My P90x Journey: Ab Ripper X

Ab Ripper X is getting easier and I am now managing to complete all the exercises in time with Tony and his buddies apart from the Mason Twists at the end. This is a problem for me as my girlfriend managed to smash out 50 without even breaking a sweat. Still no matter I guess we all have our weak spots. See how she likes it when I crucify her in a pull up challenge!

How My P90x Journey Began

Firstly I am not employed by BeachBody.com or associated with P90x. I just happened to catch an advert on the Discovery Channel one morning and got sucked in. I bought the original P90x (circa 2004) for little more than a few months of gym membership. There are others for well over £100 but this was good for me as a starting point. If it was a crock then I could Ebay it at a later date. I had a set of Dumb Bells and Resistance Bands from previous fitness exploits gathering dust in a cupboard so that gave me a head start. The only other thing I needed was a Pull Up Bar that I got from Amazon for around £30. I haven't got a Yoga Mat so cushions are doing the job for now. At the time of writing I am finishing up my second week and the results are looking promising......

Is P90x For Me?

The simple answer is 'YES'. Although if you are particularly unfit then you might want to visit the doctor first. There is a minimum fitness test with P90x that is not too hard to beat but sometimes it is better to be safe. That's the health and safety bit now on with the show. The great thing about P90x is the flexibility of it. I use weights and pull up bar for the most part but you can use resistance bands to emulate the movement that you would get from curls, pull ups etc... I am not professionally trained in any way but with a bit of common sense you can make P90x work for you. I have suffered from lower back pain for about 7 years now and with a few minor adjustments I can do the workouts with little discomfort. I am hoping it will help my back in the long run. I will admit I was a little over enthusiastic on my first week of P90x and did hurt myself but I just made sure to go a bit easier the next day. I found that Yoga X helped a lot. P90x is so versatile that if certain parts are too tough there is always an alternative. Push ups on your knees, chair assisted pull ups whatever works for you. As long as you get the full range of motion you cannot go far wrong. The most important thing is listen to your body. If you cant do the exercise with good form the chances are you have had enough.

What You Get In The P90x Box

13 DVD's.

Intro 'How To Bring It'
Chest and Back
Plyometrics ( You can substitute with Cardio X)
Shoulders and Arms
Yoga X
Legs and Back
Kenpo X
X Stretch
Core Synergistics
Chest, Shoulders and Triceps
Back and Biceps
Cardio X
Ab Ripper X (The mother of core training)

A Fitness Guide and Nutritional Plan some other bits of paper advertising stuff and a box to put it all in.

All hardware is bought separately. You will need Dumb Bells and a Pull Up Bar or Resistance Bands (whatever floats your boat). Resistance Bands are the cheapest option as you can do the Dumb Bell and Pull Up exersises with one set of Bands. Be careful as I hooked my Resistance Band over the top of a door for an exercise and it pinged off and stuck me in the face.

Tony Horton is the mastermind behind the series. I had never heard of him prior to P90x but if you do a search on him he seems to have worked with lots of celebrities etc. At the time of filming my version of P90x he was 45 so I am guessing he is in his early 50's now and still looks in awesome shape so that is good enough for me.

The P90x Training Plan

The P90x training plan is broken down into monthly blocks to make it easier to track your progress. Ther first 3 weeks consist of the 'Adaptive and Mastery Phase'. This is where all the hard work is done with the various different workouts. It is 6 days a week (7 if you do the X Stretch or you can have a day off). Then after the three weeks of pain you have the 'Recovery Phase' which involves more of the cardio based workouts and stretching. I am guessing it is not any easier it just adds an extra element to help with the muscle confusion. Muscle Confusion is the basis of the whole P90x program. From what I can understand it is basically to work different parts of your body to keep your muscles 'guessing' so as to improve results. If you only work 1 specific muscle group it soon gets used to it (I was a sucker for bench presses and never gained any mass) and hence you hit the dreaded plateau. P90x works different muscles on different days so they can recover and build. My first week I did Chest and Back on day 1 and I was pretty rubbish to put it politely. But I stuck to the program and my muscles hurt for a couple of days after and recovered (in the meantime I was working other groups so was still burning fat). Come day 7 I was able to bring the same intensity as day 1 to the Chest and Back workout but because I had rested this group and they had grown (slightly) I noticed an improvement of at least 1 rep per exercise. The same goes for all other muscle groups Legs, Shoulders etc... The format is the same for the other 2 months although the exercise regime changes every month (hence 12 workout dvd's and not just 6). Sound complicated? Its not it is probably just the way I have worded it!!

I may have gone on a bit but I hope it makes some sort of sense.

The P90x Nutrition Plan

I have still yet to work out the P90x Nutrition Plan properly. Having said that it does tell you how to work out your Resting Metabolic Rate (how many calories you burn at rest) and your Daily Activity Burn (calories required for daily movement) and how many calories you need when doing the exercises. I am at what they refer to as Level 1. That means I fall into the 1800 - 2399 required calories a day group. So for the first month of the program I have to survive on 1800 calories (you have to round it down so there is a calorie defecit for the first month) plus the 600 calories they have calculated I need when doing the P90x workouts. So I have figured provided I get 2400 calories from good food (fruit, veg, meat, etc...) on a workout day I shouldn't go far wrong. Don't forget to add your drinks to the total as well. Unfortunately Colonel Sanders and Ronald McDonald are not allowed to prepare your food. In the words of the P90x Nutrition Plan 'If you think it's junk, it probably is'. There are seperate eating plans for months 1,2 and 3 as the workouts intensify but I haven't really read that far. I know it is pain counting calories but if you want results I guess you just gotta suck it up and get on with it....

Ab Ripper X

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