In my last blog, I tried to give you some of my thoughts
about P90X and even admitted to some of the many mistakes that I made in my
first round of P90X. When I began my second round of P90X, I had that
experience behind me and made a few major changes.
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| The man himself - Tony Horton! |
Change 1 - Plan
Ahead! I not only decided to do P90X (again), but I made the commitment to
go back to back with P90X and the brand new P90X2. This gave me a 6 month plan,
and addressed the 91st day problem that I referred to in my previous
blog.
Change 2 – No more “cheating”!
I know that I wasn’t really cheating by using a chair to help with the pull
ups, but the fact is that I could do 5 or 6 before I started the program
without the chair, and with the use of the chair I was able to do 18 – 20.
Towards the end of my first round, when I decided to take the chair away, that
18 – 20 number dropped drastically to 8 – 10, and this was motivationally
demoralizing. When I began round 2 of
P90X, I didn’t use a chair, and by the end of the 90 days, I was happily
banging out 20 pull ups, and always increasing the number throughout the 90
days.
Change 3 – Nutrition
is my mission! Let me admit that I have a problem, bordering on having an addiction.
I love chocolate and cookies (especially ones that my family brings over from
the UK). When starting P90X, these things WILL slow you down, they definitely slowed
me down. During my first round, I took no notice of the nutrition advice that
came with the program, so when I decided to go for another round of P90X, I committed
to sticking with the nutrition plan. This included incorporating protein shakes
and/or bars into my daily routine. Take the time to take a good look at what
you eat – it is only now that I realize that the reason I do not have that
washboard 6 pack is because of my own poor choices of food.
With these changes in place, I pressed play, and continued
to press play day after day for 90 days. But there was one more change that I made,
and this would be the change that allowed me to not only complete the program,
but also follow through on my 91st day plan and beyond. I told
anyone and everyone exactly what I was doing. This is the notion of having a
support system in place, and for me, it made me accountable to all of the
people who I had told. I told my wife, my family, my work colleagues, my
facebook friends and I even tweeted to Tony Horton himself (I never did get a
reply by the way Tony). Now of course, my real hope was that all of these
people would come up to me and tell me that I was in great shape and ask me if I
had been “working out”? Only for me to reply “working out? No, I have been
P90Xing it!”
Results aside, by completing the exercise program, and
actually sticking with it (yoga and all – but more on that in part 3), the
feeling of satisfaction was just as important to me as the other benefits
normally associated with exercise.
Have you ever wondered why so many people, and feel free to
include yourself in this problem, are unable to complete an exercise program
from start to finish? One of the biggest reasons for this is that they have no
one to hold them accountable for their goals. This is why I told everyone I knew
that I was doing P90X. Developing a strong or vast support system will ensure
that someone will help you maintain your goals. No one can physically force you
to work out, but having a support system will increase your chances of
finishing what you start!
In part 3, I will share some of my thoughts about P90X2, and
will also share with you some of my obscure observations about all the
characters and interactions that went down in the P90X DVD’s. It’s not to be
missed…Thanks for reaching, and remember that sports really are MENTAL!
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