Breaking News! Round 3 - Done! Read my recap and see the Before / After pictures right HERE!

October 30, 2010 - "And so it begins!"

After about a month of relative inactivity due to a shoulder injury, I'm pleased to say that I've started Round 3 of P90X. Believe me, it was a long hiatus and many times I felt like a "caged lion." Towards the end of Round 2, doing "Scarecrows" with a weight that in hindsight was too heavy, I suffered a very small rotator tear and sprained ligaments in my right shoulder. Initially I tried to work through it but the weakness (not really pain) I was feeling in my right arm didn't allow me to lift weights that were nearly heavy enough to "work out" my left side.

Well, I'd estimate the shoulder is about 80% and the doctor gave me the "go-ahead" to start lifting again, so I figured it was time to get after it.

I'm going to be doing another hybrid in Round 3, similar to the "TXF Hybrid" I used in Round 2. I'm going to be including dvds from the P90X, the P90X+, Insanity, Tony Horton's One on One series and I'll also be doing some traditional weightlifting to target specific areas of my body I'd like to work on.

During my month away I didn't lift any weights and basically did cardio every other day and abdominal work probably 3x per week. I didn't count calories, but did reduce my protein intake to adjust to my lower level(s) of activity. Obviously, I lost some muscle mass and also some definition in my midsection, but I feel good about where I'm starting Round 3, as I'm in better condition than I was when I started either Rounds 1 or 2. All in all, I enjoyed the time away and I feel recharged.

So, without further delay, here is my daily (I'll try to keep it daily as much as possible) blog for this, my third round of P90X! You can leave COMMENTS or QUESTIONS at the bottom of the page (I love questions!).

Starting Stats:
Age: 37
Weight: 178.5 pounds
Bodyfat: approximately 10.5%

Round 3, Day 90 (270 - DONE!)
Stretch and Recovery (TH One-on-One)
Insanity Fit Test

Thaaaaaaat's all folks! Today brought an end to my third round of P90X. I finished this round at 193.0 pounds - I hit as high as 194.0 pounds a few days back, but I think the calorie-cutting in anticipation of Insanity caused me to drop a little weight the past few days. My goal was 190 pounds and 12.5 percent body fat (or lower), so I actually gained 3 pounds over my target weight (cool!). I'll be taking my "After" pictures and measurements on Saturday morning, as tomorrow I'm playing GOLF and tonight I have about 20 emails to answer. I'm pretty confident the numbers will be solid - we'll see! (fingers crossed)

So I wrapped up today with the newest Tony Horton One-on-One dvd, Stretch and Recovery (which I had never done before). It was cool - it was more intense than the original P90X's X Stretch, but no where near as intense as Yoga X. It ran a little less than an hour, so the time was not an issue. I would recommend this dvd to people as a "day-7, end-of-the-week" type dvd to just chill out and recover.

Then, I did the INSANITY FIT TEST. Wow! I have done many of the Insanity discs before, mainly during my second round of P90X. But, having only done cardio very sporadically during the past 70 days, it was rough! I didn't hold anything back and I went as hard as possible during every exercise. I had a little trouble with the Low Plank Obliques, as I have hard wood floors and my sweaty forearms kept sliding all over the place. Anyway, here are the numbers - my legs are still wobbly!

Switch Kicks: 111

Power Jacks: 52

Power Knees: 84

Power Jumps: 42

Globe Jumps: 11

Suicide Jumps: 19

Push-up Jacks: 50

Low Plank Obliques: 52

Like I mentioned earlier, I'll be creating a new Blog entry this weekend with my "After" pics and the measurements. I THANK YOU for following along during the past 90 days of my life - I enjoyed sharing it with you! DAY 1, INSANITY, TOMORROW! Bring It, er, I mean Dig Deep!

- 2,201 calories, Shakeology with instant coffee for breakfast, (2) scoops Whey Isolate plus 2 tbsp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 255 grams of protein / 199 carbs

Round 3, Day 89 (269)
Kenpo X
Treadmill X (16 minutes)

Quick update tonight - it's late and I gotta be up at "O-dark-thirty." During my work week I get about 4.5 hours sleep is all - I've often wondered how/what my results would be if I were able to get more, six to eight hours, of sleep consistently...

Oh well, - tomorrow is GRADUATION DAY for the third time. Good stuff - I mean that! Those of you who are also "graduates" know exactly what I mean.

I'll wrap it up tomorrow - THANKS for taking this 90-day journey with me, as I truly have appreciated your "company."

- 2,371 calories, Shakeology ("mochachino" recipe) for breakfast and "Aftershock" by Myogenix post-workout
- 268 grams of protein / 213 carbs

Round 3, Day 88 (268)
Legs and Back
Ab Ripper X

I. Am. Starving.

Well, not really - but it sure feels that way! The cut from 4,000 calories per day down to 2,000 has been grueling and much harder than I anticipated. And, I'm not even down to 2,000 yet! I'm hoping when I re-introduce Oxy Elite Pro on Friday that the appetite suppressant qualities will help. I've really felt hungry and am starting to feel weak. And, I know that Insanity will show NO MERCY. :-/

Two days left people! It's been quite a ride and I've enjoyed it until about the last 2 weeks. I don't mind saying that I feel like I'm right on the edge of "burnout" or "overtraining." Hey, it happens. I've lifted as heavy as possible for 3 months straight and I'm ready for a break of sorts. Insanity won't be any easier or less intense, but it will be a change of pace and a change to the type of training I'm doing. Looking forward to it. Kind of.

- 2,581 calories, Shakeology with instant coffee for breakfast, (2) scoops R&R plus (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 263 grams of protein / 207 carbs

Round 3, Day 87 (267)
Yoga MC2

OK, it's actually Tuesday night as I write this - sorry about the delay. Life is getting busy in regards to my coaching endeavors. Don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT problem to have, but my time is getting stretched thinner and thinner lately. I find myself always reminding myself of something that I repeatedly tell my coaches: "don't ever let your fitness take a backseat to your coaching." Word!

I did Yoga MC2 tonight rather than Yoga X. It's not as intense and my calorie burn isn't as high, but like I said above, I was pressed for time. I just received my new One-on-One Stretch and Recovery dvd - will provide a review after I've tried it.

- 2,897 calories, Shakeology with instant coffee for breakfast, (2) scoops Whey Isolate with 2 tbsp L-Glutamine post-Yoga
- 266 grams of protein / 211 carbs

Round 3, Day 86 (266)
Back and Biceps
Ab Ripper X

'Sup people? Ah, was I happy to see my great friend Back and Bis this morning! B&B is probably my favorite P90X workout, certainly of the "weights" workouts.

I just finished the January Xcellent Fitness newsletter - give it a read right HERE.

I'm going to hit fewer than 3,000 calories today for the first time in a loooong time - all part of the preparation for Insanity on Friday and my self-imposed 2,000 calorie per day target. I don't think I'll be blogging the round of Insanity every day, but rather maybe every third day and just detail observations and experiences, etc.

- 2,910 calories, Shakeology with instant coffee for breakfast, (2) scoops of the R&R with (1) scoop of Whey Isolate post-workout
- 266 grams of protein / 211 carbs

Round 3, Day 85 (265)
Plyometrics

Howdy folks! The "rib-tweak" was feeling a little better today, but I decided to skip wearing the weighted vest anyway. It was a little uncomfortable when I started breathing heavy, but not unbearable like yesterday.

I've come to the conclusion that my cardio is in need of some serious work! However, that's okay because "Shaun T-time" is coming. Is there no one willing to tackle Insanity with me? Ok, ok - I do have MY coach Nathan (more of a peer, really), my wife and about 4 or 5 others starting with me on Friday, but "C'mon Man!" - my analytics tell me that about 500 of you read this blog daily - let's go and kick some ass together!

193.5 pounds this morning, fresh outta bed, on an empty stomach! Can I hit 195, which would be a 16.5 pound weight gain in 90 days, and stay under my goal of 12.5% body fat? The next 5 days will tell!

GO BEARS BABY!

- 3,007 calories, no Shakeology today, (2) scoops R&R with (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 261 grams of protein / 219 carbs

Round 3, Day 84 (264)
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Ab Ripper X

"Pain don't hurt." - Dalton, Roadhouse

I disagree. Today's workout was painful. A lot. That cartilage problem I detailed yesterday really bothered me today, in fact causing me to miss most of ARX. I did manage to smile for this picture though! (representing my beloved Bears!)

It's my last week people - cartilage problem or not, it's time to suck it up, grit my teeth and "Bring It" baby!

- 3,084 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning, (2) scoops R&R with (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 266 grams of protein / 229 carbs

Round 3, Day 83 (263)
Cardio X (with some pull-ups too)

Injury Alert! Doh! While doing some weighted pull-ups today after Cardio X I "tweaked" some cartilage in my ribcage, just below and behind my right armpit. Ouch! It hurts even when I just take a deep breath! I'm doing Chest, Shoulders and Tris tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes (crossing my fingers!).

I want to discuss the CALORIE BALANCE CONCEPT for a minute, as I've been getting a lot of questions about it lately and have recently added a few new customers whose intent is to GAIN weight and muscle, rather than lose.

Managing your weight is really just mathematics guys! Here's your recipe for success:

- Find a program that helps you track your daily calorie and protein ingestion. I use Fitday because I've used it since Day 1 and everything I eat is already programmed in there. If it wouldn't be such a hassle, I'd prob switch to the MyFitnessPal app for my iPhone, as it seems much easier. Others like Livestrong or other programs. Bottom Line: YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT YOUR NUTRITION IS!

- Then figure out what your daily "Lifestyle Calorie Burn" ( LCB ) is. This is the number of calories you burn each day just by being alive - this number is influenced greatly by yes, your lifestyle (your occupation, your age, your weight, etc, etc). My LBC is about 2,700.

- Then figure out what you burn during the workouts - using Plyo as an example, I typically burn 900 calories in 1 hour doing Plyo. So, I'd add 900 to 2,700 to get 3,600, BUT, I have to subtract 1 hours' worth of my LCB (112 calories) because that hour was spent working out (you can't "double-dip" or your total will be inaccurate).

- So, my total calorie burn for that day is 3,488.

NOW, here's where math comes in! Know how many calories per day you're ingesting, and then subtract that number from your total, daily calorie burn.

- If the number is a NEGATIVE number, you'll LOSE weight.

- If the number is a POSITIVE number, you'll GAIN weight.

- If the number is about the SAME, you'll basically have weight MAINTENANCE.

EVERY TIME THAT NUMBER CYCLES TO PLUS OR MINUS 3,500 YOU'LL GAIN OR LOSE (1) POUND, RESPECTIVELY.

In my first two rounds I ran a "negative calorie balance" and lost a total of 49 pounds. Here in my 3rd round I've run a "positive calorie balance" (by about 650 calories per day) and have gained 13.5 pounds.

Questions? Hit. Me. Up!

- 3,109 calories, Shakeology ("mochachino" recipe) mid-morning and (2) scoops Whey Isolate with (2) tbsp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 270 grams of protein / 228 carbs

Round 3, Day 82 (262)
Kenpo X

This workout is "Chuck Norris approved" baby! Haha, I hadn't done Kenpo X in a loooong time and it felt pretty good. I remember those first few times I did Kenpo during my first round and thinking to myself "wow, you must look like a drunken Van Damme you idiot" haha. I like Kenpo now and feel like I'm pretty good at it, using good form and throwing short, compact punches. I throw every punch with "bad intentions" (a la Mike Tyson), which is really the only way to ramp up the intensity of Kenpo. I wore my 40-pound, weighted vest for this one.

Be careful on those Back Kicks! My first-ever injury on P90X was a pretty moderately pulled hamstring while leaning forward to throw a Back Kick.

Anyway, it's late and time for bed - early day tomorrow and then a few days off! Pictures to follow this weekend. If you're not already, please go support the Xcellent Fitness Facebook Page with a "Like!" Thanks!

- 3,206 calories, Shakeology (with instant coffee) for breakfast and (2) scoops Whey Isolate and (2) tbsp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 274 grams of protein / 231 carbs

Round 3, Day 81 (261)
Legs and Back
Ab Ripper X

Hey X'ers!!! I'm really sorry I haven't been able to put up a new picture for a while now - life's just been so busy that I've been scrambling just to get in my workouts and keep up with emails and inquiries from those I'm coaching. I just had another "graduate" today with amazing results - WAY TO GO JOSH! (with his blessing, I'll be displaying his great Before/After photos in the Testimonials section by this weekend)

So WOW, I learned today just how much I've been neglecting my legs this round! While I have been popping in Wall Squats here and there and I did do Plyocide (which I feel is a "legs" workout more than a cardio workout), there's just nothing like working your legs for an hour straight! So right now, a full 3 hours after my workout, my legs are still wobbly and trembling! Note to self -> pay more attention to your legs during your next round!

Okay, I'll try to get in a fun picture or two in the next couple of blog entries (only NINE left!).

- 3,190 calories, Shakeology (with instant coffee) for breakfast, (2) scoops R&R and (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 274 grams of protein / 233 carbs

Round 3, Day 80 (260)
Yoga X

Wow, only 10 days left in this round! Getting down to crunch time! (crunch those muscles time!)

I did Yoga X today because I'm finishing the last two weeks on strictly on the P90X Classic routine. It had been a while since I had done Yoga X and I was a little surprised at my loss of flexibility. I suppose it's to be expected, to a degree, considering the muscle I've gained and built in the past 80 days. That said, I was a little disappointed and have promised myself to do a little more stretching nightly now.

I've always sweat the most, by far, doing Yoga. Today was no exception! I feel great and feel like today's "sweat" was good for me as I'm recovering from my flu-bug. Tomorrow will be the first time I've done Legs and Back, the entire un-modified version, since waaaaaay back in Round 1! Should be fun!

