First a little background about me and my fitness experience.
I am going to age myself here.
Back in 1994, a year after the birth of my second child, I decided it was time to get my body back in shape. I was 22 and not feeling too good about myself. At the time I was in college pursuing my A.S. in Accounting, so I enrolled in a fitness class. This was wonderful. I bought the book Bottoms Up! by Joyce Vedral (excellent book by the way), a stepper, some dumbbells, and a slant board (I still have everything but the dumbbells). This worked great, until I got pregnant with my third child in 1995. Off and on throughout the years I have lost the weight only to have it return. It is not horrible, but it is frustrating. Fast forward to 2008. I was working for a nonprofit with fitness as one of its primary goals. After 4 years I finally took advantage of the aerobics classes and got back in shape, until I lost my job in November. It is hard to be self-motivating. I put on some weight and became a recluse (pretty much). I started working out a little here and there, but nothing really got me to commit, until now.
Last week I ordered P90X and when it arrived, 2 days later, I did not hesitate to start. It is tough! If you are nowhere near in shape, then it is highly recommended you start with something like Power 90 (also by Tony Horton and Beach Body) or some other fitness program. If you are somewhat fit or want to tone up, then this could be just what you were looking for.
P90X comes with 13 discs, one is an intro to the program. If you purchase this directly from BeachBody.com, then you also will get a book, calendar, and guide to the program. I purchased mine on eBay and only received the discs. No problem, the calendar and logs are available for download. This is a commitment of 90 days. It's okay for life to cause a day delay or so, but it is recommended you stick with this program daily and for the full 90 days. There are 3 different programs: Lean (more cardio, less strength training), Classic, and Doubles (Classic with extra workouts).
You get workouts for legs, arms, back, shoulders, cardio, yoga, and abs. You will need a pull up bar (or bands and a way to hook them to a door to simulate a pull up motion), dumbbells (in various sizes) or bands (I have this as it is a less expensive option), mat (for yoga and abs), towel, & heart rate monitor (highly recommended). You may want some additional yoga tools such as blocks and straps if you are not too flexible or need the extra stability.
Tony Horton is wonderful. He is motivating and real. His motto: Do your best and forget the rest. This is so true. It does not matter how much you do, but that you do it correctly and that you do it at all. You will improve with time and perseverance. I am only in the beginning stages and already feel stronger, more fit, and can do a little more than I could when I started.
This is a fun workout. And how many times do you hear fun and workout in the same sentence? I would highly recommend this to anyone who is serious about getting fit. Want to follow my progress? Read about it on my
blog. This link will take you to all of my current P90X posts.
P90X - Is it all it's "hyped" up to be?
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