Talk to me HONESTLY about P90X

[ssgilby]

Why, oh why, do I open threads on things that don't necessarily interest me? Oh, that's right, it's because I'm bored at work!

Okay, Lord knows there's been enough talk here of this wonderful thing known as P90X, and I've searched many old threads, lurked some on the check-in and have been PMing with a certain person who shall remain nameless because I am starting to view her as an evil temptress (LOL!!!). However, I want ALL the information. I want to know all things P90X - the good, the bad, the ugly. Mostly I read posts from people singing it's praises - somebodys gotta' hate this system. I want to know:

- Who loves it and why?
- Who hates it more than anything they've ever hated before and why?
- Who could take it or leave it and why?
- Who got what results - links to photos would be good. LOL!
- Do I really need "extreme bands," a "power tower," etc. - IF I cave, I just want the system, not a bunch of stuff - I'll have a hard enough time justifying this to DH! Could I do pull-ups from the exposed rafters in my basement workout area? (Yes, crude I know, but the price is right!)
- I know we can't discuss diet/nutrition, but if someone could say whether that part of the plan is hard to stick with or not and leave it at that to keep the mods happy, that would be great.
- I want to get leaner (in the lower body) and more defined all over, but I don't necessarily want to look like I could enter a body building contest. Can I get that?
- I read a lot about pushups being involved. I hate push ups. If I do this, will I come to love them or hate them even more? Pullups frighten me, so I'm trying not to think about those.
- I've been told I could modify the cardio parts to accomodate my avoidance of high impact due to PF. Has anyone done that?

Okay, bring it on. I want to make an informed decision so please, please, please, if you have "cons" for this system, please share!!!

[mspina]

LOL!!!!! Am I allowed to help answer your questions? Or will that just make me even MORE evil?

Here are my answers, take them or leave them. I can't help myself - if it's an X thread, I have to post!

- Who loves it and why?

I love it (could you tell?). Why? It's perfection in every way: 1) music is AWESOME, and simply PERFECT for the workouts, 2) Tony is amazing - I love this man, 3) the cast is made up of *real* people, sweating and grunting and struggling just like you (ok, maybe you don't sweat and grunt - I do!), 4) the structure of the workouts are fantastic - you really tailor them to your goals. *YOU* choose your weight/rep selection to suit your needs. This sounds weird, I know, but it really *works*, 5) the set is kick ass cool, 6) the full rotation is put together perfectly - it really is a full system.

I could go on and on... Those are the biggies.

- Who hates it more than anything they've ever hated before and why?

Freaks. They must just be freaks (I'm TOTALLY kidding!!!!!!! Seriously, I realize that this might not be love for everyone out there.)

- Who could take it or leave it and why?

Again, freaks.

- Who got what results - links to photos would be good. LOL!

I gained a TON of strength - a TON. I'm WAY up in my numbers for my Cathe workouts - it's scary. I own 30 lb dumbbells, and I'll need a larger set for back work soon. I can do pull-ups. All by myself. Ok, only 2, but that's HUGE. I can do 6 chin-ups. I can do a LOT of toe push-ups (I HATED push-ups pre-X, now I love them). I got a lot of definition in my abs, shoulders, biceps, back and legs. And I am VERY critical of my legs, so me saying that I got definition here is huge.

Pics are on page 3, about 75% of the way down. Gulp. I hate the pics. http://forums.beachbody.com/eve/foru.../147101756/p/3

- Do I really need "extreme bands," a "power tower," etc. - IF I cave, I just want the system, not a bunch of stuff - I'll have a hard enough time justifying this to DH! Could I do pull-ups from the exposed rafters in my basement workout area? (Yes, crude I know, but the price is right!)

Wow - your pull-up idea is AWESOME!!!! If you really could do this, that would be GREAT! If not, I'm sure your DH could rig a TOTALLY cheap bar between the rafters for you. This would be fabu. No need for bands at all for you! Even if you can't do pull-ups, you don't *need* bands or a tower. Just sub other back work - no biggie. It is cool doing pull-ups though. I have to say that.

