Deep Into Week 7...

...And I am getting tired! Not tired of mah man Tony, but physically tired! Next week is the second recovery week, and I am definitely looking forward to it mentally, and my body is craving a weight-free week

The resistance workouts that were added in Phase 2 have been a lot more challenging than those in Phase 1, although it is the cumulative effect of five days of high-intensity workouts taken together that makes this program so tough. I am glad that I did not like the Kenpo disc and so have two days off each week...if I didn't, I think I be really burned out and maybe slacking off. I have been taking the extra day off on Wednesday or Thursday instead of Saturday, and I usually feel ready to work hard again the next day.

An interesting thing is that some days I am stronger than others, and I don't know why. On certain days I can lift heavier weights, or do more pushups or whatever, while other days I need to take more breaks as well as choose lighter dumbbells. Last week I felt really wiped out, and now that I think about it, I remember that I stayed up until 2am at least three times last week, watching a televison show online, believe it or not.

Now, a little about the workouts of Phase 2. Shoulders, Chest and Triceps is one of the hardest workouts I have ever done, and Back and Biceps is not far behind. I collapse on the next-to-last exercise in SCT, which is a pushup that then goes into a side plank pose:

I wish that exercise came earlier in the workout, since it is a move I like a lot - I think I might skip to it early on the next time I do that DVD so I can do more than one rep without my arm literally giving out.

Back and Biceps doesn't feel that tough when I am doing it, but near the end my muscles are so fatigued I can hardly hold my pen to write down my weight/repetitions. I'm not kidding - my hand almost doesn't work to grip the pen! I've heard about working your muscles until "failure" but this is the first workout where I have actually done that - I try to lift the weight one more time and physically cannot do it. This happens even though I have chosen to lower the weight I use for biceps, because I don't want to look like Ahnold.

After the recovery week (Week 8) I will be in Phase 3, which alternates the workouts from Phases 1 and 2 every other week. I am looking forward to that, as I enjoy all of them. I am pleasantly surprised that I have not gotten tired of any of these workouts. I have never done a "rotation" before, rotation meaning doing particular DVDs/types of exercise/instructors for a certain length of time instead of just picking something random each day. I thought that a rotation would cramp my spontaneous side, but in fact it has been a good discipline for me. I think in the future I am going to do rotations more often. I am already thinking about what to do during December!

I do plan on buying 3 of the 5 workouts from P90X plus, but I am going to take at least a month away from Tony and do something less intense. On my current workout wishlist is:

Anni Mairs 4 pack
Squeeze Stronger
Core Fusion
Chalean Extreme (which will probably be what I do from January through March)
New Bar Methods
P90X Interval Plus, Upper Body Plus, Upper/Lower Plus

When I will be able to afford all those, and in what order I get them, has yet to be determined.

Now it's time to read to Moppet 3 while I nurse the baby - just lyin' down sounds mighty good after all this exercise talk!