Workout Program Introduction

Well, Angel and I have decided to take on a new challenge. We're going to begin a workout program. The program is called P90X. Of course as most of you well know, when I decide to do something I don't usually opt for the easy way. I'm most inclined to execute full bore. So, of course, I didn't just purchase the workout program, but also many of the items required to most efficiently begin the training at the highest level. In addition to the program, a eating right booklet, pull-up bar, resistance band set (dumb bell replacement), and the "P90X Recovery Formula" were also purchased. This caused the start up costs to exceed my initial expectations. Once I completed this order, there were resultant purchases required finalize the preparations.

Before taking delivery of the purchase, a PDF was provided that would outline the "Fit Test". I guess this is their way of demonstrating the minimum requirements recommended for undertaking this physical battery. Just reading thru the test, I know for absolute certain that I'm fit enough to handle what will be dished out. However, we're going to do it anyway. The test is also used as a point of reference at the completion of the program. Once completed with the program, the "Fit Test" will be executed again. This way your progress can be objectively seen. Pretty simple concept.

However, while reviewing the requirements for this test, one of the final things to check is your heart rate a specific intervals. Well, at reading this, I decided that this would require another purchase. We bought a Polar F4 Heart Rate Monitor for each of us. I got the unisex version and Angel got the blue one.

I figured that most of the time we would be doing the workouts together, therefore we would each need one, especially for the "Fit Test". They want a reading at 1, 2, 4, and 8 minutes after exertion. Well, if we are both exercising, it will be very difficult for us to be taking each other's heart rate to fill in the chart. Additionally, there is a feature on these watches that will notify you if you exceed or drop below our optimum training beats per minute (BPM). This feature will pretty much will ensure that we obtain the most benefit possible from the training. This feature will prevent us from slacking off or from hurting ourselves. From Dick's we were able to get these at a cost less then that of the manufacturer (~$68 each instead of ~$90).

Once we received the delivery of the workout program, it was time to establish a workout location. This seemed pretty obvious at first. We've got a 2 car garage and there's plenty of room in there to set up & workout. Well, the design of the pull-up bar put the kabash on that idea. The bar set is designed to mount over a door frame. We don't let the kitty into the garage so therefore, putting the pull-up bar in the garage door was out of the question. The bar mount is only temporary and the door would not need to be left open all of the time, however, we still don't want the cat to get used to visiting the garage. Additionally, concrete is not very friendly to the joints. Therefore, we thought about getting remnant carpet to put in there. This was a failed idea because we get water seepage into the garage on heavy rains. We don't want to pickup said carpeting each time we're going to exercise.

The next idea was to workout in the bedroom. Everyone knows that we've got more then enough room in there to do it. However, this was before I realized how the pull-up bar was designed to be used. I thought we could use one of the closets as a mount for the pull-up bar. Well, it turns out that they are too wide. The J clips that hold the vertical support bar are not there to hold the weight of the user. When attached to a door frame, the door frame holds the vertical weight, but the horizontal pivot generated by the design is to be held by the vertical supports of the door frame. Since the closets are so wide, this support was not present and kept bending the J hooks and ripping holes into my wall from where the screws were previously installed. The final straw on the bedroom was the fact that the entry door area is too narrow to put said device up.

Therefore, the spare bedroom is selected as the next likely location (there are no usable doorways in the living room). The catch with the bedroom or garage is the absence of a TV or DVD player. Well, I thought I had this covered. I came to learn that it was not. Angel had a TV from back in the day. This is one of the most interesting televisions I've seen in a very long time. This TV is a VCR/TV combo which only admits age, not oddity. (Did I mention that this TV model still has the UHF/VHF screw connectors?) The true oddity is the reminiscent aspect of that of a recording monitor. The reference link doesn't really give you much detail about the features of these specialized monitors, but said TV appears (at a distance) to have them. Well, the good news is that the TV is still operational. For how long, we don't know, but it works now so we're happy about that. However, the DVD player that we had that was excess in the house did not work. It functioned in every fashion except for the absence of audio. A aspect that usually proves to be pretty important. Particularly when you're trying to take instruction from said media playing.

With everything else that was purchased up to this point, this was one thing we were not expecting with which to have to deal. Anyway, we bought a cheapy unit from Walmart (remember also that I'm not a fan of this establishment either, however, they had the best brand at the best price).

So, lets take a story break and evaluate the expense thus far.

P90X Workout Program: ~$300
2 Heart Rate Monitors: ~$160
New DVD Player: ~$35
Total: ~$500

This is a pretty steep price to pay for a workout program. I just realized this as I'm writing at this point as I hadn't previously done the tally. However, if I had known the "hidden" prices of the program before getting into this, I doubt I would have done anything differently. The motivations for this plan is more then just of narcissistic roots. Now, I hardly think of myself as narcissistic and the expectations of the results of this program are not of appearance but that of physical appearance.

The greater motivation for this action is regarding my military career. I had a meeting with my commander earlier this year. He took one look at my PT score and had to respectfully decline in providing a letter of recommendation. Even once I did pass my PT test, his opinion did not change. I was not exceeding the standard by enough. There was too much opportunity for someone to contest a single push-up or sit-up and throw my passing PT score into a falling one. Therefore, to provide a letter of recommendation was not in either of our best interests. That being said, I needed to find somehow to find a regimen to workout and build towards enhancing my PT test results.

So, many of you might be wondering, what is different between this program and anything that I can come up with myself. Well, the answer is simple. Atmosphere. Working out alone is boring. Going to a gym is not my style. Becoming muscle bound is not my gig. This program is an interesting mix of strength and cardiovascular training. By the looks of the program (as advertised) there are very strong similarities between this and Army Basic Training. I can't say that I enjoyed the rigorous training that I was put thru while at Basic, however, the results were hard to argue. If this program can accomplish the tasks of motivation and enhanced physical capacity then it will have succeeded in my eyes. As an additional motivational factor, Angel is going to participate also.

Please keep in mind, up to this point, I have not yet reviewed the actual videos that we'll be using. Curiosity and anxiety are starting to get the best of me. However, all of that will resolved as of Monday. Angel & I will be taking the "Fit Test" tomorrow and starting the training program Monday (assuming that my minor surgery does not prevent this from happening).

Finally, I'm pretty certain that this is not the last you all will hear about this topic. I'm not sure what all I'll have to say in the future, I might post my new eating habits day-by-day on some interval or maybe just a periodic, They could even be as simple as I/We am/are still doing this or WTF, I/We quit! I can't predict this, but I know that before we start I do have another post to share with you. I will be writing again tomorrow to let you know how much more expensive this project of ours has really been. We've already gone shopping twice this past week for food to adhere to the diet portion of the program. Please check back to check out this one. If you're left with any thoughts of OMG, what are you doing, you won't want to miss the next installment. It will likely shock you more then this one.

Peace.