P90X – FAQs

10 pound weight dumb bells
Creative Commons Licensephoto credit: Seth W.

So as some of you who follow me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook you may have seen me updating my status just about every day the past 2 months using some Twitter hashtags called #p90x and #lean.

I’ve also been getting a lot of questions from some of you about P90X and so I decided I’d write a post about it as well as some other posts over the next few days:

  1. What’s P90X? FAQs from you answered (this post)
  2. Nutrition: The other half of the P90X coin.
  3. Motivation: Why start? When you’ve started, and how to keep going

To avoid repeating the same information, here are some of the FAQs I’ve gotten from you all (like 75%) that can be answered by the P90X FAQ page at beachbody.com:

About P90X/Prepping for P90X

  • Q: What’s P90X?
  • Q: What does it consist of?
  • Q: What kind of exercises are included?
  • Q: What equipment do I need
  • Q: How much space do I need?
  • Q: What if I want to focus on weight loss?
  • Q: What if I want to train for high-performance sports or an endurance event?

Other FAQs

Here are the answers to the remaining 25% of questions I received:

Q: How much time do I need to work out?
A: All the workouts vary in time. They can go as short as 45 minutes to as long as 90 minutes. Some days you may end up doing 2 workouts depending on the program variation you want to go with (Classic vs. Lean vs. Doubles).

Q: What kind of workouts do you get with P90X?
A: Strength (weight training), cardio, yoga and core; which are summed up quite nicely here; you can click on each workout type and hear a quick blurb on what each one does.

Q: How many days a week do I have to work out?
A: If you plan to stick to the schedule as it is laid out, 6 days, with the 7th being an optional rest or stretch day.

Q: I heard it’s harder for women to get the same results as men, that is they have to work out more often to get the same results… Is this true?
A: From what I can Google online about working out in general for women the consensus appears to be yes. But it’s a lot more complicated than that. You need to take into consideration your body shape. How fit you are prior to starting. What are your fitness goals? What kind of a nutrition plan are you planning to follow (if any)?

I can say from personal experience, my husband looks like he’s lost more weight and is trimming down faster than me even though he is only able to work out 4-5 times a week given he is in the middle of fastball season. But on the flipside, he has more weight to lose than I do. And I’ve been running/swimming 3-4 times a week prior to starting the program. So I think it makes sense he looks like he’s benefitting from the program much more quickly than I am. Also, remember, if you aren’t losing as much weight as you think you should be, some of it may be due to increased muscle mass from all that working out. And that’s not a bad thing.

Q: Does it work?
A: The short answer: Absolutely yes. The longer answer: Your results will be a combination of the effort you bring to every workout you do (you have to “Bring It” as they say) and what you choose to do for a nutrition plan, both components of which me and my husband adhere to pretty closely. I can physically do a lot more (pushups, AB moves, lifting weights). I am almost as stretchy as I was in my early 20s (thanks yoga!). I physically feel better. I’m down 7 pounds so far. I’m one dress size smaller, so far. Will I look as cut and ripped as some of the guys/gals on the infomercial after 90 days? Probably not. But I plan to keep working out beyond the 90 days so I will get there…eventually…

Q: Do I need to buy the P90X supplements, recovery bar or drink?
A: You can, either through a Beachbody coach or through the beachbody.com site. Some folks who are a bit more budget conscious like myself Googled around various P90X blogs and have found going to Costco and local vitamin/health stores for cheaper alternatives. More on that in a future nutrition post. Not sure how it works if you’re in Canada like I am with shipping and duty and all that. I’m sure someone out there can let me know. 🙂

Hope you guys found this post somewhat informative. If you have any other questions feel free to send me a tweet, DM me or Facebook message me if you’re on my Friends list…currently I’m working on adding Facebook Connect functionality to the site but the Facebook API is buggy 🙁 and I don’t want people having to create new profiles on this site if they don’t have to, so comments are currently closed. Next post…motivationnutrition…

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