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.
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.