A couple of my friends are doing the P90X program, something I had never heard of as I was in Iraq for the last seven months and didn't have access to infomercials. I did a bit of research and thought it looked like something I needed to try as I needed to get back into shape. So I ordered the discs, and the workout band kit as well as the recovery drink. In hindsight, I'm really glad I did opt for the band kit as it's cheaper, although perhaps not as effective as weights, and I will be traveling soon so I can't really pack some 40lb weights in my suitcase. FYI, the recovery drink doesn't really taste bad, but then again, it's not something I want to sip and "enjoy", it's really not that good either, I just slam it so as to have minimum time to taste it as possible.

The pullup bar is easy to put together and sturdy, but doesn't really fit my door that well, but still works. Oh, and don't follow the directions for the brackets, the diminensions in the directions are to space the brackets 13.75" from the inside of each bracket, if you do that, like I did, the brackets aren't going to be on the inside of the vertical portion of the bars like they are supposed to be. But it still works.

Pullups - 6
Vertical Leap - 108"
Jump with step - 110"
Pushups - 35
Toe Touch - -5 1/2"
Wall Squat - 121 seconds weight 180
Bicep Curls - 35 lbs 13 times
In & Ours - 40
Heart rate - 156 - 108 - 90 - 84 - 60

Did Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X:

Bought the "perfect pushup" device for this vice the pushup stands. This was a very hard workout, but enjoyable because of the challenge.

Plyometrics:

Hard workout, more challenging then I anticipated.

On a side note I began the diet on the 18th and have strictly followed it, forgot to make a note of that on the previous posts. I'm not doing the recipe thing, instead just following the guidance for how many servings and the sizes for proteins, carbs, vegetables, etc. Honestly, the physical portion of the P90X is easier to follow then the food portion. I love to eat, and drink, but I have followed the diet thus far and stopped drinking.

I thought I wouldn't be sore from the previous days workout as we do circuit courses etc for PT and I'm rarely sore, but I was wrong. I was pretty sore today, guess it's a sign of "bringing it" and a challenging workout.

Ran 5 Miles today in addition to P90X

Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X:

The bands really came into handy today as they did on the chest and back day. I'm glad I bought them. A very challenging workout, look forward to it again in the rotation. I felt a little discomfort in my left shoulder as a result of a Marine Corps Marital Arts Program injury I sustained during some ground fighting but pushed through, it was minor and only occasionally in certain positions, I.E. at the top of a jumping jack.

Ab Ripper X: Did my best to keep up, but the movements requiring some flexibility were were I really started to lag, such as where you climb up your leg and the scissor kick where your supposed to try to keep your legs straight. The mason twists were also hard to complete, couldn't touch the floor. The whole workout was fast past, challenging, and enjoyable because of the challenge. Look forward to it the next time. Oh, glad I bought that yoga mat from the PX, about $20.

Followed diet,

Ran 5 Miles today in addition to P90X.

Yoga:

My least favorite, was just boring. It was challenging, and I could use the flexibility, so I will keep pushing play. Plus it was so damn long, I think in excess of an hour and 20 minutes, which is about the same as the other programs when you look at ab ripper x, but with those you're moving and time flys by. I hate the yoga disc. I stopped the thing with 16 minutes left, I'll go through the whole disc next time. Oh, and of course the yoga mat came in handy for this. I was sweating a lot during this program.

Followed diet.

Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X:

A very challenging workout, I could really feel the burn in my legs. The bands came in handy here as well, had to go down from the green bands I used during the Shoulders/Arms exercise to the red bands for this exercise as it required a greater range of movement and thus caused more resistance. Felt some pain in my right shoulder, not sure where the hell that came from, could have been during MCMAP in Dec when I injured my left shoulder. Minor pain though, so I pushed through.

Ab Ripper X: I was actually able to touch the ground if I really tried during the mason twists.

Followed diet

Kenpo X:

Ran 5 miles first. I contemplated not doing Kenpo X because I already had my cardio done. I decided to not be a pussy and pushed play. I'm glad I did, it was like doing the MCMAP program when you're kneeing and punching etc, only this time I wasn't kneeing or punching another Marine holding a bag, but still felt the burn in my arms and legs. I'm not that coordinated, so it took me a few moves to get the coordination required to complete the moves where multiple punches are involved. The back kick exercises didn't really feel like I was "bringing it", I was giving 100%, but just didn't seem to keep the pulse going, but then again I'm not flexible either, so that may have been a contributing factor.

