I'm on week 10 of 12 right now. The program is OK in general. I'm already in good shape so I wanted to try something different. The cardio is HORRIBLE though - hardly ever get your heart rate up very high or for long. The resistance training is a good mix and the ab ripper is challenging.

If you are REALLY out of shape, you will struggle. I think the ppl that will benefit the most from it are the 'ex athlete' types that were in good shape at one point, but have let themselves go for a while. I'm probably in better shape than 95% of ppl, so my gains were minimal. My pull ups have improved a TON, however, and I'm now doing over a dozen pullups per set, and over 140 per back workout.

The yoga seems to have helped out my knee, and the plyometrics is a nice mix and changeup. I still drink on the weekends, so I know this has hindered some gains. Add more interval cardio training if you are trying to slim down! I'm on the two-a-days 4 days a week right now...sucks. It's hard to find 2 hours a day to work out, work 10 hour shifts, and still have a relationship with your wife and car! haha

 

This is true for just about ANY well designed workout program. The problem is 95% of ppl cheat, skip, don't give it 100%, or lose interest. Then they don't get the results they want and they think the program was poorly designed, lol.

 

couldn't have said it better myself

 

P90X is a program that if you take it 100% seriously you will see great results. But definitely not for someone isn't already in decent shape. If you push yourself to do more weight/resistance than you think you can then you'll have a hard time finishing the workouts. I've been an athlete for as long as I can remember, through high school, 3 years of college baseball, and 2 years of pro baseball. It's a good workout. The only thing I really don't like about it is that if you want to build serious muscle...it's not really the program for you. If you just want to get ripped and lose lots of weight, it is a good workout. My workouts include heavy lifting with circuit training mixed in. The best of both worlds. I'm 6'5" and right at 220 lbs and if I had to guess around 8-10% bodyfat. The key to any type of training is definitely diet. I didn't start building real muscle until I started eating right. It sucks sometimes eating the same thing everyday but look at it this way. You're eating to fuel your body...not just for a tasty meal. Once you start looking at it like that and seeing results you won't want to stop. I wanted to gain weight forever but until I started upping my calories and eating right I would workout all the time and not gain much muscle.

Eat right, work hard, and anybody can be in good shape. But for both you need to research. I've got some friends who tell me things like "man I ate real good today" and then they tell me what they ate and it's clear they don't really have a clue as to what they need to be eating.

 

Hey za355ta were can i find a good eating program? Im about to start the p90x and i dont have all the discs or the booklets that come with it? I wanna start eating right , im about 50 lbs over my weight.Any help or advice is appreciated.

 

I'm almost done with my first round of it. I like it a lot and would definitely recommend it. I've been pretty impressed with the results I have seen for the amount of time I've been working on it. I was in pretty decent shape before hand but the first week was brutal. Freakin' arms were so sore I could barely put the phone to my ear at work! Get ready for that! I got my copy from my brother but I would spend the $100 on this before I bought a gym membership. But then again, I'm not trying to be the biggest guy around.

 

As a life-long fitness enthusiast (not freak), I found P90X to do exactly what it said it would do, without the gym. My brother (the freak) owned a gym for 12 years & now swears he'll never have a gym membership again. I agree.
Start easy & do half a workout for the first couple of sessions in any given module to avoid some of the soreness. It helps to use dumbells rather than elastic bands. You can buy the pullup bar at Academy for about $40. Also, get the cheap ($7) pushup bars.
Good Luck!

 

I went from a little over 300lbs to 175 in about a year an a half, 20-30 min 3 days a week with simple weight training. Then I kicked it up, started eating everything and bulked up to 215. Then I broke my foot pretty bad and havent gotten back on a workout. Weight training worked for me, and when I did do occasional cardio, I had great stamina. But, it you arent beat at the end of a workout, you arent pushing hard enough. Its easy to fall into a routine, and not throw on more weight, or push for more reps. The results are 100% linked to the effort you put into your workout. No pain no gain is true. Do research and figure out what works and doesnt work for you.