- 3,288 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) for breakfast and (2) scoops Whey Isolate with 2 tbsp L-Glutamine post-Yoga
- 277 grams of protein / 237 carbs

Round 3, Day 79 (259)
Shoulders and Arms
Ab Ripper X

So, I'm feeling a lot better, but I've developed the cough from hell! The head and chest congestion is better, which makes me feel more comfortable, but wow, what a cough I have!

I went shopping today at the Vitamin Shoppe and redeemed my 2010 accrued bonus points - my buddy there said it's the highest bonus total he's seen yet, $380.00 dollars worth! Yippeeeee!

I pretty much went shopping with an eye on Insanity, purchasing supplements that I'll be transitioning to during that program, which I'll be treating as a "cutting" period. Because I'll be cycling off of Prime and Pink Magic, I picked up an anti-estrogen supplement. I also picked up a thermogenic called "Dren" by MHP - I'll give it a go and if I don't like it I'll convert back over to Oxy Elite Pro. Regrettably, I'm going to have to say "sayonara" to my beloved Supreme Bars for 60 days - they're just too high in calories and carbs - perfect for bulking, not so much for cutting. And, I also re-upped my supply of casein protein, opting for Elite XT (formerly Elite 12) - during "cutting" periods casein is so important because you're already running a fine line between getting enough nutrition and not - going to bed for 8 hours already on that "fine line" would definitely lead to a catabolic state without casein.

Finally, thanks! With over 550 views yesterday, it was the highest single-day view total for this blog yet!

- 3,303 calories, no Shakeology today, R&R plus (1) scoop Whey Isolate plus (2) tbsp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 283 grams of protein / 233 carbs

Round 3, Day 78 (258)
Plyometrics

Ah, we meet again Young Skywalker! The return of Plyometrics, my old nemesis - the only workout that's ever made me puke! Looking back, it's been about a month since I did Plyometrics, having done the new Plyocide once (my Plyocide review is HERE). I was cautiously optimistic about Plyo today, considering that I've been sick with a flu-bug the past few days. I was going to wear my weighted vest, but decided against it - yes, I thought doing so would be TOO much.

It was a good workout - I burned 831 calories according to my HR monitor, and I popped in five, 1-minute Wall Squats immediately following the workout. My legs are a little wobbly (ok, a lot) right now! I have a pretty good cough going today, so it was a little more difficult to breath than usual doing Plyo today - I pressed "Pause" once or twice just to let the coughing subside and catch my breath.

I completed that updated supplement blog entry I was discussing a couple days back, give it a read HERE.

I'm getting more and more comfortable cutting the calories back - by Day 90 (270) I want to be at 3,000 or lower so that when Insanity starts and I cut it back to 2,000 my body won't be in "shock." The re-introduction of Oxy Elite Pro should really help.

- 3,330 calories, Shakeology (with instant coffee) for breakfast, (2) scoops Whey Isolate with (2) tbsp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 277 grams of protein / 239 carbs

Round 3, Day 77 (257)
Chest and Back
Ab Ripper X

Growing up in Chicago, I saw Michael Jordan (aka the greatest B-baller of ALL time) have some of his best performances while being ill. With that thought in mind, I dug deep and "Brought It" today at way less than 100 percent. Actually, I had a pretty good workout! No, I didn't "score 55 points" or "win a championship," but I was able to be a lot more productive than I anticipated.

As mentioned yesterday, I returned to the "regular" P90X workouts today, which I'll be doing for the final two weeks of this round. I did Chest and Back today, still doing all bench press work rather than the push-ups. I finished up the workout doing 9 reps of Flat Bench with 90-pound dumbbells, which is pretty good considering I wasn't at 100 percent. I also started off the workout doing 17 Wide, Front pull-ups, which again I thought was pretty good, considering. Immediately after finishing those 17, I grabbed my 100-pound, black band, looped it over the bar and did another 10 "lat-pulldowns." They were hard - try it!

I've developed a great friendship with a doctor I'm coaching, who's also sick at the moment. He told me something interesting - when you're running a fever, it raises your metabolic rate and you burn more calories - yippeeee!

- 3,410 calories, Shakeology (with instant coffee) for breakfast, R&R with (1) scoop Whey Isolate and 2 tbsp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 280 grams of protein / 241 carbs

Round 3, Day 76 (256)
Shoulders and Arms - JUST Arms
"Flu Bug X"

Wow, I feel like I'm on "death's doorstep" as I write this. Last night I could feel some sort of head cold or flu bug coming on, and it didn't feel much better this morning at 0350 hours when I woke up. I thought that with exercise I could perhaps shake it ("sweat it out") so I "Brought It" anyway. No luck - guys, I'm literally "down for the count" as I write this.

I'm going to go to bed soon (it's only 1815 hours here now) and try to get a lot of sleep tonight in hopes that I'll be able to get in my scheduled workout for tomorrow. That said, if I had to "Bring It" now it would be pretty rough!

My wife's convinced I'm "run down" because of my sleep patterns. Honestly, I've often wondered how much my lack of sleep (which is dictated by my job 4 days per week) has hurt my muscle gains and progress - 4 days per week I basically only get 4.5 hours of sleep.

Anyway, I've decided that for the remaining 2 weeks of this round I'm going to return to the "traditional" Classic program. I'm doing this to bring in some cardio and basically continue to prepare for Insanity on January 28.

- 3,290 (a little low, being sick and all), Shakeology (mixed with instant coffee) for breakfast and R&R plus (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 284 grams of protein / 249 carbs

Round 3, Day 75 (255)
Chest, Shoulder and Tris - JUST Chest
Ab Ripper X

OK, smarty-pants people, in case anyone was going to call "BS" on my power-outage excuse for no entry yesterday, here's the proof! "Bringing It" in the dark, by candlelight and with a "Stick 'Em" light! Nothing can stop the P90X Train, not even a blown transformer!

My body is acclimating better to the drop in calories now, as I'm getting less and less hungry. I pounded my chest today, as I'm getting a little "anxiety" as I approach the end of this 3rd Round. Anyone who's ever reached Day 90 and had even decent results knows what I'm talking about - you're getting near the end, you want to have the most impressive results possible and you get a little nervous about time running out on you! Well, I'm there now, so I responded by really beating up my chest today, even pausing the dvd frequently to do super sets and "ghost reps."

New blog article going up tomorrow that talks about the progress I've made, my current weight, my current estimation of my body fat (I'll take accurate measurements on Day 91) and all the supplements that I'm currently taking, including my impressions of each and what they do for me. In the meantime, here's a quick pic of the muscular development so far in my back and lat muscles. Cheers X'ers - G'nite!

- 3,483 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and R&R plus (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 284 grams of protein / 241 carbs

Round 3, Day 74 (254)
Back and Bis - JUST Back
Ab Ripper X

Massive power outage at Xcellent Fitness Headquarters tonight! Entry to follow tomorrow. Bring It!

Round 3, Day 73 (253)
OFF DAY

Yes indeed my friends, it does in fact say "Off Day" above. What can I say - life conspired against me today, and to be totally honest with you, I don't really mind. It started by my working overtime at my "real" job. That "snowballed" into me missing my "traffic window," which caused a 2+ hour commute home. Then, when I stopped at the Vitamin Shoppe to "run in" and pick up a quick thing or two I ended up shooting the breeze with my buddy for a while. Oh yeah, I just ate a Drumstick too - the ice cream kind! :-)

Do I feel guilty? Yes, I do. But only a little. I've worked my as$ off for 72 straight days, so I suppose a break was good for my body and perhaps more importantly, my mind. So, I pledge to "Bring It" as hard as I'm capable of for the remaining 17 days, pushing to the absolute brink on every set of every exercise. It's going to be grueling, but it's going to be fun too!

With that, I'm going to go c-h-i-l-l and watch some TV! I hope you all are healthy and well!

- 3,423 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning
- 279 grams of protein / 244 carbs

Round 3, Day 72 (252)
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps - JUST Shoulders
Treadmill X (16 minutes)

Quick entry today - nearly bedtime! I'm getting a little nervous about my calorie cut coming up when I start Insanity on January 28! Why? Well, I've been scaling my calories down slowly, to get a little closer the to 1,900 - 2,000 that I plan on starting Insanity at. But because I've been at roughly 4,000 per day for a while, wow, it's hard! Today I did 3,355 calories and I felt like I was STARVING! I will be starting one of my favorite supplements, Oxy Elite Pro (OEP), when I start Insanity, and OEP has appetite suppressant qualities, so that will help, but wow, I might be a little cranky there in the beginning, haha!

Did Shoulders today during all the Shoulders exercises as well as the Chest exercises and rested during the Triceps stuff. That's it - 190.5 pounds this morning - up 12.0 pounds exactly. Will post a new pic "progress" pic tomorrow - it's pretty cool!

- 3,355 calories, Shakeology (with instant coffee) for breakfast, R&R plus (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 288 grams of protein / 249 carbs

Round 3, Day 71 (251)
Back and Biceps - JUST ARMS
Ab Ripper X

Gotta tell you guys, today was a pretty cool day. It was Beachbody's "Super Saturday" year-start "kick-off," where all across the country Beachbody coaches (and prospects) came together to discuss what's ahead in the company's plans for 2011. There was some pretty neat stuff announced!

It was also a cool day because I got to tell my story to a group of over 100 Beachbody coaches, all the way up to multi-Star Diamond ranks. They played my You Tube vid and I addressed the group. I told them how Beachbody has changed my life, and moreover, my lifestyle. I told them about the $1000.00 dollars I made just last week, I told them about the $3,600.00 cruise I qualified for in 2010 (even though I only coached for 5 months of the year) and I told them about the customized Beachbody / P90X / Insanity / Turbo Fire logo'ed surfboard I won for my productivity in Oct / Nov / Dec.

Guys / Girls - message me about becoming a Beachbody Coach! I was so skeptical at first ("this is a scam") but it has turned out to be such a blessing for my family and myself. It holds me accountable to my own health, first and foremost, but it also earns me a 25% discount on the products I would use anyway and when I refer these products to my family, friends and co-workers I can actually make some extra money for doing so.

Eight mos. ago I was a "fat guy" who just wanted to be a "fit guy." That's it - period. Now, I'm in the best shape of my life at 37 years old, my entire family is involved in physical fitness, I get the privilege of coaching others to success AND I get paid to do it. Life. Is. Good. YOU can do the same things too, there's not a doubt in my mind - you just have to get started!

Okay, enough. I did Bis today during all the Bis exercises (duh) and did Triceps during all the Back exercises. I'm still lifting heavy but paring my calories back a bit. Ab Ripper X was a little more intense today because I wore my ankle weights, which I hadn't done in a while.

Anybody recognize the guy in this photo with me? It's "Mr. Kenpo, Bringing It To The People, Stud Of The World" Tony Lattimore - GREAT GUY!

- 3,510 calories, Shakeology (mixed just with instant coffee) for breakfast and R&R plus (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 289 grams of protein / 255 carbs

Round 3, Day 70 (250)
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps - JUST Chest
Cardio Intervals

Alright, by an overwhelming margin, the people have spoken and advised me to KEEP BUILDING. So it is said, so it shall be! Haha, okay, I promise to push as hard as possible these final days, lifting as heavy as possible and keeping the cardio to a minimum. That said, I am going to start trimming my daily caloric intake down a bit, closer to 3,500 for now and maybe 3,000 by Day 90. When I hit Day 1 of Insanity doing 1,900 calories per day, wow, a drop from 4,000 would be suicidal.

I did a "double" today and it was cool. I did Chest exercises during the Chest and during the Shoulders parts of C,S&T and rested during the Triceps exercises. I did a lot of "crossovers" or "flys" today with both the band and heavier dumbbells. I'm also enjoying doing single-arm bench presses, where I basically only push one dumbbell up at a time, alternating arms (thanks for the tip Nathan!). I was using 65's today, at the end of the workout, with 10 reps per arm. It was rough!

I'm giving my "testimonial" tomorrow at a Beachbody event - should be fun! Cheers all!

- 3,672 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and R&R with (1) scoop Whey Isolate post C,S&T
- 291 grams of protein / 265 carbs

Round 3, Day 69 (249)
Chest and Back - JUST Back
Treadmill X - 16 minutes

Okay, two quick things then off to bed (tonight's one of those nights where I can actually get more than my typical 4.5 - 5 hours of sleep!):

1) I hit my goal weight today of 190 pounds for this, my third round. I started at 178.5, and was a little slow to start building the muscle I was hoping for. However, it all turned around when I got the right supplements nailed down and let me tell you, the last 40-45 days have been a little CRAZY.

So, now the conundrum that I'm faced with - do I continue to eat big and lift big and see just how far I can take it in the remaining 21 days, or, do I start to do a "quasi-cut" with Insanity coming up on the horizon. Oh what to do?

I specifically wanted to focus on my chest first and my traps (muscles surrounding my neck) second in this round. I'm pleased with the progress in both areas, as well as the muscle gains I've made all over. Having this muscle will make the "cut" I'm planning (Insanity) so much more effective!

Ok, I'm attaching a pic, just for fun, that depicts the gains I've made in my upper body.

I'm also attaching a pic of a product I use from time-to-time when I'm craving a dessert. I also posted this on the Xcellent Fitness Facebook page.

(1) scoop Lean Dessert Banana Cream
(1) cup skim milk
(1) mashed-up banana
(1/4) cup crushed graham crackers

Mix it all up together and it's the best-tasting pudding of all time!

300 calories
28 grams of protein
32 grams of carbs
6 grams of fat

That's it for tonight - Bring It!

