P90X Results With Photos - 30 Days at the P90X Reviews Blog

P90X Results With Photos - 30 Days

After 30 days of doing the P90X extreme workout it’s time to write a review of P90X and the results I have achieved using this fitness system.

I started the program on February 3rd and at that time my weight was 185 and my body fat percentage of 25.7%. About six weeks prior to starting P90X I had cleaned up my diet and made a consistent effort to eliminate refined sugars, high fat food, and other junk. In addition to the diet, I was back on the fitness regime of my own design that helped me drop 20 pounds when I was first married. It was resistance work one day, cardio the next with one day off. In those six weeks, I dropped 10 pounds. The last couple of weeks before I switched to P90X, I would put the DVD’s in and watch them as I rode my stationary bike for an hour. I thought I was ready for P90X…boy was I wrong.

The first week I was in pain. Not the type of pain that would prevent me from working out the next day, it was more like a dull muscle ache. I felt it was a good sign, my muscles were being challanged to grow and strengthen. I didn’t have any trouble going to sleep the first week, as a matter of fact I went to bed an hour and a half earlier than I had the weeks before P90X. One of the reasons I went to bed early was that the only time I had to workout without distractions or interruptions was at 5:30 in the morning. In the past I had done my workouts at night, but I would often feel to tired to workout or make excuses to myself for not lifting weights that evening. Those excuses over the years have really put on the pounds.

“All it takes is an hour a day to get in the best shape of your life”. That’s what the Beachbody site claims. Not really true. The Yoga X workout, the longest of the workouts, will consume one hour and 32 minutes of your day. Most of the other workouts are about and hour, but on some days you’ll do one workout and follow it up with Ab Ripper X. That P90X workout consists of 15 minutes of gut busting ab and core exercises without a single break in the routine. Although the P90X program is marketed as a program that only requires an hour a day, the facts are it’s going to be a little more. If your looking for an exercise that’s quick and easy, P90X is not for your. Beachbody offers a couple other programs that are much shorter and are geared for the beginner.

In addition to the time for the workouts, I’ve found that I have been spending more time planning out my meals everyday - which is a good thing. I spend about twice as much time as I used to gathering up healthy snacks and lunches I take to work. Lately I have been closely tracking my nutrional intake using the desktop version of Fitday.com. I seemed to have hit a weight loss plateau at the end of day 30 and now I’m trying to discover the cause of the problem. There are a couple of good free online programs that will help you track your daily nutrition, fitday.com and livestrong.com are two of the most popular with P90Xers. Journaling my food intake is something I’ve resisted since I have started the program, I know there are studies that claim that dieters who track there food intake are more successful than those who don’t, but it’s so boring and a little too obsessive for me. But I’ve done it for about a week now and it’s becoming more a part of my daily habit. I typically just jot notes down in my day timer, than in the evening spend about 20-30 minutes entering all the data and analyze how I’m doing. My caloric intake is less than what is recommended by the P90X Nutrition Guide, and I’m burning more calories than what I’m taking in - at least that’s what Fitday is telling me. I have noticed that I am consuming more carbs than protein right now. In this phase, the amounts should be equal. That’s where these eating journals/analyzers really prove their worth. I know I need to make an adjust for example trade out the apple for one of my snacks and replace it with a source of protein such as a cheese stick or a protein bar.

My P90X equipment consists or two pairs of dumbbells, a set of cast iron plates for the bars, the Iron Gym doorway pull-up bar, heart rate monitor, and a yoga mat. My diagnostic equipment consists of a fat caliper, Fitday calorie tracking program, and a Thinner brand digital scale.

I have used the bands in a pinch and liked they way they worked out my shoulders in place of the pull-up bar, but I wouldn’t trade my dumbbells for the bands on any of the arm exercises. If you can work into your budget, go for the dumbbells.

I’ve blogged about my impressions about each workout during my first 30 days so I’ll just summarize my thoughts. Since P90X is a one size fits all workout, it’s going to be too much for some people and not enough for other people. The P90X DVD’s don’t take into account any previous injury you have or medical condition that may prevent you from performing some exercises. The Plyometrics workout for me feels like it is actually doing more harm than good since I have knee joint problems and this high impact exercise is nothing but explosive jumping and twisting. Not good for me, so I have to modify the exercises when I feel it putting too much strain on my knees.

After 30 days of P90X, I have noticed a difference in my overall fitness level. I can see why they have a fitness test that you can download for free and attempt at home before you make the commitment and buy P90X. I took the test and probably should have started with P90 first, but I ignored the results of the test and bought P90X anyway.

I now have a renewed interest in fitness, exercising, and nutrition which is certainly a benefit whether or not I choose to continue using P90X beyond the 90 days. I’ve discovered some great fitness podcasts and websites so I’m building on my knowledge of weighlifting, supplements, and nutrition each day. I’m not sure what my final results will be in the way of weight loss, but eventually I will be healthier due to P90X.

I have lost a couple of inches around the waist and shirt collars that were once snug are now really loose. It’s great to see results from my hard work. When I took my 30 day photos I was expecting to see a huge difference, since I only lost five pounds in the first 30 days, I had to analyze the photos to spot the areas of improvement. I can see the loss around the waist and a little more definition in my upper back. I don’t show a lot of my upper legs in the photos, but I have lost inches there too.

Well first the numbers:

Day 1
Weight: 185
Fat Percentage: 25.7%

Day 30
Weight: 180
Fat Percentage: 24.5%

Now the photos:

Here are some other posts you might be interested in:

P90X Results 90 Days With Photos

Filed in P90X Results | Mark March 18, 2009

6 Comments

By Mike, March 19, 2009 @ 7:55 am

Dude, keep up the great work. Good review as well. When I went through P90X the first time I didn’t see the dramatic changes in my Day 30 pics either. It was strange because I FELT better, but I didn’t see much difference. But stay with it. Becasue for me, there was a dramatic difference between the Day 60 and Day 90 pictures. My buddy Jeff (Dangle The Carrot) had the same thing happen with his pics too.

That being said, you have really made a dent in your stomach and you should be proud of that. Keep pushing play!
By Boomer, March 19, 2009 @ 1:16 pm

I hit a plateau around the 30 day mark and then sometime during phase 2 weight just avalanched off me. I am towards the end of phase 3 and I am plateauing once again. I think this is just how the body works. Keep up the great work.

Boomer
Project Exercise
By Mark, March 19, 2009 @ 9:51 pm

Great results! I wish I took my before picture. I’d like to visit here regularly to post comments in support of your blog. Please, let me know if you know anyone in the Denver area who is a coach or likes any Beachbody program like P90X. I’m helping to put together the very first Beachbody workout studio!
By Ronda, March 20, 2009 @ 7:44 pm

Great post! Thank you for taking the time to do this. My husband and I started P90X last week and I was looking for inspiration and real users experience with it. So far, I really love it. I agree with you, last week I was pain, but not immobile. But, after doing tonight’s work out I felt great. I hope we can keep this up and see some great results.

Best of luck!!!!
By Kent, March 24, 2009 @ 1:21 pm

If you stick with this program and work hard, you’ll see results. I truly hope you do that, and your review remains objective, and not reflective of a lack of effort. I have knee problems as well, and have written about them on my thread on the P90X blogs,, but guess what… my legs are 10 times stronger than they were and my knee barely bothers me at all doing Plyo now (I’m in phase 3).
All I’m saying is maybe you should be a bit less critical of the program until such time as you’ve finished it. I truly hope you have the results you aspire to, and end up being another advocate for this program; it has changed the lives of MANY people out there.
Cheers.