Edit: 10/11/2010: Its almost been 2 years to the date (man, I’m 30 years old now) since I completed my first round of P90X and to be honest after looking at my original P90X results I don’t think they give P90X any justice. I was very happy with my original results but to get the most out of P90X you really need to follow the meal plan and that was something I did not do. So I decided it was time to show off my new P90X results. You can watch my quick video or read everything below.
New P90X Results
I have a lot more definition now then after my first round of P90X. While I did do other workouts like Insanity, and some of the Tony Horton 1 on 1 workouts, P90X was my main workout of choice. I say I did it about 85% of the time over the past 4 months.
What is interesting to know is that many of my reps (pull ups & push ups) along with the amount of weight I could lift were slightly higher. The biggest factor came from what I ate. I followed the meal plan about 90% of the time and if I had to pick one item that helped me have the definition it would be Shakeology. What a difference it made. I felt better and it was the one meal of the day where I knew I was getting all the vitamins, proteins, and other healthy stuff into my body.
Feel free to read the info below and to look at my original P90X results. I cannot recommend Beachbody’s Shakeology product enough. It truly was a game changer. If you are struggling with meal plan like I was trying to get great P90X results then you need to be using Shakeology. I suggest signing up as a Beachbody Coach like I did first so you get a 25% discount on it along with free shipping. Feel free to contact me with questions.
Original Post from 10/17/2008 Below
I decided it was about time that I put up my P90X before and after photos. However, when I was going through my photos I found out that I forgot to take any Day 30 Before and Afters and some Day 60 photos too. Please bare with me on the photos. I never intended to put them up in the first place and I’m not a expert in taking pictures. You will see that I am closer to the camera in some pictures and did or did not use the flash in others. This is why you will see some pictures with different sizes. Sorry about that. Should of done a better job of documenting this.
A little background on me before you look at the photos. Before I started doing P90X I had been doing a lot of running and was in pretty good shape as it was. I usually ran about 20 miles a week and would do about 50 push ups and chair dips after a run with 100 sit ups. Six months before starting P90X I completed the Detroit Marathon. I was in good cardio shape but did not have a lot of muscle because of all the running. I would say that I was “skinny fat.” Please read the entire post and not just look at the photos as I go in depth about my first round of P90X.
Old P90X Results
P90X Photos Of Day 1, 60, and 90
I can see from these photos that my upper body got bigger. From day 1 to day 60 I can see the V shape coming from my shoulders to waist. My forearms look bigger too. Probably could of gone without the flash on the camera for the Day 90 photo and not stuck out my chest either.
P90X Front Photos Of Day 1 And Day 90
It looks like my chest and shoulders got a little bigger in this photo.
P90X Back Photos Of Day 1, 60, and 90
I can definitely see that my back, shoulders and arms got bigger and there is some definition now. I contribute a lot of this to doing chin ups and pull ups. I think all of those pull ups made me a little wider so I now have more of a “V” shape.
P90X Back with Arms Down Photos Day 1 and 90
My back looks a little meatier now.
P90X Side Photos Day 1 and 90
Either I had a little gut and no chest muscles when I started or I lost the gut and now have chest muscles. My arms and shoulders look bigger now too. I can see the outline for my oblique ab muscles now too.
P90X Side Angle Photos Day 1, 60, and 90
Sorry about the photo sizes. My Day 1 photo of P90X looks dumb. What was I thinking? What’s up with the beard? I can see from when I started that I was skinny with little muscle definition. At Day 60 my arms, chest, and shoulders started to take shape. It was easy for me to see right off the bat where my improvements have been since Day 1 of P90X. My chest and stomach look a little more defined even from this side angle photo. My arms and shoulders look bigger too.
Why Don’t You Have Ripped Six Pack Abs?
Tony Horton once said “Abs are made in the kitchen” and of course he is right. I eat pretty good to begin with but only followed the P90X 3 Phase Nutrition Plan about 30% of the time. I thought what I was eating was good enough. Its not like I was fat before starting P90X so I figured that I could stay with what I was doing. Wrong again. Yes, I did P90X Ab Ripper X (watch my video) and could finish the entire routine after the workout around day 30. I could only do about 10 of each move the first time.
Why Don’t You Have More Muscle Definition?
The previous paragraph explains a large portion of that but I have to be honest about something. I started P90X in the beginning of summer. I ended up going out on my buddies boat almost every weekend that entire summer partying my ass off. We only get a couple months of sunshine here in Michigan so if you can get out on the lake then you do it. I know I was feeling a little bloated from all of the beer I was drinking so of course its not going to show off the abs. They are there, but hidden under a thin layer of beer. If I would of not partied every weekend that summer, my P90X results would have told a different story. Just being honest here as I’m sure your looking for real P90X reviews. After the weekend was over I pushed myself as hard as I could during the week with P90X trying to burn through those empty calories I consumed the previous weekend.
How Much Weight Did You Lose or Gain? How Much Did Your Body Fat % Change?
