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What's this P90X workout stuff?

Grzi

Member
ocadman said:
Here's a little insight from on how it works straight from someone at Beachbody. http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=96636486820&topic=14554


FUCK
I stopped halfway during phase 2 :lol

I already saw great results though, can't wait to start again, I hope I didn't ruin the program by stopping halfway through and starting again. I didn't do shit for about a month now, but still, the gains from P90X are amazing. For instance, I could barely do one REAL pull-up before I started (when I say real, I mean going all the way down untill my hands are straight and then pulling up), and now I can do about 10-12 without a problem, and keep in mind I only did something like 45 days of the program. So yeah, P90X is great.
 

Rayme

Member
I did my first 2.5 "practice" weeks, went away on vacation for a week+, now I'm back and ready to start from day #1 again.

I am... horrible at pushups, and pullups (can't even finish one unassisted). It's mortifying. But I think I already see improvement from just those first two "practice" weeks. Definitely feel better, and eager (/scared) for more.

I've been following the meal plan, too. Completely cut out diet soda (used to drink 6+ cans of coke zero & diet root beer a day). Boy, do I miss bread.

Here's what I was eating those first 2.5 weeks. I'll probably modify it a bit, because I was really starting to get sick of some of the items. =)

Does anyone have any recommendations based on this plan? Anything that I'm an idiot for including, or etc?


====================
2 cups 0% milk + 2 tbsp choc 225
protein bar 180
string cheese 80
banana 120
corn tortillas 3x 165
jumbo smart dog 80
cottage cheese, 1 cup 160
carrots 35
mini rice snacks, 12 100
canned pink salmon, 3oz 80
Egg whites, 1/2 cup 70
V8, 16oz 100
mustard + ketchup, 2tbsp 30
peanut butter, 1.5tbsp (w/ celery) 150
yogurt 130
dried blueberries, 1oz 100
chicken, 12oz 400
olive oil, 1tbsp 120
====================
(This measures out to just under 2400 calories/day. I'm currently 6'2", 235lb.)


Also; thanks. I never would have started if I hadn't seen this thread!
 

NH Apache

Banned
So I just started this today (bought off friend). Currently, I'm 6'0" 195, not too tubby, but not as in shape as I would like.

Shoulders/Back was today with Ab ripper as well and I physically could not finish all the exercises. Doing the diamond pushups, I arms would just fail out at the end. Also, Ab ripper is going to hurt more the more I can do.

Two questions:

1. I need a protein shake. Two problems: Whey doesn't sit well and soy causes a minor allergic reaction. Suggestions for a protein shake?

2. I am looking into buying a set of weights. Any links/suggestions for modestly priced weights?

Ready to rock tomorrow.
 
I've decided to jump in on this as well after hearing/seeing all the positive impressions. However, all the requisite gear (pull up bar/strength bands and especially the plyometrics mat) are pretty expensive...are there better alternatives or is what they're pushing the best value? Could you guys recommend some alternatives?
 

SmokeMaxX

Member
Gully State said:
I've decided to jump in on this as well after hearing/seeing all the positive impressions. However, all the requisite gear (pull up bar/strength bands and especially the plyometrics mat) are pretty expensive...are there better alternatives or is what they're pushing the best value? Could you guys recommend some alternatives?
Pullup bar is about $20. Depending on how strong you are, you can get like a 50 lb dumbbell set for like $20 too? Other than that, you don't really NEED bands, a yoga mat, or pushup bars.
 

otmane

Member
I am planning to start P90X next week. I was wondering if someone uses any of the available iPhone apps to track the progress instead of the P90X calendars and sheets...

I found the following apps:
iFitness Tracker 90
EatRight 90
Bring IT!
12 week fitness

Any feedback on any of these apps would be appreciated!
 
I've lost about 50 pounds since starting a fitness regimen in February. Unfortunately, I've hit a bit of a wall at the gym and I'm looking for a change. So I'm giving P90x a shot.

I'm sure it's been posted elsewhere in this thread, but I'm trying to make I get everything I need.

I've got the following in my Amazon cart:

P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout Program
Bodylastics ***MAX TENSION Heavy Duty Resistance Bands System (I'd prefer using bands over dumbbells)
Valeo Foam Exercise Mat

The resistance bands come with a door anchor, so do I need to get a pullup bar? I'm a bit concerned about breaking a door or something.
 

thorin

Member
BertramCooper said:
The resistance bands come with a door anchor, so do I need to get a pullup bar? I'm a bit concerned about breaking a door or something.
You don't need a pullup bar if you're using the bands since there's a resistance band alternative to each pullup exercise. I can't say how well they work though.

It looks like you're set. A couple of other items that are nice to have, but aren't necessary, are pushup bars and a yoga block.
 
thorin said:
You don't need a pullup bar if you're using the bands since there's a resistance band alternative to each pullup exercise. I can't say how well they work though.

