P90X Workout System

Some time ago, I was contacted by a representative of Beachbody.com (the makers of the very popular P90x workout system) and asked if I would say something about P90X^®  and possibly some of their other products.

So here goes:

First of all, let me say this: no workout program will work unless practiced energetically and consistently over a period of time. It is my guess that most persons who have purchased these videos have them piled on a shelf somewhere gathering dust.

Let me also mention that I have never done the workout. These are just perceptions that I have gathered from the television commercials and a whole buncha web links and videos.

Okay, that being said, lets get to it.

"Muscle Confusion"
This is a trademarked term on the P90X^®  web site. Basically, it means that the workout will be changed up every 30 days or so. This is a workout philosophy that I completely agree with, since your body and its muscles will adapt to a repetitive workout and progress will slow to a crawl. I've been doing a form of this for years, changing my workout every month or two. It doesn't have to be a big change, but you do need to mix it up in order to keep your workout effective. This has been well-proven in several studies.

The Exercises
There are four basic categories of exercises in the system: resistance training utilizing elastic bands and dumbbells; plyometrics (explosive exercises that quickly load and contract the muscles in a rapid sequence); cardio; and Yoga. This also fits into my workout philosophy that every exercise program, in order to effectively improve every aspect the body's musculature, has to include these three elements: strength training, cardio and stretching.

Martial Arts and P90x
The system includes a martial arts workout in the cardio section called "Kenpo X." Tony Horton (the creator of P90X^® ) is not a martial artist but he did consult with a 5th degree Kenpo black belt, Wesley Idol, in order to incorporate real martial arts moves into the system. Here is a clip of Horton working with Idol:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCkynLlw3GU

Idol received his black belt from Mike Pick, who was a student of the legendary late Ed Parker. I have met Mike Pick and I've attended several Ed Parker seminars back in the day. Both of these men are pillars in the martial arts community and I'm a BIG fan of Parker's art, American Kenpo Karate. So, some pretty good credentials there.


Wesley Idol


Here is a link to a video of Wesley Idol in action: http://www.ikenpo.com/wes_idol.wmv

Of course, I'm a firm believer of martial arts being incorporated in an any exercise system. It works the entire body, improves coordination and balance, and, of course, it just amps up the cool factor of your workout. Not to mention that you can easily burn over 300 calories in 30 minutes.

This is turning into a long blog so let me just wrap it up: While I don't think the workout is for everyone--it's pretty intense and requires that you perform some explosive movements that may be difficult for older people and those that are terribly out of shape, and it's not inexpensive--I don't think you can go wrong with the P90X^® system. All of the check-boxes are ticked for an extremely effective workout program. One problem I might have is the idea of popping in a video to do a workout and having to watch the same old stuff time after time, but that's just me and applies to every workout video.

Other than that, a good, well-balanced workout is what you're gonna get if you stick with this routine. As I said before though, for it to be truly effective, one has to actually do it consistently over a period of time.

Some time In the future, if I can find the time, I'll take a look at some of the other Beachbody exercise systems.

Here is another link to the P90x site:
http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/p90x.do