Answers to the top P90X questions, short and sweet. Go!
The P90X Workout Program
The P90X Nutrition Plan
Total Costs & Commitment
The Results and benefits
How to get ready for P90X and stay on track?
Is the fit-test important?
Is P90X for women?
Is P90X good for high school athletes?
Will you gain muscle mass with P90X?
How do I rate P90X?
Where do I buy P90X today?
Created by celebrity trainer Tony Horton and Beachbody fitness in 2005, P90X is a 90-day “do it yourself at home” fitness program. P90X is a compilation of 12 DVD video workouts and nutritional plan with the purpose to get you in the best shape of your life. It packs a combination of strength training, cardio, endurance and yoga targeted for every main muscle group and based on the idea of “muscle-confusion” with high-intensity cross training circuit. It requires little equipment and space making it one of the most cost-effective programs in the market.
Quite advertised via informercials and popular via great before and after pictures and stories from devoted followers, this workout is not aimed to the traditional couch potato, but instead at everyday folks with average to above average physical ability.
If you are looking kick the plateau ceiling, shake boredom, build your body like you’ve never seen and be the most durable you’ve been in your life… then this is the workout for you.
Who is it for: People who are looking for simplicity, have the discipline to follow a home workout program. Program can adapt well for travelers, although it requires 60-90 minutes 5 days a week.
I never followed the P90X diet plan. I don’t like to follow anything “diet”. My dietary rule may not be perfect, but here it goes. I tried to stay away from fats (outside of meats, any food with less than 20% fat based on calories), a protein shake after workout, low sugar anytime, avoid any carbs after 8PM, eat fresh stuff, heavy on greens as much as possible. I’ve read that the P90X nutritional program is hard the first month because of the emphasis on proteins and low carbs which is difficult for most Americans. Although the meal plans appear clearly laid out, the book relies on “listening to your body” which is somewhat ambiguous for most.
I do urge you to develop a healthy nutritional habit and stick to it. Get rid or soda, sugar, lots of carbs, never starch, corn syrup and forget about fast-fast foods! Load up on veggies, eat anything that spoils quickly, stick to healthy low sugar and low fat alternatives on everything you eat. Eat less and more often. People will think you are a bottomless crazy eater. What about calories? Follow your gut, literally.
This is one of cheapest and most effective workout programs ever, period. The P90X program costs about $60.00. You can do it at the gym (I did it in my park district gym initially via my iphone and ipod, now I use cue cards with a fitness stopwatch). For home, you’ll need some equipment. You could do everything via a set of resistance bands, however, you’ll get better results from dumbbells and pull-up bar. My total investment is about $400.00. Here’s everything I have:
Pull-up bar (steel PVC attached to the roof in my basement)
Perfect pushup
Yoga mat and block
PowerBlocks dumbbell set (used)
Polar RS100 heart rate monitor
Gymboss.com stopwatch
Laptop or old TV with DVD player (not included in total price)
If you compare this with monthly gym, personal trainers and trips back/forth the gym, this investment is worth every penny. Your biggest investment will not be dollars, but your time and mental strength to push through each workout, every day. I have some tips here to help you stay motivated.
We all have different goals. In every measurable way, this program will help you reach your goals in a dramatic and effective time. I am truly in the best shape of my life.
Here are my P90X results from my first round.
| Fit Test | Before | After | ||
| Pull-Ups | 8 | 20 | ||
| Push-Ups | 25 | 40 | ||
| Toe Touch | 0″ | 5″ | ||
| Wall Squat | 0:20 | 1:21 | ||
| Bicep Curls (#/lbs) | 16 @ 20 lbs | 33 @ 20 lbs | ||
| Vertical Leap | 21″ | 24″ | ||
| Abs: Ins and Outs | 35 | 80 | ||
| Body Weight | 169 | 167 | ||
| Body Fat | 15.6% | 8% | ||
| Waist | 34″ | 32″ | ||
| Height | 5’11″ | 5’11″ |
Some additional benefits:
1. Getting a great workout at home and save time
2. Winning some top local beach volleyball tournaments
3. Pushing my body to new limits
4. Motivating friends and family to follow
How to get ready for P90X and stay on track?
There are several things to consider before starting P90X. Probably the most important is your state of mind. You need to convince yourself that you are ready to complete every workout, every day, no matter how tired you are. This program will require a level of determination and focus that people who have participated in scholastic or collegiate sports can understand right away, for others is an acquired skill. Next, you need to be at a certain fitness level in order to tackle P90X. If you are not, then start with BeachBody Power 90, ChaLEAN or similar program. Remember, most of what you need to get started is not physical, but mental. In order to prepare mentally, you need a goal and/or a strong enough reason to stick with this program.
Eat better and sleep more than 6 hours a day. I’m a frequent 3-4 hour sleeper until I met P90X. You will not be able to maintain the eating and sleeping patterns if you want to last beyond 2 weeks in this program.
Find or enlist a support system to help you succeed. As P90X becomes a priority, is not unusual that you’ll be talking P90X with all your friends. They will either support you or get tired or hearing how fanatical you’ve become. Find people who will support you in this journey. Avoid the things that draw you away from reaching the 90 day goal. Don’t be surprise if you find that you are evaluating many aspects of work/life/family balance in your life. This is not only normal, but expected.
