Today I thought I would give a review of P90X. If you haven't heard of P90X as of yet, it's a workout program designed to get you in shape in 90 days. The way it works is with a method called muscle confusion. You work out 6 days a week, but you're never doing the same set of exercises or directly working the same muscles, in any of those days. I'll start by giving a breakdown of each of the workouts and my thoughts on each.
CHEST AND BACK - This is the first workout in the P90X series. You perform 6 different exercises for the Chest and 6 different exercises for the Back. But, you do them twice for a total of 12 sets per body part. The Chest exercises are all different variations of pushups (standard, wide, decline, etc). For the back exercises, you need to have a
pullup bar since 3 of the 6 exercises are pullup related. So for this workout, and most of the other P90x workouts, you will perform 2 sets of Chest exercises, 2 sets of Back exercises and then take about a minute break before going on to the next set of exercises. The rest in between exercises is minimal. I never really did pullups before starting P90X so I didn't know what to expect.
They are tough. It took me a long time to be able to do them without using a chair for balance and to help get myself up. That's the beauty of P90X though. You do what you can. As Tony Horton constantly says in these videos, "Do your best and forget the rest"!!
PLYOMETRICS - Plyometrics stands for jump training. This is a grueling pure cardio workout that a lot of people tell me they could not complete for awhile. There are 20 total exercises in the main workout and 3 in the "Bonus" part if you still have energy to do them. The exercises are broken down into groups of 4. You perform three 30 second exercises and then do one 1 minute exercise before getting about a minute break. You then repeat the same set of exercises you just did, get the same break before before moving on to the next set of exercises. Like I said, this is a grueling cardio workout that will really make your legs burn. But, just like everything else, you take your time, do what you can and eventually you will be able to finish the complete program.
SHOULDERS AND ARMS - This is my favorite workout! There are 4 exercises for the shoulders, 4 for your biceps and 4 for the triceps. Plus, there is a bonus round that has 3 more exercises per muscle group if you would like to do them. In classic P90X style, you do a set for shoulders, a set for biceps and a set for triceps and get a minute break. Then you go back and repeat those exercises again before moving on to the next group. I really like this workout. It really pumps my arms up!
YOGA - I have to admit something right away. I don't like most of this program. I'm not very flexible, so I struggled with this DVD. This is the longest workout there is, 90 minutes. I believe the reason it is in this program is because of people like me who are not flexible. P90X is all about getting you in the best shape possible and flexibility is part of that. I just didn't care for it. I did the first half of the yoga and skipped the second half most of the time. The first half was some basic yoga moves, like warrior stance, downward dog, etc. The second half went more into advanced yoga moves and balance. I did notice my flexibility increase even though I wasn't doing the whole thing.
LEGS and BACK - There are 23 exercises in this workout. 15 for legs and 8 for back. The back workouts are 4 different types of pullups. The 15 leg exercises are all different. There are a lot of lunging moves and body squats that really make my legs burn.
KENPO - Kenpo is another cardio workout, but not as tough as Plyometrics. It is meant to get your heart rate up with moves similar to kickboxing....punches and kicks. Even though this workout isn't very intense, my joints were sore after it due to the amount of punches and kicks that you throw.
Please be careful when doing this workout so you do not over extend your knee and elbow joints.
CORE SYNERGISTICS - This workout is part of the recovery week, but it is still pretty intense. The goal here is to work your core muscles (from just below your chest to your hips and everything in between). The core muscle group is a neglected part of most peoples training, but it shouldn't be. The core is what stabilizes your body and without a strong core, you can't breath as deeply, lift as heavy or move quickly. This workout has it all as far as a great core workout goes.
CHEST, SHOULDERS AND TRICEPS - Now the fun begins! This is the first workout where you are never repeating the same exercise. There are 24 exercises total, 8 for each muscle group and they are all very challenging. For chest, you are doing more pushups, but this time, it includes clap pushups and one handed pushups. I know what you're thinking, that's crazy and I can't do those. That's fine if you can't. Modify them! Do them from your knees. That's how I started out. The shoulder and tri workouts are somewhat the same from the previous workouts, with a couple of surprises that will make your muscles burn like crazy by the end.
BACK AND BICEPS - 24 moves, 12 for each muscle group. If you're not spent after this workout, you did it wrong. Both groups are basically the same workouts as you have been doing with some variations. For instance, there is a exercise called towel pullups where you hang on to the bar with one hand and wrap a towel over the other handle so that your one hand is slightly lower than the other. Again, muscle confusion. These little changes are what causes your body not to adapt and to keep on changing for the better. The strip set of bicep curls at the end is insane. If you don't know what a strip set is, let me tell you. You start with one set of weights, let's say 25 pound dumbells. After doing 10 reps, you rest for about 20 seconds and then do 10 more reps with 20 pound dumbells. You do 4 sets like that!! Let me tell you that after working out your biceps this entire workout and then doing the strip set at the end, you will barely be able to lift anything!!
