Hi all, sorry I know you probably have a lot of these types of threads on this forum but it's another "is P90X right for me" thread...

I am a 28 year old 6'1 male. I weigh about 195 and have a 38 inch waist which puts me at about 22-23% bodyfat. I have hated what I see in the mirror for all 28 years I've walked this earth and I really want to do something about it. I'm very intrigued to try P90X but I have a couple concerns related to both pre-existing medical problems and to conflicts with other physical activity...

As far as the medical problems go, I have some minor aches and pains in my rotator cuffs and knees (who doesn't, LOL), but the major problem is a sports hernia which I suffered about 3 years ago. (For those that don't know, a sports hernia is a tear in the rectus abdominis muscle at the point where it attaches to the pelvic bone. The same tear also weakens the adductor longus in the inner thigh of the adjoining leg.) I had surgery for the injury and have been thru multiple 6-week bouts of physical therapy (costing me $100's of dollars in co-pays I might add) but to this day my groin and inner thigh still give me a lot of pain with vigorous exercise and my abs have trouble holding any strength. More than 10 stomach crunches and I'm down for the count, my abs are on fire. Unfortunately the doctors tell me there's nothing more they can do. The surgeon who did my operation told me this is a semi-permanent disabling injury and I should steer clear of large numbers of stomach crunches and sit-ups FOR LIFE. I can lift weights with an abdominal girdle on but obviously this makes me very concerned for doing the Yoga X and the Core Synergistics, and there is just straight up no way in the world I can ever do Ab Ripper X.

The other issue is, my wife and I take karate classes every Tuesday and Thursday night. The classes are about one and a half hours long and they are already very hard on my abs and legs with my health problems. Karate has been part of my life for 8 years (we are second degree black belts) and it is not an option to just give it up, even for 90 days, to replace it with P90X. But, I'm not sure how in the world I could have the stamina to do a P90X workout AND karate every Tuesday and Thursday, it's just not happening. My body would collapse after one week.

So, I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions to hybrid-ize the program for my needs. I was wondering if it would be possible to do the strength sessions exactly as prescribed but replacing Ab Ripper X with my own, gentle abdominal physical therapy Monday/Wednesday/Friday, do karate Tuesday/Thursday, then do either Kenpo X or Cardio X Saturdays, while following the nutritional plan, of course. On recovery weeks I'm willing to try Yoga and Core Synergistics but I could see it being too hard on my abs and possibly replacing them with Stretch X instead.

What do you all think? I think this could work, with the possible exception of Legs and Back wearing out my legs too much for karate, that might be a concern. Any suggestions to modify my idea would be welcome. I am also big enough to hear the hard truth, if it is the case, that since I am semi-disabled and not willing to give up my karate classes, P90X might just not be the fitness answer for me, I already know that's a possibility. Sorry to write a novel LOL. Thanks for reading.

P90X should work for you, you just need to modify a little.

Try to align it so your karate coincides with Kenpo and Yoga. Just skip the Kenpo and do the yoga. If you're not able to do Yoga, do what you can and see if you can gradually increase flexibility and such.

As for the ARX portions, I'd see what you could do. If in fact your abdominal pain is permanent and not something you can work out over time, then I'd either modify with your own physical therapy, do less reps, or skip it.

Legs and back will wear out your legs, but, if you start low on the reps you won't die. If you do the full 25 reps for everything and push it as hard as you can (as you well should), you'll have issues doing 1 1/2 hours of karate the next day. Start off at 12-15 reps and work your way up every week.

No matter what though, P90X works for anyone that can do mild exercise. If you have to wear a girdle to do the workouts, fine, just do what you can and push yourself. That's the whole idea with the program. There's a guy with one leg in one of the videos, bouncing away putting me to shame. He modifies the program when it comes to that leg.

Just do what you can, as hard as you can, for as long as you can. You'll be stiff, you'll be sore and you'll love every minute of it. Especially when you start seeing results.

I agree with Corp_T! P90X can be as hard or as easy as you make it. Tony gives ways to modify routines throughout the video. Listen to his suggestions and only go as far as you can go. Dont squat as low, jump as high, use less weight and/or do less reps. Also Rather than the pull up bar I would recommend getting the door attachment and using resistance bands, I think that would help avoid pulling/twisting etc of the abdominal as you fatigue during pull ups. Also like Corp_T said, try yoga x and ab ripper x and see how you do. You dont need to do all 25 reps and you dont necessarily need to do every ab exercise he does. If there is something you cannot do replace it with some sort of physical therapy exercise you think would fit. P90x isn't only about the intensity of the program but about your ability to use the program to fit to your lifestyle and your ability to push yourself within the program. Its why it works for a wide variety of people. As for confidence... your confidence will go up for sure. Not only because of the changes you will see in your body but because you are able to do these workouts and overcome whatever injuries, disabilities you may have. Like Tony says in his videos "No one said its going to be easy."

Personally I think you should give it a try, modify the program even if you are only taking baby steps, eventually you will see results and be proud of them. The video below is a great example of modifying a routine to fit that particular persons fitness level. The video obviously isn't something you would need to modify because of your karate background (you probably wont even be doing kenpo). But like I said it shows how P90x can be modified.




Oh also... legs and back are typically on fridays so you would have 3 days to recover before having karate again.

Probably a good idea to discuss with your doctor, too. But you can modify everything so much, I'm sure you'll be OK. Good luck with it!

Thanks all for the replies. I think I'm gonna give it a try and order the dvd's. Why not?! I'll do what I can, and whatever hurts, I'll stop doing that thing, LOL. That is impressive to hear about the guy with the one leg; if he can do it I guess I have no excuse!

Thanks again

As someone with a lifelong disability, I can tell you this check with a doctor and a physical therapist. I wouldn't want to to reinjure yourself or do more damage. They said I would get progressively worse, and I haven't I modify everything. Believe me do what you can, the changes will just take longer.