Kitchen Sink Shake

M and I were thinking about trying out Beachbody's Shakeology, but first, I thought I'd try concocting my own liquid nutrition. Today, I whipped out our blender and threw in a bunch of the healthiest stuff I could find in our kitchen:

1 cup frozen mixed berries
1 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup frozen spinach
1/2 banana
1 tablespoon Greens Plus

It was surprisingly un-bad, especially considering the fact that I put almost no thought to what I was chucking into the blender. I suspect that if you add enough fruit, you can mask the taste of almost anything, though the grassy, tea-like flavor of Greens Plus is still unmistakable. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to add some protein powder.

I poured half of my shake into a thermos to sip throughout the day at work; I blended the rest with a banana, some agave syrup and extra frozen berries for the kids. The four-year-old didn't like it, but my 20-month-old took a sip and stamped his seal of approval. "Good," he said, nodding solemnly.

P90X Day 23: Core Synergistics

I was getting a little cocky, thinking that Week 4 -- "Recovery Week" -- wasn't going to be intense enough for me. I even told myself that I was going to try to work in a few sessions of Ab Ripper X or do some resistance training (either lifting or working out with my trusty old TRX Suspension Trainer) this week, so as not to lose the momentum I've built up since starting Phase 1 of P90X.

After this morning's Core Synergistics workout, though, I've learned that the "recovery" in Recovery Week doesn't mean "relaxation." Some of the exercises in this workout (yes, I'm looking at you, Prison Cell Push-Ups and Plank-to-Chaturanga Runs) are killer, and I'm thankful that I didn't try to squeeze in a round of Ab Ripper X or weight training yesterday. Core Synergistics is a great combination of chest, back (without the pull-ups!), legs, plyo and ab work, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep coming back to this particular workout even after I'm done with the P90X program.

P90X Day 22: Yoga X

Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed Yoga X this morning -- my poses are much improved, and I'm now able to hold Twisting Half-Moon (albeit with the help of a yoga block) without crashing to the ground.



My short-term Yoga X goal: Stay in Crane for 60 seconds with no toe-touches by Day 45. (During today's Crane attempt, my right toe touched down four times, but only for a second each time, which got me more excited about Yoga X than Tony's screaming ever will.)

[UPDATE: Goal achieved!]

Feed Me

Since starting P90X, I've kept to a pretty consistent morning exercise routine: I wake up no later than 5:30 a.m., and eat a half-cup of plain, non-fat Greek yogurt (60 cal) mixed with two tablespoons of ground flax seed (70 cal). I take my vitamins, and then I stagger into the garage to kick off my daily workout. At 7 a.m., I mix myself a protein drink and get the kids out of bed, change them, and get their breakfast ready. Then, I make myself an egg white omelet with 1/2 cup egg whites (60 cal), 0.5 ounces of goat cheese (35 cal), and about half of a tomato, diced (15 cal). If I've had an expecially intense workout, I'll also toast a slice of whole wheat bread (140 cal), spread a tablespoon of organic creamy peanut butter (100 cal) on it, and eat it with a banana (120 cal).

It all adds up to about 730 calories, which represents about a third of my daily calories under the P90X plan. And it's all consumed before 8 a.m.

My plan is to make breakfast my biggest meal of the day, and to eat a bunch of small meals/snacks every 2-3 hours throughout the remainder of the day, until 7:30 p.m. or so (3 hours before bedtime). So far, so good. Snacking at work has been doable -- I've stocked my work fridge with hard boiled eggs and string cheese, and I pack myself a handful of almonds every day. Most recently, I've been thinking of making myself a big ass shake (using the Precision Nutrition guidelines for Super Shakes) and pouring out a nice portion every few hours at work.

Dinner's the toughest. I enjoy having a family meal with M and the kids, and while my wife is doing her best to support my efforts to hew closely to the P90X nutrition plan, I recognize that my diet can't dictate everyone else's eating preferences. Still, it's not fun being the only person at the table who's munching on a plate of salad greens for dinner.

P90X Day 21: X Stretch

I kept hitting the snooze button this morning, but finally dragged myself out of bed and did an X Stretch session. It's fine, and I enjoyed the neck stretches, but I'm beat. I'm glad I didn't have to pound out another intense weight resistance or cardio session today. I'm looking forward to laying off the weights in Week 4, but I'm also starting to get a little apprehensive about Core Synergistics. I hear it's not what one would expect during a so-called "recovery" week.

Also: I have a feeling Tony's a big Tom Hanks fan. In X Stretch, he does yet another horrible Forrest Gump impression: "PAY-pull call MAY Forrest GUMP!" Indeed.

Rafter Mounted Pull-Up Bar

Last night, I finally got around to installing the rafter-mounted pull-up bar I bought on Amazon. I can't believe I waited this long to get it mounted -- I love it.

The photo of the product on Amazon doesn't do it justice. The four-foot-wide bar is made of heavy gauge, knurled steel, and can be mounted on just about any wood joist. It's not fancy, but it's solid and mounts firmly with four hex bolts. It feels indestructible.



The installation was simple and straightforward, though I ended up having to make a couple of trips to Home Depot (first, to pick up longer bolts -- the ones included weren't nearly long enough to make it through the doubled-up planks where I wanted to mount the bar -- and then later, to buy the necessary 7/16" drill bit, which I mistakenly thought I already had in my toolbox). It took me a while to get the bar leveled and bolted tight, mostly because I was trying to balance on a ladder while juggling a metal bar, a level and a handful of nuts and bolts. I'm sure I would have finished much sooner if I'd asked M to help, but I didn't want to interrupt her ChaLEAN Extreme workout.

Once the bar was up, I was eager to give it a try. Unlike my removable door-frame-mounted bar or my clunky, big-ass power tower, I found the rafter-mounted bar solid enough for me to swing from it like a monkey bar. I can freely switch grips and direction, perform core exercises and twists, and even get a nice back stretch without worrying about slamming into a door frame or protruding power tower attachment. My only regret is that I spent beaucoup bucks on a bunch of other pull-up bars before landing on this solution.

P90X Day 20: Kenpo X

I'm guessing that Vanessa, the female trainer in the Kenpo X video, doesn't appreciate King Douche pointing out that she's sweating buckets at the end of the workout. Pointing to her dark green, perspiration-drenched tank top, Tony says to the camera, smirking: "That was LIGHT green when we started!"

He doesn't stop there. "We don't use any SPRAY-ON here! We do actual DNA REMOVAL -- coming out ALL OVER THE PLACE!"

