This blog is devoted to answering the questions that people have with Beachbody programs, like P90X and Insanity, that go beyond what is in the program guides.
For my current exercise routine, I decided that I needed a program that was as effective in all aspects of physical condition as possible. In my opinion, you are never going to get a more comprehensive program than P90X. P90X’s downside is that it is relatively weak on leg work. For that reason, I wanted to combine it with Asylum, which possibly has the most effective leg work and endurance training that you can find.
The Asylum workouts also have the advantage that they are significantly shorter than P90X workouts, while definitely being more effective. For example, Plyo X is about 58 minutes, while Vertical Plyo is only 38 minutes and few people would argue that Vertical Plyo is significantly better than Plyo X.
So I was asked to share my program, which I believe is not only more effective, but frequently has shorter workouts. I also include some P90X One on Ones, which adds some variety and is also potentially shorter and more effective.
My Schedule
Weeks 1-3, 9 and 11
Day 1 – P90X Chest & Back and Ab Ripper X
Day 2 – Asylum Vertical Plyo
Day 3 – P90X One on One Shoulders & Arms 2 and Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – P90X One on One Fountain of Youth
Day 5 – P90X One on One Back & Base and Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Asylum Speed & Agility
Day 7 – P90X X Stretch
Week 4, 8 and 13
Day 1 – P90X One on One Fountain of Youth
Day 2 – P90X+ Total Body +
Day 3 – P90X+ Kenpo/Cardio +
Day 4 – P90X X Stretch
Day 5 – P90X+ Total Body +
Day 6 – P90X One on One Fountain of Youth
Day 7 – Rest
Weeks 5-7, 10 and 12
Day 1 – P90X Back & Biceps and Ab Ripper X
Day 2 – Asylum Vertical Plyo
Day 3 – P90X Chest, Shoulders and Tris and Ab Ripper X
Day 4 – P90X One on One Fountain of Youth
Day 5 – P90X One on One Back & Base and Ab Ripper X
Day 6 – Asylum Speed & Agility
Day 7 – P90X X Stretch
Alternative Workouts
As you can see, I make use of various One on Ones as well as P90X+ workouts. If you don’t have Fountain of Youth, you can use Yoga X or the One on One Yoga:MC2. If you don’t have Base & Back, use Legs & Back. If you don’t have Shoulders & Arms 2, use Shoulders & Arms. If you don’t have Total Body +, you can use Asylum Strength or continue to use Core Synergistics. If you want to add more One on Ones, you can V-Sculpt is a replacement for Back & Biceps and Upper Body X is a replacement for Chest, Shoulders & Tris.
Getting the Most Out of Your Workouts
So this is the hybrid I currently settled into so that I get the most out of what I consider the best Beachbody programs to get extreme results, while saving some time as well, specifically P90X and Asylum. Adding variety to your workouts is also important. It can get tiring to do the same routine for years, no matter how much you love it. You can potentially integrate in other programs, but if you want something that you can do for long periods of time, I would recommend that you generally follow the P90X schedule.
One of the biggest benefits of P90X is that it does not require an expensive gym membership. However, that does not mean that you don’t need any equipment. P90X strength training does involve resistance work, which means some body weight work, like pull ups and push ups, but there is also a need for dumbbells and/or bands.
I should also say that you have to prepare your kitchen as much as you prepare your exercise equipment, however that is the subject of a future entry.
My Ideal Recommendations
A Pull Up Bar
There are a lot of pull up exercises in three of the P90X DVDs; Chest and Back, Legs and Back, and Back and Biceps. While you can do pull up alternatives with bands, I strongly recommend a pull up bar if your circumstances allow them. Having a pull up bar provides for both maximum resistance and the most consistent resistance.
Pull up bars are actually very simple; literally they are a bar. With rare exception, pull up bars install in a doorway. Most of them involve drilling into the doorframe to attach supporting clips, and the bars are permanently installed. However, there are some bars which are removable and don’t require damaging the frames for support.
The P90X Chin Up Bar is a removable bar that can install in most door frames. It is a great quality product that grabs the top of the doorframe to hold it up. It also has multiple handles to allow for varied workouts.
Dumbbells
P90X uses resistance training three days a week. For that you should use dumbbells. The question then becomes what weights? While the answer is typically dependent on the individual, I would recommend that you get at least 3 pairs of dumbbells; one light, one medium, one heavy for you. However, the more you can get, depending on what you can afford, the better. You can also get a good band to make up for a few dumbbells.
For Men
If you can only afford 3 sets of dumbbells, I would recommend that the three minimal pairs would be are 5, 15 and 25 lbs. Ideally, I would recommend that you fill in the 5 lb increments and go up to 35 lbs. If you have limited money, buy the three recommended and fill in the lower holes first. Then you can buy more as you need them and can afford them.
There are also the adjustable dumbbell sets, which are easier to deal with. The two common choices are the Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells and the PowerBlocks.
For Women
Women can generally try pairs of 5, 10 and 20 lbs. As you have the money, you can buy the 15 lb weights, and any heavier weights as you believe you need them.
Bands
I want to be very clear that there is nothing wrong with bands, and if they are your only options, you will get a great workout from them. The biggest recommendation is that not to get cheap bands. Cheap bands can snap, and when they snap, it hurts and they can injure you. While you can get a single band, a set is better as they are more versatile. Compared to dumbbells, they are also much less expensive.
