TheLegendsLeague | Bryan Espiritu

I just finished Week 10 of P90X. It was a fucking rollercoaster emotionally and while I had my heart set on trying to gain some weight back, I wasn’t able to break 160 by the end of the week.

Starting weight: 177lbs
After week 10: 159lbs.

Here’s how the week went.

The Workouts:

Day 64:
Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X

Today was somewhat of a return into a mentality that’s prepared for the intensity of the program. I feel like I had been breaking down last week and got really tired of succumbing to it, so today I was focused on kicking myself around a little bit.

Chest, Shoulders & Triceps is definitely a workout that feels kind of old school in the sense that you’re pushing your muscle to it’s capacity. It’s old fashioned hard work with not a lot of cardiovascular strain but definitely a lot of exhaustion and fatigue happening.

My goals for today were to match or outdo my old numbers in the push-up department and raise my weights but do less reps in the exercises requiring weights, and I feel I did pretty good at this.

Like all the P90X DVD’s, when you decide to really, really push yourself, you end up gassing out a lot sooner into the workout. I was aware of this, so I didn’t get down on myself for struggling through some exercises because I knew that I was pushing myself to my absolute limit.

I wasn’t able to do many One-Arm Push-Ups, or able to perform the Clap Push-Ups off of my knees, but I can definitely tell you that today was the toughest workout in terms of how much energy and determination I put into it, since I started P90X.

I hit the ground tired, MANY times today. I crumbled and shook through a LOT of push-ups. But I did my absolute best to get every single possible rep out of myself, and for that I’m really proud. I noticed that I almost got to the point of emotionally breaking down, but I had to gain focus and say out loud, “Now is not the time”. I know, it’s corny.. but it worked.

When it was time to do Ab Ripper X, I approached it with the same type of determination that I feel I had in the beginning of this whole insane project. I had trouble with Reverse Bicycle and Crunchy Frog as usual, but I made it all the way through Fifer Scissors, Pulse Ups, Oblique V-Ups, and Mason Twist without any problems, which was a huge personal accomplishment. I don’t feel like I’ve tackled A.R.X. quite like I did today, and it felt amazing considering I had been feeling beat up about last week’s experience.

I felt amazing today, and I want to continue on this vibe for the rest of the week. We’ll see how that goes..

Day 65:
Plyometrics

I was slightly worried, with good reason, about getting into today’s workout. I had a rude wakeup call last week when trying to tackle Plyo, and I was kind of hesitant to get started. One thing that I kept in mind from the past couple of months is that the earlier in the day that you choose to do these workouts, the less excuses you will find to avoid them and the less time you’ll have to think about how difficult they’re going to be. I had a few meetings today so I needed to get this done to avoid getting home late and not having the energy to really give it my full energy.

When I started out I was worried about how my legs were gonna feel even after the initial warmup lunges and prayer squats. My knees had really been hurting me over the last few days and I was actually considering switching to Cardio X today to avoid injury. Obviously I didn’t, and while I noticed my legs getting sore through the warm-up, I stuck with it and continued on.

After the first round of exercises I was feeling okay and shockingly energetic. I kept in mind that there are about 5 breaks in this workout and if I could just keep getting to the next break I would be fine. I noticed that doing some of the exercises where you temporarily leave the ground is easier when you jump higher. I know, weird right? Well it’s true. I think the small break that your muscles get while they’re airborne is enough to make up for the pain that you feel when you land. But that only takes you so far.

After the second round I was feeling way more tired, but my confidence was up. The 2 squat moves in the beginning of this round really work your quads out, but having gotten through them was a big mental accomplishment in terms of feeling like I was okay to keep moving forward.

Following the second break, you get into Jump Knee Tucks aka “The Mother of P90X Moves”. I kept in mind that my homey Drex does a lot of these while training at his MMA gym, so I stayed confident and did them with the mentality that I know he works hard to get to where he is at physically and I should be doing the same. I definitely did these with more intensity than I have in the past, and was breathing pretty heavily afterwards.

