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Health and Fitness

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

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

Insanity Workout Review

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Vegan skinny me at Sabres game
Claimed to be the hardest workout ever to be put on DVD, the Insanity workout is seriously, seriously intense.  I just finished it and am satisfied with how I did.  Below are my thoughts.

What it is:

Hardcore anaerobic exercises.  Lots of interval training, lots of explosive movement, lots of bodyweight exercises, lots of power, resistance, plyometrics, core and balance work.  Little rest.

What it is not:

Insanity is not an upper body workout.  If you are looking to build up muscles in your arms, chest, and back, I would not do this workout.  P90X would be a much more suitable alternative (another really good/intense program).

Who should do it:

Insanity is for people who are already in shape.  Athletes looking to build their cardio, raise their VO2 Max, increase lung capacity, strengthen their core and legs.  People in the video are Beachbody coaches, spinning instructors, marathon runners, army veterans, b-boys, that sort of thing.

Who should not do it:

If you are looking to get into shape, stay far away from this program.  You will not be able to handle it.  The warm up itself is enough to knock you out.  I know people who can’t finish the warm up and it only gets more insane.  You better be damn sure you are already in good shape, P90X grads would fit into this category, people who workout 6 days a week hard would fit into this category.  The New Years resolutioners will need to find something else cause they’ll get worked over.  People with breathing conditions like asthma should stay away as well.  Consult your doctor before doing this.  The general rule of thumb is if you think you are even a little bit out of shape, then don’t do it.

What you should know:

The claim is it is a 60 day program separated by a month 1 workout plan and a month 2 workout plan, but it isn’t.  There is a recovery week in between in which you do a recovery workout in between, so its actually 63 days (I previously said 67, but my math sucks).  So be sure you are committed to 63 days or you won’t finish.  I wouldn’t advise skipping any days.  If its important to you, you’ll find the time to do it.

My thoughts:

For a program called Insanity, it was one of the few things in my life that kept me sane since returning from Peru.  I felt pretty confident doing my first fit test.  I was absolutely exhausted when I finished it, but the numbers I put up weren’t that far off from the two people who did it in the video.  That was somewhat promising to me.  The whole premise of the Insanity workout is you work as hardcore as you possibly can for extended periods, and then take a short rest for recovery (its like the opposite of traditional high intensity training where you work moderate for a few minutes then explode for 30 seconds).  As they say in the videos, you really have to dig deeper to do these workouts.  I would say 80% of this workout is mental.  Proper technique is very important in this workout, otherwise you risk injury.  If your form is gone, then stop and recover cause you are done.

The first month of workouts are not quite as long as the second month, and they aren’t as tough.  It would feel awkward to call them easier though, because they are anything but.  They still kick your butt hardcore, just for maybe 10 minutes less.  Because of all the hard work involved in the first month, you are much better prepared for the hurting that month 2 brings.  Also of note is I switched from a vegan diet after month 1 to a diet richer in saturated fats and lower in carbs.  That, in and of itself, is probably worth a post sometime in the future.  I’m not really ready to talk about it yet as I am still challenging some of my fundamental beliefs.  How did it effect my performance by switching diets?  It didn’t, I still got rocked every workout.

What kept me going was the idea of pushing myself hard.  Shaun T really does a good job of motivating you.  Focus is important, fire in the belly is important, a little bit of anger did me well, and competition helped keep me going.  I was not only competing with myself, but the people in the videos.  It was a very satisfying feeling to see all these super fit people dropping like flies in the video while I was still pushing through and going strong.  It juiced me to know I was right in there with the best of them.  P90X was a similar feeling.  Speaking of which, coming from it I did lose some upper body mass and strength while doing Insanity, but I’ll just build it up again now that I’m done.

I worked out in the morning for virtually every workout, except maybe some weekends.  Even though I am more energized in the afternoon and feel stronger, I made it part of my daily morning routine so I would not have any excuses not do it a day.  There was no “I don’t feel like it today” days at all.  Every day it was about getting it done and getting it done to the best of my ability.  I remember one particular day I had two workouts to do (they stack ab work on some days), Yoga in the afternoon, then rock climbing afterward.  That was a tiring day, but it needed to get done so it was done.  Even today, I am going rock climbing very shortly but I put my best effort into the last fit test and put up some monster numbers which I’ll post below.  It is like brushing your teeth in the morning, just part of a routine.  I have found that to be the best way of sticking to the calendar.

In Closing:

I rocked the CN Tower climb last weekend.  Close to 12,000 people climbed and I looked on Google, Bing, Facebook and Twitter, and could not find someone who posted a faster time then me.  The unitedwayto twitter has me listed as the fastest time of the weekend.  This is despite being tired, fatigued, not fully recovered, hungover, slightly sick, dealing with too many people on the stairs and without a single session of stair training or running.  I would say Insanity had a huge part in that.

Would I ever do the Insanity workout in its entirety again?  No.  It has taken me to new levels but long term I think its too much on a person’s body to be doing it 6 days a week.  The individual workouts themselves are world class, and I’ll be using them frequently as part of my routine.  But as a regimentation and sticking to the calendar, I think I am done with.  Would I recommend the workout?  Depends on who I am talking to.  I can’t suggest it to everyone because it is not made for everyone, but there is no denying the fact that it pushes you to the brink of exhaustion, and in turn, makes you better.

I have before and after photos, but they seem a little narcissistic so I won’t be posting them.  So instead, here’s a picture of a very malnourished vegan me taken in 2007.  Enjoy.

My Fit Test numbers:

Here are my numbers.  I’m pretty proud of my progression.  Because I don’t know how to make a table in email, I’ll just list my numbers in order for each exercise.  It goes from Day 1, Day 15, Day 36, Day 50, Day 63.  I don’t have the number recorded for the low plank oblique on day 1, probably because i was too tired to lift up my body and forgot.

Switch Kicks:  120 – 132 – 130 – 136 – 137
Power Jacks:  54 – 63 – 67 – 75 – 80
Power Knees: 93 – 120 – 126 – 127 – 128
Power Jumps: 60 – 82 – 83 – 89 – 91
Globe Jumps: 14 – 15 – 15 – 15 – 15
Suicide Jumps:  17 – 21 – 24 – 28 – 32
Push-Up Jacks:  33 – 40 – 44 – 48 – 54
Low Plank Obliques: ??? – 100 – 100 – 107 – 131

Get Insanity here.

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