Does P90X Work Or Am I Just Wasting My TIme?
Larry Filed Under: Labels: Beachbody, Does It Work, Effectiveness, Get In Shape, Lose Weight, P90X, Review, Tony Horton, Weight Loss
The good news is that you're not wasting your time. The better news is that it works. The bad news is that's a lot of azz-kicking, ol' fashioned, make you wanna slap ya mama, hard work. That's not altogether bad though, at least not in the classical sense of the word bad. I've gone through a round of P90X and a round of P90X Plus (for P90X graduates only).
In a nutshell, P90X is the brainchild of one Mr. Tony Horton, a celebrity fitness trainer to the stars. He partnered with some nutritionists and dietians and 9 months (well I don't know if it was 9 months, but go with the baby metaphor) later he gave birth to P90X or Power 90 Extreme! (For those of you wondering, yea, there is a Power 90 series that'll get you into shape for P90X...that workout is no slouch either!)
This workout system comes complete with everything you'll need--what to eat, how often to eat, a fitness test to see if you're "X" ready, tape measure to measure your inches (GET YOUR MIND OUTTA THE GUTTER!), workout tracking worksheets so you can write down what you did during each workout, and of course the DVD's.
Okay, so I got all this at the recommendation of some friends, amped, rearing, and ready to go! Let's do this! Let's kill it! This is what I'm telling myself all day! So, I mosey along to the gym and take the fit test. When I tell you that I was winded and I barely passed the fit test, let me EMPHASIZE THAT. When he was asking for at least 5 reps of something, I could give 3.5 and said, "Eh! That's good enough!" So I "passed" the fit test and returned to the gym after my rehabilitation (hey, don't judge me, LOL! I wasn't used to working out and soreness was NOT my friend!) of 3 days, I returned again AMPED UP! Ready to show Tony Horton that his little program was no match for me.
HA! How wrong was I? Monday, September 22, 2008 began day one. Yea, I had an ulterior motive when I started--I wanted to NOT be on blood pressure medication from the age of 24 to the age of "when I am put in the cold ground" and more importantly at that time, I wanted to be able to PIG out on Thanksgiving. Ninety days from September 22 gave me just enough time to have some down time in between the workouts and Thanksgiving. I could almost taste the turkey and gravy sliding down my throat, opening a world of wonder that--okay, you get the picture! The one thing I maintained, though, is "Yea, Tony man, I'll do the workouts but I ain't changing what I eat! ::In the guards voice from 'The Wizard of Oz':: Not no way, not no how!"
So, I began day 1 - Chest and Back. Pushups and pullups. Pullups and pushups. And these ain't ya grade school "let's see how many pushups and pullups you can do", no; I didn't know THAT many varieties of pushups and pullups even EXISTED! Oh and I should mention, it's recommended that you take pictures of yourself every 30 days so you can visually track your progress. So that's why that picture is just randomly posted above this paragraph--or to the side of it--who knows? I'm actually typing this in Notepad right now. But back to the point: chest and back. I think I died a little inside during this workout. But what was dying in me was weakness. I didn't make it through the entire workout like everyone on the DVD. In fact, I had to sit out and regroup many times. But something told me to keep coming back.
So I pushed play for day two--Plyometrics. The mother of all X workouts. The monster. The beast. Amazing torture that "jumps out" in your face. (X'ers will get why I quoted "jumps out"). I died a little more inside on day two. It was all a big leg workout and wouldn't you know, the day after that workout, I had a training at work which required me to walk up and down rolling hills!!! I could barely walk the next morning, having to support myself with an umbrella in mid-summer, on a cloudless day. But I kept at it.
All in all, I finished the entire program and X'd it out. Somewhere along the way I fou--okay, so first you're wondering how I did at Thanksgiving. I know you are. Well, allow me to say this: somewhere around day 65, I realized, "Hey, I could probably be getting better, faster results if I just change what I eat!" Mind you, I'd gotten some AWESOME results so far, but not what I was seeing on the infomercials because I WASN'T EATING RIGHT! I made that change and the heavens opened unto me and God himself came and scooped the fat off my body...or something like that! So back to Thanksgiving: I'd like to say, "Man, I pigged out and ate everything in sight!" Don't get me wrong, I ATE, but my portions of everything were EXTREMELY scaled down and I couldn't even finish what I had as much as I tried! My mind and body had transformed concerning exercise and eating, and I loved the new me! I also realized that if I had eaten better from the start of the program, I could probably have those infomercial results! Well, had a I done that and lifted heavier weight. Hey, hindsight is 20/20.
So what about P90X?
You get workouts that target...
1. Chest and Back
2. Plyometrics (Jump training; cardio CITY!)
3. Shoulders and Arms
4. Yoga (It's more fun and challenging than you think! You really sweat!)
5. Legs & Back
6. Kenpo (think boxing meets karate)
7. Stretch
8. Core Synergistics (working that flabby midsection...and everything in between.)
9. Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
10. Back and biceps
11. Cardio (for those who aren't Plyometric ready)
12. Ab Ripper
These workouts work on the basis of muscle confusion. I didn't know what muscle confusion was all about until day 31...see, someone can explain muscle confusion to you (and Tony will lay it out in your guidebook) but it only sounds like theory until you feel the effects on your body. THEN, you'll say, "So THAT'S muscle confusion, huh?!" The bare minimum is that you get your body used to doing one set of workouts for a month and your body gets into the groove, it knows what it's doing, then BAM!!! You switch it up and your body is like, "What the hell!?" Don't judge it! It accelerates results.