The 4th sequence is one of my least favorites because it starts with Rock Star Hops and ends in the Military March, which doesn’t look intense, but it always seems to make me short of breath. Like the Jump Knee Tucks, I performed the Rock Star Hops with more intensity than I ever have and it felt amazing. I was finding that focusing more on what muscles I was using to do the movements was helping me get through it all. And by the end of this sequence I knew I was almost done.

Run Stance with 180 Jumps is also one of my least favorite moves in the whole workout because of how painful my quads get. I needed to do them semi modified at times in order to get through the whole 30secs but I did them and felt confident in my efforts. I still can’t do Hot Foot because of my flat feet and the pain that I get in them, so I stuck with the skipping version like the dude with one leg does. After that was all done I felt amazing mentally, but really exhausted and short of breath physically. I checked my heartrate and it was sitting at about 168 which is pretty good considering it felt closer to 190 in my chest. lol.

The bonus sports round is always a fun way to end the most horrific workout of P90X, and today was no different. I was really impressed with how well I did today since my legs had been in really bad shape, but by the end of it all I realized that today was the best Plyo performance I had put in for the entire 60 some odd days I’ve been doing this thing. I weighed myself prior to my workout at 161lbs, and was still about 160 when it was done. Not quite the same as when I used to do this workout and lose 3lbs in one sitting, but it still feels good to know you’ve worked hard. lol.

I’ve only got 2 more goes at this thing, so I gotta make ‘em count.

Day 66:
Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X

Whoaaa nelly, today’s workout was pretty sick. It seems that all of the thoughts that I was having regarding my strength depleting was related at least in part to the fact that I just came off a Recovery Week. But not this week. Man. It was a good day. (No Ice Cube. Or P-Rod.)

The goals for today – use 25lbs dumbbells where I used 20’s in the past and continue to do all my pull-ups free form. Also, jump up to 40lbs on both Lawnmower variations.

I did all of this and got an amazing workout. The only place I didn’t jump to 25s from 20s was Static Arm Curls and Crouching Cohen Curls. I was feeling gassed from all of the other bump ups that I needed a bit of a break in those sections. I also used 20lbs for In-Out Hammer Curls, but that was a jump up from Week 7 where I did 15 reps of 10lbs. Today I did 9 reps of 20lbs, which by that time in the workout, felt like more than enough.

My pull-ups were all done freeform. Here’s how I did:

Wide Front Pull-Ups: 15
- I took 1 quick break, but this felt amazing.

Switch Grip Pull-Ups: 8
- I had to break when switching grips, but I was impressed by my ability to get them done freeform.

Corn Cob Pull-Ups: 4
- These are incredibly hard. A lot harder freeform than using some assistance so I didn’t feel too bad about only doing 4.

Towel Pull-Ups: 12
- Being able to do this many Towel Pull-Ups felt so amazing. So amazing.

Chin-Ups: 12
- I was really, really gassed by this point and I noticed my form was wavering. The 12 count was more like 8 and 4 really shitty ones.

Max Rep Pull-Ups: 5
- I took an extra minute break before doing Max Rep Pull-Ups just so I could get my “max reps” in. But even after catching a breather and having some water I was only able to do 5 Pull-Ups. That’s gotta say something about how beat I was by this point in the workout.

At the end of Back & Biceps is Strip-Set Curls where you choose 4 sets of weights and do 8 reps at each weight declining from the heaviest to the lightest. Having my new set of weights, I was pretty excited about this. In the past I would do 3 sets using 20s and 1 set of 12 using 10s – kind of shitty. The plan today was to use 25, 20, 15 and 10lbs weights. The 25s were pretty tough by the end of the workout, the 20s were also kind of hard but not so bad, then I had to pause the DVD to remove plates from the 25s to make 15lbs. This slowed the effects of doing Strip-Set Curls and actually made the 15s really easy after an extra bit of “rest” from changing the plates. By the time I got to the 10s I felt like I could have thrown them across the room they were so light. I did 15 reps and called it a day.

