Round 3 / Day 50: Chest & Ab Special

My five-year-old would be perfectly happy if Disneyland consisted of just two rides: Star Tours and Pirates of the Caribbean. In two and a half days, we've sat through each at least a half-dozen times. (I lost count after six.)

Me? I'd be content if Disney's Grand Californian Hotel had a fitness center that stayed open past 8 p.m., so that M and I could take turns working out after the kids went to bed.

But even at Disneyland, wishes don't always come true. So tonight, after another tiring (but fun!) day at the amusement park, we tucked the boys in bed, turned out the lights, and waited until the little ones fell asleep. M and I then quietly slipped into our workout wear, laid two bath towels on the floor of our hotel room, and proceeded to silently exercise in the dark.

I know that a lot of people might consider this ridiculous, but to us, our day's not complete if we haven't done something that requires us to mop up our sweat.

Without weights available, I decided to alternate between push-up variations (all pulled from P90X and Insanity) and Ab Ripper X exercises. I did twenty reps of each exercise below (except as otherwise indicated):

• Standard Push-Ups
• In & Outs
• Military Push-Ups
• Seated Bicycles - Forward
• Plange Push-Ups
• Seated Bicycles - Reverse
• Sphinx Push-Ups
• Crunchy Frogs
• Pike Presses
• Wide-Leg Sit-Ups
• Squat Push-Ups
• Fifer Scissors
• 2-Speed Twitch Push-Ups
• Hip Rock & Raises
• Diamond Push-Ups
• Pulse-Ups
• Prison Cell Push-Ups (10 reps)
• V-Up Roll-Ups
• Decline Push-Ups
• Oblique V-Ups - Left Side
• One-Arm Balance Push-Ups
• Oblique V-Ups - Right Side
• Dive Bombers (10 reps)
• Leg Climbs
• Ab Push-Ups
• Mason Twists (40 reps)
• Balance Push-Ups

The most challenging part? Trying to stay quiet.

I think I'm ready to pass out now.

Round 2 / Day 50: P90X Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X

Sometime during my workout this morning, it dawned on me that Maren's super-awesome. She cranks out a ton of reps in Chest & Back, and she does it all with a big grin. She can hang with Tony and Fifer and Bobby Stephenson despite being half their size. And there's no question that Maren can out-P90X any one of us. (The woman can hold a wall squat for more than 11 minutes!)

Plus, there's the whole German potato soup thing. Maren kicks ass.

P90X Day 50: Yoga X

Yoga X is definitely getting easier, though it's by no means a cakewalk. I still wobble precariously every time I attempt the Warrior 3 poses (Warrior 3, Half Moon, Twisting Half Moon), and my version of Wheel looks more like a flat tire. But I'm tackling most of the other poses with confidence, even if my confidence is sometimes (okay, often) misplaced. I exercise the same way I dance: with too much enthusiasm and not enough coordination.

Now that Week 8 is here, I have mixed feelings about starting another recovery week: I've been looking forward to this break from the heavy-duty resistance training of Phase 2, but I also know from last time around that "recovery" doesn't mean "relaxation," and that I have a double-dose of Core Synergistics (and the dreaded prison cell push-ups) coming up. I know that it's important to give my aching body a week-long breather, but if my experience from last month proves consistent, the start of Phase 3 will be all the more difficult after taking it "easy" for a week. In anticipation of this, I've already penciled in "TOO FUCKING SORE TO MOVE" on my calendar for Week 9.