P90X

Back in 2007 at the age of 27 I finished my first round of P90X and it’s when I wrote this review. Its 2018 and just about all of it is still true.

I have done many rounds of P90X over the years including hybrid programs. It became a big part of my life for the better part of five years. More on that below.

You probably know by now that P90X is a workout program based on the concept of “Muscle Confusion” where you do 12 different workouts over a 90 day period.

How I like to do my reviews is share my before and after photos first with my thoughts about P90X below. So here you go.

Round 1: 2007. Age: 27

Before starting P90X, my workouts consisted of running 20 miles a week followed with 50 push ups and chair dips with 100 sit ups. Six months before starting P90X I completed the Detroit Marathon. I was in good cardio shape but did not have a lot of muscle because of all the running. I was “skinny fat.” And I ate and drank whatever I wanted.

Upper body got bigger. From day 1 to day 60 I can see the V shape coming from my shoulders to waist. My forearms look bigger too. Probably could have gone without the flash on the camera for the Day 90 photo and not stuck out my chest either.

It looks like my chest and shoulders got a little bigger in this photo.

I can definitely see that my back, shoulders and arms got bigger and there is some definition now. I contribute a lot of this to doing chin ups and pull ups. I think all of those pull ups made me a little wider so I now have more of a “V” shape.

Either I had a little gut and no chest muscles when I started or I lost the gut and now have chest muscles. My arms and shoulders look bigger now too. I can see the outline for my oblique ab muscles now too.

P90X kicked my butt those first 90 days. Here I am thinking I’m in phenomenal shape from running a marathon and then I barely do 2 pull ups the first time I do Chest & Back. It was an eye-opener.

Week 1 resulted in soreness like I had not felt since practicing soccer 5 days a week when I was growing up. It hurt to walk, lift my arms, or do just about anything. The first month was a real challenge, especially doing pull ups.

Reps and weights gradually increased during Month 2. Definition started to show all over. Month three was a lot of fun. I was not as sore anymore.

The first time I did P90X Legs and Back I was only able to do 3 total pull ups. At the end of the 90 days I did 82. The first time I did P90X Chest and Back I could do 75 push ups and 2 total pull up / chin ups. At the end of P90X I could do 220 push ups and 52 pull up / chin ups.

It took 100 days to finish my first round of P90X. Started at 165 pounds and ended at 175 pounds. Body fat percentage went from 13% to 11%. What makes my results different from most is I put on 10 pounds of muscle where most people lose weight.

I did not follow the P90X meal plan during my first round at all. It was a bit complicated and I thought I ate well to begin with.

I started P90X in the beginning of summer and went out on my buddies boat almost every weekend partying my ass off. We only get a couple of months of warm weather here in Michigan so if you can get out on the lake, you do it. If I would have not partied every weekend that summer my P90X results would have told a different story.

Friends and family were telling me I looked different after my first round of P90X. None of them had ever seen me with muscle before.

The only downside to getting into great shape with P90X was I had to buy new clothes. None of my old clothes fit anymore. My “runners body” clothes were obsolete.

During my first round of P90X I used a Whey Protein Powder from GNC.

Sports

It was immediately noticeable how much of a difference P90X made in my overall fitness. Sports were so much more fun.

Golf drives went from 230 yards to 250 yards with occasional 270 yard drives. And while I took 100 days off from running I went for a 5 mile run after my first round and dropped 2 minutes off my time.

I went from hitting line drives and ground balls at softball to hitting them off the fence some 300 feet away.

Shaved nearly five minutes off my mile swim time from 50 minutes to 45 minutes. Mountain biking was noticeably easier from all the core and leg work. Skiing and snowboarding were a lot more enjoyable as I did not have to take as many breaks.

Round 2: 2010. Age. 29

After looking at my original P90X results I don’t think they give P90X any justice. I was very happy with my original results but to get the most out of P90X you really need to follow the meal plan and that was something I did not do.

I have a lot more definition now then after my first round of P90X. It should be noted I did a round of Insanity and various Tony Horton 1 on 1 workouts in-between rounds of P90X.

Many of my reps (pull ups & push ups) along with the amount of weight I could lift were slightly higher. The biggest factor came from following the meal plan 90% of the time along with using Shakeology everyday. What a difference it made.

After hearing Beachbody sell me on why I need to take the P90X Recovery Drink and P90X Protein Bars a hundred times after each workout I went and bought it for round two. Soreness did seem to go down faster. My best guess is Shakeology did more for me than the other two did.