Once I was done, I felt really, really jacked. My arms were throbbing and I didn’t feel too exhausted. It was great. I was gonna jump straight into Ab Ripper X, but instead I took about 5 minutes to hydrate and catch my breath.

When I finally got to Ab Ripper X, I felt that I knew a lot of my past mistakes and learned a lot from Monday’s workout, so I was prepared to put in another good performance. Straight away, In & Outs and Bicycles were fine. I struggled a tiny bit with Crunchy Frog, but not as much as in past weeks. Fifer Scissors felt tougher than 2 days ago and I had to take 2 breaks – once at Rep 16 and once at Rep 24. When I got to Cross Legged/Straight Leg Sit-Ups I wasn’t sure which version to do. I decided I would do the Straight Leg variation for the first 12 and Cross Legged (harder) for the last 13. I felt like this was a good decision. Hip Rock & Raise and Pulse Ups were both tough, but I didn’t take any breaks or waver at all. My stomach just felt very tight and sore. V-Up Roll-Ups is one of my favorite moves of A.R.X. and today I was really focusing on keeping nice form on the V-Up. I felt like they were a little tough today, but I made it through without slowing my pace or losing form. Oblique V-Ups is one of my dreaded moves of the workout, but today I stuck with it and was able to get my 25 reps out on both sides with a couple of quick breaks. I’d like to be able to do these a bit slower, but they are tough as hell. Next was Leg Climbs. I’m reasonably good at this considering my lack of flexibility, and I do the bent knee version to add tension. Today was moderately tough. Some days it feels a little too easy, other days it feels awkwardly hard. Last move of A.R.X. is Mason Twist. By now I have no fear of this move and can get through it from front to back. My focus today was on keeping my legs straight with my toes pointing forward like I was in Boat position. I wavered a bit and my legs bent here and there, but I made it all the way to the end. Usually I crash at the last rep just like everyone on the DVD, but today I was fine. It felt good as hell to get this done.

Today’s workout was amazing. It definitely helped my mood from last night and earlier today. Right after I was done I was looking forward to doing Yoga tomorrow. Can’t wait for that.

Day 67:
Yoga X

Man, things have been mighty interesting this week. I’ve been really down and depressed and knowing that I had to do Yoga today was somewhat of a consolation. As usual, I did the workout in the evening to try to relieve some of the stress of the day, but I didn’t do it quite as late as I’ve done in the past couple of weeks.

Once again I noticed from the beginning that this workout was markedly easier than it had been in the past. My body seems to be growing accustomed to the workout, and having done this particular DVD over the last 2 years (roughly), it’s not nearly as hard as it used to be. I found that I didn’t really start to work up a sweat as early as normal, and because I wasn’t struggling so much my mind began to wander quickly. It’s important during this particular workout to focus on your breathing, clear your mind, and relieve yourself of stress – at least for me it is – and when it isn’t really too difficult, it’s hard to do these things. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still relatively tough, but in comparison to the intensity of the other workouts, this DVD has lost a lot of flare for me.

Knowing how badly I hurt my right leg a couple of weeks ago, I was weary about getting into the Warrior Three section. I did Warrior Three, then fast forwarded through the rest of the sequence that subsequently hurt my leg. I did this on both sides and noticed that because I forwarded through it, my mind was immediately disconnected from the workout. When I got to the standing leg extensions in the static postures, I also forwarded through it because of my leg, and once again found that I was losing interest in the workout momentarily. In the past I would give it my full effort to perform these moves, but since I hurt myself I’ve been apprehensive. I think that the next time I do Yoga X I’m just gonna give it a shot because I’m starting to get bored quickly throughout the workout.

