Are you friggin kidding me?

Quick rant. A couple posts back, I mentioned that the creatine serum I was taking previously was, at best, useless and, at worst, mildly toxic according to some research I came across. So I switched to creatine powder and have been mixing it with a scoop of whey protein and a glass of milk after each workout. I just finished today's potion and as I was putting the glass in the sink, I noticed a white sludge in the bottom of the glass. Apparently creatine powder doesn't dissolve so well in milk that's already saturated with protein powder. And of course, it so happens that I often drink these potions out of plastic glasses with white bottoms which have effectively camouflaged the white creatine sludge in the bottom. I wonder if I've actually managed to injest any creatine at this point. I could be getting the same friggin results from eating a scoop of sand every day. Sigh.

Day 43 - Chest, shoulders, and triceps

Finished my workout at 11:30pm tonight. This is the closest I've come to skipping but the fact that I haven't missed a day yet really drives me. I'm a bit concerned about my right shoulder. It's been bothering me the last couple weeks and is getting worse rather than better. By the end of the today's workout it was really hurting and clearly not behaving right. I'm going to back off on the shoulder exercises for the next couple weeks and hopefully that will give it a chance to heal up (not unline what I did with my abs).

Speaking of which, I crushed the ab workout today. I powered through it the best I ever have. It's a subjective measurement but the way I can tell is that I was groaning in pain less than normal. I'm encouraged because I think I can see the first two cans of a six-pack starting to peek out. The last time I had a good stomach was freshman year of highschool when I was running 15 miles a day (for real). I'm really trying to improve my diet so hopefully that will help the removal of my gut. Last week ate garden burgers twice as I watched my buddies eat bacon cheese burgers. Right now I'm eating a salad (with some lettuce from Sarah and Gabe's garden which is really good).

I don't know how I feel about the lackies in today's video. One in particular, Phil, pisses me off. He has a serious attitude problem and I keep hoping that Tony will kick his ass by the end of the workout. This Phil guy is trying to be the Charles Bronson of p90x and I don't care for it a bit. Even worse is that in week 5 this video replaced the other chest workout video (muscle confusion). So Phil hasn't been around from the beginning. I feel like he's trying to sneak into the program after Tony, the lovely Drea, the rest of the crew, and myself have been sweating away for 5 weeks. Well Phil, I checked the calendar and it appears that your video goes back into the bottom of the drawer for a while now. So suck on that.

Day 39 - I'm back

I never imagined that I would keep up my workout but let the blog slide.

To recap the last 3 weeks. I haven't missed a day yet. I've continued to blow off yoga because it sucks but I've also continued to play two hockey games a week. Not only that, I've joined a volleyball team and play that one night a week.

I'm now in Phase 2 (of 3) of the p90x program. It's not any different than phase 1 except we have three different videos we do on the heavy weight days. I guess this is the "muscle confusion" part. As our bodies start adjusting to the previous workouts, they switch up the days on which we work the various muscle groups.

I'm definitely getting stronger, and I dare I say, bigger. Every workout I am either doing more reps or more weight than the previous week. Not by a lot, but I'm tracking everything in excel and that's definitely the case. In the mirror I swear that my arms and chest look a little bigger than when I started. And I think my ab muscles are slowly making their way to the surface.

So two of my brothers were in town a couple weeks ago. Both of them are skinny, fit guys and both of them have the same gut that I do. For whatever reason, it appears that men in my family are predisposed to carry all our extra weight around our midsections. In Phase 1, I was (and still am) very disciplined about getting my workouts in. It's time that I start applying that same discipline towards my diet. When I'm by myself, I do a pretty respectable job of eating healthy. I've started eating fresh fruits and vegetables. I don't snack and stay away from foods that Tony would kick my ass if he caught me with. It's when I'm out with people to eat that I start eating junk - french fries, bacon cheese burgers, pizza, etc. If I'm going to get ripped I need to cut that stuff out. So everyone reading this - get on my case if we're out eating together to order something healthy!

So I've been taking creatine for a while now and I'm not sure how beneficial it is. It's so hard to tell when there's a million other factors that all determine how good my workout is. But I do know that the stuff I was taking at first, creatine serum (from MMUSA), was not good. I did a bunch of research before picking it out and everything I read indicated it was a good alternative to creatine powder. The idea is that they've stabilized creatine in a liquid (where it typically breaks down) which means all you need is a few drops to get the proper dose (as opposed to mixing a 'shake' from powder). Turns out I didn't do enough research. I did some more reading and it turns out that the stuff I was taking is, at best, useless, and at worst slightly toxic. Not cool. Not cool at all. So I've switched to the GNC bucket of creatine powder and mix that with a protein shake after my workout. This supplement stuff is scary. For those curious on what I've dug up, check this out.