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P90X3 Review : Pretty darn awesome!

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I recently finished a round of P90X3 and had a lot of fun doing it so I thought I’d do a little review with my thoughts and experiences with the program. I liked it so much that I’ve actually started a second round, this time doing a different calendar. Read on to find out more!

What is P90X3

P90X3 is the latest program from the P90 series designed and instructed by everybody’s favourite coach, that crazy kook Tony Horton. In typical Tony Horton fashion, he brings his wise cracking coaching style to the program that makes the workouts a lot more fun. So why the hell do you need another P90X program, you say? Simple, this one is shorter. 30 minutes, in fact. For me, this was a huge draw to the program as time is currently my most precious resource. If I knew that I only needed to set aside 30 minutes every day, then it was simply a matter of throwing it into my calendar. I didn’t have to worry about a 45 minute program one day, and an hour and 15 minute program the next. Just 30 minutes, every day for 90 days.

Note that the program has optional warm up and warm downs, but I never did them. I wanted to be in and out in 30 minutes FLAT so I would have zero excuses. If you were to do them, set aside about 45-50 minutes per day instead.

One thing I didn’t like about P90X2 was that you needed way too much equipment. Well they fixed that in P90X3, woot! All you really need is a pullup bar, and some dumbbells or resistance bands. Everything else is optional, like towels, yoga mats, and pushup stands. So if you’ve done P90X or P90X2 in the past, then you should be good to go.

Program Calendars

There are four 90 day calendars to choose from: the regular one that I just completed, the lean one that I just started, a mass one for muscle building, and a doubles calendar for those who miss their hour long workouts. There’s also an elite 1 month block that I’m not sure what it’s for. Eliteness, I guess.

Like most of these programs, there’s also a nutrition guide that I never follow. In fact, I made no modifications to my eating whatsoever and still got some awesome results. A few times during the 90 days, I also binge drank, ate like an asshole on many, many occasions, and just generally didn’t care too much about being super strict or tight on calories.

There were also some days that I was out of town for a few days, so what I did was double workouts on some days (and even a triple on one) just so I could stay on schedule. But I think 85 out of 90 days I was on point and stuck to the calendar, although I did switch around some workouts depending on what I was doing on my strength training days. That’s right, I did not give up my barbells. I would do the P90X3 workout in addition to them. I found the intensity of the P90X3 workouts allowed me to do this without any recovery issues whatsoever. I don’t think I’d be able to do this if I were to do P90X.

P90X3 Workouts

 

The workouts themselves varied in difficulty, purpose, usefulness and fun. My brief thoughts on each below:

Total Synergistics is a full-body workout that focuses on multiple muscle groups and stabilization stuff. In my opinion it’s a pretty easy workout that tries to do too much in 30 minutes.

Agility X is a cardio workout that has a little bit of plyometrics, a little bit of balance, and a bunch of agility “X marks the spot” training. Overall, it isn’t too intense or difficult. Newcomers might find it hard, but I think anybody who has done previous P90X programs won’t find it too bad. The good news with Agility X is you can push yourself really hard with some of the exercises by jumping harder, higher, deeper, faster.

X3 Yoga is a very short and awesome yoga program. I really like it because it allows me to do weekly yoga without taking 60+ minutes of my time and without all of that woowoo omm stuff. I just want to stretch and breathe and balance and quiet the mind, and I want to do it in 30 minutes. X3 Yoga is perfect for me and one of the best workouts in P90X3 and one of my favourite yoga workouts I’ve ever done. Love it.

The Challenge is a very simple pushup and pullup program. This is the only program of the 16 that left me sore the next day after doing it for the first time. I really like the simplicity of the program as well as the progression involved. It’s really easy to track your progress on subsequent workouts and I love that. Another one of my favourite workouts in P90X3.

CVX is pretty cool. It’s a mix of cardio and resistance training. For about 80% of the workout, it is very similar to a complex routine where you have a weight in your hands at all times and do a bunch of exercises. It’s tough and fun, but definitely not exhausting.

