P90X Review (and Results!)
When I started the P90X, there were a TON of articles
, pictures and videosfrom people showing off incredible results, which really motivated me. But, few of this mediaactually explained HOW they did it.So, that is my intent by writing this article - if someone can take something away from thisthat might help them achieve results similar to mine, bingo!
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My Preparation: To me, the P90X is really like a P97X, because I believe to give yourself the very best opportunity to succeed, you need to begin preparing your body about 7 days out from Day 1. I cannot overstate how crucial this is. I went supplement shopping and began to take supplements 7 days before I started the program (more on supplements later). I also went grocery shopping and began to gradually move my diet towards the 50/30/20 protein/carbs/fat ratio recommended for Phase I. If you think on Day 1 you can just suddenly change your diet, you're in for a lot of headaches and energy crashes due to your body not being acclimated to its new ratios of nutrition. It took me several days to get the ratios right, and a program I found to be extremely helpful, and motivating in a way, is FitDay (www.fitday.com). It's 100% free and allows you to track everything you eat, even breaking it down into pie charts for you that detail what your ratios are. Another feature of FitDay is a journal, in which I would detail the times of my meals, the times of my workouts and generally how I was feeling (the aches, pains, gains, etc.). I am not affiliated with FitDay, but I will plug their site all day long, as I feel it really helped me stay on track. During my week prior to Day 1, I also stretched a lot and did some sessions of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) on my treadmill. I think this really helped my body be as prepared as possible.
Share:My Supplements:I bought all my supplements in advance and began using most of them about a week prior to Day 1. The most important supplement to begin early, at least for me at age 37, was a joint/ligament/tendon aid, because you'll be jumping, twisting and landing in ways you're probably not used to at all (I used Super Cissus). I also bought an everyday, multi-vitamin that I took each morning/night. My fat burning product was called Oxy Elite Pro. Depending upon whether it was an anaerobic day (Chest, Arms, Legs, Shoulders, etc.) or aerobic day (Plyo, Kenpo or Cardio X), I mixed up 2 different recovery drinks. On anaerobic days, I took a product called Dark Matter, which contains, among other things, heavy doses of Creatine. Because Dark Matter's protein level(s) are relatively low, 30 minutes later I would take two scoops of Whey Isolate (Cytosport). On aerobic days, in an effort to reduce Creatine intake for less water retention, I would mix up (2) scoops of Whey Isolate, (1) scoop of Glyco-Maize and (1) tablespoon of L-Glutamine with 16 oz. of water. I took one or the other after every workout, bar none, for 90 straight days. I preferred either over Beachbody's recovery drink because they use Waxy Maize, which is a complex carbohydrate that dissolves/absorbs like a simple carbohydrate (sugar); most of the carbs in Beachbody's recovery drink are from sugar. Ready-to-Drinks (RTDs) are really convenient and a real treat for your body; I usually drank at least one per day. Two RTDs that I really liked were Cytosport's "Muscle Milk" and EAS's Myoplex Original 42, with a slight preference towards the EAS product. Finally, if you're having trouble getting your protein up, try "Isopure" it's an RTD that comes in glass bottles and has zero carbs/fat, with relatively few calories. It's expensive, but it's probably the best quality protein available. Around Day 20 I added Fish Oil pills to supplement my very low fat intake.