Ten Years Later

Since that first round I’ve done three more rounds, a number of hybrids, and individual workouts from time to time. Its my humble opinion that P90X is the best at home workout program ever made.

I think about how much my life has changed since 2007 when a friend told me he was doing P90X to get into shape for basic training for Marines Officer Candidate School.

He told me I should buy P90X, start on my own, and when we had the same workouts on a particular day to go to each others house. That is what we did.

My friend undersold P90X and told me nothing more than “its extreme”. What “extreme” means could mean a number of things. Six months prior to starting P90X I ran the Detroit Marathon and thought that was extreme.

When I went looking to buy P90X I viewed the P90X infomercial on Beachbody’s website. Did I see people doing pull-ups? P90X definitely got me out of my fitness comfort zone and it brought my base fitness level way up.

It’s crazy to think how much my body and fitness changed while using a pull up bar, Bowflex Dumbbells, and occasionally some resistance bands or push up bars.

Tony Horton and Beachbody put P90X together so well. And to think you could get in this sort of shape in your home. Plus it challenged people to get out of their comfort zones and try things like Yoga and Plyometrics. After I started to get the hang of pull ups I began to look forward to doing P90X all the time.

Then there’s the whole thing P90X did for me and countless others as Beachbody Coaches.

I cannot say for sure if I will do another round of P90X. But as I approach 40 years old I probably should as Tony Horton was 45 when P90X was released. Hopefully I’ll be able to hang with him when I’m 45.

One of the very first things I bought from Beachbody in 2008 was the P90X Pull Up Bar. Here it is 2018 and I still have it. And I am still using it. Its one of the few pieces of equipment I frequently use in my home gym.

Not once have I ever thought about selling in garage sales we’ve had or putting it on Craigslist. It is too valuable of a piece of workout equipment to give away too.

Unsurprisingly I bought the P90X Pull Up Bar to do P90X with back in the day. After doing many rounds of P90X, Body Beast, The Asylum, a handful of other Beachbody workouts, and for when I just feel like doing some pull ups, the P90X Pull Up Bar has shown its durability.

Rarely has a month gone by when I don’t use it at least once and when I’m going full tilt with a program you know its included. Pull ups and chin ups are too valuable of an exercise to not do.

Features

The P90X Pull Up Bar is made from heavy gauge steel. Beachbody claims it will hold up to 300 pounds of weight at one time. I am not 300 pounds so I cannot confirm this statement. What I can say is after doing thousands of pull ups and chin ups over the past decade the steel has not bent at all.

Doing all of the different pull ups and chin ups over the years has been easy to do with the patented 10 grip handle design. Wide grip, close grip, reverse grip, staggered grip, and others are easy to do.

It does come with rubber handles to protect the molding from getting damaged but I recommend putting a rag or thin towel between them and the molding as it may leave marks on the paint.

The P90X Pull Up Bar is quick and easy to assemble. You do not need to nail the P90X Pull Up Bar into the wall either as it stays in place. It takes just seconds to remove when not in use.

Be sure to measure a couple of doors first as the P90X Pull Up Bar fits doorways up to 32 inches wide. I’ve lived in bungalows the past decade and for some funny reason I have one doorway where I can put it. Mostly it’s because I don’t want to mark up the moldings on a door frame that’s visible.

Our last house was the bathroom. And now its my sons closet. Always something with bungalows.

You’re in luck. I made a YouTube video showing off the many uses of the P90X Pull Up Bar and me trying not to make a fool of myself doing pull ups and chin ups.

Accessories

If you want to crank out more pull ups or chin ups than attach the P90X Chin Up Max to the pull up bar. One caveat about the chin up max is over time the bands might break and Beachbody does not sell replacements.

After five years of owning it this happened to me.

I recommend keeping all three bands on when using the chin up max and going for more reps instead of taking a band off. All or nothing with that piece of equipment.

It can help a lot doing other Beachbody workouts like Body Beast, The Asylum, and more. Sometimes you need a boost to get those extra reps.

Alternative

If the P90X Pull Up Bar will not fit in your doorway or you do not have the money then I would recommend you buy the resistance band upgrade kit.

It wraps around your door hinge and you loop a resistance band through it.

Going this route will save you some money and help you build up strength. This is a great alternative for people who know that there is no way they will be doing pull ups anytime soon.

