Tag Archives: p90x

Exercise

Exercise instead of medicine

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As Steve Jobs would tell you (uh, if he could), sometimes you need surgery and medicine, because eating and exercise won’t cure what you’ve got.

But in many, many cases some exercise and better eating will fix your health problems, give you way more energy, save lots of money and put less of a burden on those you love.

You don’t need to do extreme exercise, but here are a couple impressive success stories from people who used P90X.

http://www.beachbody.com/product/p90x-success-stories-tommym.do

http://www.beachbody.com/product/p90x-success-stories-jeremyy.do

I see a lot of testimonials posted at 24 Hour Fitness as well.  One was a grandma who was becoming a burden to her family.  After exercising she was able to do so much more on her own and to play with her grandchildren.  Another was a common one where a guy lost a lot of weight and was able to get off all sorts of medicine.

I think the key is to remember who you are competing against: Yourself.  It is the “you” who won’t do any physical activity today versus the “you” who does something — anything!  As the Bible notes, there will always be those better or worse than you, so try not to compare.  Just find something you like, no matter how minimal, and do it.

I like doing a hybrid of P90X weightlifting, some cardio (stair stepper or exercise bike) and core work.  And we go ballroom dancing several times per week.  We’ve met lots of people who lost weight and feel much better since they started dancing.  We think of dance as just a fun hobby and not exercise, but you get the benefits either way.

Fitness

P90X follow up

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Well, I finished the 13 weeks.  I’ll definitely do the routine again but with a few modifications.  The jumping bothered my neck so unfortunately I need to cut out the plyometrics and a couple other moves.  But I’ll just substitute a biking / stair stepper day and a couple other exercises.

I will mix in some more traditional weeks of lifting, but one thing P90X has done is get me to pick up the pace of my workouts.  I’ll try to rest less between sets.  I’ve learned lots of new exercises that I plan to work in.

I’m going mix in weeks of traditional workouts with another round of P90X, but I can already tell that I’ll miss Tony Horton pushing me and setting a faster pace.  Working out to the DVDs really is a bit like having a personal trainer.

I finally broke down and ordered a heart monitor watch.  I think my rate gets too high when doing the legs & back routine.

I had already been working out steadily so my changes weren’t that dramatic, but I am a lot more flexible and my chin-ups are at all-time highs.  I’ve had periods when I was younger and could lift more raw weights, but as far as overall fitness goes this is probably the best I’ve had.  The variety of moves and coverage (strength, cardio and flexibility) is outstanding.

If you’ve thought about trying it, give it a go.  But heed the warnings below and on the DVDs!  Just compete with yourself.  If you can only do 2 push-ups but you work up to 3, then 4, then 5, then you are winning.

Original post

I’m almost halfway through the 13 week P90X fitness routine and wanted to share some thoughts on it.  I’ve exercised regularly for 30+ years, almost all just self-training — mostly lifting plus jogging/exercise bike type stuff.  When I see “As seen on TV” I take it as a reason not to buy the product in question.  But I heard of several people at work and on Facebook who used P90X and liked it so I decided to give it a try.

My philosophy on fitness is that God has numbered our days but that our choices make a big difference in how we live those days.  Narcissism and excessive exercise aren’t good, but letting ourselves go doesn’t optimize our work for the Kingdom either.  Illness can strike anyone, but I want to accomplish as much as I can with whatever days I have left and I want to minimize any burdens on my family.  I like to stay on the giving side of the giving/receiving equation as much as possible.  Exercise is also a great stress relief.  Therefore, I strive to stay fit.

Observations

Continue reading P90X follow up →

Fitness

P90X: The “X” stands for, “Wow, this is really quite difficult.”

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I’m almost halfway through the 13 week P90X fitness routine and wanted to share some thoughts on it.  I’ve exercised regularly for 30+ years, almost all just self-training — mostly lifting plus jogging/exercise bike type stuff.  When I see “As seen on TV” I take it as a reason not to buy the product in question.  But I heard of several people at work and on Facebook who used P90X and liked it so I decided to give it a try.

My philosophy on fitness is that God has numbered our days but that our choices make a big difference in how we live those days.  Narcissism and excessive exercise aren’t good, but letting ourselves go doesn’t optimize our work for the Kingdom either.  Illness can strike anyone, but I want to accomplish as much as I can with whatever days I have left and I want to minimize any burdens on my family.  I like to stay on the giving side of the giving/receiving equation as much as possible.  Exercise is also a great stress relief.  Therefore, I strive to stay fit.

Observations

Overall, I’ve been thrilled with it. It was sort of like having a personal trainer / class to participate in, but on my schedule and at a fraction of the cost.  I love the challenge.

Lots and lots of push-ups and pull-ups (many varieties of each), though you can use a chair to help on the pull-ups or use exercise bands.

Great variety of exercises: Lifting, stretching, plyometrics, yoga (just the stretches / moves with no religious stuff and actually a nice bit of humor — I wish they’d give it another name), core training and more.

The big theme is “muscle confusion,” where the routines change often and there is a lot of variety in the routines.

You need to be in shape to do this.  Seems counter-intuitive, eh?  But it is very demanding.  It isn’t just the exercises, it is the pace.  Those warnings in the beginning of the DVDs are no joke.  You do not want to dive straight into this.

Hardest routine for me: Legs and back.  One-legged squats followed by another thigh exercise followed by chin-ups will leave you breathless, especially when you do many cycles like that with little rest.  Honorable mention: Plyometrics.  Lots and lots of jumps.  Took me a while to be able to get through it without pausing.

Easiest – er, uh, I mean least difficult — Kenbo kick boxing.  Lots of variety and challenging, but at a fairly even pace.  Truly a fun workout.

You need to put your ego on the shelf and just do what you can in the beginning.  Follow the exercise, but do less repetitions or with less intensity.  Hit the pause button.  The people in the videos have been through the routines so of course they can do them better than you.  But you’ll make progress quickly.

Compete against yourself, not those in the video.  If you have to hit the pause button 10 times the first week and only 8 times the second, then you are winning.

The cost is reasonable — $140 for the program with 12 DVDs plus whatever you spend on bands / dumbbells, etc.  Not cheap, but way cheaper than a personal trainer.

I put the audio onto my iPhone so I can use it at the gym or if I travel.  Once you have watched the DVDs enough you know how the technique works.  I obviously can’t travel with dumbbells but the bands will suffice.  One of my employees did this while traveling, but apparently the person on the floor below didn’t appreciate him doing plyometrics (hence the call from the front desk)

The instructor (Tony Horton) He does a good job of explaining the technique and repeating it.

The warm-up and cool down periods are very thorough.

If you are just beginning I recommend skimming through the workout DVDs before you start.  It takes some of the mystery out of it and helps you get ready.

Their website and Facebook page have lots of good tips.  They try to sell supplements but I mainly go with my Veggie Boy smoothies.  I did try their protein bars — tasty, but on the expensive side.

I generally eat pretty well but I’ve taken it up a notch.  It wasn’t by design, more of just a thought that if I’m doing all this extra work I might as well do everything else I can.

It does take more time than I’d normally set aside for fitness.  The routines are 60-75 minutes and you do them 6 days a week.  But I definitely have more energy every day, so the investment pays off.

I really appreciate their philosophy: No gimmicks, no silly promises of quick weight loss with no effort, no fad diets, etc.  Just hard, consistent work and good eating.  And it works.

Be sure to check out their Facebook page!