P90X recovery week 1

Today marks the end of the first phase of P90X for me.  I'll admit that I didn't do everything.  I have skipped some of the X Stretch workouts and I sometimes cut the Yoga X ones short.  For instance, I only did yoga for about 30 minutes this morning because I wasn't feeling it.  I could tell that if I continued, I'd get hella grumpy and I don't want to start my weekend off in a bad mood.  I think I get grumpy because I'm not that flexible and I fall over a lot.  90 minutes is also probably overkill for yoga so I might look for a shorter workout.  I'm sure I can find one that would be just as effective.

The recovery week also has two sessions of Core Synergistics.  This workout has a bunch of exercises for the abs though Tony mistakenly refers to the stomach.  Dude, the stomach is an organ not a muscle.  Anyhow, the individual exercises are pretty good and effective, but the workout doesn't flow.  He's also more annoying in this video than most of the others and it has Dreya.  While I like to admire her butterface body, she's a teacher's pet in most videos and it's grating.

I'm looking forward to getting back to the strength workouts since I find those ones more effective.  Overall, I'm glad I'm doing the program, but it's going to be tough to finish all 13 weeks since we're talking about more than six hours of exercise a week.  It'll be easy to get burned out which is one of my biggest complaints about the program.  A lot of people bitch about the nutrition program, but once I saw that they designed the diet around their overpriced and likely ineffective supplements, I ignored it.  Nothing says you have to do everything they say.

I found one site which tried to list all the ways P90X is overrated.  Sure, it's not perfect, but it is an effective program because Tony does a good job of coaching.  If he didn't keep talking, I think it would be tough to complete the entire workout.  Maybe some of the workouts are overkill, but the idea is to use this 90 day program to get into better shape and then it's up to you to find ways to maintain.  Our bodies are efficient at maintaining equilibrium so it's up to use to adjust the level of that equilibrium.  Do we want to be pudgy or ripped?  Sure, you can get ripped without being fit, but I have done enough research on my own to be able to judge that the P90X exercises will be effective.  They're nearly all bodyweight exercises like pushups and pullups and those have been proven to be safe and effective.

That same site claimed that the program has you do endless crunches.  Honestly, I don't think I've done one single traditional crunch.  There are crunchy frogs and in-and-outs and leg climbers, but those are different.  It makes me wonder if the dude really did the program or is just bitchin' to pitch his one routine.  Sometimes people get their panties in a bunch when they see someone else is successful.

Tomorrow is Day 28 and we're supposed to take some pictures to show improvement.  I'll post them with a comparison from Day 0 to show the difference.  I think I look leaner and stronger, but I'll let you be the judge.