P90X

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Well, 9 days in and the weight loss with light dieting is right at 5 pounds. No fried foods, cut back on portion size, and cut all the regular soda out. Down about two notches in the belt. Second week has been much easier in terms of recovery.

 
I just started phase 3 this week. It's the first time I've done disk 1 or disk 3 since phase 1 and I can definitely feel a difference. In phase 1, after just a couple sets of pullup or pushups, I had to use a chair or my knees. This week, I did the whole thing without them.

 
Just started week 3. Glad the routine changes some next week, as it's getting to be just that - a bit too routine. Last week was a slow one, only lost 2 pounds, but have dropped about another 1/2" around the waist, face is noticeably thinner, arms and back have picked up some definition, and the routines are getting easier. Not as gassed on a lot of it, fewer breaks to "catch up", and went from being able to do only a few reps of some pushups to about 10 of everything, including wide-grip, standard, military, decline, etc, aside from the "diamonds." Still can't do pullups to save my life unassisted, but use the chair to get me over the hump, then lift my legs for the rest, so even that's already improving dramatically.

Most importantly, I've learned what I can and can't do injury-wise with the bad shoulder, and the hip-thigh joints that pop in and out, and adjust the routine accordingly. I'm at the point where I want to start adding the extra cardio routine to the mix just for that little extra on certain days, and to replace the yoga. Always feel just a little sore every day, which is the way it should be. Metabolism is through the roof, as I'm perpetually craving small meals as well.

One thing I like about the videos in particular, is as corny as Tony's comments may be, listening to him correct the posture, etc. of some of the demo P90Xers makes me catch myself doing the same thing, and when correcting it, I can easily tell the difference.

MIAF has lost motivation already since she has zero upper body strength whatsoever. I think the ability to not skip days and stay motivated is the most difficult part of the entire program, but I haven't been cheating so far. I missed two days due to a scheduling conflict, but made them up the following morning in addition to the scheduled workout.

242 days to go until my friend's wedding!

 
If you want more out of your pull ups, try what I did. Do all you can unassisted... 1 or 100... and then do an additional 10 assisted. Towards the end, I'd fail at 13 or so, but I could do a bonus 10 with ease. On those 10, I did the most perfect pull ups ever, focusing on using just my back. Keep it up!

 
Not a bad idea. I think a lot of people "cheat" the assisted pullups, and push mostly with their leg. I pull and pull and juuuuuust give enough toe pressure to get me up there. Seems to work pretty well. Still sad though, considering I used to do pull ups like they were nothing when I was still thin and rock climbing.

 
I never could do pull ups. That's what kept me from getting the Presidential physical fitness medal in middle school. I would smoke every challenge except for the pull-ups where I could do only one. :(

 
I never could do pull ups. That's what kept me from getting the Presidential physical fitness medal in middle school. I would smoke every challenge except for the pull-ups where I could do only one. :(
do they even still do that now? or would that be too much of a disappointment for todays kids and hurt their self esteem?

 
I haven't heard anything about that program since Jr. High. In fact, with the obesity epidemic and the government implementing new health food diets in school cafeterias, something like this SHOULD be around and in the spotlight. Unfortunately, at many schools (including one down the street from me) these types of programs are shunned. In fact, at the local school, PE is ONLY OFFERED ONCE PER WEEK!!! Would you believe that it's a public school? :eek:hmy:

 
Wii is offered during gym class now.

We were doing a walk through at a high school and saw kids playing Wii Fit.

Only p90x workout I tried was the ab ripper and I wanted to vomit after about 10 minutes...I'll just stick to lifting weights.

 
Wii is offered during gym class now.We were doing a walk through at a high school and saw kids playing Wii Fit.

Only p90x workout I tried was the ab ripper and I wanted to vomit after about 10 minutes...I'll just stick to lifting weights.

I puked after my very first P90X exercise. The key is to not try to keep pace with the guys on screen if your body is screaming at you to stop. I can make it through most of the ab routine now with minimal stoppages in between, and my midsection still looks like Poppin Fresh.

 
Best of luck to you.

As an update on my status. Even though it's been 5 weeks, I'm starting "week 4" thanks to the sinus infection that put me out of commission for a week. So far, I've dropped 15 pounds total, from 226 down to 211. Went from being able to do a handful of girlie pushups on my knees to the mid-air claps and a couple unassisted pull ups. Still about 1.5" off the waist, and back hasn't been hurting nearly as bad as of late.

Still can't do a lot of it, but it's working! Going to really start cutting back on the portion sizes and crappy dinners to let the program do its job.

 
I just wrapped up the first 3 weeks and am starting the recovery week. I haven't lost any weight, but have lost ~1-2 inches from my waist. I certainly have put on some muscle - not as flabby and can do 2 unassisted pull ups, (up from 0). I have skipped 3 days, but only skipped 1 workout in its entirety (Yoga). I am not following the diet, but essentially eating the say/slightly better than before when I was holding steady ~205 lb.

Some reflections:



Plyo - I like this one and switch it out for the last Kenpo X since I didt something to my elbow during the previous Kenpo and want to give it a rest.

Yoga - This sucks. Not only is it 1.5 hours, I can't do a lot of it. Wish there was something less advanced. This is very hard to do if you aren't motivated that day.



Kenpo X - this is ok. I liked the first time, but the second time was so so, plus I did something to my elbow. As it warms up, might switch this out for a run.



Rest of them - probably need to go and buy a wider range of weights. I am in between on a lot of exercise (lower weight is too easy, heavier weight is too heavy). Tried the bands but don't like them as much.

So far, pretty happy that I stuck with it. Would have liked to have seen a few pounds off the scale to help with motivation, but Ill push through.

 
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I'd say udpolo has about mirrored myself in regards to abilities, diet, and take on the exercises.

Plyo is by far my favorite, and the reason why my calves look awesome as of late.

Yoga, I'm not remotely flexible enough to do that, even with the blocks. I usually swap it out for cardio or something light.

Kenpo was OK, but very hard on my hip/thigh/whatever the hell it's called. Basically a lot of kicks make the bone click in the socket, and it hurts like hell. I usually swap in another Plyo for Kenpo. I too hurt my elbow a bit. They tell you not to fully extend and "snap" your arm, but when you try to follow their pace in parts, it's very difficult not to.

On the rest of them, I use the bands, and they work fine, though I wish I had the weights. The bands are cumbersome in a number of exercises, where they slap into your back, hit your forearm, etc, but a little goes a long way. The nice thing about them is that the bands I have clip onto the handles, so I can double up if I really need to, which I do on some of the arm curls, etc. I'd still like to get the adjustable weight dumbbells one of these days, especially on future go-arounds of the program.

 
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I caught the fever and started with chest and back. I started a year ago and made it through one week and quit. The chest and back is very difficult, I worked for about half of the allotted time for each set. The ab ripper x is no joke. I sit here an hour later and still feel as though I want to puke.

 
I have been doing maybe 2 workouts per week for the past month. That "2" is generous at that. I did Plyo last Tuesday and my thighs were sore until Saturday. :tv:

I can still crank out 12 pull ups when I walk by the bar, though.

 
It is not advisable to just do one workout and wait a while. The only way to get rid of the sore is to do another one the next day.

My back is finally starting to recover, and I'm feeling a little "loose in the cage," so I might fire up P90X again in the near future.

 
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