P90X- Farse?? think not

[Chubz]

Its that time of year that the legs have deflated from lack of day to day excercise linking turns and thinking I was in decent physical condition at the end of the season. Legs like tree trunks and making turns top to bottom for a few hours. Thinking I am king of the world

My wife got a hold of some old highschool pics, some with my world class mullet and others when I was in the best conditioned period of my life poolside. I did have a 6-pack once. I have always been an active (gym and outdoor activites) person but conditioning took a back seat to kids, work, beer, marriage you name it.

I'm pushing 40 and the wife says, do you think you can back into that shape again. Yea if you give me the time and support (ie meals, time and push me on days I am dragging a$$).

She leaves for the Pittsburgh with the kids 7 weeks ago for a week trip to visit friends. I stayed for work and decided to dust off the P90x program I bought 4 years ago in a Sunday morning slugfest.

I had my doubts, but 7 weeks later with 5 weeks to go, here is what I have to share. Not to brag but to simply say it has worked for me physically but psychologically, even greater impact and wanted to share with others.

Lost 25 lb of fat, added about 5 lb lean muscle (started at 215, currently at 195). I still get to eat a good bit each day, if not more.

21.8 % body fat- now about 11-12 %, maybe less, if I did my calculation right have not remeasured with device.

Size 36 waist to start, now can fit into tight 32, heading for 30.

Balance, endurance, flexibility and overall energy way up.

Quit drinking superbowl sunday

Energy to run and play with my 3 and 6 year old everyday.

Best shape I have been in since the age of 18, entering college.

While I started the program to get my youthful body back, I have found the program offering so many other things.

Its 90 days of 1 hour per day (except yoga 1.5 hours) and regimented meal prep and adherence. With investment in food, dumbells, chin up bar and yoga mat. all worth the investment (about 5-6 months of gyn memebrship) and its not boring, like going to the gym. My gym time was a 2hour investment every time I went between the travel, cardio, weights, water breaks and shower. I see that I am saving time and enjoying the progress in physical results and the "response" from my wife. Not that I am looking for it, but even her friends now nag their husbands to get off their a$$.

I will complete the first full cycle at the beginning of July, continue intermittent work outs (3-4 times per week) during my break then back on the horse in Sept to prep for next carving season.

I know many of you are physically fit and at it with your own regimin's, but I needed a canned program to keep me going and it has worked great. Just thought I would share b/c I see other folks sharing things that help them along in this thing we call life. Feel free to drop me any questions on the expereince or program.

Greg

[MEC]

I guess you'll have to email the bomber administration and ask them to change your User Name! Way to go and congrats!

[Gecko]

yeah I had good results With P90X before I broke my ankle I've been doing some kettle bell workouts which don't require as much movement but by fall I'll likely be back to doing P90x

[Allee]

One of my workmates did it and got some stunning results. She's a national class volleyball player so you can imagine the shape she was in anyway, but now she's getting older and not recovering as fast from injuries, she wanted some more core strength and flexibility without the hassle of going to the gym.

She loved it, and she looked awesome. I'm going to steal it off her one of these days, and see what all the hype is about.

[Seraph]

Just finishing the 2nd cycle, and I'm pretty impressed so far. Definitely leaves me feeling like I got my ass kicked, but in a good way.

I'm also in the process of reading NROL, a lot of similarities, some differences.

[GeoffV]

I just got all all the P90X DVD's from my buddy. Looks like they are intense workouts. I'm sure I'll be dragging and looking for pain killers after a few workout sessions:boxing_sm

[Skully]

So, Chubz, Seraph, anyone else currently on the P90x program: What's the plan after you complete the 90 days? Something different to maintain or improve? Another round of P90x?

I have a work acquaintance who started but never finished the full 90 days. He saw initial results, but obvioulsy slowed down. Now he's doing "some" of the strenght stuff, and has changed his diet slightly....

Anyone else out there who's actually finished the full P90x program?

[Seraph]

Skully,

The p90x program has 3 variations, lean, classic, and doubles. So after you've done the first 90 days, you can do another 90 if you want. The way the program is set up, you have 3 3 week programs with 1 week recovery (which are not rest weeks, they are just more cardio focused - note that I did not say aerobic :-) ). After you complete a section, the next section uses different exercises, in different combinations (push/pull, pull/pull, 3 part rotations, etc.) , intensity and difficulty is up to you. The idea is that once your body starts adapting to the program, you get a recovery period, and then they mix it up again. So technically, once you've finished the 90 day period, you can start over again, but your more fit so you will need to increase the intensity.