The Warrior requires zero equipment so you can do it everywhere. It involves a little bit of pushing, some jumping, and some isometric holds. It’s not too difficult, but works quite well if you’re stuck in a hotel room and need to get a 30 minute workout in.

Dynamix is a mobility workout. I love this routine because I know that without it I wouldn’t do any mobility work even though I know how important it is. So this forces me to get off of my ass and do some mobility stuff. I find it really has helped make my body more durable, less achy, and less stiff. This is probably my favourite workout in the series.

Isometrix is 30 minutes of static yoga poses. I like it because again, it isn’t something I would do without an actual program that tells me to do it.

Accelerator is another one of those cardio workouts that doesn’t require equipment and has low and high speeds. Not too difficult and sorta fun. I don’t hate it.

Decelerator is my least favourite program of the bunch. I am not sure what they are trying to do with this one. The upper body exercises are much more difficult than the lower body exercises, and some of them are just ridiculous. I am glad to see that the other calendars don’t have a whole lot of Decelerator in them, because if they did I’d likely replace them with something else.

Pilates X is a pilates program. I’ve heard of pilates in the past but have never tried it before. I can see why people like it. I personally found it quite challenging, and I am really glad this workout was included in the program because it lets me do something fun and challenging that I would have never tried otherwise.

Eccentric Upper is an upper body workout that focuses on slow, eccentric movements. It has the most challenging exercise in probably the entire P90X series: the eccentric V Pullup. It hurts every damn time.

Eccentric Lower is the lower version of Eccentric Upper. I did not find this lower body routine nearly as challenging as the upper body routine. Even still, I never do slow eccentric movements, so I’m glad that these are in the program.

Triometrics is like a way less intense version of Plyometrics X from P90X. The schtick of this one is that they do three versions of jumping: low, medium, and high. It’s ok, not my favourite workout, but plyo training is good for you so I still do it.

Incinerator feels the most like an original P90X workout in terms of exercises, but not in difficulty. A lot of weighted resistance work followed by bodyweight work working the same muscle groups.

MMX is the most fun workout in the program and also the sweatiest. Inspired by MMA, it involves lots of punching and kicking and sprawling. Lots of fun!

Conclusion

Personally, I loved the program and am already doing the lean calendar. Within the first month I was down 1 belt notch on my lifting belt. Within two months I was down two notches, and in the final month I was down three notches, but it’s very tight. I would say this program is really great for busy people, those who want to supplement their existing workouts and hobbies with additional exercise, and those new to the P90X workouts who aren’t quite ready to tackle the longer and more challenging workouts. For me, it’s a very good fit. I think hardcore P90Xers might find this program too easy, and that is understandable. And for those people who feel like they need to feel sore and exhausted for the program to work, P90X3 might not be a good fit. However, I love that this workout makes me feel alive and energized rather than sore and zapped. I highly recommend giving it a go.

Health and Fitness

P90X2 Workout Review

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Tony Horton and the Beachbody crew are back with their latest home workout program, the sequel to the massively successful P90X series. It’s called…wait for it….P90X2! I just finished this beastly program and found it quite difficult to complete. There was definitely a lack of motivation with P90X2.

I started with P90X way back in the day. It was the first home workout program I ever completed, and I had a lot of fun doing it. Oddly, I never wrote a review for it for some reason despite it being such an excellent program. P90X2 tries to raise the bar, and Tony Horton mentions throughout the program that this is meant for P90X grads, but in reality you can do this program just fine without having ever done P90X or other similar programs.

Much like P90X, X2 is a 90 day program that consists of 3 phases. Phase 1 is called Foundation, phase 2 is called Strength, and phase 3 is called Performance. With the original P90X, there were very specific programs to follow. If you wanted to get lean, you would follow the lean calendar. There was also the classic calendar and doubles, both of which you would follow a very specific routine. With P90X2, you are given more leeway to decide on how long you want to stay in each phase. So for phase 1, you can stay in the phase anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks, phase 2 is anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks, and phase 3 is anywhere from 3 to 4 weeks. While some people might appreciate this flexibility, I am going to guess many will not. Many people who go through these programs like to be told exactly what to do. They want to be able to follow the calendar exactly and press play. With P90X2, the leeway is ambiguous enough to make people wonder how long they should do each phase for, as long as it adds up to 12 weeks. I ended up going with 3 weeks in phase 1, 5 weeks in phase 2, and 4 weeks in phase 3. This was largely arbitrary, except I wanted to spend the least amount of time in phase 1, because I feel I am in pretty good shape and didn’t need the extra time to “build up” to phase 2 and 3.

