Saez

I skipped a day since I’m still under the weather and I did 5 hours or drills and scrimmage with my volleyball friends yesterday. I was eager to hit play today since I’m familiar with the title. I know of only two sports where plyometrics is core to their training program: Basketball and Volleyball. I won’t hold against the P90X producers that fact that they did not mentioned once volleyball throughout this routine. I’ve come to accept that my sport is not as popular as others. However, where else can you show off a ripped torso and your stellar jump if it’s not in the sand during a nice summer day?

Plyometrics is without a doubt a great workout and a must have for this series. The progression is well balanced with a good mix of jumping, lateral moves and stretches. A typical plyometric routine includes depth jumps. Not here. This routine has a combination of fast burning jumps, squats, leg swings and lunges with ample variety to be as intense as you want and produce visible results. You have 6 sequences, each one with 4 exercises. Each exercise is performed for 30 seconds, some for one minute. The movements are not too coreographed so just about anyone can adapt to get into the rhythm with a jazzy music background.

Experts claim an average of 4-8 inches improvement from adding plyometrics to your training program. I’m eager to see the progress and motivated as this will get me closer to my tournament goal for next summer. For people over 35 who want to Bring it! as far as jumping, this routine is low impact enough to fit anyone’s legs. My wife is more of a long-distance runner. She noticed a great degree of inner thigh and butt burn which is what laddies like. Overall a good day, we pushed each other to complete all moves and avoid too much (<10 seconds in some parts) slacking. I skipped volleyball play today.

Again, this workout gets a VERY high mark for cardio and leg intensity. I hear that over 70% of jump comes from your quads. This is a quad killer and so you should see visible jump improvements. Top sports performance demands that you consistently play at 80% of your max throughout your event. This is a tall order when all your jumps must be at least 80% of your max height. Your competitive advantage will not come necessarily from leaping a foot higher, but rather because of the consistency and endurance. This alone will make you a fierce competitor. My jump has increased, but again, my greatest payoff from this routine is my ability to sustain this consistency and look effortless. This is priceless!

Plyometrics score: A for cardio, B+ for jump training.

written by osaez \\ tags: daily journal, jump, P90X, plyometrics, saez, training, volleyball, workout

Nov 30, My 1st Day

These guys make it look easy. I started out strong… 15 pull ups, 20 push ups. Not bad. What kills is the progression and the short rest interval between sets. I didn’t sweat as much since half way through, I was suffering from extreme muscle fatigue and showering with lactic acid. I believe the push-ups are better at muscle isolation than the pull-ups for the back. Pull-ups are good, but there is a fair amount of bicep involved. Maybe that why the routine has three sets that require dumbbells doing rows and fly.

Monthly Summary

You do this workout one a week the 1st month and then again on your 3rd month. Subsequent weeks in the 1st month went as expected. Incremental progress in all fronts. The cumulative fatigue from quick change and continuous variation through each exercise makes this a very effective muscle and strength builder. Great workout. Women will have some trouble here if your upper body is not ready. Even if your rep count per exercise is under 6 or 8, you should still expect to see results. Anchoring your upper body with a strong chest and back is very important for posture and overall strength foundation.

Chest and Back score: A

Ab Ripper X Summary

This one has 11 different movements and you need to do 25 reps each, again non-stop. It’s a very good routine, but again, you won’t find isolated ab movements but rather a fair amount of isometric core tension due to balancing and core strength combined with leg extensions. I managed to squeeze 15 reps throughout my first time. I was feeling my hips and my upper thighs were cramping doing crunchy frogs (3rd exercise).

Over the weeks, I was able to complete some and average 20 count in most others. Most workout programs encourage ab workout daily, not P90X. This is not an ab routine but rather a core area burner. This routine is not for daily consumption and they impress this on the video. I tend to agree.

When I compare a typical upper body workout at the gym with this, so far my gym workout wipes me out relatively more. In all fairness, it could be that I did not push the rep count needed throughout. We’ll see.

I’m off to play vball with friends tonight after my 1st workout day. I have a feeling that my game will suffer. But who cares… I’m in training and ready to hit play tomorrow.

Ab Ripper X score: A

written by osaez \\ tags: back, chest, daily journal, P90X, saez, training, volleyball, workout

Timing often sucks. Just when you are resolved to start something and then, whamm, it hits you. You catch a bad cold. I’ve had one since Thanksgiving and, so far, have only played fast-finger on my remote browsing the P90X DVDs. I did my fit test today and worked through the Yoga X. I have a decent benchmark, some ugly photos and a lot to say about my first home video workout experience ever.

I’m trying to formulate an opinion about this guy Tony Horton. He is the host of the P90X videos. He has an off beat sense of humor and does not take himself too seriously. Personally, I prefer an actual gym to workout. I like to watch people sweat and pour their energy into their workouts and fight against the machines. So the idea of a home video workout was initially not appealing to me…. and the idea of watching a guy on video for three months repeating the same pep-talk-sound-bites is not something that just grows on me. Tony is a decent talker, a bit over the top. Then again, I was anticipating this reaction since I’m pushed by my ipod music pumping some techno beats, instead of a talking head. Tony is pretty good about hinting the next move or rep and then you can zone him out for the rest with an occasional glimpse on the screen for form and staying in sync. He adds some useful gotcha hints to maintain posture and proper form throughout.

I was not feeling fully recovered today to start the classic routine from the top but I did the fit test, popped the Yoga X file and hit play. Wow! Pretty intense. I like to stretch after workouts, but I learned that this is going to take my workout to a new level. I held tough for most of the 1st half until the balancing part. Crane? Royal Dancer? Frog? Boat? What kind of names are these for balance moves? How are you suppose to learn this? I’m crazy to admit, but I’m excited to master all these. I just hope that I can get it in 90 days. Oh, a side bonus from today… Julie and I worked out together. This was very rewarding by itself. Now, I have a few more days to shake out the cold and be mentally ready to endure Tony’s talk.

Click here for photos at Day 0

written by osaez \\ tags: daily journal, P90X, saez, training, workout

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!

VIDEO: Volleyball hitting drills @ P90X day 1

written by osaez \\ tags: daily journal, P90X, review, saez, training, volleyball, workout