I have a group I run with a few mornings a week. They have all done triathlons but currently are just running. They’ve decided that they want to do P90X for a while, supplementing those workouts with a couple of runs a week. They are all gung-ho and can’t wait to get started. Me, not so much. It’s not that I don’t think P90X is a good workout. It’s just that I barely have enough time to swim, bike and run right now as it is; much less if I add something else to my plate. Especially right now in what is my easiest month to get out and train. They don’t understand my lack of enthusiasm. They think P90X will make me swim, bike and run faster.
But… you need “muscle confusion” ™ to get stronger… And just look at the before/after pics…
I did the 12 week P90x program in Oct-Dec. It can be a very strenous program. I did supplement it with some short runs and did trainer intervals instead of the cardio workouts.
If time is tight it will be tough to do it in addition to a full time tri program.
That said, I really liked the program. Nice change of pace. I had taken the previous year off due to some family health issues and it provided me with a jump start back to tri training. Bonus- I lost close to 20 pounds during the 12 weeks- mostly due to the diet changes.
training partners are bad. 
Another p90x junkie here. Save it for the off-season. It takes 7-8 hours a week, so combine that with a couple of short runs and maybe a trainer workout in Oct/Nov. It will rejunevenate your body, tone your muscles and maybe drop some weight off you. I actually gained some weight doing it, but the fat melted off this winter way way faster. I am racing at less than last year but my BF% is way lower.
P90X in conjunction with SBR will make SBR run faster (if anything, just doing AbRipperX will do that.)
If you compete against these folks, congratulate them on their purchase, and laugh when you destroy them after they have spent 90 days without specificity for their sport.
P90x will not directly make you faster. It will however help you cut body fat, lose weight and make you more efficient. Doing that will make you faster. I did 90 days of p90x 2 years ago and lowered my 10k time by 6 mins with little to no run training. Granted back then I didn’t have the fastest PR but still…
It is a good workout if you stick to the plan and put forth the effort. Heck, any plan can be a good plan if you stick to it and work hard. P90x just makes it easier for you because you can do it at home and it outlines the workout for you with exactly what and how to do it.
If you replace 7 hours / week of quality SBR work with 7 hours of P90X, it will make you faster?
I recently made the mistake of joining some friends for just one little short 30 minute Insanity (similar to P90X) session, thinking that I could somehow handle it without getting too sore, and now it’s 3 days later, my last two workouts have been easy recovery runs, and I’m still sore! Don’t underestimate how bad jumping can hurt you if you haven’t done it in awhile… especially if your super duper improved cardiovascular system allows you to do lots of it! Needless to say, I’m waiting for off-season before I start any of that up again.
I never said it would make you faster than if you spent that time SBR training. I just said that it can make you faster. If it were me and I didn’t have a goal race and was strictly looking at overall fitness, I would incorporate the weight and yoga workouts 4 days per week and add in bikes and runs on top of that. I can tell you that if you did that, you would look a lot better with your shirt off (which is 50% of the reason I train as much as I do anyway) than if you only did tri training. That is why it would be a great workout over the winter when you probably aren’t logging a lot of time on the trainer or treadmill anyway.
itll make you a really good p90x’er
and ill drop you even more eagerly as soon as you do that little cross arms clicky sound thing. or use the words ‘ab ripping’.
but at least youll look great doubled over.
I can honestly say I have never had anything in the gym sense kick my ass harder than P90x. My life doesn’t revolve around ‘is this going to make me faster’, but rather just good overall health and fitness. This took my pain and suffering to a whole new level away from swim/bike/run. Have no idea if it made me faster, but it didn’t make me slower! And it’s fun as shit too as lifting weights bores me to no end. I know my girlie digs the end results so it can’t be too bad;)
Huh??? You never said it would make you faster than SBR, but it will make you faster??
My life doesn’t revolve around ‘is this going to make me faster’, but rather just good overall health and fitness.
Same here.
If your only fitness goal is to finish a triathlon faster then I doubt time spent in season doing P90X is better than time spent doing SBR. But, for someone looking for a more balanced fitness than SBR can offer or someone looking to add some muscle, I think P90X is a great option. For instance, you may not finish the triathlon any faster, but you’ll look better standing around with your shirt off. I got it for my wife for Christmas and she loves it. She doesn’t really follow the program strictly, but just likes to use the workouts as part of all the different types of workout programs she has. She doesn’t swim or bike, and only runs as far as she absolutely has to, but she loves to do TV workout programs. Most of that isn’t really my thing, but she loves them and they keep her in good shape. I’m planning to do it this fall after my last tri of the season. I was wanting to do it last offseason, but just never got around to it.
My life doesn’t revolve around ‘is this going to make me faster’, but rather just good overall health and fitness.
Same here.
If your only fitness goal is to finish a triathlon faster then I doubt time spent in season doing P90X is better than time spent doing SBR. But, for someone looking for a more balanced fitness than SBR can offer or someone looking to add some muscle, I think P90X is a great option. For instance, you may not finish the triathlon any faster, but you’ll look better standing around with your shirt off. I got it for my wife for Christmas and she loves it. She doesn’t really follow the program strictly, but just likes to use the workouts as part of all the different types of workout programs she has. She doesn’t swim or bike, and only runs as far as she absolutely has to, but she loves to do TV workout programs. Most of that isn’t really my thing, but she loves them and they keep her in good shape. I’m planning to do it this fall after my last tri of the season. I was wanting to do it last offseason, but just never got around to it.
I drank the P90X juice as well.
I may not cross the finish line any faster but I look better crossing the finish line around the same time.
Chicks don’t care who came out of the water the fastest, they care about who looks the best doing it! *
- I am married so this doesn’t apply to me.
Im thinking of gettin gon p90x just for the hell of it this summer.
everybody talks about how bad it kicks your ass. so my question is: how many hours of bike or run could you do a week? if p90x takes 7 hours a week, would 3 hours of running or ftp work on the trainer be realistic?
I think you could almost maintain the same level you are currently at, depending on where you are at.
Since it was winter in the midwest while I was on P90x I was probably running 3x a week (20-30 miles) biking 3x a week (80 miles) and then swimming when I could.
The one thing I did not do (to keep the legs fresh) was plyometics and legs.
Granted, I didn’t do the true p90 workout (I did both of them a few times) but I did see results.
I was training for a marathon so the last thing I wanted to do was pull something doing dynamic jumping drills.
It is a heck of a program, I will tell you that.
so what do you think would happen if I followed the p90x program minus the leg stuff and biked and ran 3x per week?
good results?
Yep- great results.
Not that I was ever big, 6’ 170- I just didn’t have the definition.
I still have my abs from some 4 months ago, only going through the cycle once.
I can tell you once my fall marathon is complete I will do p90x again over the winter.
I did everything except plyo and legs pretty religiously and saw good results.
Also, I didn’t follow their nutrition outline either.
Just popped in the DVD’s right after work and went after it.
If you do it, I wouldn’t get bands, I would get 5, 10, 15, 20, 25(?) barbells. I went through phase one with bands and didn’t really like it that much so I bought weights, glad I did, much better workout.
cool, thanks!
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