P90x

What is P90x? Does P90x Work?

If you are interested in P90x, chances are you have a lot of questions.  After all, it is easy to doubt the validity of anything with this much hype surrounding it.  You are probably wondering what is P90x and does P90x work?

I promise to do my best to answer all of your questions, but first I thought I’d share a little bit of my story with you.

Growing up, I was never extremely fit but I was always a size six.  At 5’ 4” that was an ok size for me but I always felt a little fat.  I was “skinny fat”.    Then, during my 20’s I became very interested in fitness and diet and got in the best shape of my life.  I shed 15 pounds, began running and weight lifting and felt amazing.  Unlike many women at the time, I immediately fell in love with weight lifting and was never scared to go heavy.  The results were a lean and sculpted body.  (Ladies, take it from me – you aren’t going to get BIG if you lift heavy weights.  When is the last time you saw a woman in real life that was too muscular?  I’m guessing never)

Anyways, I never saw myself as the kind of person that would let themselves go, but I’m sad to say that is exactly what happened.  As I entered my 30’s all was good in my world and dining out at expensive restaurants on rich food became a way of life.  As a busy professional, I think in some way I felt I deserved it for all the hard work I was doing.  So, I traded my 4’s for 8’s and then 10’s.  And then it happened.

I got pregnant.  And had a baby with colic.  And got pregnant again about the time I started getting sleep more than two hours in a time.

Two babies in 14 months.  Now I wasn’t a 10 or even a 12.  Ouch.  A size 16 on a 5’4” frame.  Not a pretty sight.

You would think that given my background I would have immediately done something about it.  I tried a couple of times but I was so, so self conscious at the gym.  The idea of going filled me with panic and every time I’d try to get into the habit I’d fall off the wagon because I just couldn’t bear the experience.

So I bought a Wii, thinking that would be the solution.  Um, not so much.  Now I’m not saying you can’t improve your fitness with Wii Fit, but I am a foodie and I can’t live on 1200 calories a day for very long.  It just wasn’t intense enough for me.

Next, I tried exercise videos.  They didn’t motivate me.  I always felt like the workouts were somehow inferior to what I would get if I actually drug myself to the gym.  I needed intensity.

Enter P90x

I can honestly say that P90x changed my life.  It may have saved my life.  Almost 7 years after becoming a mother I am finally on the road towards fitness, and chances are I will reach my goal before my “baby” turns six.  Better late than never.  Working out with intensity at home has been the best thing I’ve ever done for myself.  Although most people think that P90x is only a program for those who are already in shape, I would argue that point to some degree.  Anyone who is committed to themselves – and who is willing to make modifications without feeling bad about it – can make it through P90x.  Take it from this 40 year old mom.

Now, I’m sorry I’ve drug on so long because I’m pretty sure you didn’t come here to talk about me.  So do allow me to answer your questions about P90x.

What is P90x?

P90x is a home workout program that was designed by Tony Horton. You can get it from Beachbody.com. It is based on the idea of muscle confusion – i.e. never letting your body know what to expect so that it will never get comfortable and plateau.  The P90x program utilizes strength training (i.e. weight lifting), cardio exercises, yoga, plyometrics and stretching to help you create a body that is not only fit but also functional.

P90x Workout Schedule

The P90x workout schedule requires that you work out for an hour or more six days a week.  (No one said this was going to be easy!)  There are three different P90x workout plans that you can follow:  P90x classic, P90x lean and P90x doubles.  Check out this post for more on the P90x workout schedule.

P90x Workouts

With the P90x program, you get the following workouts:

01 – Chest and Back

02 – Plyometrics AKA “The Mother of all P90x Workouts”

03 – Shoulders and Arms

04 – Yoga

05 – Legs and Back

06 – Kenpo

07- Stretch X

08- Core Synergistics

09- Chest, Shoulders and Triceps

10 – Back and Biceps

11 – Cardio X

12 – Ab Ripper X

P90x Diet

The P90x Diet is a 3 phase nutrition plan specially formulated to get you the results you need!  The three phases are Fat Shredder, Energy Booster and Endurance Maximizer.  During these phases you will gradually increase the amount of carbohydrates you are consuming so that your body continues to have the energy to perform intense workouts.

Does P90x Work?

Now, the question you are probably wondering is does P90x work?  After all, if you are going to put the work in you want results. I can tell you without a doubt that YES, P90x does work!  Like pretty much everything else in life, you will get out of it what you put into it.  Remember – P90s is a comprehensive plan that involved both an intense workout program AND a diet plan.  One without the other will not get you the results that you wanted.  But, if you give it your all without a doubt I can promise you that P90x does work!

