11 weeks down. 2 to go.
Last week Heather and I finished week 11 of P90X. Some people have been asking me questions about how it is going, so I thought I would write another update to hopefully answer all your questions.
Here are a few important facts you need to know before I give the complete breakdown…
- We have not missed a workout during the first 11 weeks of the program. We’ve been dedicated and hardcore about sticking to the workout plan. That means we have worked out 6 days a week for the last 11 weeks.
- We have not followed the official P90X eating guide during this process. However, we generally eat pretty healthy.
- We have not done any before/after pictures so that’s not happening.
P90X Positives…
- Your core will no doubt get stronger. There’s no way you can do that many pull-ups and work out your abs four times a week without them getting stronger. In fact, I maxed out at 25 pull-ups and Heather did her first unassisted pull-up the other day.
- Your legs will get stronger. I have never been a guy that has worked out my legs a lot in the gym. However, this workout focuses on your legs quite a bit in very unconditional ways. Lots of jumping around, lunges, kickboxing, etc.
- Your flexibility will improve. The other day I actually touched my toes the other day during a hamstring stretch (which is unheard of for me).
- This workout will shred you up if you stick with it.
P90X Negatives…
- There is a high chance of injury. If you tackle this workout, be smart and take care of your body. Because you are doing almost every exercise to failure, it is very easy to lose form and hurt yourself. With all the pushups and yoga,I have had a lot of wrist issues that I have had to push through.
- It is a huge time commitment. There are 4 out of 6 days a week that you workout 90+ minutes.
- You only workout chest once a week. I get sore every chest workout, but I’m not sure if I am getting stronger or larger through this workout like other areas (back, abs, and legs). It is very tough to gauge because you are only doing pushups.
- Yoga is ridiculously long and hard.
- The Kenpo X is really easy compared to the rest of the workouts.
- To get the full results of the workout, you really need a wide range of dumbbells, which can get very expensive. Find myself too often settling for what I have instead of going to buy more weights (because I am cheap).
Reality Check Time…
- P90X is hard. Make no mistake about it, P90X is hard work. You will be sore. You will be in pain. You will be uncomfortable. You will sweat a lot.
- It is not a miracle workout. Just like any exercise program, you get what you put into it. If you work hard and stick to the program, you will get results. If you are lazy and miss half the workouts, you will not get results. It is a vehicle for you to get in shape. It is not something that will do it for you. It is not one of those infomercials where it says “just workout 15 minutes a day, 3 days a week to get jacked out of your mind” or “put on this belt that jiggles your belly and loose weight watching tv!” The same principles apply to P90X as it would for going to your local gym: work hard, eat right, keep working out, and start to see results gradually.
- P90X is not for people who are really out of shape. It is for people who are in decent shape to start with. If you are really out of shape, don’t start with P90X.
That’s all I got.
Any questions?
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Let’s see some pics!
It’s not happening, Lane. Go Vols.
Dude I have P90x but I think I’ve worked out maybe 10 times with it since christmas! Ha Its SUPER hard!
Thanks for the wrap-up. Kara and I have been kicking around the idea of doing this for weeks now. We will probably start after we get back from Asia.
OMG!!!! brian, you touched your toes!?
haha
i’m definitely doing this in the spring right before i do my physical aptitude test for west point. i think it’ll help me get a pretty good score..
and hey, maybe after these next two weeks you’ll be able to do the splits. dream big
Hey dude, thanks for the break down my wife and I just ordered our copy and getting ready to start. question for you, if we do it together do we need to have two sets of dumbbells and two pull up bars?
Drew, you and your wife will definitely need two set of dumbbells. Heather and I have 3 sets and it works perfectly. We have a 5lb set (Heather light weight), a 12lb set (Heather heavy weight, my light weight), and a 25lb set (my heavy weight). You can get by with one pull up bar. They give you plenty of time to both do pullups to failure going one after the other on the same pullup bar. And if not, you can always hit pause until you both finish.
Hope that helps. Thanks for reading.
Brian – nice blog post giving your ups and downs for P90X. I’m starting Week 8 tomorrow and loving the results thus far. You’re right – if you stick with it, the shredding is there. I know from my waist and chest, there is bodyfat that has fallen off. Like Tony Horton says in one of the DVD’s, it’s “DNA removal.”
Looking forward to more posts!
I’m on Week 11 myself right now (starting this AM) and I must say your pros and cons breakdown is spot on so far. Legs and core are worked hardest w/ chest lagging way behind. I’d say upper back/traps get worked out nicely as evidenced by by increase from 1 to 6 wide fly pullups from week 1 to now.
A couple of other notes for those beginning:
- I’ve substitutted Carido X/Core Synergistics for the Yoga X routine. Yeah, I know Yoga…blah blah…it just is boring and time consuming. Cardio actually has a 10-15 minute Yoga warmup for a little taste. I know the diehards disagree w/ this one but 90 mins of Yoga? Uh uh.
-Do the Ab Ripper BEFORE the other workout on those days. Believe me, it saved me quite a few times. For me, the ab workout was probably the most important one and a lot of times I was 100% wiped out after doing the first workout.
-Buy this stuff called Muscle Building Milkshake by Six Star and take it after workouts. I’m telling you, it works MUCH better than Whey by itself and the Chocolate tastes good (but it doesn’t mix well). My strength gains have been amazing. No, I don’t work for the company.
-I didn’t do the diet plan either but here’s the key to success in this whole thing:
a) Work out in the morning before eating
b) Eat a healthy breakfast/shake after workout and eat healthy through lunch and into the mid afternoon time.
c) Throw in a sweet snack or two each day so that your mind doesn’t go crazy from lack of sweet. Believe me you’ll need it.
If you can do this EVERY day, you can afford to not be eating tuna fish for every meal and with your body in a ‘healthy’ mode for 6-8 straight hrs every day you’ll build muscle and burn fat.
That’s all…good luck to everyone.