Vanessa bravely grins through this, but you just know she's thinking: "Fuck you, you fucking asshole."

P90X Day 19: Legs & Back + Ab Ripper X

This morning, I started my workout dog-tired and with little motivation. I didn't get much sleep last night, and Legs & Back (one of my least favorite P90X routines) is particularly grueling. I was lagging. Still, that's no excuse for my low energy level and failure to "BRING IT" as King Douche likes to exclaim. Not surprisingly, I didn't see much improvement in my pull-up numbers this time around.

I wonder if I'm bonking from lack of carbs. I'm going to try to ingest more carby goodness and see what happens.

On the plus side: I'm really getting the hang of Ab Ripper X. If I could only straighten my legs more when performing Fifer Scissors and Pulse-Ups, I'd be a happy camper.

P90X Day 18: Yoga X

Leave it to King Douche to work in a really atrocious Forrest Gump impression ("Ah got shot in the but-tocks") while leading a YOGA SESSION.

Ab Ripper X, Anyone?

Every other day, at the end of an exhausting, hour-long P90X session, I get treated to this little slice of hell:

• In & Outs (25 reps). Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet off the ground. Raise your arms straight overhead. Bring your knees in towards your chest. Straighten your legs back out and repeat movement.
• Seated Bicycles (25 reps forward, 25 reps backward). Starting in the same position as In & Out, pedal your feet as if you were riding a bike, and keep them from touching the floor. Each revolution counts as one rep.
• Seated Crunchy Frogs (25 reps). Similar to In & Outs, but start with your hands stretched out to the sides and parallel to the floor. Each time your knees come in towards your chest, bring your arms in around your knees.
• Crossed Leg / Wide Leg Sit-Ups (25 reps). Lie down with your feet crossed or legs wide. Place a hand behind your head and bring your torso up to perform a standard sit-up, but reach the other arm out to touch the opposite foot. Alternate arms for each rep.
• Fifer Scissors (25 reps). Lie down. Extend one leg up towards the ceiling and keep the other leg a few inches off the floor. Both legs must stay straight, with both feet flexed. Alternate legs in a scissor motion with a 3-count hold for each rep.
• Hip Rock & Raise (25 reps). While on your back, bend your legs so that the bottoms of both feet are touching. Push your hips and pelvis up, driving your feet up towards the ceiling at a 90 degree angle to your body. Legs should not touch the ground during this exercise.
• Pulse-Ups (25 reps). Same as Hip Rock & Raise, but keep your legs straight and feet flexed when driving up towards the ceiling.
• Roll-Up / V-Ups (25 reps). Lie down with your legs straight out and arms extended straight towards the ceiling. Do a standard sit-up from this position, touching your toes with your hands. On the way back down, raise your legs up off the ground at a 45 degree angle, and do another sit-up while keeping your legs in the air. Repeat.
• Oblique V-Ups (25 reps on each side). Lie on your side with your legs at a 30-degree angle and your "top" arm bent, resting your hand behind your head. Lift up your legs and torso at the same time, driving your bent elbow towards your lifted leg. Legs and shoulders must stay off the floor once you begin.
• Leg Climbs (25 reps). Lie down with one leg bent (foot on floor) and the other leg extended straight out at a 45 degree angle. "Climb" your straight leg with alternating hands. Repeat on the other side.
• Mason Twists (40 reps). Starting in the seated In & Out position, clasp your hands together, keeping your feet off the floor at all times. Twist your upper torso from side to side, touching the floor on either side of your butt using your knuckles.

Yeesh. It's like your end-of-workout ice cream sundae is topped with a cherry, and you're told you can only eat your sundae if you eat the cherry. Problem is, you despise cherries because they make you clutch your gut in excruciating pain and want to puke. But you have no choice: Someone has forced your mouth open and is cramming cherries down your throat.

[UPDATE: Someone who evidently doesn't give a rat's ass about copyright infringement has posted the entire Ab Ripper X workout on Vimeo here. Check it out if you're interested in seeing what Ab Ripper X is all about, but then go buy the real thing.]

P90X Day 17: Shoulders & Arms + Ab Ripper X

Nothing new to report, except that I'm starting to slowly (VERY slowly) increase the reps and/or weights I'm lifting on most of the exercises in Shoulders & Arms.

Onto more scary news: I'm now able to recite some of Tony's lines (especially the really dumb ones, like: "What's WOW upside down? MOM!") before he says them. King Douche is invading my mind. If he were to start a cult, I'm afraid I might follow his lead. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't require us all to shave our heads -- he clearly cherishes his inky black helmet of hair.

P90X Day 16: Plyometrics

For a guy with a bad knee and overpronation problems, I should know better than to walk around the neighborhood for an hour, lugging a small, wriggling child and sporting poorly-structured/supported shoes. But because I'm a moron, that's exactly what I did yesterday afternoon.

And this morning, I got up bright and early to jump around my garage for an hour. Super-smart. My knee's already aching. Thanks, Plyo.

P90X Day 15: Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X

Chest & Back is definitely getting easier. Again, I'm not a believer in "muscle confusion" as applied to P90X -- to me, it's just a marketing ploy -- but I do believe that my body's getting more accustomed to cranking out dozens of push-ups (and a few pull-ups). This is still crazy-intense, but perhaps I'm starting to get used to crazy-intense.

Wait - Why I Am Doing This Again?

My brother-in-law surveyed our home gym last night and listened as I described my P90X fitness plan. He then inquired: "What's the point? What are you looking to get out of this?"

It was a good, fair question. I mentally scanned through the list of possible responses before shrugging and saying, "I like being fit and healthy -- it makes me feel good."

I'm not sure he was convinced. And admittedly, my response was less than complete; it didn't explain why I couldn't do something less complicated and time-consuming to get healthy or feel good.

To be honest, and in retrospect, I should have provided the full answer: I want to look good. I want to feel good. I want to be healthy and fit. I want to test myself and see what my body can do. I want to do something "EXTREME" because the rest of my daily routine is anything BUT.

Also? I want to get the most out of my $150.

P90X Day 14: Rest Day / ChaLEAN Extreme

I wasn't satisfied with the leisurely X Stretch "workout" last week, and I didn't want to just sit on my ass today, so M and I did the ChaLEAN Extreme "Burn Intervals" workout. Chalene Johnson -- the eponymous creator of the program (which, like P90X, is created and sold by Beachbody) -- takes viewers through a bunch of moves that alternate between simple cardio routines and resistance exercises with low weights/high reps. Chalene herself appears to be a peppy, athletic, ex-cheerleader Orange County mom who gets her teeth professionally whitened.

