PDA

View Full Version : P90x entirely different than I envisioned it



Freepressright
03-28-2013, 12:55 PM
We've all been guilty of judging a book by its cover.

Let's face it, there are things in the world of weightlifting and bodybuilding that we come to believe in very deeply, and we have a tendency to "poo poo" things we either don't understand or just don't seem cool to us. I was guilty of this with P90x.

I wrote it off as some stupid circuit training program for the weak hearted. But after my boss, a jiu-jitsu and shotokan black belt with a martial arts school and longtime lifter, a badass in every respect, suggested I try it, I listened.

I have to confess, I have been fighting severe boredom and frustration with the gym. I work out at a college athletic center. The upside is that the equipment is killer. It's everything any of us would ever dream of under one roof. But the downside is that the time of day I have to go, I am forced to battle students to get on equipment (football team hogging squat racks and benches, rightfully so, etc), and in the summertime, the hours suck. Some days I can't even make it.

Also, with summer coming and me being in two different bands with busy schedules, I could stand to step back from the bulking mentality and build some endurance to get me through those 90-degree shows where I'm running my ass off with a guitar on for four hours.

It was the perfect time in my life to try something different.

I confess, after two weeks, I'm loving P90x. It's a very well designed program, it works your ass off and it leaves you sore. It addresses so many areas that weightlifting alone doesn't.

Before anyone who has never done it or never looked at the plan chimes in and writes it off as something like Cross Fit, it isn't.

Mondays I'm doing back and chest. I've gone back to the basics and busted out my chinup bar, my perfect pushups and dumbbells.

Tuesdays, I'm getting my ass kicked with an hour-long plyometrics (jump training) video that has me so damn sore days afterwards that it makes squat day seem almost easy. No, I'm not exaggerating.

Wednesdays I'm doing shoulders and arms. You can do with dumbbells and bands.

Thursdays it's Yoga X - and it's great for stability, stretching and flexibility.

Fridays it's legs and back

Saturdays it's Kenpo X, which is great because I have a Kenpo background and Sundays I take off.

There's also an option for an Ab Ripper X to do at the ends of M, W & F.

So, haters, make fun of me. Crack your jokes, have a laugh at me, LOL. It's fun. And it's teaching me cool things that I can adapt and take with me when I go back into the gym. :D

I enjoy learning and I enjoy variety.

No, I'm not trying to sell anybody on it. But I'd like to have a dialog on it. I think it is far more meritorious than I ever gave it credit. For $80, it's killer.

Coolazice
03-28-2013, 01:08 PM
A girl burned some P90x DVDs for me a couple years ago, but I never even looked at them, other than the Yoga video - and that was only one time. It did leave me pretty sore though. lol Perhaps I should take a peek at them now.

Thanks for the review!

sandman
03-28-2013, 01:09 PM
P90x is a great workout. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone trying to really gain weight unless their calories are super high but at this time of the year when we're trying to cut up for the summer, you can't really beat it. Insanity is another good choice.

longBallLima
03-28-2013, 01:27 PM
it's the one program i never shat on and recommended to people who can't make it to the gym.

Freepressright
03-28-2013, 01:35 PM
P90x is a great workout. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone trying to really gain weight unless their calories are super high but at this time of the year when we're trying to cut up for the summer, you can't really beat it. Insanity is another good choice.

I'd agree, although it is entirely possible to modify the program to use heavy weights (if you have them at home) and do fewer reps. If your calories were in surplus, you could grow with it. But that isn't really the goal. Cutting up for summer, it's a damn good program for that. It absolutely will build lean muscle.

KAB111
03-28-2013, 02:28 PM
I used P90X to get back in the gsame after being gone for a number of years. It was a great way to get back to a level of strength and endurance that i could build upon once i joined a gym again. Plus I got to be a wuss in the privacy of my own home! P90x is tough, I bought P90x+ and itsd really tough as well.

Freepressright
03-28-2013, 04:39 PM
I got the P90x Plus discs as a bonus with mine. I haven't really checked them out yet. I will, though. It's definitely a tough program.

There's some pretty damn impressive transformations. This guy was a 370-pound lard ass and dropped 180 pounds in a year and a half and is cut up. His first round he lost 60 pounds, and about another 60 on round two.

P90X&#174 Success Stories - P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout Program - Beachbody.com
(http://www.beachbody.com/product/p90x-success-stories-jeremyy.do)

This guy was also a total lard ass and after a year on the program is ripped and has BF in the single digits.
P90X&#174 Success Stories - P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout Program - Beachbody.com
(http://www.beachbody.com/product/p90x-success-stories-tommym.do)

Fat Bill Dwyer
04-01-2013, 05:39 AM
Hey bro, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but you need to put rep in your sig. ;)

Freepressright
04-01-2013, 06:39 AM
LOL! I wish. That would mean I'd be getting money, or product. Right now I'm getting neither.

