Thursday, February 3, 2011

P90X Journey Week 4: To Rest and Recover

So, for those who follow P90X, we all know how important those rest and recovery weeks are. After three hard weeks of going balls to the wall, it's a really good idea to take a respite, and let your muscles recover. That's what my last week was all about. Let me qualify this though....It doesn't mean that you should go out and totally forget those new eating habits that you've worked so hard in establishing. It doesn't mean that you become a couch potato for a week and sit there surfing TV channels while downing a bag of chips, beer and Pizza. That's not what it is at all.

P90X has designated workout rituals specifically made for that week. Two rounds of Yoga. Two Rounds of stretching. Cardio. And two rounds of Core Synergistics. Honestly, I'd totally forgotten what a great workout Core Synergistics actually was. And so did my abs.....my arms....and my shoulders. Just call it Cardio Abs.

To follow onto that, I added what would be my longest week of running mileage to date. After my 8 mile Sunday run, I logged a total of 22 miles for the week. I also enjoyed the loss of another 1.8 pounds. Making my grand total fat shredding for the month of January, 14.5 pounds!

Talk about a HUGE motivational factor. To see the scale down to 192.1 pounds was an absolute MENTAL victory. It totally showed that when you follow a plan to a T, you can make gains. Furthermore, I have so much more energy then I have in the past. My runs in the morning are strong and fluid. My times, are coming down in average per mile. What I used to run in 34-35 minutes, I'm now consistently doing in 31s.

I'd figure I'd leave you with a little picture of my progress, down 14.5 pounds. Don't mind the horrifically white skin. It's 19 degrees outside in Arizona as I write this, so I don't see myself getting any sun anytime soon, but this is my day 0 vs Day 30 photos. I really wish I had taken measurements on Day 0, but I totally spaced it. I did take them for Day 30, so when I put of the Day 60 pictures, I should have an accurate measure to what I have shed to date.