- 3,725 calories, Shakeology ("mochachino" recipe) mid-morning and R&R plus (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 287 grams of protein / 256 carbs

Round 3, Day 68 (248)
Chest, Shoulders and Tris - JUST Shoulders
Ab Ripper X

Good eeeeeeevening! I did "double-duty" on Shoulders today. I did the shoulder exercises, whatever they were, and then did another shoulder exercise during the tricep exercises (I alternated between Military Press, Shrugs and Upright Rows). I rested during the chest exercises. I used a brand new 190-pound (yes, 190) band that I received yesterday for the Shrugs - wow, it was awesome. I prefer the bands over the SelectTech dumbbells for Shrugs because it allows for a better hand position (palms facing back) during the exercise.

Beginning tomorrow, I'm going to start trimming down the calories and carbs just a bit. I had to let my weightlifting belt out one loop for the first time today, which I've always said would be my barometer for body fat gained. So, because I'm very nearly at the 12-pound weight gain goal I had set for this round, I'm going to continue lifting heavy but start to reduce my caloric intake.

My Insanity start date was confirmed today for Friday, January 28th, 2011. I've got TWO great people doing it with me - who else is in?

- 3,900 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and R&R with (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 291 grams of protein / 279 carbs

 

Round 3, Day 67 (247)
Shoulders and Arms - JUST Arms
Treadmill X - 16 minutes

Crushed arms today. That's it, no further entry. Rather, check this video out for instant motivation. David is a friend and a coach with Team Xcellent Fitness. Enjoy!

David Ingram's "Transformation"

- 3,879 calories, no Shakeology today and R&R with (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 288 grams of protein / 255 carbs

Round 3, Day 66 (246)
Chest and Back - JUST Chest
Ab Ripper X
Cardio Intervals

Yup, a double. And yup, I'm BEAT! Like I mentioned yesterday, today was an unexpected day off (no, I didn't get fired!) so I decided to take advantage of it and "pull a double." My calorie balance for the first time in a while was probably in the negative today, considering I burned nearly 1,650 calories just during the workouts. Then, throw in my "lifestyle" burn and I was probably somewhere near 4,000 calories burned today! It's all good - I've been running pretty big positive calorie balances each day, so today should throw a little "kink" into my metabolism (in a good way).

Well, I gotta be up at "O-dark-thirty" tomorrow so this is me signing off people. Hey listen, if you're interested in Beachbody Coaching, they extended FREE sign-ups until January 7th. Guys/Girls - it's something you should consider! I'm getting a 25% discount on all my Beachbody supplements AND making great supplemental income! E-mail me if you're interested. Okay, G'nite!

- 3,897 calories, Shakeology ("mochachino" recipe) for breakfast and R&R with (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workouts (both of 'em)
- 301 grams of protein / 281 carbs

Round 3, Day 65 (245)
Back and Biceps - JUST Back
Treadmill X - 16 minutes (3 min warmup, 10 mins of interval sprinting, 3 min cool down)

Hi guys/girls, how are all of you? Doing great on my end! I decided to switch the order up a little of my routine and do Back today (I just felt like doing pull-ups, what can I say?). I'm pretty much back to where I finished Round 2 at with the pull-ups, doing 17 un-assisted Wide, Front today to start off the workout. I could've probably squeezed out 3 or 4 more with maximum effort, but with such a grueling workout still ahead, I paced myself a little. I did just straight-up Lawnmowers throughout, skipping the Elbow-Out Lawnmowers, Bent Over Reverse-Grip, Congdon Locomotives, etc exercises. I started with 80's at 8 reps and finished the sixth set at 55's at 8 reps. My lats were en fuego!

I added a new supplement called "Pink Magic" on Day 60 that I'll be stacking with Prime for the remainder of this round. It's supposed to be a "scary powerful" stack and I'm gonna finish this round stronger than ever. Here's the product link in case anyone's curious: www.pinkmagiclabs.com

I'm going to do a "double" tomorrow, as I'm off from work on a Monday when normally I am not. Therefore, I figure I should take advantage of it, right? That's what being self-motivated is all about! It'll be a grueling Chest workout in the morning and then I'll be hitting Cardio Intervals from Tony Horton's One-on-One series in the early evening.

Lastly for today, I'm including this picture of how I do "Towel Hops" when I do Plyometrics. That bench is 22" high and the vest I'm wearing weighs 40 pounds. Yes, it's super intense and yes, it's a little tough on my knees, so I don't do it with the vest on often. A friend has been encouraging me to post the pic into this blog, so here it is (OK, happy NOW Samantha???). G'nite all.

- 4,182 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) for breakfast and P90X R&R with (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 307 grams of protein / 288 carbs

Round 3, Day 64 (244)
PLYOCIDE!

Happy New Year! Today was supposed to be a "back to the weights" day, but my wife was itching to try Plyocide (and so was I) so we decided to try it today. I don't mind really, my muscles could probably use the extra day of recuperation.

Plyocide, the "follow-up" to Plyometrics, is different than I expected. I expected a brutal, "bend-over, hands-on-your-hips, sucking air" kinda cardio workout but that's not what I got. At all. Having completed Plyocide, I can firmly say it's much more of a challenging Legs workout than it is a "cardio-type" workout. There were points where I was just standing around, waiting for Tony to get going on to the next move. That said, although I didn't get the intense cardio workout that I had anticipated, my legs, a full 5-hours later, are still a little wobbly, haha.

Here's my full review of PLYOCIDE, in the form of a new blog entry.

Back to the heavy weights again tomorrow - can't wait! So, 2011 is underway - go out and make it your BEST year ever!

- 3,899 calories, Shakeology (new "toasted coconut" recipe - yum!) mid-morning and P90X R&R with (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 298 grams of protein / 261 carbs

Round 3, Day 63 (243)
Yoga X

Happy New Years! Thank you for your support - I appreciate it more than you know. TXF HQ is closing early today, but I'll be back tomorrow, the FIRST day of 2011, with a new post and possibly a Plyocide review. Make 2011 your BEST year ever - I'll help you! ;-)

Round 3, Day 62 (242)
Interval X

The plan was to do Plyocide today. However, my wife really wants to do it with me and by the time I was ready to workout she had already completed hers. So, because I'm a "share the pain" kinda guy (hehe) I opted to wait until the weekend when we could perhaps do it together. Don't fret X'ers - I promise a Plyocide review is forthcoming!

I hadn't done Interval X in a while and really enjoyed it. I've said it before, IX is my favorite P90X workout, except for perhaps Back and Bis.

I need to keep this short today (and tomorrow, NYE) because my coach business is really busy right now with free coach sign-ups coming to an end. If you're reading this blog, you're obviously interested in your health and fitness - become a coach! It's fun, it's rewarding, it helps you keep yourself accountable to your own health, and yes, you can make some cold, hard cash doing it!

-3,810 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and (2) scoops Whey Isolate with 2 tbsp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 291 grams of protein / 261 carbs

Round 3, Day 61 (241)
Chest, Shoulders and Tris - JUST Chest
Treadmill X (16 minutes of sprint intervals)

The final third of Round No. 3! Gonna unleash the madman inside me, every workout bar none, for the final 30 days. Really looking to make some serious gains during the homestretch before I do the "Insanity-thing." Speaking of Insanity, NOBODY'S taken me up on my offer to join me - cowards! :-)

Today was a great workout. Did Chest during the Chest and Shoulder sequences and then breaked during the Tricep sequences. So, basically, I did twice the chest work I'd normally get from following the dvd normally. I lifted HEAVY and threw in some weighted Dips at the very end.

The interval sprinting went like this: 3-minute warm-up jog, 5x 1-minute full-sprints alternated with 1-minute "lazy" jogs. Then, I finished up with a 3-minute cool-down. See y'all tomorrow for PLYOCIDE!

- 3,817 calories, Shakeology "straight-up" mid-morning with P90X R&R and (1) scoop Whey Isolate post-workout
- 302 grams of protein / 287 carbs

Round 3, Day 60 (240)
Shoulders and Arms - JUST Arms

Good evening! The scale hit 188.5 today, so I'm officially "up" 10 pounds since Day 1 of this round. People have inquired as to how much weight I'm gaining is fat and how much is quality muscle. It's hard to say really, but it has been a "clean bulk," meaning that yes, I'm eating a lot of calories, but it's coming from quality foods and not junk. My jeans still fit comfortably and my weightlifting belt is still in the same loophole, so it's all good. Yes, I have gained some "goo," but I'm really pleased with the muscular development and am excited to see what 30 more days will lead to. The muscle I'm building now will really help me burn fat efficiently when I take on Insanity following this round.

I crushed just my arms today and popped this photo on a whim! My traps are getting there and it's rewarding to see the hard work (and pain) paying off!

I got the new "Plyocide" in the mail today, so I'll be doing it either tomorrow or Thursday and will definitely give you guys the scoop! Cheers all!

- 4,005 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout (I'll be going back to the R&R for the final 30)
- 317 grams of protein / 271 carbs

Round 3, Day 59 (239)
Back and Biceps - JUST Back

Hi guys/girls! Quick entry tonight - many emails to answer! So, now that I've decided to go heavy the entire 90 days, here's what I'm going to do: I'll continue working ONE muscle group for four consecutive days (like I have recently been doing). I'll do Ab Ripper X every other "weight" workout and then 16 minutes (the time of Ab Ripper X) of hardcore HIIT sprinting on the other two "weight" days. I'll do ONE cardio workout per week, probably either Interval X, Plyo X or Cardio Intervals from the Tony Horton One-on-One series (I really like that one cause it's only 40 minutes, and I'm looking for shorter, more intense cardio activity rather than longer, less-intense stuff). That leaves two days, one of which will always be Yoga and then I'm still "up in the air" about the 7th day. Any ideas? :-)

I snapped the RED band yesterday doing Shrugs (it was the Beachbody brand). It actually snapped back and it me square on my left hand, ring finger - thought it was broken for a minute there! I like doing Shrugs with the bands because of the isometric tension during the ENTIRE move and because it allows better hand placement alongside my thighs with my palms facing to the rear, as opposed to doing them with the dumbbells, where my hands have to be in front of my thighs somewhat due to the size of the dumbbells.

The band that snapped was a "60 pound resistance band." I found this great site, www.rubberbanditz.com, that sells bands up to 190 pound resistance! Wow! (I ordered the 120 and 190-pound versions!)

- 3,898 calories, Shakeology ('pumpkin pie" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout
- 321 grams of protein / 291 carbs

Round 3, Day 58 (238)
Chest, Shoulders and Tris - JUST Shoulders
Ab Ripper X

Back. With. A. Vengeance.

You bet I enjoyed the holiday yesterday. I got up early, ripped off Cardio X and then "turned off" everything P90X. After all, I am "building" and trying to gain weight/muscle. I enjoyed the turkey (which is something I eat a lot of anyway), but also the yams, spin dip, stuffing, pumpkin pie, cornbread and yes, even a few cold ones. It's OK to do that once in a while guys (stress on "once in a while").

Today I got back to work, and went after it a little harder than usual. I did the C, S & T dvd, but focused on JUST Shoulders. In fact, I did just three exercises for the entire length of the dvd - Military Presses, Shrugs and Upright Rows. It was intense and my shoulders were definitely "sagging" by the end, haha. Feels good though!

So, I also decided, after much debate with some drunken friends and family members yesterday, that I'm going to lift heavy, eat a lot and straight-up continue trying to build muscle for this entire, 90-day round. Once I finish up, I'll be doing the full, 60-day Insanity program, but, with 2 days per week of P90X "weight" workouts. I'm actually really looking forward to it. SO, for anyone interested in taking on Shaun T and Insanity with me, it looks like January 29, 2011 will be "Day 1" (c'mon, join me for some pain - I promise we'll get r-i-p-p-e-d!).

So, raise your glasses lads - here's to another 31 days of lifting BIG and eating BIG! :-)

- 4,012 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning, Dark Matter post-workout
- 322 grams of protein / 283 carbs

 

Round 3, Day 57 (237)
Cardio X

Merry Christmas! TXF HQ is closed - will re-open tomorrow! Bring It! :-)

Round 3, Day 56 (236)
Yoga X

Ahh, it had been a while since "Yoga Belly 7," yes indeed. In fact, it had been a while since Yoga, and like I mentioned yesterday, I have been feeling like my flexibility is lacking with the muscular developments I'm making. So, I dusted off the old yoga mat today, grabbed those yoga blocks (you bet I needed 'em) and got prepared to do some vinyasas. Nothing sounded sweeter than Tony saying "best downward dog of your life," haha.

I'm gonna get up early tomorrow and rip off Cardio X in the morning, before the kiddos wake up, and then just relax and enjoy the holiday. YOU GUYS DO THE SAME THING! Enjoy the day with your family and friends, you've surely earned it. I'll be "off the grid" tomorrow, as Team Xcellent Fitness Headquarters will be closed. I'll be back after it on Sunday (believe that!). Lastly, and most importantly, THANK YOU for your support of myself, my site and Xcellent Fitness - I appreciate it more than you could ever know. Godspeed!

- 3,875 calories, Shakeology ("pumpkin pie" recipe) for Meal 1 and a Cake Batter Muscle Milk RTD following Yoga X
- 301 grams of protein / 255 carbs

Round 3, Day 55 (235)
Chest and Back - JUST Chest
Ab Ripper X

Ahh, the end of another four, straight days of pounding the weights! I'm really leaning towards devoting ALL 90 days of this "round" to just lifting and doing a "cut" (or perhaps Insanity) after I finish - what do you guys think? I hit 187.5 on the scale today, and for the first time in my life I genuinely feel "powerful." I did a full (16) reps with 90-pound dumbbells on Flat Bench today to start, which, for me anyway, is pretty impressive. I'm happy with the progress I'm making and want to continue building more muscle - it's really that simple. I'm going to throw in (2) cardio days per week still, but keep 'em to short (under 40 minutes each), super intense and again, really target those faster twitch muscles. I'm also going to re-commit to Yoga once per week, as I'm starting (well, I feel like I am anyway) to lose a little flexibility in my upper body. I play a lot of golf, which aside from my family is my greatest passion, and I don't want my golf swing to be negatively affected by the muscle gains I'm making.

