Thread: Thoughts on P90X

Everything has its place. P90 is good to lose weight, just like Crossfit is good to lose weight, but a lot of bodybuilders don't like either. I have some philosophical issues with Crossfit and P90, but that's because my perspective is about gaining as much muscle as possible, but if losing weight is the goal, as long as whatever program you're following has you moving your body and burning calories, it's doing what all weight loss programs ultimately do, creating a caloric deficit.

are people getting that fuckin lazy? scroll down the topic page there's allready a topic ironicly titled the same damn thing..........FUCKIN READ IT!

Originally Posted by Curlingcadys

are people getting that fuckin lazy? scroll down the topic page there's allready a topic ironicly titled the same damn thing..........FUCKIN READ IT!

Nothing to do with laziness... just didn't happen to see that one. FUCKING SORRY! Don't have to be a dick about it.

...sorry just laughing.

Originally Posted by Pittsburgh63

Has anyone tried this to help cut? Just curious if it would be effective. Thinking about buying it for my wife to help her loose the baby weight from our last son.

buy it if you want her to gain it back later.

Originally Posted by VolcomX311

Everything has its place. P90 is good to lose weight, just like Crossfit is good to lose weight, but a lot of bodybuilders don't like either. I have some philosophical issues with Crossfit and P90, but that's because my perspective is about gaining as much muscle as possible, but if losing weight is the goal, as long as whatever program you're following has you moving your body and burning calories, it's doing what all weight loss programs ultimately do, creating a caloric deficit.

So just taking up jogging for an hour a day has it's place too? Because this "works" to lose weight, and it creates a caloric deficit.

Granted you have a serious "specialty" issue you self-proclaimed. I'm getting further and further away from the logic of "doing something is better than nothing"...If anything just take up brisk walking.

Thinking that joe and jane doe need to suddenly start a glorified highly marketed way of saying "circuit training" with plyometrics and yoga and a bunch of ab exercises doesn't really have it's place in my book. 99 percent of them are not going to go on to be athletes. I don't see the point of suddenly training with the movements and intensities of an athlete(including easier variations) when you have no athletic education or background.

This shit really grinds my gears and it's simply some super marketers praying on and further perpetuating, the ignorance of the fitness industry.

Originally Posted by Merkaba

So just taking up jogging for an hour a day has it's place too? Because this "works" to lose weight, and it creates a caloric deficit.

Yes, if losing weight is your primary goal. Bottom line when "losing weight" is the primary goal, kcals out must exceed kcals in, which was the principle question OP was asking about in regards to his decision in which method his wife was going to accomplish that with. I have the same issues with weekend certificate personal trainers, I'm a certified strength & conditioning specialist with a degree in kinesiology, so I'm no follow the latest fad type of guy, but the OP was inquiring about some weight loss program for his wife and P90X is more then suitable to achieve "weight loss." It's actually hard to beat a good ole jog outside to lose weight, but not everybody has the mindset and patience for that kind of monotony, in which case P90 is a fine alternative if you want something more engaging and less mundane.

Originally Posted by VolcomX311

Yes, if losing weight is your primary goal. Bottom line when "losing weight" is the primary goal, kcals out must exceed kcals in, which was the principle question OP was asking about in regards to his decision in which method his wife was going to accomplish that with. I have the same issues with weekend certificate personal trainers, I'm a certified strength & conditioning specialist with a degree in kinesiology, so I'm no follow the latest fad type of guy, but the OP was inquiring about some weight loss program for his wife and P90X is more then suitable to achieve "weight loss." It's actually hard to beat a good ole jog outside to lose weight, but not everybody has the mindset and patience for that kind of monotony, in which case P90 is a fine alternative if you want something more engaging and less mundane.

I was being sarcastic. Kinda like "hand plow a garden for a few hours a day"... The point is it works, but how long is one going to plow a garden to lose or maintain weight, or do p90x to lose or maintain weight? What happens when the person stops? Or is this person deciding here and now to become an athlete?

Originally Posted by Merkaba

So just taking up jogging for an hour a day has it's place too? Because this "works" to lose weight, and it creates a caloric deficit.

Granted you have a serious "specialty" issue you self-proclaimed. I'm getting further and further away from the logic of "doing something is better than nothing"...If anything just take up brisk walking.

Thinking that joe and jane doe need to suddenly start a glorified highly marketed way of saying "circuit training" with plyometrics and yoga and a bunch of ab exercises doesn't really have it's place in my book. 99 percent of them are not going to go on to be athletes. I don't see the point of suddenly training with the movements and intensities of an athlete(including easier variations) when you have no athletic education or background.

This shit really grinds my gears and it's simply some super marketers praying on and further perpetuating, the ignorance of the fitness industry.

Well said.

Originally Posted by Merkaba

I was being sarcastic. Kinda like "hand plow a garden for a few hours a day"... The point is it works, but how long is one going to plow a garden to lose or maintain weight, or do p90x to lose or maintain weight? What happens when the person stops? Or is this person deciding here and now to become an athlete?

