Breezing through Cycles 6 and 7

After exams were completed, getting P90X ACTUALLY seemed easy for the first time. In addition to the fact that I had extra time (due to spring break), my body is really becoming acclimated to the amount of work. At the end of each workout, I find myself feeling satisfied, but not as exhausted as I was in the first set of cycles. The workout program is starting to pay dividends in my other activities too, as I'm finding more consistency in my basketball game, as well as less fatigue in my arm following multiple consecutive days of dodgeball. It should be interesting to see how this current set of cycles meshes with some exams and presentations coming up. Details to follow next week

Powering through - Cycle 5

So, back to the grind, with the addition of midterms in the mix. Certainly wasn't a walk in the park, with 2 new types of workouts, in addition to a lot of studying, a busy calendar socially this week, and dodgeball in the mix as usual.

The finely tuned regimen was very helpful in overcoming the difficulty of motivation. In the past, on work out plans in high school and college, exercise would be largely put aside to focus on studies. But with the clearly defined time and activity plan, I was able to power through, as well as use the program as a way to decompress.

P90X was crushed and I won both my dodgeball games. Hopefully the tests went as well.

Rest week - at just the right time

So as I transition from one cycle to the next, I enjoyed my "rest week" this week. While the conventional thought would be that this means a full week off the workout regimen, it's hardly that. Rest week still involved yoga, specific stretching, and optional ab workouts which I completed. However, compared to the other workouts I was doing back to back 6 days in a row, this certainly was calm and relaxing. It came at just the right time, as studying for exams would have made it really tough to be exhausted physically as well. Excited for the new cycle to start up, with new workouts and routine.

Cycle 4 - a big success

Cycle 4 was a great success. No time issues, and I was able to finish all workouts relatively easily.

In looking for further motivation to keep chugging along, I accessed the p90x website and read many of the customer reviews (http://www.Beachbody.com/P90X).

In addition, I found a site that answers many questions about P90x, from a more unbiased source (http://www.weightloss-hq.biz/exercise-reviews/top-20-p90x-questions-answered-here.html).

Furthermore, I also checked out the site recommended through the program, which links to testimonials, a support system of past and current users of the program, and other motivational incentives (places to submit before and after pics, post your own story, etc.) (http://www.milliondollarbody.com).

While I did not really need the help of these sites this week, I filed them away for days later in the program, where I'll certainly need some more motivation to keep powering on.

Another week down, another cycle complete...almost

This week was a perfect example of this week's topic to discuss: Barriers to change. Over the course of this week, I faced all 3 of the biggest barriers to change - Time; Motivation; and External distractors.

On the second day of the cycle, I faced a real motivational barrier. I was exhausted from the day before's activities, as well as other physical activities I take part in, in addition to very little sleep and time to eat. I made it through though, completing my work out right before I went to sleep.

On day 3 of this cycle, I faced multiple external distractors. In addition to the fact that I had been busy all day, and staying out till quite late, my friend was trying to convince me to skip my workout so I could do something with her early in the morning the following day. It was very tempting at 1 am to just call it a day and pick up tomorrow. However, I saw my weights and workout book sitting there as I entered my room, and powered through my 90 minute work out.

Day 4 was the biggest obstacle: Time. While this is often a constant issue, I've been able to overcome it the vast majority of occasions. However, Sunday was impossible. My morning consisted of plans for my father's birthday, my afternoon was spent with a friend, and the evening was dedicated to my close friend's birthday plans. All these, in conjunction with almost no sleep all weekend, and a lot of effort into carrying out all the plans led me knowing I wouldn't have a good work out even if I tried my hardest that night. However, I was able to overcome even this barrier to some extent. I had 2 options: either go 2-a-day the next day, or exchange my rest day. I decided to go with the second option, and while I'm sure I'll want to kill myself somewhere in the next cycle, I was effectively able to overcome my final barrier!

Driving On - Cycle 2 of Phase 1 Complete

Another week and another cycle complete. No unforeseen breaks, and no gaps in activity. With the dodgeball season officially starting up again, I will soon be dealing with a new source of conflict/reason to be lazy.

My friend Adam, who was one of my main role models in aspiring this behavior change, has been very supportive, and really helped me push myself. I have gone through all the steps with him, discussing the importance of each set of exercises and the individual cycles and phases. He's also spurred me to take try and go even beyond my goal, with regards to diet and protein intake. Not sure how that will go, but knowing what an effect it had on him, it's certainly something I will be striving for in the next few weeks.

Back on Track - Cycle 1 Phase 1 complete

Throughout my life, my parents and other family members have been great role models for my career, my moral values, and what I strive to be like one day. Physically, however, they have never been an inspiration. While neither of my parents are overweight, due to the daily exercise they do during their jobs walking, in addition to moderate exercise outside, neither has ever been in particularly great physical shape, or participated consistently in any sport since their childhoods. My sister, while again not in bad shape, has never been very consistently active.

Based on this, they actually view my desire to participate in the amount of physical and athletic activity that I already partake in as "too much." However, throughout high school, college, and my graduate career, I have had physical role models. Starting in high school, I had a friend who's dedication to basketball and physical fitness improved him from a very average player his freshman year, to a Division I scholarship on a team that would make the NCAA Sweet 16 his junior year. In college, I had a good friend and roommate who, despite his limited stature, showed such dedication to baseball and physical fitness, that he was consistently the one of the fittest people on the field, and led to his success his junior and senior year. And while in grad school, I had a very close friend in undergraduate, who's physical dedication since a very young age, in addition to freakish athletic ability, led him to great success in football and track and field.

Throughout my years, I have these people to look up to, as well as many others. They have led me to push myself, and achieve decent success throughout, as well as consistent improvement of myself. However, at this stage in my life, as I live at home, I must look to my friends of the past, as well as within for further motivation. I have mental images to strive to be closer, physically, to where they all were. Whenever I feel a bit lazy in focusing on P90x, as opposed to doing a more fun, and less intense physically activity, I can always look back to where their consistent hard work got them physically. P90x has many testimonials as to where their users have gone from day 0 to day 90. I completed the first cycle the second time with no hitches. Tomorrow is my off day, and then cycle 2 begins on Thursday. All systems go.