The BS of My Life / P90X: Day 1-7

This was my first week of P90X. The program is broken up into 3 Phases that are 4 week sections with different combinations of the workout DVDs provided in the set for every day of the week. Each day is used to attack different groups of muscles and it seems like every day in between is used for cardiovascular exercise and/or flexibility – two things that I lack terribly. I’ve done a few of the DVDs in the past, but I’ve never followed the program strictly for the 90 days that you’re supposed to, so I’m excited, nervous, and definitely motivated to get things underway.

I take a photo everyday after my workout, but will only be posting Day 1, 30, 60, and 90.

This is my fat ass on Day 1. 5′ 8″ 177lbs with a goal of 160lbs.

Disgusting right? I know. It’s like I’m a human sausage fit into a casing a little bit too small. lol. I look tired, flimsy, and depleted. Well we’ll see what I look like in 30 days. NOTE: That is NOT an inner tube underneath my marina. Those are my “love handles”. Yeah. There’s a lot of “love” to be “handled”. So let’s go.

Here’s how the week went.

The Workouts:

Day 1:
Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X

This is a workout I’ve done before. Its basically a push and pull workout that alternates between pushing motions and pulling motions to isolate your chest and your back. You do a total of 12 exercises starting with push ups and followed by pull ups, then take a break.

After the break you do the entire workout over again beginning with pull ups and following with push ups.

This workout is intense but it makes you feel amazing. The pull ups were really difficult for me, but they show different variations including a dude using resistance bands and a girl with her feet on the edge of a stool for support. I used the stool method and still struggled quite a bit.

One thing that they say in this video is to not say “I can’t” but to replace it with “I presently struggle with”. It sounds cheesy, but its a great piece of advice and a great source of motivation especially for the first workout of a gruelling 90 day program. So, yeah, I presently struggle with getting my fat face over the chin-up bar without using a stool. Lol.

The hardest part of the workout for me was the dive-bomber push-ups. They’re intense, but I got crazy motivated to be able to do as many as the people in the DVD do. I did 7 in both rounds, but will be pushing for more in the coming weeks.

I also found that 20lbs was too much for the Back Flys and I need lighter weight. I’m not trying to Hulk out. I’m tryina get that Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden physique. You know?

Next up was Ab Ripper X. Its been a while since I had a 6 pack that didn’t have green bottles with red stars on them, but I’m up for getting it back and this workout is supposed to help me make it there. Right off the bat I noticed a huge problem – my legs are very weak and the first 4 moves involved holding my legs in the air or moving them in the air. The pain in my quads and hip flexors was so bad I had to break after each initial movement. This workout is only 15 minutes, but it is fucking hell. I found that a number of the moves were limiting because of my poor flexibility and leg strength, but I’m determined to get through this whole thing in one piece by Day 90.

Overall, today was a great workout and I’m dying to get on with the rest of the DVDs.

Day 2:
Plyometrics

They call this “The Mother of All Workouts” and rightfully so. Its a jump training DVD that absolutely kills your legs, blasts your heart rate through the ceiling and makes you feel like you’re gonna puke for an hour. Right from the beginning, your legs are on fire from the movements and squats and you are dying to take the 30 second break that’s promised after you’ve done 4 exercises 2 times each.

I had to pause this DVD so many times from feeling light headed, having my heartrate boosted up to 180bpm, and my legs being on fire. This is definitely a workout that will have people feeling defeated if they can’t accept their current physical fitness level and understand that these things are hard and take some getting used to. So many moves were too intense for me, and because of my flat feet and past issues with my right foot/knee/back, I did the modified versions of many moves, while still struggling very much.

On my hitlist of shit I’ve gotta be able to get through: Leapfrog Squats, Switch Stance 180 Running Squats, Squat Jacks. I’m not sure if those names are totally correct, but if you have the program, you’ll know just what the fuck I mean. These shits are haaarrrdd! No exlax.

