Workout Update: P90X Day 89

 Day 89 was the first and of course, the only time I did Cardio-X this entire round. Basically, it is a combination of the yoga workout, the plyometrics workout, the Kenpo workout, and the core synergistics workout. It takes what I think are the best parts of each workout (Dreya Rolls aside) and puts them into one workout. So, it is actually good to use as a supplemental workout because it will make at least portions of those other workouts easier. For example, in yoga, you do the sun salutations to warm up, then you do the asana sequence up through reverse warrior. Then, you go into Kenpo and do some of the kicking and punching sequences from the regular workout, then you go into plyo, doing 30-second sequences of some of the moves then add in wacky jacks, which, if you have done power-90 you will recognize. That is the only move that is really new to P90x. Finally, you finish with some of the moves from the core synergistics workout. All in all, the entire workout is about 47 minutes long, including the warm-up and the cool-down. So, I definitely think I will work it into the rotation more when I do the second round of P90X after I do Chalean Extreme. 

DVD Review: Math Video Tutor- Fractions Thru Algebra

 

I originally purchased this when I decided to go back to school to pursue what would become an electrical engineering degree. Because I had been out of math for so long, I basically had to start from square one, and since I was not a great math student my first time through school, I was looking for supplements to help teach myself the material before I took the class. While searching Amazon, I stumbled on this and was very glad I did.

The first thing to know is that this is just a guy in front of a whiteboard working out problems. Actually, this video is just his hand in front of a whiteboard. In later DVDs, the production quality goes way up. It is not, however, a traditional college or high school lecture. The instructor gives the basics of what you need to know to solve the problems, and then does a ton of example problems. Basically distills the stuff in the "explanatory" material in textbooks that come before the problem sets to their core essence, then just does a ton of examples, working everything out step-by-step and explaining the process along the way. So, if you are a visual learner, this is, in my opinion, one of the best resources out there. One caveat, however, is, if you are taking a class, especially a college-level class, this is NOT a substitute for actually going to class. If you are taking a pre-algebra course, this will give you the basics that you need to know and cover the main topics, but it does not cover everything that you will be exposed to in class. So use it for what it is, a supplement to class, not a replacement for class.

Book Review: Algebra for Dummies Education Bundle

 

This is a bundle of the Algebra for dummies book and workbook. It discusses all of the major concepts you would be required to know in an intermediate algebra class and most of what you would be exposed to in a college algebra class. Like the other "for dummies" books, it gives you a lot of tips for solving problems, things to watch out for that can trip you up, and things that your regular textbook will rarely give you. The workbook matches the layout of the "regular" book, but it is lighter on the explanatory material and heavy on the example problems. Whereas the regular book is heavy on the explanatory material and lighter on problems for you to work out.

I got this years ago when I started going back to school to get what ultimately became an electrical engineering degree. Because I had been out of math for so long, I had to basically start over at intermediate algebra and got this as a study guide to teach myself the material before taking the class. While I still had to work hard in both intermediate and college algebra, this helped make sense of the material in the book, which was especially helpful in intermediate algebra since I was in a section that was basically a "teach yourself" the material without a lecture attached to it. Until I really got good at reading the textbooks (which basically became easy once I got to physics), it helped to have the concepts distilled down. Having taken the entire calculus sequence plus numerous physics and engineering classes, I can tell you that strong algebra skills are essential as you get further along. Being good at algebra will not guarantee that higher-level classes will be a breeze, but it will ensure that you do not needlessly lose points because even in calculus, a lot of times what takes the most time is doing algebraic simplification, and it presents the most opportunity to make mistakes. So, depending on your style of learning, this is a good supplement if you cannot understand what your textbook is saying. And, for those who are just trying to learn math without taking a class, this will give you a good handle on the material.

Book Review: Calculus for Dummies Education Bundle

 

This bundle contains the Calculus for Dummies book and corresponding workbook. The book itself mostly has explanatory material, written much more concisely than what you get from the textbooks, and has a lot of good tips for solving problems. There are some example problems and problems meant for people to work out, but most of the problems are in the workbook. That is light on explanatory material (just repeats the basics) but has quite a few problems from the various concepts.

This covers derivatives and their applications like related rates and optimization, and integration and its applications. For some schools that is pretty much all of calc 1 and most of calc II. For other schools, it would be the entire calc I curriculum. It really just depends on how the classes at your school split up the material. It does not cover multivariable calculus, linear algebra, or differential equations, which in some schools are generally covered in calculus 3 and calculus 4. It is not as big as a textbook (obviously) so there is some material that your teacher may cover that is not in this guide, but it does cover all of the "main" concepts you will be exposed to in class. So, if you are someone who learns by reading, but the textbook does not do it for you, you should definitely give this a try.

Book Review: Physics Workbook for Dummies

 

This is the companion book to Physics for Dummies, by the same author. Hence, it follows the same chapter format and layout of that book. This is mostly just a book with problems to practice. There is some explanatory material, but that is kept to a minimum. Like the Physics for Dummies book, this is geared more toward high-school-level (or algebra-based) physics classes. That is not to say it will not help if you are taking calculus-based physics, because it will. The equations and most of the concepts are exactly the same in calculus-based physics as in algebra-based physics classes. However, just know that if you are taking calculus-based physics, some of the problems you will be exposed to are much more difficult than what this will throw at you. But, as a primer to learn physics concepts and get practice working on problems, this is a very good option.