90x Final First Round Review
I figure since I did a mini-review of all the workouts, I’d sum up some final thoughts with regards to the program overall. First, I’ll go over the basics for anyone reading this and NOT familiar with the premise of P90x.
What is it?
P90x is basically a 90 day boot camp comprised of 12 DVDs. It comes with a fitness guide, a nutrition guide, calendar and workout tracking sheets. Over the period of 3 months, you’ll workout 6 times a week followed by a rest day (or optional “stretch routine”). The program itself allows for 3 variations depending on the goal you have set for yourself: lean, classic and doubles. Lean has a stronger focus on cardio routines and less on weight training (I guess for those more focused on ‘toning’ and losing weight rather than necessarily getting stronger). Doubles basically has you tacking on an extra cardio program 3 times a week in the second month and like 5-6 times a week in the last month.
I did the classic version which requires you do 3 days of different forms of strength / weight training along with 3 routines that focus on plyometrics (aka “jump training”), yoga and kenpo (think Tae Bo). The seventh day is a rest day. To further segment each of the three months, the first three weeks of any given month has you following this standard 7 day format while the final week is a designated “rest week” where you focus primarily on yoga, stretch and strengthening your core muscles (you’re low-mid torso and chest).
The big selling point on P90x is the whole idea of “muscle confusion”. Basically, because the routines are all quite varied from one another, not only from day to day but from month to month, your body never fully adapts to the regimen and thus does not plateau. This means you should see continual growth and improvement throughout the entire 3 months.
Required equipment:
-chair
-weights (I used an adjustable set of dumbbells called Powerblocks. Loved them).
-pull up bar
OR
-resistance bands and a method to hook them up so you can pull them downwards while you kneel on the floor. Tony provides variations for every move requiring either weights or a pull up through the use of a resistance band and hook up system.
Optional
-yoga mat and block (I personally really like using a mat).
-a good pair of cross-trainers (this is important for anyone who may have foot / ankle problems. Coupled with jumping on a yoga / foam mat, this really takes some of the impact out of a routine like plyometrics. For myself, I’ve moved to doing everything barefoot to try and strengthen muscles in my feet and improve my natural stability)
-a heart monitor to gauge whether or not you are exercising too vigorously or not enough.
-supplements (at the end of each dvd there are commercials for protein bars / powders, recovery drinks and vitamins that they claim will help enhance your total P90x results).
Now onto the “Likes vs Dislikes” (Everything here is, of course, in my own humble opinion).
Liked: The basics are explained and reinforced. Tony is always stressing proper form whether it’s lifting weights, doing explosive jumps or stretching and contorting your body. This is great especially if you are a) new to exercise or b) have been exercising for some time but have had a limited repertoire. Prior to this program, I had never done yoga before so it was a godsend to have him verbalize every move as sometimes because of the way you are bent over and stretching, you can’t look at the screen. You just have to listen and follow according to his verbal cues. I found it also helpful to keep hearing Tony’s directions for proper form even after having done the exercises several times as I’m the kind of person who sometimes slacks on form when I get tired or lackadaisical.
Liked: Variety… it’s beautiful. In order to promote muscle confusion P90x has many, many different exercises that you go through over the course of 3 months. This is great not only because it prevents plateaus but also because it staves off boredom and monotony. If you approach the program with a very open mind, you may learn to love exercise styles that you’ve never tried before or even scoffed at (in my case, this was yoga).
Liked: Everything is laid out for you. My own workout routine prior to P90x was something I had to concoct from several sources. P90x is great in that the dvds along with the fitness and nutrition guide spell out everything you need in order to get in shape. There’s not really a lot of guess work on when to do what and how you should eat. (Following through on all of it … is of course up to you…)
Liked: Modify, modify, modify. Although I would definitely not classify P90x as an entry level exercise program (it is, after all, the “extreme” version of the earlier Power 90 series), I do appreciate the fact Tony always has 3 people with him to show you different variations on any given move. This means that for those who feel they can’t keep up with an exercise as it’s done, there is almost always an easier variety on display you can follow along with (example: Pam’s low impact plyometric moves). Conversely, if after several weeks of doing a routine you think you could ramp things up a bit, there’s often a more difficult variation also on display (example: Phil’s elevated pike presses).