All workouts range anywhere from 50 minutes to 75 minutes in length. The longer days are the days that require X2 Ab Ripper. This will not be a shock to P90X grads who had to go through something similar in the original P90X. The workouts vary from phase to phase, but some workouts are used in multiple phases. X2 Yoga is used the most, as it is required in all three phases. Plyocide and X2 Recovery+Mobility are used in both phase 1 and 2. Workouts are 5 days per week with 2 rest and recovery days, which is 1 more day of rest per week compared to P90X.

The workouts in phase1 include X2 Core, Plyocide, X2 Recovery + Mobility, X2 Total Body, X2 Yoga, X2 Balance + Power, and Ab Ripper.

The workouts in phase 2 include Chest + Back + Balance, Plyocide, X2 Recovery + Mobility, X2 Shoulders + Arms, X2 Yoga, Base + Back, and Ab Ripper. In addition, you can substitute V-Sculpt for Chest + Back + Balance, and X2 Chest + Shoulders + Tris for X2 Shoulders + Arms. I did the substition for the last two weeks of phase 2 out of sheer boredom and curiousity.

The workouts in phase 3 include P.A.P. Lower (P.A.P. stands for post activation potentiation, which is a fancy term being thrown around fitness circles), P.A.P. Upper, X2 Yoga, and X2 Recovery + Mobility. There is also a random recovery week tacked onto the end of phase 3 should you need it, which is basically X2 Recovery + Mobility and X2 Yoga alternated every day.

Phew…that was a mouth full. It isn’t so confusing once you actually see the calendar and your options and start the program, though. The one thing that I believe is a big no no for this program is the sheer amount of equipment needed, which is tons more than P90X. You’ll need a mat, towels, tape, up to four(!) medicine balls, dumbbells of various weights, a pullup bar, resistance bands, stability balls, a plyo box, a foam roller, push up stands, and a bunch of other stuff that I’m probably forgetting. Conviently, Beachbody sells all of the stuff you need. I didn’t have all of the equipment needed, but I had most of it and made due. Tony Horton does emphasize that you can do this program in your hotel room if you are traveling, and thus don’t need all of the equipment. In other words, a lack of equipment should not deter you from starting the program. Nonetheless, it is always nice to do the exercises as they are designed for maximum benefit, but the sheer number of “stuff” you need for P90X2 makes this very hard.

I am not going into what each workout consists of individually (that would ruin the surprise!). Just know that there will be a lot of familiar stuff from P90X such as a warmup and cooldown, lots of pullups, pushups, dumbbell work, etc. But there will also be a crapload of new stuff including tons of stability ball work, medicine ball work, and foam rolling. I really liked the foam rolling, that was a nice touch, since I usually neglect foam rolling despite it being so important for recovery. The medicine and stability ball stuff was interesting, but also not really needed, in my opinion. I don’t doubt that the exercises were difficult, because some were (Impossible-Possible was one such move that destroyed me). But what did it accomplish aside from making me better at that particular exercise? That, I’m not so sure of. I’m not convinced that there is a skill transference to other activities, and I’m not convinced you can’t get just as strong or fast doing simpler exercises. But I digress, that’s neither here nor there. Variety is the spice of life, right?

Overall, this was a very good program. Tony Horton was his usual hilarious and whacky self, and most of the workouts were very good and left you feeling like you put in some good work. My results were pretty good as I leaned out some more while packing on a bit of muscle and got stronger. If you have the equipment or are willing to purchase them, this would be a great program. Alternatively, the original P90X is also really awesome, requires less equipment, and had more hilarious moments with Tony Horton. If you’ve never done P90X I would suggest doing that first, and if you are looking to try something new you can’t go wrong with P90X2. You can get P90X2 in both DVD and Blu-Ray. It comes in 3 sizes: Base, Ultimate, and Deluxe, which vary with the number of equipment included.

