Each year, a handful of fitness fads explode onto the American scene. And, each year, an equal number fizzle out in far less spectacular fashion. But every so often, one sticks around, and for the last several years running it has been P90X—a wildly popular home-based fitness routine with a growing (and near fanatical) following among weekend warriors and A-list celebs alike (Ewan McGregor, Ashton Kutcher, and Donavan McNabb are among its devotees). It’s also one of the most popular search terms on MensHealth.com. But if you’re reading these words, you’ve found the only ones we’ve ever written about it. Why? Because while P90X might be able to accomplish what it claims for $120 (i.e., “transform you from regular to ripped in 90 days”), it’s likely not the total-body fitness solution that most people are looking for.
If you watch late night television, you’ve seen the infomercials: Fitness trainer Tony Horton and a handful of attractive models explain that by constantly introducing new exercises and workouts—which run the gambit from traditional strength sessions to Kenpo karate classes—you’ll achieve a constant state of “muscular confusion.” The less your muscles adapt, Horton explains, the faster they’ll grow.
The idea of “muscular confusion” isn’t new. And unfortunately for Horton and the folks at Beachbody—who also introduced the world to Hip Hop Abs and the Turbo Jam workout—it’s not based on science. “It’s a marketing term invented by Joe Weider [the creater of the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding contest] back in the 1980s,” says Bill Hartman, C.S.C.S, a strength coach in Indianapolis. “And it’s kind of counterproductive.”
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