P90X Steps to Success

P90X Steps to Success
If you want to be successful with P90X (or any other fitness program) there are four things you need to do. Here they are…according to my results.
1. Pick a program and stick to it.
I picked P90X. Admittantly, I was not fit enough to pass the fit test for P90X on day one. However, I kept on working. I kept on trying. I kept on failing…and eventually, I had success. I completed a round of P90X (with modifications). I completed another round. I complete P90X2. I did my own hybrid round. I kept on. I picked a nutrition plan…I failed. I tried again…I failed. I lost over 55 pounds. I gained muscle. I look totally different. I look muscular. I can do things I could never do before…and guess what? I am still working at it!
2. Determine what equipment you need.
With a program like P90X, you need very little equipment. With Insanity, you need little equipment. With P90X2 or Body Beast, you need to invest in some more equipment. The investment is up to you. What are your goals? What do you like? If you like body weight exercises, Insanity is for you. If you like body weight, with some weights, then P90X is for you. Want to gain muscle and use tons of iron, then get Body beast.
I prefer simple and effective, so I love P90X. It is amazing how hard you can work with a set of dumbbells and a pull up bar. I love P90X2 and working on your athletic performance. I have learned how to push hard with minimal equipment and how to engage the core to get strength. At 39 yrs old, I am stronger than ever.
It is up to you.
3. Write everything down.

When I first started, I laughed at this. After a few rounds, I have learned that writing your goals and results down is the key. Write down every rep…and do one more each time. Write down what you eat (or use myfitnesspal.com), so you know what you are doing. Knowledge is the key to success. If you don’t know where you are at, you will never know where you going to be.
4. Learn about nutrition.
This was something I knew nothing about two years ago. Read to nutrition guide! I love the P90X2 nutrition guide. Do the math. Find out your caloric needs and make some hard, deep looks at your diet and consumption. When I was younger, I could eat anything and stay slim. As I got older, the ramification of my choices became more obvious. This is simple math. You are what you eat. If you eat more than your burn, you get fat. If you run a caloric deficit, you will lose weight. To gain muscle, you need to consume 1-2 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Read the guide and set your personal goals.
5. Get a coach and plug in.
Join a group of like-minded people. A few people can go on their own and do it. Most of us need support in our endeavors. Get support. That is what coaches do. My coach plugged me into a group of P90Xers and we encourage each other daily. We log our workouts, log our nutrition, we tell our success, and we share our failures. All or this makes up step up our game. The results? We get better results. When you make me your coach, I will plug you into a group of people who are doing the work to get the job done.
6. Know it will not be easy.
You will have physical and mental pain as you work toward achieving your fitness goals. IT GETS EASIER! The more you work, the easier it gets…but you have to pay a price up front. When I first started P90X, I did not think I could do it. I did it and so can you! Just check out my progress pics. Decide, commit, succeed!

P90X Modifications

How to modify P90X

The key to success with P90X is modification. If you cannot perform certain exercises you must modify. In the videos, Tony always has a person doing modifiers. Usually it is a female. Am I really going to do girl pull-ups? Hell, yes! I hate to admit it, but when I first started P90X I could do zero pull-ups and had to struggle to get 20 push-ups. I had to modify. I could do zero dive bomber push-ups. In fact, I got so mad doing shoulders and arms that I threw my dumbbells into my garage floor and bent the bar.

I say this to encourage you. Put your ego aside. I got super fat and super out of shape. I couldn’t believe the things I once could do where now impossible. Modification is your key to success. If you struggle, that is just a signal to where improvement is needed. Last week, on “legs & back” I did 138 pull-ups. My max push-ups on “chest and back” is 286. Not bad for starting with girl push-ups. Go to the knees, use a chair, do what is necessary to get progress.

Modification tips:

Press Pause-take a breather. You will be able to do more latter.

Mid-set breaks: I do them all the time. So what that you can’t do 400 push-ups in a row? Do 10. Stop and do 10 more. Your body does not know the difference.

Pull-ups: Use a chair (like Maren) or the pull-up assist or Pike press or reverse push-up. The bottom line is that you work at your max (whatever YOUR max is), that way you get stronger.