Cheated a bit on the diet, decided to splurge and treat myself to a Subway foot long Italiam BMT on white bread.

Stretch:

Initially I decided not to do it and take the rest day, but the wife pushed me, so I pushed play. As usual, glad I did. As I've already mentioned, I could use some more flexibility. Not much to say about this workout, I'd recommend it and will utilize it in the future as well.

Ran 5 Miles today. Not seeing any visible results from the program yet, but then again, I've only been doing it for a week.

It's several hours since the post, I thought the stretch was not that hardcorps, but I could really feel it later in the day especially in my arms and back. Guess it's working.

In regards to diet, I went to the movies today with the family and cheated, had a tray of nachos and some coke. Then afterwards had half a chicken sandwich extra value meal. I give myself a little leeway as I'm running 5 miles in addition to the P90X program, so I should be eating a little bit more calories, albeit they should be healthier then McDonalds and Nachos.

Chest & Back and Ab Ripper:

Good workout, went with the black bands today for the "lawnmower" and "heavy pants" Went down to the greens for the "crossover".

Did the workout after running 5 miles.

Cheated on diet again, nachos, a candy bar and some sour string candy, went to the movie with the family. Otherwise, a healthy diet the rest of the day. Got to maintain.

Plyometrics:

Started today with the intention to run 5 miles. I didn't seem to have as much energy as I needed and was running very slowly, and had to walk a couple times (up the hill). Some contributing factors may have been my poor choice in snacks lastnight well at the movies, or the fact that I was now running with a camelback which adds a few extra pounds to an already heavy person. I think the biggest thing that was detrimental to my run today was on the second trip up the hill I realized I had to walk back home as fast as possible, it was time to get rid of the nachos.

I've been running 5 miles, of which a large portion is uphill. There is a large hill by my house that I run up and down 6 times. I run a 1/4 mile up the hill then run back down. Once this is done I exit the road and then proceed to run up another large hill and finally my run drops back off and levels off. I'm heading to San Diego in about a week and some change and will not have a hill close by to run on when I get there.

Onto the plyo. I was feeling pretty good today doing plyo. Until about I hit the part of the video with 20 minutes left, then I hit the wall but kept going. I was on the "rock star" jumps and it hit me hard. I take it easy on the "hot foot" as I have had problems with my shins before, typically shin splints, and I think perhaps a stress fracture two years ago when I was in Iraq. I started running boots and utes with a pack and felt a rather sharp pain in my ankle that stayed there for awhile. Got an X-ray but nothing was visible, but the Doc said a stress fracture doesn't show up right away.

On another note, my left shoulder is not bothering as much as it used to. I was coddling it since December when I hurt it doing MCMAP, I guess I just needed to stretch it out. There is still occasionaly some minor pain, but not all the time.

I'm still not noticing any visible changes, despite a couple minor gaffs I've been following the diet and "bringing it", but again, it's only day 9. Just wondering when and if I'll see the results. A friend said he lost 12 pounds in two weeks on the program, I have yet to loose a pound. I'll stick with it though and see if this all pans out like all the youtube videos.

Shoulders and Arms:

Good workout, started with the green bands, I could do those for the first round, but after that I was spent so had to go down to the red bands. The pain that was in my shoulders during the first week is hardly noticeable. I just noticed that there was an Ab ripper workout I neglected to do today as I stopped the CD when it got to warm down. I'll knock the Ab ripper out tomorrow following yoga, which I despise.

Followed Diet

Ran 5 miles.

The wife made some turkey meatballs! She put chalots, tomato, Garlic and red pepper in them and they were delicious! It was a nice change of pace from tilapia and chicken. My wife is awesome, she has been hooking up diet food for me and knows how many ounces of what I can eat. Although she does sometimes encourage a little treat now and then, such as at the movies.

Great blog. How is the running while doing the program working for you? I need to add some cardio into the mix. Have been bad with the diet and need to slim down some. Us Air Force guys have to use different muscles...butt muscles for sitting behind desks...finger muscles for switching the remote....etc... Ha!

I am in week 4 and finished core synergistics...challenging workout.

JB

Ran 5 miles today.

Did the Yoga, but stopped with 26 min left, not because it was challenging, which it was, but because it's the most boring workout out of the series. I don't have the attention span to stretch for an hour and 20 minutes. I have to complete this cd next time. I also did not do the ab ripper today like I planned on doing, the 5 mile run plus the yoga put me at almost two hours of PT for today, I have no problem going longer if it's something that isn't so damn boring, but I can't stomach yoga for that long.

