p90x

Since the baby was born I've struggled to find the time necessary to achieve my fitness goals. After getting off work and coming home, eating dinner, playing, bathing and putting the baby to bed I would find it would be 7:30 to 8pm every night. And now given that we live even farther from our gym the drive there and back would take an hour which means no matter if I left at 8pm I would be guaranteed to be home no earlier than 10pm.

Plus since the baby is sleeping, someone has to stay home which means the wife and I would have to take turns going to the gym. I decided that I wanted to do p90X because my wife and I could both do it together at night without leaving and still get a total body workout and to bed on time!! It required some equipment we already had like weights, and a heart rate monitor. It did require a pull-up bar or some exercise bands that could be attached to something (in our case a door.) I also liked that it had a nutritional guide to go with it because I get bored with the meals we make sometimes. We do not follow the nutritional guide because it dramatically changes the percentage of proteins and carbs and I would much rather eat balanced than some sort of diet skewed toward protein or carbs. I was willing to give up any gains I would have seen by drinking protein shakes. Since we've worked our way into eating clean and as much unprocessed food as possible, I figured we would be alright.

I have almost completed 4 weeks of p90X and I must say, I am surprised at how hard it can be. The mantra of p90X is "Bring it!" I can say I have brought it and wavered a few times but then because of the disappointment worked harder and every time I am really whipped. Usually the next day I am sore. Sometimes really sore. I have added weight and added reps and really feel a lot stronger. I haven't really noticed any real weight loss BUT through reading some other peoples comments on p90x they point to the last 60 to 30 days as being the real weight loss phases.

I am also currently training for a half-marathon in October. So far the two have not interfered with each other, although there have been times when I was very sore from p90x Legs and Back doing a tempo run or already had wobbly legs doing plyometrics x. So far I am very pleased with the progress I've seen and how I feel overall through workouts. P90x is built on the idea of "muscle confusion" and so I'm interested to see how the new workouts challenge me as I progress through the program.