P90X Fittness Program

[dr. espo]

Now sure where to post this...but, thought I'd give it a shot here. Is anyone familiar with the Tony Horton P90X fitness system? I was considering increasing my fitness level using the C-2 AND training with the P90X. I understand its pretty extreme buy you can, of course, modify it.

If any C-2 rowers out there have any comments they would be welcome

Mike

[bepah]

The only experience I have seen is with people in my office thatclaim to have been using it. The one male (in his mid- has lost a significant amount of weight and his cholesterol and BP have dropped to normal levels. He claims the program is brutal but he is glad to have done it.

All of the women in the office who claim to have or are currently using have no external changes that I can see......I am guessing that the modified exercises to compensate for being female are not producing the levels of energy expenditure required to lose the same amount of weight. One tells me she has actually gained weight.

One of these ladies will be joining me in the gym this Friday after I told her I lost 17 pounds in the last 6 weeks making no changes to my diet but merely erging 6 days a week. I also told her that if she worked as hard as I am, she would hate me after the first day.......we shall see.

[RBFC]

The reason P90X and similar programs work is that they motivate people to exercise with intensity. Bepah is correct in stating that "no external changes" is due to modification of the program: translation: it's made too easy to elicit any physiological adaptation.

The largest contributor to body composition is diet. It will come as no surprise that people are fat because they consume too many calories. It can be virtually impossible to lose/maintain weight by using a rower or any exercise program when one is over-consuming food. The "modified" P90X probably doesn't use nearly as many calories as the full version....

That said, the marketing and social "pressure" that is successfully cultivated by such exercise programs is as much the reason for their success as is the choice/programming of exercises. People simply WANT to stay on the program and get the certificate, t-shirt, whatever, that states they are not a "quitter". None of this is meant to say that the originators of such programs are not doing great things for people. It's just important to understand how exercise, diet, and results are related.

Lee

[carlb]

The largest contributor to body composition is diet. It will come as no surprise that people are fat because they consume too many calories. It can be virtually impossible to lose/maintain weight by using a rower or any exercise program when one is over-consuming food.

A long with "consume too many calories" I think it equally or more important to consider "too little nutrition", i.e. "overfed and undernourished".

I think success is unlikely by simply focusing on reducing calories by trying to eat less of mostly the same foods, or lower cal versions of the same tasting foods. You've got to completely change your eating to 80%+ nutritious foods. They tend to be difficult to over eat. Then eat them for the rest of your life. Don't eat a brownie with almost zero nutrition made low-cal via chemicals, instead eat a banana and for a treat a little square of dark chocolate.