I know a lot of people are following this blog based upon the number of daily hits my website receives, but I'm a little surprised by the seemingly small amount of questions. Seriously people, I'd love to help you, whether you're my "customer" or not or whether you buy anything from me or not. For me, it's more about helping you turn things around, like I have, because I know how great it feels! You can leave a comment right here on the blog, or there's also a Forum right here on this website - entries into either are forwarded directly to my cell phone!

- 4,190 calories, Shakeology ("eggnog" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout
- 341 grams of protein / 289 carbs

Round 3, Day 54 (234)
Back and Biceps - JUST Back

'Supp people?!?!

Yep, I'm still here (didn't wash away). I'll tell you, and my fellow SoCal'ers can testify to this - wow, have we had some unusual weather! It's rained for what, 7 straight days???

Anyway, I'm attaching a couple of photos regarding pull-ups. By far and away, the exercise that generates the most questions to me from people is about pull-ups! (prob get 50 questions per week, just about pull-ups!)

Understand this - pull-ups are inherently HARD! If you're struggling with pull-ups, don't fret! Everyone struggles!

I worked long and hard on pull-ups, constantly going to failure unassisted, then to failure assisted and then finally doing "ghost reps" basically until I couldn't raise my arms up over my head anymore. Every set. That's how I went from 3 to 20+ pull-ups in 90 days and developed my back muscles more than any other body part. It takes time and determination!

Anyway, so say you can't really do an unassisted pull-up yet (or maybe only a couple) but the strongest band you have just doesn't provide enough difficulty to really be at (or even near) failure by rep no. 12 -15. You'll have trouble progressing towards doing more unassisted pull-ups this way - you need to really be at or near failure by rep no. 6 - 10 (IMO).

When I was coming back from my shoulder injury, free-hanging pull-ups were a problem - I felt a lot of discomfort at the bottom of the rep, when I was basically hanging with outstretched arms holding my bodyweight. But, the red band (my strongest - the same one used in the videos) was not strong enough to really provide me with an acceptable amount of resistance to get a good workout or further the strength and conditioning of my back muscles.

So, what I found to be a fairly effective method was to loop TWO bands (in my case the red AND green) over my pull-up bar and pull them down simultaneously. This was fairly difficult, and when I made a little 1-second isometric hold at the bottom, well, I could def feel the muscles in my back getting a workout!

Give it a try if you're a "tweener" - currently not ready for unassisted, free-hanging pull-ups but not getting enough of a workout from the bands.

*Note - in the picture of me with my arms extended, I'd like them to be a little farther apart - don't let them drift closer together, as I've done a little, but rather keep them "Wide, Front" throughout the entire motion.

- 4,011 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) for lunch and Dark Matter post-workout
- 323 grams of protein / 276 carbs

Round 3, Day 53 (233)
Shoulders and Arms - JUST Shoulders

It's 10:20pm here in the PST, and considering I got up at "O-dark-thirty" this morning to do Shoulders and just walked in the door from work, I'm pretty fatigued. News radio here in the Southern California area is predicting tonight's/tomorrow's rainstorm to be "the most serious storm in the past 20 years." They're predicting SEVEN inches of rain - wow - that would be about 7 feet of snow! I might be doing Sandbagging X tomorrow, haha.

Anyway, my calories and protein intake slipped a little today, and I forgot my Shakeology at home this morning. It was a busy day and unless I reminded myself to eat, time flew by without time to eat. I'll make it better tomorrow. Okay, time for bed peeps - if I disappear tomorrow you must assume that I just floated away. :-)

- 3,490 calories, no Shakeology today, Dark Matter post-workout
- 265 grams of protein / 247 carbs

Round 3, Day 52 (232)
Back and Biceps - JUST Arms
Ab Ripper X

Well, I gotta tell you, after a 2-hour and 38-minute commute home, in basically a monsoon, I REALLY didn't wanna "Bring It" today. But I did. ;-)

It's days like today that define peoples' success. It's easy to press "Play" when you want to or when it "fits into" your schedule or daily routine. The people with the best results, and often times, long-term results, find ways to press "Play" when they don't want to, or when "Life" has conspired against their plan for the day or their daily routine. I mean that, 100 percent.

I did the Back and Bis dvd today, doing all tricep execises whenever the video transitioned to Back exercises. It was a great workout - I'm really working on exercises that will "peak" my biceps, so it was out with the Hammer Curls and in with extra Concentration Curls and/or Cohen Curls.

Getting up early tomorrow to do JUST Shoulders from Shoulders and Arms (loooong day ahead at work, so I won't have time to workout when I finally get home tomorrow). But, I will find the time to do a quick blog entry, because yes, I love you guys that much. :-)

Cheers everyone!

- 4,082 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout
- 331 grams of protein / 281 carbs

Round 3, Day 51 (231)
TH O-o-O Cardio Intervals

'Supp peeps? OK, apologies in advance for this "quickie." I'm TIRED. I actually thought of (gasp) taking a day off today. My body, after four straight days of heavy lifting, is sore and "beat up." But, I pressed on and got myself into the "gym" (aka my garage). For those of you who haven't done the Tony Horton One-on-One series dvds, they're pretty great (would highly recommend - you can get "Plyocide" right now for 0.01!).

I did Cardio Intervals (CI) today, without my vest, and fared much better. Guys, CI is intense. Think Plyo (maybe just a little tamer than Plyo), but with NO breaks. Wow - even Tony himself bends over a few times and is sucking wind. 'Enuff said right there! CI has a lot of "core stuff" mixed into it, so I skipped ARX today. Back to the weights (Arms) and ARX again tomorrow - can't wait! Speaking of Plyocide, just ordered it today, will work it in next week (maybe a Christmas Plyocide session) and provide a review afterward. G'nite!

- 3,790 calories, no Shakeology today and (2) scoops Whey Isolate with 2 tsbp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 288 grams of protein, 260 carbs

Round 3, Day 50 (230)
Chest and Back - JUST Chest

Okay, so this was sort-of a totally "non-P90X" workout. Yep, I still played the dvd (remember what I said about just liking Tony's "company," haha) but I didn't do ANY of the exercises except Dive Bombers. This video is about 54 minutes long, and from the time I pressed "Play" to the time I heard Tony say "you just crushed Chest and Back" was 1 hour and 8 minutes. So, you can see how much I pressed "Pause" and the total time of the breaks I took. When you're lifting as heavy as I am right now (heavy for me, anyway), I just need the extra time between sets to lift my maximum weight.

Here's how it went:

Flat Benchpress with dumbbells -> 13 reps @ 90, 11 reps @ 90, 8 reps @ 90 and 6 reps @ 90
Incline Benchpress with dumbbells -> 10 reps @ 80, 9 reps @ 75, 7 reps @ 75, 7 reps @ 70
Decline Benchpress with dumbbells -> 8 reps @ 75, 8 reps @ 75, 8 reps @ 70, 6 reps @ 70
Cable Crossovers with the RED band (hung over my pull-up bar) -> 4 sets of 15 reps each
Dips -> 2 sets, wearing my weighted vest @ 9 reps and then 7 reps
Dive Bombers -> 2 sets, wearing my weighted vest @ 12 reps and then 9 reps (I was "toasty-toast" by then!)

- 3,911 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout
- 312 grams of protein / 281 carbs

Round 3, Day 49 (229)
Back and Biceps - JUST Back

Hiya peeps - quick entry tonight, as I'm multi-tasking by watching "The Town," working on the December Xcellent Fitness newsletter and writing a new Blog entry. In keeping with the new theme of this round, I did the Back and Bis dvd today but just did the "Back" exercises. Because I really punish my back, first until unassisted failure, and then immediately afterward, assisted failure, there were some Bicep exercises where rather than do Back I did Legs instead. Back and Bis is what, 53 minutes, with a 5-minute warm-up/cool-down on each end? I'd estimate that 33 minutes or so were just Back with the remaining 10 minutes being Legs.

It was good stuff - was able to rip off 12 unassisted Chin-Ups near the end of the workout, which wasn't a personal best for being that fatigued, but pretty darned close.

- 3,910 calories, Shakeology (new "candy cane" recipe) mid-afternoon and Dark Matter post-workout
- 292 grams of protein / 277 carbs

Round 3, Day 48 (228)
Shoulders and Arms - JUST Shoulders

Ok guys and girls, same concept as yesterday. I played the Shoulders and Arms dvd, but only did the "Shoulders" portions. Whenever the vid transitioned into a biceps or triceps exercise, I just picked a shoulders-oriented exercise and went after it. One could ask (and someone probably will!) "why don't you just do a Shoulders workout without playing the vid?" I suppose I could, but what can I say, I like Tony's company!

For the most part, I concentrated on heavy Shrugs (80's), Upright Rows (the red bands) and Deep Swimmer's Presses (40's) on all my "free choice" exercises. I skipped Ab Ripper X because I did it yesterday and plan on doing it again tomorrow.

I've gotten a lot of requests for "halfway" photos. Honestly, I haven't taken a Before/After-type photo since Day 1, when I took this round's Before pics. I'm rather concentrating on more candid pics taken during snippets of my workouts. That said, I do understand the curiousity as to my progress. As you can see above, I weighed 186.5 pounds this morning. That's up exactly 8.0 pounds since Day 1 (Round 3), which I'm pretty pleased with considering my intent for the first 2/3 of this round was to "bulk." Interestingly, it's also up 15.0 pounds since I finished Round 2 on August 31 at 171.5 pounds and approximately 8.5% body fat.

Anytime you're ingesting 4,000 calories per day at 185.0 pounds and doing minimal cardio, your body fat will go up. I expected mine to and I'm not really that concerned about it. I haven't taken my body fat since Day 1 of this round because I don't want to be distracted by it. While it has gone up "some," my pants still fit me well and my belts are all still in the same belt holes.

The "bulking" has been a tremendous success so far! I've gained considerable size in my arms and shoulders, and the two areas I've concentrated the most upon, my chest and traps, are really starting to "pop." It's pretty exciting, actually! T-shirts that fit me perfectly 7 weeks ago I can now feel really stretching across my shoulders, chest and neck and squeezing my biceps.

- 4,080 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe mid-morning) and Dark Matter post-workout
- 322 grams of protein / 285 carbs

Round 3, Day 47 (227)
Shoulders and Arms - JUST Arms
Ab Ripper X

So, for the next 3 weeks I've decided to focus on just one muscle group per day, rather than the 2 muscle groups that each dvd is usually divided into. This will allow me to blast just one muscle group for the entire length of a video, and will also give me maximum recovery time for each muscle group (because I'll only be training each muscle group once per week).

So, today I did the Shoulders and Arms workout but when the video transitioned into a shoulders exercise I picked either a bicep or tricep exercise and just did that. For biceps I focused on exercises that would help my "bicep peaks," like Concentration Curls,Cohen Curls or Cross-Body Curls and for triceps I focused on exercises that would help build size and strength, like Tricep Pushdowns with the super-duper red bands (looped over my pull-up bar).

It was good stuff! My arms were shaky for a looooong time after the workout!

Round 3, Day 46 (226)
TH O-o-O Cardio Intervals

Whoa Nellie! Last week I ordered a few dvds from the Tony Horton One-on-One series, Volume 2. One of them was "Cardio Intervals" and I decided to try it today for the first time. Wow! THAT was a brutal workout, so brutal in fact that I had to stop about 1/2 of the way in and take off my vest. Seriously folks, that was more intense than Plyometrics and more intense than my favorite "cardio" workout, Interval X from P90X+. If you REALLY wanna challenge yourself, and don't mind feeling a little nauseous during the second half (a la Carl Daikeler, haha), you HAVE to try Cardio Intervals! It is truly a monster.

Tomorrow I'm going to try something new with this round - stay tuned - should be fun (and intense!)

- 3,780 calories, no Shakeology today, Dark Matter post-workout
- 288 grams of protein / 265 carbs

Round 3, Day 45 (225)
Plyometrics

Halfway baby! Seriously, I feel like time is just flying by. I did Plyo today and wore my weighted vest. Rather than go the full time period for each exercise, I really tried to be as intense as possible for about the first 15 seconds of each exercise (30 seconds on the 1-minute exercises). I did this moving as fast and jumping as high as I'm capable of. There was no "pacing" myself - I went like a wildman for as long as I could, and when I started to reach the "VO2 - Max" heart rate level (for me, about 190 BMP) I stopped. Training this way is similar to High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and really adds "explosive power" and works those fast twitch muscles. I love it. A lot.

People have asked, so here's the God's honest truth: yes, I did have ONE "cheat" meal during my first 90 days on P90X. Well, it wasn't really a meal, but more of a "cheat snack." It was about Day 70 or so and I woke up in the middle of the night thirsty. I went downstairs and for some reason opened the kids' "snack" cabinet. Inside were these Disney Princess gummys and I had a package. Then I had another. Somehow, I still don't know exactly what happened, I ended up opening and eating 6 packages total, one right after the other, bam, bam, bam. I was out of control, haha. In the morning though, I did "man-up" and log it all - I still remember it - 116 carbs!

Funny story, yes (only because I didn't get a belly ache). The moral of it is this though - don't let ONE "screw-up" derail everything. You're working hard - a "hiccup" here or there will not waste days or weeks of hard work. If you fall off the wagon for a meal, don't get discouraged - just make it up the following day and DON'T make a habit of it.

- 3,880 calories, Shakeology ("eggnog" recipe) mid-morning and (2) scoops Whey Isolate with 2 tbsp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 290 grams of protein / 265 carbs

Round 3, Day 44 (224)
Chest, Shoulders and Tris
Ab Ripper X 2

I split today up into two workouts, ARX2 in the morning, straight outta bed, and then CST in the afternoon, after the late NFL games.

