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.