It looks like you're set. A couple of other items that are nice to have, but aren't necessary, are pushup bars and a yoga block.
Great, thanks!

Out of curiosity, what does a yoga block actually do? I've never done yoga before so I have no clue.
 

thorin

Member
BertramCooper said:
Great, thanks!

Out of curiosity, what does a yoga block actually do? I've never done yoga before so I have no clue.
It's mostly used to aid you during certain balance postures, which is nice if you're a beginner or not as flexible as you'd like. This pic explains it better:

yoga_block_use03.jpg


Did it show up?
 
thorin said:
It's mostly used to aid you during certain balance postures, which is nice if you're a beginner or not as flexible as you'd like. This pic explains it better:

yoga_block_use03.jpg


Did it show up?
Ahh, I see.

And yes, it did show up.
 

Nightz

Member
BertramCooper said:
Resistance bands come with a door anchor, so do I need to get a pullup bar? I'm a bit concerned about breaking a door or something.
Nope you won't need a pullup bar. I did the resistance band alternative at first and had no issues. The door seemed to hold up fine. :lol
 

GCNemesis

Member
Thought I should throw my hat into this as well. This would be my 4th attempt at the program (stopped the other three about halfway through phase 1 due to lack of time, other lazy excuses, etc.).

I used to be right around the 200-210lbs area, but due to lack of inactivity I got up to around 235-240. To put things in perspective, I'm 6'2". I'm currently on Day 17 of the Lean Program and loving every minute of it and feeling great! I'm already down to 230 and have started to see some (slight) definition. I've only missed one day (it was Cardio) but that was due to painting a whole garage by myself (I reckon that acted as some form of cardio). I'm not on the P90X meal plan, however I try to make wise food choices and track my caloric intake.

My goal is to go through three rounds of the P90X program such that by the end of April, I will be in the best shape of my life for my wedding this summer. I'm taking pictures of myself once a week to track results. I hope that by the end of the first 90 days it will be worth something to post.

Sorry for the livejournal rant. On a side note, there are some amazing one-liners in the exercises. We should compile the best ones like: 'WOW. And what's wow upside down? MOM.'

Good luck to everyone starting out and congrats to those making it through each week! :D
 

ocadman

Member

lljride

Member
Finally got up the motivation to order P90X also a few days ago. Just checked the tracking and it should be there when I get home today. I haven't been so excited and scared shitless about something in a long time.:lol

I think I might give it a trial run or two this week, but I'm waiting until at least next Friday to do it proper. I need to restock my kitchen to make sure my diet's in order. Without soda and coffee I'm a little worried about crashing during the day at work, so I definitely want to have all the recommended foods/protein shakes covered and available for energy throughout the day.

Can't wait to feel everyone else's pain!
 
NH Apache said:
1. I need a protein shake. Two problems: Whey doesn't sit well and soy causes a minor allergic reaction. Suggestions for a protein shake?

Cheap Wal-Mart type protein upsets my stomach, but it was also 30% of the your daily cholesteral allowance per scoop, so I really had to look for another answer. Unfortunately, that almost uniformly means $$$. Try higher-quality whey like the stuff from Optimum Nutrition. I've found it very much worth the price, and I won't be going back to the cheaper stuff, like, ever.
 

ocadman

Member
Can anyone who has done the P90X+ videos tell me how they are compared to the regular set of videos, specifically the resistance ones?
 
Been considering this for a while, but based on the overwhelming positive impressions in this thread, I think I'll be taking the plunge soon.

I've been wanting to get into shape for my birthday, which is in December, so hopefully I'll be seeing some results by then. I also do yoga and that's been helping with my flexibility.
 
I'm starting P90X soon and I have a few questions I was hoping to answered:

Which is/feels better: doing it in the morning or night?

What do you eat on your cheat days? It doesn't hurt to indulge in something sugary but what should I stay away from?

How often do you up the number of reps you do? Every day/week/month?
 

tribal24

Banned
I'm on day 42 !!!!! Feels so great lost20 pounds already, ab ripper still hard for me shit is insane but" I do my best and forget the rest":D
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
well me and the lady started again after making it to day 40 then having vacations/summer.

Dear god. up to day 12 with no missed, except kenpo x yesterday which I'm doing on the rest day instead.

I forgot how hard this owns me, ab ripper x is a god damned nightmare, it's good though, did legs 2 days ago and my ass hurts. it hurts real bad. Going for 90 days this time damnit, christmas on the beach in Peru, so while it rains like crap here daily in the Netherlands, I'll be beach bodied by christmas. oh yeah.
 

ocadman

Member
Wish I could give you straight answers.

sebajuNujabes said:
I'm starting P90X soon and I have a few questions I was hoping to answered:

Which is/feels better: doing it in the morning or night?