Plan ahead your week. If you are traveling or know that your work schedule may interfere, then make sure to plan ahead. You may find, as I did, working out very early some mornings. Buy protein, recovery drink and any other supplement ahead of schedule. Building new habits and new routine takes some planning. Invest in the thing you can control, planning a bit ahead will remove the mental resistance to not try.
I’ll start with a simple business axiom; you can’t manage or improve what you can’t measure. While you’ll notice many changes doing P90X, nothing is more telling and motivating that watching those unwanted inches disappear, rep count increase or getting toned. It’s very important that you write everything and anything. This comes natural to me as an engineer and it makes a big difference. Committing everything to paper is another way to stay the course. Eventually, you’ll not want to miss a day because you’ll feel that you might regress and this alone is enough motivation to keep you on track.
Absolutely! I’ve recommended this program to many of my volleyball friends with fantastic results. First concern for women is getting bulky or muscular. P90X will help you get lean and toned, but not bulky, no matter how heavy you think the weight is. It’s a fact, resistant training contributes to weight loss. The design of P90X is mainly driven by high rep count, which will naturally helps you build lean and toned muscles.
Is P90X good for high school athletes?
Yes, with one clarification. P90X should only be completed before sports season begins. Summer or as part of your sport post-season are the best time to start. The P90X may have a negative impact on sports performance especially in the first 6-8 weeks. First, the body is getting used to this rigor and secondly, the school coach will likely instruct athletes to follow a workout program that is specific to the student’s sport. Although P90X is a resistance training fitness program, it will not interfere with the child’s natural physical development and growth during these years.
Will you gain muscle mass with P90X?
The key to building muscle mass and sculpt your body is your nutrition plan, not just exercise. Combined with a high protein diet, the P90X program will help you achieve significant muscle mass. P90X is not a body building program. It is, however, an important building block to engage and adapt well into any body building or elite athlete sports program. The endurance and durability built with P90X will help prevent injury and accelerate any specialized physical training activity.
Repeated sequences of P90X will help achieve and maintain the “Hollywood-look” with great tone and the best proportions for your overall body structure.
From my personal experience, here is how I rate this workout program:
Endurance: A+
Body shaping: A
Cardio: A
Strength: B+
Flexibility: B
Speed and Agility: C+
Why do I rate endurance the highest? P90X is aimed at the average person who is used to working out occasionally or practice some recreational or amateur sport. The most successful measure for improvement, is how durable (or for how long) can you sustain 85% or more of your peak performance in any physical activity. Hence, in the endurance category, the results from the P90X program will make feel like superman. You’ll feel like you can run, hike, bike or do any physical at a high level, forever.
I’ve improved in every other area as well, but probably not as much than if I had specialized training in say, strength, jump, or speed.
The most controversial score here is probably my strength vs. cardio. Don’t get me wrong, both are very good measures. However, I’m a strong believer in fundamentals and I’m biased towards strength training following periodization, progression and programming techniques. These are somewhat lost here as P90X relies on a fix time and rest for every movement which puts this program slightly out of favor in comparison to the cardio or endurance benefits. Tony does emphasize progression as he coaches, but you can’t change the fact that is a fixed-time fitness video.
I’m introducing a weird score category called “body shaping”. Without a doubt, your body will be transformed and with it, up goes the self-esteem quotient. If you workout 2-4 times per week for more than a year and do not see improvements, then it’s time to change. Why maintain when you can improve? P90X accelerate your results by constantly introducing new moves and routines so your body never plateaus. This is, with the same level of intensity, you will see your body transform. So when it comes to helping you look good, P90X gets high marks.
Finally, I’ve rated each P90X video in each post. Below is a quick score rating for each video. For details on the score, read the specific workout post:
| Workout Video | Grade | Summary | ||
| Chest and Back | A | Solid all around upper body workout. | ||
| Plyometrics | B | Great cardio and core activation, not so much jump training. | ||
| Yoga X | A- | Lots of movements. Too repetitive and long for experienced yogis. | ||
| Core Synergistics | B | Great core activation. Back strain may be too intense for some. | ||
| Chest, Shoulders and Triceps | A | Strong all around workout. Watch your shoulder. | ||
| Ab Ripper X | B | Good mix of ab isolation exercises, maybe too much. | ||
| X Stretch | B | Good stretching sequence. A bit too long. | ||
| Back and Biceps | B | Everything pull into body. Could incorporate more core focus. | ||
| Shoulders and Arms | A | Solid workout for target muscles. | ||
| Legs and Back | B | Good for endurance. Lacks resistance for leg strength development. | ||
| Kempo X | C | Decent dynamic stretching and core activation. Lacks cardio intensity. | ||
| Upper Body + | A | Amazing upper body workout. Probably the best anywhere! | ||
| Total Body + | A | A solid all-in-one workout. Blends in some Crossfit. | ||
| Interval X Plus | A | Great cardio and core activation. A strong all-in-one workout. | ||
| Abs Core Plus | A | Great core workout. A bit too long. |
Go to beachbody.com