Do extra sets: Believe it or not, you may be able to do more on some exercises than the folks in the videos (especially after a round or two). If you get to the point where you are not totally zonked by the end, then do another bonus set. My cardio has gotten so good that after Plyometrics, I will add 10 additional minutes of cardio. You may need to do a few extra curls or squats. If you need to do more pull-ups then you are just freakishly strong.

Injuries: Work around them. Don’t quit. Just workout another body part. No excuses.

Let me know what you think by commenting on this article. Thanks.

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Vacation Workouts

I have had the luxury of taking three weeks of vacation this summer. For a family that has not taken a proper vacation is many years, this has been a big treat. My wife and I were celebrating a ten year anniversary, a planned week at the beach with the children, and an invite from our neighbors to go on a joint family vacation.
I just finished an amazing round on P90X2, and was in the teamripped X2 hall of fame. I was still working to get it all together and had my six pack starting to show. How was I going to keep things up with a full 2 weeks of vacation, nearly back to back? My wife and I went on an all-inclusive week trip, followed by a week at the beach with our children, one week later another 5 days at the beach with our neighbors (a free place to stay). How was I going to avoid getting fat and losing ground? How would I keep up my fitness journey?
Here is what I decided. I would not stress out about progress. I know. I should be a motivated freak and keep things going forward, but life is not about just focused fitness. Life is about life. Enjoy the high points and celebrate the victories. My wife and I went to Mexico and enjoyed everything. I got up at 6 AM daily and went to the fitness center and did my P90X2 workout. I got there before the gym opened. Once the gym opened, I noticed that I was the only person “bringing it”. Seriously, I was the only person pushing it and sweating. Everyone else was on the treadmill and elliptical machines. I was doing serious sweat and plyometrics. I was doing P.A.P. workouts. I was not losing ground. I had a good time and I got up early to make sure I did work. On my next week at Folly Beach, I took my children to the beach every day and during “nap time”, I went to the parking garage and got my dumbbells out of my vehicle and did my workouts in any space I could find.
The next trip was a multi-family trip, with 4 children and 4 adults. How was I going to manage this? I got up every day early and went to the beach and did my workouts on the sand. I did not have my P90X or P90X2 videos to follow, but I had my knowledge. I had people stopping me to ask if I was doing “Insanity”. I have never done Insanity, but I knew that plyo and HIIT was a major part of the Insanity workout. One lady told me that I was doing Insanity even if I didn’t know it. I went on a run (followed by 20 minutes of HIIT) and I was wearing my P90X2 t-shirt, I had people stop me to ask how far I was able to run. Honestly, I am not a runner and I hate running. I had no idea how far I ran (on the beach there are no markers), so I walked out to the street to see where I was at, and I clocked it at about 3 miles. I could have gone farther, but I was under time restrictions.
Fitness is about being able to be healthy and do what you need to do to be fit. Functional fitness is the new mantra. P90X2 is about functional fitness. Tony preaches functional fitness in this one. Do your best and forget the rest!
Let me know what you think by commenting on this article. Thanks.

Two favors I ask:

Is P90X or P90X2 Better?

A lot of people seem to be asking about which workout is harder, P90X or P90X2? I just finished two rounds of P90X2 and started back on P90X three days ago. My evaluation is this…P90X is harder. P90X requires more brute strength. P90X is about lifting more. P90X2 is very difficult and requires tons of balance and coordination. P90X2 is about functional fitness and athletic performance. Don’t get me wrong, you will be wiped out after X2 workouts. I had amazing results with X2. In fact, my ability to do pull-ups has gone through the roof.
P90X
P90X is about maximum effort and using maximum weight. There are lift days and cardio days. I always looked forward to the cardio days in order to recover from the heavy strain I had put on my body during the lift days.
P90X2
The first phase is the one that will kill you on this one. The foundation phase is all about balance and core strength. You will do everything from an unbalanced position to force you to engage your core. I was very frustrated the first week, because I kept falling down. P90X2 forces you to do your core work. In fact, it forces you to do core and cardio in every workout, thus you get super fit and strong really fast.
There is only one cardio workout (plyocide) in P90X2. This is because plyometric exercises are built into every workout. Your heart rate stays elevated during every routine. For example, the “base & back” video is all pull-ups followed by plyometric exercises. The basic strength moves are the same as the ones in P90X. You will be performing them from an unbalanced position, so you have to use less weight. As we learned from P90X, less weight means more reps. This means less muscle is being added and you are getting super toned.
The final “performance phase” of P90X2 is the based on P.A.P. (post activation potentiation). You done a series of moves that combine a strength move, followed by an explosive (plyometric) move using the same muscle group, followed by an isometric (or hold) move. This sequence will wipe you out fast. It will also cause your body to respond more athletically.
Conclusion