Liked: Intensity. This is something based solely on my own fitness level prior to P90x. However, I like that this routine really pushed me to go above and beyond what I normally did. Prior to P90x, rightly or wrongly, I would often just do 3 sets of 10 for any given exercise with 20-30 seconds in between them. Tony often has you pushing yourself to the point of muscle failure for anything requiring body weight (i.e. push ups and pull ups) or repeating ad nauseum to up your weights if you are going for the bulk range (8-10 reps) or up your reps (12-15) if you are going for “toning” or a slimmer build.
Not too many dislikes.
Disliked: This one is a bit contentious, but again it’s only my opinion. I know Tony has a lot of fans and I’ve seen him speaking outside the role of a fitness instructor and he seems like a pretty decent / cool guy. However, his “persona” as an instructor can really, really grate on your nerves especially as you have to watch him over and over and over again. What is it exactly that drives me nuts? His weird cornball sense of humour is one. He sometimes makes jokes that don’t make sense. He’ll quote movie lines then trail off in the middle of them. Other times he puts on a weird tonality to his voice and you’ll be like “WTF? Is this an exercise dvd or a personal audition for a film project?” Worse, he can come across as an arrogant SOB from what he says. I could never imagine saying the line “You should see my jump shot after a few months of plyometrics!” to anyone and NOT seem like I’m full of myself. On the other hand, sometimes you just have to laugh at his material BECAUSE it’s so out of place on an exercise dvd and you are left thinking “WTF?”.
Disliked: Kind of related to the previous point, but some of the extras Tony has working out with him can really grate on your nerves as well. In my case, it was Dreya and Katie. Dreya just comes across as that star student who you always hated in high school, or that co-worker who’s really in good with the boss. Katie’s crime is only that she has the most obnoxious voice and laugh in the entire series. Worse, Tony seems to have a thing for the ladies and can’t stop flirting with Dreya throughout any routine they share. Imagine it happening at your local fitness class every week. It’d be pretty damn awkward if your fitness instructor was blatantly putting the moves on one of the participants every time they worked out together. Now multiply that by several times a week (as you see Dreya in more than one workout).
Conversely, there are some personalities that, for some reason or another just seem to click with me. None of the extras really ever do much other than follow Tony’s instructions but I like them just because of the way they present themselves. Namely, I like Pam the Blam, Tony the ex-marine and, best of all, Phil the attorney as he actually has the balls to tell Tony off when he gets especially annoying during one routine.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, I’m glad that I completed P90x and that I was able to stick with it regardless of all the other things that came up (i.e. my wife’s pregnancy and visiting the hospital 4 times a week, getting sick, etc.). The infomercials that promote this product are a wonderfully effective marketing tool. They show you the before and after pictures of dozens of people who have totally changed themselves via Tony and the program. But always remember, you only get as much out of the program as you give to it. And, the program, as it stands, asks for A LOT. 90 days might seem like a small time frame to exercise, but given that you do it for an hour or more a day (1.5 for yoga… ugh)… there are going to be many reasons that will come up for you NOT to press play on a daily basis. It’s ultimately up to you to see past those reasons and find a way to make it happen (or re-schedule so that you don’t lag too far behind)… to find a way to “bring it” time and time again if you will.
Lastly, even harder than the exercise (which is the entire focus of the dvds and informercials) but MORE crucial to you achieving the physique you ultimately want is personal nutrition. Speaking only for myself, I know I’ve gotten stronger over the past few months and gained muscle endurance and a bit of definition… however, I’m nowhere near where I want to be in terms of body fat percentage or “rippedness”. It may seem like a shallow motivator (as good health is the real reason why anyone should be wanting to exercise), but I figure any motivation that gets me pushing play and working out strenuously for an hour is a good thing. The shortcomings in results are due only to me and my own lack in discipline with regards to what I ate over the last 3 months. Thankfully, there are still several months more before beach season and time to improve in subsequent rounds!
Remember: There’s no shame in falling off the wagon. It’s only a problem if you quit chasing after it.
Oh… one more tip. I’ve found writing this blog has really helped me keep accountable to sticking with the program. There’s something about having to reflect daily on the exercise you’ve done and what you’ve eaten that’s self-motivating I find.
