Day #25 & #26

Day #25, Thursday: X Stretch


If you read my last P90X post (day #24), you know that I've committed to take this program to a new level of commitment both with the workouts and with my eating. I'm pumped to work even harder,  push even more during my workouts, and eat even better... And like I promised myself, I got up early (5:30 AM) for my workout Thursday morning... Thursday was X Stretch. Haha. I was pumped for a Plyometrics/ Legs & Back double session!! But since I'm going to do better to stay on schedule (with the exception of Core Synergistics), I did X Stretch. Tony Horton talks about just how important flexibility is to fitness in general and in preventing injury... To be honest, I'm not completely sold on this particular session of P90X yet (I've never stretched for so long before), but I will keep working at it. I have been, however, very satisfied with the warm ups and cool downs with each of the other workout DVD's, and with the stretching involved. I have especially gained a greater appreciation for the warm ups and how much more I can do during a workout after a good warm up. I was already moderately flexible before beginning P90X almost 4 weeks ago, but I'm happy to report that my flexibility has improved.

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Day #26,  Friday: Core Synergistics


Awww....I LOVE the feeling I get after a challenging, sweat-inducing cardio workout!! I feel like a new person and like my insides are singing Hallelujah!  Today I pushed myself hard and I'd say I got almost as good as of a workout as Plyometrics gives me...and all the while strengthening my core. There are 3 distinct workouts that I especially appreciate because they work me SO good.


Banana- alternating between lying on the back, right side, stomach and left side, while lifting up the arms and legs off the floor (straight out)
Bow to Boat- alternating between being on the stomach while holding onto the legs and keeping them and the chest off the floor, and then to "boat" where you balance on your bottom  while lifting the legs off the floor with the arms straight out above them.

(Boat- I cannot yet get my legs quite as high and straight as this girl,

but this gives you an idea of what it looks like)

Superman Banana- alternating between lying on back and stomach while lifting up the arms and legs off the floor (straight out).


Ah, there are so hard but so good. I really have to breath through these. During each of these 3 workouts Tony has you switch to the alternate position very quickly...It's "X city", as Tony likes to say! :)


One more thing that I want to mention is I'm getting better with push-ups! I challenged myself today to do mostly guy push-ups. I cannot yet go all of the way down and up in this position, but I was going about half way down. And if you know anything about P90X, you know that when they do "push-ups"...there's always an addition to the move incorporated at the same time, like leg raises, or putting one leg on top of the other, etc.. There are no plain ol' traditional crunches, sit ups or push-ups in P90X, at least in the first phase. (There are more traditional push-ups on the "Chest, Shoulders and Triceps" DVD that you start doing in Phase 2.) So I'm excited about the improvement that I'm seeing!