I’m turning Thursdays over to my brother, who’s sharing his experience with P90X with us (also: he’ll have a bonus post tomorrow). I have to say: It’s breaking my heart to hear how hard he’s being on himself. Also: The “and the case of” titles are wearing on me. We may have seen the last of them. -N

On Sunday, I put in disk 1 of P90X. Hopefully, 90 days later — That’s January 29, 2011. -N — I’ll be able to tell you that (1) I made it through; and (2) I’m better for it. But first, you’ll need to know where I am now. Here are my stats:

Gender: Male

Age: 27

Height: 5’8″

Weight: 172.2 pounds.

The internet tells me this is consistent with an “overweight” man of my age and height.

Body Fat: 25.9 percent.

The internet tells me this is consistent with an “obese” man of my age and height.

Chest: 38 inches

Waist: 37 inches

Hips: 41.5 inches

Thighs: 20.5 inches each

R. Bicep: 13.5 inches

L. Bicep: 13 inches

In addition to these physical composition statistics, step one of P90x is actually to take a physical test to ensure you are physically fit enough to actually do the videos. I passed (barely). Here are my results:

Pullups: 1.75

Vert. Leap: 12 inches

Push ups: 29

Toe Touch: 0 inches.

The Toe Touch exercise requires that you sit on the floor with your legs in front of you, bending at the waist and reaching for your toes. Without bending your knees, you are to measure how far past (or short of) your toes you can reach. I could touch my toes but nothing further.

Wall Squat: 1 minute, 18 seconds.

Think: Back against the wall and knees bent such that you are sitting in a chair with no seat. Hold that pose for as long as you can. You can slide your bum down the wall as you get tired, but time stops as soon as it touches the ground.

20-pound curls: 30.

20-pound weights in each arm, curling simultaneously (not alternating). Women get to use 8 lb. weights.

In-Outs: 42.

Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Lean back slightly, and place your arms at your sides just behind your bum for support. Lift your legs a few inches off the ground. Pull your knees into your chest as far as you can, and then extend your legs back out straigh, keeping them off the ground. You’ve completed one in-out. How many can you do without your legs touching the ground?

Finally, I was required to take my resting heart rate, do 1.5 minutes of jumping jacks at a quick pace immediately followed by 30 seconds at as quick a pace as I could manage, and then check my heart rate immediately, 1 minute thereafter, 2 minutes thereafter, 3 minutes thereafter and 4 minutes thereafter. Note that I was truly barely able to complete this exercise alive. Here were the results:

Resting: 74 bpm.

Immediately Post-Jacks: 160 bpm.

1 min. Post-Jacks: 128 bpm.

2 min. Post-Jacks: 115 bpm.

3 min Post-Jacks: 108 bpm.

4 min Post-Jacks: 102 bpm.

So there you have it: The state of me, pre-P90X. I am ashamed. To give you some perspective, 10 years ago I was a wrestler in high school. I weighed 135 pounds and had a body fat of about 8 percent. So, I’ve managed to pack on 40 pounds in 10 years (4 pounds per year) and increase my bodyfat over 300 percent. If I don’t start doing something about this, by the time I’m 40, I’ll weigh 224 pounds, and I’ll have a bodyfat percentage of a gazillion. This is not unfounded for my family, so it’s time to get it in gear.