Bring it on! Day 6 of my Power 90x Challenge!

Day 6 of the Power 90x work-out regimen is Kenpo-X. This is definitely my favorite!


While I was getting ready this morning, I noticed a difference! Not much but noticeable enough from my critical eyes. It made me smile knowing that hard work is working….slowly but it’s there! (Although the lower abs might take years and years (or never) to tone, I might be able to have a sliver of apple pie on Sunday! If you know me, I don’t eat slivers, I eat platefuls of dessert. I just love dessert and to totally give it up is just not fun at all!)

Part of the P90x challenge is eating right. So if you’re reading my blog and shaking your head, “What is she doing? Can’t mix apple pie and P90x together!”, excuse me – but I only have a few pleasures in life and apple pie is on top of that list.

To top it all off, as I’m writing this, my husband just asked me,
    “Do you want to have pizza tonight?”
Hmm, tough call, but I’ve been craving pizza for months!  We have NOT ordered pizza in a very, very long time, so I guess I’ll have pizza tonight and hold-off on that dessert!

So going back to working-off all those calories, Day 6 is Kenpo day!

The warm –up started with some yoga twists and a lot of stretching. (I like that! Makes the whole thing really serious...)

As Tony Horton (TH) of BeachBody.com P90x said, the tip of the day is:
   “Don’t bang your joints! Extend your limbs but do not hyper extend your joints!”

With that I knew that I’ll be moving a lot in this work-out.

KENPO-X is definitely my favorite of all the routines (so far)! I feel like I can do it and I feel my body really warms-up to it! The tough part of working out after and during the holidays here in the East Coast is that it gets pretty cold in January and February. So it takes some time to warm-up.

I raised the thermostat to 73. I’d probably need to buy some carbon credits since I really love to keep the house warmer than 70 degrees. (Sorry, but my bones have to be warm enough for me to not be under the blankets and layers and layers of clothing! As it is, I wear thermals in the house, too…) I heard Goldman Sachs trade stocks and stocks of carbon credits. HA! Pretty interesting business idea!

Anyway, here’s an overview of the KENPO-X.
Twist and Pivot
Twist and Pivot w/hook uppercut
Jabs
Jab cross (heard some part of my bones cracking!)
Jab cross hook uppercut

Step, drag, punch high and low
Jab cross, Switch feet
Switching hook uppercuts
Knee Kicks, Front Kicks, Side Kicks in a horse stance
BREAK

Back kicks
Front side back
Side lunge, high sword low hammer
Step-drag, claw, low-punch
BREAK – Cool Down

By this time, I felt like I was Rocky Balboa saying, “Yo Adrian, we did it! We did it!”

In the next 30 minutes of the routine, you’ll forget about being Rocky because you’ll feel like you’re Bruce Lee!

Here’s an overview of the other half of the routine:

High Blocks in horse stance
Outward blocks
Downward blocks
Up, In Out down
Break

Try smiling. For some reason, when you force yourself to smile, the reps don’t seem that hard after all!

.
High Block Low Punch
Knee Back Kick
Back Knuckle, Front Kick, Back Kick
Hook Upper cut/ Low Side Kick
Elbow series in horse stance
Vertical punches – 100!

Don’t forget to check your heart rate, and make sure you’re still in your zone!

Towards the end, I was happy to say, “BRING IT ON!”

Day 7, just like in the book of Genesis, is the day of REST. And guess what? It's Friday and thanks to theMotherhood's Becki, I found out that there'll be a full moon that's bright and big tonight!

So I bundled-up and went out on our deck in the freezing temperature to witness nature's beauty.

(My husband took these pictures)

Fridays are usually movie night or iCarly night with my two little crumbcatchers, Three and Four.
Number Three sometimes spend a couple of hours hanging out with friends at a nearby Chinese restaurant for their Friday-dumplings night! (Not a surprise since over 14 years ago when I went on labor with Number Three, his grandma and Dad were at the same Chinese restaurant ordering some take-out! Later tonight, Number Three will be watching one of his piano students perform Journey's "Dont Stop Believing" in the school's Talent Show!)

This Sunday is Number Four's 2nd gymnastics meet. (We just called-in an audition for a Nickelodeon Dora the Explorer voice over). It's mid-terms weekend for Number Three. Haven't heard much from Number Two in California. And Number One started her new job as a nursing assistant (can't wait to hear more about it!)

As for me, hopefully I'll get to read (Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog) , spend some time with my husband and write a few more pages...

Have a great weekend, everyone!
Keep smiling ;-)
(ClipArt courtesy of Microsoft Office)