 

WARDOG-A very good start honestly is to get a hold of a muscle and fitness magazine. Most of the diet plans and lists of foods to eat are pretty good. First you need to figure out how much food you need to eat. The actual size of the food is not what you need to go by. It's simply the amount of calories. A good start to a diet plan is to split up your meals into about 5 meals. Trying to eat about the same amount each meal and they should also be evenly spaced apart. With 5 meals a day you need to be eating about every 3 hours. That will help boost your metabolism. A good start is to try and shoot for about 40 grams of protein each meal if not more. You don't want too much though because if you take in more than your body can utilize it gets stored as fat. But 40 grams is a good rule of thumb for the average sized guy. I'm 220 and I take in 50-60 grams per meal. As for carbs you basically start high in the morning with say 60-80 grams and each meal you'll be decreasing the amount of carbs you take in. Now they need to be good carbs. Sugar is not a good carb obviously, white bread also not good. Brown rice and 100% whole wheat bread is perfect. You can shoot for about 300 grams of carbs per day. Then as far as fat yes you do need some fat in your diet but you just need to know what's good fat and what's not. For example...fat from a chicken leg is not good, fat from milk is not good. Fat from organic peanut butter IS good, fat from almonds also good.

I personally take in about 4200 calories a day but then again I'm trying to put on muscle. If you want I can pm or email you some good things to eat and some things to avoid. I'm always down to help someone who wants to change the way they eat and look. The healthier you eat the happier you will be and the better you'll feel. I'm litereately never tired unless it's right after a workout. Let me know and I can make a list of good foods and bad foods. It would help too if you let me know your weight and what you would like to be. Remember though in the end...it all comes down to whether you have the will to make a change in your life. It takes some getting used to but when you start seeing results you'll wish you had started earlier.

 

^^ I'll take some tips if you have the time.

I haven't lifted weights in a few months and have went from 200lbs, to 180lbs . I'd like to be at about ~215. I'm 6'1 by the way.

Thanks for the help.

Patrick.

 

agreed
i did this last summer and i had AWESOME results.
my boss (who is nowhere near athletic) started like 3 weeks ago and i can already see the difference in his face.
i say GO FOR IT!
like i always say...when you dont see results in the first few weeks just keep truckin

 

Thanks guys. This is all very helpful. I bought the P90X and I am really looking forward to getting started. Thanks Patrick!!

za355tx I might pm you from time to time and ask questions if that is ok? It seems you know what you are talking about and I could use the guidance.

 

Yes sir.

 

Sure I don't mind at all helping some of you guys. I'm what most people might call a health freak. As in I feel bad about myself if I eat a piece of chocolate or two. Shoot me pm's if you like and I'll answer the best I can. I've got alot of knowledge as far as diet and workouts go. I'm not one to toot my own horn but playing baseball at two different division 1 colleges and two years of minor league ball in the Chicago cubs organization will teach you lots about physical fitness. Getting the different perspectives of different strength coaches really helped me figure out what works and what doesn't. Feel free to send a pm if you would like to ask any questions. Guys I don't claim to be an expert when it comes to health but I know more than most people and I can and have helped alot of friends get in better shape.

 

sent you a pm iam interested

 

With being almost at the end of week 10 of 12, I have decided to skip the 'cardio' P90X has to offer and do my own cardio. Holly **** my cardio endurance has gone DOWN while on the program. YES, DOWN! Their cardio doesn't get your heart rate up enough for true benefits, IMO.

My advice, do your own interval cardio training if you want to burn calories. This week has sucked trying to get back where I was cardio wise. I got my heart rate up to 175-180 yesterday and today and it was much harder for me than just 10 weeks ago.

I say do the Plyo, but the Kempo and 'cardio' DVDs should be substituted for spin, elliptical, jogging, ect.

The resistance training is rather good and doesn't need to be changed. Knocked out 22 pull-ups in one set yesterday, a new high since being on the program!

 

just did my first day of p90x. wow. i havent worked out since high school, so about 4 years. holy ****, i didnt realize i was so out of shape. lol my boss is on his third time to do the p90x and he just ordered the insanity work out and he is in better shape than anyone i know. im interested to see how this is going to turn out, the ab ripper x is awesome though, i liked it.

 

I haven't been able to start it just yet but I will this weekend. No tests to study for or anything school related this week. I am anxious to get started. Goodluck and keep us posted. I will do the same.

 

Damn man, ive had this for a while and forgot all about it. I been meaning to pick it up but between work and school its been kinda hard. Reading this gave me some motivation, starting this weekend. Keep us posted Boost.

 

Uh I have to call you out on that. Pony up. 14 hours is nothing. Try 17 hours towards a 4.0 then come back to me.