P90X Workout – You don’t have to be in shape to get started
Since I started getting quick results from P90X, many of my friends jumped on the P90X bandwagon as well. Yet after several months, most of them still haven’t started… so I asked them why, and one of the two common answers was:
“I have to get in shape first before starting the P90X workout program…”
HUH?
I thought that’s why you got the P90X Extreme Fitness System to begin with…
And you know what, I totally understand… I procrastinated for a year! So I’m not going to judge anybody. And I’ll be the first to admit P90X is not for everybody. Working yourself up to some level of fitness before going hardcore is probably a good idea; especially if you’ve led a sedentary lifestyle and have never really worked out.
Having said that, I went from barely working out at all (for almost 5 years) to jumping into the program with both feet…
So how did I do it?
When I first bought the program I was tipping the scales at around 230lbs… the heaviest I had ever been. So after doing the research I ordered it and waited for the package (like a little kid the day before Christmas) for the package to arrive.
I have to admit that I was both intimidated and embarrassed when I received the package; intimidated because I was about to embark on a fitness program that was sure to bring pain, and embarrassed because my wife received the package — she didn’t know I had ordered it. So instead of tearing it open and digging in, I put it on the shelf in my garage and conveniently “forgot” about it.
Three months later I had reached 235lbs and I knew I had to do something. So, in disgust I went in the garage and…
…picked up the dog leash and took my dog for a walk, that turned into a 3-mile half-jog. I was dyin’ at the end… sucking breath like crazy. And for the next six months I took my dog for a brisk walk every single day, rain or shine (poor dog). All of a sudden I was down to 217lbs.
This was when I started getting motivated. I decided to put a bit more effort into it and watch my diet a bit and in about 40 days I was down to 207lbs, which was when a friend of mine at work told me he had bought the P90X workout system! He was super excited and told me he was going to start “a week from Monday”.
So, I rushed home and dusted off my old copy of P90X and spent a week preparing myself and getting used to each of the modules / exercises for Phase 1 to start the challenge with my buddy.
By the end of the 3rd day of the “preparation week” my body was so sore I could barely get out of my car… getting up and down the stairs was not a lot of fun. By the way, I wasn’t even close to finishing the workouts that week. The first day I got through half of the DVD when my body said “NO MORE”. And I think I only completed the Kenpo X workout that week… partly because I didn’t want to get any more sore (so I couldn’t start my workout the following week). Plus I was too uncoordinated, weak and sore to finish the rest.
But I think I was better prepared for the first “real” week by taking a week to understand the exercises, figure out some of the weights I needed to use for the workout. So, my recommendation is that you take it slow and if you feel overwhelmed,, take a step back and start with the hardest part of the program… the Diet.
More on that in another post.
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