CST is probably the workout I'm focusing on the most during this third round. Besides building muscle, my goals were to specifically work on my chest and my traps. During this workout there are several exercises I skip for the shoulders (Weighted Circles, Pour Flyes, etc) and rather to do heavy Shrugs and Upright Rows. I'm starting to see and feel my traps "pop," so it's nice to see a concentrated effort on something specific pay off. As far as chest, I'm still skipping EVERYTHING (except Dive Bombers - I love those) and transitioning to flat, incline and decline bench presses with dumbbells, as heavy as 90's.

That's it! I've done ARX2 already, and will be doing CST later today. I've already logged and planned my entire diet in FitDay, so it's safe to close this out as today's entry. I sincerely hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season!

If you're haven't already, visit me on Facebook and give the Xcellent Fitness page a "Like!" XCELLENT FITNESS ON FACEBOOK

- 3,810 calories, Shakeology (new "eggnog" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout
- 295 grams protein / 255 carbs

Round 3, Day 43 (223)
Back and Biceps

Sorry for the late update guys - yesterday was my "office" Christmas party and my "sleigh" didn't get parked back in my garage till late. :-)

I had a few beers, and because I've hardly drank any alcohol since March, I was feeling a little "silly," haha. I'm sure if I had "manned up" and put a post in last night it would have been a pretty funny read!

Anyway, I did Back and Biceps yesterday, which is my favorite P90X workout. I always look forward to it and usually squeeze out a few extra reps with the bands after I reach failure with the dumbbells. I've started to re-consider my "plan" for this round. Initially, I was going to lift heavy and eat big for 60 days and then do a 30-day "cut." My body started responding (building muscle) a little late, so now I'm considering doing the full 90 days as a "build" and then doing the full Insanity program after this round. Any input or suggestions? Although I have done several of the Insanity workouts regularly in the past, I'm not an Insanity "graduate," so that might be something nice to conquer.

I made "Diamond" status as a Beachbody coach late last week. I owe that credit to many of YOU, so thanks! Listen, you guys/girls should consider becoming a coach, ESP if you use Beachbody supplements! It's FREE to sign-up right now and you get a 25% discount on all Beachbody products (can you say Shakeology!). Plus, I've found that being a coach is a GREAT way to hold yourself accountable towards your own health. Lastly, you can make $$$$$ by just referring people to Beachbody products, which you use anyway!

- 4,045 calories, Shakeology "straight-up" for breakfast, Dark Matter post-workout, (4) Coronas at the party :-)
- 312 grams protein / 285 carbs

Round 3, Day 42 (222)
Yoga X

I opted for Yoga X today. I felt like I needed it, as the heavy lifting I'm doing (esp. yesterday) is taking a little bit of a toll upon my joints, esp. in my shoulders, one of which is already a little "cranky." Yoga is long and a little boring (no doubt), but it's just so necessary! People ask me a lot "can I throw out Yoga in favor of something else?" My response is always "no way!" Tony Horton and Steve Edwards and the brilliant minds at Beachbody created this program the way it is with a plan in mind. Yoga X is part of that plan! Personally, I think Yoga X really (really!) helps me avoid injury. Plus, believe it or not, I sweat the most, by far, doing Yoga.

Speaking of "achy" joints - you guys/girls should definitely be taking a joint supplement of some sort (esp. if you're up near my age!). I take Super Cissus, by USP Labs. I like USP Labs products and think that they make quality stuff. I went up to Canada over the summer for 2 weeks and didn't bring my Super Cissus - I definitely noticed a difference and felt the aches and pains a lot more!

The "X" will make your body look Xcellent! But, in doing so, it will beat you up sometimes. Treat it nicely, and give it the right supplements to help it get to the finish line feeling as good as it will look!

- 3,920 calories, Shakeology ("mochachino" recipe) mid-morning, (2) scoops Whey Isolate with 2 tbsp of L-Glutamine post-Yoga X
- 292 grams protein / 235 carbs

Round 3, Day 41 (221)
Chest and Back
Ab Ripper X

Old school baby! Back to Day 1, Disc 1...one of my favorite things to hear is Tony at the end: "you just CRUSHED Chest and Back!" Indeed.

I get a lot (a lot!) of email from people wondering if they're "behind the curve" or "doing less than normal" in regards to what they're able to do during the workouts. People are always concerned that they're not doing enough, and that what they are able to do isn't enough to really "make a difference."

So, what I decided to do is dust off my old workout sheets from Round 1 and post one here, so you can see exactly what I was able to do on Day 1 (March 4, 2010) and then how I was able to progress all the way up through Week 11 (Day 77).

The numbers indicated in parenthesis are "assisted" reps. So, in the case of Wide Front Pull-ups, on Day 1 I did 3 "unassisted" pull-ups the first time through the dvd with 15 more from a chair. And then the second time through the dvd (the second half) I wasn't able to do any "unassisted" pull-ups and banged out 10 from a chair.

As you can see, there weren't a lot (ok, there weren't any!) high numbers there early on. Fifteen Push-ups, only two Reverse Grip and two Closed Grip pull-ups and barely three Decline Push-ups (I was pretty "wasted" by then, haha).

Here's the thing though ladies and gentlemen - I never quit. Ever. I took every ensuing workout as an opportunity, a challenge, to do more reps or use more weight than I had during the last time using the same dvd. I'd grunt, I'd grit my teeth and I'd even scream out occasionally, but you can see, those numbers always improved. I accepted no less.

Do the same thing! It doesn't really matter what YOUR numbers are. It doesn't. What matters is that they improve, week-by-week. When that happens, your BODY will improve week-by-week as well!

- 3,980 calories, no Shakeology today, but instead a Monster Milk shake with a banana and (2) scoops Glyco-Maize, Dark Matter post-workout
- 305 grams protein / 288 carbs

Round 3, Day 40 (220)
Shoulders and Arms

Loooong Day plus early wake-up call tomorrow = short blog entry! :-)

I skipped Ab Ripper X today 'cause I "ripped up" Ab Ripper X 2 yesterday. Today I went as heavy as possible, sometimes only reaching 4 reps (e.g. - did Congdon Curls with 45's, did Alternating Shoulder Presses with 60's, etc.). I've tried a new product the past couple of days called "Monster Milk" by Cytosport (rather than my traditional Muscle Milk Cake Batter RTDs). I add in a scoop-and-a-half of Glyco-Maize for the carbs and bam! it's really helped me reach my 4,000-calorie target more easily. I'm feeling great peeps! I'm starting to feel stronger and "bigger" and although I didn't add muscle at the pace I wanted to during the first 30 days, I'm feeling better about my progress right now. "Scale Watch" = 184.0 pounds, or up 5.5 pounds.

- 4,022 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout
- 340 gram of protein / 293 carbs

Round 3, Day 39 (219)
Ab Ripper X 2
Treadmill X

Two days in a row over 4,000 calories - it's getting a little easier to manage it now. If you're struggling hitting your ratios, or your calorie and protein numbers, that's totally normal! Just keep playing around with it to find what foods and supplements allow you to hit your marks with the least amount of effort. Try to keep your "supplemental" nutrition to about 40% and your "real food" nutrition to about 60%.

Now that I'm making headway with my calories and feel like I'm gaining muscle, as I've said before, I'm going to keep the cardio intense but brief. I did Ab Ripper X 2 today (from the Tony Horton One-on-One series) and it's about 3x as long as ARX. It's a good abdominal AND core workout and I hadn't done it in awhile. Immediately afterward I did twenty minutes on the treadmill, alternating between full sprints and "lazy" jogs. That's it!

For people struggling with Ab Ripper X (who hasn't?) try a couple of "tweaks" to make it more manageable until those core muscles get stronger. 1 - take off your shoes; it may seem like shoes don't weigh a lot, but trust me, it makes a BIG difference. 2 - allow your feet to "tap" the floor on In-and-Outs, Crunchy Frogs and Fifer Scissors - it really makes these exercises more manageable!

- 4,018 calories, Shakeology ("pumpkin pie" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout
- 309 grams of protein / 280 carbs

Round 3, Day 38 (218)
Treadmill X
Legs

Hi everyone, how are you? Other than the fact that my fantasy football season is over (both leagues) I'm doing grea, er, I mean Xcellent! I ran perhaps the biggest positive calorie balance I've run since before Day 1 today. I figure I burned about 2,900 calories today, and I ingested a whopping 4,090 for a positive calorie balance of +1,190. And boy oh boy did I feel it - I really felt powerful in the gym, er, my garage today!

Because I'm trying to build muscle mass right now, I've decided to cut the cardio down to short but intense sessions (even shorter than I've been doing). The cardio I'm still doing will stimulate my metabolism and because of it's type (HIIT-style) will work my faster twitch muscles, but there's minimal risk the cardio will burn or sacrifice muscle tissue.

So, today I did a 3-minute warm-up on the treadmill, then (6) 90-second sprints (flat out) separated by 60-second, lazy jogs and then I finished up with a 3-minute cool-down. The total time was just 21 minutes, but trust me, it was intense and my HR peaked as high as 180-plus. Then I followed that up with about 35 minutes of leg training - squats with dumbbells, lunges with dumbbells, wall squats, calf raises and standing, vertical jumps up onto a bench, wearing my weighted vest. By the end of the workout, I definitely was "chicken-walking" a little bit!

- 4,090 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout
- 330 grams of protein / 295 carbs

Round 3, Day 37 (217)
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Ab Ripper X

So because I haven't added weight (muscle) at quite the pace I was aiming for, I decided to try and "up" my calories for the next 28 days to up near 4,000, and run a bigger "positive calorie balance." I just couldn't get there! Wow, was it hard - I felt like I was eating all friggin day! Let me tell you, it's easy to get to 4,000 calories eating cheeseburgers and french fries and sucking down Coca-Colas, but it is really hard to do it while eating healthy stuff!

Someone emailed me and pointed out that I hadn't posted "Day 30" pictures. Honestly, it never occurred to me, since I've posted pics pretty regularly so far in the blog, but nonetheless, here you go! SO SORRY for the totally ridiculous grin on my face in the front picture (my wife won't take the pic unless I'm smiling, and that was the best I could muster). I'm pretty happy with with my shoulder and trap development after just 36 days! I'm also working my chest REALLY hard, but we'll save those pics for another day.

Yesterday I wrote a new blog titled "Freak of Supplements" in response to an email I received from "Troy from Jersey." Give it a read - I got a laugh out of the email and it lists ALL the supplements I'm currently taking.

- 3,785 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout
- 323 grams of protein / 275 carbs

Round 3, Day 36 (216)
Back and Biceps
Ab Ripper X

Ahhhhh, back to the weights baby! I missed them...and they missed me - all is right in the world now.

Seriously, Recovery Week is over. I kept it to five days instead of seven, partly because I didn't do Core Syn or any other dvd that put any strain on my muscles, and partly because with today's supplements, I don't feel like a full, 7-day "recovery week" is necessary. So, 30 days of going hard on the weights and with HIIT cardio is in the books. Five full days of recovery is in the books. And now, another 30 days of "big-time" weight-lifting and even shorter, but more intense, HIIT cardio is in store. Finally, during those final 25 days, I'm going to really cut calories and carbs and go "X"treme with the cardio during a hardcore "cut" to finish up the round.

Today's workout was great. I felt strong and finished up Strip Set Curls with 40s, 35s, 35s and 30s - my highest cumulative weight total ever!

- 3,620 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-afternoon and Dark Matter post-workout
- 312 grams of protein / 256 carbs

Round 3, Day 35 (215)
Golf X
Ab Ripper X

Golf X? Haha, ok, so maybe there's no way golf could qualify as being eligible for an "X" endorsement, but today I did tee it up with friend and in doing so, burned a bunch of calories. Per Fitday, 5 hours of playing golf on the golf course, even when riding in a cart, will burn about 1,300 calories! No, I didn't indulge in any "confidence-inducing" beverages or even a bratwurst at the turn. I did drink a bunch of water, ate a couple of Supreme Bars and had a Muscle Milk RTD (Cake Batter). So, about 1,300 calories burned, about 1,120 calories consumed with 92 grams of protein. Pretty good - the negative balance allows for some extra calories and carbs during dinner!

My Dad was a country club golf professional for many years and therefore I've played golf since I was a young kid. I've had periods in my life where I've played to a mid, single-digit handicap (which is pretty good for you non-golfers). However, having not played, or even hit a ball in nearly two and-a-half months before today, I didn't expect to play (or score very well) - it was more just about hanging out with my buddy. That said, I was very surprised at how much farther I was hitting the golf ball after 2 1/3 rounds of P90X (with no extra effort either - just making my normal swing). For example (and again, sorry if this loses you non-golfers) I've pretty much always hit a Pitching Wedge (PW) about 125 yards. Today, on a short par-4 on which I had laid up off of the tee, I had 131 yards to the pin. I hit a relatively smooth PW, because missing short was better than long, and I was shocked to see the shot fly over the back of the green (it was 139 to the back). And, on the 18th hole, a medium length Par-5 that I'd never been in position to reach before because it always plays dead into the wind, I had 227 left after a 277-yard tee shot (dead into the wind).

So, although my score when we reached the 19th hole was more than a few off the course record, I was very pleasantly surprised with the power I've gained in my golf swing due to the P90X. As you can imagine, this type of performance improvement would be applicable to any sport, really.

I did Ab Ripper X later during the evening!

- 3,440 calories, Shakeology ("mochachino" recipe) for Meal 1, no "Prime" today (I take it 6 days per week)
- 292 grams protein / 250 carbs

Round 3, Day 34 (214)
Yoga X

Yoga felt good today. Because I haven't been working quite as hard this week, either anaerobically or aerobically, I wore a sweat suit ("rubber" suit, made by Everlast) during Yoga. I sweat the most by far doing Yoga anyway, but today was a real "river." By the end, there was very little water retention left in my system, haha.