My favorite and least favorite part of Yoga X is Yoga Belly 7. Knowing that these are my last few weeks of the program I’m really trying to get my Tyler Durden on, but my lower abs just aren’t coming out of hibernation. lol. I’m also a little on the fence about gaining another 5lbs back and how I should go about doing that, so it’s been a bit weird, but regardless, I’ve been really trying to attack Yoga Belly 7 and Ab Ripper X lately.

I’m pretty used to this workout and at this point it’s a matter of the amount of intensity I put towards all the moves. Here’s how I did:

Touch The Sky:
I get pretty determined when I do this move, so there’s no slacking whatsoever. Good form, good height.

Boat:
Again, good form, good height, a lot of focus on a straight back and pointed toes. I use Adam as a point of reference in this section.

Half Boat:
My legs and hip flexors are weak, so I’d love to be able to get my leg that’s straightened parallel to the thigh that’s bent, but I can’t physically get it that high. Either way, my form is good, it’s just the height that I’d like to improve.

Scissors:
I find doing this in Yoga Belly 7 is far easier than doing it in Ab Ripper X. I focus a lot on flexing the buttocks on the side of the leg close to the ground to keep my form and it works pretty well. This exercise is really difficult for me, but I’m able to perform it.

Torso Side Twist:
I’d say that this and Deep Torso Side Twist are the most grueling of the 7 moves, but focusing on breathing and not thinking about the pain is key. Today I really put a lot of focus on closing the gap between my thighs and my chest and not allowing my legs to drift away from my face. This made it a lot more difficult, but that’s the point right?

Deep Torso Side Twist:
At this point my sides were just killing me. I’ve noticed that with the increased intensity that I put into Ab Ripper X, the cardio workouts become a lot more intense on my core. Once again, focus on closing the gap between my thighs and chest and thinking about my breathing was what got me through this.

3 Part Touch The Sky:
:20 – Good height out of my shoulders, but my legs were already drifting and knees bending.
:40 – Better height out of my shoulders, legs starting to really get shaky, and the pain was getting pretty intense.
:60 – Shoulders very high, really pushing for my but and legs to get height, but a lot of pain and shakiness overall. Once again, looking at Adam as reference and a means to remain focused and calm through the intensity.

—

Today’s workout was alright. I skipped the OM’s at the end because I wasn’t feeling very zen’d out today. I was upset with not feeling too tired after this workout, but I got it done and was, at very least, satisfied with the Yoga Belly 7 section. I don’t know what I’m gonna need to kick myself back with this workout, but it’s gonna have to happen soon. Hopefully my plans to continue to try to do the Standing Leg Extensions and the entire Warrior Three sequence will be of some help in the coming weeks. We’ll see.

Day 68:
Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X

I’ve never liked this workout. It hasn’t felt all that intense to me, I hate working on my legs because they’re weak and scrawny, and I’ve never been able to get a lot of pull-ups done without assistance. But today before I started the workout I had a plan. Do 15 reps of each pull-up in the first round and 10 reps of each pull-up in the second round so that you can get 100 total reps done by the end of the workout. Prior to today my highest total rep count for pull-ups in this workout was 85. So I wanted to beat it by at least 15 total reps. The other thing I had planned was to use 15lbs weights for all the weighted exercises.

Since there’s no worksheets for the leg portions of this DVD, I can tell you that I was able to use the 15lb weights and it made a pretty big difference in intensity. It’s not a lot of weight, but it’s enough for someone with weakling legs like mine to feel a difference. It definitely made the leg portion of the workout more intense and got me into each exercise a little bit more considering I like feeling challenged.

