Sorry I’ve been a bit neglectful of my p90x updates (read week 1, week 2 and week 3).

But I am still chugging along – I promise!

Want the honest truth? (Do I ever give it any other way?)

If you want to do P90X in its entirety without missing or postponing ONE workout, do NOT start it in the spring/summer. I’m sorry, I don’t care what anyone tells me, but when it’s beautiful outside, I’m going to choose to go on a bike ride with my Mister vs. staying inside with the artificial air (AC) to do Plyo. Sorry Tony Horton, but that’s just the way it is. Mental health vs. Physical health. And I’m not going to beat myself up or get all bummed out for skipping a workout in order to EXERCISE outside! That’s just ridiculous.

The point is, I’ve been doing the P90X workouts at least 3-4 days a week. I haven’t missed a single weight training workout. Sure, I moved some days around to accommodate for other activity, but I’m not going to miss out on summer fun to make sure I work out with Tony. (The Mister is cuter, anyway )

What I can tell you is that I’m getting stronger. I’ve upped my reps AND weight. I started off using 7 lb. dumbbells and I now use 10 lb! I’m also rocking the push-ups like nobody’s business and occasionally doing them on my (gasp!) FEET! Major milestone? I make it through every workout without dropping any f-bombs.

After the third week of P90x, new weight training workouts are introduced (after the week 4 rest week). They are tough, but at this point in the game, they’re nothing you can’t handle. And I actually think they *feel* faster than the workouts from weeks 1-3.

Bottom line: I still consider myself an X-er. Like I said, I’m logging in every weight training workout and mostly choosing outdoor activity over the cardio workouts. This is what works for me. It might not work for you, and that’s OK too. To be honest, I would have loved to finish this workout in its entirety. But to me, it’s all about priorities and (yes, shocking!) BALANCE. For some of you, maybe choosing the P90x workout every-day-no-matter-what is worth it. But for me, I’ll choose the walks, hikes and bike rides. Something tells me they’ll make better memories

Are you doing P90X? How are you doing?

I’m so glad that so many of you enjoyed and appreciated my honest review! But I realized (actually, the Mister kindly pointed out) that I didn’t really tell you much about the actual workouts/DVDs. Well excuuuuuuuuse me. He’s right, though. There I go again trying to make it all about ME and my opinions

Top 5 things you should know before starting P90X

1.) It’s OK if you can’t keep up. These people on the television screen are experts at this workout! believe it or not, they’ve done it before. It’s OK if you are a little slower or need to take breaks.

2.) You’ll need resistance bands or a pull-up bar and hand weights. This is not optional. Not having these items simply will not give you the same workout (or results!) – in fact, you won’t be able to complete many of the exercises on the resistance exercise days (M/W/F), so invest in one or the other. The Mister and I bought a pull up bar that we hang over the door. It was relatively inexpensive. I hate it. Mainly because I can’t do a pull-up. I swear, I hear it laughing at me. It’s OK though because one day I’m going to dominate it. Until then, I use a chair for assistance. You can use the resistance bands as a substitute for both the pull-up bar (you’ll need a door kit for the bands, or a bar on the ceiling) and the hand weights.

p.s you also need a mat (I suppose the mat is optional if your arms and spine are made of steel – read: NOT OPTIONAL).

3.) Make sure you have some good recipes for an awesome recovery smoothie – you’ll thank me later!

4.) DO NOT try and save time by skip the cool down or stretching on the DVD. Classic rookie mistake. Not that I would know anything about this…

5.) Keep at it! It’s easy to get discouraged, but I promise you’ll start to see progress. Even though you might not SEE progress in your body right away, you’ll notice you are able to lift more wight, do more reps. etc. This brings me to my next point of: WRITE IT DOWN! Make sure you write down your weight/reps so you can see (on paper!) all your progress. Sometimes it’s all you need to keep going.

I can’t believe the Mister and I are already on week 3. This thing will be over before we know it! At least that’s the delusion I’m telling myself

Anything else you guys are curious about? I’ll be sure to include it in my Week 3 recap!