"I like Chalene," M says. "I'd want to be friends with her." But not Tony Horton: "He seems like such an ass," opines my wife.

All in all, the workout wasn't too bad -- it was on the short side, and it's clearly designed more for women than men, but I broke a sweat (when do I not?) and enjoyed the change of pace. Besides, the P90X studio resembles a dungeon, and it's nice to break out once in a while.

P90X Day 13: Kenpo X

Question of the Day: If Wesley Idol designed Kenpo X and this workout is such an integral part of P90X's mission to get people "ripped," why does he not appear to have the muscle tone or definition that the other trainers sport? The guy's upper arms FLAP AND JIGGLE, for crying out loud.

P90X Day 12: Legs & Back + Ab Ripper X

M isn't working this week (she reports for hospital duty every other week -- seven days on, seven days off), and joined me for Legs & Back. This being my second time through this particular workout, I was definitely more familiar with the exercises, and the frequent transitions between pull-ups and leg resistance moves went much more smoothly.

What really helped , however, was having a workout partner. I'm finding it much easier to get motivated when my wife is watching me huff and puff my way through wall squats and pull ups. After almost a decade of marriage, I still want to impress her, and not just on those occasions when my plumbing skills are required to unclog the toilet.

P90X Day 11: Yoga X

I'm one of the least physically flexible and balanced people I know, which makes certain portions of Yoga X a painful, frustrating experience. To top it off, at the end of the 92-minute workout, I don't feel like I've accomplished much in the way of muscle development, strength gain or calorie burn. I just feel like a clumsy, off-balance oaf.

After having dragged my sleepy, sorry ass out of bed at 5:15 a.m. in order to squeeze in an hour and a half of yoga before the kids wake up, it's a bummer to feel like I haven't improved (much) since last week's unintentional tumbling session.

Muscle Confusion?

I've read blog and forum posts emphasizing the importance of following P90X to the T, and never deviating from the program (other than by switching to the "Lean" or "Doubles" routines if desired). The materials even warn that users shouldn't linger more than one extra week on any set of weekly workouts, suggesting that your muscle development will "plateau" if you stick with one set of exercises too long.

While I don't disagree generally with the idea that it's useful to introduce variation in workouts, my sense is that: (1) no one's in danger of "plateauing" after a mere three to four weeks' worth of performing wildly different resistance and cardio moves, (2) "muscle confusion" is -- at least in the P90X context -- a marketing gimmick that should be more accurately termed "variation for the sake of staving off boredom," and (3) in any event, the P90X schedule seems to run counter to the tenets of "muscle confusion" given that the only resistance programs that change involve the chest, back and arms.

But we've seen the awesome before-and-after photos, so without "muscle confusion" driving results, what's going on? My theory: You can take just about anyone and put him/her on a strict diet and heavy-duty daily exercise regimen (8 hours of hardcore exercise per week qualifies as heavy-duty in my book) and you're going to see body changes. Fat will be lost. Strength will be gained. Fitness will improve. But my guess is that slavish devotion to the P90X plan isn't necessary.

That being said, I'm going to continue following the P90X plan as faithfully as possible. Right now, I need the motivation and the structure provided by Tony "King Douche" Horton to keep going, and it's a hell of a lot easier popping in a DVD every morning than it is to go to the gym and figure out how to create a workout that equals P90X in intensity and variety.

P90X Day 10: Shoulders & Arms + Ab Ripper X

My arms are aching after this morning's workout, and it feels good. I'm in a groove.

I'm also getting better at making it through the Ab Ripper X routine without any breaks -- including the 40 Mason twists at the end of the workout. I'm starting to love it more than I hate it, which is saying a lot.

P90X Day 9: Plyometrics

I'd attempted Plyo once before officially starting P90X, so today was technically my third stab at it. It's still insanely tough, and my sweat just pours down in sheets throughout the workout, but I felt a lot more comfortable with the moves, and didn't have to pause the DVD at all -- a huge feat for me. I need to work on my form in some of the exercises -- towards the end, I tend to get sloppy and wobbly -- but otherwise, I'm starting to feel pretty damn good about Plyo.

(Sadly, Tony Horton hasn't gotten easier to stomach.)

P90X Day 8: Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X

Chest & Back was definitely easier the second time around, but not by much. The pull-ups and chin-ups are still impossibly difficult for me; I'm only managing to get a few in before having to put a foot on a stool as an assist.

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not even 10 percent of the way through the 90 days of P90X, and need to set reasonable goals, but I'm not sure I'll ever come close to matching the obscene number of pull-ups cranked out by Tony and his loyal minions. While Tony may come across on the screen as a total douchebag, I've got to hand it to him: He can do some freakishly amazing things on a pull-up bar.

Tony Horton: I Hate Him, But I Love Him

Referring to Ab Ripper X, Tony Horton says: "I hate it, but I love it." That's also a nice way of summing up how I feel about Tony himself: I think he's super-douchey, but he's also my hero.

Tony's not half as funny as he thinks he is.  He makes awful celebrity impressions, and he bestows really dumb nicknames upon the trainers in his videos. I can't articulate why, but I find his face and hair to be alarming.  His exaggerated exercise-induced grunts and moans could have been lifted from some late-night Skinemax soft-core porno. And don't get me started on his catch phrases.

That being said, the guy was 45 years old when P90X was taped back in 2004. As the result of his insane work ethic and total commitment to fitness and nutrition, he's in much better physical condition than most human beings can ever hope to be. He is an awesome trainer, and in many ways, a spectacular role model.  Plus, he tries so damn hard to be entertaining and funny that even when his attempts fall flat, you feel like giving him a pity laugh.

But the guy's still kind of a douchebag.

P90X Day 7: X Stretch

I know the point is to enjoy a "rest day," but after six days of intense workouts that leave you with a sense of real accomplishment, X Stretch is a bit of a disappointment. It's utterly unmemorable and unremarkable. My time would have been more productively spent asleep in bed.

Given that this non-workout burned few if any calories, I hopped on the elliptical trainer for 30 minutes this morning, but didn't break a sweat -- probably because it feels so much easier after having suffered through Plyo X this week. I'm probably going to skip X Stretch next Saturday, or spend a half hour on the rowing machine instead.

