The P90X nutrition plan demands a lot of protein and vitamins added to your diet. I’m going to show you the best non P90X branded supplement alternatives available without having to pay expensive beach body prices!
The whey protein, recovery drinks, protein bars and vitamins outlined in the program and great and get you the nutrients you need to build muscle fast and if you’ve ever watched the end of one of the workout videos, you know they’re pushed hard. They’re pushed even harder due to the BeachBody.com “coach” program that earns you revenue for the products you sell and what those you’ve signed up also sell. Sound familiar? The Beach Body brands that are so highly praised in the program are not the only options you have. Not even close!
THE ESSENTIALS
Whey Protein
A hard workout program requires a diet with a lot of protein. You’re going to need a protein supplement to have a chance at hitting the requirement amount during these 90 days. There are several types of protein powders available including Whey, Casein, Soy, and Egg. Whey Protein is primarily what you’re looking for. Whey protein is most quickly absorbed by your body and is therefore optimal to take after a workout. Another product to consider is legale-steroide.de for building muscle fast. Whey is generally processed by your body within 30 minutes as opposed to Casein which can take 2-3 hours.
Optimum Nutrition is my hands-down favorite. It mixes very well, even if you only swirl it around in a glass. The chocolate actually tastes like chocolate. The vanilla goes in my oatmeal every morning. I can mix any of them with just plain water and it still tastes great.
Top Pick
Protein Bars
You’re going to be eating a lot of protein bars during P90X. It’s very important that you make the best choice you can in this area. I’ve spent a great deal of time and effort reviewing and comparing protein bars for my protein bar comparison post. It basically boils down to two bars that I recommend. Premier Protein Bars and Pure Protein Bars. These bars are nearly equivalent in terms of protein and sugars content and they both taste great, in my opinion. I generally stick with the Pure Protein bars. You can find them at most grocery stores.
Top Pick
Recovery Drink
Recovery drinks area meant to shorten the recovery time after a workout. Even with the recovery drink, expect to be sore during your first two weeks of P90X! You’d better be! The idea behind the recovery drink is that you’re recover quicker and be ready to do your next workout sooner.
During your workouts, you deplete your stores of glycogen and carbohydrates. Your muscles are broken down by little micro-tears in the muscle. It’s the rebuilding of this muscle break-down that causes your muscles to grow. That rebuilding processes needs fuel. It needs protein that you’re going to get from your protein drink later, but more immidiately, it needs amino acids. L-Glutanim and L-Arganine get your muscles quickly and really give them what they’re craving. Getting this nutrition in liquid form is best, as it is most easily absorbed by your intestines.
The P90X Results and Recovery Formula really lays on the carbs. You need the carbs for fuel as well! But I also know a lot of us have to really watch those carbs. To that extent, there are plenty of other drinks available that provide nearly the same great recovery benefits.
P90X Results and Recovery really seems to be a great product. I say go for it if you don’t mind the high cost. It’s what I’m currently using.
Top Pick
As an alternative, try Mike’s Mix or Endurox R4
Vitamins
Vitamin packs are an easy way to get all of the vitamins, oils, and essential acids you need at one time. You’re actually getting way more than you need most of the time. Your body can only absorb so much at a time and the rest shows up in your now vibrantly yellow urine. These vitamin packs can come with a hefty price tag if you’re paying for the brand and the convenience.
There are several vitamin packs that will serve you as well as the P90X Health Formula such as Mega Men Sport Vitapak from GNC or Ultimate Man Daily Pack from Vitamin Shoppe. These packs comes with a couple of B-12 “energy booster” pills. So if you’re prone to jitters from things like that, beware.
My recommendation, however, is the Animal Pak by Universal. This pack will have you taking 11 pills a day, which can be a lot. You’ll be taking the packs twice a day to equal what you’re getting from the P90X branded vitamins. The upside is that since you’re taking them twice a day, you’ll be able to absorb more rather than taking what you can out of one pill before it passes through your system.
Top Pick
There are some circles that will tell you that the vitamin packs are overdoing it. There’s a lot more in there than your body can process. I can see the reasoning behind that thinking. If you want to cut back on the amount of pills your taking, there are three things you should really focus on: B12, Omega-3 Oils, and Calcium. This is my current mix.
RECOMMENDED
Pre-workout Drink
Pre-workout drinks can get you off the couch to pumping out reps FAST! They’ve got caffeine and energy boosters that will get you raring to go. Some of these drinks contain Nitric Oxide. They’re going to widen your veins and increase blood flow to your muscles. This is as important as it sounds! More blood flow to your muscles is going to deliver the other ingredients such as creatine to your muscle easier and more quickly.
I’ve got through my share of products with varying success. N.O. Xplode by BSN has been my drink of choice for some time, but I’ve developed a tolerance for it. This will happen and it’s important to cycle on and off after a few weeks. I then moved on to Jack3d, but they changed the formula on that.