X STRETCH - This isn't really a workout but it's included just in case you want to do some stretching when your muscles are sore. I just want to say that I'm a big fan of stretching. I sometimes do this DVD just to loosing up. It's a full body program and works wonders. I highly recommend it!
AB RIPPER - I saved the best for last. This is exactly as it sounds. You perform this program 3 days a week along with the other workouts. It's about 15 minutes long and it
CRUSHES your abs!! There are 11 moves, 25 reps each. I'll admit that I could not complete this workout for awhile when I first began. It takes time. I started with 10 reps per exercise and gradually increased it until I was at the recommended 25. This workout is hard.
So, those are the workouts. Here is the schedule for the program:
The classic P90x workout plan looks like this:
Weeks 1, 2, and 3
Day 1 – Chest and Back, plus Ab Ripper X
Day 2 – Plyometrics
Day 3 – Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – Yoga X
Day 5 – Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Kenpo X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch
The p90x workout schedule for week 4 is supposed to be a recovery week after hitting it hard six days a week for three weeks:
P90x Workout Plan Week 4
Day 1 – Yoga X
Day 2 – Core Synergistics
Day 3 – Kenpo X
Day 4 – X Stretch
Day 5 – Core Synergistics
Day 6 – Yoga X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch
For week 5 the P90x workout schedule changes yet again
P90X Workout Plan Weeks 5, 6, 7
Day 1 – Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 2 – Plyometrics
Day 3 – Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – Yoga X
Day 5 – Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Kenpo X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch
Time to kick back to another recovery phase week for week 8
P90x Calendar Week 8 (Recovery Phase)
Day 1 – Yoga X
Day 2 – Core Synergistics
Day 3 – Kenpo X
Day 4 – X Stretch
Day 5 – Core Synergistics
Day 6 – Yoga X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch
The following workout program appears in Weeks 9 and then again in Week 11
Day 1 – Chest and Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 2 – Plyometrics
Day 3 – Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – Yoga X
Day 5 – Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Kenpo X
Day 7 Rest or X Stretch
Here’s the P90X Calendar for Weeks 10 and 12
Day 1 – Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 2- Plyometrics
Day 3 – Back and Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – Yoga X
Day 5 – Legs and Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Kenpo X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch
P90X Workout Schedule Week 13 (Final Week!!)
Day 1 – Yoga X
Day 2 – Core Synergistics
Day 3 – Kenpo X
Day 4 – X Stretch
Day 5 – Core Synergistics
Day 6 – Yoga X
Day 7 – Rest or X Stretch
As you can see, the P90X workout schedule has you working out six days a week for 13 weeks, for about an hour each day (Yoga is 90 minutes).
The program also comes with a nuitrition guide that helps you decide what to eat and how much while you're on this program.
The equipement that is the bare minimum for doing P90X are dumbells or
exercise bands, and a
pullup bar. There is more equipment that you can purchase, but I seemed to get by fine with just those.
I highly recommend drinking a
gold standard protein shake after these workouts to help your muscles grow and help with recovery.
FINAL REVIEW - I found this program to be excellent! It is meant to increase your overall health, not just to get ripped, and that is what it does. It works on building muscle, building a solid core, flexibility and cardio endurance. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to take their fitness to the next level. With that being said,
I want to say that this is not a beginner program!! You have to be in somewhat good shape to begin this. For more information, check it out here,
p90x.
Regardless of these issues, most people reading this will still hoist a tankard this coming weekend. You can drink alcohol, have a social life, and still be healthy. Yes, I dared to say it. I promise. You do have to make choices and moderate those choices because after all, alcohol is made up of calories. And the calories usually don't stop at the alcohol. Think of the sugary mixers and the post-bar grub. How many times has eating cheese fries with gravy from a diner in North Jersey at 3 AM seemed like a "great idea"? The keys are in choices and in moderation.
When looking at what to stay away from, try to nix mixed drinks and full-calorie beers—although if you're not counting calories, full-calorie, craft-brewed beers are your best bet from a holistic perspective, in that they're made from naturally healthy ingredients and free of additives, fillers, and other chemicals. Mixed drinks are packed with syrups, sugars, and sodas that can easily add in hundreds of calories to your cocktail. And no, it's not healthy even if the mixer is made from fruit. That fruit is high in sugar! They may look and taste sweet, but mixed drinks can wreak havoc on your body. Fruit by itself is great for you, but I don't think the bartender at Joe Shmo's pub down the street is grating coconut and chopping up pineapple . . . he's probably mixing canned fruit juice. The reason why fruit by itself is good for you is because it packs FIBER with it, which helps slow the digestion and absorption of the fructose, or sugar. Fruit juices have all the sugar, but none of the fiber, leaving your insulin response to skyrocket and fall. Furthermore, sugar masks the taste of alcohol and you may not realize how much alcohol you're consuming. 