You might catch one late at night as you devour that leftover moo shu pork with a beer, watching TV in your underwear.
The P90X infomercial.
It's a guilt-inducing display in which a smiling 50-year-old man and several young cohorts, all rippling muscles and enthusiasm, knock out a couple of choice moves from what appears to be a scary-hard workout. That's followed by “regular” people vouching for the effectiveness of the workout, showing off their own pale, moo shu-ravaged bodies in pictures labeled “before,” and their newly rippling abs and rocky arms under “after.”
Thank you, P90X commercial. As if the weather wasn't depressing enough.
What's striking is that, unlike a lot of home workout pitches, the P90X people don't claim any of it is easy. Actually, the commercials seem to revel in its difficulty.
It's a pitch that seems to be working. Ask any gathering of those under 35, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't at least heard of it.
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore tweeted about it. Singers Sheryl Crow and Pink, Philadelphia Eagles kicker David Akers and Atlanta Braves outfielder Matt Diaz have all praised it in interviews.
The claims are simple: In 90 days, using 12 rotating workouts on DVD, you can “transform your body from regular to ripped,” as the Web site says, using, at minimum, a chair, a TV and resistance bands (handled rubber exercise cables). (For heavier lifters, a pull-up bar and dumbbells can be used instead of bands.)
The workout is based on what the program calls “muscle confusion.” Every few weeks, the lifting workouts are switched out for new ones in an effort to prevent what gym rats refer to as “plateauing”: the point where one's regular workout no longer produces change because the body has grown used to it.
“It's a legitimate concept,” said Mike Shaffer, a physical therapist and athletic trainer with University of Iowa Sports Medicine. “Three things limit people's progress when they're working out: inertia, meaning just getting started, soreness and boredom. It's boredom, the body's boredom, that the ‘muscle confusion' technique is addressing.
“Rotating (workouts) is definitely a good thing.”
Buyers seem to like the concept, too: One Web site, quoting a P90X financial officer, puts 2009 sales of the program at $130 million.
At $120 per DVD set, local users say it's worth the money.
“I saw really, really good results, especially upper-body,” said Pat Mohs, 22, of Omaha, who started the program based on the recommendation of a work friend and remains addicted. “I was in decent shape when I started, but he kept saying how incredibly hard it was, and I said ‘Really? A TV workout? Let me try it.'
“He was right.”
In fact, some fitness experts worry that parts of the workout are a little too grueling. Andrew Ortmeier, a managing trainer with Custom Built Personal Training in Omaha, said any workout program is a good thing if it gets people motivated, as he has witnessed with those using P90X.
“But you have to find a balance,” he said. “I've tried it, and I like it. It's a really good, challenging workout. But if you're constantly doing these super-intense high-energy workouts, your muscles are gonna burn out, your nervous system will get burned out. You can't grow muscle that way.”
In fact, the irony seems to be that, unlike stereotypical infomercial products, P90X runs the danger of working too well.
In particular, one of the program's key cardio workouts, plyometrics, is basically an hour of jumping up and down, a technique that has faced criticism for its potential to damage joints.
Rosie McGrath, 34, of Omaha knows the feeling. An avid fan of the program, she noticed a problem when she moved her workout from carpet to hardwood.
“I hurt my back pretty bad during two specific parts of the plyo(metrics),” she said. “And it happened twice, so I stopped doing those two routines.”
Shaffer said that in any fitness regimen, problems can arise for beginners, those with weight or joint problems, or even for those like McGrath who are forced to work out on unforgiving surfaces. But he gives credit to the P90X program for including a fitness test with the program to weed out those for whom it might not be appropriate.
A doctor's advice, he said, is always worthwhile.
The back pain experience wasn't enough to stop McGrath altogether. She's already done the full 90-day program, twice, and is going back for more.
“It changed my body more than anything else I've done in the last 15 years,” she said. “That's worth it.”
Contact the writer:
444-1339, wesley.taylor@owh.com
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