Which is more effective P90X, BodyRocker, 6 Pack Shortcuts, Insanity

After a years of yoyo dieting, countless diet pills, loyal viewer of a number of very popular fitness channels on YouTube it has suddenly dawned onto me something that has gone under my “common sense radar” for a long time. Too long.

Don’t get me wrong, all the programs I have mentioned are good solid programs, they are designed to caters for you to establish a habit of working out. Research shows that it takes 21 days to form a habit, and that is why programs like P90X, Insanity is 1 month plus. As for the shorter programs like BodyRockers and 6 Pack Shortcuts are also solid programs that motivates you to stick with short intense training, and if you can commit to that 15 mins a day; any form of exercise on a consistent bases will do wonders. Notice the word CONSISTANT; it is something you need, to get yourself lean, and ripped. Commitment to your health and wellbeing involves you getting enough rest, consistently eating well, and consistently moving.

I personally believe, structured programs like P90X and Insanity are actually more suitable for beginners, as they are put together to help you establishing a route, eliminate boredom and assist you in forming a new habit to work out, needless to say, the overall calories burnt in 60 or 40 mins long medium/ high intensity work out are likely to be higher than an intense workout with ZWOW workout with Zuzana. How many calories you burn in your work out is entirely up to you. It is how hard you consistently push your body, your heart on a day in day out basses that counts. It will provide you with results.

As for the shorter workouts, I feel they are more suitable when you are at a “maintenance stage” where you are already happy with what you have achieved, i.e with the way you are looking. These shorter work out are like the polishing and cutting a rough diamond into the sparkling carbon that you and I all know. For this reason, I am putting a hold on my BodyRocker30 day challenge.

My new challenge is going to spinning for at least 3 times a week for a month. My goal is to shred fat. Lots of it.

Once I am done with this month, I will see how I look and then start the BodyRocker 30 day challenge again. Don’t think that I will let myself off the hook on the challenge, that is the last thing I will do.

Mark my words!

Cuppypowers

xxx

How to avoid holdiay weight gain!

Hello hello!! This is actually the second attempt in today's blog. The last one was lost when i tried to upload photos..

Anyway, hope you guys are sticking to your workouts and is having a good day. I am because I am on holiday!!!! This is the end of my first day and just wanted to write a note on here to share with you how I am declaring war to gaining weight on this holiday!!!

I cuppypower will be held accountable for NOT gaining weight on this holiday by doing the following:

• sticking to 1hr carb loading in 1 seating a day
• staying active (and that is why i am going snorkeling tomorrow!!! well... not really the only reason)
• working out at the gym. yes, that is right i plan to work out everyday

I shall hold myself accountable by taking pictures of my workouts on the next 4 days as evidence that i am doing it!!!!

So as promise here is some of the photos from my workouts (added on 4th July 2011)

lol. my D.C was too slow to capture a good photo. A big thank you goes out to my man for taking the shots for me every time we hit to the gym!!
Signing off for now
Cuppypower
xxx
P.S Incase you are wondering.... i was doing P90X for a few days when i was away. NOT insanity, i needed a holiday from ShanT. Now I am starting week 6 of INSANITY again as of 4th July 2011 :)

P90X results for a skinny guy

This speaks for itself.
It is possible to achieve results in 90 days. All you need to do is Decide, Commit and Succeed.

Go for it! I am here with you all the way!!!

Cuppypowers

xxx

P.S. I tried to visit this guy's link but for some reason it showed an error message, which was a shame. None of the less, his video is very inspiring.

Who's your Fitness Super-Hero?

This man is my 52 year old fitness hero!

Watch the way he climbs the frame and rope with hands only!

Be inspired!

Cuppypowers

xxx

P.S... heeehee look at 4:06 bottom right hand corner. He is prob. 20 years younger than Tony but.....

P90X testimony

I don't need to defend myself why i hit the gym the way i do when i was on P90X. The results speaks through me and all the people out there who has been bringing it. It helped many people to get to a healthier place. A fitness level they have never thought possible.

Decided Commit and Succeed.

I hope videos like this will inspire you, and urge you to start a way of life that you didn't know it existed, didn't realise that you have what it takes.

YOU ARE THE REASON.

Signing off for now

Cuppypowers

xxx

0-90 days of P90X Lean results

Ok, people, here are my photos. Sorry about the poorly taken photos. The photos doesn't seem to do my 90day results justice....anyway i completed my P90X Lean as i have promised myself.

