P90X: Fit Test

Date: 01/18/2011
Workout: Fit Test

Today I started my P90X journey. For the last 1 ½-2 years I’ve been putting it off since I didn’t have my own dumbbells or the time. However, I finally got my dumbbells, so I knew it was time to get the ball rolling. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do about the nutrition plan – I think I’m going to follow the types and portions of foods but not exactly the recipes at this point. It’s just too expensive and too time-consuming for my lifestyle. However, if I can get into a rhythm with this and get more comfortable with the time requirements, I may look into following it a little more closely. But I haven’t even started, yet, so there’s so much left to find out about the whole system.

When I first started the Fit Test, I was halfway through my warm-ups when I realized I forgot to take my “before” pictures. So I stopped, took some pictures by myself (had to set up the timer on my camera, which didn’t work very well). I was not impressed with the photos because of poor lighting and positioning in the photos, so I think I’ll get some new photos this weekend before I start Day 1 of P90X.

Once I got started, I felt good. I got 9 ¾ pull-ups, which I was happy with. A week or two ago, I think I got around 10 or 11, but I’m sure there were other factors both then and now. Then I went outside to the South brick wall of my house to record my vertical jump since the ceilings in my house were too low. I used black electrical tape to mark the different spots and left them there since it was cold and rainy, and I was in my shorts. The end result was a 22” vertical – I was pumped! I came back inside and proceeded to complete 33 push-ups. At this point I was starting to enjoy the 4-minute break suggested in between exercises.

Next was the toe touch, which I’ve never been good at. I finished with a -4”, which means I was 4” short of touching my toes. I’m sure that will go down as I get further into this program and exercise more regularly. After a short 3-4 minute break (4 minutes was recommended), I started my wall sits. It started out rough for the first 15 seconds which seemed to take forever, but I think it’s because I haven’t worked my quads in forever. The next minute flew by, however, and I finally bottomed out at 1 minute 44 seconds. Bicep curls were next. I had a few weights on my kitchen floor that I had brought in from the car, and luckily the 25 lb weights were there, since I knew that’s what I wanted to use. I pumped out 17 reps with them; and both arms felt pretty equal, which I was happy about.

The toughest part of the workout, I thought, was the “in & outs” abdominal exercise. After completing 40 reps, I felt like I had to throw up during my 4-minute break. This was the low point of the workout where I didn’t know if I was going to be able to complete the last exercise – jumping jacks for 2 minutes. I did, though, and recorded my heart rate at the recommended times: 156 beats per minute (bpm) immediately after the exercise, 122 bpm after 1 minute, 120 bpm after 2 minutes, 116 bpm after 3 minutes, and 114 bpm after 4 minutes. My heart rate didn’t seem to decrease much from 1 minute to 4 minutes, but my body was definitely feeling better and relaxing during this time. Thankfully I texted my girlfriend my results, and she reminded me to stretch afterwards, or else I would have forgotten… and that’s always been something I’ve stressed – stretching after working out. I was surprised it was not part of the Fit Test instructions.

Now that my Fit Test has been completed, all that’s left is to get my grocery list in order, buy the groceries, read up on the first week’s worth of exercises, maybe watch a video or two to get acclimated to what I’ll be doing, then jumping in and doing the work. It’s just about time to BRING IT!

I am excited to embark on this journey, but it won’t happen without a lot of discipline and motivation from others, especially my girlfriend who is starting a fitness regimen of her own at the same time. I can’t wait to see where this goes. I just hope I can consistently do it. I’m still a little worried I won’t give it (P90X) the time it deserves, but I’m going to try my best!