the notebook
Working out with P90X: Part 4
The last three weeks have been tough. Phase One is over now and it's time for a little recovery. Here's how my progress has been going since my last update.
Finally! The first recovery period is here and boy, is it a relief — sort of. Even though it's called recovery week, the only difference between this and any other week is the lack of intense muscle-building exercise. Every day is a cardio day. And, if you recall, the yoga workouts are quite the ass-kickers.
The purpose of the recovery period is to give your body a rest and let the muscles build. A particularly nice aspect of P90X recovery week is the stretching. The program has you stretch multiple times during the week and this is something I haven't been keeping up with, mostly due to lack of effort. Instead of getting off the couch to stretch, I'm usually working on one side project or another. I truly enjoy stretching and not just because of its importance to overall health. I'll make a more concentrated effort from now on.
As I've said — and will keep saying — the yoga part of P90X is killer. As someone who's had great balance and flexibility most of his life, I'm continually surprised at just how much I've lost over the years. This program is giving me an opportunity to improve every week.
Unfortunately, not all of this week is sunshine and lollipops. Late Thursday night/Friday morning I experienced intense stomach pain. I was still experiencing some pain three days later. As you could probably imagine, this was quite a hindrance to my being able to finish off the week's workouts.
Everything is going well overall. I'm seeing improvements in my strength, balance, flexibility, and appearance already and it's all very exciting. Progress pics are due this weekend but I'm still undecided on whether or not I'll take them (the whole bloated stomach thing makes for inaccurate photos). I might take them later when I'm feeling better.
