In early March, I announced to the world that I would complete P90X. For those of you who didn't see it, you can read it here.
My goal was to complete P90X in 120 days. (Although I didn't specifically mention that in the first blog.)
It's been 116 days, and I was only able to get through 76 days of P90X. You can see my progress chart below:
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| There are 76 X's on this planner. One for every workout completed. |
FYI -- I was completing the workouts in order up until the last three weeks. I skipped ahead so that I could complete the upper body workouts.
So what happened? Well everything started off great! I completed Phase 1 in just 30 days. But since then I've run into three big obstacles:
- Missing nine straight days while building my privacy fence.
- Injuring a chest muscle doing yoga of all things. YOGA! I was out for ten days.
- Stretching myself way too thin this Spring and Summer, routinely missing a couple workouts per week.
First, let's start with a BEFORE and AFTER picture:
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| June 2013 |
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| February 2013 |
I'm a little bummed that I don't look like Tony Horton after nearly four months, but hey, it's a vast improvement nonetheless!
Here is another comparison. The first picture was taken during Phase 2 of P90X:
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| April 2013 (Halfway Point) |
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| June 2013 |
And one more because Ke'o said it was her favorite pose...
I'll finish the blog with a series of questions I've asked myself. Some of you may be interested. If you're not, then I certainly won't be offended.
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| Best I've ever looked. |
In the blog post I referenced earlier, I stated that I was in the worst shape of my life and that the 16-year-old version of Rye would crush me. I don't want to get hyperbolic and say that I've gone from the worst- to the best-shape in just four months. But here's what I do know about my current physical state:
- I'm able to do more pull-ups now than at any other point in my life.
- I can perform certain types of push-ups that were previously unthinkable.
- My flexibility is easily the best it's ever been. Aside from the injury, yoga has improved my well-being more than any other workout in this program.
- I look better than I ever have.
How much weight did I lose/gain?
Several participants who engage in P90X hope to lose weight. I, on the other hand, was hoping to gain a few pounds. I started at 170.4. And I ended at 172. So all I got out of this was a measly difference of 1.6 pounds...
But wait, there's more! This is why I hate the Body Mass Index (BMI). It's a useless tool that only factors in weight and height. Going off the BMI, I am the same person I was four months ago.
But what scales don't tell you is that I probably lost about 7 or 8 pounds of fat and gained about 10 pounds of muscle. At least that's what my belt loop told me and what my chest/arm/waist measurements confirmed.
So am I happy with my weight gain (what little there was.) I absolutely am! One thing this process taught me is that weight is just a number.
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| It wasn't just fun & games. Plyometrics was BRUTAL!  |
Aside from improved physique, what other changes have I noticed?
It may not have been true for the first few weeks, but now I have MORE energy, MORE stamina, and MORE drive. I feel much better than I did back in February. That was a low point for me.
Did I learn anything from P90X?
I learned that I do much better with a routine. I've tried giving myself my own workout regimen several times, and it never worked. I'll always flop out a week or two into it. But this one had a set direction for me to follow. It was just what the doctor ordered.
And oh yeah, there's one other thing... "Do my best and forget the rest."
What happens next?
Good question. I'm not really sure. I just want to finish out this program and feel good about it for a little while.
AWEsome job!! I am doing this as well, three weeks left:)
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