Up to you and your schedule. You won't get any better results doing it in the morning versus doing it at night. I will say once you pick a time, for example morning, try to stick with doing it in the mornings.

What do you eat on your cheat days? It doesn't hurt to indulge in something sugary but what should I stay away from?

I ate eveything from cake to hamburgers to french fries to candy, all in moderation of course. I still came out with pretty good results.

How often do you up the number of reps you do? Every day/week/month?

Depends on you. If you want to get bigger. Tony recommends shorter reps higher weight. Get leaner? Lower weight higher reps. I wanted to be lean so I really didn't change my weights much, maybe 5 lbs more at most.

tribal24 said:
whats everyones stance on cheat meal ?while on p90x shit i feel like eating fast food i just got the urge.

Cheat meal? I usually had a cheat day. :lol That day was usually Saturday. I know if I didn't include a cheat day, I'd probably get better results but still happy with what I accomplished. 20 lbs lost, 4 inches off my waist and a noticeable 6-pack. :D
 
So is...

"Oh my fucking fuck this is going to be the fucking hardest three months of my life Tony Horton is a fucking machine fuck him I'm a fucking fat ass and always fucking will be."

...a normal reaction to the first day's workouts? :lol

The fucking pushups. They never end. :lol

As I said earlier, I recently lost about 50 pounds. That said, I was doing about 80% cardio and about 20% strength, so this strength stuff is killing me. And considering I've never been good at pushups, they're just brutal.

Pullups with the resistance bands feel fantastic, though. I guess that's a positive. :lol
 
I woke up today and my arms are so incredibly sore.

The sad thing is that I did a tiny fraction of what Tony and his ridiculously fit pals did. :lol
 
BertramCooper said:
I woke up today and my arms are so incredibly sore.

The sad thing is that I did a tiny fraction of what Tony and his ridiculously fit pals did. :lol

I would encourage anyone to do a warm-up week (or two) before starting in earnest. There's simply no way I could have powered through that initial soreness (and joint pain). No way. So, I started by doing the Week 1 routines in a row, but not worrying about hitting it every day, and really just waiting my body out. NOW I'm ready, and I'm actually starting tonight. But that initial soreness/suffering is simply counter-productive, imho. Pace yourself, get through it, THEN ATTACK!!!!!! :D
 

Wrekt

Member
Day 66 and today marks the first day I completed all 25 Fifer Scissors in a row. Fuck those things so hard. The ones I did were still ugly and my raised leg was nowhere near straight up but I did 25 of what I could manage.

I do 10x as many push-ups and pull-ups as when I started but I still couldn't go farther than 12 Fifers in a row until today where it finally clicked. I don't know what it is about those things but they still kick my ass.
 
sparky2112 said:
I would encourage anyone to do a warm-up week (or two) before starting in earnest. There's simply no way I could have powered through that initial soreness (and joint pain). No way. So, I started by doing the Week 1 routines in a row, but not worrying about hitting it every day, and really just waiting my body out. NOW I'm ready, and I'm actually starting tonight. But that initial soreness/suffering is simply counter-productive, imho. Pace yourself, get through it, THEN ATTACK!!!!!! :D
Haha, thanks for the advice.

In all honesty, I'm probably exaggerating a bit when talking about how sore I am. It's not as if they're so painful that I can't move them or anything.

I'm looking forward to plyo tonight. I tend to enjoy cardio-type exercises more than strength training.
 
BertramCooper said:
In all honesty, I'm probably exaggerating a bit when talking about how sore I am. It's not as if they're so painful that I can't move them or anything.

Yeah, but you know how that goes: you're not sore (much) the next day, you die the day after that. Keep in mind that I'm 43, so that could account for some of my misery.
 
Plyo X is AWESOME.

I still had to pause it several times, but I felt very confident about my performance. It didn't make me feel nearly as incompetent as Chest and Back.

Basically, it confirmed what I knew already - my lower body is far stronger than my upper body.
 

bionic77

Member
LovingSteam said:
I wanna die. Just did my firs workout (Plyometrics). Can someone come over to my home and shoot me? OMG I wanna throw up.
First few weeks are a bitch, but once your body catches up you are going to feel awesome.

I have pretty much stopped doing P90 regularly since I finished it a month or two ago, but I still workout regularly. Have been a little lazy with cardio the last few weeks and have only been working on the upper body. Tried PlyoX again after about 3 weeks and damn it was hurting me to finish some of the workouts. Didn't last through the bonus stuff. Surprised how fast the cardio training has gone to shit.

I still love it though. Amazing cardio and lower body workout.
 
bionic77 said:
First few weeks are a bitch, but once your body catches up you are going to feel awesome.