So, what are you waiting for? Get P90x from Beachbody.com!

Even though today marks the first day of my second week of P90x, I just now got around to taking my “before” picture. Because I’ve decided to weigh just once a month, I don’t know how much weight I lost in my first week.  I do know that when I weighted last Wednesday (before I decided on monthly weigh ins), I was down 2.9 pounds from Monday – for a total of 6.9 pounds lost during my “pre-P90x” warm up week to that point.  I can already comfortably wear pants that I couldn’t button just two weeks ago.

So, my before pics should make me feel good, right?

Not so much.

I know I’m overweight (ok, obese if you must know)  and I’ve known all along that even attempting a program such as P90x in my condition is INSANE.

I haven’t worked out with any regularity since my oldest was born.  And he is going to be seven in December.

Yep, I’m overweight and almost 40.

But seeing what I look like was an all together different experience.

It made me feel sick.

It filled me with self doubt – which is strange because I look exactly how I think of myself looking.

How can this almost 40 fat chick possibly get through one of the most intense at home work outs on the marker?  Surely my ability to get through last week reasonably well was a fluke.

Thank God I already had the Chest & Back video in my computer’s DVD player and my weights and bands were already set up.

Yep.  I pressed play.

At the start of the work out, I will admit that that picture was in my head.

But then something crazy happened.

When I first started getting ready for P90x two weeks ago, I could only do 8-10 push ups (on my knees) and even then I couldn’t make it through all of the sets.

Today, I was able to do 20 AND make it through everything except the decline push ups & dive bombers – during which I just did regular push ups because I can’t figure out how to modify these yet.

I also added an extra band on my back and was still able to hit the same reps I did last week.

Progress….Maybe I just need to celebrate the little things and stop worrying so much about where I am right now.

And then something Tony said at the end really hit me.  “Get out of your head.  Just show up, just press play.”

At the end of the day, I have two options.

I can show up and keep pressing play or I can quit.

One will move me in the direction of my goals – though it may take me longer than the time frame I would like.  The other will ensure that I keep missing out of life – both because of my weight and how I feel about my weight – and will likely result in illness and getting old before my time.

Kind of a no brainer, huh?

Now if I could just feel good about my progress with Ab RipperX….

Believe it or not, those who are overweight go the extra mile to make things work out for them. Being overweight certainly feels like a curse at one point in your life and then you finally decide to search for that magic wand that can do all the wonders for you. Do you get it? Unfortunately, most of us don’t. But, lucky are those who stumble upon an effective weight loss program and finally make it to the mark. P90x is exactly that- an  ’effective program’ you have been looking for all this time If you don’t believe it then you can probably ask those who have tried it about P90x results and you will know how powerful this program is.  If it worked for me – an overweight, almost 40 year old mom, it will work for you!

What is P90x?

The ones who have probably heard this name for the very first time will think of it as just another humbug script being sold to make money. Is it so? Honestly speaking, P90x is actually far from being a hoax. It actually works It is a set of workout schedules and diet plans that any layman can practice at home. Yup, that is what makes P0x attractive, easy yet effective Unlike most of the workout plans, the P90x workout schedule does not require you to go to the gym or to a park to perform the exercise. Best of all – there is no additional P90x equipment needed as with most of the programs. Once you have the program all you need to do is to start working out at home with the equipment you already have. With just grab a couple of dumbbell sets, a simple workout bench and a sipper bottle and off you are on the journey to lose weight and get back in shape

What is the P90x Nutrition Plan All About?

A one-line definition for the P90x nutrition plan would be – ‘making the best of what you already have’. The plan does not dictate you to buy those expensive and harmful weight losing supplements. Instead, it recommends to you a number of natural foods that can help you lose bad weight and at the same gain a bit of good weight which is important. If you don’t gain good weight you will probably look like a pale sick athlete who has been off his game for years. So, losing bad weight and gaining good weight are two things that should go in concordance with each other. This is exactly what the P90x nutrition plan is all about and this is exactly where most of the ‘weight loss’ guides fail. If you just try to lose weight you will but you it won’t be of any good. You wouldn’t want to have pale skin without any glow and flabby skin would you?

P90x Results are Always POSITIVE

Not boasting but it’s true that this product has worked for all those who stick to it. Don’t believe me? Check out the P90x reviews.  You sure will find some ‘cry babies’ out there but they are the ones who find it tough to stick to the patterns suggested in the plan. If you think you can steadily follow the plan then consider being a thing of the past