Share:My Workouts:The workouts were difficult. I nearly hurled several times during the first week. The first few weeks I used aids (chairs for pull-ups, knees for push-ups, etc.) during portions of the videos; that's okay! The key: don't press "Stop" and walk away; keep moving around, keep your heart rate up and pick up the video when you're able. For example, the first week, most of the sets are 30 seconds long. I would go as long as I could, maybe 20 seconds, and then just jog in place until Tony et al were done. By the sixth week I was finishing each set with the group. A couple words of advice on gear: get yourself an impact-reducing pair of shoes or shin-splints are in your future! I wore relatively thick socks underneath Reebok Zig shoes, which I thought were outstanding at reducing the repeated pounding your feet, ankles and knees take during the 90 days, especially during workouts like Plyo X. Another recommendation: invest in the Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells. I know they are expensive, but they cannot be matched in terms of convenience you basically have one set of dumbbells that spans anywhere from 5 to 52.5 pounds awesome! Another thing about the workouts: try to vary the times you do them, if at least only once or twice per week. For example, I work Monday Thursday and would work out on those days after a light dinner, usually around 6:00 pm. On my off days, Friday Sundays, I would work out first thing out of bed, or at the latest, shortly after breakfast. This was beneficial for two reasons: 1) it kept my body clock from acclimating to a routine, and 2) if I found the energy later in the day on Fri/Sat/Sun, I could go on a short, HIIT run (I never did a "double"). Last thing about the workouts: don't sell X Stretch short! Keeping your muscles limber and "elastic" is so key for avoiding injury!
My Results:I never missed one single workout for ninety straight days. I followed the diet ratios, but not necessarily the foods, very closely. I was tested many times...I powered through being really sick once, operated on only a few hours sleep several times (just to squeeze in a workout) and tweaked one of my hammies pretty good at about Day 33. I realize that level of commitment may not be practical for everyone, but I'm an "all-in" kind of guy. I wasn't willing to sacrifice ninety days of my life to get half-ass results because I half-assed it all the way through. That said, I truly, honestly believe my results are not atypical. Anyone with motivation, determination and heart can have similar results.My genes are not the greatest. And, although I have played sports most of my life and consider myself a decent athlete, I'm by no means super-athletic...until now. Don't get discouraged by the scale! Muscle weighs more than fat, so it's entirely possible your weight may go up at times. I had several weeks where I lost nearly no weight at all, and then several others where I lost four or five pounds it seemed to come in spurts. I didn't really start to get visible results until around Day 30, and then everything after that was just extraordinary. I tried to "one-up" myself every week, pushing myself just a little bit harder than the previous week. Refer to your charts, see what you did last time, grit your teeth and do one or two more reps, or use more weight...I accepted no less.
Share:My life has changed dramatically.The other day my son, who's 7 y/o, was playing a video game involving a shirtless, hero-type character and said "Dad, now you look like that guy." For me, that was the pinnacle of a 90-day journey.Your pinnacle, too, can be only 90 days away.
You will get exactly out of this program what you put in. Extraordinary effort will be reciprocated with extraordinary results. I promise.I'd be glad to help any of you along your way, just let me know what you need in the way of advice, answers, etc. My diet was tweaked and evolved far too much to write about here, so type me with questions...I know for me it got confusing and I really learned everything through trial/error, advice at The Vitamin Shoppe and reading nutrition-based books. My starting/finishing stats are listed below, as validation of this amazing program called P90X:
Results:
AGE: 37 (unfortunately, we can't change that...)
HEIGHT: 5'11" (I didn't grow any either...)
WEIGHT: 220.5 -> 185.0 (-35.5 pounds)
BODYFAT: 31.5% -> 11.0% (-20.5%)
PANT SIZE: 38" (tight) -> 32" (loose)
RESTING HEART RATE: 77 -> 50
BLOOD PRESSURE: 148/80 -> 120/72
PUSHUPS: 22 -> 80
PULLUPS: 3 -> 25
P90X - "I hate it, but I love it!"
Share:*Anupdate on supplements:during Round 2 (and beyond) I switched over to the P90X Results and Recovery formula and started including Shakeology in my daily routine. As a coach, I receive a product discount, so it become cost-effective to use Beachbody's products. I mix the R&R with (1) scoop of vanilla Whey Isolate, which makes for a very powerful recovery drink. And, I feel like Shakeology really helped me continue to make gains during Round 2, when the gains were much harder to come by. Taking Shakeology also reduced the need for me to take the before-mentioned multi-vitamin. I encourage everyone I coach to take these two products to really enhance and expedite their own results.
P90X Review (and Results!)
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