I've only been doing P90X for a month, but I've noticed a lot of the people that come in here are asking questions or commenting that they are having problems with this or that, so I thought I'd throw out a few tips for getting through the first couple weeks. Once you're past that, it's a lot easier and less frustrating.

1. Listen to Tony! The best advice he gives is "do your best, forget the rest". If you're new to working out like this, it's going to be frustrating. Do what you can, as much as you can, and don't worry about trying to keep up with Dreya. She's a monster, she can do things that mere mortals can't.

2. Start little, go big. With every move, don't try to do the max the first time. Start with a weight you can handle, and write on your sheet whether you should increase it for the next workout. If you're easily getting the reps you set as your goal, you need to raise the weight. If you don't use a weight you can handle, your form will suffer. So start little, then go bigger as your body learns to handle it.

3. Use a heart rate monitor. At the end of every set, check your heart rate. If it's higher than 85% of max heart rate, hit pause, and let your heart rate come down to 75% to 80% of max. If you don't let it come down, you won't have the juice left to make it through the next exercise. If you let it drop too far, you're wasting your earlier effort.

4. Ab Ripper X. It's a, well, a not nice word. Again, start little. Don't try to do 25 reps. Set a goal for today of 12 reps on every exercise. If you can make it through the whole thing at 12 reps, then bump up to 14 for the next time. In no time you'll be doing the full 25. Doing 12 of every exercise is better than doing 25 of the first two and only having the juice left to do 3 reps on each of the rest.

5. BREATHE! When lifting weights (or doing pushups, pullups, squats, etc.), you should be exhaling forcefully as you are exerting effort. On the negative, you should be inhaling slowly. If you hold your breath during the exertion, you run the risk of passing out (it's called the Valsalva effect).

6. EAT! Your body is being taxed in the P90X workout. You NEED TO EAT! But eat the right foods. The nutrition guide is surprisingly good (one you figure out just what the heck it means!). And the recipes in the guide are REALLY good. You won't even realize you're eating "healthy" because it doesn't feel like a diet.

7. Don't get frustrated. The first couple weeks you may not see the numbers on the scale move much. But if you're giving it all you've got, and eating right, your body is burning fat, and building muscle. The human body is remarkably adaptive, and all the work you're doing is telling it "hey! we need more muscle, this nut is pushing HARD!" If you can, get a set of bodyfat calipers and measure your bodyfat once a week (no more). Use calipers (or if you can afford it, get dunked), not one of the electrical impedance measures. You may not see your weight dropping fast, but you will see the bodyfat melting away. If the fat is declining but the weight is staying up, then you're building muscle. The more muscle you build, the more revved your metabolism will become.

8. Avoid alcohol, soda, and fruit juices. Some juice is okay, as long as it's pure (no sugar or HFCS added), but in moderation, and preferable AFTER a workout. Some people have done P90X and still had a beer here & there. No problem, it works for them. But if you want to see results, you have to treat your body like the intricate piece of equipment that it is. Alcohol is (technically) a poison to your body. I like to party like anyone else, but to get the most out of P90X, giving it up for 90 days isn't a big deal.

9. Think before you modify. A lot of people start doing the "days" out of order. But they end up doing stuff like Plyo on Monday and then Legs/Back on Tuesday, and then Chest/Back on Wednesday. So the Monday workout went well, but then their legs aren't recovered for Tuesday, and their back is still busted on Wednesday. If you're going to do it out of order, keep the weight days separated by a day, and don't do Plyo & legs back to back.

10. SLEEP! Your body can't recover without rest. Doing P90X then going out partying all night and having to get up early for work means your body is going to get drained. You will suffer for it, and you will be more likely to get sick. We're all busy, but try for at least 7 hours a night.

One last tip: Read the FAQs on this site. They're quite good!

Nice tips. I like number 3 - I think we all like to try and get trhough the workout with the gang! But I certainly need some rest after killing pullups and then having to do a bunch of pushups!

Good tips

thanks

good tips, the ab ripper x is tough and i agree. dont try and keep uo with Tony in the beginning.

So Im going to buy the p90x with my next pay check...hopefully with some careful budgeting, this is also my first time posting to a forum of any kind so I dont know where or who to ask so here goes. I want to get it asap, but dont know if theres any cheap way to do it, like order just the dvds with the diet plan...or just the dvds with the pull up bars..stuff like that. I cant seem to find either what exactley comes with it for 130 dollars or whatever it is. I do know I want dumbbells though..any response would be awesome. Thanks

The nutrition guide is included with the package, the pullup bar is add'l. You'll have to buy your dumbbells elsewhere, since the Selectecs don't sound like they fit into your budget.