Power 90 Completed

engian

I hope this isn’t too long winded. I’m feeling a little stoked today - having completed Power 90. I found MFP initially to track my calories, and since found it great for motivation - reading other peoples trials and successes - and I now have a little success of my own.

Here is my story. I’m a 51 yr old, married, and father of two elementary school aged children. I work in an office / desk job, and over the past couple of years I have been feeling tired, weak, not well balanced, etc. It has tough for me keeping up with our kids. I got colds and illnesses easily and took too long to get over them, and I had developed allergies (hay fever, dust, pollen, etc) and regularly needed OTC allergy drugs.

It was difficult to admit (to myself) that I was sedentary. I used to run quite a bit back in high school and college, then got into bicycling pretty big time. With time I got married, we bought a house (which needed, and needs, much work and upkeep), then a dog and kids came along, and somewhere, somehow my regular exercise disappeared.

Our family belongs to a good YMCA, but getting to it is a pain, particularly during rush hours before and after work. I’ve tried getting into a regime there, both lifting and spinning, but my work commitments, and getting the kids to before-school care, and then picking them up at after-school...getting them to their sports and activities...and the YMCA just wasn’t working for me.

Over the past couple years I’ve begun to assess where I was in life, and what I needed to do to improve the probability that I was around when my kids got through college...I knew needed to make a change. I just wasn’t sure what that was. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when this past spring my wife measured my waist for a spring shopping trip for pants. I was under the (erroneous) belief that my waist was 36 inches, but....found out it was more than 39 inches. WHOA! I was NOT going to buy a whole new set of pants with 40 inch waists...no way...no how...

I had some co-workers who had done P90X for a time, though neither ended up finishing....I looked it over and though, geeze, this thing is going to either discourage me or kill me...or both...[in hind sight it would have ]

So I began looking for something less intense and found Power 90, Beachbody’s predecessor to P90X. I describe it as the kinder gentler P90X. One of things I love about doing Power 90 is that I walk down to the basement to get in a workout - no getting ready for the gym, no fighting traffic...I have a time limit on how long of a workout I can get in before the kids are up and morning routine (breakfasts, getting lunches together, getting to dog out, etc) kicks in...but it is much better than the gym option for me.

I’ve been using power bands for resistance since I don’t have any free weights at home. During my 90 days I’ve transitioned to the third level of band (pink, magenta, red/orange).

It hasn’t necessarily all easy, though. I’ve been battling a case of plantar fascitis for the entire 90 days. What a pain that has been. I have a right side abdominal hernia which popped whenever I dig lunges, so I ended up doing squats whenever Tony Horton and ‘the kids’ did lunges. The squats didn’t seem to bother the hernia. I’ve had two arthroscopies on my right knee so I had to be mindful of it during the aerobics stuff. Anywho - made the necessary adjustments to keep up with the program. And during the 90 days it wasn’t all smooth sailing. I got sick for two separate days and had a back back muscle pull which took a week to get over, and there were definitely days when I felt lousy....I ‘pushed play’ and did the workouts, even if my efforts on a couple of days were laughably lame.

So...I feel absolutely fantastic! It is hard to describe how much better I feel now than before. I am energetic. I’m having great fun with the kids. My clothes are loose (some pants are now so loose they are uncomfortable to wear). And I taken allergy meds (Sudafed) only once in past 90 days. When I’ve gotten an illness or cold it lasted maybe two days, max. Amazing. I am not going to stop what I am doing.

I think I’m going to get the next two power bands and the P90X door pull-up bar for future workouts. I also think I’m going to next get Power 90 Master Series as a way of getting equivalent workouts with more variety. With my time constraints before work during the school year I think Power 90 Master Series with suit my limited workout times well. And next spring summer doing Power 90. I am psyched.

Here are my before and after stats:

Before:
Weight 189.5 lbs
Chest 41.0 inches
Waist 39.25 inches
Hips 41.5 inches
R Arm 13.0 inches
L Arm 12.5 inches
R Thigh 21.0 inches
L Thigh 21.0 inches

After:
Weight 171.0 lbs
Chest 40.0 inches
Waist 35.25 inches
Hips 37.75 inches
R Arm 13.25 inches
L Arm 13.0 inches
R Thigh 20.0 inches
L Thigh 19.5 inches


Cheers,

Elia

AbbeyDove

That's great! Congratulations!

engian

AbbeyDove - thank you!

KimberlyAndrews1

That's awesome! Way to go! I am on day 29 and lost 6 lbs and basically 1 inch everywhere. I'm still doing a little modifying with the side to side jumps and run lunge, but not as much, it's gets a little better each time. I'm not sure at this point when or if I will make it to phase 3-4 so after Power 90, I may do another round with 3-4 or like you, do Power 90 Master Series. I still have a ways to go yet, but I do feel better and have a little more energy which is saying a lot for me because I dealt with extreme fatigue. Anyway, awesome job....what a great accomplishment!!! Congrats and good luck on your next one!

fpelletier

Awesome job! I have P90 as well and like it pretty well, I bought it yrs ago but only completed 30 days then life happened, but now I use it sparingly with other work outs Keep up the great work!

engian

Kimberly, fpelletier,

Thank you! I'm a fan of Power 90. I've lost another pound and a little more off my waist since having passed the 90 day point, and have now stabilized my weight at 170 pounds and am in a maintenance-ish mode. I'm still chugging along with essentially Power 90 phase 3-4, although now I'm doing a strength-cardio-strength-rest_day cycle, which works with the family's school schedule.

Keep pressing play!

Elia