P90X creator and host Tony Horton, right, appears with Savannah Guthrie on NBC News’s Today show in August, 2012.NBC NewsWire/AFP/Getty Images
A handful of infomercials from the mid-to-late aughts are drilled into my brain. The Slap Chop. The Magic Bullet. The Snuggie. I remember these ads better than I remember most high school classes. They’re the type of campaigns Don Draper could only dream of, pushing massive sales across North America and becoming part of the pop culture vocabulary. But among all the infomercials from my teen years, the ad with the biggest personal impact was a set of workout DVDs called P90X.
For three easy payments of $39.95, P90X offered twelve different exercise videos, a nutrition plan, supplement advice and a calendar to track progress. P90X built their program around “Muscle confusion,” the idea that “confusing” a muscle by continually switching up workout routines every few weeks means participants would never plateau with their strength and body composition goals.
From the couch in my parents’ basement I’d spend late nights listening to testimonials from the infomercial, wondering if I too could go from “the ordinary to the extraordinary” without ever stepping foot in a gym. After maybe two dozen views, I finally caved in, using my mom’s credit card to make the supposedly life changing purchase. I’m not the only one. According to The New York Times, the DVDs have sold over four million copies to date. Today you can get P90X online through the BODi mobile app.
I started P90X a countless number of times. I never finished it. I figured a lack of commitment, combined with challenging workouts and too many social obligations, was to blame. But twenty years after first attempting the program (and with more than a decade of powerlifting experience) maybe it was time for a reassessment. Enlisting the help of my friend Geoff Girvitz, personal trainer and owner of Toronto’s Bang Personal Training, we put P90X’s “Chest and Back” video to the test.
The workout
While I had a lot of nostalgia for P90X, Girvitz was coming into the video blind. Before starting our workout, I asked what he expected from the DVD.
“I know their big thing was muscle confusion. And I think there is something about an ab ripper?” said Girvitz. “Given the time period, I’m hoping for a rap/rock soundtrack and maybe a bunch of flexing?”
Hitting play, he wasn’t too far off. P90X is created and hosted by trainer Tony Horton. Looking jacked in a sleeveless tee, Horton walks participants through each exercise and its potential variations alongside a crew of other impossibly fit extras. The Chest and Back Workout is set in a non-descript warehouse gym, complete with an ornamental punching bag and wall fan. Underscoring the exercises are guitar heavy radio rock instrumentals. It all feels very 2004.
After an exceedingly long warm up, the actual workout consisted of mostly various push-ups and pull-ups. These moves were punctuated by the occasional dumbbell pull or “fly” movement. While the home workout can be done with minimal equipment, we were expected to have access to some dumbbells, a pull up bar, or an exercise band.
An expert evaluation
Thinking back to my past failed attempts at P90X, I remember how often I’d turn off the videos before they were over. I had assumed it was because the workouts were really intense, which is partly true. Busting out well over a hundred push-ups and pull-ups over the course of an hour will certainly get your heart rate up.
But what I didn’t realize at the time was just how dull the videos are. When I go to the gym now, the rest time can be filled with music, phone time, or chatting with a friend. With the workout video, during wait times you’re listening to Horton and his buddies banter. Mostly about how great P90X is.
As for the programming itself? It left a lot to be desired. “The percentage of the population that can whip out even one or two bodyweight pull-ups – let alone however many pull-ups we did – is really small,” said Girvitz. For some people, especially beginners, bodyweight push-ups can also be really challenging.
The lack of variety throughout the workout meant that if you were new to exercise or struggling with either of these movements, getting through the chest and back workout would be a slog. And if you’re advanced enough that these movements feel second nature, you’re probably not looking for a workout video in the first place.
The last thing Girvitz noted before we wrapped was about some of the video’s claims. Does six to eight reps of a weighted exercise help grow muscle while twelve to fifteen reps help you get lean? Not really. “For building muscle, any number of reps can work, as long as we’re approaching failure by the end of the set,” said Girvitz. A lean physique, he explained, has a lot more to do with body fat percentage than it does with muscle mass.
Girvitz was also skeptical about the “muscle confusion” concept. “Most beginners will keep getting more and more out of an exercise for quite a while without the need to change,” he said. If you’re new to exercise, you can keep getting results from the same workout program before needing to switch things up. “My advice would be to stay consistent for as long as you’re improving. At that point, you might change things up more frequently to avoid plateaus, give certain tissues a break, or challenge yourself to adapt to new stresses.”
The takeaway
Just like the infomercial boasts, I’m sure a lot of people got great results from P90X. That’s because, according to research published in the scientific journal Nutrients, consistency and adherence to any program is more important than what that program actually consists of.
So is P90X something that I could actually recommend to people in the year 2026? Well, I can confidently say that it’s better than no work out plan at all. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re serious about your fitness routines, there are lots of easier and more efficient options out there. For fat loss, the gym is a lot less important than diet, and a quick search online can find a number of great beginner programs, such as Casey Johnston’s Couch to Barbell. But if you – like me – spent a lot of time watching late night television, the video’s worth checking out for the nostalgia alone.