Since then I’ve been using Cellucor C4. This stuff is great! It gets me up and working out, even when I feel too exhausted when I get home. It last through the whole workout as well. The creatine lets you bust out more reps that you ever though you had in you.
Top Pick
Casein Protein
Whey protein is a fast absorbing protein. It’s all absorbed within 30 minutes which make it a great pre and post workout supplement. Casein is slow to digest. It congeals in your stomach which causes you to take 2 or more hours to digest it. This makes it a great thing to take just before you go to bed. When you’re asleep, your muscles are repairing and are looking for protein. Giving your body protein to chew on when it’s sleeping helps that regeneration. Ever notice people recommend you take protein as soon as you wake up? That’s because you’ve been starved of protein all night long. Optimum Nutrition is still the best in this case as well.
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I am a 27 year old female that will be starting the P90X. I have purchased Mike’s Mix as a recovery drink…I don’t know if you know much about this product. It has Whey protein in it..that should cover both the recovery drink and the whey protein, right?
Hi Olivia, I’ve actually never heard of Mike’s Mix before. It looks like a decent product. I’d say 20g of protein after a workout is adequate for 27 female of average height. The only thing that stands out as a concern on Mike’s is the carbs. It’s quite a bit more than what’s in the P90X Health and Recovery Drink. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you’re not looking to lose weight or need the extra energy. If you are looking to slim down, however, weight the additional 30g of carbs into the rest of your diet.
Thanks for the write up. I’m starting p90x and trying to figure out exactly what my supplement regimen is going to be. I’m just wondering a couple of things:
1. Can you write up a specific schedule of the timing and quantity you took these.
2. There looks to be a little creatine in the recovery, but you don’t have that as a powder.
Do you have an opinion on creatine use.
3. Do you still feel like these are the best alternatives and that they are all needed?
Using supplements are going to be a new thing for me and I’m trying to get as much feedback as possible. Thanks again for your detailed reviews.
Do you drink both a protein and recovery drink after a workout?
Thanks for taking the time to write this article, I really appreciate it.
I do drink both a Recovery Drink (within 30 minutes of the workout) and a protein drink (within an hour of the workout).
Hi Tate,
These all look like good topics of full posts that you can look for soon. I’ve been on a hiatus for a while. Here’s the quick answer.
1) 1 Scoop of protein with my breakfast (oatmeal or shake). Pre-Workout drink (1-3 scoops) 15 minutes before a workout. One scoop of recovery drink within 30 minutes of after a workout. 1 Scoop of protein powder within 1 hour after a workout. I often find myself lacking on protein for the day, so I’ll add in a shake here and there, or casein before bed, to get to my recommended amount of protein.
2) There is creatine in the recovery drink, as well as in the pre-workout drink. That’s why I don’t take a seperate dosage of the stuff. I’m all for taking it. Do keep in mind that you’ll notice less “cut” when on creatine as it adds a lot of water mass to your muscles.
3) These are the best that I’ve used and why I’m recommending them. There are a lot to chose from and new stuff coming out every day. In the end, it’s just a matter of splitting hairs to find the supplement that is 2% better than another.
thank you for writing this very helpful article. i have a question about your vitamin mixture. when do you take these vitamins?
I take them after lunch and after dinner.
Hi Brett i have a question. I am currently pregnant so I will be starting p90x shortly after the baby is born, and to lose the extra pregnancy pounds I was going to do 30 minutes of elliptical right out of bed in the morning and then do p90x in the afternoon… my question is should I do a pre workout drink and post workout drink before and after both workouts each day? I just don’t want to overdo it with the supplements. What would you recommend?
Hi Rachel,
First of all, congratulations on your pregnancy!
I’d love to advise you on the appropriate supplements to take to lose the baby weight, but I’m afraid I’ll have to defer to your doctor in this case. I do know that your nutritional needs are very different immediately after having a child, but I have no experience or expertise in this area. I think this is something you should really ask you OBGYN. Sorry I couldn’t be more help, but I wish you the best!
Thanks for this article – I’m about to begin the P90x on Monday, and was doing all my nutritional hw before hand – and this is one handy and economical guide. Thanks for it…
Question – do I really need to buy a separate recovery drink? I’m already on board with Optimum Nutrition, can’t I just chug down the 100% Whey Gold Standard for my post workout, then end my day with ON’s Casein protein?
Also, I’m just planning to keep it more simple with regards to supplements – like Kirkland’s Glucosamine & Chondroitin, and vitamin supplements – would it be okay if I didn’t take additional calcium tablets (bc of the Glucosamine & Chondroitin), and Fish oil?
I want to take it easy, minimizing my intake of man-made products…
Hi Mike,
I do believe that a recovery drink is very important for muscle group and the time you take it is just as important; within 15 minutes of your workout. You can however use a great alternative without dealing with more powders from the store, I respect that. Chocolate milk is “nature’s” recovery drink. Though I’m not sure which cow gives chocolate milk! Drink a big glass of low-fat chocolate milk right after a workout and you’re good to go. Honest.
