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P90X

Getting in great shape isn’t hard when you follow a plan.

Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness. - Earl of Derby

P90X, sometimes called PX90, is a 90 day home-based fitness routine designed by Beachbody and elite fitness trainer Tony Horton, who is pictured to the left. He’s 53 years old and a prime example that age has little bearing on your health and fitness.

P90X has been around for awhile now, about 8 years. It’s still the most popular home fitness program for two reasons. One, it delivers results. If it didn’t, well, the buzz would have died out long ago. Two, it’s fun! If you like working up a good sweat that is.

Also, in what I think is the hardest workout of them all, Plyometrics(jump training), one of the supporting cast members is out there kicking my butt, on one leg. His name is Erik Stolhanske but you may know him better as Rabbit from Supertroopers or Todd Wolfhouse from Beerfest. He was born without a fibia and has a prosthetic leg. That pretty much blows any excuse that I have to bits… If he can do it with 1 leg, surely I should be able to do it with two.

What really makes the program though is Tony. He is a great, knowledgeable trainer and is the first person who has made working out fun for me. Following along with the videos pushes me to do my best every day and his slightly quirky sense of humor keeps me engaged and motivated.

P90X – What you get, results, and why it works

The video below answers the most commons questions that people have on P90X. If you have a few minutes, I would highly recommend watching it.

My results and my “why”.

My “why” for starting P90X was that I was starting to get depressed about how much weight I was putting on after I graduated college. In the picture below on the left, I weighed in at around 210 pounds and I’m 6’0″ tall. This was right before I started P90X and easily the worst physical condition I have ever been in.

It’s often been said that if you want to be successful, find someone who is and do exactly what they do. For Tony’s age and how ripped he is, I’ll gladly do exactly what he tells me to, and I did. Here are my results so far.

That’s results I’m currently in my second round of P90X and currently weigh 170 pounds. Depending on how much muscle I’ve gained, that’s around 40-50 lbs of fat, just gone.

It goes without saying that I feel better than ever. It is hard to put a price on the newfound energy and strength that I have, the confidence that I have gained, or how I feel about myself. Gone are the days of having no energy to do what I want to do. I love the new me and there is no better feeling in the world.

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. - Walt Disney.

More results

Continuing on with the success stories from the video above, here are a few more from YouTube. Great results are a common theme among the thousands of P90X results videos out there. It’ll work for anyone, if you put the time in. Press play on the videos below to see their stories!

Why I use P90X

• Gyms are expensive. Between signup fees, monthly fees, and personal trainer fees if you need them, gyms can set you back quite a bit. With P90X, I don’t need a gym.
• It’s convenient. Gyms can be far away sometimes, and the closest one to me is 30 miles. I get up at 6AM, start my workout right away as I can do it at home and by 7 AM I’m done. P90X saves me a bunch of gas, and a bunch of time.
• No guesswork. Everything you need to do every day is laid out in the guide books. Push play, follow along, and you’ll be well on your way to getting in phenomenal shape.
• Easily modifiable. When I first started I couldn’t hardly do half of what they did so I followed along with the easier modifications that Tony shows. Now as I am in better shape, I follow the modifications to make the moves harder. As you grow, P90X grows with you so you don’t need to get multiple programs. There is something for everyone with P90X.
• It works. Tony does a great job of explaining what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. His slightly quirky sense of humor also keeps it fun for me and motivates me to try and keep up with him and the rest of the cast. I still cannot keep up with him even though he is almost twice my age, but hopefully soon I will be able to.

Required equipment.

All that is needed for P90X is a set of free weights or resistance bands, and a pull-up bar.

Celebrities who use P90X.

If you’ve ever seen any of the P90X infomercials, you know that they don’t have any celebrities promoting their product, only real users who have completed the program. What I find interesting though, is that even though celebrities could buy the best personal trainers in the world, there’s quite a few that use P90X instead. Here’s a few who have said that they use it.

A few others who use P90X are Taylor Lautner, Jenny Garth, Sheryl Crow, Ashton Kutcher and many more.

What you get with PX90.

90-Day Money Back Guarantee

If you aren’t in the best shape of your life after completing P90X, or if you’re not 100% satisfied for any reason, just return it within 90 days for a full refund of the purchase price, less s&h—guaranteed. No hassle, no questions.

The P90X workouts

Chest and Back

This workout in my opinion is one of the toughest in the program. It consists of many variations of push-ups and pull-ups. It was extremely difficult for me at first because I had a real tough time with the frequency of the pullup exercises. I had to modify them for quite a long time by using a chair and a resistance band to help me back up. This is a world-class upper body workout.

