AB RIPPER X

So this week I am going to talk about P90X and some the claims it makes and whether it truly works. So first lets see what P90X actually claims it can do for you.

P90X Creator: Tony Horton

The main claim of P90X is that you will get ripped in 90 days. It markets itself as a fat burning exercise program that will melt the fat right off of you and get you ripped. P90X states that it uses the main science of muscle confusion to keep your body guessing in order to prevent the plateau effect like normal workout programs. Every 30 days the workouts will change up and so each 30 days it is like starting a brand new workout program. It also includes a meal plan that is designed to help lose fat, boost energy, and maximize your endurance. The P90X program includes twelve different workouts that are designed to shock your body and keep it guessing.

So those are the main claims that P90X makes. Now the question is that are those claims legitimate or are they just wild claims that other workout fads make?

THE MAIN PROMISE

Will you really get ripped and lose all of your fat? Well let's look at this logically. If you weigh 180 pounds and are 33% fat then you can say you have 60 pounds of fat on your body. The recommended safe and healthy weight loss is around 1-2 pounds per week. That means that over 90 days (13 weeks roughly) you would could safely and healthily lose up to 26 pounds. So if you weigh 180 pounds and have 60 pounds of fat but only lose 26 pounds of excess fat you will still have 34 pounds of fat mass. That brings you down from 33% fat to around 22% fat. Most people would not consider 22% body fat to be "ripped". Now it is a great improvement but I wouldn't say you will go from the guy on the left to the guy on the right in 90 days.

Now let's look at someone that is 180 pounds but only 10% body fat. Imagine that over the 90 days they lose 5 pounds of fat. They will go from 10% body fat to 7.4% body fat. Now if you asked most people who is closer to getting ripped the person with 33% fat or the person with 10% fat, everyone will say the second person. That means that if you are starting at a level that is far from "ripped" then the claims that you will get ripped in 90 days might be a bit unrealistic. Now if you are already in decent shape or used to be in great shape but lost some of it, then the 90 day claim is very doable. So you need to be realistic with your expectations going into it and expect to get in better shape, lose fat, and feel healthier but not necessarily get "ripped".

From skinny to the "ripped" look.

WORKOUT STRATEGY

The P90X workout strategy as I stated earlier is it's patented "muscle confusion". This focuses on the fact that most people when they workout on their own in the gym get into a routine of the same exercises over and over. The human body is an amazing machine and can self regulate and can actually get used to things stresses that you put on it. So, going into the gym and walking on the treadmill used to help you lose 2 pounds per week but now you stopped seeing results? That is because your body starts to expect it and can actually just adjust for the 30 minutes you are going to walk and then go right back to normal. It doesn't need to change or adapt because it knows it can easily get through the workout. This a pretty awesome adaptation that the body has, but not so awesome if you want results.

P90X combats this plateau by constantly changing up the workout you are going to do with the twelve that I listed below. To get your body out of that plateau you need to get it out of your comfort zone and try something new. This is something that is very easy to do that most people don't like to do on their own. People love their comfort zones and staying in it is safe and won't be difficult. This is another reason people will see massive results because it takes you away from the typical bench press and makes you use more muscles and keeps the variety high.

1. Chest and Back
2. Plyometrics
3. Shoulders and Arms
4. Yoga X
5. Legs and Back
6. Kenpo X
7. X Stretch
8. Core Synergistics
9. Chest, Shoulder, and Triceps
10. Back and Biceps
11. Cardio X
12. Ab Ripper X

NUTRITION PLAN

There are 3 phases to the P90X nutrition plan. The first stage, The Fat Shredder, is a high protein stage that helps reduce the amount of food you eat by eating more of the filling protein. I can see why the makers of P90X chose this type of meal plan. The first phase has been shown through various studies to provide results. One study done by Donald Layman et al. showed that between four groups (high protein, high protein plus exercise, high carbs, and high carbs plus exercise) the high protein group and the high protein plus exercise groups lost more overall weight, lost more fat mass , and lost less lean body mass (good body mass) than the high carbohydrate groups. The study kept all four groups eating a diet of 1,700 calories while replacing carbohydrates with natural protein such as nuts, eggs, and dairy for the higher protein groups. The reasons that this study gives as why this result happened is that the higher protein diet helped keep lean body mass high, protein is less efficient in metabolism so you feel full longer, and there is a lower insulin response due to the lowered carbohydrate diet. Needless to say, studies have shown that a higher protein diet will help you reduce fat mass, like P90X claims.
Layman et al. (2005)

The next stage, Energy Booster, focuses on a more balanced diet of carbs and proteins with a reduced amount of fat. These extra carbs will help give you more energy to work harder during the workouts and to stay energized even after a workout. The last phase, The Endurance Maximizer, gets you closer a normal athletic diet that focuses on whole grain carbohydrates and lean protein. This diet plan is designed to help burn a lot of fat and keep the lean muscle loss low in the first month, in the second month it is designed to allow you to work hard and build muscle while still reducing fat mass, and in the last month it is designed to get you closer to a diet you should keep every day with lean meats and whole grains.



