Thursday's Workout

More rowing practice:

• 1000-meter row
• 1 minute rest
• 1000-meter row

I finished the first 1000 meters in 4:06, and the second 1000 meters in 4:05. My short-term goal -- which I hope to achieve by the end of next week -- is to finish a 2000-meter row (without a break) in less than 8:10. Serious doubt is creeping in.

Afterwards, I popped in my Fountain of Youth yoga DVD. In my opinion, one of the drawbacks of CrossFit is that there's not much of an emphasis placed on stretching, flexibility and balance, so it was nice to squeeze in some sun salutations and warrior poses. After a hard row, I definitely needed to work the lactic acid out of my aching legs.

Tuesday's Workout

Lest you think that I've wholly abandoned Tony for CrossFit, I'll have you know that my morning workout consisted solely of Fountain of Youth yoga. Having not done any yoga for a couple of weeks, my glutes and hamstrings were burning during the Warrior poses, but by the end of the session, I was back in the flow and got nicely stretched out.

(But honestly? I kind of wish I'd thrown in a batshit-crazy CrossFit metcon session.)

Round 3 / Day 88: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Fountain of Youth

Yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga. Yoga yoga. Yoga yoga yoga yoga; yoga yoga (yoga!) yoga yoga.

Yoga yoga yoga, yoga yoga -- yoga yoga yoga yoga. "Yoga," yoga yoga. "Yoga yoga yoga yoga, yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga yoga."

Yoga?

Yoga.

Round 3 / Day 81: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Fountain of Youth

Unbelievably creaky/rickety this morning, and even 45 minutes of yoga didn't loosen me up much. I guess there are limits to even Tony Horton's abilities.

I kind of need a break.

Round 3 / Day 74: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Fountain of Youth

The power was out when I woke up this morning in pitch darkness. No electricity = no TV or DVD player = no Tony Horton = more sleep for me.

This also meant having to squeeze in a session of yoga after dinner, when I'd rather be watching "Lost" or reading one of the many unfinished books gathering dust on my nightstand. But the silver lining is that like most people, my body's a lot more flexible at night than it is in the morning, and I ended up with an unusually satisfying and super-stretchy workout. I'm a Tin Man in the A.M., and Gumby in the P.M.

Round 3 / Day 55: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Fountain of Youth

I was glad to greet the morning with yoga -- especially after enduring a grueling workout the night before. Rather than just going through the motions, I took the time to really focus on maintaining good form today, and it paid off: I felt great afterwards. Or maybe it's just because I knew I wouldn't have to get on Pirates of the Caribbean for the 13th time today.

(In case you're interested, the L.A. Times recently ran a piece on how to make sure your yoga form is correct, and also featured a photo slideshow on yoga do's and don'ts. Check it out.)

Round 3 / Day 25: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Fountain of Youth

As I've said before, I really dig the Fountain of Youth DVD. But at my innermost core, I'm a whiny bitch, so please allow me the pleasure of nitpicking about something about which I'm sure no one else gives a crap: The volume of the background music. With about one-third of the Fountain of Youth video left to go (when Tony starts doing slow-motion bicycle crunches), Jason Scheff's electronic keyboard spa muzak abruptly increases in volume until Tony's voice is all but drowned out. I never thought I'd say this, but I was straining to hear what Tony was saying, and kind of annoyed that I couldn't.

Round 3 / Day 11: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Fountain of Youth

Fountain of Youth was an unmitigated pleasure this morning. Clocking in at just 48 minutes, it's roughly half the length of P90X Yoga X -- yet Tony (in super-mellow-mode) manages to squeeze in just about all the greatest hits from that workout, and adds some new twists to familiar moves. The "One-on-One with Tony Horton" series is ridiculously expensive, but for my money, this DVD was well worth it.

More after the jump.

Round 3 / Day 10: 2K3 Turbulence Training Workout A + RKC Man Maker + Insanity Cardio Abs

For the sake of maximum variety, I've decided not to linger on any one particular version of Turbulence Training during Round 3; rather, I'm doing a different Turbulence Training workout each week for the first month (before doubling back in subsequent months).