Blu-Ray: Ultimate, Deluxe, and Base.

DVD: Ultimate, Deluxe, and Base.

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If you liked this review, you may also like my Insanity Asylum, GSP Rushfit, Rip:60, P90X+, Insanity, RevAbs, or RMAX BER reviews

Health and Fitness

Insanity Asylum Review

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I finished Insanity Asylum a little while ago and haven’t gotten around to writing about it until now. Here are my thoughts:

Insanity Asylum is a 30 day home workout program from Beachbody and hosted by Shaun T, the same dude that brought you programs like Insanity, which I found to be a mofo. This program is no different in that regard. Shaun T really likes to kick your ass. The program is designed for people who have already completed Insanity and want to take their athleticism to another level. It is designed for athletic performance.

Equipment Needed: You need a little bit more equipment in this one compared to some other home programs, including an agility ladder, jumping rope, dumbbells, resistance bands, and an optional pull-up bar.

Workouts: There are 6 workouts and 2 bonuses. The workouts are Speed & Agility, Vertical Plyo, Strength, Back to Core, Gameday, and Relief. The bonuses are the assessment, which you do before and after the program to show your progress, and a 15 minute overtime program, which you’ll wish you didn’t have to do since its after Gameday. Asylum also comes with a nutrition guide, worksheet to track progress, and a calendar.

You combine the 6 core workouts for 30 days, which goes by very quickly. You can also use these programs in addition to Insanity or P90X, but I imagine you would be very, very tired. Workouts are usually about 45 minutes, except Gameday which is closer to an hour and Relief which is a 30 minute stretching program you have to do a few times in those 30 days. Of the 30 days, you only get 2 rest days so plan your time accordingly.

I found Insanity Asylum to be pretty challenging and tiring. I have never used an agility ladder before and discovered how embarrassingly uncoordinated I was at the beginning of the program, but gradually improved over time. The movements might feel unnatural and complex at the beginning, so you may need to practice a bit before getting them down correctly. Shaun T stresses the importance of proper technique for maximum benefit of the program. The assessment did show a significant improvement in performance numbers in a number of exercises compared with my pre Asylum numbers, so I guess that means Asylum helped.

I did find that this program really strained my lower back. Especially after the Strength program, I would find my lower back aching the entire next day. My feet and ankles were also sore until after the program ended (I did the workouts wearing Nike Free shoes). Also, be aware that you will sweat a lot in the program. A LOT. I would suggest a towel to dry off any chance you are able to because if you are working out on a smooth service such as hardwood, concrete, or tile, you WILL start slipping. It happened to me a bunch of times and I almost landed right on my ass once. In the videos, they do the workouts on astro turf so never run into the issue. You have been warned.

Overall, I give the program a thumbs up. I felt it really helped with my balance and coordination, especially. I cannot say for sure if that translated to improved climbing or grappling, it could be all in my head, but I did feel it. If you are looking for a challenge and improvement in athletic performance, then definitely give it a try. You can get Asylum here.

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If you liked this review, you may also like my P90X2, GSP Rushfit, Rip:60, P90X+, Insanity, RevAbs, or RMAX BER reviews

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Rushfit Workout Review

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I recently completed the GSP Rushfit workout and thought I would share my thoughts. I did finish late because I injured some cartilage near my ribs and needed to rest it up for a few weeks before I could continue. With that said, GSP Rushfit was a hell of a program and a lot of fun.

What is it?
GSP Rushfit is a home workout starring the one and only Georges St. Pierre and designed and guided by his trainer Eric Owings. GSP goes through the workouts with you and adds some hilarious colour commentary every once in a while, but most of the narration and coaching is done by Eric. I found the Eric/GSP combo to be quite refreshing as they complemented each other well. Each week consists of 6 days on, and 1 day off (rest day).