I wrote a lot--so what? DO IT! DO SOMETHING! JUST DO IT!! IT GETS EASIER! And yes...
It works.
Let me know if you have questions. And subscribe to this blog! I'll be giving fitness and nutrition updates at least twice a week that are useful to add to your repitoire!
Be blessed, guys.
In a nutshell, P90X is the brainchild of one Mr. Tony Horton, a celebrity fitness trainer to the stars. He partnered with some nutritionists and dietians and 9 months (well I don't know if it was 9 months, but go with the baby metaphor) later he gave birth to P90X or Power 90 Extreme! (For those of you wondering, yea, there is a Power 90 series that'll get you into shape for P90X...that workout is no slouch either!)
This workout system comes complete with everything you'll need--what to eat, how often to eat, a fitness test to see if you're "X" ready, tape measure to measure your inches (GET YOUR MIND OUTTA THE GUTTER!), workout tracking worksheets so you can write down what you did during each workout, and of course the DVD's.
Okay, so I got all this at the recommendation of some friends, amped, rearing, and ready to go! Let's do this! Let's kill it! This is what I'm telling myself all day! So, I mosey along to the gym and take the fit test. When I tell you that I was winded and I barely passed the fit test, let me EMPHASIZE THAT. When he was asking for at least 5 reps of something, I could give 3.5 and said, "Eh! That's good enough!" So I "passed" the fit test and returned to the gym after my rehabilitation (hey, don't judge me, LOL! I wasn't used to working out and soreness was NOT my friend!) of 3 days, I returned again AMPED UP! Ready to show Tony Horton that his little program was no match for me.
HA! How wrong was I? Monday, September 22, 2008 began day one. Yea, I had an ulterior motive when I started--I wanted to NOT be on blood pressure medication from the age of 24 to the age of "when I am put in the cold ground" and more importantly at that time, I wanted to be able to PIG out on Thanksgiving. Ninety days from September 22 gave me just enough time to have some down time in between the workouts and Thanksgiving. I could almost taste the turkey and gravy sliding down my throat, opening a world of wonder that--okay, you get the picture! The one thing I maintained, though, is "Yea, Tony man, I'll do the workouts but I ain't changing what I eat! ::In the guards voice from 'The Wizard of Oz':: Not no way, not no how!"
So, I began day 1 - Chest and Back. Pushups and pullups. Pullups and pushups. And these ain't ya grade school "let's see how many pushups and pullups you can do", no; I didn't know THAT many varieties of pushups and pullups even EXISTED! Oh and I should mention, it's recommended that you take pictures of yourself every 30 days so you can visually track your progress. So that's why that picture is just randomly posted above this paragraph--or to the side of it--who knows? I'm actually typing this in Notepad right now. But back to the point: chest and back. I think I died a little inside during this workout. But what was dying in me was weakness. I didn't make it through the entire workout like everyone on the DVD. In fact, I had to sit out and regroup many times. But something told me to keep coming back.
So I pushed play for day two--Plyometrics. The mother of all X workouts. The monster. The beast. Amazing torture that "jumps out" in your face. (X'ers will get why I quoted "jumps out"). I died a little more inside on day two. It was all a big leg workout and wouldn't you know, the day after that workout, I had a training at work which required me to walk up and down rolling hills!!! I could barely walk the next morning, having to support myself with an umbrella in mid-summer, on a cloudless day. But I kept at it.
All in all, I finished the entire program and X'd it out. Somewhere along the way I fou--okay, so first you're wondering how I did at Thanksgiving. I know you are. Well, allow me to say this: somewhere around day 65, I realized, "Hey, I could probably be getting better, faster results if I just change what I eat!" Mind you, I'd gotten some AWESOME results so far, but not what I was seeing on the infomercials because I WASN'T EATING RIGHT! I made that change and the heavens opened unto me and God himself came and scooped the fat off my body...or something like that! So back to Thanksgiving: I'd like to say, "Man, I pigged out and ate everything in sight!" Don't get me wrong, I ATE, but my portions of everything were EXTREMELY scaled down and I couldn't even finish what I had as much as I tried! My mind and body had transformed concerning exercise and eating, and I loved the new me! I also realized that if I had eaten better from the start of the program, I could probably have those infomercial results! Well, had a I done that and lifted heavier weight. Hey, hindsight is 20/20.
So what about P90X?
You get workouts that target...
1. Chest and Back
2. Plyometrics (Jump training; cardio CITY!)
3. Shoulders and Arms
4. Yoga (It's more fun and challenging than you think! You really sweat!)
5. Legs & Back
6. Kenpo (think boxing meets karate)
7. Stretch
8. Core Synergistics (working that flabby midsection...and everything in between.)
9. Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
10. Back and biceps
11. Cardio (for those who aren't Plyometric ready)
12. Ab Ripper
These workouts work on the basis of muscle confusion. I didn't know what muscle confusion was all about until day 31...see, someone can explain muscle confusion to you (and Tony will lay it out in your guidebook) but it only sounds like theory until you feel the effects on your body. THEN, you'll say, "So THAT'S muscle confusion, huh?!" The bare minimum is that you get your body used to doing one set of workouts for a month and your body gets into the groove, it knows what it's doing, then BAM!!! You switch it up and your body is like, "What the hell!?" Don't judge it! It accelerates results.
I wrote a lot--so what? DO IT! DO SOMETHING! JUST DO IT!! IT GETS EASIER! And yes...
It works.
Let me know if you have questions. And subscribe to this blog! I'll be giving fitness and nutrition updates at least twice a week that are useful to add to your repitoire!
Be blessed, guys.
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