[frodan]

NOTE: Updated as of 10/22
Post #1 - Workout review
Post #2 - Equipment review
Post #39 - Eating plans
Post #83 - Q&A, comments, feedback
Post #124 - More Q&A
Feel free to PM or AIM (LaiNaD10) for any direct questions!! Sorry to those who PM'd me while my inbox was full. It's clear now.

Hey everyone. Not many people may know me, and for those who do, they probably remember me as some random online who they would easily crush. I wasn't much good at Halo, so after last semester, me and my friends quit. I realized how much weight I was packing from non-stop Dr. Pepper and pizza nights from gaming and I decided to finally get my life in check through some exercise.

When I was 18, I was a 185 lb, 5'7 Asian with terrible eating habits. Not a very good combination. I tried shedding pounds by not eating meals like breakfast, but it was only a matter of time before I would indulge myself. My friend referred me to P90X and gave me his DVD and I figured I would give it a go. My life has never been the same health-wise.

Here are the pictures:
Frontal:
Day 0



Day 30



Day 60



Day 90




Side (first few look awkward, I know):
Day 0



Day 30



Day 60



Day 90




Back:
Day 0



Day 30



Day 60



Day 90




I'm going to Anaheim (West Coast, represent) as a coach because I still love MLG. And for proof that I didn't jack no one's testimonial and to show my continual support for gaming:



Before the program, I was the laziest SOB you would have ever met. I hated sweating, working out, and I absolutely LOVED eating the worst foods. I did follow the eating plan, which was probably the most costly part of the program. My friends would always taunt me while they eat out and I would sit there drinking nothing but water.

My final results:
- 160 starting weight, 150 ending weight. I lost 25 lbs after the first 2 phases, gained back 15 lbs in muscle.
- 11.3% BF to boot, now at 4.2%
- Grew an inch taller (I suppose bc no late gaming nights and regular sleep)


Post any questions or comments and I'll be glad to respond!
============
WORKOUT REVIEW:
Here I'll be laying out a detailed review of each individual work out, as well as how I ate to shred the initial pounds.

I'm reviewing them in the order that the Classic routine introduced them to me.

Ab Ripper X - 15 minutes
Oh. my. goodness. This totally kicked my butt the first 10, 15 times. If you're doing this for the first time, my advice would be to MODIFY the workouts so its less intense on your abs and decrease the amount of reps. Start at 20 reps instead of 25. I felt incredibly nauseous after doing it the first time, and I didn't even do the intensified versions of the exercises. Pfeifer scissors and the oblique V-ups (I make my elbows and feet touch) are what I struggle with, even to this day. Having shoes on or off make a HUGE difference here.

Overall Difficulty: 9/10

Chest and Back - 55 minutes
As the very first workout I've done, it totally rocked my world. Especially because you repeat all the exercises again once you think you're done. I kept track of everything I was doing, even the amount of push ups. Get this: I started off being able to do 5 dive bomber (sometimes called "marine push ups"). By week 11, I'm pumping out 15 on a good day! Pumping out pull ups when you've blasted your chest with all those push ups is gold and produces major results!

Overall Difficulty: 8/10

Plyometrics - 60 minutes
The mother of all P90X workouts. Lives up to its name. Plyo is a fancy shmancy way to say jump training, and it is just that. 6 sets of 4 moves, twice (essentially 8 moves per set); for 30 seconds - 60 seconds each. In the end, you log in an hour straight of non stop jumping and lateral/forward movement. The first month burned me so badly. Modify, modify, modify if you have to and don't be afraid to take longer breaks. They only give you 30 seconds, which feels like 10 because Tony Horton loves to talk so much.

Overall Difficulty: 10/10

Shoulders and Arms - 55 minutes
Not incredibly difficult, but still gets the job done. You're doing shoulders-bi-tris the entire time. What's great about the workout is that, like Chest and Back, it makes you do every exercise twice, but in 3 workout intervals. For example, you would do presses, curls, kickbacks and repeat those 3 before moving on to another set. This way, your memory of how to adjust (heavier up the weight, more/less reps, etc.) is fresh. My only advice here is to pay attention to the weights you're using and make sure you go hard during the bonus set.