I have pretty much stopped doing P90 regularly since I finished it a month or two ago, but I still workout regularly. Have been a little lazy with cardio the last few weeks and have only been working on the upper body. Tried PlyoX again after about 3 weeks and damn it was hurting me to finish some of the workouts. Didn't last through the bonus stuff. Surprised how fast the cardio training has gone to shit.

I still love it though. Amazing cardio and lower body workout.

I have been working out semi regularly since high school and I don't think I've ever felt as nauseated and weak as after this one.
 

bionic77

Member
LovingSteam said:
I have been working out semi regularly since high school and I don't think I've ever felt as nauseated and weak as after this one.
Well you are going to feel invincible once you start catching up to Tony and co. That feeling of accomplishment is even better than seeing your abs appear.
 
bionic77 said:
Well you are going to feel invincible once you start catching up to Tony and co. That feeling of accomplishment is even better than seeing your abs appear.

I already eat pretty healthy. How vital is it to follow his nutritional steps as well? If I were to just watch what I eat (cut out any fast food, junk food, etc) and follow the routine daily, would I still receive noticeable results?
 

ocadman

Member
LovingSteam said:
I already eat pretty healthy. How vital is it to follow his nutritional steps as well? If I were to just watch what I eat (cut out any fast food, junk food, etc) and follow the routine daily, would I still receive noticeable results?

Yep, I didn't follow the plan at all, just ate healthy, even cheated every so often, and still did fine.
 

bionic77

Member
ocadman said:
Yep, I didn't follow the plan at all, just ate healthy, even cheated every so often, and still did fine.
Same here. I imagine the results would be better if you follow the plan though (especially for seeing your ab definition). I kind of wish I ate more but the program killed my appetite. A lot of it depends on where you are starting at. If you are fit to begin with you will be a beast by the end.
 
bionic77 said:
Same here. I imagine the results would be better if you follow the plan though (especially for seeing your ab definition). I kind of wish I ate more but the program killed my appetite. A lot of it depends on where you are starting at. If you are fit to begin with you will be a beast by the end.

Dude yes. I was planning on making myself dinner after the workout but am just not hungry AT ALL.
 
Yeah, I'm pretty much sticking to the low carb diet that's helped me lose a ton of weight already. I might slightly increase my carb intake toward the end of the program as the nutrition guide suggests, but other than that, I'm going with what already works for me.

And it's becoming increasingly clear that splurge meals are on rest days only. I don't think there's any possible way to eat badly and get through these workouts.
 

tabsina

Member
ocadman said:
Yep, I didn't follow the plan at all, just ate healthy, even cheated every so often, and still did fine.

should i care about eating junk food (or anything) if i'm underweight? as long as I also have a sufficient amount of protein along with it?
 
tabsina said:
should i care about eating junk food (or anything) if i'm underweight? as long as I also have a sufficient amount of protein along with it?
Even if you're underweight, I would definitely avoid junk food on workout days. The workouts are brutal enough when you've eaten well. I can't imagine what they'd be like if you'd eaten a Big Mac and fries or something.

Just do your best to save it for the rest day.
 

Szu

Member
I already have a gym membership, but I decided to supplement the Ab Ripper X routine into my workout. I have very strong core muscles, but it was pretty tough to get through the whole routine. Granted, I did the routine after a 10 minute cardio session and about 40 minutes of weight training.

After about two weeks of doing the Ab Ripper X, I got used to it. I increased parts of the routine to 35 or 40 reps instead of 25 reps. I even did it three times a week, sometimes two days in a row.

Sadly, I've stopped doing them for some time now. I plan to get back into it. The first time will probably be a killer again.
 

bionic77

Member
BertramCooper said:
Even if you're underweight, I would definitely avoid junk food on workout days. The workouts are brutal enough when you've eaten well. I can't imagine what they'd be like if you'd eaten a Big Mac and fries or something.

Just do your best to save it for the rest day.
Listen to this man.

In the beginning when the routine was the hardest I really recommend you listen to Tony and drink some light soup first after the workout before you eat something. Other than that you should eat a balanced diet and try to up your protein intake.
 
Alright, what the fucking fucking FUCK?!?!? So basically I've never had 'tennis elbow' until P90X, and now every time I think I've waited it out and things are feeling good again, one wrong move and BOOM - hurts like a bitch again.

So, does anyone take anything for joint pain/health? I know they strongly suggest it for people over 40, which is me, but will it help at all at this point, or am I 'throwing good money after bad'?
 
Shoulders and Arms tonight. Went pretty well, though some of the stuff in the bonus time I really struggled on.

And Ab Ripper X was a nightmare today, mainly because I've been so sore. Still, I gave it a very good shot and definitely got a good core workout from it.
 
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