Sure, you can abbreviate the program and extend it for as long as you’d like. The primary goal should be to make exercise a long term habit, and based on this, the number of days is irrelevant. If you focus on the exercises and workouts that are enjoyable and apply to your goals, but at your own pace, and only as frequently as you feel comfortable with, you should be able to continue the program indefinitely. I think this approach would make the program more sustainable and would be more conducive to making exercise a lifelong habit.

You can also periodize a bit and choose to focus on certain aspects the program for a while. For example, you can focus mostly on strength training exercises for a few months and do a bit less of everything else. Then, for the next few months you can do more low intensity aerobic exercise or more anaerobic interval training (neither of which are actually included in the program) while cutting back on the strength training. If you feel a bit overworked, you can give yourself a break on focusing more on yoga or other types of flexibility and mobility training for a while. You can keep this up until you either gain enough experience to put together your own program, get tired of P90X, or both.

Yes, doing less exercise is certainly better than doing nothing at all, and in regard to overtraining, it can even be better than doing more.

I hope that helps. Good luck!

You’re right that the P90X is not congruent with my fitness goals, but this article isn’t about me. In fact, one of my criticisms of the P90X program is that as a generic program, it’s difficult for it (without customization) to be congruent with anyone’s goals except for those who simply want to challenge their physical limits (which is fine, but also vague) or are after the advertised benefit of a “beach body.” With a bit of thought, just about anyone should be able to come up with more specific and beneficial fitness goals.

The P90X does not exceed my comfort level, but as I already said, this article is not about me. I suppose my opinions are partially based on having experienced the unpleasant effects of overtraining, but they’re also based on my experience with the impressive fitness (and health) improvements that can be gained from a program that is more abbreviated, concise, and goal oriented than the P90X. This approach I describe in the article may not satisfy those who simply want to exhaust themselves with hard work, but I think it’s a more practical, sustainable, efficient, and effective way for people to promote optimal health through fitness or pursue more advanced and specific fitness goals with health still being a top priority.

I’m not sure what you consider an extreme athlete, but I consider the P90X to be lacking for athletes in general. This is not the audience it’s intended for anyway. Being an athlete implies the need to physically perform in a specific way that dictates specific needs for strength, power, endurance, flexibility, and injury prevention. Ideally, the strengths, weaknesses, and other individual aspects of the athlete need to be considered as well. A generic program like the P90X can only marginally satisfy such needs.

Please don’t be depressed. Your ambition to take control of your health is very positive, and to take full advantage of it, it’s important to pursue an approach that prioritizes optimal wellness and longevity. Any appearance related benefits are best considered secondary and should come naturally.

The best way to avoid feeling overwhelmed is to start small. With your diet, you can start by simply replacing processed foods with a balance of natural whole foods such as meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables.

Given your excitement towards the P90X program, maybe it would be beneficial to follow it with some of the considerations that I discussed in the article. Instead of blindly following it and overextending yourself to keep up with it, follow it with the perspective that you’re looking to learn and gain experience with various forms of exercise. As you become more experienced with exercise, you should be capable of designing your own programs that are much better suited to your individual needs and preferences.

Keep in mind that doing a little for a long time is a lot better than doing a lot and then giving up, so don’t force yourself to do everything in the program. Do what you enjoy, what you think is beneficial, and what you think you can handle given your current capacity.

As you do all of this, it’s incredibly important to educate yourself. This will give you further direction and new ideas to try. Over time you should end up with the experience and knowledge you need to promote .

A good primer on an overall approach to healthy living to help you get started is How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy by Paul Chek. In addition, there are plenty of articles on this site that you can read. Check out the getting started page.

Other people have insinuated that it’s obvious that the program should be modified to meet individual needs. I think your experience is an important example of how this isn’t always the case. When one follows a structured program like the P90X, it’s easy to think that it needs to be followed as closely as possibly to obtain the promised benefits.

Here are some things that you may want to consider in regard to your shoulder problems.

-Avoid movements that require a wide positioning of the hands and outward position of the elbows. Examples include wide grip chin ups, wide grip pull downs, push ups with wide hand positioning, and wide grip bench press.

