Why did you, me, and many others initially fail?
This is why so many have failed at p90x! This article is great for explaining to you the best way to go at any intense workout in the beginning. It is how I finally was able to beat p90x!
Cycle one p90x: Why most fail
Your first cycle through the videos is by far the most difficult cycle. This is true for obvious reasons. You don't want to workout, you feel defeated by the insane standards set by the video, and when you fail it makes it worse. The video is set up to work you to the point of failure and that is a good thing. The problem is that we burn ourselves out in the first 10-12 minutes trying to keep up. Once we burn out trying to keep up we start doing one push-up here, three jumping jacks there, and the other 95% of the video is water breaks, cussing at the super in shape people, and heavy breathing. Sound familiar?
How to avoid the "Freshman Fail"
When I first started p90x and failed, I asked several of my friends who did it for months, how they stuck with it after being mentally defeated so badly!
Here is the million dollar secret!
When you first start out, only do 25-30% of everything they do in each individual set! if they start the video with 30 push-ups do 7. Pace yourself and complete the video in this way. Try going up to 9 per set the next cycle Through on chest days. Eventually, you will find yourself doing 100% of what they do and you will never be mentally defeated. Do this on every video they do and you will defeat p90x or any other similar video. Then you can do 90 more days if you feel inclined.