Hey There!

As promised, I’m back to share with you my experience with the P90X workout! Yes, by virtue of seeing these words, I am still alive and can still move my body.

First, I'd like to explain each one of the workouts I’m doing in Phase 1 so you get a good picture and feel of what's involved. My guess is you’ll burn calories just reading what’s involved J Always helping aren’t I?

DAY 1:  “Shoulders & Back”

This particular workout starts with some running in place, some jumping jacks, and what Tony calls “static” and “ballistic” stretching. And no, ballistic doesn’t mean it’s insane – it actually feels really good!  So, then without wasting any time, they get right into it. In a nutshell, you're doing push-ups followed by pull-ups to failure. Failure means until you can’t do one more at all. They incorporate different grip positions, different types of push-ups, and some dumbbell weights for exercises called "heavy pants" and "lawnmowers."

No time for resting between each exercise either! The goal, as you can tell from the title, is to workout various parts of your chest and back muscles. You complete one round of these, then go back and repeat – giving it your ALL! Don’t get scared – there are a few 30second rest periods where you get a drink (no not a beer) and do some mild running in place with ballistic stretches to keep your muscles warm. Warm? Heck, I got steam coming of my arms like an overheated ’75 Buick going through the Arizona desert in the middle of summer!

This workout takes about an hour to complete and usually burns about 800 calories which is AWESOME! Yes, wearing a heart-rate monitor is MANDATORY! It concludes with a cool down and additional stretches so you’re able to move in the morning when you wake up. As the credits begin to roll, you think to yourself "oh my God I'm SOOOOO glad it's over!" Well, not so fast jelly arms! Next up, is the punishing “Ab Ripper X” workout. Listen, any exercise with the word “ripper” can’t be fun right?

This beautiful part of the workout program is 16 minutes of various core exercises designed to create the beautiful sixpack abs we all want. To say it's beyond any physical abdominal exercise regimen I've ever done in my entire life would be an extreme understatement! Honestly, I'm not able to do all of the exercises exactly the way they are doing them, but I give it my ABSolute best I've got. I mentally tell myself "you CAN do this! You CAN do this!" Give it all you've got!

Tony (the instructor) says that we give up way too fast because in our minds our little voice says "oh that hurts! oh that hurts! You can stop now it's okay" but the real growth in our muscles and even more importantly in our mind comes when the burn reaches its peak. Now, obviously you don't want to hurt yourself which is one of my concerns considering I have bad shoulders and knees. So, I do what I can without jeopardizing becoming injured.

When you’re done – really done, you feel so EXHILERATED that you’re on a mental high that lasts quite a while - at least until you try moving in the morning. To make matters better, I immediately follow my workout with what they call "a recovery drink." No, not a margarita with 2 Vicodin! For me it’s a protein shake with glutamine that’s added to help prevent the soreness your muscles would normally have. I can tell you it works! Thank God!

Like I said before, I’ve been doing this workout for a month now and have increased my reps and weight as a result of my mental and physical dedication. I can hear ya “C’mon Christopher, can you see results???” – YES! Definition in my arms, chest, and my abs even! No more keg for this guy! I’m down to about a 24pack!

In close, I feel tremendous physically, but almost more importantly, emotionally and mentally!!! It ain’t easy, but then again, anything worth having is worth fighting for right?

Each subsequent post on this will continue to share each one of the workouts here in the first phase. I truly hope you are inspired and motivated to push yourself past the preconceived negative chatter in your head preventing you from achieving your fitness/health goals. Remember: you only get one chance at this life! If you could see into the future, and you are unhealthy, would you then commit yourself to do things different to get a different result? If yes, then make that decision NOW!

All my best,

Christopher

Ps: remember you have the ability to be a role model to others who need to get healthier!