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View Full Version : Post P90x - Back at the gym and it feels great



Freepressright
06-25-2014, 11:57 AM
Sometimes one just gets burned out.

We bust our asses chasing after dreams and visions that we hope will equate to gains. It’s hard work, and sometimes it’s a fight to motivate ourselves.

We're all in this for different reasons. Some are powerlifters, others bodybuilders and others hobbyists who just want to look better and feel good.

Although I'm neither a bodybuilder or powerlifter, my heart has been in the weight room since the spring of 2009 when I vowed to change my life for the better. I quit smoking and devoted myself to four days a week of training.

I was on fire for a good part of that time. I took a scrawny 130-pound frame and put over 50 pounds of mass on it over time. What's not to love about that, right?

While that may sound great, the truth is, we're never fully satisfied... ever. This is an addiction. We love it, but sometimes we hate it.

I had gotten to that point.

I couldn't manage to peel my ass out of bed early enough to go to the gym in the morning, and the evenings there had become a mad house. The college football team works out there, so getting squat racks on a Tuesday night was irritating me to the point that I was stomping out uttering profanity on a fairly regular basis. Dumbbells were disappearing from the rack and I had to search the massive fitness center to find where some disrespectful lifter left them.

Bottom line, it was causing me more stress than joy.

After hitting a plateau and feeling like I was chasing my tail, my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor boss piqued my interest with P90x. After talking to me about it, me researching it on my own, I had decided that I was burned out enough and needed not only a change in scenery, but maybe a change in goal and something else.

I can't lie, P90x was extremely physically demanding and a lot of fun. I cut down nicely with it. I looked forward to it every day.

The Legs portion of the Legs and Back disc I still consider to be one of my all-time favorite workouts. I learned a lot of great compound exercises and ways to train my body on minimal gear. It gave me the knowledge to get a more well-rounded workout out of even the most "nuts and bolts" tried and true workouts.

I also loved the fact the routines could be modified with heavier dumbbells and lower repetitions to manipulate it for mass.

I was happy again. But that happiness didn't live on forever. I still missed the days in the weight room, plating up bars, dead lifting and feeling the callouses form on my hands.

It wasn't until recently that, while reading some Swole Source posts and learning of some intriguing “research” methods that were available, the fire started to burn inside me once again. Knowing that summer was quickly upon me and the students would be gone from the athletic center, I knew it was the perfect time to get reacquainted with the iron.

I began almost two weeks ago, and I feel like a new person. I’m excited again to be training, and the mass is quickly returning.
If I’ve learned anything from this endeavor, it’s that sometimes you need to either walk away or find something different. I did, and wouldn’t trade a second of it.

It’s good to feel like I’m back in my element.

ExtraZeus
06-26-2014, 07:01 PM
P90X is a solid program, sounds like you had a good run. I haven't used it in a long while but it was a life saver after new years, the damn gym gets so packed!

Glad to hear you're back hitting the heavyiron.