P90X (for Pain 90 times more than you thought existed)

I was in Colorado working in a theatre for May and June and started hiking, which made me realize that I had not worked out in about a year and that I liked it. I had done kickboxing for a while couple years ago and had looked into it again when I moved to Boston, but could not afford it (what cost $150 for a semester of unlimited classes in Western Michigan University costs $200 for one class once a week at Boston University), so I stopped working out. Sure there is the free rec center but I don't really know what to do on my own, how many reps, how much weight, etc. Classes are so much more fun for me, particularly when I get to kick things.

One of the actors in Colorado gave me a workout dvd and I realized that that could possibly be my way back to working out that I could afford. Fast forward back to Boston where my wonderful boyfriend took a few pictures of me that I disliked so much that I ended up being mad at me. Now, I really try to be a good girlfriend and he definitely didn't deserve me taking my frustration with myself on him. That's when I realized that for my own well being (and his), I should really workout.

I looked up workout dvds online and stubbled upon reviews of P90X, all raving about the program. The difference with the other videos is that it is a three-month program, made with 12 dvds. There are three different programs you can follow, with a different order for the dvds. The concept of the trainer, Tony Horton, is to confuse the muscles. The way he goes about it is to have a completely different type of workout every day, an hour a day, six days a week. In the classic program, the first week is made of weight lifting, yoga, kenpo (similar to kickboxing), etc. It works on all aspects of body health: strength, flexibility, resistance, etc.

I had to try it so I ordered it.

While waiting for it to arrive, I found some videos of Billy Banks on Youtube, which are divided in a few videos but make an entire workout (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_playlists&search_query=billy+banks&uni=1). There are maybe four different ones on there, so I did different ones every day, and Billy Banks is one of my new heros. I also got a netflix subscription in the meantime and checked out the workout videos on instant viewing, but was not impressed by any of them, particularly not by the ones by Jillian Michaels who made fun of the people working out with her, and didn't push anybody to go on when they got tired. Those videos seemed to be more about her and how grat she looks than about getting everybody to work out. Billy Banks works you hard, is quite inspirational, and also offers easier and harder alternatives if needed.

P90X finally arrived and I started it last week. I love it, and I can't wait to see my body in three months at the end of the program. I don't find the exercices to be so difficult that I can't find them, but the pain that follows proves that it is working parts of my body that I didn't know existed. Because different parts of the body are worked on each day, each muscle has the time to recover enough to be able to work out once their time comes again.

Tony Horton is a funny guy that, besides his perfectly sculpted body, isn't like other trainers at all. He has quite a goofy side to him, and seems quite happy and open minded. He has different people working behind him for each workout dvd, most of them who were part of the tes group for the program, non professional athletes. For the leg workout, he actually chose to have one of the guys behind him who did the program and is missing a leg, which he uses as proof that anybody can do the exercices.

P90X comes with a lot of nutrition stuff as well, which I am not following, as I do not believe in nutritionism after reading In Defense Of Food by Michael Pollan (more on this wonderful book in another post). The dvds seem to be plenty for me to get ripped and kiss my boyfriend with a smile when he takes pictures of me.

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