GSP Rushfit is an 8 week program with calendars for beginners, intermediate, and advanced. They do have a fit test assessment that you should do prior to choosing which calendar to go with but I wasn’t able to find it in the guides what numbers you should be shooting for to determine what program you should choose. I ended up going with the advanced program because when I did the fit test I was toe to toe with the champ with my numbers. Yeah!

As far as I can tell, the only difference between the beginner and advanced program is that in advanced you just do more workouts in the 8 week period. In the last half of the advanced calendar there are doubles (two workouts a day) almost everyday. On the calendar they have “Cardio” which is something you are supposed to do on your own. I thought this was a tad lame and lazy on the part of the designers but most of my days I was going to jiu jitsu training so figured that would do. There are 7 workouts to do over the 8 weeks:

Stretch for Flexibility, Balance and Agility (these were on the “Bonus” DVD), Abdominal Strength and Core Conditioning, Explosive Power Training, Full Body Strength and Conditioning, Strength and Endurance, and The Fight Conditioning Workout. The workouts all start with the same warmup and end with the same cool down. The warmup did an average job at warming up the appropriate joints. It should have focused more on the ankles and shoulders because those are used a lot in the programs. I did feel on a number of days that my shoulders and ankles weren’t sufficiently warm and felt some discomfort. The cool down is also way too long. It is only 7 minutes, but when you are doing doubles you really just want to get the heck out of there because you are so pooped. The workouts themselves are all 5 rounds to simulate a championship UFC fight except for the Flexibility and Balance and Agility workouts.

All of the workouts were great and varied to keep things interesting. What was really cool for me to see was watching GSP do his thing. You could tell he was really great at explosive stuff but really sucked at isometrics and flexibility movements. He cheated like most people do and Eric would call him out on it. It was rather entertaining. I found Full Body Strength and Conditioning to be the most challenging and by round 4 was pretty tired. Strength and Endurance was also pretty tough and had me gasping for air by the end of it. The Abdominal Strength and Core Conditioning workout was ok until round 5 when they had you doing bridges, which I couldn’t hold for the entire time until I was near week 7. My favourite workout was The Fight Conditioning Workout because it involved a lot of coordination involving striking, grappling, wrestling and judo components.

Pros of GSP Rushfit

  • Eric Owings is an excellent instructor. Very detail oriented, clear and concise
  • GSP cracks me up with his French Canadian accent and quirky sense of humour
  • Very good workouts that will leave you pooped but feeling alive
  • Good variety of movements and different body parts being worked that aren’t seen in other home workouts
  • Minimum equipment required. You only really need dumbbells.

Cons of GSP Rushfit

  • Complex movements such as the Turkish get up should not be in a home study course, in my opinion, because if done improperly could result in injury
  • Workouts are too long and there is too much chit chat between the warmup and the workout and the workout and cool down. Again, 6 days a week for 8 weeks is a big commitment for most people, at least make that time working out as efficient as possible.
Final Thoughts
GSP Rushfit is an excellent program that will whip you into shape. Like most of these home workouts, it does require a time commitment. It comes down to your priorities and what you value in life. If you are a fan of GSP and love mma and are looking to get a little more physically fit and lose weight, this is the product for you. I did feel some carry over strength that translated in my jiu jitsu training with GSP Rushfit. Maybe you will too!

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If you liked this review, you may also like my P90X2, Rip:60, P90X+, Insanity, RevAbs, or RMAX BER reviews

Health and Fitness

Rip 60 Review

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What is Rip:60?
Rip:60 is a 60 day program that utilizes suspension training. That’s just a fancy way of saying ropes and pulleys. Suspension training is a useful type of training because it helps with balance, agility, coordination, and works muscles that you didn’t know you had. Doing a pushup on a stable floor is relatively easy. Put your feet in some unstable straps and the game changes slightly. Lots of MMA fighters use suspension training in their regimen, the most popular being the TRX system (which I also have). Georges St. Pierre and Jillian Michaels endorse Rip:60 and have included bonus DVDs.

How long is Rip:60?
8 weeks. 6 days on, 1 day off.

