P87x

Yeah, I'm fully aware of the fact that the program is actually called the "P90X", but I'm using the "90" as a countdown to my end date...

That's right. I'm finally taking part in the Tony Horton, P90X phenomenon.

As you can clearly see, I've already done three days worth of exercises, hence the "87" in the title. Before I discuss this any further, allow me to provide you, the reader, with a bit of history regarding my fitness level:

Name: Pete

Age: 37

Height: 5' 10"

Weight: 204 lbs.

BMI: 29.3 (Overweight (partially inaccurate, as a pinch test reveals that my true BMI is closer to 25 (which is still slightly overweight, but not by much)))

Exercise: Daily - mixture of martial arts (Tae Kwon Do), biking, yoga and weights

Eating Habits: Mostly healthy - around 2500 calories per day

Overall fitness level: Very good

Most of my weight is centered around the midsection, what many refer to as a "beer gut". This is due to a number of poor eating habits, most of which came on during the time I was on anti-depressants. Sad, but true. Given all of my above factors, I came to the conclusion that the time was right to jump into the P90X program and on Monday, October 4th, 2010, my new exercise program began.

Day 1: Chest and Back

I was pretty pumped when I popped in the video. I knew it would be tough, but I was looking forward to the challenge. On the whole, it was difficult, but I spent most of the time finding the proper weights and doing smaller amounts of reps - still enough to make me sweat buckets, but not enough to take me down too much. I found the exercises very logical, easy to understand and well presented - Tony Horton's sense of humor is a tad bit cheesy, but he is always amusing. He's also supportive and also drives you to want to continue.

Ab Ripper X followed this routine. Ab Ripper X is, as I'm sure you've surmised, a workout video intended to help tone your abdominal area. It was hard as nails, but worth every moment. I couldn't keep up with the trainers and I know I felt like I wasn't doing a good job, but in the end, I gave it my best and I know I'll get better each and every session.

Day 2: Plyometrics

The second day of the program started the same as the first - I was filled with excitement and looked forward to the workout ahead. I was a tad bit sore from the previous day, but wasn't about to let that bother me. I pressed play and began the jumping program they call "Plyometrics"...

And I swear I was going to die after I was finished.

I pride myself on the condition of my legs - I have pretty well defined quads and while my hamstrings and calves are on the tight side, I thought I could handle this program easily. It was a lot of fun, there is no doubt, but it was grueling and my legs were worked in ways I didn't know they could work. Easily the most difficult day so far! Couple that with the cardio Tae Kwon Do class I taught earlier that day and I burned an easy 2500 calories! :)

Day 3: Shoulders and Arms

When I awoke this morning and climbed out of bed, I was met with legs that were pretty pissed off and wanted to make me very aware of this fact. My quads really were sore and I DO mean sore. I didn't let it bug me, but they are still sore and I'm hoping they feel better in the morning. Working through the doms, I went on with the program for day three - Shoulders and Arms. Thankfully, this was an easier workout, but when I say easier, I mean to say that it didn't fully destroy me! It was a great workout and I felt it a lot. Great exercises, great instructions... just great!

So tomorrow is Yoga day, a full 90 minutes of one of my favorite relaxations activities - though P90X style! :) Suffice to say, my pain level is mostly leg based and while it's somewhat high, I'm just going to work through it. I have Tae Kwon Do in the morning, so I'll use that to stretch and loosen myself up, but it's going to be a rough first few weeks, at least until my body acclimates. :)

I'll report back tomorrow with an update!

Until then.

Perseverance.

At it's core, this lengthy noun is one of the most inspirational and motivating words ever created - and yet a great many people falter when asked to discuss what it means. It's sad, really, as the power contained within it's twelve letter symphony is comparable to that of another great word - "Hope". In all my life, I used to think that "Hope" was the grandest of all words, that within "Hope" all adversity can be conquered. Yet this is not true, as "Hope" is passive, a waiting game that asks us to stand around and see if all our challenges can be conquered somehow, in someway, that requires nothing from us.

"I truly hope my health returns" we whisper to ourselves, not knowing what will come of it. We can hope day in and day out, but hope is not proactive - it grants nothing in return, apart from some small piece of mind. It is great in that is can offer us a glimpse of what is around the bend, but without an active role, it is naught but an empty promise.

