Does P90X Really Work?

During the past year or so my husband has been experimenting with different exercise programs and diets trying to improve his current weight and fitness level. Before that he spent a lot of time and effort trying to lose weight and get into shape. While his goal at first was to simply lose weight he now finds himself trying to elevate his health and fitness to a whole new level.

Before he became concerned about his health my husband spent 20 years abusing his body with smoking a pack of cigarettes a day and eating fast food two to three meals a day, every week. This is hardly the lifestyle of a healthy individual. He was well on his way to an early death. He quit smoking cold turkey (nicotaine patches and pills didn't work for him) in March of 2005 and gained about 20 pounds. Despite the extra weight he gained he said he felt so much better without cigarettes. Thank God! The one thing I admire about my husband is that once he decides he's going to do something he does it. When it came to quitting smoking one day he decided to quit and that was it. I saw the same change the day he decided he needed to get into shape.

At that time my husband decided to start his own diet and exercise plan. It was basically cutting out as much sugar and high fructose corn syrup (which is in everything) as possible and doing basic exercises: crunches, push-ups and a couple curls here and there. He also spent a lot of time playing paintball and basketball.

One big thing he eliminated from his diet was Coca-Cola. Next to cigarettes, Coke was a major vice for him. He could drink a 12-pack a day without even thinking about it. Within a month or two he was down to one 12 oz. bottle which he drank during the weekend. Switching to diet Coke wasn't an option because he hates the taste of it and it contains artificial sweeteners which are probably just as bad for him if he drank them everyday. He would rather taste a real Coke once a week than the fake stuff everyday.

On July 2007 he'd lost 40 pounds and felt pretty good but something was missing. A year of push-ups, sit-ups and curls and still no results or improvements with his physique. Plus, he wasn't able to do any more push-ups than he could before all this started. Apparently, he wasn't doing something right.

Then, like a lot of other people he started to do some research online. There is so much information online about health and fitness. It's hard to know what to believe. The one program that kept standing out was this P90X workout with many testimonials and videos of people making crazy changes to their body. Soon after we saw the commercial on TV (and saw it again and again and again and again) and every time he got closer and closer and finally decided to do it. The one thing that we really liked about this program was that he didn't need to invest in any fancy equipment or gadgets to get started. The only thing he needed was a DVD player and his own commitment to succeed.

Here is how my husband explains his P90X experience in his own words:

On August 18th, 2007 I started P90X. When I began I could only do 7 pushups, 0 pullups, 5 second wall squats and lets just say the weights I started with were really small. It was not a pretty sightseeing me do these workouts. During the warm-up of my first workout the only thought running through my head was what a big mistake this was. If I had to do it again I would start with Power 90 then P90X but I'm happy to say I have been "pushing play" for 10 months now and am finally able to keep up with everyone else on the videos and complete the workouts.

Now, almost two years later my workouts have changed quite a bit. I no longer do the vigorous daily workouts. Instead, I do the resistance training from P90X but my cardio has been in the form of our treadmill and basketball. I was shocked at my ability to run since shedding the pounds and getting into shape.

An important thing to consider if you're thinking about trying P90X is that I didn't follow the nutrition program very closely. I was very careful about what I ate but I didn't match my proteins, carbs, and fats with what they suggested in the book. If I had done that I probably would have seen even better results. Another thing is that I was already in pretty good physical shape when I started the program. It would be pretty hard to go from being a couch potato to a P90X poster child, but it can be done. While a lot of people want bigger muscles I simply wanted to get into better shape. Although, if you ask my wife she'll be the first to tell you that my physique improved tremendously since I started! So, if you've been sitting on the fence, I'd say go for it. You've got nothing to lose, and a whole lot of muscles and confidence to gain.

As for myself, I haven't been brave enough to give P90X a try yet, but I can tell you that since my husband started the program he's convinced 3 other family members to "push play" and they've been very happy with the results as well. Once I find the motivation to get started I'll be following the P90 program (which is one step down from P90X) and will one day work my way up to P90X.

Update:  After losing 10 pounds doing my own thing (kinda like what my husband did), I finally decided to bite the bullet and start the P90X program. It's good to know that even after 2 years this program still has a positive reputation. I plan on keeping a daily blog of my experience. My journey begins here: My P90X Experience