2 Wks of P90X - Comments and Questions

S

Soosan

Cathlete
Hello everyone! Due to the raves of my fellow Catheites, whose judgement I really trust, I got P90X and have just finished week 2 of the classic rotation. I haven't done all of the workouts yet, because I'm still in Phase I. Here are my thoughts so far...


GENERAL

- Although the company's name is "Beachbody" and the website is rife with before and after pictures, the emphasis in the workouts themselves (like Cathe's) is on fitness, not aesthetics.

- Production quality and chaptering are excellent (no premixes, though). I love the set and the background exercisers. (I want to have Adam's baby.) I much prefer Cathe's personality to Tony's, but I like him pretty well and get a kick out of his tongue-in-cheek machismo.

- The fact that you choose your rep range and speed has been an epiphany for me. I'm 5'9" with long limbs, so the rep speed that Cathe (who's 5'2") uses may often not be what's right for me. Although I know I can slow down the reps (and often do) with her workouts, it feels funny to go against the beat of the music.

- The rotation is extremely well-designed and the workouts contain a variety of moves. It seems as though every workout (including Legs & Back) works your core.

- I don't love the warm-ups except for the yoga-ish warm-up to Kenpo X. I love the cool-downs and between-exercise stretches.

- I love the rep counter/timer at the bottom of the screen.


SPECIFIC WORKOUTS

- CHEST & BACK: This is my least favorite workout because I HATE push-ups! I do my absolute best, though, and hope to be much better after 90 days. I don't have a pull-up bar yet, because my house is over 100 yrs old and has very wide trim, so the Door Gym and similar items won't work. I have no room for the Power Tower and I'm concerned about banging my head with just a regular bar screwed into the door. In the meantime, I'm subbing overhand/underhand barbell rows, one-arm rows and pullovers. If/when I ever do get a bar, I'll probably like this workout less...

- PLYOMETRICS: An excellent, intense workout! A nice complement to the Imaxes.

- SHOULDERS & ARMS: This is my favorite workout so far. I adore it.

- YOGA X: I really like this one too! It's challenging, different from my other power yoga videos and Tony explains the moves very well. The 90-minute length can be tough to fit in but I've managed to so far and feel the length really adds to the challenge of the routine. The standing portion seems to go on forever! I wish the routine had more hip openers.

- LEGS & BACK: Fun! Fun! Fun! The variety of moves makes this workout a wonderful complement to the more traditional legwork in Cathe's workouts. I can see how some would miss using heavier weights but variety is a good thing!

- KENPO X: I like KPC WAY more than this. I did like it better the second time I used it and can see the benefit of using a less intense kickboxing workout in P90X's classic rotation. I'm pretty sure I'll start subbing KPC for this but I'll give it a few more tries first.

- X STRETCH: A wonderful, thorough, relaxing video. I did it on my rest day last week but won't get a chance to this week. I've also done the neck/shoulder stretches only and they really helped to ease tightness in those areas.

- AB RIPPER X: I call this "Hip Flexor X" because, man, do the hip flexors get a workout! Doing a lot of Pilates the past few months has helped me with my form tremendously. This is a great ab workout!


QUESTIONS:

- Any ideas for a pull-up bar?
- When in horse stance, are your feet supposed to be facing forward (like Tony and the kids) or should your feet be facing the same direction as your knees?
- How safe do you think diamond and dive-bomber push-ups are?
- Safety of upright rows?

I can't wait to get the Hardcore Series!:)
 
I've got a comment:

I think the relentless discussions, check-ins, complaints about customer service yadda yadda yadda about Pee-90X have about as much place here on a Cathe forum as a discussion about a Margaret Atwood novel at a Joyce Carol Oates meeting.

I think these Pee-90X things belong on VideoFitness, or the Pee-90X site, don't you?
 
Not to stir up trouble, but in support of Soooooooosan, if you read the blurb under Open Discussion it says the following:
"Talk about anything you like in this forum including other videos you like or dislike.
So it would appear that discussion of other videos is actually an ok thing.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programs.
 