In my experience people are not willing to make real long-term changes, so they look for the quick fix and pay through the nose for fancy programs that don't provide anything new. There is a reason 99% of the budget for such programs goes into promotion. Much like fad diets, these programs are a waste of time unless you are truly willing to make a long-term commitment to fitness and health. Stuff irks me too.

Thanks for the input. She's a stay at home Mom looking for something she can do when she lays the kids down for a nap. Don't really have the space in my home gym for a treadmill... so jogging won't really work out for her.

I started giving her some of my workout programs... but it just ended up with her frustrated and me getting pissy with her.

Just need something that will instruct her... other than me(cuz I tend to yell)... on what motions to go through.

p90 does work.

All and I mean all exercises are not effective when it comes to losing weight. P90X(circuit training) or jogging(running) and crossfit are not that great when it comes to burning calories. If your running for 10 minutes and you weigh about 200 pounds at a speed of 6mph then that's about 120 calories. If you do that for about 30 minutes 3 times a week then you're burning about 1080 calories more a week. That may seem a lot but you then have to minus the decrease of activity would person would do after the run is done. I found out that a lot of people are less active through out the day because of the running and the mental thought that they run for 30 minutes and now they will take it a little easier throughout the day because of it.

The KEY to cutting is diet and allows diet. It's much easier to burn more body fat if you consume less calories.

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P90X advertise that you can lose weight and build muscle at the same time. Which is true it can but it depends on the person who is starting the program. If the person is 10 to 20 pounds overweight and never lift weights then they will gain few pounds(rough guess) of muscle in 90 days and lose the extra 10 to 20 pounds of fat. The problem with P90X is that any type of exercise with weights and the diet program you have to follow aka calorie restriction will make them gain little muscle and lose the weight. Most of the weight lost is coming from the plain out diet they have to follow which has nothing to do with P90X.

If I was you OP learn how to diet and do an activity that you enjoy and start a weight training program with compound movement so you can put stress on those muscles and make them grow.

One last thing when you read about people who do the P90X program and say it's a really hard program to do just think of this. Your doing the program for 90 days to gain a few pounds of muscles if your lucky. 90 days is nothing and that's easy to do. SERIOUS! The hard thing and the right way takes a minimum of 3 years to gain 30 pounds of muscle. That's hard to do and most people will fail at it and P90X can't do that because of how the program is design.

I had this same thread a month ago check it out and see what you can find to help answer your question

Thoughts on p90x?

From my own personal experience p90x does work. I am still fairly new to the world of excercise and found p90x challenging but, there is in fact many beginner varations to many of the excercises to help you out. Also, like many will suggest, p90x will not work without a proper diet. It only worked for me because I looked after both aspects of losing weight. Also, remember that with like with any workout program, doing it for 3 months and then completely stopping will almost ensure the weight to come back on.

As a side note and again from my own personal experience, i took the advice of many of the members here and joined an actual gym. This way you can control the pace of your workout. Check out the ymca in your area from my understanding they also offer a child watch program where they can look after your kids whle you work out.

On point with all of this... I have her on a diet plan that I have always used and just adapted based on her size.

P90x would kind of be a stepping stone to get her in better shape and give enough confidence to join my gym.

Originally Posted by Pittsburgh63

On point with all of this... I have her on a diet plan that I have always used and just adapted based on her size.

P90x would kind of be a stepping stone to get her in better shape and give enough confidence to join my gym.

P90x isn't the greatest "stepping stone" when I first started I found it challenging even with some of the variations. I was advised to go to an actual gym where I could control the pace of the workout and the level of intensity and to be honest it was the best advice I got. Starting small at the gym or even a long walk in my opinion is a better stepping stone. Just my two cents.

Originally Posted by Merkaba

I was being sarcastic. Kinda like "hand plow a garden for a few hours a day"... The point is it works, but how long is one going to plow a garden to lose or maintain weight, or do p90x to lose or maintain weight? What happens when the person stops? Or is this person deciding here and now to become an athlete?

Gotcha

OP people here are right, because you need to think long term weight loss and maintenance. Yea she could lose a few pounds with any program but she'll gain it right back once she stops and P90X isnt that great for beginners.
Start by finding an activity she likes doing or something you can both do together, a sport perhaps or biking or swimming and then see if she is willing do do it on a regular basis. These quick fix programs are no good because they wont help you maintain your weight loss unless you constantly do them and trust me regular joes just don't wanna do that.

The easiest and most sustainable "cardio" type exercise to incorporate into a long term lifestyle change is walking. It won't stress your body out as much, it won't leave you wanting to curl up in a ball because you can't move the next day. If you can't make a schedule to go walking 30 minutes a day or an hour every other day or whatever, it's going to be hard to just jump into something rigorous. Just start with walking and brisk walking. That and trying to get into your basic "lifts"...Body weight squats holding onto a pole or the door frame, etc...can't beat that.

Originally Posted by Pittsburgh63

On point with all of this... I have her on a diet plan that I have always used and just adapted based on her size.

You might not know this, but men and women often cannot diet the same way. If you've got her on low fat, and six meals a day, she is probably doomed to failure, even if this worked really well for you.