What equipment do I need for Rip60?
The suspension trainer, which comes with the purchased product, and some weights. In the videos, they use an adjustable kettlebell you can buy on their website. I used adjustable dumbbells which I already had. To work my forearms and grip strength more, I also used a pair of Fat Gripz (highly recommended for added difficulty and training of the forearms).

Description
Rip:60 is 1 DVD per week, 6 days a week with 1 rest day. That means you do the same workout for 6 days straight, which could get a little boring for you depending on how patient you are. Once the week is over you progress to the next DVD and repeat until all 8 DVDs are done. The weeks get progressively harder, but I found week 6 to be the hardest, not week 7 or 8. There is also a recovery week which is just a bunch of stretching with the help of the suspension trainer. Every workout includes a warm up and cool down. The workouts are run by a guy named Jeremy Strom whom I didn’t find very good.

There are 4 bonus DVDs. Rip:60 for runners, power yoga, one from Jillian Michaels and one from Georges St. Pierre. The power yoga is useless and I wouldn’t recommend it as the straps just get in the way. Stick with traditional yoga. The runners one is only slightly better. In the GSP DVD, GSP goes through a workout and it is narrated by Jeremy Strom. This one is decent except you pretty much get no time in between exercises and don’t really know what’s next. This is bad because the exercise has already started while you are still trying to adjust your straps, get into position, and figure out what to do next. The best of these bonus DVDs is Jillian Michaels, she rips it (pun intended), although the workout isn’t as intense as I would have liked. She should have been the one to run through the workouts in the 8 weeks.

The Good
Rotation in the straps, which TRX doesn’t have, makes the exercises more challenging. There are some seriously killer bodyweight exercises you can do with rotational suspension training that you wouldn’t be able to do in TRX. The straps themselves are also quite sturdy. I think TRX is a little better built, but Rip:60 won’t fall apart on you anytime soon and definitely a good piece of equipment to have in your home gym. The DVDs themselves are fairly good workouts using suspension training, although I believe they could have been so much better. I would have loved to see more uses with the trainer and less burpees and strictly bodyweight exercises, but nonetheless you can get a pretty good burn and sweat using Rip:60.

The Bad
Since Rip:60 hangs from door if you don’t have something to attach it to overhead, sometimes the exercises are hard to do because of the proximity to the door. And you should be aware that the metal components may scuff up the door, so if that is a concern you’ll need to tape something soft like a towel to the door. Also, Jeremy Strom is annoying as hell and sucks as a coach. If I was paying him as a personal trainer I’d fire him. His timing is off almost more times than not. He isn’t very motivating or funny and sometimes he’ll say 2, 1, go, sometimes he’ll say 3,2,1 and you are supposed to go, sometimes he’ll say 1,2,3, and so on. It gets unbelievably annoying when you are ready to hit it and aren’t sure when you are supposed to begin. You might think I am nitpicking but just wait until you are exhausted and he says there’s 5 seconds left and you start giving it everything you got only to find out there’s actually 15 seconds left. You’ll want to kill him, too. He also takes jabs at other home workout programs, most notably P90X, which isn’t really necessary. The strength and quality of the program should be enough to stand on its own merits, there is no need to take jabs at a different program (minor complaint, as this one isn’t the only program that does this). See Jillian Michaels’ DVD to see how its supposed to be done. Her DVD is near flawless and gives you an idea how home instruction is supposed to look like.

Final Thoughts
I had to take a week and a half off because I jammed up my foot real good. To finish on time, I had to do doubles and triples. I definitely wouldn’t recommend that, but having a few off days on a 60 day program doesn’t give you a lot of flexibility to catch up. Follow the program schedule as best you can. I didn’t follow the nutritional guide but ate pretty clean throughout and followed an 8 hour eating window and a weekly cheat day. In the end, I am as light as I have ever been in my adulthood and about as lean. So yes, I am very happy with Rip60 and would definitely recommend giving it a whirl.  You can get it here..