-When doing pulling or pushing exercises, use dumbbells instead of a barbell when possible, position your hands slightly wider than shoulder with, and keep your elbows aligned with your wrists (which should be somewhat inward towards the trunk). If you decide to do a chest pressing exercise, choose incline over flat bench.

-Try some shoulder isolation exercises with light dumbbells to improve the strength and stability of the joint. Here are two good ones to try: Shoulder External Rotation and Rear Lateral Raise (better done with chest supported on an incline bench).

-Make sure that you don’t have forward shoulder posture and balance your pressing movements (chest and shoulder) with pulling movements (back).

I hope that helps! If your shoulder pain is bad, you should also consider seeing a doctor or physical therapist.

One of my primary criticisms of the P90X program is that it’s focus on appearance and speedy weight loss doesn’t cultivate a good perspective on long term health and fitness. I’m glad to hear that your experience has been different. It’s definitely a plus if the P90X can help get people out of the quick fix mentality, but I question how likely it is for this to happen.

I certainly agree that you could have made excellent progress with less volume. Recognizing that will hopefully help you optimize your training going forward.

I’m glad to hear that the program has improved your performance. If you’re serious about volleyball, you may want to consider adding some weight training (instead of body weight training), true plyometric training, and anaerobic interval training to your program. These are important components of improving athletic performance that I think are given little emphasis in the P90X program (and rightly so since many people who follow the program are probably not athletes).

It seems that you have a good grasp on how to take a generic program like the P90X and modify it to your needs. For people who have the awareness and motivation to do this, I agree that the P90X can provide some value.

I agree that a reduction in carbohydrates along with 6 weeks of exercise will help just about anyone lose weight, but like you said, this is a “jump start.” Although it’s fine to try things that may accelerate progress, it’s only worth doing if it supplements a more reasonable and sustainable plan for long term success. And of course, it’s questionable to pursue such approaches if they have the potential to compromise health. For some, this could easily be the case with a high volume of exercise.

I’m not surprised by your assessment of Kenpo X in comparison to martial arts training. I don’t think the P90X program is specific enough to be a good training program for athletes. However, to be fair, I don’t think it’s marketed as such.

In regard to your consumption of soy milk, I suggest reading The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla Daniel.

So I was also looking through google to find info on p90X when I found your page.
I have to say I am extremely dissapointed. I am a 30 yr old father of 3. I use to be an avid aggressive in-line skater. Not only riding ramps and grinding curbs and railings but also with a friend of mine would skate about 10-15 mi per night. I was in decent shape. I have never had a six pack or any thing like that but I was at least thin and fit in my clothes comfortably. Once I went to college the skating slowed to a stop. I have since done no real excersize for an extended period of time. I have honestly never really eaten well. Fast food and soda are a large part of my diet. I am aware I need to cut those things out and am working on it. I also just quit smoking cigarettes a little over a year ago. I am desperate to get healthy. To the extent that when I exert my self my body seems to beg for more. And if I drink water I feel the difference in my body. I havent drank a lot of water for most of my life but have been incorporating it heavily as of recent. I was really looking forward to P90X to jump start my getting healthy goal. But after reading this im honestly disheartend and depressed. I need help ! what do I do to get into this healthy Life style if I have no knowlege of what is or isn’t healthy. Not to mention the proper way to work out and the right things to eat ? I will be the first to admit the fact that P90X seems to “lay it all out” for you is very appealing. As well as the “ripped abs” and the “beach body” ! Help Me Please ! what do I do? Where do I start ?

Thank you
James

After reading your review it only confirms my thoughts of modifying the program to meet my needs. I should have listened earlier as a shoulder problem from benching years ago suddenly came back to light. I believe that happened in conjunction with the “volume” approach in P90X. I will be taking your advice, making the changes and enjoying exercise again. Add me to your mailing list if you like. Also, any other info on how to make the program more efficient let me know. Or, if you have any advice or knowledge of in-home workouts with minimal equipment let me know.