Survival guide to P90x
I recently completed day 90 of my P90x program. For those of you who don’t know what P90x is, P90x is a very rigorous fitness and exercise regiment which works on system called “Muscle Confusion.”
UPDATE: The below picture was taken around the 60th day, I din;t get a chance to take the 90th day picture. Additionally, by the time i was done the program, I had lost close to 45lb or close to 20 kg at the end of the 3 months. It was definitely worth it.
The concept of muscle confusion is basically not allowing your body to get familiar with doing the same fitness routines again and again. So you might think this is probably a scam. Yes it is! – For those who are faint-hearted. I would like to give you a gist of what you can expect from P90x. First, Your workouts pretty intense, I think its worth stressing this point again INTENSE, every day it lasts roughly between 55 minutes to an hour 25 minutes straight, sometimes the warm up, might get to some. You are bombarded with over 20 different exercises targeting your strength, agility and flexibility and most important of all you won’t see major changes until the second phase which is day 30 to 60. There are a total of 3 phases, each harder than the previous. But by the time you are done you almost feel like a Greek god, I did.
Did I mention there is a marvelous byproduct from every single day of doing P90x? Pain!. Yep, Pain is something which you will learn to welcome and even enjoy as time passes. One of the other side effects I have noticed is that I am a lot more confident person, I have been generally making healthier food choices, drinking plenty of water which I still do even after the program is complete.
I did not start P90x directly. I started with a mini training session in advance. I realized that I would not last 2 days if I had started it in my original condition. I devised a plan to start running regularly.I figured that if I started running, I would exercise every single part of my body hence would not burn out doing P90x. The very first time I ran, I couldn’t run for 5 minutes continuously. But I never gave up! I ran for over a month and went from 5 minutes to over 8km non-stop. By then, I knew I was ready.
What P90x does that a regular gym does not do for me is that, it gives me a sense of purpose, goal and a plan on how to do it. For a first timer, imagine going to the gym and trying out a bunch of equipment and giving up after 3 days. I was that person for 3 separate times. But in P90x my motivation was clear, my goal was crystal and my exercise plan was set in stone…well, an excel spreadsheet. Honestly, the first few weeks were very hard. I was constantly counting down the days. My running definitely helped me a lot during the post workout. But after a couple of week, I was counting the days but for a different reason.
A couple of my friends started doing P90x, alas, only few completed. Some went for 3 days, some 25, some even went up to 60 days. When I asked them what the hardest part of doing p90x was, they had one common answer, the constant motivation it demands. It definitely is a very challenging task, perhaps the single most enduring task for some. Take it from a guy who has been through it, the road is definitely greener on the other side.
To all you folks who are skeptical about changing the way you feel about your body, I urge you to start with this or similar programs you will definitely not be sad. The question is not whether the program works, but do you have what it takes to do it and make it work.
Bring it!