Who uses it and what do you think?
I started two weeks ago, started a thread but there's not much in it yet. I'm loving it. It's hard but you do what you can and progress from there so it doesn't matter. It's a very comprehensive health and fitness program that I'm hoping will develop some new habits. It includes a diet plan which is apparantly imperative but is also really good. Just great freash foods, nothing freaky. The workouts are very thorough imo. You work your whole body, build strength, muscle, lose fat (tone), gain agility, flexibility, and balance amongst other things. Like I said I'm only two weeks in but I can certainly feel big changes coming, it feels innevitable if you do three things. 1) Stick to the diet (it really is good and you don't get hungry). 2) Push play everyday. 3) Do your best and forget the rest (I ripped that off from the program and it sounds cheesy but it makes sense at certain moments). Good Luck, let us know if you do it.
My wife has been doing it for six days a week for three weeks now, and I can already see some results. I tried the ab ripper with her last night and it was brutal...and I have been working out for ~5 years at the gym 3 days a week. I may just start working out at home with her...
I completed the program. Had remarkable results. The worst part for me (and the biggest surprise) was the daily time commitment. To make it work, you must adhere to a strict schedule and often that is more than 2 hours of your day whether it is convenient or not. The workouts were brutal at first, but eventually the program gets easier as your body conforms. But the time commitment is a killer. Somehow, I was under the impression it was 30-45 minutes a day. My wife was not happy with me!
+1 This is something I forgot to mention. I get up around 6:30 to 7 and lay in bed watching the local news and petting my dog until about 7:30. Then it's coffee and a snack and check the e-mails and F-chat til about 8:30. Then the workouts are from 1 hour 15 min to over an hour and a half PLUS another 20 to 30 minutes decrompressing and then a shower and making lunch and then I can get my day started at about 11-12. I'm sure there are other ways to do it but it is a lot of time. I'm useing it as a reset and habit changer, there is no practical way that I could spend that much time with it unless my lucky numbers come through.
The time commitment is rough. I never did start the diet, but heard that is important to do. Because of work, vacation time etc, I've done P30x twice. =D The program works, but like any other exercise routine, it works only for those who do it each and every day. I'd recommend it, because it takes minimal gear to get started - a few dumbbells and a chin up bar. Most importantly, while doing P90x - drink lots of water during the day or you will feel it!
I assume it has to. The workouts are tough and the diet is right on. I just finished day 19 and it was probably the hardest yet. I lacked real motivation today, I honestly don't think I'm getting enough calories and should be packing a lunch and some snacks when I go out so I'll eat more. I'm afraid to eat out as I do want the results and it's hard to track calories and portions and percentages of fat, carbs, proteins without the back of the box. But, I made it through today and will get up and push play tomorrow.
P90X is very hard exercise and required lot of efforts for these exercise. I a trying to perform P90X but have not strength of that level.
I think any exercise program that gets someone motivated, is convenient, challenging, and progressed appropriately is a great thing. That being said, I have worked on quite a few people that have sustained injuries from P90X. Most of the injuries have been somewhere in the shoulder complex or elbow and stem from overuse combined with lack of variation and proper progression. Those, and high risk-low benefit exercises like upright rows and dips. ~see exercises you might want to avoid thread~ Other things I have noticed (due to the above) are: - Strength in certain planes, weakness in others. For example: able to press, push-up, overhead press, yet unable to press from/within a cable crossover. (same motion-different direction/application of resistance). Over time this will develop compensation. - Attempts at Pull-ups with horrific form. My rule: 'If you can't pull it down you can't pull it up.' Meaning, if you're 180#, you have to be able to pull down 180# on a pulldown machine before you can execute a Pull-up with perfect form. Again, proper progression. - Excessive # of repetitions. I don't care what you're training for and how many reps you can do, too much is too much and just begging for tendinitis. - Not enough variation. Even the simplest movement like an overhead press can be varied a ton of different ways. I think P90X should offer a supplemental guide somehow with those variations. I think P90x is a great tool to add into a workout program but certainly should not comprise its entirety. -Billy
