You have all seen the infomercials before. The ones where
you see a picture of an average or even slightly overweight guy, and then the
same guy 90 days later looking like an Abercrombie model. Then you hear all
about how he did this program called P90X and it changed his life. I am kind of
like that guy, except I was never overweight and I do not nor ever will look
like an Abercrombie model.
For those who do not know me, I used to be a professional wrestler. But let me preface that statement with the fact that I am only 5 foot 8 and have never weighed more than 165lbs.I wrestled for about 10 years on the independent scene in the UK. Having a small amount of success and getting the chance to wrestle all over the UK and being paid for what I loved doing was awesome. So I was in shape. I also played soccer my entire life, and have run a sub 4 hour marathon. I am not bragging, I just want you to know all of this as I think it plays a big part in the rest of my story here.
I also love anything that says as seen on TV. I own a sham wow, a slap chop, a graty and a power washing hose. My dream one day is to own a sonic knife, but I digress. I like everyone saw the P90X commercials and being a sport science geek had a basic understanding of the muscle confusion part, but just didn't really want to make the admission that my gym membership was beginning to be a waste of time and money. I really liked going to the gym, but hated seeing guys who were bigger than me lifting heavier weights than me and then spending 20 minutes starring at the hot girl on the treadmill. I was in a fitness rut for sure. Then I did the math, and worked out that I was basically paying close to $500 a year for the gym. I couldn't believe that number at first, but it was true. How much do you spend on a gym? or a personal trainer? or even a home gym that is now doing a great impression of a clothes hanger? I am not judging you, because I really used to be that guy. Then, my life changed. And before you sigh a here we go again sigh, and think that this is the part where I try and sell you P90X, it’s not. Buy it, don't buy it – I am not on commission. I am just giving you some background as to where I was before I started P90X.
Needless to say I took the plunge and got everything I needed for P90X...or so I thought. First thing first, and if you are thinking about starting P90X, this is where you will want to pay close attention. There are 2 main things that you need before you start - All of the equipment and most importantly time. Now I don't really care if you work 40 hours a week or have 2 kids or have 2 jobs - if you want to do this and decide to do this, then you will find the time, but, you still need time. The commercials state that you need about an hour a day, but let me be more specific , for almost every workout, you will need one hour and 20 minutes a day, and for the yoga workout, you will need 90 minutes. That’s right; there is a yoga workout, but more on that later. On top of the scheduled workout, every other day there is an additional 16 minute ab ripper workout, which is awesome, but never really mentioned. Then of course there is the equipment, and it is up to you how you decide to go for this. I chose the buying a standard pull up bar and some dumb bells from target route. Now here is the other thing I will point out to anyone who is thinking of starting. The weights you start the program with will seem very light if you finish the program. You should probably have a few different weights, with something to strive for, like a really heavy weight that you intend to build up to. You will also need lighter weights, so don’t let your ego get in the way of buying some light weights too.
Ok- so you have the time, and you have the equipment. The next thing you need before you start is an understanding of what the outcomes of this program might be and how to best equip yourself to reach those outcomes. This is when we look to sport psychology and goal setting for advice. There is a well-known acronym that is used when it comes to goal setting, SMART, which has been used by professional and amateur athletes for years.
For those who do not know me, I used to be a professional wrestler. But let me preface that statement with the fact that I am only 5 foot 8 and have never weighed more than 165lbs.I wrestled for about 10 years on the independent scene in the UK. Having a small amount of success and getting the chance to wrestle all over the UK and being paid for what I loved doing was awesome. So I was in shape. I also played soccer my entire life, and have run a sub 4 hour marathon. I am not bragging, I just want you to know all of this as I think it plays a big part in the rest of my story here.
I also love anything that says as seen on TV. I own a sham wow, a slap chop, a graty and a power washing hose. My dream one day is to own a sonic knife, but I digress. I like everyone saw the P90X commercials and being a sport science geek had a basic understanding of the muscle confusion part, but just didn't really want to make the admission that my gym membership was beginning to be a waste of time and money. I really liked going to the gym, but hated seeing guys who were bigger than me lifting heavier weights than me and then spending 20 minutes starring at the hot girl on the treadmill. I was in a fitness rut for sure. Then I did the math, and worked out that I was basically paying close to $500 a year for the gym. I couldn't believe that number at first, but it was true. How much do you spend on a gym? or a personal trainer? or even a home gym that is now doing a great impression of a clothes hanger? I am not judging you, because I really used to be that guy. Then, my life changed. And before you sigh a here we go again sigh, and think that this is the part where I try and sell you P90X, it’s not. Buy it, don't buy it – I am not on commission. I am just giving you some background as to where I was before I started P90X.
