It took me a little longer than the fourteen days expected to go from session 55 because I spent one day getting holiday stuff taken care of, and the rest I just blew off. Frankly, going through the P90 Phase 3 and Phase 4 program has taken its toll on my enthusiasm. The standard workout seems robotic and the repetition is killing me. As such, I was very happy to break the recommended routine and do a six-day detour to Hawaii.

The Beachbody P90 Fat Burning Express Hawaii edition, that is. Here’s my opinion of this DVD after a second helping.
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I completed session 55 out of 90 yesterday, so I’m technically into week nine now. I can’t wait to hit #60, since I am taking a week off of the normal Phase 3/Phase 4 program to do the special Hawaii edition that made me fall in love with P90 in the first place.

I am bored. Bored of doing the same thing over and over again. I have tried to entertain myself by doing little challenges — how many pushups can I do in the final “burnout” phase of Phase 4 (answer: 30; I do over 100 pushups per session) — that kind of thing. I am not even doing Phase 3/4 full-time. I do a two-session circuit of Phase 3/4 and then Phase 1/2, and I am still burned out.
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I surpassed the 45th out of 90 Beach Body P90 Home Fitness program sessions this week. I finished #48 tonight, but wanted to give my thoughts now that I am halfway through the circuit.
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I completed session 36 of 90 yesterday. I also finished my first week of the more difficult Phase 3 and Phase 4 parts of the program. The sessions are longer and there are more repetitions and sets. There is an extra phase of exercises in the strength training part, and the ab routine doubles from 100 to 200 exercises. I haven’t attempted the “Ab Ripper 200″ part yet. It still scares me.

So far I have lost a half inch from my waist since September and 1.5 inches from my hips. My chest has gone up an inch. I have measurements of my bicep and thigh, but I can’t remember exactly where I started my initial measurement from so I am skeptical to see the results.

In general, I feel like I am getting stronger. However, I don’t know how I am going to handle the monotony of doing another 54 sessions. I have tentatively decided to take a one-week break after session 60 and do the Fat Burning Express workout that was so much fun.
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Ah, yes. It’s time to shame myself into exercising more by posting images of myself on the Internet. I’m on week three of the P90 home fitness program. I started out with a week of the P90 Fat Burning Express workout, and then dove right into the regular program.

It is obvious that the P90 base program came out way before the Fat Burning Express special. The whole production lacks the polish and enthusiasm of the later Hawaiian session. There are some older-school exercises in the program, such as dumb bell flies, that are frowned upon in most workout programs today. Since the P90 base program is geared towards beginners, I was surprised to find flies and the standing single-armed French Press as part of the regime. These exercises are okay when you are both experienced and have the supporting musculature required to do these movements without injury. However, I feel that someone unsupervised and new to lifting may do more harm than good.

Tony Horton is still cute, but his showmanship and intensity is lower than in the Fat Burning Express. I grin when he says his signature lines: “we’re having some fun,” and “checking on the kids!!” but the one-off jokes have yet to materialize.

On the positive side, the P90 home fitness starter program exercises have the same adjustable levels of intensity I wrote about in my review of the Fat Burning Express. If you can’t do a particular exercise due to injury, flexibility, or just plain exhaustion, Tony demonstrates at LEAST one alternate mode for each movement.

Keep in mind I am in Phase 1/2, the first disc of the two-part set. There is a Phase 3/4 that is more intense, but I am not quite ready to take that on. Phase 1 is a cardiovascular workout that culminates in a 100-rep ab routine. Phase 2 is a strength training routine (plyometric and weights/resistance). Each session is about a half hour, although the Phase 1 is slightly longer.

I feel a lot stronger and more flexible than a month ago. My endurance is also up. I am having problems getting consistent measurements, but I look better than I did in September. More than anything, I appreciate the brevity of the sessions and the accessibility of working out at home. A few times I have been sitting on the couch watching TV or playing the Xbox 360 and thought, “I don’t want to work out tonight.” Then I realize that I’m going to sit in front of the TV for another half hour anyway, so why not work out in the meantime? I’ve only missed two days since starting the base exercise program.

Warning! It’s just me in my under-roos, so avert the eyes of children and those faint of heart.

Without further ado, here I am in my graphically furry glory.
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I’ve put on some pounds, or at least some mid-section cushion, since going back to an office job. It’s been too easy to go out to lunch with co-workers. It also didn’t help that I’ve been ingesting incredibly yummy desserts since my birthday almost a month ago.

I was talking with my boss about it and she felt the same way — it was time to shed a few pounds. She purchased the P90 in-home boot camp. The set came with a “bonus” 6-Day Fat Burning Express program. My boss did it and lost six pounds in six days. I was curious, and she let me borrow it.
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