It doesn't take much to make me happy, but then it doesn't take much to annoy me either.
Here's the list of P90X workouts that I try to do each week. Mind you, I don't always do every workout, and I don't always do every set, and I certainly don't lift nearly the amount of weights they use... but as the saying goes, "Do your best and forget the rest."
On week days I get up early and do a 30 minute session, including warmup, even though most of the workouts average 60 minutes. I know, it doesn't sound like much and some days only about 10 minutes of the actual workout is accomplished. But that's okay... first of all it's not easy getting up early, so the fact that I do at least a little bit is a positive. Also, light workouts may not produce awesome gains, but they do keep you in good health with a very low risk of injury. I'll take that too.
And last, I'm sixty freaking years old now. Getting my butt out of bed, working out, shower and shave, fighting traffic to get to work, spend 8 hours busting my butt only to fight worse traffic getting home in the evening. At the end of the day, I'm tired. The last thing I need is to get wiped out doing a max workout first thing in the morning.
All that to say that I've found a sweet spot for a workout routine and I'm not going to let anything get in the way. 'Nuff said.
Here are the workouts:
FRIDAY: Chest and Back - Good mix of pushups and pull ups. Includes a variety of widths (standard, wide, narrow) that I like. Also, especially for beginners, use a chair to assist with the pull ups... saves your elbows.
SATURDAY: Plyometrics - Oh God... this workout will kill you. Seriously, this is the only workout that's forced me to sit down and wait for the stars to clear. Also Plyo will require time to lay down and rest at some point later in the day - it's that tough. That's one reason I schedule this on a Saturday.
SUNDAY: Shoulders and Arms - Real nice upper body workout that I can take my time doing, and it doesn't wipe me out the rest of the day like Plyometrics. Triceps will be tender for the next day.
MONDAY: Yoga X - Very early on I decided that 90 minutes of yoga was way too much. 30 minutes max... good stretching after 3 days of strength workouts, plus a nice way to start a Monday.
TUESDAY: Legs and Back - Two leg routines for each back workout, which is actually pull ups. This is more of a lower body session. Especially since it's a work day, I don't unusually push myself with this workout.
WEDNESDAY: Kenpo X - More of a light cardio, but also good because it's not a strength workout. Gives tired muscles a little extra chance to recover before starting the weekly routine over again.
THURSDAY: Rest - God is good!
The true P90X routine is a different set of monthly workouts that blend the basics (squats, lunges, pushups, pull ups) over a 90 day period. But I've found the first month routine, which is described above, is best. Three weeks of consistently repeating this workout followed by a week of rest (stretching, yoga, Pilates) and I guarantee you will begin to reverse the aging process.
And actually sheerbalance.com ∞ has a great review of P90X, including a convincing argument that Plyometrics ∞ is the spawn of Satan himself.
Another thing I've come to appreciate is the consistent focus on helping beginners learn the workouts. This isn't tailored for expert body builders only; it's designed to give both beginners and experts a good workout. I can't emphasize this enough - you can go at your own pace and still keep up with the routines.
In summary, there's enough variety here to keep me interested for weeks at a time. Like all disciplines, the routine can become monotonous and/or a challenge to stay motivated. That will be a struggle no matter what workout is chosen, so I try to take it in stride if I miss a week every once in a while. But I've been doing this for enough years now that I know eventually I go back to working out... my body doesn't feel right and I don't have the energy or flexibility that I've come to enjoy. As long as it doesn't go beyond a few weeks, I'm good.