Day 11

Today was the day! I started the P90X3 classic program. The first disc you start with is Total Synergistics. After watching it and then doing it, I can honestly say it looks much easier than it is. People say (well some have on the Team Beachbody message board) that this is not as intense or physically demanding as the original P90X. I think they are wrong.

I could dissect each move for what I feel is good and bad for me, but that is pointless. The reason I say that as with all things in life, we have our own perspective. We add our own likes and dislikes into dissertations on to what we are talking about. Yeah, the insight as to each moves intricacies could be beneficial, but it's not necessary for my opinions to be conveyed here.

P90X3 is different from P90X. One of the most glaring differences is that the workout time is reduced from about an hour to around 30 minutes. There is a cold start, which I did not do today, for people who really need or want that extended warm up. It lasts about 12 minutes. There is a small stretching session lasting I would say maybe 3 minutes, but it is not timed and it was done at the end of the workout. The start of the workout begins with a warm up but it is included in that 30 minute timer. If you add the cold start to the regular exercise and the minor bit of stretching then you get the time range of around 45 minutes. That is about 10 to 12 minutes shy of P90X in time. If you feel you need more, you can get it.

Day 1 with P90X is Chest and Back. You just do pushups and pullups. You do about 12 exercises for each muscle group one time through then you repeat it in reverse if I remember correctly. There is no core work, it is strictly a push and pull workout under time without stopping except for a couple of 40 second water breaks. Then you do Ab Ripper X after for another 15 minutes, which is pure core work. P90X3 is as I have previously stated Total Synergistics and that can be interpreted as resistance with core involvement. It combines push/pull exercises with balance moves and other I would call core/ab moves. While you are doing your resistance work you are incorporating ab/core work and it definitely raises the intensity level.

What did this all mean for me? I have no core, so it was like hell for me. I can absolutely do some of the moves and absolutely can not do some of the moves. You just do what you can, modify as it becomes more difficult and you don't give up. You can't do the pushup, you go to your knees and do the pushup that way. You lose your balance when doing one of the many one-legged moves, you regain balance stick that leg out and keep going or touch your toe on the ground to assist your balance while doing the resistance part.

I had been walking at a 4 mph pace trying to get my body used to exercising some prior to doing this. Don't take this the wrong way, I only started walking about 10 days prior to today. I was never short of breath. My heart rate did get elevated and I did notice the all day affect of working out (endorphin affect). Today, however, I was short of breath almost the whole time. My heart rate was up there. I can't say to what level as I don't have a heart rate monitor, but YOU know when your heart rate is up from exercising or vigorous activity. I have soreness in my muscles and its about 6 hours since the workout. I was feeling that fatigue and weakness you feel right after a hard workout. Most is in my arms and abs, but there is some feeling of activity in the legs as well.

I am personally not disappointed with the workout. I don't feel like it was not intense enough and I don't feel like it lacked anything. I need to finish the week to see how my whole body feels and then maybe I can more accurately compare it to what I remember as my first week of P90X. All I know is 1 day down and 89 more to go.