Perseverance, on the other hand, assumes that we're at a place where hope may seem to be lost. It doesn't require us to simply stand on the sidelines and maintain our sense of decorum in light of our difficulty. No, instead it desires that we actively glance around us, take in the scenery, understand how we became lost and then demands that we rise up and continue on our way. It is the weary traveler, unable to further sojourn, broken and empty, who must take up their travels and make haste their path. It is the lost and tortured soul whose way has now become dark that must now press onward towards whatever light they can fathom along the horizon. It is the person who is bullied and bruised who must look up at their oppressor and try to find a way to co-exist in a world that has trouble accepting them...

It is always a struggle against the odds, but with the thought that you, even after you've found yourself in the worst of all possible situations, will simply accept what is and what may be, facing evermore the bleakness of existence with a renewed vigor and desire to turn that bleakness into something astoundingly beautiful.

If we couple perseverance with hope, it becomes an unstoppable combination, as the passive nature of hope allows us to see what could be ahead, while perseverance grants us the power to dust ourselves off after we've fallen and continue the pursuit...

I said before that perseverance is of the utmost importance and I continue to stand by that claim. Let's face it, if you fall and don't bother to brush yourself off and continue walking, what point is there in the journey? Without perseverance, without the need to push ever onward, no goal is truly attainable, no matter how badly we hope for it. Yet as I said, take your hope, your desire, and apply perseverance to it and you're well on your way to reaching the stars or whatever lofty goal you have in mind. It's not difficult, but it does require you to be able to see past the difficulties we encounter on our quest to be well.




Our desire to grow, however, must remain under control and no amount of perseverance can help us if we lack this most basic premise. Part of this control comes from examining our situation, which for many seems dire at best. It's in our nature to withdraw from the moment and observe the past and wonder where it was that we went wrong, as if going backwards will give us the ability to move forward. For some, there are answers that lie in the past, but for most, what happened to us in our younger years will not affect where we are now. It is a road already travelled and we can never, ever alter the route. We can look back with fondness, examine memories that makes us laugh and cry, but we can never take back what has occurred - it's all in the past, as they say.

On the other hand, there are those who wish to push themselves into the future, choosing to ignore where they are now in an effort to try and examine how they're going to feel in an hour, a day or a year - possibly longer. We feel awful and begin to tell ourselves that this is never going to end, that our own personal growth has become stifled, that our failures will never abate and that if we do anything, it's futile, because we are doomed to eke our an existence in which we are bound to suffer and languish forever. We are projecting ourselves, now, into a realm that doesn't even exist, a place generated by fear and dominated by our own impulse to "see ahead" to where we could possibly end up...

And yet it's not where we're going to end up.

We look at perseverance as a means to an end, a way in which we can press forward through adversity, sometimes faltering, sometimes failing, but never, ever giving in to our difficulties, but perseverance requires that we live in one time period - the now. If we press forward, we can't look back and dote on what has occurred to get us where we are; we must simply accept this as truth, that whatever got us here, got us here and this is where we are now. If we throw ourselves too far ahead, we begin to assume likelihoods that don't exist - there is now future, as it doesn't yet exist. What will I be doing one hour from now? I don't know. Sure, I can plan to do something, but the "something" I might plan to do could be interrupted. It is unfair of ourselves to create a false future in which we fail and it is fear that generates this thought.

Perseverance wants us to only see what is ahead of us in the here and now, not within our past memories and certainly not in a existence that has yet to be truly written. It is only in the moment that we can truly reach our goal, for to do anything else would be meaningless. Change the moment, examine your situation in this very minute and find what it is that you're struggling with - do not question what or why these things are happening, just accept that they are. Do not believe, either, that these feelings will last forever; you know as little about your own future and I know of mine. We must simply see things as they are and try to work through them at this moment in time.

It is difficult, of that there is no doubt, but it is truly amazing. The most difficult journey is always the most worthwhile and though we believe that we are in the worst periods of our lives, which we may very well be, we must always remain true to ourselves and live each moment as if it were our last. Persevere and rise above how you feel - that is how we reach the goal. Remain hopeful, remain vigilant and always, always persevere...

In a world governed by the media, a world where the worst of news becomes the "best news", we must always turn our attention towards the positive in whatever it is we do.

Cats driving cars, for instance. That's funny.

Even the caption! Seriously, it's kind of hard not to find the humor in this.

Finding the good in all things should be the paradigm by which we conduct our lives...