The BS of My Life / P90X: Day 29-35

This was the first week of Phase 2 of P90X, and I gotta tell you, it was the hardest week I’ve had thus far in a number of ways.

Starting weight: 177lbs
After week 5: 168lbs.

Here’s how the week went.

The Workouts:

Day 29:
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X

This workout is incredibly intense. There are things that you have to do that I would never expect to be doing, and while it’s super difficult, it adds a definite element of fun and variety to what I’ve been doing for the past month.

You do 24 exercises throughout the whole workout, and they are fucking insane. Some of the more difficult ones for me were Plange Push-Ups, Pike Presses, Side Tri-Rises, One-arm Push-Ups, Weighted Circles, Slo-Mo throws and One-arm Balance Push-Ups. I know, that’s a whole lot of exercises. But fuck, this shit was super freaking hard. I found myself kind of boggled that you’re expected to do this shit, but I tried my best and from getting through Phase 1 of P90X, I was confident that I would only get better at these exercises as time went on.

Next was Ab Ripper X.

After not having to do this video for a week, it was admittedly difficult as hell. The Split-Leg Sit-Ups have become very easy to complete, but the Oblique V-Ups and the Mason Twist had me absolutely killed today. I also found something that assisted with the Fifer Scissors. I placed the backs of my hands underneath the lower part of my back to help me keep my legs up. I was able to get through the whole scissor section, and although it was made easier by doing this, at least I did it instead of skipping this whole section or doing it with my legs bent.

Today was tough. And I’m gonna just pray that I’m okay tomorrow. lol.

Day 30:
Plyometrics

After doing yesterday’s Chest, Shoulders & Triceps workout I woke up leaner than I think I have ever been as an adult. My body felt lighter but I felt super strong. And I weighed in at 165lbs. This shit is incredible.

So it was on to doing Plyometrics. (insert dreaded movie music here). Honestly, this video is out of hand. Today was the first time when I really took into consideration that Tony says, “If this is too much for you, you have the Cardio X option”. See, there’s a DVD called Cardio X that you can do instead of Plyo, but I choose to always do the Plyo DVD. Well it fucking killed me today. I was falling from the pain and panting like a wuss the whole time. I mean, I know this is good for me and that it’s gonna improve my cardiovascular health, but fuck. It’s just too much sometimes. I was in serious pain from my hips down, and even while doing the modified moves, I was struggling really, really bad. I can see how the increase of intensity of the resistance workouts of Phase 2 can help create a greater degree of difficulty in all the Cardio workouts that you have to do in between.

Day 31:
Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X

This is another brand new workout that is introduced in Phase 2 of P90X. It’s 24 exercises, and like Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, it’s intense as shit. Honestly, after doing Phase 1 of P90X, I’m pretty used to my heart rate being pretty high even during the resistance and weight training because the breaks are usually pretty short and you have to repeat exercises. But with these 2 new workouts, it’s just 24 different exercises and it seems to give your cardio a bit of a break. Either that or I’m just getting better at handling it.

Like the Chest, Shoulders & Tri’s workout, there were a number of things that I a) was having trouble with, or b) found that I had weights that were too light or too heavy. I only have 10lbs and 20lbs dumb bells so I end up really pushing myself to get 8 reps in, or going to far and doing 20 reps. This means I’ve definitely gotta get more weights – thumbs down. The exercises that I had issues with were: Lawnmowers (not enough weight), Reverse Grip Bent-over Rows (not enough weight), In & Out Hammer Curls (too much weight), and Strip-Set Curls (not enough weights). The problem with the last exercise is that if you don’t have a variety of weights you’re gonna get screwed. You’re supposed to start with a pretty heavy weight, do your set, then grab a weight that’s a little lighter, do your set, and so on until you’ve gone through 4 sets with decreasing weights. Since I’ve only got 2 sets of dumb bells, it was too easy on the second and third sets and didn’t give the type of effect I know it should have. This totally sucks, but I’ve gotta buy more weights.

Overall I like this workout. It’s a bit relaxing to get to do something with not so much cardio involved, and feel like you’re just throwing weights around. It’s a nice change from how hectic all the other days kind of seem. But then again, you gotta do Ab Ripper X when it’s all done.

After Monday’s struggle with Ab Ripper X, I was feeling determined to get it done proper today. Those plans, though thought through with good intentions, seemed to come crumbling down pretty quickly. lol. This video, no matter what anyone tells you, is difficult. You need a LOT of core strength and a LOT of grit to get through all of the moves with good form. I think that with the addition of these intensified workouts, Ab Ripper X just gets harder to do or something. Today, as usual I struggled with Fifer Scissors and couldn’t even do the whole Crunchy Frog section. I had to take a 2 second break during it. AND IT’S THE FOURTH MOVE FOR GOD’S SAKE! The Oblique V-Ups have been getting more and more difficult as I improve my form. I think that during the first 2 weeks I was doing them with poor form and it made it easier to complete the 25 reps on each side. But now that I’m noticing what I’ve been doing wrong, they are hard as hell. Lastly, as always, is the Mason Twist. I’m usually pretty good at getting through the Mason Twist, but these last 2 times, my feet have hit the floor and stuck there. Today I had to keep them down between the 25 and 40 mark, and then struggled to keep them up for the bonus section. Like everyone in the video does, I always crash and fall over after I’m done this DVD. And today just completely killed me.