Once this was over, I was covered in sweat and dying for a protein shake and a shower.

Oh, by the way, one dude in this video completes the whole workout on a prosthetic leg, just so you can’t complain.

Insane.

In the membrane.

Day 3:
Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X

They call this the Glamour Workout because you’re working out the “Glamour Muscles” that you show off when you wear a tanktop or a marina. I wanna wear a marina again, so fuck it, let’s go.
Lol.

My legs are feeling like mulch after doing Plyo yesterday and I can barely walk, so working on shoulders and arms is a mental relief.

This workout has 12 exercises that cycle between shoulders, biceps and triceps. Like the chest and back workout, you repeat the whole workout twice, trying to outdo your performance from the first round. Its really motivating and the people in the video get you wanting to push yourself. But this isn’t like Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod. This is some real shit. They work hard as hell and it pushes you to push yourself.

After you complete the whole workout and are drained and beat, they add a bonus 3 exercises that you can do. I got down on it and did as much as I could. The videos always end on some crazy shit that pushes you further and further and this one ends on Side Tri-Rises. In round one I did 12 on each side, but ended round 2 pushing out 20 on each side after seeing what they were doing on screen. Its crazy how much watching the DVD can motivate you.

I felt incredible after this workout and was hype to get onto Ab Ripper X.

This time around I still had difficulty with the first 3 moves and still had to modify a couple others to make it through. You’re supposed to do 25 reps of each exercise but I can’t make it through them all yet. Its a little discouraging, but I’m trying my best. I’m literally having to bite my towel and yell from the pain in my sides and stomach from doing this workout. Its completely insane. I can’t wait to be able to get through it though.

My girl came over after I had just finished and said I looked pale from working myself to exhaustion. I’m not fucking around with this. I need to see results.

It sounds really stupid, but in the DVDs the host says “Do your best and forget the rest” and “Bring It” and “What’s YOUR goal”, and these things keep you pushing and pushing for more. One thing I can say about today is that I left it all out there and worked as hard as my body let me to get shit done. Its definitely starting to get pretty crazy though.

Day 4:
Yoga X

I have done this workout many times in the past, and loved it, so I was stoked to get to it today. My legs are still in serious pain from Plyo on Tuesday, but doing Yoga is a huge relief and I’m sure they thought about that when they put P90X together.

I noticed right off the bat how tired I was early into the workout. The accumulative use of my upper body for the other workouts this week made Yoga X incredibly difficult. Usually, I would do a push up before every downward dog, but I was noticeably fatigued from the past exercises and couldn’t do it.

I’ve always struggled with the one foot static postures because of my flat feet, so I modified, or skipped those. Other than that, this workout, though highly intense, was a great relief and took a lot of strain out of my joints and muscles and loosened me up for the rest of the week.

This is one of my favorite workouts for sure.

On my to-do hitlist: Warrior Three, Standing (Something something) with Toe Lock – I can’t do this one because of a real lack of flexibility.

Day 5:
Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X

I was dreading this. My legs are STILL hurt from Plyo, and now I’ve gotta do THIS?! Fuck.

I decided to just do my best to ignore the pain and discomfort and keep something I heard Michael Irvin once said in mind: If you’re hurt, you play through it, but if you’re injured, you need to stop.

I was definitely just hurt and was needing to play through it.

The leg exercises in this video are brutal. If my legs aren’t looking like a belgian blue cow by the end of this shit, I’m suing someone. Its just too intense. The combination of leg exercises that burn your entire lower half and variations of pull-ups including the Switch Grip Pull-up, is ridiculous. I can imagine myself getting through this in the future, but damn… it’s gonna take some work.

I did notice my results from the pull-ups were better though, so at least I’m making some progress.

But after getting through it all I had to face Ab Ripper X again…

This time around I had one thought in mind: go until your body gives out. So I did as much as I could until my body began to fail me and then I’d press pause. There were instances where my legs would shake and shake uncontrollably until they hit the ground, or my body just wouldn’t respond to my brains request for it to move and I’d literally have to roll onto my side to get up to a seated position.