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If you liked this review, you may also like my P90X2, GSP rushfit, P90X+, Insanity, RevAbs, or RMAX BER reviews

Health and Fitness

Rev Abs Review

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I finished Rev Abs yesterday a day late.  Plagued by injuries, over committed on obligations, and a change of scenery made this one a very tough one to complete, but I did it and I am happy.  I haven’t done the final fit test yet but I am expecting the results to be less than stellar.  I’ll probably do it tonight.

Rev Abs is a very cool program.  Its designed to strengthen your core using cool Capoeira moves and other fun exercises, some involving dumbbells.  In traditional Beachbody fashion, you don’t really need a lot of equipment aside from aforementioned dumbbells.  Brett Hoebel is the guy in charge of this one, and he’s a likeable and funny dude who can get you moving and grooving.

Rev Abs is a 90 day program, with two phases, each 45 days long.  Phase 1 is designed to give you the strength and endurance needed to do Phase 2.  I did notice Phase 2 to be slightly more intense.  I wouldn’t say this is an extremely difficult program.  In fact, if you were to ask me which program to do to get in shape I would say start with Rev Abs.  That isn’t to say its a walk in the park, you still have to bring it and you will definitely sweat and feel it.

There are 3 rounds to every workout with the last round called the Spice Round.  Its the most challenging of the rounds and its designed that way so that you push past your comfort zones.  I like this a lot.  He talks about paying your dues and this is something that resonates with me quite a bit.  Nothing of value comes without paying your dues.

Brett makes you do a lot of silly things like say the Rev Anthem to test your heart rate and a bunch of other stuff.  I would highly suggest you participate in it, because it makes the program a lot more fun.  This was a very fun program.

And now for the bad news.  If you fail to follow a good nutrition program like I did, you will not get the results you want.  I’ve been involved in a little experiment in which I basically eat how I ate in high school.  Buffets, massive family dinners, beer, ice cream, you name it.  This has added belly fat to my stomach despite my best efforts with the Rev Abs program.

This is a lifestyle choice people.  You can run and lift and play sports all you want, but if you aren’t eating properly and you aren’t resting properly you just won’t see the results.  Somehow, after over a year of six workouts+ a week, I’m a bit of an authority on these home workouts.  I get all of the same questions over and over again..should I do [x], do I need [x], can I see [x]… All I can say is JUST DO IT.  I see people flop at it all the time.  They don’t see immediate results and then they quit.  On the flip side, people who completed the programs look and feel much better than they did before.  I did P90X without actually seeing hardly any results, but I felt stronger. That was convincing enough for me to continue.  Over a year later, my only regret is I didn’t start sooner.  I have been asked when I will stop, and the answer is rather simple.  Never.

Rev Abs is a great program.  If you follow it, push yourself hard and eat right and get your rest, you will see results.  Simple as that.  Take out even one part of that formula and the magic disappears. Get your copy of Rev Abs here.

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If you liked this review, you may also like my P90X2, Rip:60, P90X+, Insanity, GSP Rushfit, or RMAX BER reviews

Health and Fitness

P90X Plus Workout Review

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I recently completed another excellent Beachbody program called P90X Plus. Its an extension of the extremely popular P90X series that you see on all of the infomercials. I’ll probably get around to writing a review of that program as well sometime in the future. P90X Plus, or sometimes referred to as P90X+, consists of a mix of the original P90X workouts in addition to five new workouts. These new workouts are Upper Body Plus, Abs Core Plus, Kenpo Cardio Plus, Total Body Plus and Interval X Plus, which are about 40-45 minutes in length except for Abs Core Plus. Like P90X, this program is a 90 day program (actually, a 12 week program) consisting of 3 phases, phase 1, 2, and 3 duh! There are 3 different calendars you can do, Classic +, Lean +, and X + Doubles. I did the Classic +, and I have to say, it is one hell of a program.  I can tell you that it is tougher than P90X but also that the results for myself have been amazing.  You should do this workout if you have already done P90X.  You should not do this workout if you have not done P90X or if you do not have the original P90X workouts, as those are required on some days.  The most used workout from P90X is the Yoga X workout, which is required quite a bit.