Now for the pull-up results. Here were my numbers for today:

Round 1. Reverse Grip Chin-Ups: 19
Round 2. Wide Front Pull-Ups: 15
Round 3. Closed Grip Overhand Pull-Ups: 15
Round 4. Switch Grip Pull-Ups: 12
Round 5. Reverse Grip Chin-Ups: 15
Round 6. Wide Front Pull-Ups: 15
Round 7. Closed Grip Overhand Pull-Ups: 12
Round 8. Switch Grip Pull-Ups: 7

That’s a total of 110 Pull-Ups!!! I was so stoked!

There were definitely reps that were shaky and I was inching up to my chin on the bar, but fuck, I’m proud of myself. My advice to anyone struggling with the pull-ups is take breaks and get maximum reps out. If you feel gassed after 9, come down and get back on when you’re ready. That’s what I did today and I feel great.

At the end of the workout my right knee was feeling a little bit uneasy, but it was alright. I didn’t take too much of a break and went straight into Ab Ripper X.

In & Outs: Easy
Bicycles (forward): Difficult, took no breaks.
Bicycles (backward): Very Difficult, took 2-3 breaks for 1 rep each.
Crunchy Frog: Very Difficult, took 2-3 breaks for 1-2 reps each.
Cross Legged Sit Ups: Difficult, took no breaks.
Fifer Scissors: Very Difficult, took 3-4 breaks for 1 rep each.
Hip Rock & Raise: Hard, took no breaks.
Pulse Ups: Difficult, took no breaks.
V-Up Roll Ups: Difficult, took no breaks.
Leg Climbs: Hard, took no breaks
Oblique V-Ups: Very Difficult, took 2-3 breaks for 2-3 reps each.
Mason Twist: Hard, took no breaks.

I’ve been feeling really good about my progress through Ab Ripper X even though on paper it looks like I still need to take a lot of breaks. In actuality I do, but I’m performing the moves with a lot better form and more focus nowadays which makes the workout more intense than me flailing around how I was when I first started this thing. My obliques and love handles were really sore from yesterday’s Yoga Belly 7, but I felt great after doing today’s workout, pain and all.

This was definitely the most rewarding and satisfying Legs & Back workout since I started P90X, and I’m stoked to see how my numbers progress over the next 2 weeks.

Day 69:
Kenpo X

Holy, I’ve been pretty busy over the last couple of days, so getting a workout in was tough but also pretty important. Kenpo is always a lot of fun and great for stress relief, so I really thought of today like I was going into a class at a gym somewhere and I was getting myself stoked about getting this one done.

The Kenpo DVD starts with my favorite stretch sequence of the whole P90X program – The Saunders Cycle. (don’t know if I spelled that right). It’s just 2 movements that you do on each side that makes you feel amazing, and today was no different. As a matter of fact, I’m gonna go do it right now. I’ll be right back. ..

Man, that was great.

Alright, so today’s goals were as follows:
• Keep a high level of intensity throughout the whole workout.
• Focus on getting right leg kicks higher than last week, but careful not to overdo it.
• Keep heart rate as high as possible by running with knees high during break.
• Do X-Jumps as high as possible with legs spanning out as wide as possible during break.
• Get in a very low horse stance for Elbow, Blocks and Vertical Punches Sequences.

I was able to keep to all of today’s goals and it resulted in an amazing workout that was intense but didn’t have me half dead at the end. It went by super quick and I sweated off 2lbs of weight in the process.

I’m honestly not at all fed up or tired of Kenpo. It’s so much fun, it keeps you engaged, the people in the DVD are great and the pace is perfect to end off an intense week. After Yoga, Legs & Back, and Kenpo, I’m definitely gonna need to get a good session in with X Stretch tomorrow before getting into Week 11 of this thing.

It’s crazy. I’m almost done!!

Day 70:
Rest or X Stretch

I needed to stretch so badly today but had too much work to get done and ended up at my workstation all night putting in hours. It was great, but not as great as being able to have stretched. I’m gonna be sore tomorrow..

The Diet:

My diet is getting ridiculously repetitive and boring. I still eat a lot of egg whites, cold cut turkey and chicken, chicken breast, chicken dogs, whole wheat bread and non-fat butter, soy milk, and so on.