I tried my hardest to get through the Mason Twist barrage at the end of the video, but my body just gave out after 40 reps.

I’m convinced that these guys are officially insane. If you’ve ever tried this workout, you know what I mean.

Day 6:
Kenpo X

This is what Billy Blanks should be doing to stay in shape right about now. Its a cardio workout with kicks, punches and blocks that is fun as hell and still maintains the intensity level of the rest of the program. I, thankfully, can make it through this whole cardio workout with minimal pauses and love the energy of the people on the DVD. My legs, again, are very weak, so I noticed them dragging and lagging a little bit, so I’ll be looking to improve that in the future. Besides that, this is a DVD that I’ve done a number of times in the past and I’m really comfortable with it. It’s nice to see the people smiling and laughing throughout the workout. It definitely keeps you relaxed during the grueling pain and exhaustion.

Day 7:
X Stretch

On your off day, you can either rest or do the X Stretch DVD. In the past I’ve used X Stretch to help with my back pains and my overall physical comfort level for my day-to-day living, so today I chose to do the DVD.

My recommendation for anyone doing this program is to take the time to stretch on your off day. I know I just put my body through hell this week and I look at this off day as an opportunity to reenergize before going through that gruelling routine again, next week. It felt like a great relief and also gives you a level of accomplishment when you’re done. It’s a time to kind of reflect on what you’ve just been able to put yourself through, and when I think of this 90 days as 13 weeks, being able to check ONE of those weeks off on my mental checklist feels fantastic.

The Diet:

P90X comes with a nutritional guide to help you achieve 3 things throughout the phases of the program: Fat Shredding, Energy Boosting, and Endurance Maximizing. I haven’t followed this guide to a tee, but I have definitely used it to help me create boundaries for my eating habits. Another great Michael Irvin quote came into my head repeatedly during Week 1: Eat for purpose, not for pleasure. If I’m gonna treat my body like a machine, I’ve got to treat my food like a fuel. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do. My snacks have been minimalized to Soy nuts, my meats are all chicken or turkey, my breakfast is strictly egg whites, I have a low carb protein shake with a banana everyday, my pasta is whole wheat, and I’m mindful of my caloric intakes. I’ve even started to drink coffee without sugar or with sweetener and milk instead of cream. I’ve felt great throughout the week, and I’ve noticed that when I eat in this fashion, my body feels more powerful and less lethargic. I had about 5 beers over the course of about 4 hours on Day 4, but still ate very good. It’s funny how doing something like this has deterred my urge to be drinking. I’ve considered trying the diet, but I don’t think that I’m ready for it just yet. We’ll see how I feel next week.

Closing Thoughts:

I’ve always thrived on having the hardest starting block. I like being the underdog. I like being in second place. One thing I’ve always said to myself, to my peers, and to my Remix participants is “Always strive to be at the bottom of the next level up”. My homey Bryan Brock shares this philosophy by thinking of everything as a graduation from level to level. Think of it in any way that makes you comfortable, but that’s how I’ve always seen it. When you’re at the bottom, you look around, you see your goals, you see the moves that those ahead of you make, and you blow passed them with a vengeance, make it to the next level above, and never think about those you’ve passed ever again, except to reflect. I’m in the worst shape of my life. I’m in the worst, most difficult transitional period of my life. I am exhausted emotionally and mentally. And that’s just what I need to get through this 90 day hustle. I need focus. I need a bad starting block. And I need to keep it in mind as I push through every day. I want something out of myself physically that I have never had. And I am going to get it. Determination is something that can be concocted from pain and negative emotion, and that’s what I’ve done throughout my life. I am determined to never be in this shape again for the rest of my life. And persevering through these 90 days will not only get me started, it will give me the best starting block I have ever had.

I look forward to week 2.

Welcome To The Legends League.

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