TheLegendsLeague | Bryan Espiritu

Recovery Week 1

This week is a recovery week that helps transition you into Phase 2 of P90X. From the looks of it on paper, it’s a pretty calm week that doesn’t involve pushing a bunch of weights around, and I’m actually really looking forward to it.

Starting weight: 177lbs
After week 4: 166lbs.

Here’s how the week went.

The Workouts:

Day 22:
Yoga X

I just finished Day 1 of my first Recovery Week and I feel great. Doing Yoga on the first day of the week is pretty refreshing after getting accustomed to doing Chest & Back / Ab Ripper X on Mondays. I got through the DVD with a great level of comfort (note: comfort and ease are 2 totally different things), and I noticed that I was actually getting more out of my legs than usual. I’m going deeper into certain poses and my flexibility and calmness during this workout has improved 100 fold.

I can tell that I’m still working hard as fuck because I still sweat like an animal during this workout and am still shaking like crazy when doing a lot of the poses. The biggest difference though, is the ability to remain calm of mind throughout it all.

The biggest difference from this workout in comparison to every other time I have ever done Yoga X was my ability to do the “Yoga Belly 7″ section cleanly and with a strong effort. When it got painful in my stomach, I was pushing myself crazy hard and fighting to get the most out of my body. It was an amazing feeling. I’ve never completed this section with this level of intensity in the near year that I’ve had this DVD. I’m really happy about that.

Today was an incredibly necessary workout for me both physically and mentally. Doing Yoga X always calms my mind of all the bullshit that’s going on around me and it helps me get a little bit centered at least for 2 hours of my day. With the way that I finished todays workout, I’m stoked to be doing Yoga again in a couple of days, just to see my results.

When I was done today I weighed in at 168 lbs – the lowest I’ve been in a long time.

Tomorrow is the introduction of a new workout, and I’m pretty excited. We’ll see how that goes then.

Day 23:
Core Synergistics

I was really excited to get this workout going once I watched a quick run through of it on YouTube last night. I had been on the road for hours today and wanted to make sure that I wasn’t too tired to get this DVD done, so as soon as I got in, I got it going.

Now, I thought I was ready for this. But honestly, I was definitely not. I found a lot of people online saying that this was their favorite of all the P90X workouts, and I can see how that might be. It engages all of your core muscles in one grueling stretch of exercises. But for someone who had never done it before, I found myself gasping for breath, collapsing during exercises, and sweating like a dog. This workout is TOUGH.

Some of the things that are a lot harder than they look on TV/YouTube: Sphinx Push-Ups, Jail Cell Push-Ups, Dreya Roll, and Superman Banana. I’ve only got 1 more day this week to do this DVD right, so today was a HUGE wake-up call.

Note To Self: P90X only gets harder as you think you’re getting stronger.

Figures that right when I’m in the mood for a “Recovery Week”, I get rocked by Core Synergistics. Believe me, it’s not to be taken lightly.

(I’m still light headed as I type this out…)

Day 24:
Kenpo X

Let me just start this update by saying that today was the worst day I’ve had in a long time, emotionally and mentally. More on that at another time.

I didn’t get started on my workout until 9:30pm so I was pretty out of it, but that’s no excuse for how difficult today’s Kenpo was. I’m used to this workout, but I’ve been noticing that as the weather gets better outside, the temperature of my actual apartment raises and the humidity in my place is unreal. Last night while just chilling in my place I was sweating like a dog from the mugginess, so while I workout, I think that my lightheadedness is partially do to the lack of fresh oxygen in my house.

Near the end of today’s workout I started to worry that I was gonna faint from not getting enough air, and I had to pause the DVD and walk into the hallway of my building, which was FAR cooler than the inside of my place. I stayed out there for about 15 seconds and got back to Kenpo.

My biggest difficulty with today’s workout was the kicks. My legs are getting more and more fatigued as this project wears on, and at the end of the DVD, I felt a bad strain in my calf and the inside of my right leg. I had to calm it down a little bit in the intensity department, and make sure that I didn’t injure anything.

I feel like absolute shit emotionally, and I can’t say that my physical is feeling markedly better. My fat loss seems to have peaked, and the results are slowing down. I think the initial loss had a lot to do with the change in diet, and now it’s a matter of getting more lean and toned. I’m working on it though..

Tomorrow is a much needed Stretch day. Can’t wait.

Day 25:
X Stretch

I worked all day to finish my new Fully Wholly collection entitled, “Because The Kids Don’t Play”. While finishing the final piece, I caught word that Michael Jackson had suffered cardiac arrest and was taken to hospital. After an hour of twittering and following CNN, confirmation came in that he had passed away. A true Legend has left us. And I’m deeply upset about it on many levels.

I opted not to bother with the X Stretch DVD and went down to support my brother Mensa doing a retrospective on MJ at Octopuss out here in Toronto.

Day 26:
Core Synergistics

I’ve got a bit of a bone to pick with this workout. It really fucked me up two days ago, and had me swearing it was the hardest workout in this project thus far. After today, I feel a little bit redeemed.

Knowing what you’re in for while doing these DVDs makes a huge difference. Your mental preparation is very important in getting through this I’ve found, and I can see why many people quit in their first week.

Right away, the Stacked Foot Push-ups were far easier, Banana Roll was more controlled, Bow to Banana was attacked, Sphinx Push-ups were tackled without breaks, and the Jail Push-ups, well those were still killing me. lol.

