P90x and Insanity have been successful in home video fitness training programs. Both products are made by Beach Body and chances are if you haven't done the workout, you've seen the infomercials late night during an insomnia attack. Many people have had success using these two programs. I have done all of the workouts in the P90x series and I will try Insanity sometime in the near future. I like a lot of the ideas on P90X.  The basic formula of taking two or three resistance exercises and doing several sets with limited downtime is proven winner as far as building lean muscle and burning fat. The ideal P90x trainee is someone who is enough condition to do keep up with the exercises but maybe needs to lose a little body fat to get "the look''. What I mean by the look, is the after photo in the before and after shot you see on all their advertisements. For women "the look" is 18 - 20 % bodyfat, with lean muscle and good posture. A woman at 18 - 20% bodyfat is what you need if you are a leading lady in Hollywood or want to look like one. For men, we're talking around 10 % or less bodyfat. This is where you see the six pack abs. A lot of guys had this look when they were in high school playing all kinds of sports before the onslaught of beer, fast food, and desk jobs. One of the draws with P90x is "the look". Even one of the male trainees in the p 90x infomercial says "don't you want this" after taking off his shirt for the camera.

I have heard of a few success stories from people who knew somebody who lost a lot of fat with p90x, I have also come across a few people who are "doing" the p90x videos but they hardly look like the people you see in the infomercials. I think there are a few reasons for this which I will go over.

No Accountability

P90x suggests that you train an hour a day for six days a week. So what happens if you start skipping a few workouts here and there because you overslept, had errands to do, etc. No different than some of the excuses that come up in bootcamp, or other less expensive training systems. Tony Horton isn't going to call you up personally and tell you to get out of the Dunkin Donuts drive thru and get back to working out.  With a trainer or training partner at least you have some guilt if you start missing sessions.  Guilt is a powerful tool. If you are out of shape, have time to work out, and skip workouts  YOU SHOULD FEEL GUILTY BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO EXCUSES. So the P90x trainee who gets their before and after pictures on the website is the one who did the workouts religiously 6 days a week with no excuses.

No Form Check

Partial, lazy squats, barely lunging lunges, half pushups, falling and collapsing on the floor and waiting it out for the time to expire are all things that can happen on the other side of the screen. Many people do the home exercise videos with poor form. I have a client that tweaked something in her back doing a Jillian Michaels home dvd because she felt like she wasn't doing it right. If she slips into bad form now working out with me, we take the time to correct the form. NOBODY SHOULD GET INJURED DOING EXERCISES. INJURIES FROM EXERCISE FOR THE MOST PART ARE DEGENERATIVE. DOING THINGS THE WRONG WAY OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITH NO CORRECTION WILL GET YOU INJURED. I would also suggest watching the home exercises before doing them. Twisting your neck around to watch what the trainer is doing  is not great for exercise form.

Nutrition

If somebody tells me they're doing P90x I will always ask them what they think of the nutrition plan. Many times people tell me they just do the workouts.  The workouts are great but when these people also talk about wanting to be lean or ripped they look a bit glum when I tell them that the nutrition plan is what is going to get you in the after photo. Only someone with a really great metabolism, and  working construction job, can do an exercise program on the Cracker Barrel diet and get lean. The P90x nutrition plan is the basic eat good foods, lower the calories, program that is basic sensible nutrition. So don't expect to get "the look" by just struggling through the videos. Nutrition is key if you want to get leaner. YOU CANNOT OUT TRAIN BAD EATING HABITS.

Workouts Might Be Too Hard For Some.

I take issue that on some  of the before and after shoots you see people who are obviously obese in the before photo because the P90X fit test suggests that obese people might not be ready for the program. One of the workouts calls for a lot of plyometrics where the heart rate is high and there is a lot of impact placed on the body. Whether it is too hard or not  is up to the trainees judgment, but my guess is that a lot of these people who had success going from obese to lean did so using the modified versions of exercises and maybe had to go through the program a few times. I would not suggest P90 x for anybody who is obese and has little recent history of exercise. Walking an hour a day along with basic resistance exercises and a "shock the body" with low calorie diet is way to get an obese person in the right direction. Doing split squat jumps with Tony and his crew might be overwhelming and discouraging for the obese client. Sure you can hit the pause button but how much do you want to be hitting the pause button while you're working out?

Here's who I think might have success with the P90 x plan, single, or empty nesters who have the 6 hours a week to do the workouts. . Maybe they are slightly overweight but have some athletic ability. Maybe you're the guy who played sports in college, and now you have been out for a year with a desk job eating Panera Bread take out two times a day. You now have a little roll around your belly. However, you can run a couple miles, do some pull ups and pushups.

Overall, I think the home videos have been good for fitness. They have taught people that you don't need a ton of gadgets to get in shape but once you start missing a few workouts, doing the exercises half assed, eating lots of junk, and lying on the floor half of the workout, don't be surprised if your results are compromised too.

Tom Pollard