Thursday, March 27, 2008

My P90X Journey



This isn't going to be a before and after success story but, since I'm about to begin a round of P90x I thought I'd re-record a little history of this project as I am one of only a few people who've seen it from its humble start to becoming the number one fitness program in the country. There used to be an online "scrap book" about its formation but it's been down for a few years. My account will be different, anyways (feeling a bit Deadwood-ish with this 'anyways' insert), since my involvement was more behind the scenes and technical. If you check in over the next 90 days I'll shed some light on its evolution. Besides an account of my suffering as I get back into proper birthday challenge shape, I'll recount a few yarns about the story of P90x. You'll learn a bit about why 90x was formed, why it works the way it does, and some of the stumbling blocks we overcame along the way.

Once again I find myself in terrible shape (this is relative, of course). I have some personal info that will serve as an excuse when it's announced but, excuses or not, this is a pattern that I often fall in to. It's really by choice to a degree. I enjoy the journey of getting back into shape. I also find recovery/rest/lazy phases important for not just body recovery but for mental stimulation as well. Without motivation all endeavors are compromised. My post challenge fallout generally begins feeling listless and ends when my motivation comes back. This year, it's a been a bit longer than normal.

This time, however, I have no huge objective to train for. This mean that my latest round of the X will be less abridged to accommodate my sports specific training than usual. I generally have a huge amount of outside training that I need to do, which changes the X routine. For example, here's my X schedule training for my 2003 birthday challenge:

P90x Training Schedule

This year I'm quite busy so I'm going to focus on recovery, overall body conditioning, and rehab to build myself back up to doing some bigger challenges next year. I still have some nagging injuries from last year's little epics. I have some arthritis in both my hands and feet--common for climbers/untrarunners etc. I have other issues in one knee and one foot. But both are more chronic than acute (though my December "ankle"--actually foot--sprain was worse than I'd originally thought). Anyways (really, if they can say this all the time in a show that wins heaps of writing awards...), the cure for nagging injuiries is to get your body into tip top condition. The fitter you are the more you resist breakdown. Doing sports all the time creates overuse and you become out of balance, muscularly. An intense program like the X brings everything back into balance, or homeostasis. And this gives you more capacity to thrash your body in whatever endeavors you pick up next.

So, okay, that's enough for today. I've a lot to do. I'm going to take before and after photos, which is something that I never do. Frankly, they won't look like too much. I'm out of shape but hardly fat--though I call myself fat constantly. What's really going to change is my performance. This will be huge. So I'm going to subject myself to a fit test today. Ohhhh, and it's going to suck. Bad. I can't believe that just a few months ago I was fit enough to do this:

2007 Birthday Challenge

Don't just train hard; train smart.
Steve

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

steve

good luck with this! i've been considering checking it out for the very same reasons (well not the same but similar). anyway, i look forward to seeing your progress and maybe it'll motivate me to finally get back offa my ass! email me or something, it's been a while.

good luck!

marc

Steve Edwards said...

hey marc,

i just got back from europe. will give you a call as soon as i'm caught up. so, yeah, let's get fit.

cheers,
steve

Keith Williams said...

Steve,

Way to go man! I too find myself at times reaching a goal, then slacking off, only to have to get back to that spot again. It's great to see you about to give the X a shot.

Best of luck. I'll still be checking into your blog.

Keith (firstkwlwyr) AKA the guy on the bus from the grove to the hotel.

Anonymous said...

sounds good steve. we just ordered the p90x and should get it next week sometime. i had to quit climbing this past year due to my really f****d up elbows and your rationale to get fit hit home with me; thanks. anyway, we've never done anything like this so we're looking forward to trying it. if anything, it'll at least get me going again so i can return to trying stupid feats.

cheers,

marc

Steve Edwards said...

Ya know, I'm pretty sure that I know how to fix your elbows. Anyway, let's do X, which will be a start. You can do elbow rehab concurrently. Reed Barlett (do you know him? Ex-Five Ten guy now pretty much just a cyclist) is in too.

Fit test will happen today. It's going to be ugly.

I'm going to make up an X schedule that's sport's specific to climbing/riding. 6 canyons on the fixie this year? Think it's ever been done? Hmmm....

Anonymous said...

Steve, I'm right there with you with feeling like I'm as un-fit as I've ever been, my focus has been on business the past few years rather than athletic pursuits - which has never been my MO.

P90X looks like the perfect way to get the fitness back in a relatively short amount of time. I'm going to join you on this pursuit.

Anonymous said...

Awesome site, I hadn't come across steve-edwards.blogspot.com before in my searches!
Keep up the excellent work!