Both P90X and P90X2 are great programs. You will benefit from both. I plan on doing a round of P90X classic and following it with another round of P90X2. I think alternating between the two of them will increase the muscle confusion and give a better all-around fitness level. Check out my results video here. I made it into the teamripped X2 hall of fame with this one.

Let me know what you think by commenting on this article. Thanks.

Two favors I ask:

Why don’t I have a six pack?

How important is a six pack to you? To me it is not all that important. I am working toward it, but that was not my goal when I started “getting fit”. I wanted to improve the quality of my life. I wanted to get in shape. I have lost a lot of weight with P90X, as my results pictures show. I am in great shape. I can crush the workouts. I can crush a good run. I can also crush a beer can. I know this is not going to get me any “ripped” points. However, I know exactly why I don’t have a six pack. It is all from the things I consume. It is all diet. I am now about 80% clean on my diet. However, I have spent 3 weeks this summer at the beach. I have not withheld any food items from myself. I have indulged…within reason. The only thing I stay away from is fried food.

According to my doctor, I am his healthiest patient. My resting heart rate is in the low 50′s. My blood pressure is good. My weight is good.

I am starting P90X classic again from ground one after 6 months off. I am going to be seriously bringing it. I have been focusing on cardio and balance for the past 3 months. I completed P90X2 and completed a P90X2 hybrid round this year. I have not missed a workout day in over 90 days. Health and well being is the goal. Most of us are not professional athletes. However, I do consider myself an athlete. I am in an elite group on athletes. That group consists of folks who push themselves to meet their own goals and crush them. BTW, I can do more push-ups and pull-ups than anyone I know…including high school athletes (I am a teacher).

And 2 favors that I ask:

I quit P90X

I quit P90X! It was too hard. What did I do? I started P90X again. The mantra of P90X is the “do your best and forget the rest”. I now carry this over into everything I do. Failure happens everyday. It happens to all of us. Check out the “my story” tab for how horrible I was at first. I am a testament to how effective P90X/P90X2 is. I did everything wrong. I quit, I missed workouts, I ate horribly, and I drank alcohol.

The difference is that I decided that I would progress. I would get fit. I would make changes. I found a way. I would finish a “round” of X and look back on my calendar, see my inconsistencies, and decide to improve. You can do it in 90 days…yes you can. I did not and still have not reached my goals; however, I give up. You should never give up!

I don’t need to diet!

I always said I don’t need to diet. I can out work my diet. Does this sound familiar? The truth was…I was fat and out of shape. I would work, eat a whole pizza, and nothing ever changed. I wasn’t 18 anymore. The blessings of youth and burning it all up were over.

Everyone is on a diet. Diet is defined as: The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats

In “bruce almighty” a lady had been praying that she could lose weight on the Krispy Kreme diet. The fact of the matter is this: eat more than you burn, and you will gain weight. All of us have to be conscious of our nutritional needs. I have an acquaintance who is a former NFL football player who still looks like an elite athlete. He follows a strict nutritional and workout plan. If you ask him about his routine, he says “I know what my body needs”.

P90X and P90X2 are a workout AND nutritional plan. If you follow halp the plan you get half the results. Follow the plan and keep pushing play.
And 2 favors that I ask:

How can I get away with cheating?

Most of us want to cheat. I am an expert on cheating. Nutrition is the key to success in any fitness program. If you want fast results, you have to be 100% dedicated to nutrition. If getting six pack abs in 90 days is not your goal…then you can cheat some.I have lost 55 pounds cheating the whole time. It took me way longer than 90 days to lose the weight. The real answer to whether or not you can cheat is this…how fast do you want results? I knew from my track record that if I tried to go cold turkey, I would quit. That was my history. I intentionally did the nutrition half way. I set out to clean things up little by little. The key was to really bring the workouts, while I cleaned up my act. I still cheat. I track all my food, every meal, every snack, every indulgence. I know how many calories I am burning per day. I know how many calories I am consuming per day. I can see the “six” coming in. The six is not my goal. My goal is to look good and feel good. My goal is to enjoy life, be fit, and happy. I will eventually get the six pack.