P90X RESULTS

So why do you see all of these pictures and testimonies of people claiming that they lost 40 pounds in 3 months due to P90X? Well, there are a couple reasons why P90X can work as well as it claims. The first is that it provides a large variety of workouts. The workouts themselves are good and definitely push you hard but the key is in the "muscle confusion" they claim. Keeping a large variety of workouts and routines is honestly a great way to push you over that stagnant feeling you have while you are at the gym. Almost every single person that goes to the gym by themselves will get to a point where you run out of exercises and start to just repeat the same routine every couple of days. This is how people get bored with exercising and fed up because they aren't seeing results. This is the key for P90X for keeping people on their workout program. There is always a large turnover rate for people starting a new workout program because they will get bored and decide to stop the program. With P90X, you get a large variety of workouts so you don't get bored and are more likely to stay in it for the whole 90 days.

The next reason why P90X can be very effective is the 90 day meal plan. When you start a workout program or just start going to the gym for the first time, how often do you completely overhaul your diet at the same time? Almost never. Usually, you try to make one small change, like walking 20 minutes a day, then work your way up to working out, and then to making large changes to your diet. All of these steps are compounded into one 3 month period. So if you actually stick with the meal plan and reduce the amount of cheating then it is possible to drop a lot of weight like P90X claims.

VERDICT

P90X is a great workout program that gives a large variety of workouts to keep you motivated and excited, provides a meal plan designed to reduce fat but keep lean muscle, and it gives you a plan to keep you focused on your goal. So in my opinion, it IS a workout program that can get you very good results if you are motivated and focused on your goal.  The best part about P90X is that it is as easy as eating what they give you and doing the workout they give you each day. It takes the thinking out of eating healthy and making your own workout plans. This is what most people need; someone telling them what to do and eat each day.

BUT, P90X is nothing more than a workout plan that keeps you muscled shocked, a diet that helps reduce your fat intake, and a plan to keep you on track each day. There is nothing special about the P90X plan that is extremely new or ingenious to the exercising world. People that are very overweight that start P90X will see a lot of results but mainly because they are exercising for the first time in a while, not purely the P90X system. Also, the results that you see in the commercials, as I said above, usually come from people that are in decent shape before hand or have been working on losing weight for a while and then with the P90X aid, saw the cut look they were wanting.

It took him 18 months (not 90 days) but he still got there!

SO, yes P90X can work and can provide you with a more lean, fat reduced body but I wouldn't expect miracle results with it. If you have been sedentary for the last 10 years don't expect to lose all of your fat and weight in 90 days. It might take years but a system like P90X is a great way to lose that excess fat, get cut, and get in better shape. I give P90X a stamp of approval but also know that the system P90X is using is something that you can devise on your own for a much smaller price tag. This is the case with most other workout programs such as T25, Tai Bo, BeachBody, Insanity, or any other workout plan.

By eating healthily and focusing on a large variety of exercises and workouts you can achieve similar results as what the P90X plan promises.

EXTRA POINTS

Another thing I wanted to show you is how some companies make these drastic fat to fit pictures. Sometimes the heads are photo-shopped but sometimes it is actually the same person. This video shows you how they sometimes make these images happen.

WORKOUT OF THE WEEK

Warmup (Jog in place, slow jumping jacks, ballistic stretches, etc)

Set 1: (20 of each)

Crunches
Flutter Kicks
Donkey Kicks (10 each leg)
Fire Hydrants (10 each leg)
Back Bows

Set 2: (20 each)

Situps
Knee Tuck Jumps (Example)
Jacknife Crunches
Jumping Lunges (Example)
Plank (1 min)

Set 3:

Run 4 quarter mile intervals. (Run a quarter mile as fast as you can, rest for 2 minutes, repeat for all 4. Also, try to beat your previous time each interval)

Set 4:

Repeat Set 1

Set 5: (20 Each)

Jumping Jacks
Burpees
Russian Twists (Example)
Plank Oblique Crunches (10 each side) (Example)
Squat Jacks
Glute Bridges (Example)
Mountain Climbers
Jumping Jacks

Cooldown (Jog and stretch)

Or you can always go to a spinning class, but you might run into this:

NEXT WEEK: HOW TO KEEP YOUR BRAIN IN SHAPE