P90X

You've no doubt seen it on a late night infomercial, on Dr. Phil or Oprah Winfrey. Heck, it's even being hawked on QVC. P90X or Power 90 Extreme. Touted as an extreme home fitness program that will transform you physically in 90 days. Well, I admit the infomercial looked intriguing. I'm into fitness, I try to go to the gym on a regular basis, but I've never done any kind of program. I just run or randomly lift weights. I'm usually in decent shape. Good enough to hike around in the mountains and pack sheep home. I wondered, how good of shape could I really get into if I had some guidance? I also sometimes get an itch to really test my self-discipline. So I determined to give Tony Horton a shot to see what he could do with me. I started in October and committed myself to the program, including the diet plan they outline for you. I missed one work-out the entire 3 months (Thanksgiving) and allowed myself 2 cheat days on the diet (Thanksgiving and Christmas). Here are the results:

Before:
172.5 lbs, 19.5% body fat, 34 inch waist, resting HR 58 BPM
After:
158.5 lbs, 10% body fat, 29.5 inch waist, resting HR 50BPM

So I lost 14 lbs total , but if you calculate the body fat I actually lost 17.5 lbs of fat and gained 3.5 lbs of muscle.

Fit Test Results:
Before: 9 Pull-ups, 17” vertical leap, 43 push-ups, +0" toe touch, 2:39 wall squat, 25 curls (20lbs), 39 in and outs.
After: 23 pull-ups, 20” vertical, 101 push-ups, +6" toe touch, 4:05 wall squat, 53 curls (20lbs), 82 in and outs.

I’d say the program works. But maybe more importantly than the "outside" improvements was what a mid-program health fair revealed. My "insides" are doing good too. My blood pressure is as low as I can recall it ever being. A blood test revealed low cholesterol and a number of other parameters right where they should be. I know it sounds cliche, but my energy levels are high and overall I just feel good.

I think Mr. Horton and I will be spending more time together in the future. There are after all, more sheep to be packed out of the mountains.