Oh gracious NO!!! I wouldn't have found out about yoga and P90X when I did. I have very little surfing time, and pretty much check Cathe and my mail...thats it. If you don't want to read about P90X, then avoid those messages but I'm sure by the number of readers who check those posts, LOVE to see and read them.

Sami
 
I AGREE!!!!!! This is an open discussion board. If you don't like it...in my eyes...then you don't have to read it.I ordered P90X a week ago and up until then I had no interest in it.But the fact that people around here were chatting about it didn't bother me the least.I just choose not to read them. Does it really matter if we talk about kids t.v shows,what happened over the weekend,what ones boss did...and I could go on and on.The fact is that it may not interest you,but it interest someone.
I for one, wrote a topic about Customer service with P90x.Sorry if offended you but if I had my time back I would do it again.I respect peoples wish to talk about whatever they choose around here.And there are lots of other topics about other instructors as well.
I think the best saying is..."if you don't have anything nice to say,then you shouldn't say anything at all!
Lori
:)
 
I agree that if you don't want to read a P90X post, don't open it. I also would not have found it if I didn't read about it here. Frere speech is a good thing.
 
Hi Susan! I'm sooo happy your enjoying MOST of the DVDs. I've just gotten back into them after 4 weeks off but still love my Cathe cardio best although Plyo X is one of my favs! I positively could not get into Kenpo X (substituted KPC or another one) & sometimes substituted YogaX for Rodney Yee. Other than that I kept to the rotation exactly as it was intended. It was extremely well thought out & took over a year to develop.

Regarding your pull-up bar: could you purchase the pullup bar & have it installed perhaps in a closet? Not sure if that would work & don't know where you do your workouts if you have a closet nearby. I always have to run to the back of my basement where I have my bar but I can still see what Tony & the peeps are doing. It does make a difference; I've seen so much more strength in my back.

Can't help you out w/horse stance; I can't remember from what DVD this was from. Sorry!

Dive bombers & diamonds are safe. I've always done them for the full 90 days & have never had a problem but then again I actually LOVE pushups}( However, if you have an impingement in your shoulder the diamond pushups will aggravate it.

As far as upright rows are concerned again if you have an impingement in your shoulder or tendinitis then I wouldn't recommend you do this.

Enjoy & keep BRINGING IT!!! GRRRRRRRRR! Kathy:D
 
Thanks for the responses, everyone. I can see how over-zealous threads about other workouts on Cathe's site can annoy some, but as others have said, posts about other workouts are well within the guidelines of the OD Forum. And, of course, there have been discussions about novels and meetings on this forum (as well as movies, religion, relationships, illnesses, pets, fashion, squirrels...). Post like these are a great way for people within the community to get to know each other better. As others have said, if a post doesn't interest you, don't open it.

I also would not have discovered P90X if it hadn't have been for all of the gushing posts here. Most forum members are devoted Cathe fans (as am I), so when there's a lot of buzz about someone else's workouts here, the workouts must be pretty darn good.
 
I would have never found out about Cathe if it weren't for reading about her on the FIRM forum. I think it's fine to talk about other instructors here. We don't wan't to live in a bubble do we? Plus, if it weren't for P90X we might not have had a Hardcore (which to me seems similar in workouts to P90x) Series from Cathe so soon.
 
I love hearing about P90X. I dont have it, however, it IS fitness related and doesn't take anything away from Cathe because it is a different type of workout from her's.


Love,

Madonna
 
Hi, Susan!
I have a lot of the same opinions about P90X as you do!

As for your questions:
>- Any ideas for a pull-up bar?
Like you, I started the rotation doing 1-arm rows and pullovers (I didn't do barbell rows because I wanted to go heavy, and having the support of one foot on the high step, or even using the step as a bench to lean on when doing 1-arm rows lets me lift heavier without worrying about my back.
I then went on to using the bands ( the "Extreme" set) in a doorway. I got a door attachment from www.sissel-online.com that can go in the top or side of the door, so I could attach the bands at the top of the door, kneel down, and do pull-downs.

>- When in horse stance, are your feet supposed to be facing
>forward (like Tony and the kids) or should your feet be facing
>the same direction as your knees?
I always face my feet and knees in the same direction: either forward, or out at a bit of an angle.