Day 32:
Rest Day Swap

Today I attended a funeral for Jeff & Hannah Roche. I went to High School with Jeff and he was the best friend to one of my best friends older brothers. Needless to say, working out was less important than showing support to those who needed it and paying respect to the recently married couple who were taken too soon in a tragic, tragic accident.

Find Peace Jeff & Hannah.

Day 33:
Yoga X

After yesterday’s crazy ride of emotions and drunk reminiscing, I woke up in a bit of a daze today. I decided I would wait until pretty late to get into doing the Yoga DVD, and didn’t start it until about 8:30.

I did something today that I thought would help the overall circulation of air in my house but it actually kind of fucked with my workout to tell you the truth. If you’re familiar with these update posts, you’ll know that in the past my place has gotten really hot while I’m doing these P90X DVDs and I get to a point where I find myself really short of breath. So today I decided I’d turn my fan on in my living room while I did my workout so that I could keep things relatively cool.

For the first little bit of the DVD it was actually really nice. I was calm and relaxed, and everything was going really well. But then by the time I got to the points in this workout where I’m usually pretty gassed, it started to feel like the intensity of everything had kind of gone away. And I don’t know if it’s because I’m used to just being so tired and sweating buckets, or because I got an unusual break yesterday from working out. Either way, today’s Yoga X workout was less than satisfying and I ended up pretty disappointed when it was all over with.

A few things about the workout that I noticed. The flexibility in my hip flexors and legs is still pretty bad and I’m not sure why it’s not improving. I have a great deal of difficulty keeping my legs perpendicular to one another when doing things like the standing leg extensions. It sucks, but it’s the truth. Also, doing Prayer Twist has somehow gotten more and more difficult for me. Maybe I’m thinking about it too much, maybe I’ve got vertigo, maybe my floor is uneven. Who knows. But I always fall over like a newborn goat every time I have to do it. lol. I still have a great deal of difficulty with the whole Warrior Three section. I just fast forward through it because my feet get pretty sore from trying it.

The one positive of today’s workout was Yoga Belly 7. I’m pretty determined to get my stomach in not-so-inner-tube shape, so I go into any ab related exercises pretty focused. I’m noticing, much like doing Ab Ripper X, that with increased focus comes increased intensity and pain. Hopefully it all shows in the end…

I left my house and checked my homies Kev, Barry and Clyde and their girls and we went to see Nana for his birthday. It was a little slow and I trekked down to Skybar to see Los, Skam and Will. Will gave me a lift back to the crib and we got some conversation in. I miss that dude. .. but that’s about all on that. lol.

Day 34:
Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X

Ah fuck. I hate this workout. I hate it. I might actually hate it more than I hate police officers. lol.

Right off the bat this workout had me a bit squirmish. The first exercise in the whole thing is Single Leg Chair Lunges (or something like that), and I couldn’t get 25 reps out of my left leg, doing only 20. Then I switched to my right leg and I was only able to comfortably get 14 reps before feeling like my leg was buckling. I kept it moving and continued the workout. Once I got to the Super Skaters I could feel how dead my legs were. They’re already my weakest physical point, but today they just seemed like they couldn’t deal with this workout. Every other exercise afterwards went as normal, but with some discomfort in my right knee, which has bothered me in the past due to my flat feet. When the whole workout was done, I got to the cool down and my right leg was struggling so much to stay straight for one of the stretches that I overcompensated my focus on it and my left leg gave out and buckled. My right knee felt fucked and I was pretty bummed.

I took a bit of a break before getting into Ab Ripper X to make sure my knee wasn’t completely fucked up, but started as soon as I figured it wasn’t all that serious.

I gotta say, today’s bout with this DVD was a lot better than the past 2 runs at it. I still had difficulty getting through the whole Crunchy Frog section because I had just completed the Legs & Back DVD, and Fifer Scissors, as usual, was problematic, but I really put in work for the rest of the workout. The thing I had in mind throughout this whole thing was getting through the whole Mason Twist sequence since I had had trouble with it this week. I tried to keep my mind focused on punching the ground next to me rather than on the pain in my legs and core, and I got through it just fine.

Today’s workout was pretty shitty. I don’t feel confident in my ability to get through the Legs & Back DVD, and it feels like I’m getting weaker or like the recovery week took a lot out of me. I think that there’s more to this that I’ll get into in my closing thoughts for this week actually, so skip down if you wanna know what’s good.

Realtalk: I actually said, “I hate this shit” out loud while I was doing Ab Ripper X today. That shit is so fucking hard yo. Try it.

