If you are in phase 1 or 2 of your first round of P90X, I am sure most of you are thinking “Day 90 can not come soon enough!”…I know I felt that way. I am going to go out on a limb and say most people that start P90X are NOT nutrition/gym freaks. Everyone I know (including myself) that participates in P90X are people that have gained some extra poundage over the course of many years and are eager to get into shape. Some are also just skinny and looking to add some muscle weight. Some of us are married with kids, others are living the single life but we all either work and/or go to school full-time. No matter what your story is, making the P90X commitment requires hard work, dedication, and it somewhat dictates how you live your life. I am not sure how I am perceived on this blog but I am no different than most, I am not a huge fan of working out and I really hate following a nutrition plan. I am just a regular guy who would love to be in great shape without having to do all of the hard work that is required to get there. Don’t get me wrong, I feel fantastic after I workout…it’s the motivation to workout I struggle with at times.

The good news is there is light at the end of the 90 day tunnel. I am on day 137 and I have been cheating faithfully on my nutrition plan once a week. I am not only getting stronger but my body continues to physically change for the better. I know there is a lot of P90Xers out there that claim “never cheat”, nutrition makes up 80% of the program. These people are correct,  the nutrition piece is a lot more important than the working out part but not all of us want to live our lives around P90X. With that said, I do highly recommend being as strict as you can during the first 90 days. Your day 90 results will show how strict you were on both your nutrition and how hard you pushed yourself during the workouts. Even though P90X is marketed as a 90 day program, you should continue to do it after the 90 days but under your terms. Allow yourself a cheat meal once or twice a week. If you continue to push play 5-6 days a week, 1 or 2 cheat meals a week will not be an issue. I pretty much been allowing myself a cheat day (not to be confused with a cheat meal)…probably shouldn’t admit that but I am trying to keep it real.

Also, I did complete the ”Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps“ routine this morning…

Legs & Back – It’s hard not have a great workout with the vest on. I can’t wait to perform the fit test again (day 150), I should see a significant jump with my wall squat time. On day 1, I tested at 1 minute 6 seconds and then I jumped to 2 minutes 27 seconds on day 90…I am guessing I can do well over 3 minutes now, maybe even 4?? These past two months I cut back on cardio and focused on building muscle. I am not sure how much muscle mass I have gained but I do know my strength has increased quite a bit and the day 150 fit test should confirm that.

The P90X Triathlon program is coming at a perfect time. I will be confusing my muscles once again with the different exercises I will be performing during this period. My focus will now shift to cardio (running/biking/swimming) but I will also be completing P90X workouts to maintain the muscle I have.

300 Workout – My plan is to officially start the 300 workout in May but I want to start preparing for it so I attempted it this morning. For starters,  I still need to build a 24” platform to jump on so I did not do that exercise. I am sure the box jumps make your legs feel like they are on fire so I wasn’t too upset about not having anything to jump on this morning. Again, this was an informal run at the 300 workout so I did not time myself…

25 Pull-ups – I barely completed 25 pull-ups without a break so I was happy with that. 

50 Deadlifts with 135lbs – I completed 25 reps and took a break. I then did another 15 and stopped as I started feeling pain in my lower back.

50 Push-ups – This was the easiest exercise, banged out 50 without a problem. I then did the remaining 10 reps of deadlifts (back felt fine).

50 24-inch box jumps – Did not do

50 Floor wipers – I was able to complete all 50 with 3-4 breaks in between.

50 1-arm clean and press with 36lbs kettlebell – I used a 40lb dumbbell instead. I was toast by the end but I did complete them.

 25 Pull-ups – I was only able to muscle up 10 before taking a break. I then did two more sets of 5 with a break in between. The last 5 were painful and it took just as long to complete the last 5 than it did to complete the first 20…but I did finally do it.

 Overall, this workout is very intense!  My plan is to do one more informal run at this before starting it for real.

Shoulders & Arms – Went heavy today, I did not exceed 8 reps on any of the exercises. This is last week of the P90X MASS routine as far as as the resistance training goes, next week is a rest week. I definitly prefer the MASS routine over the regular P90X classic one but that is just me. The biggest difference is the lack of cardio in the MASS routine but I am also comparing it to the P90X doubles routine that I completed just before. I was also a lot more strict on my nutrition during round 1 so it was a nice change of pace to loosen up a bit.

I say this now but I am very much looking forward to the P90X Triathlon routine. My goal entering this phase is to maintain all of the muscle I currently have as my focus is now going to shift back to shredding fat. I can’t imagine not losing more fat during the P90X Triathlon program. I will be be running and biking a few times a week for the month of May and then I will be incorporating swimming for the whole month of June and part of July.  My plan is to still do P90X 3-4 times a week and I also want to fit in that 300 workout once a week. I may even double up on certain days and do P90X in the morning and  do one of the following (run/bike/swim) in the afternoon/evening if my schedule permits. 

This all sounds great but I need to make sure I follow through with it!

First Triathlon – July 18th, 2010

Chest & Back- Felt real good this morning, I am definitely getting stronger since starting the P90X MASS routine. I am looking forward to completing the fitness test again when phase 2 is complete, I am anticipating an increase with all of my numbers. Once phase 2 is over, I am taking a week off (still will workout) and then starting up my P90X Triathlon program.

Still not exactly sure how I am going to do it but I do know there will be a lot more cardio involved.