>- How safe do you think diamond and dive-bomber push-ups are?
>- Safety of upright rows?
I think diamonds can be tough on the shoulders, especially if they are done deep and on the toes. I do a "shallow diamond" and go a bit deeper if I do them on my knees (on a balance disc, which is what I usually do). As for dive-bombers, I just substituted incline presses (which I missed doing) because they looked a bit tweaky for the shoulders to me. On the other hand, they also look kind of like going from down dog to up dog.
>
>I can't wait to get the Hardcore Series!:)
I'm hoping it will give P90X a run for its money. (Then Tony will have to come up with a sequel to outdo it, then Cathe... and we will all benefit!)
 
>I've got a comment:
>
>I think the relentless discussions, check-ins, complaints
>about customer service yadda yadda yadda about Pee-90X have
>about as much place here on a Cathe forum as a discussion
>about a Margaret Atwood novel at a Joyce Carol Oates meeting.
>
>I think these Pee-90X things belong on VideoFitness, or the
>Pee-90X site, don't you?
>
>
Please read that Forum guidelines before making such a statement.
THis is the "Open Forum" where nothing is off topic , and according to Cathe's guidelines, we are welcome to discuss anything, including workouts by other instructors. If Cathe and SNM didn't mind, then they would have made rules accordingly.
 
Soosan - you could try using the bands like they do in the workouts - you just need to get some sort of door attachment. I'm not able to use a pullup bar either and don't have the space for one of those towers, so I tend to do one arm rows and dumbell pullovers instead.

I am on week 4 of P90x - I must confess I don't like Kenpo x as much as KPC either - I usually spend that day going to the gym and doing the treadmill/elliptical or subbing with KPC.

Sometimes I find Ab Ripper x is too harsh on my hip flexors, so I occasionally sub with Cathe's Ab Hits.

So far, I've not seen any visible difference, but then being a Cathe fan meant that I wasn't in bad shape to begin with!

Josie :)
 
Hey Susan.....I'm so glad that you are enjoying the P90X, I'm whole heartedly agreeing with your last statement. If Cathe and Tony keep bopping back and forth we will continue to drain our pocketbooks and end up looking incredibly buff eh???

Those diamond pushups and divebombers are probably some of my favorites, but triceps seem to be a good area for me. I do my diamond pushups on the toes and kiss the floor just for fun and I adore divebombers...I love this workout. The ab ripper is still my battle. I do it, but only when I can't think of any excuse not to (those hip flexors - ouch).

If you have extremely wide door frames that are high as well, I think I'd get side braces and a steel bar and mount it if that's possible and aesthetically tolerable. I can't think of any other way. I work out in the basement so I'm planning on mounting a bar with brackets into the cement wall (my hubby keeps putting it off - but soon I hope). Until then I continue to bang my head on the door frame. There is just something about doing real pullups that is so fun (and I continue to be band resistant }( }( }( !!).

As for the P90X discussions - I also think we may not have a HARDCORE if it weren't for Beachbody so thanks to all those who have posted on this wonderful "OPEN FORUM" and to Cathe who refuses to be outdone and allows us to speak openly about squirrels wearing ponchos and the price of tea in china and everything in between - almost everything. (I don't know if you can REALLY talk about having Adams baby Susan :p :p :p )

Briee
 
Susan,
Thanks for posting your review! I'm another P90X fan and enjoyed having another advanced option while waiting for the Hardcore series!

While doing P90X I would have to run downstairs to attempt pull-ups so have never conquered that! I found I didn't enjoy plyometrics as much as the IMAX's so rotated those around. Likewise I sometimes substituted KPC for Kenpo. All-in-all this was the first series that got me as excited as I get over Cathe's workouts! So now I want Hardcore more then ever!! :) :)

Biggest gain for me was push-ups - I can do more then I've ever done, but it's still nothing to brag about! :)

Jo
 
IT never seizes to amaze me how the excitement of one about a different exercise approach can result in negative feedback. If you don’t have anything to contribute to the thread, other than, “this is inappropriate” perhaps you shouldn’t contribute at all? Susan was asking for tips, questions and letting us know how she is getting on. This is an open forum. I’m sure Cathe reads some of our discussions and takes note. Haven’t you all noticed the similarity in her new Hardcore Series and P90X?
 
