P90X Round 2 Day 6: Kenpo X

Day 06
One of the most enjoyable workouts of P90X, Kenpo X is a balanced karate and martial arts workout. It's also considered a cardio workout, so sweat is known to drip everywhere. I personally think this is the best cardio workout in P90X by far. You don't feel like dying like how you do in Plyometrics because jabs, kicks and blocks are pretty enjoyable. I mean, who doesn't like to throw a couple of jabs here and there? Ya know, I guess I love to cause trouble. But seriously though, the great thing I like about Kenpo is that it is unique and well-balanced at the same time. It's pretty cool because you learn a bunch of karate moves you can use whenever you need to in self defense. Also, this workout really engages every muscle group in your body. I've noticed that the shoulders are consistently involved in every move. Throwing jabs, uppercuts and even performing blocks involves quick motion of the shoulder. Crazy as it sounds, the shoulder is even involved in all the kick sequences with the right form. This is because you should always have you're elbows up so you don't leave yourself vulnerable to attack. It's pretty simple really. Ever see a boxer or martial arts fighter lower his elbows down in a fight? I saw a boxing video where a guy briefly lowered his elbows, and he got DECKED in the face and fell flat to the ground unconscious. You could literally hear the power from the punch too, it was nasty. To give you an idea of how loud the punch was, it sounded as loud as the milk cartons troublemakers use to pop in your high school lunchroom (and no, I was not one of those troublemakers!). So in conclusion, don't be like that guy and NEVER lower your guard. My guess is that he was pretty tired and gassed from boxing multiple rounds so he decided to drop for a quick breather. In the end though, it was a bad decision.

I woke up and had a breakfast of champions before taking my gram to the grocery store. I also had to do a lot of shopping for food. I drove to the deli nearby my house and absolutely stocked up on veggies and fruits and ended up only shelling out under $16. I got a lot of stuff there too. I picked up several bananas, a four lb bag of oranges, about eight apples, cucumbers, lettuce, kiwi, baby carrots, etc. Then, I went to Walmart right after and ended up paying $85 in groceries on small things like eggs (I get 5 dozen), soy milk, bread and wraps, yogurt and fish. That was a pretty big hit, but I've done worse with spending money for nutritious food honestly. If I bought a few packs of protein bars, I would of been easily over $120 today. Luckily, I have about eight or nine boxes of different types of protein bars at my house.

After I finished shopping, I relaxed briefly at home and decided to give Kenpo X a run then. As always, Kenpo X was a good sweat for me today. However, today I thought that I would be nuts and do the starting sequence (jabs, hooks and uppercuts) while holding 5 lb dumbbells in each hand. Now, it may not sound like a lot of weight, but I felt like I was holding the weight of the world in my hands after all those quick jabs. I can say that you immediately notice a difference in the shoulders as they really burn when cranking out variations of 25-30 punches leading with each side on your body. This was the first time I ever tried adding weight to Kenpo X and I will definitely be doing it again in the future for this workout. I didn't use any weight for the kick or block sequence because there is more movement involved in those exercises and I didn't want to tweak anything with a 5 lb weight. Imagine how embarrassing that would be! "Yeah, I tore my rotator cuff from swinging a 5 lb dumbbell". Not the best way to pick up chicks. I also used the weights on the vertical punches at the end, and that is killer on the shoulders once you hit over 75 of them and climb into the 100 rep mark. Anyhow, I had fun with this workout like always.

Most powerful attack in Kenpo X:
Knee Kicks. These in my opinion are easily the most powerful move in the whole workout. You can really do some damage by kicking your knees up. Martial artists have been known to break other people's noses and win fights with this move. Don't try this one on your buddy, for sure!

Quickest combo attack in Kenpo X:
Jab / Cross. Give him the left, right, thanks for coming!

Best move for multiple opponents in Kenpo X:
Knuckles / Ball Kick / Back Kick Combo. You do a punch where you open your chest by punching your knuckles out (could take out two opponents on each side), a kick in the air up high in the front and a kick in the back for up to a total of four opponents.

After Kenpo I continued to eat clean and saw Unknown at the movies with Chris. Unknown was a decent thriller to watch, by the way. It won't blow you away though either, despite all of the twists they want to throw at you. Here's how the diet broke down for today:

Meal 1:
- 2 whole eggs, 3 egg whites
- cup of oatmeal
- banana
- glass of soy milk

Meal 2:
- protein bar
- recovery drink

Meal 3:
- cottage cheese and apple slices
- turkey whole wheat wrap
- brown whole rice

Meal 4:
- peanut butter sandwich (whole wheat bread)
- 1 oz dry roasted peanuts
- honey nut cherrios (cup)
- orange

Meal 5:
- protein bar
- protein shake

Meal 6:
- grilled chicken breast
- tofu salad
- baby carrots
- 2 tbsps of olive oil

Meal 7:
- one scoop of casein protein before bed

Thanks for reading,
K-Dawg