Peak fitness is the “peak”, the highest you can attain. Even professional athletes go through ups and downs throughout a year. That is why football teams have training camp. To maintain a peak is brutal. My personal philosophy is this: Work toward a goal…when you meet in, make a new goal. Constantly improve and enjoy the ride.

And 2 favors that I ask:

Working around Injury

I am one banged up guy. I was a bit reckless in my younger years. When extreme sports popped up on the main stream in the early 90’s, let’s just say I went for it. BMX, inline skates, skateboards, and motorcycles where a mainstay in my life from childhood. Faster and harder was my mantra.

After a fracturing my L1, L2, L3, and Coccyx led me to severe back pain constant injury. I gave up working out. Before I started P90X, I was so out of shape. My back would always go out for no reason. I was afraid I would hurt myself. And I did. Improper form, too much weight, and too much ego were my nemesis.

I am now in great shape. I have great cardio. My doctor told me I was his healthiest patient. The nurse just asked me if I ran marathons, due to my low heart rate and blood pressure. When I began P90X, I could do zero pull-ups (a mainstay in X land). I decided to bring it and I eventually developed severe tendonitis in my elbow from over training.

I have had to look for alternate exercises to work the same muscle groups and continue to get results. Pike presses, heavy pants, and broomstick across two chairs. I have to be smart. Fitness is not about injury and pain. It is about improving over time and pushing yourself. If something is painful, there is a reason for it. Make sure you listen to your body. Use common sense. Put your ego on hold. “Rome was not built in one day, and neither was your body.”

If you can’t do one move…sub for another. My default move is jumping jacks. If you can’t work your legs…work your arms, if you can’t work your arms…work your core. If you can’t work your core…work your legs. Keep moving forward. Fitness is a lifelong pursuit, not a 90 day program.
And 2 favors that I ask:

How many calories should I eat?

How many calories should I eat?

If you are trying to lose weight or maintain your weight, you have to know how many calories you should consume. This can get a little tricky, because depending on your body composition and activity level the amount of calories you need to consume can vary. There are also other factors to weight loss. If you eat the wrong type of calories for the activities you are doing, you can impede your results.

Thankfully, the good folks over a Beachbody put together a great nutrition guide for the P90X2 workout. I had trouble with the original P90X guide, but this one really lays it out simple. Food is fuel for performance. Eat what you need based on your personal goals.

Here are the 3 basic plans.

Fat shredder

50% Protein

25% Fat

25% Carbs

Energy Booster Plan

30% Protein

40% Carbs

30% fat

Endurance Plan

25% Protein

25% fat

50% Carbs

Using any of these plans you can gain or lose weight. If you eat more than you burn you will gain weight. You still have to know how much energy your body needs. Here is who to find out:

Calculate your Resting Metabolic Rate (body weight x 10=RMR)
Calculate your daily activity burn

Sedentary (RMR x 10%=DAB)

Active (RMR x 20%=DAB)

Very Active (RMR x 30%=DAB)

Calories you burn through exercise. Use a heart rate monitor to calculate this or if using P90X assume and average of 650 calories.
How many calories do you want in you surplus or deficit?
Your daily goals is calculated using this formula

Add steps 1-3. Subtract or add your info from step 4. This will be your target goal. You have to burn 3600 calories to lose one pound of fat. It is usually recommended not to try to lose more than two pounds per week.

I hope this helps. I use livestrong.com to track my intake. You have to track everything you eat, in order to know if you are hitting your goals.

And 2 favors that I ask:

Get Ripped Get Fit

Get it the best shape of your life!

P90X Steps to Success

P90X Modifications

Vacation Workouts

Is P90X or P90X2 Better?

Why don’t I have a six pack?

I quit P90X

I don’t need to diet!

How can I get away with cheating?

Working around Injury

How many calories should I eat?