Cardio X

[Guest guest]

I thought, from the reviews I'd read, that this one is actually supposed to be an easy workout. Well, if it is, then either I was seriously weak today or doing 1 workout per week is just not going to cut it trying to do P90X! This was way harder than I thought it would be! I thought the warm-up was quite energetic and good too. I liked the power yoga AFTER some cardio. There was a lot more power yoga than I expected too and I was having a really hard time being comfortable with it today. I'm not sure why, maybe because I haven't done much yoga, especially not astanga, in quite a while and partly because I kept expecting it to end and it didn't! I liked the kenpo section but was very messed up on at least one of the punch and kick combos, maybe more than that which was a bit frustrating since I'd really enjoyed the Kenpo X workout. Being that those two sections are at the beginning of the workout I should have known how the rest would go and maybe that "explains" why I had a tough time with it (still not sure why but maybe I was just really off?).

Anyway, the plyo section was fun with simple yet creative drills but it was also very intense! I had to hit pause a couple of times for about 30-60 seconds each after we finished a drill and before we started the next just to catch my breath and bring my heart rate back down a bit. I know I can do just the first half but I want to do the whole thing. I'm pretty sure I can but I'd really love it if I could somehow do the whole thing without hitting pause too much! I think KenpoX being so doable made me think I was either in better shape than I really am or that P90X isn't really as tough as I thought it would be (or both). Cardio X slapped me back into reality! During this section especially, my max heart rate was 168 which was 94% and I was there a LOT. I had to fight to keep myself in the 150s and even low 160s quite often. (My training zone is 133-150.) I was getting pretty fatigued toward the end too.

I went into the core synergistics part not knowing at all what to expect from it but I liked most of it. The superman/banana thing was weird but fun and the Dreya Rolls were fun but tough, especially doing the plyo jump for the last few reps (I thought we were done with plyo!). I have never liked and will never like the wacky jacks though. I don't mind that they are weird, I just find my head moving too much and my obliques not getting nearly as much. I do them anyway because they're weird and because I keep hoping I'll learn to keep my head still and just move from my waist instead!

I have to say too, that as much as I like Tony there was too much "Tony" in this one for me. It was way too intense in some parts for the goofiness. I was concentrating on the movements and trying to make myself breath evenly when breathing itself was difficult. I like hearing his comments and jokes so my interest in those and earnest efforts were competing with each other. I found it VERY frustrating and that made the plyo section especially that much more difficult I'm sure. After I finished I played with the DVD options a bit and discovered the option to have the music (which I liked) and cues but not Tony's babble. I LOVE that option and will definitely do that next time! I've already heard all his Plyo X comments from watching it once and am pretty sure I'll do that one the first time through in that mode.

Tomorrow I'm running kids around in the morning, working in the afternoon and then home for 2 hours and going to work again in the evening so I won't be working out. Friday, however, there is nothing except library planned (no time today) so my plan is try do Plyo X. It will probably be my only other workout this week since Saturday I'm working and then running around and Sunday I typically don't like to workout. This has been a challenging food week so any cardio I can get is very good, tough cardio is even better! I have a MUCH quieter week planned for next week and want to get in a few of the P90X strength workouts plus Core Synergistics if at all possible. Will plan it soon!