Plyometrics

Also known as jump training, this workout will give you an edge over the competition in any type of competitive sport. It is highly cardio based and also helps to increase your “explosiveness”. You’ll get airborne for many of these exercises so you will want to have a good mat to land on. You are going to sweat, a lot, especially when you get to the jump knee tucks.

Shoulders and Arms

A workout all of guys like doing I think because we are slightly obsessed with our “guns”. The shoulder is a link to your chest, back, biceps and triceps and it is a very important part of your body that you shouldn’t neglect. This routine rotates shoulders, biceps and then triceps. I think many people forget about the triceps because you don’t see them as much as the bicep, but you always want to work your extensor muscles(triceps) just as much as your flexor muscles(biceps), so that you don’t create muscle imbalances. I can guarantee your arms will feel like jello after this workout.

Yoga-X

While some people think Yoga-X is silly, I think it is one of the best workouts that is included in the program. If I could only do one workout for the rest of my life, it would be yoga. The first half of this workout is the only one that I’m glad to be done with because I’m completely exhausted after it but I love it nonetheless. There is also on-going research that says yoga may help reduce delayed onset muscle soreness.

Legs and Back

Legs and Back includes a lot of different variations of squats, lunges and pull-ups. Your back has been idle for a few days now since the first workout, Chest and Back, and it has recovered enough to put it through the ringer again. Many people don’t like doing leg exercises but your leg muscles are the largest ones in your body and giving your quadriceps, glutes, calves and hamstrings a good workout will burn a lot of calories and helps to even out your upper body training regimen.

Kenpo-X

Kenpo is a martial-arts style workout. There are a lot of punching, kicking and blocking exercises in this workout. As long as you keep the intensity up, you’ll get a good calorie burn from this. It will also help your coordination, balance and endurance.

X-Stretch

I love X-Stretch. It is a relief day where you can wind down a little bit and relax. Don’t take that as it isn’t important however. Most resistance based exercises have you contracting your muscles and it is very important that you stretch(relax) them out afterwords to prevent cramping, pulling a muscle and plateauing.

Core Synergistics

I think this workout is really fun. You are doing real life sorts of exercises that provide functional fitness. While I love doing bicep curls, how often is that motion used in real life? Core Synergistics steps up to the plate and conditions your body for movements that you do every day that require multiple muscle groups.

Chest Shoulders and Triceps

This workout was a real wake up call. I thought after how much I had worked these muscles in Phase 1 that it’d be a cakewalk. Not really. One arm pushups? Don’t get discouraged if you can’t do them right away and replace them with regular pushups until you get stronger. This is another great upper body workout.

Back and Biceps

More pull-up variations in this workout, which is a very good thing. Most people can only do a couple at max, because they are hard. P90X makes you do them over and over again because they are one of the best exercises that you can do for your overall fitness. You also hit your arms again because it’s been two days since Chest, Shoulders and Triceps.

Cardio-X

This workout is for people who aren’t Plyometrics ready. It is less intense but good for people who have bad knees.

Ab Ripper-X

If you want to see your abs, you first have to visit the healthy section of the grocery store because you can’t out-train bad nutrition. This workout will strengthen your core and make your abs pop that much more once you burn off that layer of flab that sits on top of them. The first few times I did this I honestly didn’t want to do anything afterwards. Moving hurt, but in a very good way because I knew that I was only going to get stronger. Your core is vitally important to work on because it is what stabilizes you.

Two free-of-charge workouts.

With any P90X order you will also receive two bonus workouts from Tony’s One-on-One series. They are Fountain of Youth Yoga and Mammoth UML(Upper, Middle, Lower) that you won’t get from Amazon.

P90X reviews in the news.

You can find positive reviews everywhere, be it; ABC News, The Today Show, Men’s Health, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Washington Post, NY Daily News and the list goes on. Because of its popularity, Tony and P90X have been covered by just about every major news outlet. Here’s just a few of the articles.

• ABC News article on celebrities who use P90X.
• Article on the Wall Street Journal.
• Article on Men’s Health.

P90X reviews wrap up

P90X works, extremely well. It’s a fun, diverse and intense workout program that builds muscle, burns fat and helps you tone up. After seven years as the top home fitness program with the vast majority of people getting awe inspiring results, it is definitely worth it.

Ladies, don’t worry about if it will make you bulk up, because you won’t. You will tone up and increase your muscular endurance but you don’t have enough testosterone which is a major player in adding mass. Guys, use heavier weights and less reps and you’ll definitely be able to pack on some muscle.

If you have any questions about the program, please feel free to contact me using the “Contact Us” toolbar or leave a comment below.

If you are ready to get in the best shape you’ve ever been in, then…

Click here to order your official copy of P90X directly from Beachbody.