p90x advice

Hi gojuju, I would like to join you on this scary p90x journey, I see not many girls takes challenge.

I'm doing insanity right now, and it's by the creators of P90X. It's super hard and some even say it's harder than P90X, but I can't compare since I've only done one workout for P90X. However don't be intimidated and don't give up! I guarantee that you will not be able to do every exercise, or keep up with them, but if you keep up with the video and do whatever you can each week you'll see serious improvement! Insanity was the best choice I made for my life I'm just a college student who doesnt leave her room much and it lets me have a gym right there (no equipment necessary). I was super gungho the 1st day, minorly excited the 2nd, neutral towards the exercise by the 3rd, and by the 4th day, I was really complaining and I didn't want to do it. I kept saying I hate this I cant do this I hate cardio, etc. etc. you just need to either remind yourself why your doing it, or have someone motivate you when you hit that first commitment wall. But when you see the results, it won't happen again.

My biggest suggestion for motivation it to take weekly pictures, especially the day 1 to day 7 picture will be awesome. At least for me in insanity, I saw a huge difference. I hope you have as much success with P90X!

I've done one round of P90X, one round of Insanity and one round of a hybrid. I'm in maintenance right now, and I added in Turbo Fire for fun. I'm a 5-5" 34 year old mother of one. My fitness goals were to be a size 6 US. Probably 25 lbs but I don't weigh myself. I went from a size 10 to a size 6 in about 8 months with this workout plan netting around 1500 calories a day. I eat my exercise calories. I was aiming for sustainable weight loss, not fast weight loss.

Now to P90X. I would put this program in a category of cardio resistance. The moves are fast, and your heart rate will rise. The resistance days are biased towards upper body with one leg workout. Each resistance day includes Ab Ripper X. The non resistance days include a plyometrics workout, a Kenpo karate workout and the longest dang Yoga video on the face of the planet. If you're just getting into weights, you will need 5, 8, 10 and 12 lb dumbbells. I use up to 25 lbs now and rarely use anything lower than 12. You will also need a resistance band for pull ups, and a pull up bar for later on. I still use bands.

If you're new to exercise, I assure you that you will be sore at first. You probably won't be able to complete legs and back, and you'll do push ups on your knees. You won't be able to do all the moves in Ab Ripper X. When I started, I was so excited to do 10 push ups before going to my knees. I can now to 50+ of most variations with proper form.

The hardest part about this system is the time commitment. Workouts are 50-60 minutes plus 15 minutes of Ab Ripper. Yoga is 90 minutes. The first month of the nutrition plan is protein heavy and is probably hard for vegetarians. My biggest mistake was not following the plan. I found the err in my ways when I started insanity and the weight started to melt off. But I remind you: I eat my exercise calories and I net 1500 (gasp!) ... if you're looking to emaciate yourself into a pair of skinny jeans, this might not be the right program for you depending on your build.

I am in the best shape of my life - and I'm pretty ripped. Ripped enough to get comments from strangers. While I'm positive that there are better gym based weight programs that incorporate personal trainers, that's not a reality for most folks.

A lot of women gain weight with this program and they are disappointed when they're finished. I was one of them. Diet is key. They muscles are there, they're just under a layer of fat. I think for most people, a round of intense cardio when P90X is done is useful.

Best of luck!

I started P90X in June. I had done about 60 days of it once before, so I at least knew what to expect, but it had been a few years and I was about 50 lbs overweight. I had issues at first with my tummy getting in the way of some of the exercises, including yoga, but I just kept going.

It is HARD. Don't make any mistake about that. The moves seem impossible at first, you'll be exhausted and sore and not able to get out of bed. Do it anyway.

The videos have lots of ways to modify the moves - do those. When Tony says "If you need to take a break, take it!" do. The key is, don't stick with the modifys - when you're over the initial blast, start trying to keep up with the kids.

You'll feel sore for about two weeks, then you'll notice you're not as sore. You won't see any major changes until around week 6 - 8 - but it's happening so don't quit. Just keep getting up and turning on the video machine.

I'm currently in my second round (didn't take a break between rounds) and continue to make huge improvements. So far I've lost 25+ pounds in 17 weeks and over 12 inches off my body. Seeing muscle definition is amazing, and this morning I'm heading out to run my first 5k ever. I can't begin to tell you what this program will do for you - you'll have to see it for yourself. It has changed my life though - and I love it.

One other word of advice - do the X-Stretch video. It's tempting to skip it, but you can throw it in anywhere - and it will help in all of the routines, and it will make you feel better. I've had huge wrist issues, and the two wrist stretches are helping me so much, as are the neck and shoulder stretches. Consider it a gift to yourself and do it.

the first week of each phase in the workout is the hardest. push through and it gets easier.