Okay, so it’s been QUITE some time since I wrote my last Fitness Update, but it doesn’t mean that I haven’t been hitting the gym as often as I could.

I finished Phase 2 fresh off the heels of Phase 1, and to be honest, I didn’t really follow through with the “recovery” week. I did maybe Core Synergistics and Plyometrics just to stay consistent with the cardio portion of the program. I also indulged in an order of filthy/greasy wings and two pints of Keith’s to wash them down … I earned it!

Adding on to my previous Fitness Update, I bought some new equipment to increase the intensity and effectiveness of my workouts, tried a new cookbook and some supplements as well.

Equipment:

Nike Push up bars - I bought these at Sportchek in Eaton Centre for about $25 Canadian, which wasn’t too bad. They give you about 6 more inches of depth and can really add more definition to your arms, chest and back when you’re pumping out those military pushups

 
Nutrition:

One major addition to my diet was the “Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook” by Tosca Reno. This awesome cookbook is chalk full of healthy and guilty free recipes that break down the nutritional info for you, which might be helpful to some who are calorie-counters.

Nutrition Supplements:

MuscleTech NitroTech Hardcore - I was thinking of switching it up but decided to get the larger tub out of convenience. If any of you have recommendations that would be comparable to NitroTech, I’d appreciate it.

MuscleTech Cell-Tech Hardcore - Buying MuscleTech’s Cell-Tech was probably the worst of my decisions in terms of what supplements to experiment with.   The loading phase was the worst!  In fact, I couldn’t even get past it because of the chronic diarrhea and constant trips to the washroom.  Definitely not cool.

Vitamins – I picked these up to round out my diet and helping muscle recovery.

Apart from vitamins, I’m thinking about picking up some Glucosamine to help speed up muscle recovery, but I don’t know if it’s really that beneficial. (Anyone try or know??)

Thoughts on Phase 2:

If Phase 1 was for trimming the fat and becoming leaner, Phase 2 is where I noticed more definition and bulk. The workout components of Phase 2 were:

• Chest, Shoulders & Triceps
• Ab Ripper X
• Plyometrics
• Back & Biceps
• Yoga X
• Legs & Back
• Kenpo X

Each of these workouts weren’t entirely different from that of Phase 1, but different enough in order to take advantage of “Muscle Confusion” in order to keep you from reaching a plateau and staying there in order to spur muscle growth.

To be honest, I went a bit easy on myself here as I was starting up school so I needed to find a balance between the crazy 6 day workout schedule, working and studying, so I decided to cut out Yoga X and Kenpo X. If I was really pressed for time, I’d cut out Legs & Back as well, which could be an explanation why my legs and back weren’t a defined and my growth wasn’t as drastic compared to completing Phase 1.

I did the same for Phase 3 pretty much, but had to stop half way through this Phase to buckle down for exams.

After reflecting on my experiences with on my modified “P90X Lite” program, simply put, if you cut out some workouts if you’re pressed for time, you’ll STILL get results, but they won’t be as dramatic as you might have originally hoped.  Apart from leading a healthy lifestyle, I would have to say my confidence has definitely increased and my posture has definitely improved.  Also, I’ve noticed that my body language reflects these changes as well, whether conscious or unconscious. 

Now that I have the time, I’ve decided to give the entire P90X program another spin and start from the beginning, this time without skipping out on any workouts like Yoga X, Legs & Back and Kenpo X.  I”m excited to see what results I can yield and will take a pic after each of my workouts to keep track of my progress.  My progress pics are up to date as of this blog post.

It’s been a while since my last fitness update. So long story short:

• I signed up for a running clinic with The Running Room over by the beaches in Toronto.
• I’ve been training for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon where I was originally supposed to run for the Mississauga Marathon back in May this year.
• Change of diet has played a huge role in shedding weight and gaining energy and endurance to make it through a day without a nap
• My shin splints haven’t been as chronic as before due to my proper training with my clinic
• I’ve lost at least 5 pounds since training for two months now (I haven’t properly weighed myself yet
• I ran 12 kilometres and 14 kilometres respectively a few weeks ago, breaking a mental barrier of 10K right around when I last got injured.  It was my previous high back in my Fitness update #4 

I’ve never felt healthier in my life. I’m able to run for over an hour and a half straight and swim for at least 30 mins (just hopped out of the pool straight.

Finally, I recently decided try out the famed P90X home workout program again after dabbling in it a few months ago.  There have been a lot of inspiring videos floating around on YouTube with people tracking their progress as they follow the program with some amazing results. I’ll be doing the same after I’m done my classes for the summer in order to begin a challenge that I’m calling “Project Core Values”, which I’ll dedicate an entire post to later on when I have the time. In any case, as per Fitness Update tradition.. a route of my most recent long run!

Here I’ll blog my journey of self-awareness, discovery, where I’ll be using myself as a guinea pig to measure the effectiveness of my program. I will be blogging daily to measure my progress and perhaps some of you nay-sayers may be inspired and check it out yourself. I will be posting more information as to how I got to the point where I decided to take on this Tony Robbins Personal Power II month-long challenged in a post later on today. Until then, enjoy the pictures

- Will