Round 3 / Day 77: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Recovery 4 Results

I know I shouldn't, but I kind of feel guilty about not going balls-out on recovery days.

Round 2 / Day 77: Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning + Cardio Abs

Two reasons why I skipped X Stretch and dove right into Max Cardio Conditioning this morning;

• I already took a rest day earlier this week when I was down with a cold; and

• I knew I was going to indulge in some serious Super Bowl snacking (e.g., chicken wings, beef skewers, chips, salsa/guacamole, chocolate chip cookies) later in the day, and figured I'd better burn off some calories in advance.

By the way, I hope none of you Colts fans died from heart attacks during the fourth quarter of the game.

The risk is real, cardiologists say, because studies have shown that when a favorite team loses, angry fans can suffer so much stress that the result is sudden cardiac death.

"If you look at a lot of data from a lot of different sports, there is a spectator risk," said Dr. Stephen Siegel, a cardiologist at New York University Langone Medical Center.

The best way to avoid this unhappy consequence is, "don't take it so seriously. Don't get so excited about it," he said. "Enjoy the game, have fun with it, but don't spend your life savings on betting on it and don't have your life invested in the outcome."

P90X Day 77: Cardio X

Given yesterday's snoozefest of a workout, I felt obligated do something more than just X Stretch today. Still, I didn't want to go full-tilt before the start of my final non-recovery week, so I popped in the Cardio X DVD.

It certainly burned some calories and got my heart pumping, but the video also reminded me how annoying Tony Horton can be. I've gotten so used to his weirdness on the other DVDs that I no longer notice when he quotes Forrest Gump or when he half-jokingly suggests that his own face is "perfection." But having only watched Cardio X once before, I wasn't prepared for Tony's god-awful Arnold Schwarzenegger shtick. I was fascinated and horrified, but I suppose every big-and-buff trainer is expected to bust out in a Hans & Franz routine once in a while.