I've been on 2p2 for awhile, but never realized there was a H&F forum until the other day. I've been doing p90x for a few months now and was wondering if anyone on here has ever tried it. After searching, it seems that few people have and they have all pretty much met with failure for one reason or another. I just wanted to share my experience with it, talk about some pros/cons and a few adjustments I think you can make if you are looking to add size/strength.
Background:
Basically, I just turned 29 and was pretty out of shape. 6'9", 210-215 lb (fairly thin--BMI~23ish), had not touched a weight or done any strength training in 2 years. I had been doing aerobic exercise maybe 1-2x per week (irregularly) just to prevent getting fat and completely slothful. I was a serious athlete throughout high school and college, so am familiar with strenuous workout programs and heavy strength training. Basically, I am the typical story of getting a real job (working 70+ hours a week regularly during certain times of year and also working odd hours and overnights at times) and just not finding time to workout.
Why I chose p90x:
Really, it was a decision between my wife and I to get back in shape together. She was going to do it and I didn't really want to but I decided to give it a shot because I didn't want to be the only out of shape one. Other factors were:
1. Time - It's true that p90x is about 60-75 min 5 or 6 times per week, which to some people is too much time commitment. However, for me, I feel like it saves me time because by the time I get ready to go to the gym, drive, park, start my workout, drive home, etc. I feel like I am wasting at least a half hour usually. Also, I am typically inefficient when I'm at the gym between waiting for machines and just not keeping my workout pacing as well as I should.
2. Convenience - Obviously working out at home is as convenient as it gets. Also, with my work schedule, sometimes I am working out early mornings or late at night. It would basically be impossible for me to have a regular workout partner unless they were just always available whenever I needed him, so that is a big obstacle for me to do a barbell weight training regimen these days.
3. Curiosity - I really wanted to see what kind of results this workout could give, as I found the advertisements of "muscle confusion" to be totally ridiculous and dumb.
Ok, so that's basically what got me started on p90x. Now onto the workout.
First, necessary (IMO) equipment:
1. Selectable dumbells - I think bowflex has the best ones, I have a cheaper model (Gold's Gym) which are fine. This is absolutely necessary if you are going to try to add strength and size. Obviously exercise bands aren't going to help much for serious strength training. Having regular dumbells (where you have to switch the weights manually) takes way too long during the workout.
2. Weight vest - This is something that I don't think many people do, but in order to really add strength and size, this is integral. Otherwise, when you get stronger on your push-ups you will be doing way too many reps without enough weight. I have an adjustable vest up to 40lb which adds a good bit of weight for push-ups and leg work.
3. Push-up grips - You can do push-ups without them, but when you start adding weight to your push-ups, I think it will be tough on your wrists without the grips.
4. Pull-up bar - Obviously necessary as a majority of the back exercises consist of pull-up variations. Again, you can use bands for these, but not if you are trying to add strength/size.
Workouts:
The basic set-up is that you do 3 core days per week, which alternate monthly. For example, for the first month, you do chest/back monday, shoulders/arms wednesday, legs/back friday. Then the next month, you do chest/shoulders/arms monday, back/biceps wednesday, legs/back friday. The third month, you do a combo of the previous schedules but with the same workouts. The legs/back workout stays the same and you do it every week pretty much. On the days that you don't do core workouts, you do plyometrics, yoga, and kenpo (cardio).
I won't get into every single workout as you can easily look up the lifts if you want to. Suffice to say that most of the chest workouts are variations of push-ups (different grip distances, sliding floor flys, decline push-ups, etc.). The back exercises are a mixture of pull-up variations with some dumbell lifts like rows and back flys. The shoulder/arm exercises are a wide variety of curl variations, shoulder presses, dips, tri extensions, etc. The leg/back day is basically leg exercises / pull-ups in a 2:1 ratio. The leg exercises are a variety of lunges, squats, calf raises, wall-squats. All of these workouts basically depend on the weight you use for them, IMO. If you are using exercise bands, you are not going to add strength/size. If you are increasing the weight on your dumbells and pushing yourself, you can.
As for the non-core exercises (plyos, kenpo, yoga), I found plyos to be really good if you push yourself. It is as hard as you make it, and definitely helps with lower body explosion and cardio. Kenpo is a waste of time. I didn't find it to be a very good cardio workout (I actually started substituting an insanity workout in its place for better cardio). Yoga is pretty tough, and might be good depending on your goals. I don't think it is very good for adding strength and it's super long (almost 90 minutes) so I started doing another workout in its place. The ab-ripper is 15 minutes of abs, and it is pretty standard stuff, will definitely work well if you do it 3x/week with the core workouts.
My results after 4 months (finished the program once and now finished the 1st month of the program again):
Before I started, I took a pre-assessment:
weight - 214 lbs
pull-ups - 2.5
push-ups - 19
wall squat - 3:12
bicep curls - 30 lb x 16
Current:
weight - 251 lbs
pull-ups - 5.5
push-ups - 42
wall squat - 4:55
bicep curls - 40 lb x 18
Some of these aren't great indicators of strength, and I don't really know what the hell a wall squat time means in reality but this is what the pre-test sheet has on it so I wrote it down. To give an idea of other lifts, I did 25lb x 12 reps on db shoulder press my first workout. Now I am doing 50lb x 10 reps (not to failure). Prior to starting, I would guess I was bench pressing 215-225lb 1rm. Last week at the gym, I was able to do 225lb x 10 reps. That's without touching a barbell in over two years.
Pros/Cons
Pros:
-convenient
-following the videos keeps me on track (remain time efficient)
-variety of exercises can keep things fresh
-has a component of plyo/cardio which can keep you from getting out of shape as you're adding size
-do not need a workout partner
-can be tailored to specific fitness goals
Cons:
-I think that it is slightly harder to add size/strength to your leg lifts compared to upper body
-it is not easy; if you don't push yourself, you will not make gains
-people on the video are somewhat annoying (once you know the routine you can turn up your music rather than listening to them)
-it doesn't have as much variety/potential as a full gym membership (obvious, but still a con)
-muscle confusion is a gimmick (obv)
Final Comments:
I realize this is totally TL;DR at this point, so I don't blame anyone for skipping it if they aren't interested in p90x anyway. In the end, I don't think p90x is better than SS or any other weight lifting program for gaining strength. However, I think if you modify the program to work for you it can be an adequate substitute without needing a gym or barbell. Basically, I want to give people who are in a similar situation (little time, difficult to have workout partner for whatever reason, want to get bigger/stronger) an idea of how to use p90x to achieve those goals. It seems like most of the other people who have tried to do this on the forum have failed for one reason or another. The 2 biggest things I found necessary to add size and strength were the following:
1. Get a weight vest. As you get stronger, you will need it to add strength both for chest and legs. I try to add enough weight to the vest that my first set up push-ups is 18-20 reps and most of my push-up sets are 10-12 reps. When I reach failure, I do 2 reps on my knees. I am not very good at pull-ups (I blame it on being tall), but if you are great at pull-ups it will add resistance for that as well.
2. Scrap the p90x diet. The p90x diet is basically for people who want to lose weight / tone up / look good in a tank top. It is not nearly enough calories to gain weight and strength. Just follow any weight lifting diet, add some whey and whatever supplements you choose.