Soosan....I enjoyed reading this thread! I have really enjoyed P90X as it is so different.

Chest & Back is also my least favorite. I do have an old weight machine attached to the wall that has a pull-up bar attachment so I didn't have a problem there. I did sometimes substitute lat pulldowns for the pull-ups though.

PlyoX I really enjoy. As a runner I recently read an article about the benefits from Plyo exercises to running and aiding in your speedwork. So I am now doing 7-14 minute segments of PlyoX 3 times a week.

YogaX was my intro to Yoga and I sure have seen the beneifts in my flexibility. I also substitue other Yoga workouts for this one.

Legs & Back is another favorite for me. It is amazing how you feel these exercise without alot of weight used.

KenpoX is ok...I like KPC better also. But I do rotate Kenpo for when I don't need my HR high. I have also tried some of Billy Blanks older Taebo workouts and I find I really like using his in my rotation too.

I use StretchX after a hard, long run and it really seems to help.

AbRipperX is yet another favorite! After some time you will start to feel it less in your hip flexors and more in the abs...at least that's how it was for me. I did finally get a 6 pack from this one...:)

I like the divebomber push-ups, but I don't get very low in the diamond ones. I think the upright rows are safe, but my preference has always been using a barbell instead of dumbbells.

Keep us posted on how you do...:)...can't wait for Hardcore myself...:)...Carole
 
Thanks again for your informed responses, everyone!

KathyH - My closets all have wide trim too so the Door Gym wouldn't work and I'd run into the same head-hitting problem with a regular bar. I REALLY want to figure out a way to do pull-ups, though, because they're such an integral part of the workouts. You love push-ups, huh? I really admire that and wish I did! I did Chest & Back this morning and really bombed in the push-up department. (Except, ironically, with dive-bombers -- my form was greatly improved. Probably a fluke!)

Brit-Josie - When you say you haven't seen results after 4 wks, are you saying you haven't improved with the exercises or you don't see visible results? What are your goals?

Kathryn - Your P90X posts convinced me (and, I'm sure, a lot of others here) to get this series. I really appreciate your enthusiastic, clear responses to everyone's questions, no matter how many times the question had been asked in other posts. The results you reported are extremely motivating! Thanks for all of your posts.

Briee - Maybe if Adam would lie down underneath me when I do dive-bombers, I would be motivated to increase my ROM, focusing on getting my lips down, like you }(. I wouldn't object to brackets in the door; I'm just concerned about hitting my head. We could install the bar lower, but then I'd have to keep my knees bent and that would probably screw up my already pitiful form.

Runcrazy - How many more push-ups can you do now than you could before P90X? Which type do you do the best?

Carole - I like your idea of doing short segments of PlyoX throughout the week. Has this helped your running or is it too soon to tell? I agree about feeling Ab Ripper X less and less in the hip flexors, especially with regard to DOMS. I still feel it during the workout, though, just not as much.

A couple more questions:

- Tony does a lot of static stretching in his warm-ups. I thought the latest buzz on that was that doing stretching before a weight workout inhibits weight loads. Any thoughts on this? Do you do them anyway?

- When doing push-ups, I always start on my toes (doing as few as 2 and as many as 9) and then finishing out with negatives. I have also started to keep my legs wider, based on suggestions I've read here. With certain types (diamond and wide-fly), my ROM is pretty shallow. Would it be more effective to do negatives only with these in order to increase my ROM or to do them Tony's way but with a shallow ROM?

I also want to add one more comment with regard to posting about other workouts. It is a huge advantage to Cathe to know what her market thinks about the competition, especially in this much detail. Companies spend lots of money trying to get this type of information. So Cathe wins and we win because we learn about other great workouts from people who generally like to work out the same way. Plus, she's very receptive to the desires of her fans and tries very hard to meet those desires.
 
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