Honest Review of P90X

With Christmas almost upon us and New Year's and its resolutions close behind, you may be thinking about starting P90X.  Here is an honest review of what it's like so you can make an informed decision.

I have been doing P90X and now P90X+ for the last sixteen months.  I love it and I am in the best shape I have ever been in. P90X stands for Power 90(minutes) Xtreme.  It works every muscle group in your body and also improves your cardiovascular fitness and your flexibility.  If you are a current couch potato, this may not be the program to start with.  I have always worked out.  Prior to this, I was working out three times per week at Curves and running or walking on my off days.  When I started P90X, I felt totally whipped for the 1st three days.  I decided if I didn't feel better within a week, I would hang it up and go back to Curves.  Lucky for me, I perked up quite a bit after day three.  Very quickly, I noticed muscles I never knew I had.  By the end of the first week, my abdomen and upper body felt so much stronger.  This proved to be super motivating and I continued to "Bring It".

Although some of Tony Horton's other programs aren't as well known, Power Half Hour or Power 90 might be a better place to start if you haven't been working out at all.  They work on the same premise but are less intense than P90X.

P90X comes with 12 different DVDs.  Each one concentrates on different exercises. Your body never reaches an exercise plateau so you keep seeing results. I chose to follow the "lean" program because I wanted more cardio in my workout schedule.  You can follow the "classic" schedule if you want more strength training.

P90X comes with a nutrition program and you should follow it.  You won't see the results you should if you don't.  The program requires a pull up bar, free weights or resistance bands, and a mat for yoga.  Don't skip the Yoga!  Strong doesn't work without flexibilty.

Don't expect to be able to do everything you see at first.  Do less reps and modify.  When I started "Ab Ripper" I only did about 10 reps to the video's 25.  It took me weeks, but each time I added a few reps until I could do all 25.

P90X costs a total of  $139.80 with shipping and handling.  It sounds expensive, but if you take that cost and devide that by 12 , that's only $11.65 per DVD.  I worked out for 90 days, doing at least one DVD each day.  That's about $1.55 per workout.  Keep in mind that I have continued to use these for 16 months so that's even cheaper.  Beats your gym membership price! 

If you are still on the fence, leave a comment or e-mail me at suek1185@gmail.com  I'd be glad to be your coach.