Day 35:
Kenpo X

I’m finally at the end of this fucking week. It seems like this week has lasted forever. I was with my daughter today, so I had to wait until the evening to get this workout in. I woke up with my legs feeling like Jello from the Legs & Back DVD and was really not looking forward to getting to Kenpo X today. Honestly, I find the timer at the bottom of the screen for all these DVDs makes a huge difference in making it through them. And with Kenpo X, once I get to the 2nd break I start to feel really comfortable.

Thinking that today’s workout was gonna be hell, I did my best to stay upbeat and have fun today. The Kenpo DVD is one of the more fun workouts to do and I didn’t wanna be dulled out during a workout that would be grueling. But as soon as I got through the initial warm-up, I could tell that I was gonna be good today.

I actually think that today’s Kenpo workout was the best I’ve done in the 5 weeks of P90X that I’ve completed. I didn’t pause the tape at all, I did all the jumping jacks and X jumps during the breaks as well as the running and skipping to keep my heart rate up, and I did every single move in the whole DVD without difficulty. I found that once again, having the fan on in my living room helped circulate the muggy air in my apartment and made it a lot easier to breathe in general throughout the workout. Apparently that’s important. lol.

There’s not much to say about today other than I’m happy this week is over, but I’m bummed that I won’t be getting another rest day for 7 days.

The Diet:

Now that I’m in Phase 2 of P90X, the diet has changed slightly. I’m allowed 1 more serving of carbs, but 1 less serving of protein.

This, has been tough. The diet is what I’m finding is helping me actually see the results of the work I’m putting in. On days where I may go over my protein intake, I notice I’m bloated or feel heavier the next day. On days where I fall short, I find that my energy the following day is depleted. It’s tough to stick right to it, and now that I’ve been going 5 weeks eating basically the same foods over and over again, it’s really, really getting frustrating.

I made some jerk chicken early in the week so that I could have some variety, knowing full well that it didn’t really fall into the category of things I should be eating in terms of the ingredients used, ie sugar, oil, soy sauce. I figured a little bit out of the lines isn’t gonna hurt anybody, and fuck, I’ve been killing myself for the past 4 weeks. I also had some of a popular family desert from my girlfriend that was fucking delicious, but I did truthfully, feel guilty about it even though it was just a 2×1 inch square.

I know, I’m a bit mental about the diet. But I wanna know what kind of shape P90X can really get someone into, and I don’t feel like I’ll fully know this if I don’t try my best to keep the nutritional guide as a guideline for how I eat.

Now here’s the real kicker of this whole week, and I think it’s what has reflected into my weight, my ability to get through the workouts comfortably, and my energy levels. I drank 3 out of 7 days this week. And trust me, I’m feeling it around my gut. Considering I was feeling lean and Tyler Durden-ish at the beginning of the week, it sucks to feel bloated and back to square one at the end of the week. My lowest weigh-in this week was 165lbs, and I truly feel like these last 3 days have added to me weighing in this morning at 168lbs.

More focus will be placed on what I eat, and more importantly, what I drink, next week. Trust me.

Closing Thoughts:

Damn it this week was tough. The combination of the increased intensity in 2 new workouts and how that effected the rest of the workouts, having helped Zaki move on Tuesday, spending the day with my daughter on Wednesday for Canada Day, going to a double funeral on Thursday and getting so drunk I don’t remember how I got home, realizing I puked for the first time in a long time, going out again on Friday and having some beers and then again on Saturday just chilling outside with the wife, has had me kind of fucked up. I mean, I don’t regret any of the days or nights that I went out except for the funeral where I know I over drank.

I’m starting to get pretty depressed and upset with where my life is at right now. I’m realizing that I need something very bad. And that necessity is really emphasizing all the things that I know I don’t need in my life. But I’m frustrated and I’m confused as to how to deal with it all. I really feel like I need to runaway or some shit. Like on some childish shit. I don’t want what’s around me anymore. I want it all gone and I want to start fresh. But I haven’t pushed for that new beginning yet. It’s like I’m lost and need to find my footing before I decide which route is necessary to take to get to my very well known destination.

These workouts can only do so much for my body and for getting my mind off of things. And they do. They DO do so much. But they don’t solve anything. I feel like I know what the solution to all of my issues right now is but I am very afraid to face that decision. It makes me feel worried. It makes me uncertain. And it shadows other decisions that I’ve made about my life, so it’s confusing.

The BS of My Life needs to cleared up as I said. I need to stay on top of things. Everything in my house should be kept orderly. I need to complete tasks as they present themselves. But I haven’t. This week I have not at all. My laundry piled up. My apartment got increasingly messy. My dishes are not done. And my belongings are semi-scattered. But this is comforting to me. Because amid this heaping pile of “Things to Do” is a heaping pile of “Important Things to be Done” that I continue to avoid. If I take care of the tasks at hand I am forced to take care of the tasks that have always needed my attention. And this week I have neglected that. I am admittedly falling apart. And while the workouts get more and more difficult and I plough through them with determination and focus, I cannot seem to find the strength in me to do the same where it really counts.

Welcome To The Legends League.

Read The BS of My Life / P90X:
Intro
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Day 30 Results

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