I can honestly say that when I started my first round of P90X I would of never thought I would be where am I today both physically and mentally. 8 rounds of 90 days completed and I never felt better.
I know it seems like such a long dreadful journey but actually it was the exact opposite. I achieved results that I could of never imagined. I took it one day at a time, then one week at a time, then one month at a time. Before I knew it my first round was over. But I struggled each and everyday. Getting out of bed at 5am so my workouts were done by the time my kids got up was hard. I would wake up and it would still be dark out. They say it takes about three weeks to get break an old habit and get into a new routine. I committed myself to those first few weeks and eventually it became easier.
But now I know why this program is so popular You know for sure when you finish a P90X workout that you just got a serious butt kicking. You wake up sore in spots from muscles you never knew you had. Your are achy all over but for some reason you crave more. There wasn’t a workout in a gym that even compared and that’s what I loved about it. For example, I clearly remember the struggle of walking and sitting down the days after doing Legs and Back. I’m sure some of you can attest to this!!
I also learned from Tony Horton, the creator of P90X, that you never say “I can’t.” You say “I presently struggle with.” This is so true. I couldn’t keep up or do a lot of the moves in the beginning. I never knew anyone that could. But by showing everyday you get a little better at each workout and before you know it you can keep up with everybody else. This is when my body transformed. This is when I got the results. My body had to adapt to the these hard moves and hence my muscles grew and my body leaned out. There is a guy with one leg doing plyometrics (jump training) so I knew I couldn’t quit!
Whats crazy is I held onto my gym membership for almost a year before I finally let it go. I just kept saying to myself I’m going to go back to the gym. But then I realized if I went back I would fall in that rut again of making it 1/2 a social outing and the other 1/2 working out. But even that 1/2 of working out would turn out out to be monotonous all over again. On Mondays I would do my chest workout on the same four machines, week after week, month after month. On Tuesdays I would go on the same cardio machine in the same spot in the gym and do the same workout. No!!! The reason I left the gym in the first place was to change! “Variety is the spice of life” (Tony Horton) when it comes to your health and fitness and this is exactly what P90X is. Month 1 is different then month 2 and month 3 is different then the first two months. So I realized that if I repeated P90X I would do the same thing twice in 6 months. How awesome was this! I was doing the same thing every week for years at the gym!! Hence, why my body plateaued and I wasn’t getting any results but actually gaining weight. Boo!
To keep the variety I interchanged Insanity and other Beachbody programs with P90X. I stuck to the resistance days (weight training) of the P90X schedule but added in Insanity, or The Asylum or another Beachbody program on the cardio days. This kept me motivated, interested and my body continued to change. I loved it!
In summary, this was the best thing I did for my health and fitness. At my most recent physical my Doctor was amazed at my results and said I wish more of my patients were like me. I was on high blood pressure pills for the past couple of years and my doctor took me off of them. Bye bye medication! Hello to a healthy and fulfilling life! My Doctor finished by saying “David just keep doing what your doing.”
For all my fellow P90X’s out there keep Bringing It! For those of you thinking about starting P90X it could literally change your life. Make the decision today! The Time is Now!!!
Dave Atkins
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