P90X Day 6: Kenpo X

I got through Kenpo X this morning, but feel vaguely unsatisfied. It's not that the hour of punching and kicking wasn't a vigorous one, or that I didn't break a sweat (because I always do). It's that I don't feel Kenpo X is all that different from any other cardio/kickboxing/Billy Blanks-esque home video workout, except for the energetic-but-smug (energetically smug?) presence of Tony Horton. The fact that my legs were achingly sore from the previous day's Legs & Back session made Kenpo X feel slightly more "EXTREME," but otherwise, this workout was just okay. I'm not going to bother listing the different Kenpo X moves here; there was nothing particularly innovative or surprising on the list of jabs and kicks and blocks, so use your imagination -- you're not likely to be far off the mark.

On the plus side, unless my eyes deceive me, my body's already starting to show some improvement. It's only been a week, and I can already see some definition (albeit slight) returning. It's impossible to have built any new muscle this soon after starting P90X, so I'm sure the P90X Phase 1 "Fat Shredder" super-low-carb diet is behind this.

Tomorrow is an optional workout: X Stretch (or is it Stretch X?). (As an aside, shouldn't they just call it "Stretch"? As with Yoga X, how "EXTREME" could stretching possibly be?) I might skip it in favor of a half-hour on the elliptical followed by 15 minutes of Ab Ripper X. We'll see -- it's my only rest day before Week 2 of P90X begins, so it's also possible that I'll just sleep in for the first time in a week. Waking up at 5:30 a.m. to work out is decidedly un-fun, especially for someone who's used to being a night owl.

P90X Day 5: Legs & Back + Ab Ripper X

Today's program is Legs & Back. "Back," apparently, means pull-ups. Lots and lots of pull-ups. More pull-ups than I've ever attempted in any other single hour of my life. At the end of the session, Tony grins and says: "And for some of you, you just did over 120 pull-ups!"

Not me. Not even close. I managed only about 75, half of which were done with a leg supported on a stool.

Is it possible to feel strong and weak at the same time? Because I do.

The majority of the session focused on lower body strength, and some of the leg exercises were killer -- especially the wall squats. By the end, even the calf raises (which I initially thought looked cheesy) were killer.

Here's what I got to do today:

• Balance Lunges
• Calf-Raise Squats
• Reverse Grip Chin-Ups
• Super Skaters
• Wall Squats
• Wide Front Pull-Ups
• Step Back Lunges
• Alternating Side Lunges
• Closed Grip Overhand Pull-Ups
• Single-Leg Wall Squats
• Deadlift Squats
• Switch Grip Pull-Ups
• Ballistic Stretches
• Three-Way Lunges with Two-Kick Option
• Sneaky Lunges
• Reverse Grip Chin-Ups (again)
• Chair Salutations
• Toe-Roll Iso Lunges
• Wide Front Pull-Ups (again)
• Groucho Walks
• Calf Raises
• Closed Grip Overhand Pull-Ups (again)
• 80/20 Siebers-Speed Squats
• Switch Grip Pull-Ups (again)

And don't forget another round of Ab Ripper X. Fuuuuuck.

On another note: Tony ought to spend less time sexually harassing Dreya Weber, the blonde fitness model/trainer in the video. I haven't watched many workout videos before, but I'm pretty sure it's not typical for the lead male trainer to give a sweaty hug to one of his female models after the workout is over. Or to watch her take off a sweatshirt and remark: "Uh-oh! The top is coming off!"

Tony offers a "Tip of the Day" in each of his videos, so in the spirit of P90X, here's mine: If your name is Dreya Weber, you should consider contacting Beachbody's Human Resources department.

The P90X Infomercial

I happened to catch the P90X informercial on the tube last night. I recall seeing it a few years ago (and being surprised that one of the contestants on "The Apprentice" was featured in the infomercial -- pre-Trump, of course), but now that I've started the program in earnest, I'm noticing things that wouldn't have caught my eye before.

For instance, I realized that most of the featured P90X user testimonials are provided by folks who were once incredibly fit: collegiate athletes, police officers, soldiers, tennis coaches, firefighters. Even the President of BeachBody (the makers of P90X), Jon Congdon, whose own super-ripped P90X results are prominently featured on the informercial, is "a skilled volleyball player and belongs to the California Beach Volleyball Association," according to his web bio. These are incredibly fit people who may have recently had a few too many cheeseburgers, and are using P90X to get back in shape -- not schlubs using P90X to get fit for the very first time.

So what does this say about P90X's effectiveness for those of us who've never been super-fit? I suppose I'll find out in about 12 weeks, but my antennae are up.

P90X Day 4: Yoga X

I think the "X" in Yoga X stands for "EXTREME," but I'm not feeling it.

Yes, I found that certain portions of P90X's 90-minute yoga session were incredibly hard, but that's because I lack coordination, balance and flexibility. Rivulets of sweat coursed down my face when I tried (and failed) to pull off the ridiculously difficult "Prayer Twist from Runner's Pose to Side Arm Balance" move, and I couldn't manage to keep my legs straight in almost any pose that required straight legs.

By the way, just what is "EXTREME" yoga, anyway? Is it considered "EXTREME" just because Tony ends up yelling "FIGHT FOR IT! FIGHT FOR IT!"? (At least he acknowledges that "I know I'm screaming too much for yoga.")

Here's the list of moves in this 90-minute program, some of which are performed dozens of times:

• Runner's Pose
• Crescent Pose
• Warrior One
• Warrior Two
• Reverse Warrior
• Triangle Pose
• Twisting Triangle Pose
• Chair to Twisting Chair (Prayer Twist)
• Right-Angle Pose to Extended Right-Angle Pose & Grab
• Prayer Twist from Runner's Pose to Side Arm Balance
• Warrior Three to Standing Splits
• Half Moon to Twisting Half Moon
• Tree
• Royal Dancer
• Standing Leg Extension
• Crane
• Seated Spinal Stretch
• Cat Stretch
• Frog
• Bridge / Wheel
• Plough into Shoulder Stand with Leg Variations into Plough
• Table
• Cobbler Pose
• One-Legged Hamstring Stretch into Two-Legged Hamstring Stretch
• Touch the Sky
• Boat
• Half Boat
• Scissor
• Torso Twist Hold
• Deep Torso Twist Hold
• Side Twist
• Glute Stretch
• Happy Baby
• Child's Pose
• Shavasana (Corpse Pose)
• Fetal Pose
• Lotus

I totally need a yoga block.

P90X Day 3: Shoulders & Arms + Ab Ripper X

Today's workout seemed a bit less strenuous than Plyo or Chest & Back, but only because the moves were limited to my shoulders and arms, giving the rest of my sore body a much-needed break.

