If you?re a regular reader of my blog, you?ll know that I?ve been hip-deep in P90X for about 60 days now. If you?re unfamiliar with P90X take a look back at some of the earlier posts to get a little more acquainted but, suffice it to say, it?s a pretty fierce take on home fitness with 90 days of nonstop sweat and tears. P90X is hardcore fitness from Tony Horton, the funniest and most badass trainer I?ve ever seen. If you?re on or thinking about trying P90X, good luck and come bask in a fully supportive environment, if you?ve never even heard of P90X, don?t knock it ?till you?ve tried it.
The first phase of the program was rockin?. Those first 30 days had me down eight pounds and feeling? like a million bucks and I couldn?t wait to see the results at the end of phase two. I hit the end of day 60 with less of a roar and more of a whimper. My changes have stalled. I?ve lost a few more pounds, but what the heck happened?! I should have seen the same level of improvements from Phase One. Why, suddenly, has the X stopped working? It took me a little while to figure out my mistakes, but believe me, I can?t be the only person making them. Thus, this post was born. These are all of the mistakes that I?ve made on P90X. If you?re doing P90X, learn from them, push further where I have failed.
- Focused on Weight Instead of Muscle Gains
- Didn?t Increase the Weights
- Didn?t Use Real Dumbbells
- Didn?t Use Creatine
- Didn?t Push Myself
I was so excited that I had lost ten pounds after 30 days on the X, that I got way too caught up in what my weight was doing and less interested in the growth of my muscles. If I had kept my eyes on the muscle gains I wanted to see, I?d have lost fat and gained bulk, instead of losing muscle and fat across the board. That mistake set me back a bit, now I?m stuck playing catch up. In Phase Two I didn?t increase my weights as often as I needed to, which left me doing sub par workouts and of course getting sub par results. Had I upped the weights that I was using, I would?ve continued to push my muscles to grow larger. Sadly, that didn?t happen, so now my muscles are one phase behind.
Dumbbell, dumbbell, dumbbell.
This is a good lesson for everyone thinking of attempting P90X: Buy real dumbbells—a set of pre-made, standard dumbbells. You will be glad you did. I can?t tell you how much time I spent trying to change the weights on the interchangeable dumbbells I have. Holy crap, I had to loosen the safety lock on one side of one dumbbell, change the weight, tighten the safety lock, then do the same thing on the other side, and then do both sides of the other dumbbell! The kicker is that I had to stop and do this after almost every move! Trust me, if you have interchangeable dumbbells, get rid of them and go for the real stuff, you will be thankful you did. I also don?t recommend the resistance bands. They are great if you have to make your workout portable, but they are harder to keep track of what you?ve lifted from workout to workout. Dumbbells have numbers. Stick with those.
When I started this workout plan, I went right out and bought myself some whey protein, but said ?Eh, I don?t need creatine.? . . . Yeah, no, if you want big gains, get creatine. Nitric Oxide freaks me out and plasma boosters are for the serious guys, but creatine will make a difference. Not only will you notice big gains in your muscles, you?ll notice improved pump during your workout. Creatine: use it, love it, Bring it.
Finally, I ignored the golden rule of P90X during Phase Two: I didn?t Bring It. I stopped before I should have, I didn?t push myself to the brink and force my muscles to adapt. I should have been testing myself mentally and physically during that second round of 30 days, but I didn?t. I coasted through the work outs, more concerned with getting them done than with doing them correctly. I?m paying for that coasting now as I stare down the barrel of my still unchanged, day 30 body.
Learn from my mistakes, people, that?s why I started writing about P90X in the first place. I wanted to start putting the information out there for those folks who, like me, where ready to start making serious changes in their physical lives. I wanted to write about my experiences so you would know what to expect and what to avoid. I wanted to make the mistakes so that I could tell you how not to make them. If you?re doing P90X and you need a hand, I hope you come here and to the message boards at Beachbody.com to find the answers and the support you need. This blog is about changing your life yourself, but we all need a hand now and then so get out there and Bring It.