Overall Difficulty: 6/10

Yoga X - 90 minutes
I first thought Yoga wasn't necessary, but I soon realized how hard it is to maintain your balance postures. They are TOUGH especially if you're not flexible. Believe it or not, Yoga X is probably one of the workouts I sweat the most because of all the tension for the first 45 minutes. The second half is more relaxed and more stretch-oriented, which is great because your muscles are warm and in a prime-time for increasing flexibility. I could barely touch my toes when I was sitting, but now I need a block to place between my feet and hands because of how flexible I've gotten! My only discourse is that it takes 1 hours and 30 minutes total.

Overall Difficulty: 8/10

Legs and Back - 55 minutes
This workout is great if you're a skier, tennis player, baseball fielder or anything that requires major thigh/glute strength and mobility. They make you do one legged wall sits. Nuts, I tell ya. Legs and Back are also a great way for you to see your max reps on pull ups, since your back muscles are pretty isolated from your legs. I started off 3 or 4 pull ups to now being able to do over 18 at a time! Always do your best to keep squeezing pull ups WITH GOOD FORM. You can injure your neck otherwise. Be careful!

Overall Difficulty: 7/10

Kenpo X - 60 minutes
Kenpo is definitely the most fun workout because it relieves the most stress while burning a ton of calories. Its essentially a bunch of kicks, punches, elbows, and blocks all jammed together. My advice here is to bring your own intensity. Otherwise, you're just moving limbs and nothing happens. Also, the "break" isn't really a break. I sometimes put some plyo moves instead of their jumping jacks so I can get my heart rate up.

Overall Difficulty: 6/10

X Stretch - 55 minutes
An hour of stretching. To some, it may be pointless, especially if you have other activities that require stretching like athletics or construction work. Definitely helps though if you're sore. I always did it and felt better afterwards. Plus, the hour goes by incredibly fast.

Overall Difficulty: 2/10

Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps - 50 minutes
I love this workout! My favorite by far. The reason why is because every exercise is only once, so you have to max out EVERY time. It is PUSH UP city here. My jaw dropped when I saw the guys doing over a dozen one-handed push ups. I thought I would never be able to do any. I'm able to pump out maybe 8-10 now, but the hardest part is doing it after you've exhausted yourself with the other 15 exercises before it. Definitely get push up bars to increase the depth and ALWAYS do push ups until failure.

Overall Difficulty: 7/10

Back and Biceps - 50 minutes
Ahhh this is one of the shorter work outs (only 45 minutes), but I often spend over an hour. This workout, like CS&T, only has you do one of each exercise, but you're doing 2 back exercises (usually a weight and some sort of pull up) and 2 bicep exercises. This is where the money is for the biceps. Adding some good weight (25 - 35) will get you absolutely JACKED. Guaranteed. I can do about 5 - 6 corn cobs on a good day so don't worry if you start off with 1 or 2.

Overall Difficulty: 8/10

Core Synergistics - 55 minutes
If you're not dripping after this workout, you definitely did not push enough. The workout is all about hitting multiple groups at a time, such as your abs and your thighs or your chest, shoulders and glutes. Doing the basic exercises aren't too hard, but doing the advanced versions of them can get pretty intense. Make sure to breathe and always engage your stomach area! This workout is basically a little of everything: Plyo, resistance, abs, and regular cardio.

Overall Difficulty: 6/10

Cardio X - 45 minutes
I never did it, but my sister who does the Lean cycle did. It's basically 45 minutes of various exercises dedicated to make you sweat. Pretty straightforward. Not too hard, just keep doing your best and keep up with them. Like in Kenpo, bring your intensity level as high as possible without going over your max heart rate.

Overall Difficulty: 5/10

[frodan]

EQUIPMENT REVIEW
One of the beauties of P90X is that you can use whatever works. Literally. At the beginning of each workout (as well as the information packets), they list out everything you would need for the upcoming exercises. Some of them you already have, such as chairs, a plastic plate, cardboard, or a mat/carpet you can use. I'll show you what I used as well as some other alternatives.

Even though I linked everything off Amazon, I got them from retail stores.

Pull Up Bar - $29.99
http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Gym-Total...6190734&sr=1-1
I used Iron Gym's pull up bars, which you can pick up from almost any ASOT store or sporting goods outlet. The IG pull up bar relies on using the door frame as the support for your weight, and you should be good unless you weigh over 250. The Beachbody ones are $40 more expensive and have a few more nooks and crannies, but you really don't need them because you only need to be able to hold wide and close grip positions.