BTW, what you will find with the program is that one of the reasons it is so intense is that outside of yoga and stretching, the program offers very little rest inbetween exercises, unless you want to pause the DVD. There is like 10 seconds in between the exercises, and If you wear a heart rate monitor, it will be pretty obvious beyond your sweating and heavy breathing that the program is designed to get you up to a good working heart rate and try and keep you there for an hour. Also, every other day there is an ab workout that is around 12 minutes that is a killer too.

[Chubz]

intend to complete the final 5 weeks. If anything it has got me focus on shredding those last handfull of fat %'s. I can see my 6 and even 8 pack for the first time in 15 years, but there is still a slight layer of blubber out front. I carry my fat in my kidney area, and my neck and head. My facial structute even shows, I get pumpkin head when I put on weight.

Chnage in eating habits is also a big piece of the program but once you do it for aonths you leanr how to move thru it. tons of protein in the beginning then shift to more carbs for NRG in Phase 2 and 3. the whoel menu e book helps tremendously.

Stay away from sugar, carbs and fat for 3 months you will natrually lose weight but add the workouts , look out. Its wierd my skin is loose on my neck, fdace and midsections but slow getting tighter.

Geoff, I have never really felt any pain sinc eI started because you dont really rest and even day 7 is a stretch day. I also take L glutamine, which has help with muscle rebuild and whey protein shakes. Its good pain if you do feel it.

I wouldnt recommned the program to someone who has been on their a$$ for several years.

While the wieght stuff has firmed me up, the items that have pushed me to my limits and improved are the Plyometrics (jump training, they have a low impact role model in the vid's), yoga has opened my eyes to that world (my fav work out even though Warrior 3 still kicks my rump). Kempo karate is great for toning up arms shoulders and hip flexors.

Ab Ripper x is 16 minutes of abdominal hell but I am nearly sticking with the video for all 300+ repetitions. Some excercises just deliver some pain but I get stronger each wor out and those come on non-cardio days (3x per week plus, Yoga belly 6 excercises on yoga day.

Seraph mentioned the non breaks. Tats what optimizes the time frame of one hour. Plyo gives you longer breaks but you need it. and the thing is that each workout you can increase intensity if you choose so it snot like you can plateua. yesterday I did Plyo and achieved a goal of doing Jump knee tucks, double time for 30 seconds and then repeat in the next cycle. The first time I did Plyo , I had trouble getting my knees above mid thigh height.

Lastly, during my break I intend to conitnue with Plyo, yoga , kempo and then head to the gym for some wieghts for something different. Throw in a little rock climbing, hook up with JBS for some paddling , a little downhill skating will keep me occupied until the next cycle and then I intend to do the lean version, just to get as ripped as I can. If the wife lets me I may sign up at the local MMA gym for a taste of that arena.

Plus as you learn the routines, you can add your own little touches to get deeper burns. The firsy 90 day cycle is survival in month one, survival/exploration in month 2 and I would imagine month 3 is just pushing your mental and physical limits.

All in all, it has given me the eneregy and confidence to go do anything I want without worry of taxed and tired.

[Chubz]

Tuesday is my last day of P90X and it is considered graduation for those who go thru it. Great results. Glad I did the program, life changer. I have had 7 friends start it since I began

Started in April 5, 2009

215 lbs, 2 pull ups and 8 push ups

Today ( I added some time due to misses workouts due to work travel and a vacation)

187 lbs, 27 pull ups (reverse grips) and 65 push ups, both new personal bests

Lost about 40 lbs of fat and added the balance of lean muscle.

Dove right back into mountian biking and wearing the two boys out each day instad of them runnning me ragged. I look forward to carving next season. Doing another cycle Sept thru Nov to tighten up again. I was gonna post pics but felt awkward. The wife is digging it.

If anyone is considering it, please indulge and finish it. Quite a journey for a "packaged" work out routine.

Greg

[Steve Prokopiw]

Way to follow through!

