(....nothing you wouldn't see at a public swimming pool)
(......well, not one of those 'shady' kinda suburban pools on TV)
(.........okay, it's going to be pictures of me without my shirt on. Got it? If this is going to cause you to have nightmares and regrets, then click away from this site. NOW! Otherwise...this man below is about to remove his shirt for your enjoyment.)
(....when I say 'enjoyment', that's just me being funny. There's nothing sick or twisted on this website. It's a 'blog' about my exercise routine. Got it? Can we continue now??)
Great! Now here come the half-naked pics!
P90X - Day 265
Yes, it's hard to believe, but I have been P90X-ing for 265 days now. I started my 90 day journey on April 4th. A lot has changed since then. It's been a difficult journey. I mean, seriously: I do not like exercising! That's my wife's department.
I began this journey because I had reached the 190lb plateau, and found myself unable to drop back down into the 180's again. I realized I needed to do something serious to make a difference. I had heard great things about the P90X routines, and so I began my 6-day-a-week 90 day journey. You can see my results in the earlier recorded blogs (check out July's).
Looking back, 90 days made a GREAT change. I reduced my belly-fat content from 1" to 7/16". I was hanging around 182-184lbs on a consistent basis. I noticed a great deal of leaning up and toning of my muscles, specifically my shoulders and arms and back. PLUS -- as you can see by the photos from summer, I felt good about how my body looked, especially with some sun coloring ;-)
And then the 90-day journey was over. But I didn't want to give up all of my hard work and let my body revert back to the old self. But I knew I couldn't continue with the grueling 6-day workout routine. So I modified my workouts, taking from my favorite routines (and leaving out my least favorites!) I modified my weeklyroutine to 4 days a week on a 5 week rotation. Weeks 1 and 3 I worked on strength and cardio; weeks 2 and 4 I worked on applications, i.e. pushups and pullups. Then week 5 I just did cario, plyo, and yoga. During the first 4 weeks of rotation, I did AB-CRUNCHER-X twice a week. But skipped this routine during week 5. Along the journey, I missed a few workouts. I even missed a few weeks. But I felt ok, as long as I stayed faithful to the regimine (sp?).
It's been good. I've been able to keep my muscle tone. And I can still slam out 122 pullups on my application days. I'm not putting on much bulk (that was NEVER my goal), and my muscles still feel/appear to be toned. I lost my summer coloring...bummer. But it will be back next summer, I'm sure. My belly fat is resting at 9/16". But let's be real, here. I still enjoy: beer, whiskey, fried food, and sweets. So I haven't given up the things I like, and I'm able to gorge myself on Thanksgiving Day, knowing that it will not be stored long-term down below.
I still hate working out. But now that I'm self-employed, I budget my workouts for 8-9:30. So after showering, I can make it to work by 10am. In the words of Adam Sandler, "Not too shabby!"
About 2 months ago, I started noticing a lower back pain. Still haven't figured out what it is. I'm blaming my new chair situation at work. I'm going to resolve it this January, so hopefully this will ease, or eliminate my pain. Until then, my yoga and stretching is a bit limited. I still do it, because it helps work thru the pain. But it hurts...
I'd like to believe that I can keep this P90X thing going. I feel healthier, and I think I look better. I just hate the workout. I'd rather be surfing, or playing dominoes with the kids, or chilling on the couch with my bride. But they all would rather have me upstairs working out so that I can enjoy the rest of my life with them being as active as I have always been.
Speaking of being active, today is our last day in Denver for the year. Tomorrow we head up to Breckenridge for a week-long skiing and snowboarding fest. It is our semi-annual Christmas in Breck trip. I plan on coming back completely exhausted and in no shape to resume my P90X routine nor take on my 2012 work load. But hopefully by Monday, January 2nd, I will be back on the wagon and ready to resume a life of "normality".
Hah! As if the life of Aaron Zimmer has EVER been normal. :-)
May you and your family have a blessed and wonderful CHRISTmas!
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