The Beachbody sets are the best that I have found to this point. They sell three sets, and are described at this link. For the purpose of doing pull ups, you need an attachment to put it up high enough so that you can use a pull down motion. There is a Band Accessory Kit that has a strap that lets you use a standard doorframe for the purpose.
Other Equipment
There is a variety of other equipment that you might want to consider, but is not as critical as the other equipment. The first thing you might need is a yoga mat, if you do not have a good floor surface for yoga and stretching. A yoga block can also help as it provides some extra stability for people who are beginners to yoga, as well as add extra challenge for those who are more experienced or limber.
PowerStands were invented by Tony Horton to give you a fuller range of motion with push ups. If you want to get the most out of your chest work, you might want to consider these.
Conclusion
I know it seems overwhelming to buy a few things after you spend money on the P90X. However, consider that you have these costs as a one time payment, as opposed to spending many hundreds of dollars a year on gym memberships. More important to consider is the improvement in the quality of your life. It works out being a very small cost to pay.
One of the most common questions from P90X graduates is, “What’s next?” They want to continue growing, but at the same time they want variety. Even Tony Horton has Variety as one of his 11 rules of fitness. So this blog has the alternatives and things to consider when making the critical decision.
First I have to say that I am happy there is a decision to be made. Unfortunately, way too many people don’t even complete P90X. But you did, so I congratulate you. I then have to ask you 1) What did you like most about P90X? and 2) What are your goals for the next 90 days or so?
Generally, I would have to say that there are 4 common alternatives: 1) Do another round of P90X, 2) P90X+, 3) Insanity, or 4) P90X One on One. I will be writing separate reviews and descriptions for each of the programs, but in the mean time, I am going to write a general overview, so you know what to consider. Before I go on, I should say that there will be P90X:MC2 coming out in late 2011. But until then, these are our options.
The Alternatives
Let me first give a 30,000 view of the alternatives. Clearly, you know what P90X is like, and you know what to expect. If you like P90X, it might very well pay to stick with it. I don’t really need to say too much about that.
P90X+
P90X+ is very much like Core Synergistics XXX. There are 5 workouts in the set and it uses most of the workouts from the base P90X set as well. Of the 5 workouts, there are 2 strength workouts that take up 3 of the days, Interval X+ which is somewhat of a Plyo X replacement, Abs/Core+ that replaces ARX, and Kenpo Cardio+ that replaces Kenpo X.
As mentioned there will be a more detailed review later, but essentially P90X+ is much more about muscle endurance than strength. The workouts move quicker and get you sweating more. The exercises are much more like Core Synergistics, where you are doing multiple moves in the same exercise for a time period. For example, there is one exercise where you do one pull up followed immediately one push up for two minutes. There are very few max rep sets.
The benefits are that it gets you sweating and the workouts are only 40-45 minutes each. They do provide variety. The downside is that you will potentially lose some size and strength. However if you like Core Synergistics, you might really like P90X+.
Insanity
Insanity in many ways makes P90X look easy. I describe Insanity as Plyo XXX 6 days a week. It is much more intense, as you are going all out from one exercise to another. It will definitely improve your endurance and leg strength much more than P90X ever could.
The workouts are shorter than P90X, ranging from about 30-41 minutes in Month 1 and 47-59 minutes in Month 2. You add an ab workout 1-2 days a week. The program is also only 63 days long, so there is less of a commitment.
The downside is that Insanity has relatively little upper body work. There are some Core Synergistics type pushups, but they are timed and not max rep. Additionally, it doesn’t help your flexibility as much as P90X doe. It can also be very taxing on your legs.
Here's a video of Insanity for those people who are not familiar with it. It is actually much harder than they make it out to look. The sweat is very real.
P90X One on One
P90X One on One are individual workouts that are released at a rate of one a month. As of this writing, there are 26 available. These are essentially videos of Tony Horton working out in his private gym. While that might not sound attractive, it does allow for versatility. One on One isn’t intended as a program with a specific schedule. You basically use the individual workouts as you choose to, ideally to add variety to the basic P90X set. For example, Fountain of Youth is essentially a 45 minute version of Yoga X. 30-15 is an alternative to Chest and Back. Plyo Legs can replace Plyo X. There is one called ARX2. The Volume 3 workouts are being used as the test kitchen for P90X2.
Here is a video of Tony describing the new One on One volume and how it relates to P90X2.
What Should You Choose
So if you want to know what to choose, it again comes down to what are your goals and what do you like. I have to admit that I strongly recommend that people do Insanity, at some point in time, as it provides incredible improvements for your legs. There literally is no comparison for that. You can potentially do a hybrid, where you combine P90X and Insanity to try to get the best of both worlds. However if you don’t like Plyo X, don’t bother with Insanity.
With regard to P90X+, if your primary concern is variety and you want to change things up, and you like Core Synergistics, this is potentially the program for you. However, you will maintain, as opposed to improve, in all areas, except weight loss and endurance.
One on Ones are definitely a way to mix things up. The workouts are very similar in nature to P90X workouts. However, you have to pick and choose individual DVDs, or just get all of them. With 26+ possibilities, there are clearly many options. However there are probably only a few you will use on a regular basis.
What Matters Most
In the end though, what matters most is that you do something that will. It is great if it meets your goals and likes, but doing any exercise is always better than doing no exercise. You can very quickly lose your strength gains, while gaining back any weight, if you do nothing. P90X is great in that it keeps you coming back for 90 days. Ideally, you should keep coming back for a lifetime, no matter what program it is.