Summary

At $60 the P90X Pull Up Bar is not cheap. And I think that’s a good thing. Why would you want a cheap pull up bar.

I’m going on a decade of ownership and it’s just as good as it was when I bought it new. Its worth the money.

Yes, you could probably find a cheaper pull up bar on Amazon or some place else but I think you’d be better off spending the extra money on something that’s going to last.

Take away pop, juices, and even coffee but don’t take away my beer! I think there is something liberating about being able to have a couple beers. The other drinks – not so much.

But what about when it comes to P90X? Can you still get great results while having a couple beers here and there? The answer is yes and no.

What Kind Of P90X Results Do You Want?

Do you want infomercial results? If so, then don’t drink beer for the entire 90 days. Beachbody only shows off the best of the best when it comes to P90X results.

How are you going to get those eye popping 6 pack abs if your putting down an extra 2k calories in beers every weekend? You can’t.

Or

Do you want to be healthy and fit? You can still lose weight and get in shape while kicking back and relaxing with a couple beers here and there. The workouts are so tough that in many cases your metabolism will burn off the remaining calories anyways. Not all, but a lot of them.

I’m not gonna lie and tell you that I’m all straight edge and hardcore when it comes to doing P90X. I do follow the workout calendars and finish them usually within a week or two of the alloted time.

Before I started doing P90X I was really skinny making my results different than most. I put on weight and my body started to change. I didn’t follow the meal plan at all as I thought I ate ok to begin with. Yes, I’d still have a couple beers on the weekend. Here is what my results looked like from my first round.

If I didn’t stick my chest out in the day 90 photo you might see some definition. What I can tell you is I was the most fit I’ve ever been up to that point in my life in that picture. The amount of pull ups and push ups I could do in that picture is 2 – 5 times as many as I could do on day 1. But, as you can see those results are not getting on a infomercial. My diet was around a B- and I was still enjoying beers.

The Trick

The real challenge comes with the meal plan. This is where I’ve learned to make sacrifices so I can still enjoy a beer or two when I’m doing P90X. Once I cracked the P90X meal plan open and started applying just a couple things is when the definition started to show. My biggest things were portion sizes and cutting back on dairy. Started eating a lot more vegetables. Made better choices when going out to eat. Those little things added up and made all the difference when it came to getting visible results.

Shakeology was a game changer too. Beachbody hadn’t introduced it until after I finished my first round of P90X. This wasn’t the answer but it did simplify a whole lot of the nutrition issues I was having. It kept me full so I wasn’t reaching for snacks and it really did a job on getting any junk I put into my system out of it. Those little changes added up to these results after finishing my second round of P90X.

There is a lot more definition showing up now and the thing is that my amount of reps and weight used in P90X might have gone up by just a little bit. The biggest changes came with what I put in my body. I knew that giving up beers forever or even for 90 days is probably not going to happen. But what I could do is change other things I put into my body.

For me, P90X is all about getting fit. Making an infomercial or getting 6 pack abs hasn’t been on the top of my list. Can I play sports and do I feel comfortable with my shirt off? Yes – then good.

Now if you want to get the best possible results in the shortest time possible then go all in with the P90X meal plan and don’t have any beers for 90 days. Your results will show up much faster. I’m creeping towards more of what Tony Horton has to say about beer and drinking. Not because I want to. My body is telling me so.

So you just finished your first round of P90X and you’re pumped about the results. If you’re like most people you either dropped weight, leaned up, or took your fitness to a whole new level.

Depending on what your goals are you could either keep on doing P90X over and over again or make a hybrid workout. For some you might be thinking that you want to increase your strength around your new found fitness. The only way to do that is by bodybuilding.

You might think of what you just did with P90X as bodybuilding and in a way you’re right. Your body is now built up more than what it was when you started. At the same time, bodybuilding will challenge your muscles to grow in a completely different way then what you did with P90X.

Yes, you could do P90X again while wearing a weighted vest. Or maybe you just do 8 reps when you have to lift weights. But is that what you really want to do? Don’t you kind of want to take a break from all of Tony Horton’s jokes? What you should consider doing is taking a break from P90X and doing Body Beast instead.

Body Beast is a 90 day bodybuilding program where its only goal is to bulk you up. I put on 24 pounds of mostly muscle doing it and enjoyed lifting weights over all the crazy moves you do with P90X.

