Bring It: P90X Day 33

Bring It is an ongoing series documenting my personal journey with the P90X DVD series created by Tony Horton. The concept behind the program is muscle confusion. It works by changing things up and pushing harder to continue to allow your muscles to grow. However, we all know these fads make promises, and majority of the time they never work. We spend our hard earned money on the program only to find we have changed nothing at the end. So, I am here to prove this program right or wrong. I will make my final judgement on Day 90. So stick with me until then.

If you would like to start from the beginning of this series, please click here. If you want to read about my previous day with P90X, click here.

Feel free to leave you comments below. Not only are you my motivation to help me get through this entire 90 days, but I am hoping this will also be your motivation to get up and change your life. It doesn't have to be intense like the P90X program, but together we can encourage each other to get a little healthier. So, I would love to here about your success, your workouts or anything you want to add below. Thanks for the continued support!

Squats

Lunges

Squats

Lunges

Squats

Lunges

Wow - now if that didn't just exhaust you already. Everybody knows how much I love squats and lunges. (And this would also be a great time to have a sarcastic font!) But, today was Legs and Back and it seems to me, the squats and lunges aren't something that I can get away from just yet.

So far, this is the one weight building workout that hasn't changed for Phase 2, so, with the exception of Recovery Week, I am pretty used to this workout. Not that I still don't struggle through the program. After all, squats and lunges are difficult. If you find them too easy, then it is time to push a little harder and get a little lower. Today, that is what I did. I pushed myself a little harder to get a little lower in my squats and lunges than I have been going.

Now - this is where I whine a little bit!

Ouch

Ok - so it did what it intended and my legs are feeling it today. Remember those stairs from yesterday? Well, I had a hard time crawling up the stairs to wake my kids for school. Yes, that is how weak they felt after this mornings workout. Luckily, I have kept moving so they have started feeling a little better since then. But I am guessing this calls for a little extra stretching later on today!

As I have been preaching throughout this entire program, you have to be willing to Bring It if you want to see any kind of results. That means while you are doing each exercise, you need to focus on what you are doing. It is about quality - not quatity. That means your form will do more good than having a floppy bad form.

Now this doesn't mean you can't modify the moves a little bit. If you are just starting out, it is ok to not go as deep into your squats or lunges. But, the question you have to ask yourself, is when is that going to change? You will never change anything if you continue to do the same exercise time and time again that you did on Day 1 (or in this case Day 5) of the program. That means somewhere in there you will have to make a conscientious decision to start going a little lower and start pushing yourself a little further. Today was that day for me.

Let me tell you... it will eventually end up paying off. Today, my legs are twice as sore as they were last week, but I worked them hard. I even found that because I was going a little lower in my squats, I lost some of my reps. (This is a great reason to be writing things down - it makes it easier to compare!) I will gain those reps back, but today I wanted to really push those muscles extra hard.

With my wall squat, I even used a mat under my feet so I got a good grip. Not only did this stabalize me, but it also gave me the ability to go just a little bit lower. By the end, my legs were involuntarily shaking. I bounced in and out of the 90 seconds. But I pushed my self a little further.

So, as Tony Horton always preaches - "Do your best and forget the rest!" Sure, I may have lost a few reps here and there, but my workout today was better than it was last week. I can feel it not only in my legs, but in my heart as well.

So, are you with me on this. Are you ready to push yourself just a little harder? I promise you, it will pay off in the end!

If you want to read about Day 34, click here.