P90X has been on the market for a 6 years or so now, and has gained a legion of devoted followers with each passing year.  With a unique approach to workouts, called muscular confusion, this workout combines weight-training, cardio, plyometrics, yoga and kickboxing into an all out assault on your body and muscles.

You may have seen P90X on the various infomercials on Saturday mornings, or late night T.V.  You can checkout BeachBody.com, or the various forums and blogs out there of people who have completed the workout once, twice or numerous times, with great results.

If you read my review of this workout, you will find this article similar to that review, with a few changes. First, lets start out with the equipment you will need to complete this workout.

Equipment

I’ll start off my review listing the essential item’s you will need for this workout program.

Dumbbells – In either the adjustable type or standard dumbbells.  If you are a guy, you will want to get weights up to at least 50lbs. For a woman, up to 30lbs should do the trick.  I personally recommend buying them at Play-It-Again Sports.  I was able to buy used individual weights, in perfect condition for $0.50/pound.

Resistance Bands – When I signed up for the P90X program, I purchased a set of resistance bands.  I HIGHLY recommend you get the resistance bands  They provide a great alternative to dumbbells, especially if you are a beginner.  In fact, I found the resistance bands allowed me to have a better form during the phase 1 of the workout, when my body was not quite up to par yet.  The set you buy from BeachBody provides you with 4 levels of bands, ranging in weights from 20lbs up to 50lbs of resistance.

Pull-up Bar – I purchased the P90X Pull-up Bar directly from Beachbody, merely for convenience.  If I would have taken the time to shop around, I would have found similar pull-up bars at a variety of stores.  In fact, there is a product sold in Target and Walmart called the “Iron Gym” which is essentially the exact same bar, for half the price.  Anyway, back to the bar.  The bar mounts to your door frame via 2 L-shaped brackets, that I screwed directly into the 2×4 header above my door.  I was quite surprised at how well the pull-up bar works. Starting the program, I weighted 200lbs, and it supported my weight with ease.  Many of you will not be able to do pull-ups right out of the gate.  I recommend using a chair to help stabilize yourself, and give you some assistance, as Tony recommends in the DVDs, or purchase the P90X Resistance Bands Upgrade Kit.  The upgrade kit allows you to attach the resistance bands to a door hinge, and perform upright rows and simulation pull-ups.

There are other additional items you can purchase, such as push-up bars, a yoga mat, or yoga blocks, however these are merely addons that you don’t necessarily need.  If you are doing this program for the second time, I would recommend them, but this program will push you plenty hard, and wishing you were done, without the extras.

Workout

I performed this workout 2x during the lead up to my wedding, and I can honestly say, I found it the most challenging workout I have ever done, next to football conditioning in high-school.  Prior to starting P90X, I would frequent my local rec center 4 to 5 times per week, performing a mix of weight training and cardio.  I, like most guys, eventually hit my peak, and simply could not push through it.  As work picked up, and spring arrived, I began spending more time catching up on the house work, and less time at the gym.  At the beginning of May 2009, I decided I had had enough of the rec center, and wanted to try something new.  I saw the infomercial for P90X, that 45 year old Tony Horton going through the workouts, and though if he could do it, so could I.

I started at a weight of 205lbs, and after weighing myself at the conclusion of the program, I weighed 170lbs.  In total, I have dropped almost 3 pants sizes, and friends have said my face looks noticeably slimmer.

The workouts are a challenging mix of weight training, cardio, kickboxing and yoga exercises carefully mixed together.  At the end of the first week, I hurt in places I didn’t even know I had muscles!  However, the program is smartly designed to understand people will be sore, and give enough rest, and variation of body parts to ensure you are still able to complete the following day’s workout, even though your chest or legs are sore.

The program will push you until you can’t do another rep, then push you to get 2 more.  Just when you can’t go anymore, Tony gives you a minute break to catch your breath and recover.  Most workouts last about an hour, with about 10 to 15 mins of that stretching and warmup/cooldown.  A few of the workouts do go longer, such as the Yoga DVD, which last 90 mins.   At the end of each workout, you definitely feel like to trained for much more than an hour. After every workout, I was literally dripping wet with sweat, however you do feel great afterwards, like you really have accomplished something special.

Conclusion

In closing, I HIGHLY recommend the P90X Training Program.  Tony Horton makes the workouts fun and exciting, while kicking your butt along the way.  If you have the $130 to spare, I would purchase this product in a heartbeat!

Video

Checkout the P90X informercials featured on numerous cable channels, and on sites like YouTube.