© Tim Pannell Photography

Man, what a weird week!

I love P90X, but this week I’ve had some problems with it.

My wife and sister in law headed out of town Monday and Tuesday….leaving me all by myself.

Monday morning I got up and dutifully did my P90X Back and Chest workout.

It was great!  I felt good afterwards and was pleased with myself for doing it even though I was alone.

Tuesday………I don’t even remember Tuesday.

That wouldn’t bother me if I was a drinker, but I’m not.

I just know I didn’t work out that day.

Kim got back into town Tuesday night.

For whatever reason, we didn’t work out Wednesday morning either.

Yesterday I got up at 5 am because Kim started her new job and had to be there at 6 am.

I got up with her and took her to work and then got home to get the youngest of our kids off to school.

After that I went out and did some photography….shooting scenic backgrounds for a photo project I’m working on.

I spent the whole day after that at the computer processing and retouching….at least until I went out and shot scenics for another 3 hours in the late afternoon – early evening.

Right now it’s 5 am and I’m going to shoot outdoors again at sunrise.

Kim will head off to work at 6 and won’t get home til this afternoon.

Here’s the question – When in the crap are we going to work out?!?

For almost 3 months now, we had a nice little system in place.

We’d get up, get the kids off to school.

Kim’s sister would come over around 8 am and we’d pop in a P90X workout and we’d get moving.

We were really consistent with this P90X routine.

It was really nice starting the day off with a great sweaty workout.

It was also nice having 2 other people there to keep me motivated.

Afternoons are busy around here and I’m worried we’ll find excuses.

Melanie won’t be able to work out at that time every day.

Kim really enjoyed the P90X workouts and was getting stronger and stronger by the day.

It was fun watching everybody make a lot of progress from week to week too.

It’s always a drag when a good routine comes to an end.

I guess we’ll see what happens today.  The plan is to workout at 2:30 when Kim gets home.

I’ll keep you posted.

P90X – Problems? is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

Yesterday I wrote a post and then went off to do P90X Plyometrics for my weekly butt kicking.

This P90X workout is the mother of all workouts.

It’s just brutal!

I am happy to report though, that I’m making progress and it was readily apparent yesterday.

The pain in my left knee is beginning to get better after several months of sharp pain.

There is a P90X Plyometrics exercise called “Hot Foot”.

You stand on one foot and jump up and down at a fairly brisk pace forwards, backwards and side to side.

The first time that I tried this exercise on my left foot….I couldn’t do it.

It felt like a knife was being plunged into my kneecap.

I ended up doing the exercise with both feet at the same time.

Yesterday I was able to do the whole exercise one footed.

Today I am not paying a price for doing that at all.  No limp, no pain, no struggle.

I’m grateful for the added strength in my legs that is taking some of the pressure off my joints…..especially my knees.

I still have weight issues, but there is no doubt that I’m getting stronger and stronger by the week.

Today my wife and I took it a bit easier and instead of doing P90X Shoulders and Arms we did the P90X Stretch X workout.

This is a great workout when you find yourself running out of gas or if you’re sore from the p90X workouts that focus more and more on weight lifting.

Here’s what I noticed most today……….

I was able to grab my left ankle for the first time in years while doing the standing quad stretch.

I had prolotherapy treatments several years ago on both of my knees and the very last treatment that I had done on my left knee pumped so much liquid into the joint area that it swelled up and stayed that way to this day.

Its never really dissipated.  Consequently I haven’t been able to reach behind me and grab that foot or ankle…..it’s just been too swollen.

I would have to grab the back heel of my shoe in order to do the stretch.

Today to my surprise I was able to reach back and actually grab my ankle.

I was then able to reach back with both hands and grab both ankles while lying on my stomach in order to do the “bow” exercise.

I’ve never been close to doing that exercise prior to this week.

It’s so nice to see progress being made on a daily basis.  No matter which workout I’m doing I’m noticing areas that I’m getting better at.

If you have struggled with your weight or your fitness level and haven’t found anything that works for you I would strongly recommend P90X.

I’m so glad that I decided to try P90x.  It’s not an easy workout.

My old racquetball partner just started doing the P90X workouts.

He may be in his 30’s but I would consider him to be in really good shape.

He still has a 40 + inch vertical leap….I know it’s ridiculous.

Try playing racquetball with the guy, he’s fast as a rabbit and can chase down just about any shot I can hit.

In any case, he called the other day to let me know how badly P90X Plyometrics kicked his butt.

He laughed……it’s only jumping and squats…nothing earth shattering.

He couldn’t believe it worked him as hard as it did.

So…any of you guys and girls out there making fun of the P90X hype……try it before you poke fun at it.

If you do it right and keep up with the pace on the DVD’s….it should kick your butt too.

P90X Reviews – Plyometrics Still The Mother of All P90X Workouts is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

My wife, sister in law and I have been doing the P90X workouts for 2 months now.

Here’s my review of that 2 months.

In the beginning, I really struggled.  I had done P90X back in Chandler, AZ off and on the second half of last year.

I had made progress…..at my worst I weighed 310…still can’t believe it.

At my best I weighed 261 lbs.  Right now my weight has been fluctuating wildly and not staying consistent.

Since moving to Utah my weight has been bouncing around between 263 and 270 lbs.

My guess for the yo-yo effect is the stress of moving and getting things set up.

It really has been a hectic 2 months moving in and making changes to my photography business.

I have eaten more crap than I should.  The culprits – ice cream, brownies, cookies.

I have gone cold turkey on those kinds of things in the past only to end up pigging out on them later.

I decided a while ago to just eat smaller amounts of them.

It worked for a while, but gradually the portions and/or frequency has grown.

