1- A Spartan Race Trifecta
• Spartan Sprint
• Spartan Super
• Spartan Beast
2- An Olympic Triathlon
• Swim 0.93mi (1.5km)
• Bike 24.8mi (40km)
• Run 6.2mi (10km)
3- The 50 mile Fakawi Mountain Bike Fest

Now, you might think with so many fitness programs I’ve done I shouldn’t have any problems achieving these goals next year, but that’s where you (whoever is reading this blog) is wrong. You need to understand two very important aspects of my fitness background. I don’t do cardio and I suffered from major ITBS. I have focused on weight lifting, and either circuit training or HIIT for my cardio since ITBS wouldn’t allow me to run for more than 5 minutes before my knees would be in major pain. Then, knowing long cardio sessions are not recommended for those trying to gain muscle size, I always avoided any form of cardio, except for my latest hobby which is riding mountain bike. Yet, I have done two Spartan races (since you get to stop every now and then to complete obstacles) and recently I did a 30 mile Fakawi Mountain Bike Fest.

My first training goal is to get to run 6.2 miles, which is something I haven’t been able to do EVER. For that, I’ll be using the Easy 10k With Jeff Galloway app for iOS. Knowing the Triathlon won’t be until next year, I have plenty of time to train and see if my knees can handle this first phase of the training, by not getting back any of the ITBS pain. If I am able to reach that goal, my second goal would be to ride the 24.8 miles on a road bike, which that isn’t an issue at all, followed by the 6.2 miles run. That right there would be another achievement. And last but not least, I need to train swimming the 0.93 mile, and combine it with the bike ride and run. While I know how to swim, I haven’t swim in a long time, and my swimming technique is not the proper one, so I’ll have to focus on that as well to avoid wasting unnecessary energy.

That training alone would be more than enough to do the 50 mile Fakawi ride, and to finish each of the Spartan races (at least the running/endurance part). Now, for strength training I have a different plan. I’ll be dividing the training in phases, mainly because I will do different fitness programs to put my body through a variety of weight lifting training.

First I’m going back to my roots (so to speak). P90X was my first major fitness program to try which gave me amazing results. This time I’m going to try P90X3. The idea is to break the gym routine for 90 days, getting leaner and helping with my endurance. After that, I’ll jump back in the gym for the all famous StrongLift 5 x 5 (<<< not sure if that’s the real website or it is just a random website that talks about this program), followed by a strength targeting program put together by me.

Also, as part of doing the P90X3 routine, I’m going to be building a Muay Thai punching bag stand which will allow me to do pull ups and dips with hanging rings instead of using a static or fixed pull-up bar and dips handles (I’ll post the instructional video to build one below). The cool thing about this is, I’ll also be able to train my punching and kicking techniques while getting some cardio done at the same time. All part of the endurance training.

It is a lot to do, but this training will help me get physically and mentally ready as well for a year full of accomplishments. And unless the 5×5 training helps me get to my 400 lbs deadlifts new goal and break my 265 lbs bench press PR, I will focus on my one-rep max goals after I’m done with all the races.

Here’s the instructional video for the punching bag stand.

I’m not planning on posting a long blog, since I don’t have much to talk about this topic, more than I’ve already talked, but as I might try do P90X3 because I want to do something short enough due to my work schedule, avoiding having to drive to the gym, and at the same time giving myself a break from the gym environment, I was hoping to see the kind of results people have gotten with one cycle of P90X3, but all I’ve found is coaches selling the program through their incredible reviews… Reviews that claim it is better than the original P90X.

In any case, if I get to do this program, I’ll surely be posting my review and progress throughout the whole 90 days.

Not until 2008 I finally decided to give P90X a try after going online and looking for success stories from people. At that time, there weren’t too many BeachBody coaches, which made it easier for me to find legit reviews and stories without the constant impression I was being pushed to buy something and sign up to become a coach too.

Although since 2005 I had been working out at Bally Total Fitness, not really knowing what I was doing had only helped me gain some muscle and drop from 207 lbs to 194 lbs which was my weight right at the time I started P90X.

After successfully completing the program, I had lost a total of 30 lbs and for the first time in my life I had been able to see my abs. There is an incredible feeling knowing after I had literally killed myself for 90 days pushing my body to its limits and beyond, at times feeling I couldn’t possibly keep up with the workouts because of how out of shape I was, fighting my mind to never quit, getting my workout done no matter what time it was and how tired I would be after work, that couldn’t be compared with any other feelings I had experienced before. And from that moment on I knew this fitness program worked as promised.

With that said, I now want to specifically review and go over the program, so those who might be interested in doing it have an idea of what they will face.

P90X, which stands for Power 90 (days) eXtreme, is not a program for those who are new to working out. It is recommended to start with any less intense program in order to adapt your body and get a certain fitness level to get you ready for this monster. At the time I started the program I was lifting weights at the gym, and on my first day of doing P90X I had to sit down for 30 minutes with white lips, cold ears, sweating cold thinking I was about to pass out. I literally never felt that way in my life before, and that was just after 20 minutes of the one hour workout. For more than a week I wasn’t able to finish the each workout because my body just couldn’t do it, but as frustrated and disappointed I was at myself, I kept pushing until I was able to complete each workout.

The program comes with a nutrition plan, which is designed to help you with your energy levels as well as to help you lose body fat. The first time I did the program I did not follow the plan, but I was lucky enough to eat properly and achieve the amazing results I did. During my second time doing the program a couple of years after, I followed the plan but I modified it since I couldn’t agree to eat over 2,800 calories per day. For me, eating around 2,400 calories per day was more than enough to gain some muscle mass and still keep my body fat percentage low. Personally, I think their formula suggests way too many calories per day, and I’m sure, after talking to several people who have done the program, most of those who have achieved great results have adjusted their calories to a lower number.

Conclusion: P90X is the real deal. There is no question about it. The program targets the whole body, it requires minimum equipments and can be done in the comfort of your home if you have the commitment and desire to do daily workouts that last one hour minimum. Tony gives you plenty of instructions and tips to modify if you need to based on your fitness levels and health conditions. Tony gets super annoying after having to listen to him doing the same jokes for 90 days, but once you know how to do the exercises you can just mute him and listen to your own music. Although anyone could try it, most never finish it once they discover the workout is indeed extreme, and have no preparation to finish the program. Last but not least, like with any fitness program, the most important part to achieve your fitness goals is your nutrition. Unless you pay attention to what you eat and use free tools like MyFitnessPal (whether you use the app or website), Nutrition Menu, Live Strong’s MyPlate, or any other tool to track your macros/calories, you will waste your time and see no results.