Last week, I tried out the "Original" flavor of Turbulence Training. Today, I got a taste of Craig Ballantyne's "2K3" version. (By the way, "2K3" just means he developed it in 2003.)

Workout A starts with a quick warm-up sequence (repeated once), consisting of Reverse Lunges, Close-Grip Push-Ups (a.k.a., Military Push-Ups), and Stick-Ups.

Stick-Ups look super-easy: You basically flatten yourself against a wall, reach your arms straight up, and then move them down to a "stick-up" position -- keeping your arms, shoulders and back against the wall at all times. It's a super-low-impact move, but I was surprised to find that this was a challenge for me; my flexibility, mobility, and range of motion aren't as great as I thought.

After the warm-up, you move into the three supersets that form the core of this workout:

Superset 1:

• Chin-Ups (8 reps): No description needed, right?
• Dumbbell Chest Presses (8 reps): I'm pretty sure you know this one, too.

Repeat twice for a total of three times, resting for one minute between supersets.

Superset 2:

• Dumbbell Elbow-Out Rows (8 reps per side): Just like Elbows-Out Lawnmowers from P90X Back & Biceps, only done using a bench rather than from a low lunge position.
• Dumbbell Low-Incline Press (8 reps): Same as Dumbbell Chest Presses, but with the back of the weight bench angled up slightly to better hit your upper chest. 

Repeat twice for a total of three times, resting for one minute between supersets.

Superset 3:

• Decline Push-Ups (15 reps): Same as the ones from P90X Chest & Back.
• Dumbbell Incline Curls (8 reps per side): These are similar to the Lean-Back Curls from P90X+ Upper Body Plus, but with some back support. This is a great isolation move, and keeps you from cheating -- I definitely felt the burn in my arms.

Next, it was onto 12 minutes of Man Maker training with my kettlebell. It's tough as hell, but I'm slowly getting into the "swing" of things. (Ha! Get it? GET IT??? I fucking love puns.)

Last but not least, M joined me for a round of Insanity Cardio Abs. As I've said before, I prefer Ab Ripper X (Cardio Abs overemphasizes hip flexor movements, in my opinion), but it's nice to break up the monotony with some jumps and planks.

Tomorrow: Fountain of Youth yoga! (I'm genuinely looking forward to it. Fer real, yo.)

Post-Round 2 Recovery Week: One-on-One with Tony Horton - Fountain of Youth + Recovery 4 Results

I broke down and fed the Beachbody machine by purchasing both P90X+ and a bunch of "One-on-One with Tony Horton" DVDs (which I'll just call "1-on-1" going forward for the sake of my tired, tired fingers).

(The packaging, by the way, is mystifying. The four P90X+ DVDs each came separately in cellophane-wrapped, full-sized plastic cases. The pricier 1-on-1 DVDs in the Volume One set, on the other hand, come in a flimsy cardboard-sleeve booklet, just like the original P90X discs. Why the special treatment for the cheaper P90X+ discs? My gut -- and I hope I'm wrong -- is that Beachbody felt the need to gussy up the P90X+ packaging to compensate for the rushed-to-market, low-rent nature of the videos.)

Anyway, I decided to try out the 1-on-1 Fountain of Youth DVD last night. It's like manna from heaven: An abbreviated, greatest-hits version of the Yoga X workout. (Sadly, it doesn't include Crane.) Yoga X is great if you have 90 minutes to slowly work into each of the moves, but Fountain of Youth -- clocking in at just 48 minutes -- is a godsend for those of us with actual lives.



This morning, still feeling sore from swinging a kettlebell, I popped in the 1-on-1 Recovery 4 Results video. This one gets high marks, too. Tony crams in a good amount of stretching, yoga, and even some light cardio and resistance work into this 38-minute session.



I don't know if it's because both of these videos feature relatively mellow workouts, or because I'm starting to appreciate Tony more, but the douche factor is surprisingly low -- especially in light of all the lame jokes and excessive camera-mugging shown in the 1-on-1 commercials.