- I know we can't discuss diet/nutrition, but if someone could say whether that part of the plan is hard to stick with or not and leave it at that to keep the mods happy, that would be great.

I didn't have any trouble with it, and in fact love it. I sent you a LONG email about this.

- I want to get leaner (in the lower body) and more defined all over, but I don't necessarily want to look like I could enter a body building contest. Can I get that?

Yes. I think I just look lean and cut, not at *all* scary muscle-y. And this has been the only thing I've found that really leaned out my legs and gave them great definition.

- I read a lot about pushups being involved. I hate push ups. If I do this, will I come to love them or hate them even more? Pullups frighten me, so I'm trying not to think about those.

I hated push-ups with the white hot passion of a thousand suns (I've written that about 20 times now, please forgive me for the repetition, but I can't stress it more completely). Chest and Back is my FAVORITE strength workout. I now LOVE push-ups. I don't know why. I just do. I LOVE doing them, and feel REALLY strong and just .... I don't know. Awesome. I love them. And this is no small feat. I can do a lot on my toes - I think I ended C&B doing 35 on my toes for the first set of them.

- I've been told I could modify the cardio parts to accomodate my avoidance of high impact due to PF. Has anyone done that?

I think you could, but experience here would be great to hear.

Okay, bring it on. I want to make an informed decision so please, please, please, if you have "cons" for this system, please share!!!

Cons, let's see.... Ok, if you REALLY hate the idea of getting strong and lean, this is NOT the program for you. Does that count?

I swear I'll stay out of this now. Really. I will.

[DEEDEE]

In general I did like the workouts and designs that P90x offered. A couple of things that really annoyed me:

The same moves over and over! There are something like 10 dvds and I really think they only needed about 5. After doing tons of push ups and pull ups in the chest and back workout for 90 days, I was really looking forward to something diffrent, so what do I find on the back and biceps workout? Tons more pulls ups!
Cardio X is nothing but recycled moves from the other cardio workouts (which I didn't care for, I like choreographed routines but this is great for those who don't).

Tony himself I found annoying, but you can silence him with a 'cue only' option.

I thought the Yoga and Stretch workouts where over kill, and in the ab dvd, one woman is dropping down to the floor with no control on the reverse crunches and Tony doesn't correct her.

Tony gets too competetive, he has to lift more than the other guys even though he only does a few reps.

His warm ups are choppy and he stretches before really warming up the muscles.

The Good:
Solid gym style weight work. I would suggest doing your own warm up though.

[Mary09]

Wow, I was going to say 'you look GREAT!', but those were your BEFORE pictures! You really look amazing!

Shelly, can I borrow it when you're done?

Edited to add: I think I've said my negative thoughts about strength videos in our check-in thread, so I'll leave it off here. Mainly, for the curious, it's just the overkill factor.

[KathyW]

I'm glad I have P90X, but I guess I'm between the "love it" and the "take it or leave it" group.

I agree with almost all of the reasons mspina gave for loving it:

Originally Posted by mspina

I love it (could you tell?). Why? It's perfection in every way: 1) music is AWESOME, and simply PERFECT for the workouts, 2) Tony is amazing - I love this man, 3) the cast is made up of *real* people, sweating and grunting and struggling just like you (ok, maybe you don't sweat and grunt - I do!), 4) the structure of the workouts are fantastic - you really tailor them to your goals. *YOU* choose your weight/rep selection to suit your needs. This sounds weird, I know, but it really *works*, 5) the set is kick ass cool, 6) the full rotation is put together perfectly - it really is a full system.

EXCEPT, for me the rotation is not perfect. I really need more cardio to keep my weight in line so that my pear shape doesn't get out of hand. The weight workouts are great, though, and I love PlyoX - but I need to incorporate some of my other cardio videos to make a P90X-ish rotation rather than a full P90X rotation.

Re: Pullups
If you can't do pullups on your own, you can do them using a chair to help support your weight. I believe there's someone who shows this option in all the videos that have pullups. I also got the super-duper bands, and sometimes I like to wrap them around my pullup bar to do lat pulldowns. They're much stronger bands than any I'd seen before (like at the gym), and I like how they work for lat pulldowns. They're not necessary, though.