Initially, I was surprised that I couldn't lift as much weight as I normally do when I work my arms, but quickly figured out the reason: P90X's Shoulders & Arms program quickly marches through 15 different exercises targeting the same cluster of muscles, all performed to exhaustion, while my normal, pre-P90X routine was to sleepwalk through 3 to 5 different exercises, all performed while watching TV between sets (and sometimes even between reps). With P90X's Shoulders & Arms program, groupings of two to four exercises form a circuit, performed with little to no rest in between. Even after lifting lighter weights, I was pretty much spent (and a dripping, sweaty mess) at the end of the hour.

Lesson learned: This is circuit training, not traditional weight training.

Here's what I did this morning:

First Circuit:

• Alternating Shoulder Presses
• In & Out Bicep Curls
• Two Arm Tricep Kickbacks
• Repeat

Second Circuit:

• Deep Swimmer's Presses
• Full Supination Concentration Curls
• Chair Dips
• Repeat

Third Circuit:

• Static Arm Curls
• Flip-Grip Twist Triceps Kickbacks
• Repeat

Fourth Circuit:

• Seated Two-Angle Shoulder Flys
• Crouching Cohen Curls
• Lying-Down Triceps Extensions
• Repeat

Bonus Circuit:

• In & Out Straight-Arm Shoulder Flys
• Congdon Curls
• Side Tri-Raises
• Repeat

And after Shoulders & Arms were done, I had to get through yet another session of Ab Ripper X. I'll detail this particularly torturous workout in a future post, but for now, let me just say that I fucking dread the 300+ reps of ab exercises contained in Ab Ripper X. After an hour of huffing and puffing, the last thing I need is another 15 minutes of gut-wrenching twists and crunches.

Bye for now.

P90X Day 2: Plyometrics

According to the P90X guidebook:

Plyometrics are drills designed to connect strength with speed to produce power. Also known as "jump training," this technique emerged in Eastern Europe in the early 1970s. Coined by American track coach Fred Wilt, the term derives from the Latin plyo + metrics, or "measurable increases." Plyometric training relates to any activity that requires speed and strength, as it improves your ability to run faster, jump higher, and maneuver in multidirectional sports. If your game involves a court, field, track, mat, pool, ring, rink, or mountain, Plyometrics can help.

My game actually involves crayon drawings that move a red ball to a yellow star, so Plyometrics isn't likely to give me a boost there. Hopefully, however, it'll help me with stamina, balance, power and speed, which is sure to come in handy the next time I'm at the airport. (Remember O.J. leaping over all sorts of shit in the airport? Pre-homicide? That was all plyo, baby.)

I found P90X's Plyometrics workout to be incredibly difficult. The combination of various twists and jumps and squats and lunges made my bad knee ache, not to mention by glutes and hammies. To top it off, I'm terrible at anything that involves hand-eye (or leg-eye) coordination. Pushing and pulling exercises? I'm good to go. Jumping and spinning? Not so much.

My heart was pounding through my sternum during most of the workout -- my heart rate monitor beeped incessantly to remind me to get my heart rate back down. Thankfully, there were a few strategically placed (but oh-so-brief) pauses between exercises when Tony Horton explained the next bit of crazy twisting lunge-jumping.

Here's the list of plyo exercises in the workout -- and just like with Chest & Back, each exercise is repeated at various intervals during the hour-long program:

• Jump Squats for 30 seconds - At the lowest point in your squat, explode up by leaping off the ground.
• Run Stance Squats for 30 seconds - Start in a running stance, squat four times, and then leap up, twist and land facing the opposing direction. Repeat until the 30 seconds are up, or until you vomit.
• Airborne Heismans for 30 seconds - Laterally leap into the Heisman Trophy pose over and over again, from side to side, kicking your knee up to your chest.
• Swing Kicks for 60 seconds - Kick each leg up over and across a stool for one minute.
• Squat Reach Jumps for 30 seconds - Squat, touching the floor with your fingertips, and explode up into a jump with your hands reaching up as high as possible.
• Run Stance Squat Switch Pick Ups for 30 seconds - I'm too exhausted writing down the name of this exercise to even begin to describe what it is.
• Double Airborne Heismans for 30 seconds - Just like the Airborne Heismans but with a couple of lateral high-knee tire steps in between poses.
• Circle Run for 60 seconds - Run in a tight circle while keeping your head and shoulders in the same place.
• Jump Knee Tucks for 30 seconds - Jump up, pulling your knees to your chest. Do it again and again and again.
• Mary Katherine Lunges for 30 seconds - Named after Molly Shannon's deranged, armpit-sniffing Catholic schoolgirl character on SNL, this involves doing a forward lunge and then leaping straight up and landing in the opposite lunge position. And repeating this until your legs feel like they're being torn off.
• Leapfrog Squats for 30 seconds - Wide leg squats and jumps.
• Twist Combos for 60 seconds - Jump around, spinning your body back and forth 180 degrees.
• Rock Star Hops for 30 seconds - Jump, tucking heels to butt (and playing air guitar unnecessarily).
• Gap Jumps for 30 seconds - Leap forward as far as possible, and then leaping back.
• Squat Jacks for 30 seconds - Jumping jacks, only landing in a squat position instead of with straight legs.
• Military Marches for 60 seconds - I feel like this is the only exercise that's intended as a break -- you march in place slowly, lifting your legs until they're perpendicular to your body. This is also the only plyo exercise I can see my dad doing.
• Run Squat 180 Jump Switches for 30 seconds - Squat and leap up, switching legs and landing in the opposite squat position. Repeat ad nauseam.
• Lateral Leapfrog Squats - Same as leapfrog squats, but the jumps are done laterally instead of backwards and forwards.
• Monster Truck Tire Jumps fro 30 seconds - Four alternating single-leg high-knee jumps forward, and four back. Repeat.
• Hot Foot Jumps for 60 seconds - Hop on one foot for what seems like an eternity.
• Pitch & Catch for 60 seconds - Something I did for hours for fun when I was a kid, but hated doing at the end of an hour of plyo this morning: Pretend to pitch a baseball over and over again.
• Jump Shots for 60 seconds - Similar to above; pretend to catch and shoot a basketball.
• Football Hero for 60 seconds - I think this is Tony Horton's interpretation of a celebratory touchdown dance.

Did I mention all of these exercises are repeated? I think I need to lie down.

According to my heart rate monitor, I burned 720 calories.

88 more days to go...

P90X Day 1: Chest & Back + Ab Ripper X

Holy shit. That was the most intense upper body workout I've had in a while -- even though it barely involves the use of weights (other than my own body weight).