Singing off for now.

Cuppypowers

P90X 70days results!

First batch of Day 0 -70 photos. I didn't take the other post since i was very disappointed with my(self) progress.... the final photo comparisons are to come very shortly. Stay tune!

Singing off for now
Cuppypowers
xxx

INSANITY vs P90X

Hello curious readers! Yes I have been away for a while and thank you for checking in. So just some quick updates from the pass month:

• Yes, my sister was a bridezillas, I managed to keep my cool on her wedding day and now she is happlied married
• Yes, I completed my P90X LEAN, and yes, i have taken some after shots
• Yes I know I know. It's my bad for not posting the photos when i said i would.....
• Yes I promise I will have the photos up by close of the week. PROMISE!!!!

Something new with my fitness world:

• Started INSANITYon Monday

and this brings me to the subject of this blog.

Insanity is a hardcore Cardio work out, it is not easy (and i am saying it on day 2), even the fit test which only consisted of 8sets of 1 min exercises had my heart racing, needless to say that the "warm up of the Day 2 workout had me dripping with sweat, so much so that the floor requires mopping to prevent a fatal accident (such as heart attack, busted lung or simply passing out and apologies for being so graphic about the sweat). BUT why oh why are many people out there compare P90X with INSANITY???!!!??? Why are we comparing Apples with Oranges????

One is to melt the fat off mainly by the means of Cardio workout, the other is to show you how to built more muscle, gain strength and the muscle in turns burn more fat when you are resting.

Love the programs for what they are, love the new challenges it puts on your body. They are both master pieces in their own rights.

The most important of all is YOU. You putting the hard work in and sweating it out! NO ONE can take that credit away from YOU. To me, that is the most important point of all. That is what i choice to focus on.

Stay strong and do what you can to push your limits!

Signing off for now
Cuppypowers
xxxx

I will show you mines, will you show me yours?

I have failed!!!! Not only do i feel i have failed myself, i actually feel like i failed you, the people who has been keeping an eye on this space, esp. i feel like i failed Mel and my boyfriend.....

What did i fail? I just done my day 60 InBody Body Composition Analysis, the report suggest I have actually gained Body fat in the pass 30days.

Honestly, i have been kicking my own ass at the gym, with every session, i would either up my weight or up my rep. I feel stronger, but I don't feel slimmer. here are my stats....

	Day 0 (3 Jan 2011)		Day 30 (16 Feb 2011)		Day 60 (22 Mar 2011)
Weight	56.7kg		55.9kg -0.8kg		57.3kg +1.1kg
Soft Lean Mass	37kg		38.6kg +1.6kg		39.1kg +0.5kg
Body Fat Mass	17kg		14.5kg -2.5kg		15.5kg -0.5kg
Percentage Body Fat	30%		25.9% -4.1%		27 % +1.1%
Intracellular Fluid	19.4L	29.2L	20.6L	30.5L	20.7L	30.8L
Extracellular Water	9.8L		9.9L		10.1L
Protein Mass	37kg		38.6kg +1.6kg		39.1kg +0.4kg
Lean Body Mass	39.7kg		41.4kg +1.7kg		41.9kg +0.5kg

the American Council on Exercise has categorized ranges of body fats into four types, namely athletes (6-13% for men, 16-20% for women); fitness (14-17% for men, 21-24% for women); acceptable (18-25% for men, 25-31% for women) and obese (25%+ for men, 32%+ for women).

I am not saying i want to be at 5% body fat, but frankly even 24 % just doesn't cut it for me anymore.... I want to be at 20% body fat! Right..... my thinking hat is on, let's help my body to figure out what is not working!!!!

Grumble grumble grumbling cuppypowers signing off for now.
xxx
P.S. I will take some photos this Saturday or Sunday. and show you.

P90X Lean Day57- Phase III

Hello readers, it has been a while since i last updated my blog. So today is my first day of Phase III of my P90X program.

Chest and Back.

It was hard!!! But i did much better than i thought i was going to, before i started i actually watched the different moves and decided that i am going to set a rep goal that is going to be hard to achieve in good form when round 2 kicks in.

