During my 43rd year, I want to be in the best shape of my life. I played some college volleyball but lost my athletic edge and drive while my daughter was growing up and I was in hard pursuit of an ambitious career. My career is in good shape and our daughter is now in college. I can now enjoy more time to pursue an active lifestyle with my wife. After researching many training programs, I bought The Ultimate Guide To Weight Training For Volleyball by By Robert G. Price book early this year. I picked Program Level IV the 3-day a week variant. It worked fairly well for a while during my training in Spring 2007 getting ready for a comeback volleyball season in the summer at North Ave Beach in Chicago. I played a few tournaments and did ok. After seeing some improvements, I was hungry for more. I connected with local great coach and mentor who is keeping me grounded. My journey begins with three promises for 2008… (1) to be in the best shape of my life and (2) to win an A-level EVP tournament next year. At my age and 5′11″, this is going to take some physical and mental conjones.
So now comes a renewed test of my competitive will as I get ready for next year. First, I need to alter my training program. It has to be more intensed and holistic. After researching many options, I went with P90X. I’ve heard a lot of good things about it and it seems to be at the right level for me. This will be a big challenge since I travel a fair amount for my work and I need to stay focus on my goals. I’ve spent a total of $310 for setting up my new workout area in my basement. This includes; the P90X DVDs from ebay, a cheap but decent pair of used PowerBlock dumbells (2.5-50lbs), a Perfect Pushup stand, a generic floor mat, a thick 3/4″ hard conduit pipe from HomeDepot plus other fittings. I took an old computer, ripped all my DVDs into Divx and connected it to old projector beaming onto a wall. Add some old computer speakers and I am ready to go!
I picked the nutritional book that came with the P90X package. It looks like a Rachel Ray compilation, simple and not very substantive. I do keep a healthy diet (weight 169lbs.) and found some helpful tips in the book, but nothing groundbreaking. I know sticking to a diet will be tough for me. Moving on to the intro workout book and 1st DVD. The theme is “Bring It”. After reading the book, I think the theme should be “Stay strong” given the degree of perseverance needed. The book starts by scaring you into a fitness test that you must pass before starting the program. This will be easy for me. I’m doing this tomorrow, Thanksgiving Day, along with the ‘before’ near naked pictures. Lots of food and pictures tomorrow hopefully will likely enhanced the dramatic effect of before and after. Then, I need to commit to clean up some bad eating habits (e.g. late evening cereal, milk-n-cookies, KFC, etc.)
The video production, set and soundtrack for this series are phenomenal. The music is basically instrumental rock, it’s well timed with the workout and if you don’t like it, turn it off and your can workout off a persistent on-screen ticker timer. The combination of video shots, set, lighting and sequences are well executed and definitely (re)watchable.
Oh, I forgot… I mentioned 3 promises and included two. I’ll share the 3rd later on. I wonder if the journey will be more relevant than reaching my goals, or the other way around. Either way, I can’t wait to get started!
