I decided to try out P90X last winter after a friend told me about it. He described it as a "very intense" exercise program that "would get me ripped." He also told me that I would get a six pack in my stomach. I really didn't believe him because I have never had any definition (other than a small bulge -- not very atractive) in my stomach, no matter how much weight I lost. But, I decided to try this program in the hopes that it would help tone/strengthen my body.
For those of you who are not familiar with P90X, this is a 90 day fitness and nutrition program. The program is primarily sold on , but there are also infomercials (yuck) on television selling the program. I had actually never seen the infomercials before purchasing the program because it was recommended by a friend, but after starting the program, I began to notice that they are ALWAYS on television.
The Fitness Plan:
The Videos: In terms of the fitness plan, the program comes with 18 videos. One of the videos is an introductory video, so you only watch it once. The other videos are the workout videos, which are used for your resistance days (weight training) and cardio days. The background of P90X is "muscle confusion," so you will alternate between resistance days/ab-ripper and cardio days. The resistance days essentially involve upper or lower body "weight training," as well as a 15 minute ab ripper program which is at the end of the video (you will also get a separate DVD with ab ripper, but its unnecessary to use because all of the resistance videos contain ab ripper at the end of the video). Each video (which includes ab ripper) is about 1 hour and 15 minutes, although yoga is 1.5 hours (although I sometimes skipped the last 5 or so minutes when they start to rest). For the first month, you will do three weeks of resistance and cardio, and then there is a "rest" week where you wil l do a lot of yoga, stretching and core work. The rest week is actually rather difficult, and some people think that it is harder than the other weeks. The ONLY difference for the second and third month you use different resistance videos. Other than that, it is exactly the same. The fitness plan includes a calendar which will tell you which videos to do every day, so it is easy to follow.
Tony Horton is the "trainer" who is featured in all of the videos, and he is funny and inspiring (and goofy). Some people don't love him, but the videos come with an option to mute his voice if you don't appreciate his advice. Personally, I liked all the "Tony-isms" which include sayings such as "Do your best and forget the rest," "You can do anything for thirty seconds," and "Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was your body." As cheesy as they may sound, they really made me feel better when I was on the brink of giving up. Each video also includes 2-3 "P90X graduate" students, who are normal people and likeable. The program is so great that I would actually jump out of bed at 5 a.m. because I was excited to start working out (this is coming from somebody who would prefer to crawl out of bed at 8-9 a.m.). It actually started getting ridiculous because I was waking up at 4:30 a.m., and one morning I got out of bed at 3:30 a.m. because I was so awake and ready to get go ing (my husband was ready to kill me). Overall, this was the most fun that I've ever had working out.
Equipment Needed: The only equipment you will need for the program are: (1) weights (I used 5, 8, 10 and 15 pound hand weights, but I'm a female and slightly wimply, so you will need more if you are male or want to gain more muscle mass); (2) a yoga mat; (3) a pull up bar OR bands (I had both because we already had a pull up bar in my basement, and I also bought "Golds Gym" bands at Wal-Mart); and (4) a yoga block, which is optional but good if you have poor flexibility. I also bought push-up bars, which are recommended by P90X and are supposed to help your wrists during push-ups. I ended up returning them because they made doing push-ups much harder, and were unnecessary.
Overall, the fitness portion of this training program is great. The website has a great overview of all of the videos, and I would recommend spending some time on their website if you are contemplating using this program. The videos are fun, and it is like having a personal trainer (for much less than the cost of hiring a trainer), and you learn a lot about weight lifting. The cardio videos are also excellent. Plyometrics is just like gym class, and although it is jump training, Tony Horton provides modified moves for people with knee issues (I've had three knee surgeries, so I modified a bunch of the jumpes). The yoga is great for strength, balance and flexibility, and it is probably one of the harder videos because of the balance postures. The only cardio video that I did not find beneficial was kenpo-x video, which is kickboxing. Although the video is fun, it never got my heart rate very high. You may read that you do a ton of pull ups, but do not get intimidated. You can use bands (which are much easier), and Tony Horton also teaches you how to modify using a chair while performing pull-ups. You will still get a great workout, and I still am unable to complete a true pull-up.
Lean and Doubles Option: You will also learn that there is a "lean" and "doubles" fitness option for P90X. You purchase the same fitness program, but the lean option uses a different workout calendar, and it states that it is for people who want to stay lean and get more cardio. I thought that would be a good option because I still wanted to go to the gym for spin classes (and wasn't looking to build a lot of muscle), but I was told to stick with the normal program and use lighter weights. I am glad that I did, because the videos used for the fitness session are more varied and I was still able to go to some spin classes in the evening. The "doubles" option is for people who want an extra dose of cardio in the evenings (3x week on the resistance days). I was still going to spin class so this seemed unncessary, but if you still have energy in the evening, it is fun to stick in the cardio-x video on some nights.
The Nutrition Plan:
First, this isn't a diet, but instead, its a "nutrition plan" (somehow this makes me feel better, like I'm not on a diet). The nutrition plan does require some "planning," so you should review the literature and organize your pantry/menu before actually beginning the program. You should also plan to follow the nutrition plan as much as possible -- and it works best if you set a goal not to cheat. I made a bet with a friend that I wouldn't cheat, which helped motivate me. I didn't drink alcohol for 90 days, which was probably the longest time period that I went without drinking since before high school (I think statute of limitations has now passed). I also didn't eat any candy/sugar. Strangely, I really didn't miss any of it because the program is so much fun. In fact, my friends who later started the P90X program told me that there was "no way" they were giving up alcohol, but they also have stopped drinking and eating sugar, and they also say that they didn't miss it all . Anyways, its only for 90 days.