Speaking of fluid retention, people ask me a lot whether I drink just water. No way! During my first round of P90X, yes, it was pretty much just water or an occasional Gatorade "G2." I've since graduated to an occasional diet soda (maybe 3 per week), an occasional beer (again, maybe 3 per week) and about one cup of coffee, 2 creams/2 sugars, per day. I still drink a lot of water, but I also found this GREAT beverage called Super Chill Zero Calorie Lemonade. It comes in Lemonade, Strawberry Lemonade and Cherry Lemonade and in huge 33.8 oz bottles. The entire bottle has 0 cals, 0 carbs and only 80 mg of sodium. They're carried by most national-chain grocery stores - try 'em!

- 3,375 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and (2) scoops Whey Isolate with 2 tbsp L-Glutamine post-Yoga
- 282 grams protein / 245 carbs

Round 3, Day 33 (213)
Cardio X
Ab Ripper X

Scale watch: 183.5 - Xcellent (my target for the 65-day mark is 190, with similar body fat percentages to what I started at, maybe 1 or 2% higher). I haven't lifted weights since Sunday and am feeling pretty strong and "recovered" by now. Nonetheless, I'm going to ride out the entire week and really get after it with the weights next week. Some of you shared my MOTIVATION! blog onto your Facebook pages - very cool! (thanks a lot). In an interesting tidbit, my P90X YouTube video has been shared by 374 different people on their Facebook walls - stunning, truly. It makes me smile just thinking about it really...that someone I might not even know would put my vid onto their wall...wow.

Anyway, did Cardio X today and it was perfect for the intent of the week. No stress or strain on my muscles, but a nice way to burn some calories, keep my metabolism "on the go" and get a nice sweat going.

I want to talk briefly about the length of the videos. During Round 1, especially near the beginning, it would take me maybe an hour-and-a-half to complete an hour-long video. So, if you're pressing "Pause" to avoid passing out, hehe, don't worry about it! Now, in Round 3, it's again taking me about ninety minutes to complete, say, Chest, Shoulders and Tris. This isn't because I can't get through the vids anymore without stopping, but now it's rather by design. I'm lifting as heavy, heavy, heavy as possible and I'm "breaking" a little extra between exercises so that I can put forth my maximum effort into each set.

- 3,410 calories, no Shakeology or recovery drink today - I did (1.5) scoops of Whey Isolate and 2 tbsp of L-Glutamine after Cardio X / Ab Ripper X
- 272 grams protein / 230 carbs

Round 3, Day 32 (212)
Treadmill (not "Treadmill X")

Hiya X'ers! Day 2, Recovery Week. I'm letting those muscles recover, repair and rebuild (hopefully bigger and stronger!). I did some general jogging today on the treadmill, just to get my heart rate up and the blood pumping. I didn't do "Treadmill X," which is my interval, sprinting routine - rather, just a nice 3-mile jog in 36 minutes. No sweat. Well, actually I did sweat a little! I finished up with one full minute of "Steam Engine," one full minute of "Military March" and one full minute of "Superman."

Gonna cut today's entry a little short because I'm trying to get a new blog up titled MOTIVATION! Well, that and there's just not a lot to say today! :-)

- 3,380 calories, Shakeology ("mochachino" recipe) mid-morning
- 281 grams protein / 256 carbs

Round 3, Day 31 (211)
X Stretch

Yep, Recovery Week is here. Yep, I feel like a "slug." I feel like I should be lifting, or at least pounding out some intense interval training...or something. Nonetheless, in tune with my goals of building muscle, I know this is best for me, even if I am a little "stir-crazy." Like I blogged just the other day, your muscles need time to recover, and when they are given such time, they repair themselves bigger and stronger.

Anyway, there are two things that people inquire about the most regarding P90X. One is pullups, everyone struggles with pullups (and understandably so!). And the other is the diet. Most times people, no matter how well their intentions are, woefully undereat while doing the P90X. Read one of my earlier blogs regarding "Negative Calorie Balance and Starvation Mode" and you'll see what I mean.

Logic says that because my physical activity will be limited this week, perhaps I should cut back on my caloric intake, right? I say wrong, with a capital "W." This is the week where I'm "treating" my body...where I'm letting it recover and repair so that it can perform better (lift even heavier weights, even more times) in the upcoming, 30-day cycle before that final "cut."

So, here's how I reach 3,000+ calories and 300+ grams of protein, which honestly, by Phase 3 of the P90X program, is the nutrition an adult male probably needs (certain variables aside). Oh, BTW, I gobble that half of a Supreme Bar down at 0420 because I have an hour commute to work before my first "real" meal and I don't want to risk going catabolic since I haven't eaten anything all night while sleeping.

Round 3, Day 30 (210)
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Ab Ripper X

Last day before my "Recovery Week" (yes, I'm having a recovery week!). I went hard and it felt great - I'm pretty impressed with my new pre-workout supp, Monster Pump by Cytosport. It's hard to make in a blender though, because it "carbonates" with water and when you blend it up it basically "explodes" haha. Oh well, I'm making due.

I finished up my dumbbell bench presses today doing 9 reps with 90 pound dumbbells - not bad for the end of the workout and considering my weight of about 181 pounds! I'm happy with the strength progresses I'm making - I just wish the scale had moved closer to "185" or so (182 today). Nonetheless, I'm going to take it very easy for the next week and make sure those muscles are fully recovered for the next 30-day period of concentrating on even heavier building/lifting. I'm going to keep the cardio to a minimum and at a lower-impact rate. I'm not too concerned about adding body fat right now - I'm confident that when the time comes later I'll be able to "shred it!"

Due to some inquiries as to how I'm reaching 3,500+ calories right now, I'm going to post my entire diet for tomorrow on tomorrow's blog entry. If you guys wanna know or are wondering about something - just ask! Cheers!

- 3,700 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) during the Bears' game and Dark Matter post-workout
- 315 grams protein / 280 carbs

Round 3, Day 29 (209)
Back and Biceps
Ab Ripper X

Love, love, love Monster Pump! Wow, that, combined with NO Bomb is awesome! I was feeling JaCkEd during today's workout! I can't wait to see what a full month's worth of this will lead to. Today was an "off" day for Prime, BTW.

I get a TON of questions regarding pull-ups! People think that just because they can't do pull-ups that maybe the "X" isn't right for them. Listen, when I first started I could barely do three pull-ups. Barely. It's totally A-OK to modify! If I could only do three, then that's what I did. Then, immediately, I'd go straight to the chair and do as many more as possible. I did that through both rounds 1 and 2, even when I was cranking out 20 un-assisted pull-ups - I always did more from the chair. Now, in Round 3, because of my shoulder injury, I've been limited in my pull-ups. I can do about 10 or so "free-hanging" pull-ups and then I start to feel a little "tweaky" in my shoulder. So, what I've done is take the red AND green bands, loop them both over the pull-up bar, and then pull them down together. It's pretty intense! Especially when you do a little isometric hold at the bottom. Give it a try.

Tomorrow's my last anaerobic (weights) workout before, yes, a "Recovery" period. BTW, weight today: 181.5 pounds, or up 3.0 pounds since I started Round 3. I haven't measured my body fat, but judging how my clothes fit and the loop I'm still using on my weight-lifting belt, I'd say I'm holding pretty close to where I started. Xcellent! G'night people!

- 3,412 calories, no Shakeology today - subbed in a Muscle Milk RTD instead, (2) scoops Dark Matter post-workout
- 311 grams protein / 256 carbs (I'm "upping" it a little to try and gain that muscle)

Round 3, Day 28 (208)
Plyometrics

Ok, so because of the holiday and basically the schedule getting "tweaked" a little during last week, I opted to forgo Core Syn and Yoga today. Plus, my wife encouraged me to do Plyometrics with her, soooooooooo...

I'm actually pushing my chest so hard right now that doing Core Syn today wouldn't have been a wise idea anyway. So, Plyo it was! Again, we did it right out of bed in the morning, 1) to jump-start our metabolisms for the remainder of the day, and 2) to force our bodies to tap into our stored body fat as energy. I did 1/2 tube of New Whey, again, to preserve muscle tissue, and away we went. I wore my weighted vest, which makes Plyo (or anything really) exponentially harder.

Because I'm a little behind on my intended "muscle build," I'm switching up my pre-workout supplement from Fast Twitch by Cytosport to Monster Pump by Cytosport. Monster Pump has more calories and carbohydrates, and comes highly recommended from a trusted friend. I'm going to continue on with the Dark Matter and NO Bomb to round out my "workout cocktail." I'm considering adding an Animal Pak stack, but need to do more homework first.

That's it peeps. Tomorrow begins Week 5 - it's flying by!

- 3,476 calories, Shakeology ("pumpkin pie" recipe) mid-afternoon and (2) scoops Whey Isolate plus 2 tsbp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 285 grams protein / 160 carbs

Round 3, Day 27 (207)
Chest and Back
Ab Ripper X

As sincerely as possible - Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all were able to enjoy the day with your loved ones and people that are important to you. Wow - has my life changed since last Thanksgiving! 49.0 pounds - gone! 23% body fat - gone! Blood pressure - down! Enjoyment of MY life - waaaay up! Anyone can do the same things I have, and that's the truth. It just takes resolve, motivation and determination - for 90 days! Like I said - anyone can do it!

Tomorrow, time allowing, I'm going to re-arrange this blog so that the most recent entries appear on top (no more endless scrolling!).

I worked out straight outta bed today. Well, I had 1/2 New Whey tube (21 grams of protein) to preserve muscle tissue, then (6) NO Bomb and (1) scoop Fast Twitch - then I worked out. Working out early set my metabolism afire for the remainder of the day, when I might have indulged in some Thanksgiving "cheat" meals. :-)

- 3,490 calories (I'm guessing, honestly), Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning, Dark Matter post-workout
- 330 grams protein / 275 carbs (again, a conservative guess)
- "cheat" meal: C'mon, it was Thanksgiving!

Round 3, Day 26 (206)
Shoulders and Arms
Ab Ripper X

Hiya everyone! I'm gonna keep this short and to the point tonight and tomorrow (hey, it's a holiday!). Good workout today! Considering yesterday's revelation that I'm not quite building muscle/gaining weight at the rate I had targeted, I've decided to up my calories to 3,500 and run a bigger "positive calorie balance." We'll see what happens - it's going to be hard to squeeze in that extra 500 calories (or more), as I feel like I'm already eating a lot.

Anyway, Swimmer's Press rocks! Love that exercise (in fact, I pressed "Pause" and did a third set of it - feel free to do the same if you're looking to build a certain muscle group).

Happy Thanksgiving! Have some dessert tomorrow (I am!). And, be thankful for what you have. Tomorrow there will be American soldiers in the Middle East eating their turkey dinners out of a tray while sitting in a trench. They won't be watching football and they won't be surrounded by their family members. That really puts things in perspective for me. Be happy for what you have and make an effort to keep striving for what you don't yet have! I did (and am!).

My most sincere wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

- 3,390 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning, Dark Matter post-workout
- 311 grams protein / 256 carbs

Round 3, Day 25 (205)
Plyometrics X

Doh! For the first time in my adult life I'm actually trying to GAIN weight! What a foreign feeling, especially considering where I was 8 1/2 mos. ago! I stepped on the scale today and it said "180.5," meaning that I've lost a pound. NOT what I'm after! In case you guys/girls haven't caught on yet, I'm trying hard to gain some muscle here at the beginning of Round 3. The plan is to build muscle for the first 2/3 of this round, and then then enlist that muscle during the final 1/3 to help me scorch any remaining fat.

So, considering that the scale is moving in the wrong direction, I scrapped Plyo today and instead did 45 minutes of Legs! Squats, Lunges, Wall Squats, One-legged Wall Squats, Weighted Static Standing Jumps up onto a 22" bench, Calf Raises - you name it and I did it if it involved the legs. Then I finished up with a 5-minute, flat-out sprint on my treadmill - HR was about 186 by the time I dropped the speed for a "cool-down."

I'm transitioning to Dark Matter (rather than the P90X R&R) for the next 3 weeks, mainly just to "switch it up."

If anyone has any questions or comments, please, I DON'T BITE. :-)

- 3,105 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning and Dark Matter post-workout
- 290 grams protein / 230 carbs

Round 3, Day 24 (204)
Treadmill X
Interval X

Rolled straight outta bed this morning and did an abbreviated "Treadmill X." Just 31 minutes of interval sprinting, but more than enough to get that heart rate elevated and make my body tap into it's stored fat as energy. I did 1/2 tube of New Whey protein 15 minutes prior to the run, in order to preserve muscle tissue.

Hit Interval X later in the afternoon and felt "so-so." Today was a low-carb day, so by late afternoon, after having already exercised once with minimal glycogen replenishment afterward, I was feeling a little weak during Interval X. Nonetheless, I was able to get through it with minimal problem(s).

I purchased the Bowflex 1090 SelectTech interchangeable dumbbells today! I've had the 552's since March and really, really love them. Unfortunately, I've "outgrown" them and need heavier weight to attack my chest and shoulders like I want to. So, tomorrow my trusty 552's will be hitting Craig's List!

I just updated the Xcellent Fitness Facebook Page with an online store and a "Be a Coach" section - check it out (and give the page a "Like!").

- 2,090 calories, no Shakeology today and (2) scoops Whey Isolate with (2) tbsp L-Glutamine after Interval X
- 255 grams protein / 112 carbs

Round 3, Day 23 (203)
Back and Biceps
Ab Ripper X

Ho-hum. Another day, another workout. Nothing extraordinary about today's workout, as I was trying to monitor my fantasy football team's progress while "Bringing It." I went hard, just pressed "Pause" frequently to walk into the office and check the computer updates. :-)

As you might have noticed if you've been following, I'm not in a "Recovery Week" as would be the norm during Week 4 of the P90X program. Coincidentally, I'll be writing a blog tomorrow on the importance of "Recovery Weeks." I have a clear plan, and it does include a recovery week (so don't worry).

