...and joined the gym. (fooled you!)

I did P90X for about a year. My nutrition never changed. I have been eating really clean since October 2009. Of course I had several cheat days in that time...it happens. I brought it each and every day, doing reps to FAILURE on almost all sets, and I saw a lot of changes. I know how plateauing works and constantly mixed things up. P90X, One on One, Insanity, my own mixes...I did it all.

But, after a time, I got bored with it. I was seeing changes, but not a lot of them. I was more maintaining my physique. Hearing the same jokes, same comments, same everything after so long really get old.

Then, I decided to take the next step...

I joined my local gym a few months ago and have been incorporating everything I learned from Tony and the gang into my workouts. I started doing the same sort of idea as the P90X DVDs (chest and back day, shoulders and arms day, cardio day, yoga day, etc). Then after a couple months I realized I was unable to really FOCUS on a particular body part doing it "Tony's" way. So I started doing chest day, back day, shoulders day, biceps/triceps day, legs and abs day, yoga day...effectively separating each body part into its own day. THAT is when things started to change. When you focus on one body part, you can take your time, go slowly, and really pump each rep. It's a great feeling. I also have access to A LOT more weight/exercise choices. My gym has dumbbells up to 150 lbs, and TONS of machines. I incorporate the 8-10 rep rule and have really enjoyed myself and my results.

I can't emphasize that enough....I have seen some HUGE changes. Arms have grown substantially, abs are getting SUPER defined, my shoulders are really starting to grow, back is getting bigger...

Needless to say I am in love with my gym.

I have never been a big guy. I'm about 5'7", 165 lbs. I'll never be HUGE, but when I take my shirt off and look in the mirror, I am happy with what I see. It's amazing to see the changes compared to my day 0 pics. Such an inspiration.

All of that being said, I still think P90X is a great product/DVD set. it definitely changed my life. I used to be a fast food junky. I don't even crave it anymore. I still do the P90X nutrition, but have learned to make slight changes to the program to see better results that match WHAT I NEED. I don't eat quite as mch protein, I rarely use protein supplements, I eat all fresh veggies instead of the cheaper frozen kind, among many others things.

I also don't spend 10+ minutes in a "warm-up" routine like some of the DVDs. That really becomes a waste of time after you are in pretty good shape. Now I run 20-30 minutes, then jump right into the weight training. The run gets my blood flowing and I don't need to spend so long stretching/warming up. 10-20 minutes doesn't seem like much, but when you are talking about weight training for an hour, that's like 1/3 of your time!! If you cut out the beginning warm up, all of the middle "Tony talk" and the ending cool down...you can bust out a GOOD P90X workout in like 30 minutes (this is what I did towards the end...went for a run, then did a "abbreviated" P90X DVD after that).

In no way am I discrediting P90X. I loved it while I was doing it. And I still like it now. I tell a ton of people to make a life change and do it. It's only 90 days. That is NOTHING! I love P90X. As my favorite all-natural body builder Scooby Werkstatt says, "Anything that gets people excited about working out regularly is a very good thing and people get very, very excited about P90X."

P90X is great for getting "ripped." You aren't going to gain much size, the pace is too fast to focus hard enough. But for all of us who needed to get off of the couch and start working out? It is a life saver.

I have never felt this good in my life.

Thanks P90X, and thanks to my gym...the new chapter in my exercising life.

Hi Adam, hey this is a great post!

I think P90-P90x is a great place for a start, but after awhile you just have to get into your own program. P90x is great for getting down all the fundamentals and makes the gym a less scary place for some folks.

I still want to try Insanity, perhaps over the summer though. It's always good to try something new. The nice thing about this program, is now i have it, the knowledge it gave to me and I can turn back to it anytime I want to switch it up once again. Thanks for your post Adam! Hugs ~Kate

Enjoyed the post Adam, and I agree, Scooby's a great guy!

good post, you have helped out alot with most questions i had regarding p90x and nutrition, so thanks

Good post Adam. I've started to go to the gym a couple times a week and whatever my schedule calls for is what I focus on in the gym. Changes things up a bit and a bit more social to see others working out vs working out by myself in front of the TV.

Can't say I'd be bold enough to start doing yoga in the middle of my gym, but works well for most other routines. For Yoga I sometimes sub out for a local hot bikram yoga class which is more intense than the P90x yoga if you can believe that and the deep heat allows for a deeper stretch and more calorie burn.

I will say that before P90x I had no clue about how to most efficiently use the gym. Now I almost look like I know what I'm doing:)