In terms of food, you will not be hungry because you eat all the time. I have actually never eaten so much in my life, but it is all very lowfat food so you lose a ton of weight/body fat. I had been dieting before I started the program, so I didn't have much weight to lose, but I ended up losing another 8-9 pounds -- which resulted in me going from a women's size 8 or 6 to a size 2. I could probably have lost even more weight, but towards the end I started eating more carbs because I started doing a lot of biking outside.
The nutrition plan is based on the three phases, but it essentially requires you to consume a certain amount of proteins, carbs, dairy, fruits, vegetables, as well as a snack, energy bar and recovery drink, on a daily basis depending on the phase. The nutrition plan provides a list of options for each of those categories (for example, 3 ounces of meat equals 1 protein) and it also comes with different recipes (each recipe tells you how many proteins, carbs, etc. it contains). It is sort of like weight watchers, which allows people to eat a certain amount of points each day. Depending on your weight, it will tell you which "level" you are at. . . . if you are heavier, you will be on level 2 or 3 which means that you can eat more of each category. The recipes in the nutrition plan are tasty. I loved the chef salad and pork island tenderloin salads (it also has a great recipe for dressing), and I still make the protein shake every day.
The most confusing aspect to the nutrition plan was trying to figure out the difference between a recovery drink and protein shake. You are supposed to have a recovery drink after the workouts, and the plan also states that you can drink protein shakes as one of your meals (their protein shake recipe counts for 1 protein, 1 dairy and 1 fruit). I was confused about the difference between a protein shake and a recovery drink, but I think it is the ratio of proteins to carbs. I ended up using Hammer Nutrition Recoverite as my recovery drink. I also made protein shakes for breakfast (because I hate eggs, so it was the best alternative), and I used NOW whey protein isolate 100% pure for the protein. For energy bars, I used South Beach Diet Chocolate Crisp bars and Zone Fudge Graham bars (you can buy them at Wal-Mart for less than $1/per bar). I would perform some research before buying the P90X recovery drink and energy bars, since they look rather expensive. They will try to s ell you these products when you order the videos, and my recommendation is to decline unless you're absolutely positive that they are a good deal.
I found that it was helpful to track the foods that I ate on a chart (which included how many proteins, fruits, etc.) that I ate every day, and I also tracked my daily calories consumed, my daily weight, activities performed and I included notes about how I felt that day. I learned a lot about about nutrition and calories (and spent a lot of time looking at the nutrition information at the grocery store), and it was a great learning experience about the amount of calories, protein and fat contained in foods. For the first time in my life, I truly started to understand the concept of "calories consumed vs. calories burned," and how it affects your body.
After 90 Days:
I never could have imagined getting the results that I received. Not only did I get a six pack (which completely shocked both my husband and me), but my arms became very toned (and I could make a muscle in my biceps for the first time in my life) and I lost the nasty fat in my hips that I have never been able to lose no matter what exercises I've done. I also felt great, which is really the most important (although it was nice to look good). My posture improved from the stretching and yoga, and I had a ton of energy. It was also apparent that the program worked well because many of my friends decided to purchase the program after they saw my results.
Sadly, I took the summer off and its been a several months since I finished the program. Although I was biking, my results (arm muscles and six pack) are starting to become less noticeable. I am planning to resume in a few weeks, and I'm confident that I will egain everything that I lost over the summer months!
My Recommendation:
As you can probably imagine, I would recommend this program for anybody who is motivated to become fit. If you do not have any experience working out/exercising, you should probably think twice about getting involved in this program. However, if you have some experience working out and want to broaden your fitness program, this is a great program. You do not need to be a superstar athlete to do this program. If you go to , you will find a ton of information about the program. You should be forewarned that the website has a bunch of pictures of muscle heads, and is somewhat "scammy" looking. It also looks somewhat intimidating, but you can easily modify the videos to your ability (which I will discuss in more detail below). You can also find a lot of information on the internet, as a lot of people have shared their experiences (and you will quickly learn that not everybody who does this program is already "buff").
I would also recommend starting this program in the winter, since you will spend a lot of time inside doing the fitness videos, which isn't great if the weather is nice.
The short story is that if you have some weight to lose, and want to get in the best shape of your life, this is the way to do it. It costs $120 plus $20 for shipping and handling. I bought my products on ebay, but ended up getting scammed by somebody selling counterfeits on China (and needed to buy the nutrition plan separately, which were electronic versions that were a pain to download). If I had to do it again, I would probably just buy it on their website, but you should try to shop around if you are frugal. Just make sure that you purchase the written materials, since the videos by themselves are not helpful. You can also sometimes find this program on craigslist. Even if you end up paying $140 through beachbody.com, it will be worth every penny you spend (and you could also cancel your gym membership for that time period). I just would avoid buying any of the "extra" stuff they may try selling you (equipment, nutrition products, subscription to the website). On one last note, even though the program is slightly expensive, you will also save a lot of money on junk food, beer and wine over 90 days, so it may end up saving you money!
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