P90X - Week 1 - (Day 1 to 7)

I started P90X on July 9, 2009. I weigh in at 174 lbs. Here are my pictures. My goal is to reach 160 lbs after 90 days. I wake up early in the morning. Sometimes as early as 5:30. So I really need time and dedication to finish this journey. Imagine punishing yourself at 5:30 am (lol) and seeing your wife quietly sleeping on the bed.

For the first 3 days (Day 1-3) I didn't pushed myself to the limit. I don't want to happen again my experience on my first encounter with P90X. I now know my limitation, but for the last three days, I see that my strength and conditioning are going better and better.

I followed every step and moves in the first six days except for two in YOGA X (Crane and Plough to shoulder stand). I believe I can't do those moves for now. I'm afraid of getting injured. Maybe I can do it before the first month ends.

I can't say which is the hardest, but they say that it's Yoga X. Maybe. My sweat is not stopping after doing the first 30 minutes of it. Easiest they say is Kenpo X (day 6). Which is like Karate (sort of) with punching and kicking, and punching and kicking. I followed the video from start to finish without hitting the pause button. So, maybe they're right or maybe my conditioning is getting better.

Tomorrow is my rest day or I can do Stretch X. I'm not decided yet. But it's good to see that I got this far after hearing some discouragement. I know I can do it. 84 days to go.

Where to get a Pull Up / Chin Up Bar in the Philippines

Patience is a virtue. I believe in that quote.

After trying out Power 90 for several days, I decided that it is not for me. Yes, it will help to achieve my goal in losing weight and becoming fit, but in my opinion, it is too easy unlike P90X workout. Although Power 90 helped me to increase my stamina to become ready in P90X I am getting bored in doing it.

So, I decided to give P90X another try. I told myself that I will just hit the pause button (just like what Tony Horton always say in the video) if I feel a little tired. I will not pushed myself to limit unlike the first time I tried.

Once again, I tried searching for a chin up bar in the internet. I literary search every possible fitness website/forums in the Philippines to gain knowledge where to buy it locally. I searched every known internet marketplace / buy and sell website in the Philippines to no avail. In short, I failed.

I was contemplating on ordering it from Amazon.com. But it means shelling out $40-$50 for the pull up bar itself and then having it shipped here in the Philippines for another $40 or more. I was about to do that, then I notice that Amazon do not use the word pull-up bar or chin-up bar for the item. The most popular chin up bar in Amazon is called Iron Gym Total Upper body Workout Bar.

A light bulb glow into my head and I search Philippine websites for Iron Gym Total Upper body Workout Bar instead of the keyword I was using (chin up bar, pull up bar) and BAM! There it is. Toby's Sports have it. It is not the extreme edition, just the regular one but it will suffice. It costs P980 (about $20) so it's a big saving for me than ordering it in amazon.

Here's the picture of the Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout bar:

P90 X here I come!

Trying out Power 90

After the ass kicking I got from P90X and because I don't have a pull up bar yet, I decided to give Power 90 a try.

Some forum members says that it can be use as a preparation for P90X. It is a lighter version of P90x. The exercises last for 30 minutes approximately unlike P90X that has a duration of 1 hour for the majority of the exercises (yoga x is the longest having 1 hour and 30 minutes). Just like P90X, you do weight lifting and push ups every other day (3 days) and cardio exercises in between. The exercises are fairly easy for me except for the push-ups. But I'm sweating heavy every workout.

So if you took the P90X fitness test and you don't pass, you can try first Power 90 to build your strength and get you ready for P90X.

P90X kicked my butt

I cannot start my regular P90X workout yet because of the problem with the chin up bar, so I decided to skip day 1 and run a test drive for day 2. Day 2 is Plyometrics. It's jumping and jumping and jumping some more. They say that P90x is not an easy workout and boy they are right.

After following the video for 15 minutes straight, I decided to hit pause because I feel that I am a little bit tired, drink some water and I felt a little nausea, and then I threw up! lol. That's what you get for doing intense workout after having 5 years of no exercise.

My wife was concerned and told me that I need to stop this P90X thing for now, until I'm ready. Obviously, I don't have a choice so I heed her advice.

Now, back to the drawing board.

Getting the Equipments for P90X

I only need two equipments to start my P90X journey, dumbells and pull up bar/chin up bar. I don't have plans yet to buy the heart rate monitor for the cardio exercises and believe that the yoga mat and yoga blocks are not needed.

So, I went to Raon today to buy some dumbells, weights and pull up/chin-up bar. Price was P25/pound for black colored weights. It was P58 or P48 per pound for chrome plated (I'm not sure as I'm not interested of purchasing those after hearing the price).

I bought two adjustable dumb bells. 4 pcs of 10-pound weights. 4 pcs of 5-lb and 4 pcs of 2.5 lbs. That should suffice for now as I will only be starting out. I will just buy additional weights when I need them. It costs me P2200+

The problem was the chin up/pull up bar. I can't find any store in Raon that has it. So I went home disappointed because I was suppose to start P90X coming July 1st.

I'm thinking if I will just do it on my own by following some DIY guide on the internet or I will hire a welder to do it for me after seaching some samples on the internet. I'm still not decided yet.

P90X - Day 0 Pictures

I'm posting my pictures here to feel myself accountable and not give up for 90 days.

I blurred out the face because I am not that confident, yet. Also, the side view is missing as the memory of digital camera became corrupted. I will post another set of photos after 30 days.

P90X - The Preparation

After I decided to join the P90x bandwagon, next thing is the preparation. The workout place is not a problem. I can do it here in my office, by using my laptop or at home. But I encounter some problems along the way:

1) Nutrition plan

P90x came with a nutrition plan that you need to follow for 90 days if you want to achieve the best results. The problem is, not all the food in the nutrition plan is readily available here in the Philippines. If I were in Manila, I believe it should not be that big of a problem, but I'm here in Cavite and the options are limited.

So I decided not to follow the nutrion plan/diet BUT decided to start eating healthy and I change the way I eat. Here are some of the changes I made:

• Eat 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 big meals that I do before. This one is important.
• Completely avoid soda (softdrinks), cakes, juice and chocolates because of its high sugar content.
• Stop my habit of drinking beer or any other alcoholic drinks.
• Drink plenty of water.
• Started eating plenty of vegetables

It's tough, I know but I believe I can do it for 90 days.

2) Equipments

I'm searching the internet to where I can buy a pull up bar/ chin up bar here in the Philippines but I cannot find any store or online store that offers it. I will try to go to Raon to see if it is available there, if not maybe I will just hire a welder to do a custom made one for me.

P90x - The Beginning

I stumbled upon P90x while browsing my favorite Internet Marketing forum. Somebody started a thread about workout and P90x, if it works or not. One guy replied with his picture when he finished doing the 90 days of p90x. It was impressive.

I quickly became interested, just because I want to get fit again after years of neglecting my body. I am sitting all day, in front of the computer for at least 8 hours a day. I don't do any exercise at all (except before my wedding). So here I am with 180-pound body, 5 foot 6 frame, eating all the food I want, sitting all day. Yeah, it was the recipe for disaster.

After reading the reviews, visiting some forums about P90x, looking at transformation pictures at beachbody.com website, watching p90x transformation videos at youtube, I was quickly hooked. I decided to acquire P90x videos. I read all the materials that came with it, and my education in nutrition and being fit began.