P90X Infomercial Musings

There is no doubt that the rats spinning the wheels in every marketing department worldwide target the fat, lazy, impotent and/or unemployed...or a combo of all of the above. Television is once again on my list as one of the things I will be tempering this year, or perhaps just giving up completely. But I am getting off-topic here...

So...yes, this whole year I had a plan that got kinda fucked up because I let other people's lives distract me from my own intent. I don't regret it though because I got to spend the last 6 months of my grandfather's life with him...and that was priceless. Perhaps it just reinforces why I absolutely have to lay out this focused plan for my life over the next year.

Back to this infomercial...the P90X. Ok, so this thing is all over the 900+ channels I can surf - all day long. And yes, I finally broke down in a fit of complete boredom one day and watched the whole damn infomercial. Let me just say it was the first time I have ever done this...so whether on its own merits or just skilled marketing I let myself succumb to the hook yesterday (90 day guarantee). And I bought the P90X system along with the bands, the bar and the recovery drink. This may later go down as the story of how I gave away $250...remains to be seen I guess.

Now I did do some research...actually, I did a lot of research. And I watched the infomercial about 3 times. The infomercial is slick, dark and glistening with ripped abs - no doubt. That isn't what sold me though. It was all the reviews and blogs from everyday people that were using the system or had finished it. I googled it up and what I found was that the only people that weren't happy with it were the ones that gave up on it. Everyone had results...yes, some were more ripped than others. The ones that struggled admitted to cheating on the nutrition side...and I imagine they probably cheated on the schedule and clean form too. But the product has a pretty good reputation out there amongst all the typical fitness "as seen on tv" dvd sets. I watched a few people do there workouts on Youtube also and was impressed by the diversity of exercises.

No, there is nothing new to see here. And I say that because if you have ever seriously trained for a sport or spent time lifting iron in a gym (rather than working the circuits) then you will find all of this very familiar territory. But its premise is muscle confusion to overcome the usual plateaus that occur when training. That made sense to me. The nutrition side made sense as well. And lastly, call me old-school, but the lack of equipment (Bowflex $$$$) and reliance on your own body weight given my (very distant past) cycling and triathlon training experience was familiar and comfortable.

I've thought about going back to the gym, but the truth is I never got results there because I hated the whole experience of the gym...from the regular gym rats that seemed to hog all the equipment, to the stares I'd get when I dared cross the all-male threshold known as the weight room, to the meat-market mentality of having to listen to some random guy suggest a better form to maximize my results (it could never be some sweet girl that was trying to hook up). And then there is the cost...which back in the day used to be about $20/month. Not so any more.

So...I watched the infomercial, Googled and Youtube'd myself senseless, called up a friend to see if she was interested in joining the ranks for 90 days and then pulled the trigger in the form of "Click here to submit order."

The way I see it is that I am more likely to workout on my own than with a crowd...its how I used to do it before. I like strength training...its the cardio that I struggle with. And its 90-days...basically a short-term commitment that finishes the year out. I may not get "ripped" but I do know my body reacts well to lifting weights...and hell, thanks to the unemployment diet my body fat % is pretty low right now...but so is my muscle mass. Anyway, I suspect my body will react well...although the initial shock will be something to laugh about later.

The package should be here by next Friday. So here is my list of things I need to do before starting:

• Go to the library to borrow Body for Life (seems to be heavily recommended for menu)
• Finish reading Jillian Michael's Making the Cut
• Go pick out some dumbbells & yoga blocks from local sports shop
• Take metabolic typing test (slow, balanced or fast oxidizer)
• Review nutrition plan and make out first 30-day menus
• Buy groceries (shocking!)
• Pick up mat for Pylo
• Create workout playlist (got to have music that rocks ya)
• Take "before" pictures (yikes)
• Take "before" body measurements, blood pressure, weight and other stats
• Time for a new heart rate monitor; MHR = 180 bpm
• Start meditation program - 1/3 of this is mental
• Start doing so basic yoga to prepare and loosen up these muscles
• Do Sand Dune park daily (legs - my weakness)
• Back to walking dogs daily - fits in with their training plan for the year too
• Tune bike and go pick up a trainer (additional cardio and legwork)
• Start eating and drinking regularly so I have energy to get thru Week #1
• Complete P90X pre-test and log results on spreadsheet
• Review Nutrition Guide and each of the dvd's for Week #1
• Start date set for Oct. 1 thru Dec. 29
• Visualize my expectations and then BRING IT! for 90-days