P90X3
I kicked off 2014 with my first ever challenge group (as a participant). I loved the original P90X and did it twice. P90X2 didn’t really engage me the same way P90X did so I quit after the first set of DVDs. But P90X3… wow. 30 minutes a day!! Looking at the progress I made over the few months I was doing it and it is crazy! It’s amazing to me how quickly you can build up push up strength! And even the workouts I didn’t love were over in 30 minutes so really you can get through them no matter what! Here’s my breakdown of what to expect with each DVD:
Block 1:
Total Synergistics
A great way to start off your P90X3 experience! I love workouts like this where every move is different. You’re not doing sets of 3 different activities and repeating or anything like that- it’s just do something and then move on to the next one. Some people think this is easier than core synergistics from the original p90x but I didn’t think so! Maybe it was the crawly plyo push ups (that’s right… CRAWLY PLYO PUSH UPS!) or the pull ups (always my nemesis) but it was challenging for the full 30 minutes & provides a lot of great strength and balance exercises.
Agility X
Agility X reminded me of plyo X from the original P90X- lots of moves for short bursts of time. This time you don’t have to repeat them though! And of course tony adds his flair making it fun while you’re dying! Really good cardio workout with lots of good moves to help increase your, well, agility.
X3 Yoga
LOVE this workout! I wasn’t a big fan of the original P90X yoga (90 minutes?! who has time for that??) so this 30 minute version was great. I do love yoga and i’m happy to do a full hour of it when i have time but love when I can get a great workout and save time! You will definitely sweat and build up your strength. By the end of the program (yoga X is one of the ones you do every week the whole time) it’s amazing to see where your strength was building up. Ted’s chair, which seemed laughable to me the first time i saw it, was do-able (at least for a breath) by the end! (no, my leg wasn’t up in the air, but it was straight back!)
Ted’s Chair from P90X3 Yoga
The Challenge
30 minutes of pushing and pulling… all sorts of push ups and pull ups for the full 30 minutes! Reminiscent of the original p90x chest & back workout all crammed into 30 minutes. It’s SUCH a good one! I always feel so strong after knocking out over 100 push ups and a bajillion (assisted) pull ups in a half hour! It’s challenging but awesome how strong you get by the end of the program! SO important to track your numbers so you can see where you started & where you end!
CVX
This one is cardio with weights and I love that combo. I love feeling strong and burning calories at the same time! I used a medicine ball for this one and that worked out great. You get a nice leg workout with jumping and squatting and balancing and your arms get in the work as well with that weight. Not the hardest workout of the program but you definitely feel accomplished when you finish!
The Warrior
The basis for the warrior is you can do it anywhere. Stuck in a really small space with no equipment? No problem! The warrior will definitely work you HARD. Again with my favorite- something new every time with no repeats- this workout has you sweating like crazy and your muscles will be exhausted when you’re done. One example? Elevator push ups. Ummm hi. You start at the “top floor” (basically straight arm plank) and you go down to the “bottom floor” (hovering above the ground) and of course you stop in the middle floor (you know… that place where your arms are shaking and you feel like you’re going to collapse). For a minute. Insanity! It’s a good one but one i dreaded a little just because it was so hard!
Recovery Week:
Isometrix
A great zero impact workout that still makes you work, just without jumping, running, pull ups, etc. You get your heart rate up for sure & get a good stretch in while strengthening your muscles (every time you’re balancing you’re triggering muscles to help you stay up- kind of awesome how that works!). Another workout that’s not my favorite (it’s a little “slow” for me… just gets kind of boring even though it’s definitely challenging) but a really good one to make sure you don’t skip!
Dynamix
This one is technically on the schedule for the “sundays” of all the blocks, but I usually take sundays off so I didn’t get this one in. I did like it a lot though when I did it during the recovery weeks! You’re mostly stretching but doing some strengthening exercises as well (nothing too crazy) so your heart rate will get up (read: don’t do this when you can’t shower after because you will mostly likely sweat). I’m all about stretching and increasing my flexibility to make me better at all the other stuff I do so this workout is actually a part of my life even when i’m not officially doing p90x3!
Accelerator
A great cardio workout with some sneaky strength- lots of core strengthening moves in here! Plus some balance moves thrown in to work those legs! and of course when you’re planing you’re working everything. You’ll get your heart going and all of a sudden 30 minutes have flown by!! I actually really liked this workout and mix it into my schedule when I’m not following a specific training plan!
Pilates X
I loved this pilates workout. I love pilates in general (one of the first ever workout DVDs i got was a random pilates DVD back in the day and i remember how amazing it was when my clothes started fitting better after just doing pilates a few times a week!) and love pilates even more when you throw in some tony horton hilarity. i seriously love that guy! anyways this is a really challenging pilates program (of course- it’s p90x3 after all) but it’s only 30 minutes and you can do anything for 30 minutes, right? Extra bonus is tony’s girlfriend Shawna is in it so that’s adorable to watch. Awwww…
CVX
See Above.
X3 Yoga
See Above.
Block 2:
Eccentric Upper
One of my favorite upper body workouts of ever. You get everything in here!! And you slow down the moves so you’re really working those muscles HARD. So you do the “down” for a 3 count and the “up” for a 1 count. So if you’re doing pull ups start in the up position and lower down for a 3 count (tony counts it out for you) and then pull back up quick. Your muscles are toasty toast afterward but you have that awesome exhausted tony-just-kicked-my-ass feeling after.
Triometrics
Another tri-count workout but this time you’re doing 3 different levels of intensity for 20 seconds each- each exercise is for 60 seconds. So you do something at lowest intensity for 20 seconds, medium intensity for 20 seconds, and then kill it for the last 20 seconds. It’s awesome. So take squats for example: level 1 you’re reaching for the floor, level 2 you’re touching the floor with your fingertips, level 3 you’re going super deep and touching your fists to the ground. You can see how this could get really intense really fast! This workout flies by for me for sure and leaves me exhausted every time!
X3 Yoga
See Above.
Eccentric Lower
Same idea as eccentric upper but for your lower body- so three count down and one count up. Ready to not be able to use the stairs for a day or two? Good… because you really won’t be able to after this one! The trick is making sure to really challenge yourself- don’t use lighter weights to make it easier- make sure it’s challenging enough to leave you feeling shaky at the end!
Incinerator
Another of my favorites- you guessed it! No repeats! All new exercises throughout the workout! Woot! Like all the p90x3 workouts you’re moving fast so you’re burning lots of calories during this one… and building lots of muscles while burning those calories! So you do weighted and unweighted exercises in this one and really kill that upper body! Rows, pull ups, flys, push ups, etc etc etc will get your heart pumping and your muscles burning. And for those P90X fans- “don’t smash your face” when doing hail to the chief!
MMX
Definitely my least favorite workout of the program. I hate saying that because i know so many people that love it but for me it just wasn’t engaging enough. It is similar to Kenpo X from the original P90X and it definitely gets your heart rate up! i just found it boring and subbed it out for other cardio work like Les Mills Combat. But that’s just picky ol’ me.
Repeat Recovery Week
Block 3:
Decelerator
(and everything else from block 1 & 2)