My goal was 12reps for the push ups, and for the pull ups i set the goal at weight assistance at 70lbs, 14 reps per set. In total today i did 84rep weight assisted pull ups and 130 push up of various kinds. Admittedly most of my push ups were done on my keens, but i aim to be able to do the 130 push ups on my toes by the end of the Phase III.

The hardest of all of the push ups was the Dive-Bomber Push-up.

seriously. this dude is making it look so easy! I managed 4 in some sort of form and if Zuzana only managed 5 i guess i am doing well (even the form is bad!). I wish Andre was there to tell me if i was doing it in good form!

Watch this space since my 60day photos are coming out soon!!! :)
Have a good week end everyone!

Signing off for now
Cuppypowers
xxxx

New Mile Stone

Day 47. I consider today is a new mile stone for me on my P90X program. I have always tried to push up my reps and / or the weight i am lifting in my P90X LEAN program. The only one that I did not manage to do so is my Pull-ups. I’ve been trying for the past 3 weeks to bring down the weight assisted on my pull ups down to 70lbs I am glad to tell you that I have finally managed my 144reps, weight assistant set at 70lbs. I am lifting 44.4% of my actual body weight.

I am hoping by the end of the P90X LEAN Program to bring down the weight assistance to 60lbs; with me lifting 52.4% of my body weight. Not an easy goal, but I will push for the high bar.

Sick little monkey

Thank you for coming back my curious readers. Sorry I have been a sick little monkey since Friday!!!! I am feeling much better now, however not a 100%! But that doesn’t mean I have not been working out! I took Sunday off my P90X program and rested. I am glad to let you know that I am on track again with my program. Tomorrow is my work out for Legs and back, which I did not do too well last week. I hope I will be able to do better this week! Stay tune and I will let you know how I get on!

BRINING IT!!!

Cuppypowers

xxxx

HIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you might know, I have been lazy last week and now I am paying the price. I did my HATA yoga yesterday lunch time, and I went back to the gym after work to do my Core Synergisitcs. Don’t ask me why, but I was sweating big time when I was doing my core workout, which normally doesn’t.

This morning, I got up at 6:00am and off I went to the gym to do my Legs and Back. I felt weak especially during my weight pull ups, and I could only manage the following:

@70lbs weight assistance

·         Reverse Grip Chin Ups 1set x15reps

·         Wide Front Pull Ups 1set x 15reps

·         Close Grip Overhead Pull-ups 1 set x 6+5+4 (+ short break)

@80lbs weight assistance

·         Reverse Grip Chin Ups 1set x12reps

·         Wide Front Pull Ups 1set x 12reps

·         Close Grip Overhead Pull-ups 1 set x 12reps

Compared to my last week’s record

All at @80lbs weight assistance

·         Reverse Grip Chin Ups 2set x12reps

·         Wide Front Pull Ups 2set x 12reps

·         Close Grip Overhead Pull-ups 2 set x 12reps

·         Reverse Grip Chin Ups 2set x12reps

·         Wide Front Pull Ups 2set x 12reps

·         Close Grip Overhead Pull-ups 2 set x 12reps

Not impressed with the huge step back I have taken.

I have yet to catch up with my Ab Ripper X and Cardio X! There is nobody to blame by myself…..

I've also discovered that i can not work out after work, because i have so much adrenaline in my blood afterwards, i can not sleep due to the natural high!!!!

Anyway, I hope to get back on track soon and do keep an eye on this speace and let me know any tips on how to stay motivated.

Siging off for now

Cuppypowers

xxx

How was your week?

Hello followers. Sorry that I have been a lazy ass and not been keeping you guys on the loop with my P90x progress. I am sad to report that last week i did hardly anything. Apart from the Chest, Shoulders Triceps + Legs & Back DVDs along with the Hata Yoga and spinning, i have not been following my P90x schedule. I missed my Core Synergistics and my Cardio X. The worst is that applies to this weeks’ worth as well plus I have been eating processed carbs over the weekend. To put it bluntly, i have a complete P90x meltdown!!!!

So to restart, and undo the wrong i am on a NO CARB diet for the remainder of Phase 2 and is going to repeat week 5 on my “rest week” I hope that way i will be back on track. I owe this to myself. I refuses to let this bring me down.

I will complete my P90x ontime. I hope you will be there with me on my jounry.
Signing off for now
Cuppypowers
xxx

Picture speaks a thousand words

Apologies for keeping you guys waiting!!! So here are my photo comparison form day 0 to day 30. Not much has changed visually between the 2 (apart from i dyed my hair black) ….. what do you think?

