I’ve gotten a few questions about P90X so I thought I’d write a post about my experience with it. =)

About the System
I’m sure many of you have seen the P90X commercials. But in case you haven’t, I’ve included the commercial below for your viewing pleasure ;)

This video is part 1 of 3. You can watch part 2 and part 3, if you’re interested.

So, you can see that P90X is touted as an extreme workout and nutritional system that will get you ripped in 3 months. The system is based on the idea that muscle confusion (i.e. doing lots of different types of exercises) will reap the fastest benefit and results. You work out 6 days a week and every day you do a different workout (Plyometrics, Cardio X, Core Synergistics, Kenpo, Yoga, and various weight routines).

The whole system is broken up into 3 phases.

• “Adaptive” phase - It lasts 4 weeks (3 weeks of hardcore workouts, 1 week of recovery) and is considered the fat shredding phase. During this phase, your diet consists mainly of protein and very, VERY little carbs.
• “Mastery” phase – It also lasts 4 weeks. During this phase, your carb and protein intake are pretty much even, and you start doing different workouts than the ones you did in phase 1.
• “Recovery” phase – It lasts for 5 weeks. Your workouts are a combination of phase 1 and phase 2 workouts, and your carb intake is around 60% of your diet.

What you need to know before you start

Know your current fitness
P90X is mostly for people who already have a fairly decent physical fitness base. They have Fit Test that you can take to see if you’ll be able to handle the workouts because they are pretty rigorous. For the Fit Test, you’ll have to do a series of pull ups, jumps, push-ups, squats, and biceps curls, and you’ll need to meet a certain number of them to be considered “fit” enough to do the system.

Equipment
You don’t really need a lot of equipment to do P90X, which is one of my favorite things about the system. At the very least, you’ll need resistance bands or a set of dumbbells. You’ll also need a yoga mat for the floor exercises. A heart rate monitor will also come in handy but it’s not completely necessary. You’ll also need a pull-up bar. Although, if you’re like me and you’re just starting to build up upper body strength and can’t really do a pull-up yet, it’s not necessary. You can get away with using the resistance bands with a door attachment (they’ll show you how to do it in the videos).

How it’ll impact your running
These workouts are no joke. They are really rigorous and they will beat the living daylights out of you. During my first week, my whole body was so sore that it was difficult to get out of bed in the mornings, or even to sit down like a normal person. Most of my friends who have done P90X have had similar experiences. If you want to complete P90X, you’ll have to commit to double workouts on some days: P90X + running. Because I use the FIRST method, I’m able to get away with doing only two double days. When I’m doing doubles, I usually do one workout in the morning and one in the evening.

My Experiences
I started P90X around the end of June last year. I managed to make it through phase 1 and half of phase 2 before I got sick and then I never was able to get back on it. I didn’t see any crazy results (i.e. I didn’t magically sprout a six pack), BUT I did feel a lot stronger and more fit. I started running more than I was walking. Before P90X, my run:walk interval was 5min:1min. During P90X, it was 1mile:1min. I was also running a lot faster, and my heart rate was lower during my fast paced runs. I found that my upper body and my core were strong enough to help me keep my form, even when I was tired at the end of a long run. I felt really solid during my runs.. almost invincible. The best part was, my ITBS problems went away because I was strengthening all the muscles that don’t get worked out when you run.

Overall, I think P90X is a great program. But as with all things, to see the results you see in the commercial, you really need to be dedicated to the workouts AND the nutritional side of the program. But I think if you can’t do the whole program as it is, you can still reap some great benefits by using some of the workouts as supplements to your current training schedule.

If you’d like to read more about my experiences with P90X, you can check out my posts under the P90X tag. And of course, if you have any questions, feel free to comment or email me at sheryl [at] runninginpigtails [d0t] com =)

Related posts:

• My 1st Happy Face; More on P90X
• Battling My Food Demons
• Swimsuit Ready
• Back on the Training Bandwagon
• Day 36: Caught up