I skipped some of the "fancier" bicep moves today (Cohen Curl, Corkscrew Curl, In-and-Out Hammer Curl) and opted just for straight-up, old-fashioned Standing Bicep Curls. Good times. 203 days ago my arms were softer than the Pillsbury Dough Boy's (seriously!). Look what hard work and dedication to this program can achieve - get after it people!

- 2,880 calories, incl Shakeology ("pumpkin pie" recipe) and Dark Matter (by MHP) post workout
- 280 grams protein / 222 carbs

Round 3, Day 22 (202)
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Ab Ripper X

Best workout of Round 3 so far! Went after it, X-style. Perhaps it was so because I'm on vacation and knew that I won't have to crawl out of bed at 0330 for two weeks, but it was a very productive workout. Combining the Fast Twitch with NO Bomb has been giving me some incredible pumps during the workouts, so everything is progressing well. 181.5 pounds today - Xcellent!

I met a great guy that I'm coaching for lunch today to discuss him becoming a coach.

Guys/Girls, if you're taking Beachbody supplements, esp Shakeology, why aren't you a coach? It gets you a 25% discount! There are 3 reasons why everyone should consider coaching (besides the fact that it's 100% FREE to sign-up):

1) being a coach helps you hold yourself accountable to your own health
2) you get a 25% discount on all Beachbody products
3) you can make money just helping your family, friends and others get fit!

I've been coaching for about 4 mos. and am paying both mine and my wife's monthly car payments by coaching! How cool is that? You can put as much time and effort into coaching as you'd like. Some actively work it as a business, some let it develop as their free-time dictates (like me) and some just become a coach for the product discount (about 50% do actually).

Anyway, enough - if you're interested (and honestly, why wouldn't you be...help hold yourself accountable, discounts on great supplements/products and make some cash!) just send me an email. I'm NOT a "pusher" - I'll just give you the "411."

- 3,025 calories, incl Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) for breakfast and R&R post-workout (plus one scoop Whey Isolate)
- 303 grams protein / 242 carbs

Round 3, Day 21 (201)
Core Synergistics
Yoga X

End of Week 3 - good stuff. Normally tomorrow would begin a "Recovery Week" - not on this program! Looking forward to hitting some HEAVY DUTY weights this weekend - gonna "power-up" the calories and carbs both days and really get after it.

Today was an unremarkable day workout-wise, but very remarkable in that I met a Team Xcellent Fitness member for lunch - good times (thanks Regina!). I did in fact skip the "second half" of Yoga X and rather did 20 minutes of interval training on my treadmill and 50 standing, static jumps up onto a 26" ledge wearing my weighted vest.

- 2,890 calories, Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) after Core Syn and (1) scoop Whey Isolate with 2 tbsp L-Glutamine after 2nd workout
- 278 grams protein / 230 carbs
- "cheat" meal - French Beef Dip sandwich (with a few fries) and Spinich Dip with flatbread pieces from the Yardhouse in Irvine, CA!

Here's the supplement info I promised:

0530 (with first meal) - (2) Prime by USP Labs
1030 - Shakeology with (2) Super Cissus
1300 (with 3rd meal) - (2) Prime by USP Labs
1630 (pre-workout) - (1) scoop Fast Twitch by Cytosport, (6) NO Bomb by MHP
1800 (post-workout) - (2) scoops P90X Results and Recovery with (1) scoop Whey Isolate by Cytosport
1900 (with 5th meal) - (2) Prime by USP Labs
2200 (before bed) - (1-2) scoops Elite 12 casein protein with (2) Super Cissus and (2) Wholemega 1000mg fish oil pills
*I take (1) scoop of Elite 12 on cardio days and (2) scoops on anaerobic days
Throughout the day I'll usually have a Supreme Bar and (1) New Whey tube

Round 3, Day 20 (200)
Chest and Back
Ab Ripper X

Good evening guys! I made up yesterday's scheduled workout today and everything is back on track. I'm on vacation now for the next two weeks and will be pulling some "doubles" just because I want to. The scale said "180" pounds today, so that's good - up from 178.5 at the start of this round and up from 176.5 after the first week. By Day 60 (240) I'd like to see about "190" on the scale, maintaining my current level of body fat - we'll see! If I miss the mark it won't be from a lack of effort, I can promise that much.

Good workout today - again, stuck with just bench press movements using heavy dumbbells. I'm starting to feel comfortable again with free-hanging pull-ups, so I'm hoping to get back up towards 20 un-assisted again.

I'm going to do a comprehensive listing of my current supplements in tomorrow's blog.

- 2,790 calories, Shakeology with (1) cup of low-fat eggnog and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, R&R post-workout (plus one scoop Whey Isolate)
- 280 grams protein / 210 carbs

Round 3, Day 19 (199)
Cardio X

"That's kinda like life." -Tony Horton

I was reminded of this today. I had a little "field trip" at work that required driving out to the middle of nowhere. No big deal, as I've been eating out of my coolers for nearly 200 days now. I say "coolers" because I have two (yeah, yeah - I've already heard 'just buy a bigger one' about a million times!). Anyway, mistakenly I left one of the coolers on the kitchen table, and therefore departed for the day (unknowingly), with only half of my "stuff." There were no Vitamin Shoppes, GNCs, grocery stores or even gas stations (see photo) where I was going.

Today was supposed to be Chest and Back with Ab Ripper X. I left the house at 0530 and got home at 1800 hours. By the time I got home (incl. the 2-hour commute back) I was running on about half the nutrition I had pre-entered into Fitday -> 900 calories, 75 grams of protein and 90 grams of carbs. OMG - I was feeling it! I knew that Chest and Back, if attempted, would not be a productive workout and that plainly speaking, my muscles were not ready for it - I was not ready to go near as hard as like to.

So, I had to two choices: 1) skip the day altogether and chalk it up to "life getting in the way," or 2) suck it up and get after it by doing something that might capitalize on my circumstances. I sucked it up. Although I didn't do Plyo or Interval X or any of the "monsters" from Insanity, Cardio X was challenging because at the time I started the workout I was already running on a 1,500+ calorie deficit for the day. The first few minutes were tough, because I was somewhat dehydrated as well, but I got through it pretty well (and feel good about it).

This was a test. It was a test of my commitment. It was a test of my determination. It was a test of my willpower - mine against that of apathy, laziness or just being content with what I've already achieved. People ask me all the time "how did you get results like that?" Yes, there were a lot of things that contributed, but by far, No. 1 was my mind, my desire and my commitment. These are things ANYONE can master, and THEY'RE the most important things - by a mile.

- 1,810 calories, no Shakeology, (1) scoop Whey Isolate with 2 tbsp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 165 grams protein / 95 carbs

Round 3, Day 18 (198)
Shoulders and Arms
ARX 2

Sorry in advance for this quick update. The fabulous freeways of Southern California didn't cooperate today and I got home over an hour-and-a-half later than expected (can you say "Road Rage X?"). Anyway, I did the workout, opted for ARX2 rather than the original ARX and then spent the past hour answering emails, etc. It was a good workout - I varied a few things to work on the bigger muscles in my shoulders (e.g. - I skipped In/Out Shoulder Flys and opted for Seated, Dumbbell Military Presses instead) and my traps, which I'm really trying to focus on. Things are going well - it's hard to believe I'm nearly 20 days in already!

- 2,690 calories, incl Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) and R&R post-workout (plus one scoop Whey Isolate)
- 298 grams protein / 228 carbs

Round 3, Day 17 (197)
Plyometrics

OK, confession. I didn't do Plyometrics as planned. I love Plyo. But, I also love the NFL. And fantasy football. So, since I had both Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy going tonight, I decided to tune my TV into ESPN rather than pop in the Plyo dvd. So, I chose to do a little routine I call "Treadmill X." Treadmill X is basically an hour's worth of interval training - sprint for a minute, lazy jog for a minute - repeat. Tonight I decided to make it especially hard (maybe a "make-good" for skipping Plyo?) and set the incline to 10.0, which is probably a 25-degree incline or so. I warmed up for 12 minutes, starting at a slow walk and building up to a lazy, relatively slow jog. Then began the intervals, fifteen to be exact. One-minute sprints at "7.5" spaced out by one-minute "slow-jogs" at "4.0." Then I ran a relatively mellow mile (for me anyway) in the next 12 minutes and finished up with a slow-to-slower 6-minute walk. Total time: 60 minutes. Total distance: 4.9 miles. Total calorie burn: 660 calories.

- 2,180 calories, incl Shakeology (straight-up) and (2) scoops Whey Isolate with 2 tbsp L-Glutamine post-workout
- 265 grams of protein, 72 carbs
- Mike Vick has 57 fantasy points as I write this! Xcellent!

Round 3, Day 16 (196)
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Ab Ripper X 2

Okay, it's only 1042 PST but I've already eaten twice, done my workout and since the rest of my day's nutrition is already planned, I figure I'll post today's blog and enjoy some football!

On CST today, as I will for the remainder of this round, I did all the pushup exercises as bench presses instead. I cleaned out the garage yesterday (Garage X) and made a dedicated area for my workouts. Now, when the dvd transitions to a pushup exercise I just go to the bench and do my thing.

I figure I'd update my supplements today, as I'm 2.5 weeks into Round 3. I've been taking "Prime" by USP Labs and NO Bomb by MHP as new supplements this round. So far, I like them both. Prior to hurting my shoulder I was taking "Thrust" by Magnum Labs, which is a T-booster. I had problems with back acne (a common side-effect of T-boosters) so I discontinued it. Prime is a "natural" T-booster and so far so good.

- 2,795 calories, incl Shakeology ("pumpkin pie" recipe) and R&R post-workout (plus one scoop Whey Isolate)
- 280 grams protein / 210 carbs "cheat" is a CPK personal pizza (Hawaiian) while watching the Bears game

Round 3, Day 15 (195)
Back and Biceps
Ab Ripper X

I'll get right to the numbers of today's workout, as promised.

Wide Front Pull-Up (13 unassisted, 10 more from chair)
Lawnmower (12 reps @ 52.5 pounds)
Twenty-Ones (16 @ 25)
One Arm Cross Body Curl (12 @ 30)
Switch-Grip Pull-Up (10 unassisted, 10 more from chair)
Elbows-Out Lawnmower (12 @ 40)
Standing Biceps Curl (10 @ 30)
One Arm Concentration Curl (10 @ 30)
Corn Cob Pull-Up (6 unassisted, 6 more from chair)
Reverse Bent-Over Row (12 @ 30)
Open Arm Curl (10 @ 30 - this exercise bothered my shoulder a bit)
Static Arm Curl (16 @ 25 - this is money!)
Towel Pull-Up (did Wide Front instead - 10 unassisted, 10 more from chair)
Congdon Locomotive (40 @ 40)
Crouching Cohen Curl (9 reps with RED band)
One Arm Corkscrew Curl (12 @ 30)
Chin-Ups (14 unassisted, 8 more from chair)
Seated Bent-Over Back Fly (did Lawnmower instead - 12 @ 52.5)
Curl Up / Hammer Down (8 @ 35)
Hammer Curl (8 @ 40)
Max Rep Pull-Up (did Chin-Ups - 13 unassisted)
Superman (did the entire time in Superman, no breaks; yes, it was hard)
In-Out Hammer Curls (did just Hammer Curls, as the "Out" part bothered my shoulder; 7 @ 40)
Strip Set Curls (8 @ 35, 6 @ 35, 8 @30, 6 @ 30 - barely!)
Ab Ripper X

Good workout. My shoulder still bothers me on some movements, but I don't feel it at all on others. It's funny - even though it's a "shoulder" injury, it seems to affect my strength on curling-type movements. For example, I had trouble holding my right arm in place during the Static Arm Curls...

- 2,920 calories, incl Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) and R&R post-workout (plus one scoop Whey Isolate)
- 278 grams of protein / 212 carbs

Round 3, Day 14 (194)
Yoga X
Core Syn

Last day of Week 2! Good stuff. As I said yesterday, I've gained back the weight I lost initially in Week 1 and I'm feeling stronger every day. I feel like my right shoulder is nearly healed and I'll be able to unleash the full "animal" inside me soon (my 7 y/o calls it "changing into the Hulk," lol). I upped my carbs a little higher today than I normally would, due to the fact that I did two, separate workouts. Back to the weights tomorrow with Back and Biceps - already looking forward to it! Due to some requests, I will post my exact numbers (weights and reps) on each exercise for tomorrow.

Whenever I talk to "weightlifters" (God bless 'em) their main criticism of P90X is that they don't believe it can effectively build muscle. While I agree that a dedicated weight-lifting routine in a gym with a full compliment of weights would be the most effective way to build muscle and mass, I offer this picture as proof that, if done correctly and with a plan in mind, the "X" will build muscle just fine.

- 2,800 calories, incl R&R post-workout for Core Syn and Shakeology ("mochachino" recipe) as first meal of the day
- 265 grams of protein / 212 carbs

 

Round 3, Day 13 (193)
Interval X

Good workout - felt terrific, perhaps due to the higher carb-intake yesterday. Stepped on the scale today and it said "178.5," meaning I've gained back the two pounds I lost during the first week. Good - that's exactly what I'm looking for! Thought about doing a little interval sprinting during tonight's NFL game because I have a TV in front of the treadmill, but got pulled in other directions by my kiddos (I'm being "Mr. Mom" this weekend, as the Mrs. is in Vega$). A buddy came over who recently finished his first round and we devised a hybrid for his second round - anxious to see his results, as we tweaked the routines, his supplements and his nutrition per his goals.

