Bring It: P90X Day 1

Today I started an adventure. A journey I started long ago and gave up on time and time again. It is my fight against my own personal obesity epidemic. The goal: to get healthy and toned up before my sister’s wedding next February.

Now I am not saying I am severely obese. Heck, I wouldn’t even qualify for “The Biggest Loser” if I wanted to. But, I do have a little extra plump in places I would rather not think too strongly about. Now this extra baggage, while at times it may seem impossible, isn’t hard to get rid of with the proper tools and motivation.

So today is the day. I dusted off my packet of P90X workout DVDs, grabbed my pull-up bar and pilates mat, and hoped for the best. And guess what: I survived!

Since I am an infomercial junkie, I am very familiar with those people trying to show you all these different workout systems that supposedly guarantee results. I am sure they work. However, if you don’t work at it, the results will stay in the package.

P90X is different. It isn’t geared toward just woman (like those fluffy cardio programs that most men run from); it is geared toward anybody who wants to get in the best shape of their life. It requires an extreme attitude and a stubborn persistence. Believe me, after even the first day, you will be sore and questioning whether or not you want to go on. Yet, each day, all you have to do is push play.

P90X is an extreme fitness program and it works by providing “muscle confusion.” With the variety of different moves, you muscles are always being challenged to continue growing. The philosophy is “the more you confuse the muscle, the harder your body has to work to keep up.” The variety of this workout is key to better and faster results.

The design of P90X is to use “simple” exercises. By simple, I don’t mean easy. In fact, it is far from it. But it is basic exercises. We are talking pushups, pullups, jumping jacks, squats and much more. P90X consists of 3 different phases. This helps you get stronger; keeps you motivated; and is ultimately what makes this program work to give you the short transition in just 90 days.

Included in the program are the 12 DVDs you will be using, a workout guide, downloadable worksheets online to track your progress, and one hell of a motivational trainer, Tony Horton. His quirkiness and his drive are really what pushes you through this. He makes you laugh when you think your arms are going to fall off. Without the combination of all of this, the P90X program would not be as successful!

This workout is all about the pushing and the pulling. That being said, my arms feel like jello after the torturous amounts of pushups and pull ups I accomplished, which isn’t saying much, because those are definitely not my strong suit. Ok - so I did them on my knees and I probably only did 10! But hey, I am just starting here!

This workout lasts a little shy of an hour and with only 12 exercises, you will strengthen, tighten and tone the major muscles of the upper torso. For this workout, a pull up bar is the only thing absolutely necessary. If you have dumbbells, that will intensify the workout, but not needed right off the bat if you are just starting. I have dumbbells and I choose not to use them. I don’t want to push myself too hard on the first day and then either lose motivation or injure myself.

In addition to the Chest & Back workout, it is suggested you do the Ab Ripper X three times throughout the week. I did not do this workout today and will not during my journey because of previous surgeries on my abdominals. I did try it today, but found my abdominals are not strong enough to do this extreme of a workout. I will be doing my own variation of abdominal workouts once I get into the program further. Maybe by the end, I will be able to start adding this in.

After the first day, I will admit, I am feeling pretty pumped. My arms and my upper back are starting to get a little sore with each passing minute, but it isn’t anything I can’t deal with. Luckily for me, since I hate push ups and pull ups, I am done with this workout routine until next week. (But I am not promising there won’t be a few more in the other workouts!)

Overall, I will say this is a difficult workout, but then again the guide does warn you about that. But it is difficult depending on how much you push yourself. If you want to slack and you can't push yourself with just one more, this workout is probably not for you. However, I am too stubborn to listen to the “you cant’s”. So even though this is not recommended for those just starting out (or who have been away from exersice for a long time), I realized last time it is vital to do quality and not quantity. If you can only do 5 good pushups - that is all that is required of you. That just means next week try to push for a few more extra.

The goal of this program is not to beat everybody else, but to beat yourself and improve each and every week. I am being good about this (at least for the first day) and writing down all my personal stats. This way I know what to shoot for next week.

So overall, today is done, but I have enough energy left over to maybe play the Wii Fit with my kids later on. And I am pretty sure tomorrow I will have no issues just pushing play.

Note: It is not advised that you start any program without the consent of your doctor. If you do so, you do at your own risk. P90X is an extreme workout program that you are able to tailor to what you can do. If you aren’t in ok shape to start with, you might want to start with the original P90 before embarking on this program. However, the most important thing to do is remember Tony Horton’s motto: “Do your best and forget the rest!” So, as long as you start moving, you are on your way to a better and healthier lifestyle.

Follow me on my journey throughout the entire P90X program by clicking here, where you will be able to read Bring It: P90X Day 2. Each article will have links at the end leading to the next day. Hope you are able to find some motivation and you enjoy a real story from a real person. This truly is my own personal journey, and I hope to show some real results at the end! Thanks for your support!

After seeing what the entire P90X program was able to do for me, I decided to continue on my journey. Only this time, not only do I want to inspire others, but I want to help them achieve the success I have had. I firmly stand by how the BeachBody programs, and therefore have become a BeachBody Coach. If you would like more information on the programs available or have a question feel free to visit my site by clicking here or contact me.