My body enjoyed the break too. Less wear and tear on the joints. Lots of simple moves where you challenge your body to lift as much as you can with low reps. It’s a lot of fun tracking how much you can lift as you progress through the program.

If you’re looking to do some bodybuilding after P90X then give Body Beast a try. It will challenge your body in a whole new way. You will be better prepared with you just finishing P90X. The workouts are only 40 minutes long but they still bring the same intensity of P90X. Do a round of Body Beast. Bulk up. Then go back to P90X.

One concern for many people who are overweight is if P90X will work for them. The simple answer is yes. P90X will work for anybody. If you follow the P90X workout plan, do your workouts, eat clean, and drink your Shakeology then you will see results.

The task of committing to P90X for the entire 90 days is usually the biggest hurdle many overweight people have to deal with. Heck, its hard for in shape people. When was the last time you followed any kind of fitness plan? It will be a new experience for sure.

Should I Do P90X If I’m Overweight

This is probably a better question to ask. P90X is tough. It challenges everyone regardless of your fitness or health level. The good news is you are shown how to modify the moves to start building up your strength.

But the problem that usually comes up from overweight people who I talk to is it’s just too much too soon. I can understand where they’re coming from. P90X is no joke and you’ll probably be pushing yourself harder in those first 10 minutes of P90X Chest and Back then you’ve done in the past 4 years.

I Don’t Have An Hour To Workout

Yes, You do. You just haven’t set aside an hour in your daily schedule to do it yet. One of the best things I heard from an overweight guy who had success with P90X was “by working out for one hour a day you’ll get so much more life out of the other 23 hours.” Couldn’t agree more.

Should I Start P90X If I’m Overweight

I tell every overweight person asking about P90X to pass on it for now and start with something else. I recommend them doing the Beachbody Ultimate Reset followed by the Power 90 workout and then P90X. Going in this order will start working on breaking old bad habits and replacing them with new good ones. The Ultimate Reset gets you started on a 21 day eating plan that will probably drop 10+ pounds and inches everywhere off your body.

Once you got a handle on the eating situation then start working out with Power 90. Workouts range from 20 – 35 minutes long. Its challenging but not too challenging. Then move onto P90X. You’ll have a much better grasp on the eating, built strength, dropped weight from Power 90, and be ready for the crazy hour long P90X workouts. If anything, you’ll be looking forward to starting P90X.

P90X Success Story For Overweight People

There are many P90X success stories from overweight people. With a little bit of patience and determination to hit your goals, overweight people can have success with P90X. Here are a couple of my favorite stories.

Pretty moving stuff. Not only did Richard save his own life with P90X he has also gone onto inspire his hometown. Yes, he struggled at the beginning because he was extremely overweight but he did overcome it eventually. His P90X success story won him $100k at the 2012 Coach Summit.

Jeremy Yost was one of the first overweight people to have awesome success with P90X. So much so that he has been on numerous infomercials for Beachbody talking about how overweight people can do P90X.

Do you have something in common with Jeremy or Richard? Do you know that you need to make a change in your life? The success will not come as fast for overweight people but it will happen. If you want to see more success stories for overweight people than sign up for a free Beachbody account and check out the message boards.

There are hundreds of P90X success stories on there from overweight men, women, young, and old. When you create the account you will also get me as your coach. I am here to help so please reach out to me.

When I first came across P90X I loved it so much that I kept doing it over and over and finished 3 rounds back to back to back. I was having so much fun so why stop?

Looking back at those first three rounds I can tell my body changed the most during the first 90 days. I had never done anything like P90X before so there was room to grow. Its not that I was not in shape prior to starting P90X. Its that I was not in P90X shape.

But as I progressed through round three I noticed my reps and weights started to peak. Basically, there was no more “Muscle Confusion” going on.

It Was Time To Move On

I had nothing left to give to P90X. Everything was maxed out including my motivation to do P90X. And Tony Horton’s jokes were no longer funny.

Thankfully, Beachbody released Insanity after my third round and I went right into doing it. It was a nice change of pace.

In the end I do think you can do P90X over and over until you max out your results. There isn’t a need to power on through it from there though. Your body needs a break and something new.

What To Move Onto?

If you want to stay in the Beachbody family of workouts then I suggest checking out what Beachbody On Demand has to offer. Maybe you want to dial it back for thirty days to rest up and then move onto something extreme again.