Followed diet.

Iflydc10,

thanks for your comments, I posted earlier today back to your post but I looked and somehow it didn't post, so I'll try again. The 5 miles is working out well for me. I just skip the warmup part of the CD and get right to business, I figure after running 5 miles I'm pretty well warmed up at that point.

The first couple times I ran 5 miles and did the P90X I had enough energy to get through both, but a little bit later I had to lay down for a nap for a couple of hours. I tweaked my diet slightly, as the nutrition guide says to do if you're feeling sluggish and I'm doing pretty good now. I added a little more protein, some more vegetables, maybe another dairy and another carb. By 10 PM however I'm wiped out and fall right to sleep with no problem. Whereas before I used to stay up watching tv and eating goldfish and other delicious junkfood.

If you plan on adding some cardio/running to the mix you will probably have to tweak your diet a little bit as I did. I don't know your fitness level but start off with a distance and pace your comfortable with. I built up to 5 miles, it just happened that by the time I started p90X I was up to 5, and am now contemplating jumping up to 5 1/2 - 6 miles in the near future.

Yeah, the diet is the most challenging part of the program for me. I used to eat probably 5 - 6 cups of white rice a day, bread, crackers, potatoes, just about anything that was a carb, they taste so damn delicious. Its a struggle not goring on food as that is one of my favorite vices, but I wanted to see if this P90X thing is legit, so I'm trying to use all my will power to follow the diet as closely as possible. I've gone of course a couple times already, but I'm trying to keep it to a minimum. I don't want to go through 90 days of this and see little improvement in my overall appearance, although I'm sure I'll be stronger I'd like to loose the gut. Be strong brother!

As for the keyboard and desk, well I think the higher rank you get in any branch you shift more and more to riding the desk and computer, and I'm in that category to. Again, thanks for you comments.

Ran 5 1/2 miles before doing the P90X program.

Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X:

The legs really burned today, a good workout. Ab Ripper X was as usual, a challenge, but enjoyable. Looking forward to Kenpo tomorrow, one of the more fast paced and enjoyable of the CDs. I might try to push it up to six miles on the run tomorrow and hold at that distance for two to three weeks.

I'm seeing visible results from following the diet, P90X and the running. I'm pretty eager to get to the 30 day mark to take the pics and see the results side by side. Hopefully my transformation stays on course, a bit nervous about that as I'm heading to a school environment for about two months where I won't have access to a kitchen or grocery store as I will be sans a vehicle, save for the expensive taxi. I'll also be subjected to the schools PT routine which I'm sure will at least interfere with my running schedule. I'm not sure how long the class days are going to be, so I'll have to see how the cards fall when I get there. That's it for now.

USMC,

Thanks for all the info. I added running back into my routine today with a couple of 3 mile strolls around the base. My goal is to run between 3-5 times a week. I will definitely use your suggestions about the diet. I was beat when I got home today but my wife had a great healthy meal for me that boosted everything.

I agree that it would be nice to be ripped up after 90 days, but I am thinking this is a two term program for me. I am at 220 and need to get down to about 200. No worries. The running will help quite a bit.

I love goldfish! They are not allowed in the house for the next 90 days.

Heading to a week of training next week...that will be a true test of commitment.

JB

Kenpo X:

A good workout, I could feel the workout from yesterday in my legs today. I decided to forgo running today, I think I'll pick up where I left off tomorrow. I did not follow the diet today, had a friends birthday lunch today at the house and at some spring rolls and Thai noodles.

Took a rest day, and did not follow the diet at all. McDonalds pancakes, egg mcmuffin, oj for breakfast, and an value meal for lunch. I have to get back on the wagon, it begins today.

I punished myself today, ran 7 miles, then did chest and back and Ab ripper X. I was looking forward to the recovery drink, I think it has grown on me, or perhaps since it's not the usual plain water it's something a little different, maybe it has some sort of addictive quality, haha.

I'm able to do more of all the exercises for the most part, I really notice that on the Ab Ripper X, especially for the "Mason twists" that worked me hard the first time. The exception is pullups, I'm really struggling to get three which is somewhat concerning as I have to take a PFT here in the next week or so and have to get at least three. As I stated in one of the first posts I got 6 pullups on the 18th during a PFT, but I know you get weaker before you get stronger when doing pullups, hopefully the stronger portion will kick in sooner rather then later.

Back to following the diet. Oh, and I lost another pound. I performed pretty well today despite my poor choice in diet yesterday.