P90X or How I Stopped Worrying and Love Exercise
- by Matt Christian
Last Wednesday, after many UPS delivery failures, I received P90X in the mail. P90X is a series of DVD's and a nutrition guide you use to shed pounds and gain muscle. Odds are you've seen the infomercial on TV at some point if you watch a little tube now and again. I started last Thursday and am still standing to tell this tale.
At it's core, P90X is a 12 DVD set of exercise videos. Each video is comprised of a different workout routine that typically last around an hour (some up to 1 1/2 hours). Every day you are supposed to do one of the workouts which are different every day (sometimes you may repeat a shorter 6 min workout dedicated to abs twice a week). There are different 'programs' focused on different areas, for weight loss you do the Lean Program, standard weight loss and muscle gain do the Regular Program, and for those hardcore health-nuts, the Insane Program (which consists of 2 - 1 hour long exercises per day).
Each Program has a different set of workouts per week which you repeat for 3 weeks, followed by a 'Relaxation Week' which is essentially a slightly different order. After the month of workouts is over, you've finished 1 phase out of 3. P90X takes 90 days, split into 3 Phases (1 phase per month). Every phase has a different workout order which is also focused on different areas (Weight Loss, Muscle Gain, etc...) With the DVD's you also get a small glossy book of about 100 pages detailing the different workouts and the different programs as well as a sample workout to see if you're even ready to start P90X.
The second part of P90X, which can also be considered the 'core' (actually the other half of the core) is the nutrition guide that is included. The Nutrition Guide is a book similar to the one that defines the exercises (about 100 glossy pages) though it details foods you should eat, the amounts, and a number of healthy (and tasty!) recipes. The guide is split up into 3 phases as well, promoting high protein and low carb/dairy at during Phase 1, and levelling off through to Phase 3 where you have a relatively balanced amount of every food group.
So after 1 week where am I? I've stuck quite close to the nutrition guide (there isn't 'diet food' in here people, it's ACTUALLY food) and done my exercise every day. I think a lot of the first week is getting into the whole idea and learning the moves performed on the DVD. Have I lost weight? No. Do I feel some definition already starting to poke out? Absolutely (no pun intended).
Tony Horton (the 51-year old hulk that runs the whole thing) is very fun to listen and work along with and the 'diet' really isn't too hard to follow unless all you eat is carbs. I've tried the gym thing and could not get motivated enough to continue going. P90X is the first time I've ached from a workout, BEFORE starting my next workout. For anyone interested, Google 'P90X' or 'BeachBody' to find out more information about this awesome program!