Fat Bill Dwyer
04-01-2013, 06:44 AM
LOL! I wish. That would mean I'd be getting money, or product. Right now I'm getting neither.

You could be in the video doing crunches and wailing on a guitar with sweaty well-tanned rock-hard p90x chicks.

Freepressright
04-01-2013, 07:37 AM
Now you're talking!

Sorrow
04-01-2013, 08:26 AM
I bought it years back when working on a road crew. I'd be in hotels for weeks on end and couldn't count on having weights available. It worked really well for keeping me from declining to far back then. Doesn't mesh well with the powerlifting that I follow, but I would agree its a solid workout. Kind of falls under the General physical fitness end of the spectrum but will work if you follow it. Would probably be a great break from the norm for someone who wants to just follow a pre laid out scheme without having to think about it to much. Throw in some simple compound free weight moves at night and you could probably do one hell of a recomp!

Freepressright
04-01-2013, 08:35 AM
I bought it years back when working on a road crew. I'd be in hotels for weeks on end and couldn't count on having weights available. It worked really well for keeping me from declining to far back then. Doesn't mesh well with the powerlifting that I follow, but I would agree its a solid workout. Kind of falls under the General physical fitness end of the spectrum but will work if you follow it. Would probably be a great break from the norm for someone who wants to just follow a pre laid out scheme without having to think about it to much. Throw in some simple compound free weight moves at night and you could probably do one hell of a recomp!

I agree with every word you said. It could be modified to achieve something different than what it's intended for, and it's great education that you can take with you to the gym if you choose to deviate from it. Anyone who knocks it or says it's garbage is either delusional or has no real understanding of it.

It's taking me in a different direction and offering me a different point of view. I'm cool with that. My goal this summer is to feel good and have good endurance for my shows. Plus it's breaking up the boredom and monotony of something I've done for a long time.

olddawg
04-01-2013, 09:00 AM
I always wanted to give it a shot, looks good on a cut even if you do it every other week, and go heavy weights on the off weeks to preserve more muscle. But I don't like getting sweaty. Ihaven't seen all of the program so i can't be sure, but i'll do a version of it--similar--when I am trying to lose fat. Having the program might make things simpler for me though

Freepressright
04-01-2013, 11:13 AM
I dropped $80 on it, and it's my opinion that it's $80 well spent.

JM1000
04-01-2013, 12:17 PM
Personally i love the weights too much, but i'm sure it works, gl with that!

Freepressright
04-01-2013, 12:19 PM
Thanks. I love them too, but I've grown bored with the revolving weightlifting routine. I figured with summer approaching, it's not a bad change-up.

DJM
04-01-2013, 12:35 PM
Thanks. I love them too, but I've grown bored with the revolving weightlifting routine. I figured with summer approaching, it's not a bad change-up.

agreed!
im tired too of the bb'ing workout, might get into olympic stuff / strength

we all need change

DJM
04-01-2013, 12:35 PM
I dropped $80 on it, and it's my opinion that it's $80 well spent.

$80 is fkn dinner sometimes

longBallLima
04-01-2013, 12:37 PM
even better is a good ol' torrent download lol

Freepressright
04-01-2013, 12:59 PM
Yes, LongBall, you can download the entire thing on torrent. You can find it through thepiratebay website and use Vuze to download it. I bought it and got the P90x Plus bonus disc set... after downloading it from TPB/Vuze to sample it. There's a high-quality version available on there.

Grape Ape
04-01-2013, 01:09 PM
Just throw in some 5,3,1 rep ranged squats, deadlift, bench etc once or twice a week.

Monday: Back squat and military press in AM, P90X in PM

Wednesday: Deadlift, Flat Bench, Bent Row in AM, P90X in PM

Freepressright
04-01-2013, 01:22 PM
Actually, I had considered something similar: Ditching the Yoga X in favor of a heavy deadlift day, or heavy squat day.

Grape Ape
04-16-2013, 07:55 AM
How's the P90X treating you, in leaning, endurance building, and muscle preservation?

Supposedly the workouts burn 700+ calories, so that can put you in a nice deficit.

Freepressright
04-16-2013, 09:09 AM
I feel the best I've felt in the last couple years, to be honest. Strength and endurance wise, I feel incredible.

I have only lost a couple of pounds since starting it, and none of it appears to be muscle loss. I'm really starting to sculpt and define and I'm getting mad vascular. This is a very refreshing change of pace.

It's been fun watching my endurance steadily improve over the last few weeks. Very rewarding feeling for sure.

Grape Ape
04-18-2013, 11:42 AM
Exactly what I wanted to here.

I'm looking to get back into wrestling shape, and trim down on the body fat. Summers looking like p90x and some 5,3,1 work on the compounds.

Freepressright
04-18-2013, 12:16 PM
If nothing else, you will really enjoy the endurance and work element of P90x. I have a blast doing it.