Granted, before today, I hadn't been diligent about exercising my chest and back. I typically rush through a few sets of presses, flys, and rows, and then call it a day. Usually, the TV in our home gym is on, and I spend too much time between sets distracted by episodes of The Wire on DVD (which I've seen before, but cut me some slack -- it's the best TV series of all time). In sum, I've been fucking around instead of focusing on my workout.

Clearly, fucking around is not an option with the P90X Chest & Back program. Sandwiched between a few minutes of cardio warm up, ballistic stretching and cool down time, the core program consists of twelve upper body exercises, each of which is done 'til you can't do no more. And then you repeat the entire workout.

The Chest & Back routine includes:

• Standard Push Ups
• Wide Front Pull Ups
• Military Push Ups
• Reverse Grip Chin Ups
• Wide Fly Push Ups
• Closed Grip Overhand Pull Ups
• Decline Push Ups
• Heavy Pants
• Diamond Push Ups
• Lawnmower
• Dive Bomber Push Ups
• Back Flys

And repeat! That is, until you crumple into a puddle of your own sweat.

Ab Ripper X was next -- it's only 16 minutes long, but after an hour of Chest & Back, I was barely able to squeeze out the 339 reps required to get through this core-strengthening workout.

I'm exhausted, but this is exactly what I needed: A good, old-fashioned, boot-camp-style ass-kicking. I still have 89 days ahead of me on this program, but I can already tell that this is going to be fun.

"Before" Photos

As part of the P90X program, I'm supposed to take "Before" photos of my jiggly body to motivate me into really committing to the plan. According to the guidebook, "[t]he P90X train is about to leave the station, and [your] body is going to leave some baggage behind," so I need to take snapshots of the junk in my trunk before it disappears.

Let's hope P90X delivers on the promise of losing my baggage, because otherwise, this is going to end up being one hell of an embarassing post. This is probably shocking news for you, but I'm not in the habit of going shirtless in public.

I don't think you're ready for this jelly, but in the spirit of employing humiliation as a self-improvement tool, behold my "Before" photos.

(Click on the image above for full resolution)

I'm regretting this already.

[UPDATE: My Day 30 photos are here, my Day 60 photos are here, and my Day 90 photos are here.]

P90X Classic Schedule

So here's my workout schedule for the next 90 days:

Weeks 1 - 3, 9 and 11:

Day 1: Chest & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 2: Plyometrics
Day 3: Shoulders & Arms, Ab Ripper X
Day 4: Yoga X
Day 5: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6: Kenpo X
Day 7: Rest or X Stretch

Weeks 4, 8 and 13:

Day 1: Yoga X
Day 2: Core Synergistics
Day 3: Kenpo X
Day 4: X Stretch
Day 5: Core Synergistics
Day 6: Yoga X
Day 7: Rest or X Stretch

Weeks 5 - 7, 10 and 12:

Day 1: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 2: Plyometrics
Day 3: Back & Biceps, Ab Ripper X
Day 4: Yoga X
Day 5: Legs & Back, Ab Ripper X
Day 6: Kenpo X
Day 7: Rest or X Stretch

Nutrition Plan: Phase 1

The official P90X Nutrition Plan requires me to cut out almost all carbs from my diet during the first month. This is the so-called "Fat Shredder" phase -- a "high-protein-based diet designed to help you strengthen muscle while rapidly shedding fat from your body."

This sounds awful. I love eating bowls of cereal at all hours, and my go-to snack is Triscuits with cream cheese. I'm also a pizza fiend, and I have no qualms about eating half a bag of chips in front of the TV, either. Plus, I'm of Asian descent, and RICE IS THE FUCKING CORE OF MY PEOPLE'S DIET.

On the other hand, I'm fairly certain I had an undiagnosed eating disorder about 10-12 years ago (I'm no shrink, but eating nothing but frozen dinners and Triscuits for several years must be symptoms of some sort of mental illness), so if P90X requires total commitment to an extreme form of dieting, I'm confident I can "BRING IT."

Pre-P90X Fit Test

According to the P90X materials:

Before starting an extreme fitness program like P90X, it's important to know where you stand and if your current fitness level is adequate. ... If you can't do what is listed below, you'll see better results by doing another exercise program before you take on P90X.

After shelling out big bucks on the program and equipment, I sure as hell wasn't going to fail the fit test.

A few nights ago, I took the 40-minute fit test, quickly moving from pull ups to vertical leaps, push ups , toe touches, wall squats, bicep curls and in & outs. I meticulously wrote down all my results on a sheet of paper.

I then proceeded to lose that sheet of paper.

Here's what I remember:

Resting Heart Rate: 57 bpm
Pull-ups: 7
Vertical leap: 20 inches
Push ups: 45

Toe Touch: +2 inches

Wall Squat: 2 minutes, 30 seconds
Bicep Curls w/Dumbbells: 13 @ 30 pounds
In & Outs: 25

With any luck, in 90 days, I'll crush these numbers. (And by "crush," I mean "not do worse than.")

Trial & Error: Pull Up Bars

According to P90X, the only equipment necessary to get through the program are a pull-up bar and either a set of weights or elastic resistance bands. (Obviously, you also need a TV and DVD player, and for yoga and some of the cardio routines, a padded mat is a good idea. Also: a water bottle, some yoga blocks, a towel, and a barf bag.)

I already have a set of adjustable dumbbells (Bowflex SelectTechs), so all I needed was a pull-up bar before getting started. Clicking around on Amazon.com, I found a bunch of power towers with pull-up bars of different grip configurations, and ended up buying this one, thinking it would suffice for P90X.

Wrong. Most power towers, including the one I purchased, are perfectly fine for wide grip pull-ups, but they lack the center section of bar needed for close-grip pull-ups and chin-ups. And of course, P90X features tons of close-grip pull-ups and chin-ups. I didn't realize this before spending an entire evening assembling my enormous new power station. After all the sweat equity I put into this behemoth, there's no way in hell I'm disassembling and returning it.

So on to Plan B: I bought a pull-up bar that attaches and detaches from a door frame without fasteners or marks on the frame. It's virtually identical to the one sold by Beachbody, and it's cheaper to boot. Perfect, right?

Wrong again. After it arrived and I put it together, I discovered that this pull-up bar doesn't fit either of the doors in our garage-slash-home gym. Our door frames are about an inch too deep.

So here's Plan C: I'm buying a rafter-mounted pull-up bar. No frills -- just a piece of heavy-duty steel that I'm going to bolt to our rafters.

The silver lining? I'll have three separate pull-up stations in the house, so if anyone wants to come over and crank out some pull-ups, let me know.

A History of Flab

While I await the arrival of my P90X package, I thought I'd take the time to outline my personal history with fitness. From a relative standpoint, it's actually pretty short, since until a few years ago, the only running I did was to hide from my P.E. teachers.

