CrossFit versus P90X versus Insanity
Written By CFP Coach James Needham
“The biggest difference is the support and motivation from CrossFit’s community can not be replicated with a DVD.”
If you have not yet heard of the P90X and/or the INSANITY DVDs I am sure it is just a matter of time. Hopefully by the end of this article you will have a good understanding as to their differences AND yes, even their similarities.
The P90X & INSANITY infomercials are convincing and do a good job of promoting their product. I even purchased P90X, only to in time get tired of the routine and eventually discovered CrossFit Providence (CFP).
- CrossFit has athletes working out using the most efficient, effective exercises available. Gymnastics, weightlifting, sprinting, powerlifting, & kettlebells, are but a few of the activities you may come across. CrossFit’s specialty is not specializing.
- P90X is described as a home fitness training system that contains 12 workout DVDs, programmed for 90 days.
- INSANITY is described as a 60 day program that comes with 10 workout discs containing Plyometrics drills on top of intervals of strength, power, resistance, and ab / core training moves. No equipment or weights are used.
The benefit of P90X and, INSANITY is that they do incorporate some whole-body movements, expose the user to new horizons like Yoga and Martial Arts and criticize the current trend in fitness towards machines. Both programs are scalable. They also believe that just “going through the motions” will not stimulate results and that the results ultimately come from intensity.
Even though P90X and INSANITY are similar to CrossFit in these ways there are some major drawbacks to point out.
The biggest difference is the support and motivation from CrossFit’s community can not be replicated with a DVD. It’s an open-source group, where anyone is free to post anything related to the workout of the day (WOD). There are hundreds of thousands doing Crossfit across the world, in basements, garages, parks, and gyms. Members and Coaches (hundreds of thousands worldwide) bring individual expertise to the table and that adds to everyone’s experience.
With CrossFit you are accountable when you walk through the door. The DVDs won’t come alive and start encouraging you like a CFP Coach. Since my first workout at CrossFit Providence I have not even had a second thought to “just push play” on my DVD player to re-visit P90X. The main difference that I noticed is that what I “experience” at CrossFit Providence is what I “saw” on the P90X videos. A coach walking around watching everyone’s form, individuals performing different levels of the same exercise, everyone cheering each other on, making small talk, etc.
Crossfit, being open-source, is free and constantly improving based on shared empirical evidence, where as P90X and INSANITY are limited by there DVD design. Safety, efficacy, and efficiency are the three most important and interdependent facets of CrossFit and are supported by measurable, observable, repeatable facts; i.e., data. This approach is called “evidence-based fitness.” The CrossFit methodology depends on full disclosure of methods, results, and criticisms, shared through the Internet (Coach Greg Glassman).
CrossFit uses the most efficient/effective exercises available. You will never see an “isolation” exercise much less an entire workout dedicated to just one body part. By using compound movements CrossFit strengthens your body the way it is suppose to be strengthened, as 1 machine not a collection of parts. To work the body one muscle at a time or even one group of muscles at a time now seems to me like such an ineffective waist of time.
CrossFit feels like a sport. Harnessing the natural camaraderie, competition, and fun of sport yields an intensity that cannot be matched by other means. (Coach Glassman). Where P90X and INSANITY targets physique improvement solely, that result comes as a byproduct of an improved fitness level with CrossFit.
CrossFit has the element of surprise. Constantly changing workouts help Crossfitters put out their maximal effort every day, because they don’t know what’s coming next. It makes it a lot tougher than saving your energy for days that feature your favorite exercises, and thereby only consistently improving your strengths.
CrossFit is fun. Knowing that tomorrow is ‘Yoga Day’ didn’t do much to excite me on the third time through the P90X DVDs. How many P90X folks are up at midnight on the P90X website, chatting to others about ‘Chest and Triceps’ day tomorrow? Few. At Crossfit.com? Trust me THOUSANDS are constantly hitting ‘refresh’ to see the WOD before they go to sleep.
The bottom line is this: While P90X and INSANITY may help only the self-motivated individual achieve actual results; CrossFit is an ever growing living program offering a more practical workout with support from a highly motivated community.
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10 Responses to “CrossFit versus P90X versus Insanity”
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Kettlebells are the very best approach to get fit. I by no means bother with any other gear nowadays, just several kettlebells and I appear in prime form.
soooo much information to sort through that I am undecided, are the any hidden positive aspects that I am missing before I commit
I only desire that had been correct.
Brock Ricard
Most what i read online is trash and copy paste but i think you offer something different. Keep it like this.
Just found funny joke: A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer.
I do agree with all the ideas you have presented in your post. They are very convincing and will definitely work. Thanks for the post.
Try Both
90x includes two parts: fitness plan and nutrition plan. Nutrition is an essential part of any fitness program. Apart from p90x workouts and all, consumption of proper nutrition is must. Without this there is no worth of any workouts.