Big fucking whoopty do.

The eating part is starting to really drive me crazy.

One thing I noticed is that my desire to snack has dropped down a lot. Where I used to snack once a day, I don’t get the urge to anymore. My baby carrots sit in my fridge all week until I’m forced to boil a bunch of them and eat them with some chicken. My soy nuts are semi-stale in my pantry, and my head of lettuce used for all that salad I was once eating is about ready to be thrown out from sitting in the refrigerator for so long.

I’m starting to get really tired of the lack of time to cook plus the lack of funds to continuously buy groceries plus the left over food I always end up with when I do cook myself some Filipino food or chicken. I was really trying to refocus on my diet this week and I felt I was doing pretty good, but I know that I’m not in as clear a routine as I was when I first started this thing, though I’m not eating any bad foods.

A couple of semi-eventful things that went down this week:
• I had Dip n’ Dots ice cream with my daughter on Sunday
• I tried to eat 10 slices of borderline expired cold cuts over the course of 30 minutes and ended up taking The Browns to the “SuperBowl” a couple of times in a row.
• I’ve started to eat Special K cereal, which, to someone who hasn’t had a lot of sugar in his diet, is deliciously flavorful.
• I figured out how to make my shakes taste like Creamsicles!! This was the best one! If you wanna try it, here’s the deal:

8oz Vanilla Soy Milk
2oz Mango Nectar
3-4oz OJ
1 Banana
Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

Put all that in a blender and it’s delicious. You might have to play with the amount of OJ to make it work, but man, it’s worth it.

Other than that, the diet is the most boring part. Unfortunately, it’s also the part that keeps you in the shape you work so hard to get to, so I need to get back on my diet grind. Hopefully next week will prove more useful.

Closing Thoughts:

I’m so close to finished it’s insane. I don’t know anyone that’s made it through P90X even CLOSE to this far. I’m excited, I’m a little uncertain, some days I’m happy that I’m almost done, other days I’m upset with my physique, and most days I can’t wait til it’s over. This is crazy.

Knowing that I’m almost through with this insane project is pretty motivating. I’m most definitely in the best shape I’ve ever been in, and on most mornings I wake up happy as hell at how I look. It’s odd that even at this level of fitness I’m unhappy with my appearance on some days. That obviously strings from more psychological issues and expectations of self, but the thing with this workout is it’s not quite the same as being in the gym and saying, “Okay I really wanna focus on this and on that”. Because you’re on a program, you’re focusing on specific muscles in the way that the program is built, not necessarily in relation to what you want to work on. I’m starting to consider what my plans will be when I’m done P90X and I’m at a great starting block to start to shape my body to the point that I envision it. That, to me, is crazy. I never thought I’d be saying that. I actually never thought about that before. I’m at a physical point in my life where I can basically choose how I’d like my body to look thanks to this program. This shit, is seriously legit.

To be completely honest, I haven’t had a week like this week in a very long time. Emotionally I was an absolute mess. I don’t wanna get too far into things, but my mind was putting me in places I didn’t need to be. Shit was just very, very spiraling and I had nowhere to turn. I’ve really began to realize the extent of my mind and how comfortable I’ve gotten with it. The person I am and the things I’ve been able to do are all thanks to the mentality I have towards things. Unfortunately, the person I am not and the things that I have restricted myself from doing are also a result of that mentality. But I’m growing to find ease in the way this brain of mine works. And this week I took some great steps to get towards the place I need to be… no matter how far away it is from everyone else.

I know I’m being semi-cryptic, but this week was just a lot to deal with. I’ll put it in writing one of these days.

3 more weeks to go and this shit is over! Who’s with me?

Welcome To The Legends League.

Read The BS of My Life / P90X:
Intro
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Day 30 Results
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Day 60 Results
Week 9

- Bryan 'be.' Espiritu