Our P90X Challenge

It’s been about a couple of weeks since completing P90X. If you’re on the fence about starting the program, I can’t recommend it highly enough, providing you have the time to invest in it. This is not a good program for someone with two jobs or who is attending school in the evenings while working in the day. There is just too much time needed for the workouts and meal planning. However, for people who aren’t working/schooling more than 50 hours a week, it’s perfectly achievable. You have the time, providing your family can cut you some slack.

Upon looking back at my photos and stats, one big surprise that stands out is my increase in vertical leap. I didn’t really have a goal of seeing dramatic gains in this area, but I added 8 inches to my vertical, almost getting back to my peak high school basketball numbers. In high school I had a 27 inch vertical and now I have a 24 inch vertical. I started the program with a 16 inch vertical. Why is this gain surprising? I only did Plyometrics once a week, but that coupled with losing some fat and gaining mobility was probably enough to make the difference.

Also, I did the Chest and Back workout this morning, which was the first P90X workout I’ve done in a couple of weeks, and my numbers were slightly better than the last time I did that routine. That tells me that 1) you don’t suddenly start losing your gains after the program, and 2) I could probably keep progressing pretty nicely if I resume a routine that’s only 4 or 5 days a week rather than the intensive 6 day a week program.

My plan is to keep working out in a variety of ways. I’ve already signed up for my first Krav Maga session to see if I like it.  From what I understand, Krav Maga (a self-defense program taught to elite special forces, among others) encourages the kind of conditioning that P90X provides — namely muscle endurance (over raw strength) and explosiveness and mobility. I’ll report back on whether this is something I continue in the future.

I also procured a copy of the Insanity preview disk, which has a Plyometric Cardio routine that is KILLER! Seriously, if there’s one area where P90X is somewhat lacking, it’s cardio. The Kenpo X routine isn’t really too demanding, and the Cardio X routine is pretty light-weight, too, although it’s good for beginners. Plyo X is the hardest cardio workout, and Insanity Plyo is like Plyo X on crack and speed. So it’s really the next level if you’re looking for cardio improvements. When the product is released, I will almost certainly buy it as I don’t know if I’ve ever had as hard but fun of a time as I have had with Insanity Plyo/Cardio the past couple of weeks.

So, I could either focus more on cardio while maintaining or slightly improving overall strength conditioning with a program like Insanity, or I could keep going with P90X and sub out the cardio routines with Insanity routines to get the best of both worlds. I’ve read elsewhere that when training you often have to make sacrifices in one area to make big gains in another, so if I’m really wanting to improve cardio, it might be best to go all out in a program like Insanity rather than mix and match with P90X. The great thing about Insanity is the workouts are just around 40 minutes, so it’s definitely easier to fit into a busy schedule.

Anyway, a friend of mine asked me what the future of this web site is, and honestly I don’t know. The web address has P90X in the title so it would make sense to only post things related to the specific program. But then again, P90X becomes more of a workout philosophy over time — consistent effort, variety of exercises, holistic workouts, maximum intensity, goal setting, progress tracking, etc. In theory, I could be doing P90X without doing P90X if I start incorporating completely new routines and sub out for all the existing ones.  Mind blowing, I know, but true. P90X teaches you one path to fitness. There are others, but this is definitely a tried and true approach to fall back on when in doubt. For now I will update periodically!

I have three weeks left and I’m noticing I’m struggling with something weird — the paranoia that I’m talking about the program too damn much! Seriously, it feels like every other conversation I have revolves around P90X. At first I initiated them, but now people who know me just ask about it, presumably because they have an inkling what it’s about and plus they know it’s what my spare time revolves around. No mystery about what I do now; work out all the freakin’ time! It’s part and parcel of the program after all. And now I’m paranoid about whether people really care that much about it or they’re just being polite. However, so far four people have either started the program or are about to, and several more have expressed interest in jumping into the fray, so I’m assuming at least half the people I talk to are genuinely interested in it. If you’re not, sorry about blabbing about it. It will be over in three weeks. And then I’ll be reminiscing about it, which will be even worse.

For those people who are actually starting the program, it’s been nice to have some fresh meat to discuss this stuff with! At least I don’t have to wonder if you actually care about the program.  We need to form a P90X brotherhood where we have a secret X shake of some sort. That wouldn’t be lame at all.

Also, I think there is a danger about becoming too self-obsessed when on a program like this as well. When I started the program, I was literally doing it just to give myself a great foundation for other activities. I really wasn’t even doing it for aesthetic reasons. Yet when you feel your body start to change and a lot of the “Softness” melts away, it’s hard not to get caught up in the glory of it all and dream of becoming the next Wolverine. But I have to check that tendency. I ain’t all that, I’m just getting stronger and laying a foundation to have my ass kicked in some other endeavor after this is over. And that’s what it’s all about!

I will be writing more about this topic hopefully soon; bedtime draws near and it’s hard to even find time to update the blog, but just know that it’s back to squashing the old ego, which is what always threatens to destroy progress, crush dreams, and swallow souls whole.