I was hoping you'd have some input into this Billy. I got P90x a year ago. Read the books cover to cover and did everything exactly as written. I hit it hard every single day! I got to week 8 and flamed out big time. I mean, just thinking of exercise caused my body to shut down. I literally could not go on. I quit and analyzed what happened and what could have gone wrong. I eventually determined that it was a combination of some of the exercises plus over training. (I actually pulled my quad while running to 1st in the company softball league) I also think that I wasn't getting enough calories. Like I said, I just followed the program to a T. On the plus side, it does work. I have started back up and filtered out the exercises I refuse to do. The dips and upright row got crossed off a long time ago! I refuse to do the Kenpo program. I don't do most of the pullups due to my shoulders. I quit doing the flip grip tricep kickbacks after reading the exercises to avoid thread. (the one grip is the same movement as a palm down tricep pushdown.) Billy, what do you think of the ab routine? I don't like the scissor exercise. I'm thinking of the torque on the lower back. Same with the mason twist. Oh, and the lawnmowers. I will say this, my workout buddy comes over once a week so we can spot each other on heavy free weight lifts. I do the P90x "chest/back" workout on Monday and the free weight stuff on Wednesday. My gains seem to be accelerating. My recommendation for anyone wanting to do P90x is as follows. 1. Take it easy the first time through the program. Get a feel for the different exercises, equipment needed, etc. This shouldn't be a 90 day and done thing. You'll do it over and over again hopefully. 2. Don't be afraid to skip something if it doesn't feel right. There are things that I consider to be bad exercises. It's not worth injury. The people that made this program aren't perfect. 3. Invest in the right equipment to do the job. Don't buy a pair of 25lb dumbbells and call it good. 4. Track your diet each day. I carry around one of those pocket sized spiral notebooks and write down what I eat during the day. In the evening, I enter it into fitday.com. I try to do it early enough so I can eat some more of what I need before it's too late at night. Good luck
Overtraining and Over-repping are sometimes as bad as not training. Recovery~Rest~Nutrition~Hydration are actually components of, and just as important as the workout itself. You'll have to describe to me what the Mason Twist and Lawnmowers are. I will say this about Ab/Torso/Core Training: - They need to be trained just like the rest. 50, 100 reps isn't going to burn off any more fat or rip them up. If you can do 20 reps of a given Ab exercise then find a way to load or challenge it differently. - Ab definition comes from proper and consistent eating...period! - Exercises like Planks, contraction without movement, are essential to providing stability and to get focus on just how much the different layers of Abs relate to the spine. -Abs are involved in every exercise as a mover or stabilizer so be aware of their role. - A lot of people move their and involve heir legs when doing Ab Ex's. (scissors?) Well, the Abs do not attach to the legs so why are you moving them? Even performing a reverse crunch, hip joints should remain locked to act as resistance but not initiators of mvt. - I perform an ab/torso/core ex btwn every set durning a workout...perhaps 12 diff ones throughout. -Billy
I have been doing P90x for about 6 months. I also did Insanity in the middle of the two rounds of P90x.I feel so much better. I still have a little weight to lose but will continue. I feel that I had great results on the programs and have lost about 52 pounds.
Billyfitness, thanks for your GREAT insights into P90X. It's an intense workout, so of course people see results quickly, if they are somewhat consistent. I could never bring myself to do it. I believe in holistic fitness. I just don't see myself training at that intensity level for years on end, and I don't like the time commitment. Thank you for pointing out the other shortcomings - weakness in some planes, risk of injury, etc. As for scissors, could it be that the core is being used for stability? Haven't tried it, but you do get a burn in the abs when doing it. Surely that means they are being engaged?
This sums it up pretty well. While i havent tried P90X yet i have done Insanity 3x so far. Being kind of a sister program, the meal plan and everything also comes with it. Workouts are only about an hour but the planning meals and making sure I get enough rest is really where the time commitment is. Its not just the one hour workout a day that produces results, but what you do with the other 23.
Ive tried P90x but wasn't 100% committed. I know people who swear by it. But remember... 80% diet, 20% exercise