What this post will provide is the TRUTH. I will hold nothing back (except perhaps my sanity?) and divulge exactly what I think about this program.

To be clear, I have NO affiliation with P90X. Zilch.

Okay, now that we’re all on the same page.

I consider myself to be in great shape. I work out multiple times a week combining cardio and weight lifting. I figured if anything, P90X would serve as a good tool to help me kick it up a notch.

false.

P90X is HARDCORE. If you want to kick things up a notch, give the SHRED a try, not P90X.

P90X is structured for muscle confusion. Each day is different, targeting different sets of muscles and providing either a cardio or weight-lifting workout. In addition, each WEEK is different. It’s not like you just keep rotating the same DVDs in a continuous loop. Being someone who tends to get bored with monotony, I was happy to learn of the variety.

Day One: Chest and Back + Ab Ripper X

This workout revolves around the pull up and the push up. MANY of them, at that. Which was just swell because I cannot even do ONE. Luckily for me, we’re told to use a chair for assistance until we’re able to do them on our own.

It was about 10 minutes into this workout that I realized what I had gotten myself into. And I still had 50 minutes to go. How I survived I’m still not sure. Ever wonder if your armpits can quiver? They can.

Oh, and after I made it though the hour long workout? I got to do 20 minutes of some of the most intense ab exercises I’ve ever come across. Like I said, HARDCORE.

Day 2: Plyometrics

This was a cardio DVD. And after putting my shoulders through the third circle of hell, I was thankful for a break. HA! In P90X there are no breaks. None. Other than one day of rest a week, you should just know that you are going to work hard every.single.day. This workout was a great example of that.

After the Mister and I got 30 minutes through we both looked at each other and yelled – we STILL have 30 minutes of this sh*t to go! Reason #9875  recommend doing his program with a partner. You’ll keep each other motivated threaten the other person’s livelihood if they even CONSIDER leaving you alone.

Day 3: Shoulders and Arms + Ab Ripper X

When the alarm went off on Wednesday morning, my soul died a little bit.

But after powering through and putting my arms through one of the hardest workouts they’ve ever seen, I’ve felt the strongest I’ve ever felt. I’m aware that my muscles weren’t ALREADY getting stronger, people (although with this workout, who can say for sure!), I’m talkin’ inner strength. It’s something I wasn’t expecting with P90X. I wasn’t expecting to feel so accomplished, so proud. It was a happy surprise. It almost made the pain worth it.

You’ll notice that after the hour of weight training, I had to continue with the Ab Ripper. If hell is real, it’s the Ab Ripper on a continuous loop.

Day 4: Yoga

This workout was an hour and 30 minutes! Now I know a few yogis have said that P90X bothers them because it isn’t as authentic as “real” Yoga. I happened to love it. The poses were traditional yoga poses and it was one of the few Yoga workouts I’ve done where I actually feel like I’m working out.

Also — I’m not nearly as flexible as I thought I was.

While this workout FELT the easiest while doing it, my body felt like it had been trampled by the end of the day.

Day 5: Legs and Back + Ab Ripper

DO NOT — I repeat — DO NOT take a spinning class the night before this workout. In all fairness, I did not KNOW that day 5 was a leg workout. Taking that spinning class was the stupid. VERY stupid. At one point during this workout I was evaluating all the knives in my kitchen — trying to determine which one would do the best job of CUTTING MY LEGS OFF. I wish I was kidding.

And you may have noticed I got to do that lovely Ab Ripper again! I am the luckiest.

Day 6: Kenpo

BEST DAY OF P90X EVER!

I loved this workout. LOVED. Yes, it was hard, but it made me feel like a badass, and there are few things better than that.

As some of you may know, I have a black belt in karate! I earned it in high school after practicing for several years. I’ve been out of practice for awhile, but I’d like to think my technique came right back in this workout!

This workout was (dare I say?) fun and went by very quickly.

Day 7: REST

There is a God.

Week 2 starts tomorrow – this should be interesting.