Needless to say I took the plunge and got everything I needed for P90X...or so I thought. First thing first, and if you are thinking about starting P90X, this is where you will want to pay close attention. There are 2 main things that you need before you start - All of the equipment and most importantly time. Now I don't really care if you work 40 hours a week or have 2 kids or have 2 jobs - if you want to do this and decide to do this, then you will find the time, but, you still need time. The commercials state that you need about an hour a day, but let me be more specific , for almost every workout, you will need one hour and 20 minutes a day, and for the yoga workout, you will need 90 minutes. That’s right; there is a yoga workout, but more on that later. On top of the scheduled workout, every other day there is an additional 16 minute ab ripper workout, which is awesome, but never really mentioned. Then of course there is the equipment, and it is up to you how you decide to go for this. I chose the buying a standard pull up bar and some dumb bells from target route. Now here is the other thing I will point out to anyone who is thinking of starting. The weights you start the program with will seem very light if you finish the program. You should probably have a few different weights, with something to strive for, like a really heavy weight that you intend to build up to. You will also need lighter weights, so don’t let your ego get in the way of buying some light weights too.
Ok- so you have the time, and you have the equipment. The next thing you need before you start is an understanding of what the outcomes of this program might be and how to best equip yourself to reach those outcomes. This is when we look to sport psychology and goal setting for advice. There is a well-known acronym that is used when it comes to goal setting, SMART, which has been used by professional and amateur athletes for years.
S - Specific
M – Measureable
A – Action Oriented
R - Realistic
T – Time sensitive
P90X is a program that really helps you stick with the SMART
goal setting method. It provides you with all the tools you need, and all you
need to do is press play everyday!
Yet, advancements in goal setting research have made all of
us a little bit SMARTER. The ER of
SMARTER relate to two things that are vitally important with P90X:
E - Evaluate
R – Recreate
With P90X, you will do the same workouts a number of times,
and this gives you the chance to evaluate your goals for each exercise, and
continue to improve at them. With P90X, the way you go about goals in your
everyday life should become SMARTER.
Have a plan of what to do on day 91 (other than tell the world how good you look). This is so important. I would say that P90X is more about the first few weeks after you have finished than the 90 days you worked your butt off. I started my first round of P90X in April of 2011, and I started my second round of P90X on December 1 2011. You do the math! 6 months in between the two, and I really tried to maintain my shape. I cycled to work - that lasted less than a month. I purchased a cheap nasty P90X rip off from bed bath and beyond - that lasted a month. I even went back to a gym for a month (don’t worry that was free). But the bottom line is that after finishing my first round of P90X, I was in the best shape of my life, and then 6 months later when I started again, I was not. I had let myself go. I did not put on 100 pounds or anything like that, but for my own high standards, I was out of shape.
During my first round of P90X, I made some critical errors which I am going to share with you. First of all, I gave up on the yoga after 6 weeks. It was too time consuming I told myself, but truth be told, I couldn’t do it well enough. I sucked at it. Secondly, and this goes against what the dvd’s tell you, I used a chair to assist with pull ups. I became dependent on that damn chair. My advice about the pull ups are just don’t bring the chair into the equation unless you absolutely need it. If you can do 3 or 4 pull ups without a chair, then you don’t need it. The final error I made with my first round of P90X was that I ignored the nutrition aspect of the program completely. My thoughts were that I eat healthy anyway so there really is nothing I can learn about nutrition...wrong! I always wondered why I never had a washboard 6 pack, and the answer is because a 6 pack is not made in the gym, it is made in the kitchen. Learn from my mistakes; stick with the yoga (or any of the workouts that you think you suck at), push yourself to do what you can without cheating and do not underestimate food and supplementations.
Have a plan of what to do on day 91 (other than tell the world how good you look). This is so important. I would say that P90X is more about the first few weeks after you have finished than the 90 days you worked your butt off. I started my first round of P90X in April of 2011, and I started my second round of P90X on December 1 2011. You do the math! 6 months in between the two, and I really tried to maintain my shape. I cycled to work - that lasted less than a month. I purchased a cheap nasty P90X rip off from bed bath and beyond - that lasted a month. I even went back to a gym for a month (don’t worry that was free). But the bottom line is that after finishing my first round of P90X, I was in the best shape of my life, and then 6 months later when I started again, I was not. I had let myself go. I did not put on 100 pounds or anything like that, but for my own high standards, I was out of shape.
During my first round of P90X, I made some critical errors which I am going to share with you. First of all, I gave up on the yoga after 6 weeks. It was too time consuming I told myself, but truth be told, I couldn’t do it well enough. I sucked at it. Secondly, and this goes against what the dvd’s tell you, I used a chair to assist with pull ups. I became dependent on that damn chair. My advice about the pull ups are just don’t bring the chair into the equation unless you absolutely need it. If you can do 3 or 4 pull ups without a chair, then you don’t need it. The final error I made with my first round of P90X was that I ignored the nutrition aspect of the program completely. My thoughts were that I eat healthy anyway so there really is nothing I can learn about nutrition...wrong! I always wondered why I never had a washboard 6 pack, and the answer is because a 6 pack is not made in the gym, it is made in the kitchen. Learn from my mistakes; stick with the yoga (or any of the workouts that you think you suck at), push yourself to do what you can without cheating and do not underestimate food and supplementations.
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