You have to do the workout faithfully to make it work. I have seen real results from people who did P90X.
The better question is “how practical is it” for several reasons:
-Some find it hard to stick to a work out program when they are at home where they can easily choose another distraction instead
-Some times, the “downstairs neighbor” would probably want to shoot you for stomping around on the ground, which is their ceiling (this is if you have a downstairs neighbor obviously)
-P90X was developed for people who are actually already in shape (developed for . . . not marketed toward), so it is quite difficult to just pick up the learning curve, and quite easy to get discouraged and quit.
-With the cost of P90X, after you buy all the crap, you could just eat healthier, and go to a gym for a few months. . . see if you are really going to be motivated for more than a month anyway . . . and then have extra crap like bands, dumbells etc.
Again, I’ve seen people achieve results on P90X. But for each one I’ve seen benefit, I literally know 6 people who spent a few hundred bucks and are still as roly-poly as they were to begin with. And I know one girl who’s P90X is gathering dust because she realized it was ALOT easier to plug into her iPod and just run 2–3 miles a day.
You just have to be honest with yourself. “Are you going to stick with it?”
I personally don’t like the feeling of shuffling around, doing sit ups, stretching, etc. on tile or carpet. I prefer doing it in the gym on their rubber mats. It’s just my preference.