Alternatives: My friend used his basement and installed a regular 2-inch pipe in one of the door frames. I've seen people get really creative and build their own by constructing two posts, weighing them down, and setting up a bar with some foam as cushions. Get to Home Depot and they will set up you.

Push Up Bars - $19.99 (sale)
http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Fitnes...6190774&sr=1-1
I use the Perfect Push Up things, just like the ASOT (yeah, I'm cheap like that) ones! They not only make the push ups harder, but give you a good 4, 5 inches of depth. Another reason to use bars for push ups is because people have wrist issues and experience pain while doing them. Using these will help alleviate that problem.

Alternatives: Legit push up bars give you crazy amounts of depth so don't be shy of getting a good pair. TKO bars are the way to go: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007ZF56C?...JWCVMNW3WETDH&

Free-weights - Free
I didn't spend a dime on it because I borrowed my friend's set. For 3 months. Yeah...but anyways, I used ADJUSTABLE ones because I don't have that much space for my workouts! I can't just line it up like they do in their warehouse. I sometimes pause and adjust, but usually I mix using bands and the weights. For example, for Shoulders and Arms, I would keep the weight constant at 25, but use the bands for everything tricep and shoulder, since no way in heck can my tris handle 25 kick backs.

Alternatives: Dumbbells are what I actually prefer, but make due with whatever you got. If you only have a set of 15s and 20s, that's good enough for the time being. You gotta start somewhere. If you're willing to sink some $$$ into it, good sets of dumbbells can be over 200 if you want a 15-40 set (increments of 5), but adjustable ones, again, are cheaper and more space efficient. If I was ballin, I would go with Power Blocks. http://www.amazon.com/PowerBlock-Adj...6191420&sr=1-1

Resistance Bands - 3 sets, $25
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_...refix=SPRI +r
Don't underestimate the useful of the bands! I feel like using them as a substitute for pull ups is a bit weak, but for all things arms and shoulders, oh baby its a monster. Especially for shoulder exercises! I use SPRI bands because they're extremely reliable and durable.

Alternatives: I'm not really sure, but definitely the Beachbody ones make it easier to follow them. They do charge a lot so I would just recommend getting the SPRI ones. Here's one definite tip though: NO good bands come from retail stores. Trust me. They snap. They hurt. They're inconvenient. On so many levels. Just don't do it.

Yoga Mat - <$10
http://www.amazon.com/Close-Out-Yoga...6191531&sr=1-7
I stole my from my mom (who used it only once for Pilates, so I figured I would use it instead). Very useful. I went without one for 2 months and having one really does help with support. Also, it's good for sweat management because usually my piles of sweat splatter and I'm tripping all over the place. These sponge it up for ya.

Alternatives: If you have a carpet, that is actually good enough, but just make sure you pad up your elbows and knees sometimes because they can hurt. Even using a towel on carpet would be fine except for Yoga (Stretch, Ab Ripper is fine). If you have hardwood, concrete, or...asphalt I guess, just make sure you have a mat that CLINGS to the ground. Helps a lot to be able to have something that can be cushy when you fold it, so that certain postures/positions/stretches won't hurt your joints.

Heart Rate Monitor
http://www.amazon.com/Timex-T5G971-U...6191904&sr=1-2
I've never used one, but they can be extremely useful. Knowing if you're "in the zone" will be good indicators if you have to work harder or if you're overdoing it. Only get it if you really feel like you need it. Usually I can tell by the sweat pouring off my body and check my own pulse. I wish I could get one though.


My total equipment cost: ~$75

[CALLYxSa]

I've always wanted to make a motivational.

[Tattered-]

I'm real happy for you man..
I'm gonna let you finish.

[u4iX]

Awesome work, man!

Now throw some mass on that.

[HaloSamurai]

What was the total cost for food and the program?

[skip2mefil]

pretty nice cuts
Need more mass.

My body is way better though.

[Tattered-]

Originally Posted by skip2mefil

pretty nice cuts
Need more mass.

My body is way better though.

picz or it didn't happen

[Desabrais]

Actually quite impressive/inspiring, congratz. Can one drink copious amounts of alcohol on this program?

[J3TTY]

Did you eat/make their listed meals or did you make your own recipes following their breakdown of protein, fat, carbs?

Great progress, btw.