Pre90X: Core, Cardio, S&A, Kenpo

May 25, Core Synergistics and May 26, Cardio X. Okay, Tony Horton – sorry for underestimating you. Stretch X may be lame but these two are NOT. I did these workouts at about 75% capacity, taking breaks and such, and was able to get through them. However, I definitely felt it the next couple of days, in some very unexpected places. As I did the workouts, I could tell that The Boyfriend (who is inflexible AND hates core work) would hate these videos and struggle with them due to the heavy yoga emphasis. I finally got The Boyfriend to join me for Shoulders and Arms (his favorite parts to workout) – I did the whole video with very light (3 lb) dumbbells just to get an idea. With such light weight it was no problem, but I can see that it can be an extremely challenging workout if you push yourself with weights (as The Boyfriend did).

He joined me again for Kenpo X the next day despite a good deal of muscle soreness and I’m happy to report that we both got through most of this video, although we surely worked up a sweat. Again, you can make this easier or harder for yourself by taking a slower or faster pace than the models are taking, using weights where applicable, etc. My arms and shoulders are definitely feeling the afterburn today. We then watched the Legs and Back video and it’s clear that this is where we’re both going to have trouble. Most of these exercises involve lifting your own body weight, so it’s not so easy to modify. I can already feel my quads screaming and I haven’t even done the lunges yet. Also, can we just talk about pull-ups for a second? I have NEVER been able to do one (not unusual for women I know) – but this video wants you to do like 80. EIGHTY. Needless to say, I’ll be using bands or a chair, probably for a long time.

I haven’t watched Yoga X yet but I don’t anticipate problems there, even though I know it’s long – The Boyfriend, however, might die if he tries it. Even Stretch X would be a problem for him. I think the P90X Lean program is probably a good fit for my current fitness level and I’m planning to push forward – I think The Boyfriend will too, despite his reluctance to do anything with so much emphasis on flexibility. The physiques of the models in the video are more than enough inspiration for him to get over his “stretching is gay” bias!