My wife and I decided to just do desserts on weekends a couple of weeks ago.

We also forgot about that decision a couple of weeks ago……….crap!

I didn’t remember that decision until just now writing this post.

I will try this again starting today……..no junk until Friday night.

I guess we’ll see what happens.  Will it make a difference with my weight?

Honestly, I don’t know.  I assume it will help.

In 2 months my weight has bounced around, but my strength and stamina has increased continuously.

We did the P90X Chest and Back on Monday, Plyometrics on Tuesday, P90X Shoulders and Arms on Wednesday, Yoga X on Thursday, P90X Legs and Back on Friday and on Saturdays we would do either Kenpo X or Shoulders and Arms.

I have gone from being able to do 5-10 push ups to 30+.  I can actually do the “diamond” push ups now.  I think the first time I tried those suckers I could do 1 or 2…..now I can do 20+.

I still struggle with the “divebomber” push ups, but can do 6 of them without collapsing.

I’m amazed at the progress I’ve made and that I’ve been able to see progress as quickly as I did.

Each week brought better results and statistics.

P90X Shoulders and Arms is still my favorite of the P90X workouts.

I’ve added 5-10 pounds to each of those exercises.

I have had something going on in my left elbow for the last 2 weeks so I backed off on the amount of weight I’m using for the last week as well as this one.

It feels exactly like tennis elbow except I’m not left handed and I don’t play tennis.

I used to play a lot of racquetball and would experience “tennis elbow” from time to time in my right elbow from that.

Plyometrics still kicks my butt.  I find it extremely difficult to keep up with.  I honestly dread this workout, but even with it I can see progress being made.

P90X Yoga X is also still difficult for me at this point.

I find it extremely difficult to breath because of all of my excess weight, but I do the best I can.

Kenpo X is a lot of fun and a bit more aerobic than the other P90X workouts.

I was sick with bronchitis for all of January so that made working out that much harder.

The other obstacle for me was the higher elevation here in Utah.

It took me a while to adjust to that, but at this point I have made the transition.

Have I reached all of my goals yet?……..NO!

Have I reached some of them?…… YES!

I love working out now -(with the exception of Plyometrics).  Today is Plyo day and I’m dreading it.

My arms are bigger, my core is tighter, my legs are stronger and even though I haven’t lost any real weight over the last 2 months, I’m in better shape than I was.

Everybody responds differently to exercise.  I feel at times like a chemist….tinkering away with my little experiments to see what will work best for me.

All in all, the latest of my P90X reviews is this:  I still love these workouts!

They have changed me for the better and I will continue doing them long after I’ve hit my desired weight.

I will be exercising for the rest of my life.

There is no going back to my previous sedentary lifestyle.  In that respect, P90X has been a wild success.

If you want to give P90X a try……you can order it here.

Good luck!

P90X Reviews – Weight Loss? is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

Yesterday we woke up to 12 inches of snow and that was just enough to give me a new P90X alternative.

With shovel in hand I shoveled six driveways and a couple hundred yards of sidewalks.

After shoveling I did a series of photographs for my stock agency of my nieces, nephew and son playing in the snow

I actually like shoveling snow….maybe proof of my low I.Q.

I remember watching my mom shovel snow when I was a kid and throwing snowballs at the big picture window my sisters and I would watch her through.

I was really excited once I got old enough to go out and shovel and through snowballs at the big window while my sisters watched me shovel…….a winter right of passage of sorts.

We’ve lived in Arizona for 22 years before moving up here to Utah so I’ve avoided snow shoveling for almost half my life.

I still enjoy it.  It’s actually a great workout.

There were several people on the block with snow blowers, but they didn’t finish their driveways any faster than it took me doing it “manually.”

How many things are sold to us in order to make our lives easier?

Save time, save energy, save effort etc.

Many of these things might make life easier, but the real question is…….do they make our lives better.

We’ve sought out ease of living at the expense of our health in many cases.

We use our lungs less, we use our legs less, we use our backs less, we use our muscles less.

We get weaker and more and more out of shape as we seek a life of ease.

In the long run, so many of these things we do to make our lives easier actually make it worse as we lose more and more of our physical abilities.

I have no plans to buy a snow blower…..on this one….I’ll stick to the old fashioned way of doing things.

Heaven knows I can use the workout.  I spent 2 hours yesterday morning shoveling snow.  It felt great.

The really cool thing though is this……because I’ve been doing P90X consistently over the last 2 months, my back isn’t sore at all today.

No pain, no soreness, no side effects from 2 hours of shoveling……not bad.

Doing the P90X Legs and Back workout is probably responsible for my lack of pain.

P90X does such a good job of exercising all areas and muscle groups in your body that there are very few if any that don’t get worked out, so when you do something physical that is different from your normal routine you don’t end up paying the price of a super sore rarely used muscle group.

I know that in the past, even as a young kid that was in great shape….and I was.  I was always sore the day after shoveling our super long driveway.

Today I’m pain free……cool!

So what if I didn’t end up doing any P90X workout yesterday……shoveling snow for 2 hours sure seemed to be a great P90X alternative for just one day.

P90X Alternative is a post from: Losing weight with P90X

© Tim Pannell Photography

Well, I’m still plugging along with my P90X workouts.

My wife and I just got back from a 5 day photo shoot in Arizona last week.

We didn’t work out at all the last 5 days, with the exception of the running around we were doing for the shoot.

We started back up today with P90X Chest and Back.

It always feels great to get back into the P90X routine.

The 5 days off was actually kind of nice.

My left elbow has been extremely sore lately – it feels like “tennis elbow”.

This 5 days gave it a little time to heal up.

Today the elbow wasn’t nearly as painful as last week.