[Ernie00]

I'm a P.E teacher and volleyball coach and saw the add on TV while in the states about 2 months ago. I usually don't like stuff they sell in infomercials but I read a little about P90x and I've always been a great supporter of the muscle confusion theory. I even wrote a term paper on this subject while in college.

So I got my hands on the p90x and, I don't intend on following the program it's very time consuming and I work out enough (swim, bike, run) but I was curious and tried a few workouts. Good stuff, very well done.

definitaly worth to check it out as a pre season work out.. I can be found for pretty cheap on ebay. I would suggest buying a few dumbell instead of the elastic bands.

Enjoy

[powdahbonz]

I followed it steadfastly for 7 weeks and got off track after I injured m yshoulder riding and given the demands, I had to scrap it. I am re-starting the cycle again in August to prep for riding. The Plyometrics, Kenpo and some of the cardio routines are great high energy stuff. The Yoga is an azzkicker but I really started feeling like I could bend and flex like I want to be able. Let's face it...wrecking at our speeds doesn't feel like it used to when you were 20. The diet piece is key and you can feel the changes. I am getting re-committed so I can be 20 lbs lighter and flexxy for riding time but as someone who was a doubter, it is not hype. It is a real ballbuster and will produce results. Variety is key to avoiding boredom so it's nice being able to mix up weight trainig, cardio, plyo and other forms of training.

[BadBrad]

I could probably manage the 1-hour a day workout, but how hard is it to follow the nutrition plan? My wife is a very picky eater and has the food preferences of a 5-year old (hotdogs, ketchup, mac-n-cheese, etc.), and whenever I try to serve healthy meals she doesn't like them, so it has been hard for me to stick to healthy diet based on vegetables and some low-fat protein.

[Chubz]

To answer a few of the posts:

Time: I found the 1 hour per day working out at home is about a third of the time, apcking up to head to a gym or my closest mt bike location so I felt Iwas saving time. what you get done in that hour is about 3 houts of regular time at a gym, minimal rest between set. and the results were ten fold compared to years of being in the gym and running/cyling etc. if anything the 90 day investment will exponentially improve all of your atheleticism (sp?)

Diet- I consider a change in lifestyle of consumption rather than diet. What I felt helped me was cooking batches of chicken breast on sunday and knoshing from that all week. If I were single and didnt have 3 kids I would have done more of the recipes which the ones I did were quite tasty. The meals are measured in units and once you figure out what you like stick with with some change out of meats etc to keep it interesting. As far as the kids, make their meal and you have yours there already. It is a nother matter of discipline to stick to it. I found that as yousee results within a week or two, you become more cognizatn of what you ingest. Eating the right things instead of the easy garbage that scoiety was put in front of us. That is why we have become the obese society we have, easiness and lazy.

http://www.weightloss-hq.biz/exercise-reviews/top-20-p90x-questions-answered-here.html

While P90 has gotten me back into the best shape of my life, I actually now enjoysuicide runs and 50 yard wind sprint during my break between cycles , but I am also doing mt bike hills and circuits easily that I woulget gassed on at 25. Flexibility became my favorite thing, being able to basically fold myself in half, I gained 7+ inches in the stanard touch the toes among other thing.

Iw ill post my results but understand I only missed one work out and did some walking that day and I stuck ot the eating schedule very strictly and shunned all temptations.

It was worth it.

Since seeing myresults and I posted on my facebook, I have had 14 classmeates and friends get the program, I can only hope they have the gumption to stick with it.

Greg

[Chubz]

Here are my photo results, please accept my post not being self indulgent but a form of encouragement. I have found that my friends family and colleagues did not take my participation in P90 too seriously, until they would see me at periodic get together and comapny meetings, then I had some friends inquire on my before and after pics. when I sent them, they immediately ordered the program. I dont know if they view me as lazy and if Greg can do it I can, but whatever the motivation to get back in shape, it never too late. As I said I have had 14 ppl get the program sinc eposting my results last week and I wish them all the best.

Should anyone pursue the program on BOL, I will support them whole heartedly, the way I feel and carry myself now, I play beter with my kids, I enjoy hobbies of old, my "time" with the wife is better and when carving season comes, I wont be half winded at the end of runs. More tuirns= more fun.