Originally Posted by VolcomX311

It's actually hard to beat a good ole jog outside to lose weight

Unless you're a woman. This type of activity often overstimulates appetite in women - we gain. I've never been so fat in my life as I was when I ran 10k three times a week. I would never recommend jogging as a modality for fat loss, especially to an overweight woman.

Originally Posted by Merkaba

The easiest and most sustainable "cardio" type exercise to incorporate into a long term lifestyle change is walking. It won't stress your body out as much, it won't leave you wanting to curl up in a ball because you can't move the next day. If you can't make a schedule to go walking 30 minutes a day or an hour every other day or whatever, it's going to be hard to just jump into something rigorous. Just start with walking and brisk walking. That and trying to get into your basic "lifts"...Body weight squats holding onto a pole or the door frame, etc...can't beat that.

Gold.

Increased activity increases appetites in both men and women, no matter what that activity is. You're never hungrier then when you do two-a-days. I don't think an increase in appetite is a reason to not do a particular activity, otherwise the gym is off limits as well. Anything that accelerates the metabolism will ultimately lead to some increase in appetite because the body wants to satisfy the new demand for energy expenditure. Clearly, self control relative to caloric consumption has to be a forefront and the mainstage when cutting weight, no matter what activity. However, I'm not a women, so I can only reason with logic, but not personal experience. If men and women react differently to jogging in terms of adipose consumption, then it's news to me and I'll have learned something new, but the increase in appetite isn't female exclusive.

P90x would kind of be a stepping stone to get her in better shape and give enough confidence to join my gym.

Originally Posted by VolcomX311

Increased activity increases appetites in both men and women, no matter what that activity is. You're never hungrier then when you do two-a-days. I don't think an increase in appetite is a reason to not do a particular activity, otherwise the gym is off limits as well. Anything that accelerates the metabolism will ultimately lead to some increase in appetite because the body wants to satisfy the new demand for energy expenditure. Clearly, self control relative to caloric consumption has to be a forefront and the mainstage when cutting weight, no matter what activity. However, I'm not a women, so I can only reason with logic, but not personal experience.

Actually, there's evidence to the contrary, but I should have been more specific - this applies to increasing exercise intensity, which is specifically what P90X does:

Effects of exercise intensity on food intake and a... [Am J Clin Nutr. 2004] - PubMed result
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Increasing exercise intensity has been shown to reduce energy intake in men.

OBJECTIVE:
The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of exercise intensity on energy intake in women.

DESIGN:
Thirteen moderately active (peak oxygen uptake: 44.0 +/- 4.7 mL . kg(-1) . min(-1)) women [body mass index (in kg/m(2)): 22.2 +/- 2.4; age: 22.2 +/- 2.0 y] were subjected to 3 experimental conditions: control with no exercise and 2 equicaloric (350 kcal) low- (LIE) and high- (HIE) intensity exercise sessions at 40% and 70% of peak oxygen uptake, respectively. After each session, the participants ate ad libitum from buffet-type meals at lunch and dinner and ate snacks during the afternoon and evening. Visual analogue scales were used to rate appetite.

RESULTS:
More energy was ingested at lunchtime after the HIE session than after the control session (878 +/- 309 and 751 +/- 230 kcal, respectively; P = 0.02). Relative energy intake (postexercise energy intake corrected for the energy cost of exercise above the resting level) at lunch was lower after the LIE session than after the control session (530 +/- 233 and 751 +/- 230 kcal, respectively; P < 0.001) and was lower after the HIE session than after the control session (565 +/- 301 and 751 +/- 230 kcal, respectively; P < 0.01). Similarly, daily energy intake tended to increase during the HIE session relative to that during the control session. No treatment effect was found for appetite scores throughout the experiment.

CONCLUSION:
The results suggest that HIE increases energy intake in women.

When I read this I nearly fell over - I KNEW this was happening. I was watching men lean out doing the same activity that was making me even hungrier (and subsequently, fatter) than I had been. Not all exercise does this to me, personally; lifting doesn't, unless I take only short rests and do a lot of volume. Walking doesn't, either. But jogging does, as does circuit training.

If men and women react differently to jogging in terms of adipose consumption, then it's news to me and I'll have learned something new, but the increase in appetite isn't female exclusive

Men and women do respond differently to jogging with respect to adipose consumption btw. Women rely more heavily upon fat as a fuel substrate. In spite of this, we're fatter than men. Go figure.

I've heard many good reviews and have seriously considered using P90 myself. I'm yet to try it out but it's on my list...looks like a good product.

I like the abripperx exercises but they are just standard matt work - there is nothing new under the sun. I tried some of the p90 exercises with some buddies, i thought they were a little to strenuous on my joints, but i lift for hypertrophy, not endurance... I believe there are 1000s of tried and true exercises that have been around since the turn of the century - mind over matter, just do the work. Don't need an overpriced DVD set, Do need enduring motivation.

I have been doing P90X / Insanity for almost 5 months and it has helped tremendously. It does take real dedication and you have to stick very closely to the diet plan if you hope to succeed.