Re: Tony
Some people can't stand him, and this ruins the videos for them. I find him hilarious, though. There's also an option for "cues only" or something, where he talks less. (I miss his crazy comments, though!) You might want to try to trade for or borrow a video to make sure you're not a Tony-Hater. (There are lots of them, and I can definitely understand where they're coming from!)

Results
I didn't get much in the way of visible results, because I just wasn't getting enough cardio. However, I did get a lot stronger, and I got so much better at pushups, which made me happy. I totally agree with mspina - hated pushups at the start, but like them more now! I think results will depend partly on how your body reacts to strength training and cardio, and the particular balance you get in this. (Also partly on diet, of course. I never looked at the diet stuff that came with it.)

Impact and Your PF
PlyoX has a lot of high impact, but one person (Pam, who is awesome! Totally agree with mspina on the awesome background exercisers in these) shows lower impact modifications. KenpoX you can definitely keep low. The power yoga workout would probably be really helpful for your PF because of the nice hamstring and calf stretches you get from all the downward dogs. The more weight-centered rotation would probably be a nice break for your feet to recover from PF, actually.

Well, writing this and thinking about these workouts again has made me want to break them out! So I guess that tells you something! I feel like they're worth keeping, even though I don't plan on really doing a full-blown P90X rotation ever. The weight workouts are useful in a variety of ways, and PlyoX is great fun.

[~^~RedFlame~^~]

Love those AFTER GUNS Mspina!!! Thanks for posting those pics, it really helps to be able to see results. You looked fab before you even started, nice and lean and fit, and I don't think one could DO P90X if not! And after, wowza! Way to go!

[ladybug79]

If weight loss is a goal for you I would try a different program. Even on the lean program the cardio level is lacking (IMO). I did one full rotation and decided it was not something I would want to carve out the time for again. It is very intense and by the time your recovery weeks roll around you are ready for them (at least I was). And, since weight training is not my favorite thing in the world to do several hours a week devoted to hardcore weights was not for me. That being said, P90X is really an awesome system. They put a lot of thought and a lot of effort into putting out a top quality gym style in home system.

[violingal3]

Would it be best for one to be at their goal weight/weight they are happy with before doing P90X?

Mspina - wow, you look fantastic!

[fitness4me]

<Looking from side to side and whispering>

Ssgilby....not to rush you on making a decision, but just got this email from beachbody. Looks like they are planning to start going back up on the price.

As a valued Beachbody customer, we wanted to let you in on a secret… On Monday, November 13th, we’re increasing the price of our best-selling P90X® training system to $120.

So if you’ve been thinking of taking your workouts beyond the ordinary, now’s your chance to get our most revolutionary system ever for the LOWEST PRICE EVER! It even comes with our 90-day money-back guarantee, so you have a FULL 90 days to try it out risk-free!

But hurry, the opportunity to get ripped with P90X at this unbelievably low price ends Sunday night at midnight, November 12th.

Shhh...remember it's a secret don't tell anybody.

Edited to say "Duh I forgot to answer any of your original questions."

I am new to P90X and have not officially started the rotation, but I love it because it is a complete training system. You just don't find thoes too often.

I too want to get leaner, so I'll do the rotations with lighter weights and the higher reps (if I can rember to keep count)

Even if you didn't want to start with pull-ups from the rafters, you can get the bands and wrap them around the rafters and do pull-downs (Tony had modifiers showing this in the workouts)

Right now I don't have anything bad to say....but that may change when I actually start the rotation in Jan.

[Barb]

My only caveat is that this is not a beginner or advanced beginner's workout. This program is for a solid intermediate to advanced exerciser. It's silly to try to do an advanced program until you're ready. I also think that P90x takes a real commitment, you really have to want to do it. You have to want to do push ups or have it as a goal - because there are a lot of push ups!

If you have more than just a few pounds to lose or are a beginner or advanced beginner, I think that you'd do a lot better with Debbie Sieber's programs.