If you have any question, feel free to call me, i' not a coach yet, so dont think I'm trying to sell you anything, I dont get a dime, I just get the enjoyment out of ppl making a diffrence for themselves, family and loved ones.

Lastly, betond the physical journey it was, the biggest benefit was my mental stabilization ( I was crazy, but my self esteem wasnt what it was when I was super active, before sedinitery job, 3 kids and so on. I had let myself get to ppoint I had never been and it wasnt sitting well within my psyche. good luck if you embark.

My wife started 3 dasy ago and shes doing great.

Oh well tried to post bu the pics only show as red "x" in small box. Any idea what that means.

[Ernie00]

I personally don't think you need to go on any drastic diet. I haven't seen the p90x diet, I only have the DVD's and even if I had it I wouldn't even look at it. Balance is the key, you need to eat well, make sure you have enough nutrient and also make sure you eat enough because with this or any other serious training program you will most likely need to eat more because you are burning a lot of calories. You need to find a post workout drink that you like and take no more than 30 min after your workout. Often those drink will be made up of Carbos / proteins and various nutrients and vitamins. I take dymatize megamilk, I love the taste !

I love training but I love eating and taking a few beers. One thing for sure is that I train hard enough that I don't feel bad if I decide to eat like a pig one day and drink a few beers. Then again I have a crazy metabolism.

[Chubz]

Ernie

I could tnagree with you more. What you just decribed is near what P90 in their plan. I was suprised by what was advised for consumption, even to the point of "I cant eat all of that".

The word Diet is not used in P90, its a Nutrition plan. Go ahead dice me up for calling it something else, but You cant even use the word diet in its orginal definition 1 anymore. Its automatically connotated towards some form of starving yourself to death. Everyone thinks that you get 2 almonds as a snack in the evening and you can have 2 stalks of cerlery. Nutrition being the key word. I get to eat more than I ever have. I stuck with the plan just to experiment to see what the results would be. To my suprise of consuming that many daily calories, I still readily lost weight and placed lean muscle. Plus I relearned that with the right diet and discipline, it makes all the difference.

As I am sure you are already aware, you have a much higher insight and practice with your "balance" and you are exactly right. but most ppl cant adhere themselves to that and I think the program offers the phycallity of getting back in shape and teaching you that if you do follow a well-balance plan, its makes a huge difference in your well-being. I lost sight of that over the years with work, kids , marriage etc. and this program helped get me back on track to where I was as a late teenager, eating well and excercixes with splurges here and there.

I am following a "diet" of the original websters definition 1 and it has opened my eyes again to having the "balance" in life and it is feasibel even though most of what is put in front of us is horrible for us.

Daily intake for the middle elvel size person on P90 might include:

7 serving of protein (3oz each)

3 serving of low fat dairy (1 oz each for cheese or 8oz for milks)

1 serving of fruit

4 serving of veggies (1 cup each cooked or 2cups each leafy)

1 serving fats

1 serving cabrs (but flips in thrid pahse for more NRG to 7 serving)

2 snacks, protein bardried frtui ric cake, too many to ist

2 condiments.

Having been thru it, thats a llota eatin'

3000+ calories per day add more protein, dairy

All in all, I thought the program was antoher infomerical , that I got gigged, it sat on my shelf for 3years, while my life was "too busy".

I completely dig where you are coming from at the sametime I thikk its a good program to get oneself back on track becasue not everyone ahs the metabolism you indicate that you have. I use to enjoy my beers too after a good ride or run but I cant drink anymore, allergic toalcohol, but that has been a blessing in disguise.

Where do you get the megamilk???

[Ernie00]

Chubz:

I would never be able to count what I eat.. I'd go nuts. Definitaly it sounds like a lot but you need the extra calories and nutrient when you do train a lot. It all depends also what your objectives are.

I get the Dymatize Megamilk from http://www.supplementscanada.com/ in Canada obviousely but I'm sure there are web sites like that for the states. Cookies in cream, so good !

I looked a most of the DVD really fast onlly done, stretching, yoga X and ab ripper X. The Yoga X is a pretty hard workout. I haven't looked at the leg DVD yet but when september comes and I need to get ready for the snowboard season, I'm a big fan of power lifts (dead lifts, lunges and squats) they just work everything. I'll see I might get some new ideas from the DVD, that's why I bought them. try to keep the training intresting.