Eric has always wanted to do P90X and he needed someone to do it with him - mainly to force him to do it. Who better than to motivate him than me....I guess. Since I'm so behind on the blog, I can actually say we are in the recovery week of phase II (week8). The program is tough, and mainly time consuming, but we have only missed 2 days so far that we are working to make it up. Not that it's an excuse, but we traveled to Columbus over Thanksgiving and with the chaos and everyone getting sick, it just didn't happen.
Anyway, totally random, but we will complete the P90X program on our five year anniversary. Everyone always says you are in the best shape and looking the best at your wedding, so here's to looking even better (hopefully) and being in better shape (for sure) on our 5 year anniversary.
For those you who aren't familiar with P90X, it is an extreme workout program. Below is the fit test you have to take before starting the program so you have before numbers to track improvement against and to make sure you meet the minimum requirements to do the program.
Fit Test:
Pull Ups: E? (must have forgot because it's not written down), A 1/4
Requirement: 1 if female, 3 if male
Vertical Leap: E 17in, A 7.5in
Requirement: Female 3in, Male 5in
Push Ups: E 30, A 2
Requirement: 3 female, (or 15 on knees), 15 male
Toe Touch: E +4, A -4
Requirement: no more than -6
Wall Squat: E 84 sec, A 72 sec
Requirement: Minimum of 60 Seconds
Bicep Curls: E 10/ 30lbs, A 24/5lbs
Requirement: male 10lbs 20 reps, female 8lbs 10 reps
In and Outs: E 35, A 26
Requirement: At least 25
Here is the workout schedule:
Phase I
Week 1-3:
Day 1: Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 2: Plyometrics
Day 3: Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 4: Yoga X
Day 5: Legs&Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6: Kenpo X
Day 7: Rest or X Stretch
Week 4:
Day 1: Yoga X
Day 2: Core Synergystics
Day 3: Kenpo X
Day 4: X Stretch
Day 5: Core Synergistics
Day 6: Yoga X
Day 7: Rest or X Stretch
For Phase II, the workouts are the same, except on Day 1 you do Chest, Shoulders, Triceps, and Ab RipperX and on Day 3 you do Back, Biceps, and Ab Ripper X.
In my opinion, there isn't an easy workout, but the Plyometrics and Yoga are by far the hardest. Yoga is the one I've seen the most improvement on personally.
To date, Eric and I have both gained about 4 lbs doing the program. We are obviously not doing it for weight loss so this is a good thing. I have seen others and can see where this would be a weight loss program for those who are trying to lose weight.
I honestly can't say I've seen any dramatic results yet, but I can tell that the amount I can lift has increased and I can actually make it through most workouts doing everything (which is definitely not the case when you start- in fact I laughed at some of the stuff they do as it just seemed ridiculous).
Eric has been playing basketball on Monday nights so he skips the plyometrics day. He plays with half church guys and half "get back on track" guys. He was telling some of his team that he was doing P90X and one of them said, "Oh, I did that while I was in prison." Hmmmm, did not comfort me that he was playing with people who have been in prison, so lets just pray they are on the right track!
We took before pictures, but I feel it only appropriate to post them at the end of the program, otherwise it's just you looking at half naked pictures of us, which I thought I would spare you from having to do.
We went out and bough mats, yoga blocks, bands, etc. We ended up taking most of it back and only using bands and then I got a light weight set use.
Many ask us how we have the time. Well, we make the time. We either get up early and complete it (which isn't fun as it's about an hour and 15 minutes a day, except Yoga which is an hour and a half), we do it after dinner, or we wait until the kids go to bed (which is the worst one because you are really tired at that point and the last thing you want to do is workout). Usually we end up doing it all together. The kids have a great time (most of the time) and while they don't lift, it's good for their balance and coordination skills. Jared is really good at running in place and is getting really good and jumping with two feet off the floor.
Arm Stretches
Probably the youngest P90X participant. Here he is doing his leg stretches.
And a little yoga.
Downward Dog :)
I can't say that we will continue after the 90 days as it is very time consuming, but it will be nice to be back in shape and we hope to continue with something. If you are looking for a workout program that is challenging, this is definitely it. We couldn't move because we were so sore for about 3 weeks, but since then it's been much more manageable. The workouts are a good mix and it's nice you only do them once a week! I will post the final results at the end of January after completion.