I was not, by any stretch of the imagination, an athletic child. My parents didn't push sports. My dad, in particular, preferred that I engage in sedentary pursuits, like reading, drawing and sitting as motionless as possible. And while my grandmother looked after us kids during the day, she did it from an armchair in front of the Lawrence Welk show, so we were pretty much house-bound. In elementary school, I'm fairly certain I failed the President's Physical Fitness Test because I couldn't perform a single chin up. To borrow a line from Howard Stern, I was raised like a veal.

Thankfully, I never had a sweet tooth, and my diet was okay, so I never got chubby. Still, I was a flabby, unathletic kid, with no strength, endurance, physical coordination, flexibility or balance. In eighth grade P.E., our class had to run laps around the school for a half hour. A friend and I ran until we were just out of sight of our gym teacher, and then hid in the bushes until class ended.

In high school, to avoid P.E., my best friend and I joined a gym. (At our school, we could get ourselves excused from P.E. if we engaged in some sort of extracurricular sport or exercise program, and my buddy's dad got us a cheap membership at his gym.) My friend and I went regularly -- twice a week! -- and over the course of a year or so, I ended up adding some muscle to my frame. But although I learned a lot about how to perform basic resistance exercises (bench presses, lat pull-downs, leg presses, etc.) and got acquainted with concepts like muscle hypertrophy and pyramiding sets, I never took the weight training very seriously. It didn't help that our assigned personal trainer spent most of his time staring at his own abs in the mirror and ignoring us, but we didn't exactly help ourselves, either: After every workout, we'd reward ourselves with a big-ass, sugary ICEE and a cheesesteak with fries.

But it was in college that I really let myself go.

I was the poster child for the "Freshman 15." I subsisted entirely on fatty, carb-loaded foods served buffet-style in my dorm cafeteria: fries, ice cream, spaghetti, fried chicken, pizza. Meanwhile, I exercised as little as humanly possible. A good friend of mine would drag me to the gym with her every morning before class, but while she worked out like a maniac, I slept on a bench in the hallway. Not surprisingly, I got tubby.

In my final semester of college, after my girlfriend moved back home, I took it up a notch and ate with abandon. Breakfast consisted of a chocolate almond croissant. Lunch meant grabbing a Chinese takeout box of golf ball-sized fried, batter-coated chicken chunks with sweet and sour sauce and white rice (and a single piece of broccoli -- my one concession to the vegetable food group). My afternoon snack was a giant slice of pepperoni pizza, and dinner was a heavy-duty fast food meal from Foster's Freeze: a greasy fried chicken sandwich, a heaping order of fries and an enormous strawberry milkshake.

It wasn't until I moved across the country to attend law school that I started shrinking back to a more normal size.

Of course, I didn't lose weight in a healthy way or for healthy reasons. I shed pounds because I was depressed -- I hated my school, I hated the city in which I lived, and I missed my girlfriend, who still lived on the opposite coast. And without a car, I didn't have easy access to fast food chains and pizza joints. This doesn't mean I started watching my nutrition: When I wasn't catching rides to local restaurants with friends, I ate nothing but frozen dinners and Triscuits. (Having only two items on my grocery list made shopping a breeze, and I was too depressed to care about nutrition or variety.) My apartment building had a fitness center in the basement, and since I had trouble sleeping, I spent my evenings running raggedly on the treadmill, glassy eyes glued to whatever was on TV. (It was usually Montel Williams or Jerry Springer. Classy!) I got skinny-fat; I lost weight but built no muscle. Still, I was slowly lurching my way out of the flabby hell I'd entered during college.

After law school, when I returned home to begin my career as a wage slave at a law firm, I put back on some pounds, which wasn't hard to do given the long hours chained to my desk and the restaurant meals charged to the firm. I had a membership to a fitness center (and actually represented a chain of gyms), but rarely stopped in to work out, despite the close proximity of the gym to my office. I didn't get as big and sloppy as I was in college, but after a few years of padding my midsection with lard, I felt sluggish, slow and gross.

To address this, I took up running. Every day, I ran 4 to 6 miles around a lake near my house or in the park. I ran up and down hills, on wooded trails and up steep inclines. I ate better. It was fucking hard, but I felt great. The pounds melted off. My legs were strong. I was averaging 25-30 miles a week, gaining endurance and speed, and soon began interval training.

Things were changing on the home and career fronts, too.  After years of the law firm grind, I managed to land a new, less stressful and more balanced job.  And M and I moved out of the city and fled to the 'burbs, where runners ruled the road, and where a gym was conveniently located less than half a mile from our house. So I decided to start weight training, too. I began working out religiously. With the help of a trainer, I developed a full body workout routine. I signed up for the FitLinxx exercise tracking system at the gym, and started competing against myself and other gym rats for the most weight lifted, the most gym visits, the most reps. This was the perfect motivation tool -- I wanted FitLinxx's validation that I was lifting more than anyone else at the gym. It was structured and data-driven; I could see the results when the Fitlinxx results were posted on the wall every month. I loved it. I hit the gym twice a day, for a morning workout and an evening workout. I made sure I devoted at least an hour a day on weight training, and a half hour a day on cardio. I kept running.  And over the holidays, M and I spent a few days (and a lot of cash) at Canyon Ranch in Tucson, where I learned even more about fitness and nutrition and incorporated my newfound knowledge into my workouts.

But as with most things, I eventully got bored with the repetitive nature of my weights-and-cardio routine. After our second kid was born and I got busier at work, I cut back on my workouts, and for the past year and half, I've been visiting the gym twice a week (at most) rather than twice a day. At night, after the kids are in bed, I make feeble attempts to work out in our home gym, but even when I manage to escape the gravitational pull of the couch and television remote, I end up exercising on cruise control, barely breaking a sweat on the elliptical machine or calling it a day after just a few sets of half-assed bench presses and back rows. I've been backsliding.

I need the motivation to push through this period of laziness and stagnation, and get fit. Hopefully, with P90X, I'll find the structure and motivation I need. 

I'm going to use this blog to keep myself accountable to the program.  And I'm going to do my damndest to post every single day.  I've seen other P90X blogs that trail off after a while; they're like ghost ships sailing around the Internet, waiting for their captains to reappear.  I'm determined not to abandon ship.  I doubt anyone will ever read this, but I know I'll be more likely to keep P90Xing if the alternative is potential public humiliation.

Besides, it's only 90 days, right?

Why Am I Doing This?