- 2,590 calories - no Shakeology today, R&R post workout with (1) scoop Whey Isolate
- 260 grams protein, 165 carbs

Round 3, Day 12 (192)
Chest and Back
Ab Ripper X
(sort of)

I broke today into two, separate workouts, partly due to my "experiment" and partly due to time constraints.

Because I'm focusing (trying) on my chest more this round, I went to work a little early and hit the weight room. I did flat, incline and decline benchpress with various dumbbells and then finished up Machine Cable-Crosses and 20 Decline Pushups with a 45-pound plate on my back. It felt great and I got a much better pump in my chest than I normally would from a P90X "chest workout."

After work I popped in Chest and Back and did only the "Back" portions of the video. When the video transitioned to the Chest exercises I simply did various abdominal exercises from Ab Ripper X.

All in all, it worked out great! I got to work my chest in heavier, more effective ways for building mass, all while hitting the upper, mid and lower pecs. Then later I did the Back portion of Chest and Back and ARX (plus a little extra ab work) all in the time it normally takes to do just the "Chest and Back" portion of the video.

- 3,020 calories, incl Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) and R&R post-workout (both times) with (1) scoop vanilla Whey Isolate
- 290 grams protein / 275 carbs
- cheat "stuff": 1 package of "Dots" (the small, Halloween box) and 2 packages of Sweet Tarts (also the small, Halloween size) (what! they're "fat-free" candies and I avoided the Reese's PB Cups!)

Round 3 – Day 11 (191)
Shoulders and Arms
Ab Ripper X

Legs (and butt) reallllly sore today from yesterday's Plyo. In fact, I had to remind myself not to walk like an "old man" at work, which would've definitely elicited some friendly barbs from my peers.

A LOT of people have asked me for my exact schedule for this hybrid. Honestly, I don't have one - I want the freedom to assess what I'm doing and whether or not it's working. If I feel like it isn't, then I'll adjust "on the fly." That said, I do have a clear picture of what I'm after and a clearly defined plan as to how I'm going to get there. Trust me fellow Jedi Knights, it will all be apparent by the end.

I attacked the workout today! It was my first "off-day" from Prime (a new supplement I'm taking) and I really feel like the strength is coming back. I LOVE Swimmer's Press and go full throttle every time - what a great Synergistic movement! I dumped the Flip-Grip Twist Kickbacks in favor of just straight dumbbell pull-overs with 52.5's, which I feel really work the build mass onto the triceps. I did the same thing during Side Tri-Rise and then did a set of 25 Shoulder Shrugs with 45's to finish up the workout.

My wife insists that I tell you this because she thinks it's nutty: yes, guilty - after every workout rather than just going upstairs to shower I'll leap up three stairs at a time (16 stairs total) to the top, then "walk" down with my arms just on the arm rails (no feet touching the stairs) and go up one more time the same way. Is that nutty?

- 2,990 calories, incl Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) and R&R post-workout with (1) scoop vanilla Whey Isolate
- 290 grams protein / 215 carbs

 

Round 3 - Day 10 (190)
Plyometrics

"This is the X in P90X." - Tony Horton

Word. No matter how fit I feel like I am, this workout always leaves me gasping. Obviously, on Day 190 I'm doing a lot more and with a lot more intensity than I was on Day 2, but nonetheless, this workout never gets easier.

I really, really dislike "Hotfoot." Who's with me on that? Maybe it's my "dinky, little calves" but it just bothers me and I have serious trouble finishing it. I also completely skip the "Baseball Throws" - not only do I feel like an idiot doing them, but I have a hard time seeing what I get out of it. So, I did "Steam Engine" the entire time today during that portion and really concentrated on "crunching" my core.

No matter what Tony says in Yoga X, the downward dog at the end of Plyo X is "the best downward dog of your life." I'm serious!

Some of you have asked about the belt I'm wearing next to the Day 9 photo - it's called a "Solar Belt." Basically, it's a neoprene belt that I wear a few times per week that really wrings the water out of my midsection. It works great and only costs about $20 bucks at a sporting goods store - get one!

- 2,720 calories, incl Shakeology (mixed with instant coffee) and (2) scoops Whey Isolate with 2 tsbp L-Glutamine following Plyo - I opted to avoid carbs after the workout
- 271 grams protein / 185 carbs

Round 3 - Day 9 (189)
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Ab Ripper X

Today was a low-carb day, but also a "weight" day. On low-carb days I try to get all the carbs I'll take in before about noon, and then taper off to just meats and veggies after that. Because my recovery drink, which I ALWAYS take after a "weight" workout, contains a lot of carbs, I opted to get my workout in early (before today's NFL games!).

Quick note - I finished Week 1 @ 176.5 pounds, or -2.0 pounds for week 1. I struggled choosing the correct weights and had trouble matching my end-of-Round 2 charts because of my shoulder injury and just inactivity. So, today I tried to push a little harder and get closer to matching those weights I had been using near the end of Round 2.

On all the push-up exercises I moved quickly into the garage and did flat, incline or decline bench presses instead. I started with 75's doing about 12 reps and finished near the end using the Bowflexes maxed-out at 52.5, also at 12 reps. My chest felt it for sure - I even "bumped" my pecs a little in the mirror 'cause nobody was watching (shhh, don't tell anyone!).

I'm trying to build up my traps (neck) a little, so I opted for Upright Rows instead of Weighted Circles and Slo Mo Throws. I LOVE Fly-Row-Press! Talk about a killer, synergystic exercise - wow!

- 2,260 calories, incl Shakeology (straight-up) and R&R post-workout mixed with (1) scoop of vanilla Whey Isolate
- 275 grams of protein / 92 carbs
- stole ONE McD french fry from my son (c'mon, the smell is just soooo good!)

Round 3 - Day 8 (188)
Back and Biceps
Ab Ripper X

This was my second time through Back and Bis this round. I learned a lot about my current "condition" my first time through (remember, I couldn't do free-hanging pull-ups...). My right arm also tired before my left last time, which generally shouldn't happen because I'm right-handed. Nonetheless, I looked at today as a challenge to improve not only my right arm's performance, but also my overall numbers from last time.

I did do free-hanging pull-ups today! However, I think due to not having done any at all the past 30-some days and the fact that my shoulder isn't 100%, I was only able to do 12 un-assisted Front, Wide, 10 Switch-Grip, 5 Corn-Cobs and 14 Undergrip. Those are respectable numbers, but there's work to do for sure (I finished Round 2 doing 24 un-assisted Front, Wide). Regardless, I'm happy and know that next week I'll look at my chart, see "12" and do an absolute minimum of 13! ALWAYS grit your freaking teeth and improve upon what you had done before! No exceptions. I'll come to your house...!

I used the bands (red) today for Crouching Cohen Curls - the Bowflex dumbbells are a bit "wide" and can be troublesome in this exercise. I don't know why I never thought to try it before, but I did today and it was terrific!

At the end of Round 2 I was matching Bobby in Strip Set curls (actually, I started with 45s like Tony, but then backed down to Bobby's weight thereafter). Today I did 30s, 30s, 25s and 22.5s for the four sets, so there's some work to do there as well!

All in all, after a full week of X'ing it, I realize I'm NOT 100% and might have to temper my expectations towards the weights I'll be lifting (at least for now). BUT, I can focus on very strict form and "peaking" the pump of each muscle group, no matter what weight I'm using.

- 2,950 calories, incl R&R post-workout and Shakeology ("pumpkin pie" recipe) mid-morning
- 285 grams of protein / 205 carbs
- tomorrow's a low-carb day - dread!

Round 3 - Day 7 (187)
Core Syn
Yoga X

Today was a day off from work, so I was able to do a workout right out of bed. I rolled outta bed, popped (2) Prime and went right into Core Syn. Nothing extraordinary about this workout, but I didn't dog it either - it was just a "regular" Core Syn workout!

 Then I took the family out to Cinnamon Productions and gave it all back by getting a Belgian Waffle combo - what can I say?

 After doing some miscellaneous stuff during the day, I hit Yoga X in the late-afternoon hours and followed that up with a 5-minute, flat-out sprint on my treadmill. For me, the highest speed I can attain for that amount of time is a "7.6" on my treadmill with the incline set to "3." I'm able to cover about (not quite) 0.85 of a mile during that time, and by the end my legs are friggin SCREAMING and my lungs are on FIRE! 

Anyway, I gave most of that back later (haha) by taking the family to Yogurtland and getting a cup of Blood Orange Tart with just a couple of Cheesecake Bites tossed in.

 It was a good day - got two pretty good workouts in and don't feel guilty about the couple of "cheat" items at all. Going hard with the weights Sat and Sun!

- 2,950 calories, incl R&R post-workout and Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning
- 272 grams of protein / 230 carbs

Round 3 - Day 6 (186)
Plyometrics

Wore my weighted vest. Worked out late after a long, trying day - heart wasn't in it 100% but I did my best. ALMOST pulled a full 720 (two times around) on the "Ski Poles" - if I'm ever able to nail it I'll shoot video - probably got to about 680 today, or about 40 degrees short of two, full revolutions. 

I was on the road a lot today, so my diet consisted of a lot of "supplemental" protein (i.e. - bars, rtds, Titan cookies, etc).

- 2,600 calories - no Shakeology today, R&R with Whey Isolate and L-Glutamine after Plyometrics
- 270 grams protein / 192 carbs

Round 3 - Day 5 (185)
Chest and Back
Ab Ripper X 2

I matched Scotty Fifer on every exercise. I tried free-hanging pull-ups at the beginning but opted not to press my luck with my shoulder still less than 100%. To be honest, I'm surprised at the effort necessary to hold the bands at the bottom for a 1-count, which makes it pretty intense. If I didn't say it before, I'm using both the red and green bands at the same time, which makes the intensity of the band(s) pretty strong.

 Once again, I did flat, incline and decline dumbbell bench presses during all the push-up exercises, except Dive Bombers, which I just enjoy doing.

 I worked 2+ hours overtime today at work and got home late. Therefore, I started my workout much later than usual and once the clock hit 2100, just as I was starting ARX2, admittedly, I lost some focus. Therefore, I sort-of "lollygagged" it through ARX2 today. Oh well, I've got 85 more days to make it up!

- 2,760 calories, Shakeology ("mochachino" recipe) mid-morning and R&R with Whey Isolate post-workout
- 282 grams protein / 185 carbs
- NEAR cheat meal of the day: my mouth literally watered as I drove by Mickey D's and saw a McRib sign in the window!

Round 3 – Day 4 (184)
Shoulders and Arms

Ab Ripper X

I woke up a little flat (and sore). Flat due to the low carbs the day before and sore because I chose to skip a recovery drink (and it's simple carbs) yesterday after Interval X (instead, I did 2 scoops of Whey Isolate with 2 tbsp of Glutamine).

 Anyway, today was a "high" carb day and I enjoyed it, even doing a little (ok, a lot!) wheat pasta with turkey sausage for lunch.

 As far as the workout, I skipped Chair Dips and opted for Dips wearing my weighted vest - did 17 reps the first time and 15 the second time through. Surprised myself and used 35s for Swimmer's Press @ 12 reps, only 10 pounds off my Round 2 high of 45's for 11 reps. Nice! Finally, I skipped the Side Tri-Rises at the end and rather did two-handed, tricep-pullovers with the Bowflexes maxed-out at 52.5 - did 10 reps while the group was doing one arm, and then did another set of 8 as they were finishing up with the other arm.

 All in all, a good workout and I felt "swole" afterward, lol!

- 3,015 calories, with Shakeology "gorilla" mid-morning and R&R with Whey Isolate post-workout
- 290 grams protein / 340 carbs (yes, 340)

- On a side note, got these new protein cookies called "Titan" cookies by Premiere Nutrition. They are the BOMB - would highly recommend! One package (2 cookies) = 300 cals, 20 gram protein, 30 carbs and 12 grams fat.

Round 3 - Day 3 (183)
Interval X

Pushed hard. Wore my weighted vest. I would HIGHLY recommend Interval X to anyone who doesn't have it and/or has never tried it. The rest of the P90X+ dvds are "so-so," but Interval X is my favorite (and hardest) of all, including the original P90X dvds. 

I popped 3 straight minutes of Wall Squat directly afterward (NOT wearing the vest, lol). 

It was a hard workout - I feel great but physically spent, perhaps due to the low carbs today (I'm going to do some carb-cycling during this round).

- 2,020 calories, incl Shakeology (straight-up) mid-morning and (2) scoops Whey Isolate post-exercise (virtually zero carbs)
- 240 grams protein / 80 carbs 
- got in all 80 carbs before noon, worked out at 1730 hours

Round 3 - Day 2 (182)
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Ab Ripper X

Did strictly flat benchpress, incline benchpress or decline benchpress on every push-up exercise. Went really light on the dreaded Scarecrows and Arm Circles, and did feel a little "twinge" towards the end of the exercise...not pain...just a twinge.

 Used 70s for most of the benchpress movements, generally doing 10 - 12 reps of each exercise.

- 3,020 calories, incl R&R post-workout and Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning
- 305 grams of protein / 220 carbs
- "treat" for the day was 1.5 cups of strawberries (and they were goooood!)

Round 3 - Day 1 (181) (Oct 30, 2010)
Back and Biceps
Ab Ripper X

Forced to use the bands for the pull-ups, as my shoulder won't quite allow me to do free-hanging pull-ups just yet. I took the green band and the red band and pulled them down together, at the same time. It was actually pretty difficult, especially when I held it for a 1-count at the bottom.

Used 45s for the Lawnmowers - was using the maxed-out 52.5s at the end of Round 2, so I have some work to do there. I think maybe I was just afraid to lift heavy, so we'll see what happens next time. 

Ab Ripper X was a piece of cake - will wear my ankle weights next time.

- 2,890 calories, incl R&R post-workout and Shakeology ("gorilla" recipe) mid-morning

- 290 grams of protein / 205 carbs

- cheated with a bag of pretzels