I started at 165 pounds and ended at 175 pounds. I was so skinny before starting P90X that my goal was to put on weight. My body fat percentage went from 13% to 11%. I was surprised with this as I thought it would go up based on how skinny I was. Turns out I was wrong. All the resistance training with P90X burned away the fat and turned it into muscle.
Any Accomplishments With P90X You Care To Share?
The first time I did P90X Legs and Back I was only able to do 3 total pull ups. At the end of the 90 days I did 82 through out the workout. The first time I did P90X Chest and Back I could only do 75 push ups and 2 total pull up / chin ups. At the end of P90X I could do 220 push ups and 52 pull up / chin ups.
How Did P90X Help Your Sports Activities?
I put 30 yards on my golf drive…no joke. I was just as surprised as my brother and friends were when they saw me outdrive them. I was now hitting driver and 8 iron into a Par 4′s green instead of driver and 6 iron. My scores improved by 4 strokes. If I could only get that putting down. I went from hitting 260 foot pop ups in my softball league to sending lasers off the 290 foot sign. Must of hit that sign 5 times at the end of summer. These were the P90X results I was most impressed with. I’m sure skiing and snowboarding are going to be a lot more fun as my legs and core are in better shape too.
Are You Happy With Your P90X Results?
Yes. I put on 10 pounds of muscle and was still able to run as far and faster then before P90X. This says alot because I was an avid runner to begin with and would only run about 2 miles a week during P90X when I would normally do 20 before.
I am able to enjoy the sports and activities I play much more now that I am in better shape. I know I need to give the meal plan a chance in my next round as I’m sure it will make a difference. All in all I am very happy with my P90X results. What started as something to do with a friend became a education in fitness. I never did things like Plyometrics, Kenpo, Yoga (its now one of my favorites), or even attempt a pull up.
So if you are looking to start P90X and live a similar lifestyle to mine you can expect these P90X results. If I had to grade myself with P90X I would give myself a 100% for effort on the workouts and a 70% on the eating (would be higher if it wasn’t for all of that beer). So 85% or a solid B. I highly recommend P90X to anybody regardless of your fitness level.
Bonus: Check out my Insanity workout results and P90X / Insanity Hybrid workout results. I learned my lesson from my first round of P90X and ate much better during these rounds making my P90X results more visible.
Nice work Brad… but I do have to ask… what is up with your day 1 angle pose? Are you about to do a curtsy? lol!
I can curtsy with the best of them.
Day 1 and Day 90 look exactly the same. Am I missing something?
Tim – Yes. You need to read the post. I updated it with new P90X results and why my results through the first round were not as visible.
I think it is okay to have a beer and eat some things that you enjoy. Once I completed one, two, three rounds what happens after that. It doesnt stop. You can do the maintenance mode for a while but you are still doing the same workouts. I then decided I wanted long term lifestyle change. I am on my 22nd month of using the program. I see and read a lot of people focusing on a specific day or week in the programs like they are sacrificing for 90 days to achieve short term results. That may be okay when you first start but ultimately we want fitness for life. It should be your normal daily routine and your exercise and diet need to be something that you can live with forever and not have the feeling that you are sacrificing. I mix the workouts up so that I work all of the muscle groups and add cardio and yoga. I also mix in sports with my friends and eat reasonably with portion sizes most of the time. I also have a burger and a beer every now and and then because I like to do that. I plan to workout everday for an hour or so and eat reasonably well for the rest of my life and I dont feel like I am sacrificing anything. It is part of my daily routine. That is how I can keep doing this forever.
Sorry man…i didn’t read any of the main post just saw pics and skimmed. Just now read and understand.
I’m starting week 3 of P90x classic and went into it pretty much in shape with good muscle definition in arms/shoulders…just soft midsection (skinny fat). I eat generally well but will clamp it down even harder to get the abs that I want.
I used to live in RO..now in Rochester Hills…so I appreciate the summer comments. going to buddy’s lake this weekend…falls on Yoga X day which I’ll do before going…and won’t be indulging in any drinking as i stopped for 90 days.
later
@ Jack
I know if I could cut back on the beer that I would have way more visible results. Its not like I’m a booze hound or anything but my social life seems to have it around. Buddies boat, playing softball 3 night a week, golfing, etc. Kudos to you for giving up drinking for 90 days. I think the longest I’ve gone without a beer since graduating from college is 30 days. I dropped 2% body fat from that alone. It kind of pissed me off as it told me that my chances of ever being on the cover of a fitness magazine were almost nill as I would have to give it up. That’s why I bust my butt with these workouts. I know they work as I can see and feel the results. Plus, I think I’ve been sore almost every day since starting Beachbody workouts in 2007. Those photos are 2 years old and was from my first round of P90X. Since then I’ve started following the meal plans more. My photos from my other rounds of P90X and Insanity show more definition.
I was up in Rochester the other week mountain biking through Stoney Creek and the Painted Creek Trail.