Woot Phase II Begins!

If you’re wondering what happened to Day 28, it’s a Recovery & Mobility day… lots of foam rolling so there’s nothing exciting to report. I took a couple of extra rest days before starting Phase II because of wrist issues. My core wasn’t as strong as it needed to be when I started P90X2, so many of the balance moves put more pressure on my wrists than normally would. Instead of modifying to keep my wrists safe, I pushed myself and ended up with some wrist pain. Nothing major, but I listened to my body this time and took the couple of recovery days that I needed.

I still had a tiny bit of wrist pain going into today’s workout, so I modified quite a bit just to be safe, to give my wrists just a little bit more healing time. I also didn’t have a pullup bar yet (yes, yes I know… bad!) so I had to modify the pullups as well as the pushups. That being said, I can’t pretend I’d have been able to do the pullups WITH the bar lol … when I say CRAZY pullups, I mean CRAAAAZY pullups!

Lever Pullup .... WTF right?! Bananas.

I’m so happy to be into Phase II already. It’s going so fast, and I feel SO strong. Getting there… getting there

Today’s “Surprised My Own Damn Self”:

Elevated Stability Ball Pushups - I cannot believe I was able to do 5 of these! I didn’t have as much depth in my pushups as I’d like, but I kept my balance (promise you it’s not as easy as it looks) and was able to pull off 5!

Elevated Stability Ball Pushup

Today’s “There’s No Way” :

Chattarocker - Uuuuuuh, hmmmmm, ok! I couldn’t even do one of these properly. I laughed at myself the whole time, can’t even try to describe what these devilish little things are, and pictures can’t possibly do it justice. My goal is to do at least 3 REAL reps, (without flopping on the floor like a fish) before I move on to Phase III.

Popularity: 79%

YAY! Today was my final workout day of Phase I: Foundation! I feel SO much stronger than I did when I started. I can’t believe (actually I can because Beachbody programs just give you phenomenal results) how much I’ve improved in every single exercise, every single routine. Today was bittersweet because I did have to modify some of the moves because my wrist is still hurting (less), so I didn’t exactly get to go out in the blaze of glory that I wanted to, but wow… I’ve improved so much it’s hard to be disappointed. So I won’t be!

Biggest Improvement Today:

Forearm Alternating Side Plank AND Crawly Crab Press - It was so hard to just pick one, so I chose two! I always keep notes about my workouts, each week, so I can look back and see my improvements. I literally could not do ONE of either of these moves in good form during Week 1. They were both so hard that I wrote about each one, and I was angry! lol … Today, I did both exercises, in perfect form, right along with Tony & the team.  I feel proud… proud and motivated for Phase II woot!

Forearm Alternate Side Plank - Crawly Crab Press

Today’s “I hate this stupid exercise!” :

Decline Sphinx Plank Press - Yes… it IS as hard as it sounds! I started off in Week 1 not being able to do this exercise at all. I could think about it, but not actually move in the exercise. Today I was able to do 3, and by 3 I mean really, REALLY horrible reps. My wrist pain did not help, but I can’t pretend I would have made it to 4 with perfect wrists. You begin the exercise in the position shown in the picture below, then you raise yourself into a plank position from there… and repeat. HARD!

Decline Sphinx Plank Press

Below are my personal measurement results. I was late on recording them after I started, so they’re not my actual 30 whole days results; those would have been quite a bit better. I’m so looking forward to my Recovery & Mobility day, and I can’t wait to see what surprises & challenges Phase II holds. Bring it!!

P90X2 End of Phase I Results

Popularity: 50%

Bound Warrior

I had quite a bit of left wrist pain today which was really disappointing. It made the transitions from Chaturanga to Plank to Down Dog pretty difficult. I also didn’t get to do Crane, which sucks because I was just starting to get enough balance and strength back last week to do it for over 5 seconds. When I ended P90X one, I was able to hold Crane for almost 20 seconds, so I’m working my way back to that…. slowly lol

Biggest Improvement Today:

Half Moon & Reverse Half Moon – I can hold Half Moon pose perfectly & the entire time without losing my balance now, and with my fingers straight to the sky. Reverse Half Moon pose is NOT as pretty, but I can hold it the entire time with my fingers mmmm maybe a little bit higher than pointed at the wall. Hooray for improvement!

Still Pretty Dang Hard:

Bound Warrior – Bound Warrior pose is the featured image of this post, to give you an idea of just how twisty it is. I DID improve in that I was able to hold the pose almost the entire time, longer than usual. I still have probably one to two inches of space before my hand will even think about touching. It’ll come… it did in the first P90X too. Patience & practice!

Popularity: 59%

Balance Kickback on Stability Ball

 
I can’t believe this is week 4, and I’m about to move on to Phase II! My body has gotten so much stronger, so quickly. I can’t wait to see what Tony has in store for me next.

Biggest Improvement Today:

Boing Push-ups – I can finally do 8 really good ones without rolling off the side of my Stability Ball! When I started P90X2 I could not even do ONE… no lie!

Still Pretty Crappy:

Balance Kickback on Stability Ball – (Say that 5 times fast) This move is the bane of my existence. I don’t think Jello shakes as much as I do attempting this move. Finally able to do all 10 for each side, but only with 3 lb weights heh… baby weights.

Popularity: 83%