Product Review: P90X

Several people have asked me for my opinion on the extremely popular workout DVD program, P90X.  My husband and I worked through this 90 day program rather strictly beginning in the middle of January 2010 through April 2010.  Then, I repeated most of the program elements on/off two more times.  Now, I am working through the resistance training workouts for the 4th round. 

I began the program on the recommendation of my chiropractor who has been helping me overcome four years of back pain.  Scoliosis has caused muscle imbalances along my spine which make me prone to painful injury.  P90X is a comprehensive program that promotes muscle balance, but it does not replace the individual care provided by a skilled personal physical trainer.

Some of the advantages of the program are listed below.

• It provides a wide variety of workouts to prevent boredom and boost metabolism.  (Boredom has become an issue now that I'm on the 4th round, however.)
• It's a balanced workout program that targets all the major muscle groups and provides overall body conditioning.
• I love the convenience of in-home weight training where childcare and outside observers are not a concern.
• The DVDs have a play option to mute music and/or Tony Horton's incessant chatter.
• The workout schedule provides two options:  Lean (more cardio) or Classic (more weights).
• The workout "models" are not all actors pretending to workout.  Instead, Tony leads the workouts with a combination of elite professional dancers, staff, and average people (some are even older than me!) who have been through the program and who have experienced its results.
• The warm-up and cool down stretches are excellent. Thanks to these videos, I have added a lot of helpful warm-up exercises and stretches into my workout toolbox and recovery arsenal.
• Detailed analytics and measurement tools are included to help track progress.
• The program provides unmatched results. (Scroll down for more details.)

Some of the disadvantages of the workout program include:

• Cost:  The DVD set costs approximately $160, and you'll need to purchase set of free weights (or bands), a chin-up bar, yoga mat and block, and weight lifting gloves (I've been through two pairs of gloves and highly recommend them).  I also had to increase our grocery budget because this program made me hungrier than any marathon training ever did.  These investments don't seem like much at all compared to gym memberships with childcare.
• Time Investment:  The schedule requires at least 60 minutes a day for 6-7 days each week.  Weight and ab workouts are 75 minutes combined, but I usually do these on separate days.  The yoga workout lasts 92 minutes. 
• Language:  Every workout seems to have at least one (sometimes more) incidence of profanity.  Our kids love to watch and "work out" with me, so it's a struggle to keep them from hearing the unnecessary profanity.  That's when the "mute Tony's chatter" play option comes in handy.
• Risk of Injury:  This workout is EXTREME with plenty of warnings at the beginning.  If you "Bring It" as Tony keeps advising (especially if you don't always use proper form), you could seriously injure yourself.   At one point, I began to wonder if my chiropractor recommended the program just to increase his revenues because I did need to see him quite often during my first round.  I had severe muscle imbalances and lots of back problems going into the program, so that may not be the case for everyone.  Number of injuries lessened over time.
• No pain no gain!  Muscles must be worked to exhaustion to grow, so muscle soreness is a given.  I call that "good pain".  Injuries create a totally different type of pain that is just plain miserable.
• The plyometrics workout is extremely hard on the knees and joints, so exercise caution with this workout and modify as necessary.
• Yoga, by its very nature, is boring, and the 92 minutes seem to drag on forever. Some of the postures (corpse, cradle) and the "ohms" at the end are one leap too far into the New Age realm for me, so I stop the video 5 minutes before the end so as to avoid that part.  I have experienced injury enough to know how important stretching and yoga are for injury prevention.  Yet, I do not have the patience for this workout every week.  Instead, I try to incorporate some of the key stretches into a daily 10 minute stretching routine.

My arm, chest, shoulder, and back muscles have all gotten bigger as a result of doing the Classic P90X program.  I've spoken to several ladies who do not want to increase body mass like I do.  If you want more muscle mass, then the Classic P90X Program will certainly give you added strength and bulk, provided that your protein and calorie intake are sufficient.  If you are more interested in slimming, then stick with the P90X Lean program and lift lower weights for higher reps.

The program also includes a diet plan that is probably helpful, but I ignored it.   It took all the self discipline I had to follow the workout schedule, but I'm sure the results would have been more dramatic had I followed the diet plan.  I did find that eating plenty of carbohydrates before working out and lots of protein with carbohydrates after the workout helped me achieve greater results.  I have read reviews from others who have tried the program and felt completely wiped out until they began significantly increasing calorie consumption.

Results
Since most people are more interested in results than any of my opinions, I'll share some of my data.  I followed the program more closely during the 1st round than I did during the next few rounds, yet the improvements continued.   During the fall of last year, I began training for a 1/2 marathon, so I only did the weight workouts 1-2 days per week and tried to run or rest the other days.  Running worked against my lifting efforts during that time and caused me to lean out more than desired.  I have found that doing the workouts 2-3 days per week instead of 6-7 days per week is not only easier to maintain but also results in less tension related muscle pain because the 6-7 days per week schedule was just too stressful to keep up long term. 
 
Since my back, neck and shoulder pains are the primary issues of concern for my doctor, I have kept detailed records to measure progress in those areas. The documentation shows a notable increase in strength (2 examples: from 1 to 30 pull-ups and from 0 to 33 one-arm push-ups per set), and muscular balance, but I still have some imbalances between my left and right sides that will most likely need to be addressed by a skilled personal trainer. The frequency and severity of my back pains overall have improved significantly, so while the road was rocky at first, I am pleased with the results of this program as a form of physical therapy.

12th week of Round 1

Half-way through Round 2

Round 3:  Less lifting + 1/2 marathon

Round 4:  Minimal running

Another area of concern involved my core muscles.  My son was delivered via C-section, and that surgery resulted in abdominal muscle tearing and unusual abdominal protrusions that my OB doctor said could only be corrected through surgery.  Core Synergistics is probably one of the best workouts in the DVD set for me because of its core strengthening exercises.  Despite my muscle tearing, I experienced significant improvements with this workout.  The graph below shows my improvement over time with dips on the days when I took it easier due to injuries.

Ab Ripper X has also been great for my core muscles, but be careful with this workout because it really works the hip flexors.  I dealt with several hip flexor related injuries before I could master it.  I can finally see that six pack again, and now the abdominal bumps are only noticeable when I do a few specialized core exercises. 

In summary, I highly recommend P90X for those who are already in great physical condition and want to build and/or balance muscular strength.  For those merely seeking to slim down, there are better options that I plan to review in the future.  For those who decide to try it, I strongly recommend taking it slowly at first and paying close attention to form to help prevent injury.  For the Type A personalities who decide to try it, do not stress out over keeping to the program so rigidly. Tense, tight muscles will work against your progress and make you more prone to injury.

*I have not received any type of endorsement for evaluating this product.