Just in case you’ve been living on Mars for the past 6 or 7 years I’ll give you a little background on P90X (P90 Extreme). As a matter of fact I’ve heard that even Mars has infomercials!  But for the rest of you, here’s a very brief history. It is arguably the hottest weight loss and home fitness system available today. It was created by Tony Horton and Carl Daikeler, Steve Edwards and nutritionist Carrie Wyatt. Both Carl and Steve are with the company, Beachbody.

What does P90X cost?

The  system consists of 12 DVDs and P90X cost about $120. It includes the DVDs , the 3 phase nutrition plan, fitness guide and the “How To Bring It” bonus DVD.  You should always be sure to buy either from Beachbody or from your independent Team Beachbody coach.  There is a large quantity of black market or bootleg copies of p90x available on Ebay, Craigslist and other sites.

However, many of these are counterfeit and do not include the whole program such as the nutrition guide, workout guide, or the support of your team beachbody coach and often times have DVDs that don’t function properly as they have been burned.

In contrast with most of the supplements and diet pills you see advertised, P90X doesn’t promise effortless weight loss.  It promises three months of perspiration and pain.

What is P90X?

This home exercise system consists of a very rigorous, segmented training regimen combined with a dietary supplement plan and a nutrition plan. It is built around a method of cross-training that Tony calls “muscle confusion.” It is achieved by alternating the order of exercises and by incorporating varied movements.

According to Horton, P90X was developed for people who were somewhat fit but want to take their exercise to the next level. The exercise part of P90X is built around 12 different workouts based on “periodization” or “muscle confusion.” The workouts consist of strength training, yoga, plyometrics, stretching, boxing and cardio. The program requires exercise six days a week in 13-week cycles.

There are three different paths you can take within the program that are named “classic,” “lean” and “doubles.” You select the path you wish to take for yourself based on your personal goals. Most of the workouts require less than an hour. However, one of them, the abdominal workout (called the “ab ripper”) is done three times a week after six of the rotating workouts and adds about 15 minutes to each of them.

What you need for the workouts

One of the best things about the P90X program is that it doesn’t require a lot of expensive exercise equipment. All you will need is dumbbells, an exercise mat, pull-up bar for the strength-training exercises, a sturdy chair and possibly yoga blocks for the yoga exercises. If you can’t use weights or a pull-up bar for some reason, you can substitute resistance bands.

In the event that you would like to purchase everything you could possibly need to complete P90X, you could purchase the Peak Results Package.  Then accompanying the standard system you also get a chin-up bar, jump mat, a month supply of results and recovery formula, and three resistance bands of differing strengths.

The nutritional component

The nutrition part of P90X has three phases. During the first 30 days, the emphasis is on higher protein and lower carbs. Its purpose is to help users understand the relationship between energy and carbohydrates.

The second nutritional phase increases the percentage of carbs in the diet and decreases the amount of protein. The final, third phase is a higher carb diet that’s sometimes called the athlete’s diet. You progress through these phases as you go through the program until the end of the third program at which time you will be in the “athletes” phase.

Not for everyone

While Beachbody, the company behind P90X, has reported product sales of $430 million, it has discovered that the program is not for everyone. In fact, Beachbody has many other programs now for the elderly, teens and even a faith-based program. There is also a less intense version of another program by Tony Horton called Power90.

So if you would love to lose weight and get fit, but don’t feel you can handle the requirements of P90X, you can relax. Beachbody already has many other programs that can help you achieve your goals no matter what your current level of fitness may be.