How P90X Is Whipping Me into Shape

Have you seen P90X on an infomercial recently? I feel like it's everywhere, and looking at commercials with ripped people was making me feel down. I am 28 years old, 5'10" and about 205. I'm not ridiculously out of shape, but at the same time I know my optimum weight is probably around 175-180. I'd really like to get down to that level again, but I'll be honest, I'm kind of lazy.

Anyhow, my friend picked up P90X and wanted a workout partner, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm both happy and regretful that I did. I'm happy mostly because I'm exercising again and feeling more energetic each day. I'm eating healthier and just starting to feel like myself again. On the other hand, P90X is grueling, and the lazy part of me doesn't like doing the workout everyday.

You're probably asking yourself if I've gotten results. Well, I have, but it wasn't as dramatic as I thought it would be. As a caveat, I'm not doing the diet hardcore (in fact I had Chinese food today), and I had to skip a couple of days because of other obligations. At the same time, I can tell I am getting stronger. I couldn't do any pull-ups, but now I can do about 2-3 without help. I've lost about 5-7 lbs that is not water weight, but real pounds. I can't visibly tell if I've lost weight, but people are telling me that I have.

All of the workouts are very tough. The first day was chest and back where you basically alternate between pushups and pull-ups for the entire hour. I thought I was going to pass out, but I felt ripped afterwards. The ab-ripper X was very difficult, but at the same time I thought I would feel the effects a lot more than I did the next day. The leg exercises (plyometrics and legs and back) were really rough on the legs to the point where I felt like I could barely walk the next day.

This may sounds borderline masochistic to you, but at the same time I feel like it's better that the program makes me feel dog tired afterwards than for me to feel like I barely worked out at all. Also, the tiredness was really only after the first few days to a week. After that I felt much more energetic even afterwards.

The most surprising aspect of the program was how difficult the yoga session is. It's an hour and a half, but there are barely any breaks. It's a lot of holding stretches and poses, but after the first 30 minutes, I was pouring with sweat. Some of the poses were pretty difficult to hold, especially because my rolls of fat were getting in the way.

I think the only downside to the program is that it is very difficult to workout six days a week for an hour each day (hour and a half for yoga days). Missing one day kind of throws you off, and it's especially difficult on the weekends. Following the diet is difficult as well. I'm not doing that well financially, so it's hard to follow a diet like that because I feel like it's expensive to do so. At the same time, I'm just trying to take in a good amount of protein each day and minimizing the amount of carbs and fat I take in.

All in all, the first week of p90x has been rough, but rewarding. I'm hoping for greater results after the second month, and that I'll be more consistent overall with the program.