P90X Workout Review

Golf season just about ended today here in Michigan. We have received some unseasonably warm weather for the first week of November. I was walking around outside today in shorts and a long sleeve shirt. It looks like winter is going to be creeping in by the weekend so I'm glad I got in a round of golf the other day.

Golfing is one of my favorite activities to do. I am not on a league but probably get out 4 times a month. During high school I played on the golf team so I was not so bad. My average was in the low 40's back then when I was playing 4 days a week. Should have been better thinking about it now and I know why I was not. Its all because of fitness. I was not a "fat kid" to say but I could have enjoyed playing sports and golf more if I was in shape.

This was my first summer playing golf while doing the P90X workout. Some of the courses I usually play are Fern Hill, Rammler, and Plum Brook. I live in Sterling Heights, MI and these courses are about a mile away. Prices are reasonable and usually you can just go up there with out a tee time. I guess that's what happens in a crappy Michigan economy.

The first thing I noticed this year was how much farther I was hitting my clubs. I bought myself a Taylor Made R5 Draw Driver for me for Christmas two years ago. I thought I was crushing the ball last year, you should have seen how surprised I was this year when I put another 15 yards on top of the 25 I put on last year just because of the club. My brother was even amazed with it. He was doing P90X with me in the beginning but did not stick with the program the whole way through. He did not quite get the same P90X results as I did mainly because he did not work as hard.

What I noticed a lot over the summer was the same par 4 holes I was hitting driver and 4 iron into, I was now hitting driver and 8 iron. What a big difference it makes when you know you can hit the golf ball 70% of the way to the green on the first swing. My confidence started to grow very quickly. I hit the ball straight most of the time but even when I would slice one it would still get way out there. Compared to last year I would still be some 50 yards further and even if it was not a great lie I could get out of it or at least be able to advance the ball further where my next shot I was still hitting a 8 iron (my money club) instead of a 4 iron.

More scores on average probably dropped about 2 shots per round than from last year. It probably would have been 2 more if I would have been practicing my short game and putting. That old saying of "drive for show and putt for dough" could not be any truer. My wedges and putter did not get me that much help in the score column. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't go for a couple shots that I knew I could not have cleared last year and almost did it this year. Even though its not tournament play I still count my penalty strokes. This way even if I shot the same score as last year but had 3 more penalty strokes trying to see how far I could crush it I felt like I was improving. This way I now know my strength. Next time those 3 penalty strokes will not be there and I will probably be shooting in the high 30's.

Some of the highlights of this year where playing at some nice courses. I was two months into P90X when I went down to Cancun, Mexico. I played a course called Iberostar. Very nice course with Iguanas every where. This is when I first started feeling the new strength. I was out driving the people in my group by 30-50 yards every time with a rental set of clubs.

 Probably the biggest highlight of the year came when I played at Sanctuary Lakes Golf Course in Troy, MI. It was a windy day out there but their 10th hole is up on a hill and is about 420 yards long. Its pretty much a straight shot to the hole but I was feeling like I wanted to unload on a drive. I crushed a drive and the wind was pushing it back from right to left. When the ball came down it hit the cart path and bounced towards the middle of the fairway. That ball ended up going 360 yards!! I was so pumped. Sure, the cart path added another 15 yards on the hop, but it still went over 330 with out it. Definitely my longest drive ever. This was only a couple weeks ago too.

I wish I could have gotten out more than I did this year but it still was an enjoyable year. Knowing that I can hit the long ball it made my game that much easier to control. With more practice on the short game and putter along with P90X I could definitely be shooting in the high 30's for 9 holes. If you are looking for a great golf workout then I highly suggest buying the P90X DVDs. You will not only help your golf swing but your overall fitness.

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.

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 pictures 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 (watch my video) 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. Those were my immediate gains. 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 that I gave P90X a try. 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 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 results more visible.

Also: Did you read about the Beachbody Coach program?