Getting your calcium from supplements is just easy. You need to get it from somewhere. We all know that calcium makes your bones stronger. Some studies have shown that an excess of protein can make your bones weaker. I suggest you still get a lot of calcium, say 1000 mg/day, through whatever means you wish. That’s going to be a lot of yogurt and sardines! Hmmm… a yogurt-sardine smoothie perhaps?? Let me know how that tastes 🙂
I’m about to start P90X after new years and for the supplements I got gold standard Whey as the vitamin and accelerade as the recovery drink. I was wondering if those would be good to use I did a little bit of research.
How do I take the vitamin and the recovery drink because I was reAding the p90x daily plan and it doesn’t say when to take it before or after the workout?
I was planning on doing this for my food
Breakfast ( oatmeal )
Snack bar
Salad with turkey
Snack bar
Dinner salad with chicken
And I would get my vitamin from the protein shake because I’m trying to loose more calories than I eat
Jose,
Congratulations on making the commitment for after the new year. I’ll be right there starting a new round with you!
Accelerade is a pretty good choice for a recovery drink. At first it looks like a lot of sugars, but then again, the P90X Results and Recovery drink has a lot as well. It still has the 4:1 protein to carb ratio you’re looking for, but I don’t see any L-Glutamine, L-Arganine, or Creatine. The L’s are pretty standard amino acids found in the best recovery drinks.
You’ll want to take the vitamins with a meal at about the same time each day. I doesn’t matter so much what time you take them other than the burst of B-12 you’ll get, depending on the kind of vitamin you’re taking. B-12 is an energy booster in itself, so you may want to take it a few hours before your workout. I take the Animal Paks as I mention above. Those are split into two packages, one in the morning and one in the evening. That way I feel I’m absorbing more of the vitamins than if I took them all at once. Your body can only absorb so much before passing the rest through your system.
The recovery drink should be taken within 15 minutes of your hardest workout of the day. If you’re doing doubles, you can take half after each workout. This is the key period in which your muscles are craving the nutrients and amino acids it needs to recover.
As for the Diet:
Good job on getting the carbs in early. That gives you the energy to burn during the day.
I’d suggest you stick with one snack bar a day. I know that’s the easiest way to do it, and I did it for a while. But I didn’t see the same results as when I made my own snacks such as celery and almond butter or beef jerky or nuts.
As long as you’re getting the right amount of protein that’s recommended for your body, then I think you’ll be good. It will feel like you’re eating a ton, and that’s OK! Just as long as what you’re eating is CLEAN. Good calories will give you energy and let you shed the fat while retaining muscle.
I am currently taking EAS Whey protien every morning, 1 scoop with 8oz of skim milk and a banana blended together. I really dont want to spend the money on the p90x branded stuff, but I do want to get maximum results when I start my p90X routine…any suggestions.
Matt, I suggest you go with the Optimum Nutrition branded 100% Gold Standard Whey from the recommendation above. The strawberry or chocolate will take great with banana and milk!
I just started the p90x system and wanted to know if I should drink the recovery drink. I want to loose the 40 extra pounds I gained and am worried if I drink the recovery drink it will add weight! What do you think?
I’ll start off by saying the P90X isn’t necessarily a weight loss program. It’s about getting you in shape. Now if you’re significantly overweight, you’re going to lose a lot of that fat in the process, but your scale won’t go down as fast as if you just went on a diet + cardio. Your measurements will be the biggest improvement.
The recovery drink is an important part of the entire program as it helps you get you what you need when you need it. There are a fair amount of calories in that scoop, so yes, it will initially slow down the weight loss. If you’re 40lbs over where you would like to be, then I don’t think you’ll be putting on weight at all during a round of P90X. What you’ll find, though, is that after putting on the muscle you get from lifting weights and taking in protein, you’ll begin burning fat faster. Your metabolism will be higher all of the time and you’ll start to get leaner as the hungry muscle eats your fat reserves. I noticed after completing the program that not only did I lose the weight, I was able to weather those “bad” days of eating poorly. It didn’t go right to my waist as it did in the past. I was able to burn it up because I did it right and focused on my overall fitness rather than the scale.
Hi, I am a 16 years old male, and I’m welling to start p90x program soon… so I wanted to ask you about taking supplements, is it okay to take these kind of supplements in my age, because I’m not feeling well with taking it, and please tell me if there is any alternatives for my age … thanks in advance
I have a question about the multrivitamin suppliments alternative.. I chose to take the gnc megamen . I read on a website in order to match the multivitamins in p90x supliments you have to take twice the dosage of GNC megamen sports so that is about 4 pills A day .. Ive been doing that and everything is fine but then i read that you still lack calcium and on here I read that you lack omega 3’s .. My question what is your recomendation dosage I should take If I chose to add both the vitamin d and omega3 alternatives you have listed.. where you recomending 4 gnc megamen aday also?please let me know how many fishoils and vitamind’s you have listed up there I should take so i can buy add them to my schedule thanks!!