After plunking down a chunk of change on P90X, I'm wondering why I'm bothering with this.  Is the hassle worth it?

I mean, I'm not in terrific shape, but I'm not in terrible shape, either. I stopped running a couple of years ago (I overpronate, which led to knee and ankle issues), and I'm no longer an obsessive-compulsive gym rat. Still, I make sure to set aside about a half hour per day for exercise, and it's rare that I let two consecutive days go by without lifting some weights or hopping on the elliptical. I don't need to shed a ton of weight. I'm reasonably healthy.

And while I pig out at restaurants more often than I should, I'm generally pretty good about watching what I put in my mouth. I avoid fast food "restaurants" (with a rare exception made for In-N-Out and Taco Bell). I chug diet soda -- something I used to think tasted like faintly-sweetened spit -- rather than the real thing (though I know even diet soda's not exactly healthy). At work, I'm a sedentary office drone, but at lunch, I skip the more fatty/salty/sweet offerings at my company cafe; my typical lunch is a Cobb salad (minus the bacon) with dressing on the side. Our household is all about organic food -- we're members of a C.S.A., and get vegetables delivered to us weekly from small, local farms -- and my wife (who has a degree in nutrition science) polices our kitchen for rogue trans fats and HFCS. I try to limit my carb intake, and simple carbs especially.

For my height (or, at 5 feet 7 inches, lack of height), my weight is a respectable 145 pounds, though once in a while -- especially after a week of restaurant meals -- I'll manage to tip the scales at 150. I have a perfectly normal BMI of 22.7. A few years ago (when I was working out twice a day like a maniac), my body fat percentage was down to 7 percent, but I've now worked my way back up to 11 percent.

All in all, I'm healthy and fairly fit. I can do a bunch of pullups and chinups and pushups and all the other stuff at which I failed miserably in elementary school P.E. My blood pressure is fine, and my good cholesterol is totally kicking my bad cholesterol's ass.

So why put myself through the hassle and cost of completing P90X?

I think it all boils down to me wanting to shake up my exercise routine, and to satisfy my curiosity about how far I can push myself. I recognize that I'm not in the best shape of my life right now. I could stand to tighten up, and I know I'm losing strength and muscle tone while I vegetate on the couch, munching on chips. These days, I tire easily, and not just because I have two small children. I snack mindlessly, and at all hours. I'm losing the motivation to exercise. I don't get enough sleep. I grind my teeth. And I just feel like I'm in a perpetual state of torpor.

So I'm going to give P90X a try. According to the handbook accompanying the DVDs, "P90X is an extreme fitness program designed for individuals in top physical condition and health and, therefore, should NOT be attempted by someone who does not meet the minimum fitness requirements outlined in this guidebook." I'm going to take the fitness test in the next day or two and see how I do.

In The Beginning

Surfing on Amazon.com last night, I was on a mission to buy a set of workout DVDs. After religiously hitting the gym for a few years, my regular workout regimen has gotten tedious and stale of late, and I'm well aware that my commitment (and activity) level is way down. My gym bag is starting to gather dust by my front door. I'd like to think that I'm still committed to exercising, but need to inject some variety into my workouts. It'd also be helpful to find a program that keeps me on a fairly rigid schedule. For me, too much flexibility is a bad thing.

My wife, M, was in an exercise rut for a while, too, but recently got kickstarted by a bunch of Jillian Michaels DVDs that she bought online. We'd already converted most of our garage space into a simple home gym a few years back (with an elliptical trainer, a rowing machine, a set of adjustable dumbbells, a weight bench, a TRX Suspension Trainer, etc.), and for the past month or so, she's been exercising almost daily, either before the kids get up in the morning or after they go down at night. M's commitment is paying off: She's gaining muscle and definition, and she's (deservingly) proud of her progress.

What the hell, I thought. I'm not getting my ass to the gym as frequently anymore, so I might as well give home workout DVDs a try, too.

So without much thought or research (other than scanning through the almost uniformly glowing reviews on Amazon.com), I ordered the P90X Extreme Home Fitness system, which was created by a company called BeachBody.

According to the BeachBody website:

P90X is a revolutionary system of 12 sweat-inducing, muscle-pumping workouts, designed to transform your body from regular to ripped in just 90 days. You'll also receive a comprehensive 3-phase nutrition plan, specially designed supplement options, a detailed fitness guide, a calendar to track your progress, online peer support, and much more.

Your personal trainer, Tony Horton, will keep you engaged every step of the way, and you won't believe your results! A $600.00 value* for only 3 monthly payments of $39.95 (+$19.95 s&h)! Why is P90X so effective? The secret behind the P90X system is an advanced training technique called "Muscle Confusion," which accelerates the results process by constantly introducing new moves and routines so your body never plateaus, and you never get bored! Whether you want to get lean, bulk up, or just plain get ripped, there's an endless variety of ways to mix and match the routines to keep you motivated the full 90 days and beyond!

It was only after ordering P90X that I realized that I'd seen it hawked on late night infomercials before, and my immediate reaction was: Shit -- I just got scammed. The infomercial is just way too slick to be believed, and the before-and-after photos of people who tried P90X are so extreme that they must have been doctored. Plus, as a general matter, I'm skeptical of direct marketing ploys. Products with labels saying "AS SEEN ON TV" aren't my cup of tea.

But after checking out some more online reviews, my gut tells me this is worth trying. After 90 days on P90X, it seems that some (though not all) users actually do "get ripped," while few feel ripped off. Despite the potentially hyperbolic testimonials and my overall suspicion of anything that is sold via television, I figured the most I'd lose is $150 or so. Besides, P90X evidently has a cult following -- people are drinking the Kool-Aid, and many are writing about their experiences and results on blogs like this one. They can't all be wrong.

I've not tasted the Kool-Aid yet, but thought I'd start this journal to: (1) independently review the program for others who may be shopping around, (2) record my own fitness journey as I try to get in better shape, and (3) keep myself motivated to finish all 90 days of the program. Plus, if I come across anything in the world of P90X, fitness and/or nutrition that strikes me as blogworthy, I'll post about it just to keep myself amused.

Lastly, if you're wondering if I'm a paid shill, flack or plant, I'm not. I'm also not a "BeachBody Coach" (i.e., an independent contractor who pays BeachBody for the right to sell its products and to get a cut of the sale) or BeachBody employee. I have no affiliation with the company, and I'm not out to sell anything to anyone, so if P90X turns out to be a total piece of crap, rest assured that I'll say so.

*By the way, this "$600 value" business is bullshit. No one in their right mind is buying 13 home video workout DVDs for $600.