Letting You All In On My Vidiocy...

Okay, so I've gotten a few questions about P90X, so I thought I would write a quick review of the system. P90X is a fitness DVD series led by Tony Horton and produced by Beachbody (the same people who produced Chalene Xtreme). It focuses on muscular strength and endurance, and it is definately advanced! I did a full rotation (90 days) a couple of years ago before I had my last two kids, another one after I had J, and Hubs and I did a rotation a few months back (Oct-Nov), although I only made it about 8 weeks before I threw in the towel. So here are some quick impressions...

Pros:
- These absolutely live up to their hype. If you are willing to put in the time and effort (and watch what you eat!), you will definately see the results you are looking for. I have never looked so buff in my life!
- I feel incredible when I do these workouts. It makes me feel awesome to know that I can lift that much weight or do dive bomber push-ups.
- This system has everything you need. You can sub in different cardio if you want, but it really has all the components you need for a well rounded rotation.

Cons:
- These workouts are looooong. I mean they're about an hour each (plus a 90min yoga DVD), which is fine on some days, but I am a working mom of 3 who has reserve commitments as well. I just don't have that much time.
- The music is awful. This can be easily countered, though. I generally wear my nano on my arm and listen to my own music. The workouts are insanely tough but not difficult to pick up, so you don't necessarily need to hear what Tony is saying.
- Tony is a wierdo. Okay he's not that bad, but he is a little overly enthusiastic. See the above comment for how I deal with that.
- You need heavy enough free weights to challenge yourself and to grow with the program. This wa snot an issue for me, as I have free weights ranging from 3lb-50lb (I have been obsessed with fitness videos for many years!), but if you don't have very many weights, it may be a bit of an investment.
- For the ladies: you will see muscle growth before you see fat loss, which means you will start to feel like your clothes are tighter since you are increasing your muscle mass without losing the layer of fat on top of it. You must keep clean with your diet to lose the fat!
- For me there wasn't enough cardio. Again, this may be a ladies only thing, as Hubs doesn't seem to need/crave the extra cardio. This also helps with the fat loss.

Okay, so it may look like there are more cons than pros, but I think the pros actually outweigh the cons. This is one workout system that really does everything it says it will, but you have to be commited and willing to stick with it. This is for truly dedicated people who want to take their fitness levels and physiques to the next level. My own personal goals right now do not include building more muscle mass (I feel like I have plenty thanks to P90X and my Cathe Friedrich obsession), and I am really enjoying the barre workouts I am doing right now. I am pretty happy with how my body looks/is shaped, I just want to lose a little extra fat on top which, unfortunately, means working on the diet and upping the cardio. My favorite P90X workout is Plyo X, which I still reach for about 1x a week. I am always on the lookout for true interval workouts like this one.* I also like the Core Synergistics one, and I reach for that sometimes. I really dislike Kenpo X and Cardio X** so I always substitute other cardio when I am doing a P90X rotation. Okay, now that I've totaly geeked out on you all, I hope you at least got something out of it!


*so if you know of any, please comment below!
** I just find them really boring and not all that difficult