It's a fact,

If I binge eat on carbs, I cannot perform well the following day at work.

My body is telling me this morning, it is not impressed with my poor nutrition chooses from yesterday. I really struggled with my back work outs. Yes, the 80lbs weights assistant pull ups were not easy in week 2 & 3, but they were doable. Today, as you do with P90X I try to push my number by reducing the weight assistance to 70lbs aiming to stay with 12 reps. After 2 of sets at 70lbs I have to add my weight assistance back to 80lbs. Sure i managed my 144reps but I really really struggled to complete them in good form…..

Lesson learnt. No more processed, poor nutrition for me!

Oh, and the fact that i am not getting anywhere near what i should be getting in terms of Close eye time probably doesn't help my performance.

Anyway, keep well and signing off for now

Cuppypowers!

xxx

Hardcore.

But I am not going to take it lying down. Just to refresh your memories, and for those curious new readers, I am doing a fitness program called P90X. I am following the lean version and has been thinking that the program was very doable for the Phase 1. Today it is my day 3 of Phase 2, i made it through, but i was not impress at how weak i was. By the time I am almost half way into the DVD, I could hardly do any pushup with my keens on the floor, regardless of the One-arm push up!!! All I could do is literally went into a plank, as soon as i try to bend my elbow to go down, my arm just gave up on me, and i went DOWN. That was not nice, but i was pleased because it tells me that i was really pushing myself and my body is just not ready and prepared for it!

I am looking forward to the results when i finish P90x, i have no doubt that i will be much strong at the end of the 90day program and hopefully by that point I will be able to do what this lady is doing. Although her form is not perfect, but the fact that she can do it gives me inspiration and motivation that i can do it too.

Nothing is impossible, the only impossibility when it comes to fitness is if YOU deemed yourself that it is not achievable. Set yourself an achievable goal, put a time frame on it and put the handwork in + dedication. Believe in yourself, I believe that handwork will pay off. Do it for yourself, you owe it to no one but yourself.

You know what, there are so many things, people, reaction, comments, happenings in our life that is totally beyond our control, I want to be in the driver’s seat in my life (when it comes to fitness and $), so that when the uncontrollable things in life happens, I do not freak out, because I know the importance things in my life are taken care of and is going the way I want to, because I am committed and has put my hard work into it to ensure that is the case.

Stay healthy and strong everyone!

Signing off for now.

Cuppypowers

xxx

Count down. T-7

Happy sunday everyone!!!! It's 1:23am Hong Kong time, and i just had another go at Yoga X. I managed to do the first 60mins. and after that, it all seems a little too dangours to do at home with out a spotter. I don't want to hurt myself, and i felt like i really give it all i had the first 60 mins. that is good enough for me :)

So I have 7 more days left till my 30 days weight in. I am soooo looking forward to getting onto that InBody machine again and see if my hard work has paid off.

Be sure to come back in about a weeks time to tune in for the 30 days photos of my P90X program!!!!

I hope you are have a relaxing yet productive week end.
Signing off for now.
Cuppypower!
xxx

Stronger than yesterday

Yesterday was my day 19 of P90X which means Legs & Back + Ab Ripper X. As I mentioned before, my weight is not coming down but I am feeling stronger. Last night I proved to myself that I AM stronger. I went from doing weight assisted pull ups of 36lbs x 116reps to Pulling  46lbs x 144reps. I weight 126lbs

I know that my reps are very high, that is because I use the worksheets when I do my pull ups, and how it has 2 lines next to each exercise? I mistaken it for 2 sets for each… so there for I done

2sets x 12reps Reverse Grip Chin-Ups @ 80lbs weight assistant

2sets x 12reps Wide Front Pull-Ups @ 80lbs weight assistant

2sets x 12reps Close Grip Overhead Pull-Ups @ 80lbs weight assistant

X 2

I can’t wait to see if I will be able to do pull ups without weight assistant by the end of the P90X program!!!!

Signing off for now

Cuppypowers

xxxx

HATA yoga round 2

Nope. still not liking it. but i did a shoulder stand today (with the instructor's help). He didn't know that i was new to yoga.....

Signing off for now.
Cuppypowers
xxx