I found myself catching a couple of confident second winds today and really getting determined while pushing through this workout, trying to really do what they say and engage my core. Thinking clearly that you’re in a recovery week while you’re in it, really helps. It gets you thinking that this time is yours to adjust your body into the new stage of intensity it’s about to get into, and this kind of thinking definitely got me through today.

Minus Tony’s, now repetitive and annoying comments, this workout may end up being one of my favorites. I’m really happy with how today went.

Day 27:
Yoga X

I got to working out tonight pretty late. I started at about 8:30pm, which, if you’re doing the Yoga DVD, will take you til about 10pm to complete. I noticed a couple of things today. I needed to focus very hard on my breathing in order to get through the whole DVD comfortably, and my overall strength was far less than usual.

I know that factors like this depend on a bunch of things, including when in the day you work out, how much food energy you have, etc, etc, but I really felt pretty out of it tonight.

I wasn’t able to do the “Warrior Three” segment because of pain in my foot, and I even noticed that during Tree Pose, my foot was struggling to stay up against my thigh. It was a little awkward mentally, but I’m thinking that it has a lot to do with the fact that I’m in a recovery week and I haven’t done any strength training in a bit. You would think that that would actually make me stronger and better rested, but I think it’s making me a little lethargic at times.

I got through the bulk of the DVD and finally reached the “Yoga Belly 7″ section where you work your abs out in a few static positions. I felt really determined and focused in this part, and feel like I did pretty well.

I’m hoping that this coming week will give me a nice lead into my next opportunity to do the Yoga X DVD and handle it in the way that I know I can.

Day 28:
Rest or X Stretch

Today was a rest day or a day to do X Stretch. I opted to prepare some homemade Jerk Chicken to cook for me and the wife tomorrow rather than do X Stretch. Tomorrow marks Day 1 of Phase 2 of P90X, and introduces a brand new workout – Chest, Shoulders and Triceps. I’m pretty excited.

The Diet:

This week more than any, I’ve felt a little mental over the diet. If you’re a regular on my blog, you’ll know that I’m missing Red Meat like a starving Hillbilly and it’s driving me nuts. I’ve switched up the cold cuts for canned tuna which I eat plain and drained out of the tin and I’ve added some crackers into the mix.

Here’s what a day generally looks like, (I’m not sure it’s really gonna differ from the past weeks though.):

Breakfast:
6 fried egg whites with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.
Glass of water
Cup of coffee with Splenda and low fat milk.

Post workout:
Protein shake with ice cubes, a banana, whey protein and 8 oz Soy Milk.

Lunch:
Half a tin of drained tuna
2 pickles
Half slice of Havarti cheese
Water

Snack:
Baby Carrots
Sliced olives
5 Mini Breton crackers

Snack 2:
Half tin of drained tuna
5 Mini Breton crackers

Dinner:
Whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce
Lettuce salad with low cal Italian Dressing.

Snack 3:
Cashews or Soy Nuts
Water with Orange Juice and Ice.

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The lack of variation in my diet is what I think is driving me so bezzerk. I need to switch things up and introduce different foods into my day that will keep me from going absolutely insane. It’s getting to the point where I’m starting to dread some of the meals and I think that’s what provoked me to say fuck it and cook up some bomb ass chicken for me and my girl to enjoy. That, and the fact that I love cooking for her, but that’s beside the point.

The above sample is just an example of what I may eat throughout a day. I don’t want the impression to be that there isn’t any variety. I do eat brown rice still, and veggies and soup, etc, but I am very, very conscious of the caloric intake and the amount of fat and sodium in everything. I wanna continue to use the P90X Nutritional Guide as a GUIDE, but I need to snap out of it and start to add MORE variety is all. And that’s definitely my plan for the coming month.

Closing Thoughts:

This week was cool. Getting a bit of a break was really nice and it allowed me to begin to mentally prepare for the increased intensity of Phase 2 of P90X. I’ve watched the workout that I’m set to do tomorrow and it’s pretty crazy. There’s one handed push-ups and slow motion push-ups and all this crazy Throw The Bomb shit. I’ve got a feeling it’s gonna be pretty grueling after a week of rest, but I’m feeling good. I love how this workout plan is set up to give variety to your muscle memory as soon as it begins to grow accustom to anything. I hate the term, “Muscle Confusion” so I won’t go there, but the shit is legit. My body looks and feels way different than it did a month ago, and I can’t wait to see the results after another Phase of this shit.

On a social level, I went out to Shuffle a couple of days ago and it was actually really nice to see a few folks. The biggest turn off to the whole thing was seeing a lot of people who have added me on facebook as friends, but acted all fucked up when I said hello in person. Today I finally got to deleting everyone I’ve never actually met from my account.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Fully Wholly’s and where I can go with them. I’ve got a couple of plans, but at this point they’re just that – plans. I want my career as an artist to be brighter than my career as a designer, and I feel like the Wholly’s can help me find that liberation in my creative ideas that I’ve needed my whole life. I hope this all can happen..

This week was easier on a physical than it was mentally and emotionally. I’m getting pretty fucked up about being in Toronto and being amongst certain folks and I find myself hermitting in my house a lot. My anxiety has shot through the roof, and honestly, working out has been the only thing besides working on the Fully Wholly stuff that has really kept me sane. My hope is that with the reintroduction of resistance training that will come next week, my confidence and energy level will raise back up and some of that anxiety will fade. But I do still toy with the idea that maybe it’s not me that makes me anxious, and I’ve gotta change something else to make things better.

Welcome To The Legends League.

Read The BS of My Life / P90X:
Intro
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3

- Bryan 'be.' Espiritu