P90X+ Calendar
Each of the phases is basically 6 days a week, with an option for X-Stretch or rest on the 7th day. This is true for all of the calendars. For the most part, I decided to rest instead of doing the X-Stretch. I think I only did the X-Stretch 2 or 3 times during the entire program. Probably due to laziness, but I would say X-Stretch is a really good stretching program so don’t neglect it if you can.

Equipment Needed

The good news is you don’t really need a lot of equipment, much like P90X.  All you really need is a pullup bar, water bottle, mat, pushup stands, and dumbbells.  Heck, you don’t even really need a mat, water bottle, or pushup stands if you are on a budget or something.

Critique of the new workouts:

Total Body Plus

This is a very good total body workout.  Its a lot of fun exercises, 20 in total, that focus on synergistic moves that work multiple body parts at once.  Its a tough but fun workout and one of the better new workouts that come with P90X+.  Its about 45 minutes with a warm up and cool down period, and by the end you’ll feel you had a good workout.   You’ll need a mat, dumbbells, pullup bar, a water bottle and pushup stands.

Abs/Core Plus

This workout isn’t as intense as Ab Ripper X from the P90X series, but it does a decent job of working the abs and the core.  It is a short, 20 minute workout and by the time you are done it you should be feeling your abs a little and worked up a light sweat.  This is also the only workout where Tony Horton assumes you’ve already stretched a little bit and just goes right into the exercises.  It does have a very short cool down period.  Abs Core plus consists of 20 exercises, and the equipment required are a pullup bar, dumbbells, and a mat.

Kenpo Cardio Plus

What a joke, much like the original Kenpo Cardio X.  This program doesn’t belong in the P90X+ series.  I’m serious, I had a really hard time working up a sweat with this one.  I barely even felt my heart rate go up.  Some days where I was supposed to do Kenpo Plus I would replace this workout with an Insanity workout instead, because I know in those ones I have to bring my A game.  Its similar to the original Kenpo Cardio X where you are throwing a lot of kicks and punches, but I would think for anybody already doing P90X+ they are in good enough shape where this program won’t really do much for them.

Upper Body Plus

This is the PLUS, in P90X+.  It is an absolute monster.  And the kicker?  You do this workout twice a week for 10 of the 12 weeks, stacked on top of the Abs/Core Plus.  Talk about a tough day!  Upper body consists of tons of pushups, tons of pullups, lots of dumb bell curling for a grand total of 20 exercises.  oi!  But I can tell you, this is the toughest of all the workouts from this and from P90X.  Near the end of phase 3 I was seriously dreading doing this workout, not only because I had an irritated bicep from a night of drunken debauchery going into phase 3, but also because I’m always trying to up my numbers from previous workouts, and since Upper Body Plus is done no less than 20 times in the calendar, you can imagine how difficult that gets at the end.  There were days doing this workout where I literally could not type on the keyboard, brush my teeth, or put on a shirt, that’s how serious this one is.  You’ll need a pullup bar, dumbbells, pushup stands, and a water bottle for this one.

Interval X Plus

This is a pretty good cardio workout.  I would say its the most fun of all the workouts but isn’t used all that much compared to the other workouts in the Classic + calendar.  It does a decently good job of getting your heart rate up.  It is no comparison to any of the Insanity workouts in that department, but compared to the P90X cardio workouts like Plyo X it holds its own.

In Closing

Motivation was tough near the end.  Mainly because I was dreading that Upper Body Plus workout, but also because I was getting pretty bored at the end with doing the same workouts over and over again.  P90X did a much better job of mixing it up and thus keeping me motivated.  This one, I really had to push through.  I would still recommend this workout to P90X grads, as my results after this program have been excellent.  However, I think after doing the calendar once you can take the workouts and start formulating your own workouts.  I may try some of the other calendars, as they do look pretty interesting, but I don’t know for sure.  Beachbody and Tony Horton have another excellent product in P90X+, I give it a thumbs up. You can get P90X Plus here.

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If you liked this review, you may also like my P90X2, Rip:60, Rev Abs, Insanity, GSP Rushfit, or RMAX BER reviews