.  It's very similar to Plank but has one minor change.

This has been around but it still cracks me up

Success Warrior Diet Program: P90X Journal (Cruise Plan Days 89 - 88)

Disclaimer: P90X is tough and you should be in decent shape before going all out using this system.  You could certainly use P90X to get fit but listen to your body and only do what you can.  This is *my* journal and I do not advocate that anyone do what I'm doing.  Some of it is probably very foolish and you should do your own research and/or consult with a doctor before doing crazy stuff like this.

Day 89 - I stared the day with a dose of No-Xplode and followed it up with a kick butt session of Turbulence Training and P90X+ Intervals.

I can't do every rep of every exercise but I did do the whole DVD this time.  It's a tough one, at least for me.  Quite frankly, it's also not intervals for me either.  Maybe if you were a marathon runner or something but not me.  I still love it.  It's a great cardio workout but 20 seconds isn't enough to bring my heart rate back down much before they jump things back up.  Most interval programs that I have seen have intervals of 60 seconds or longer.

Go hard for 60 seconds and then recover at an easier pace for 60 to 90 seconds then go again.  Someday maybe I'll be like, "20 seconds of easy stuff?  Sweet!  How generous!"  Right now, I'm drenched in sweat muttering, "Make the bad man stop."  Tony Horton looks more ripped in the Plus series than he did in P90X.  Crazy stuff.

The thing is, you find someone that did something that worked and then you do the same thing.  So there I am every morning doing my best and forgetting the rest.