Back in 2012 at the age of 32 I finished my first round of P90X2 and its when I wrote this review. Its almost 2019 and just about everything I wrote is still spot on.
I have completed one round of P90X2 and have never gone back to it for a hybrid program. There’s really only two workouts from P90X2 that I occasionally do. More on that below.
You may know by now that P90X2 is a 90 day program based on the concept of “Post Activation Potentiation” (P.A.P) and is a sequel to the ever popular P90X.
How I like to do my reviews is post my before and after photos first with my thoughts on the program below.
Where’s The Pics?
So here’s the deal. I didn’t take an after photo because my results we’re not impressive. I mean, my goods are still good but I didn’t get anywhere near the results I did with the original P90X.
I must disclose I was dealing with a pretty bad elbow injury that happened four months prior to starting P90X2. While I did give my elbow injury four months to heal it may have tampered my experience and results doing P90X2.
At the time I was all gung ho about doing the newest Beachbody workout as soon as it came out, seeing what kind of results I could get, and being one of the first Beachbody Coaches to blog about it.
Due to not working out in those four months I did put on a couple of pounds and was not as strong. With that, I did fell rested and ready for P90X2.
Expectations For P90X2
Beachbody said P90X2 was to be geared towards athletic moves instead of intense working out like P90X. Either way I was hoping for a tough and fun workout that pushes me as much as P90X did.
Looking at all of the equipment that comes with the P90X2 Ultimate Package I can only assume I’m going to be moving stuff out of the way a lot during the workouts. Which hopefully wouldn’t be a pain in the butt.
I skipped the P90X2 Fit Test since I had completed P90X and Asylum before. Was not like if I failed I was not going to do P90X2 anyways.
First Month Of P90X2 (Foundation Phase) Was Boring
Some say it was easy. Of course it is told to us it is by design to get us ready for months two and three. Again, some of the moves were extremely hard but other moves were very easy. I can’t remember being sore after any workout in the first month. There may be some truth that I already had a decent foundation from doing a couple of rounds of P90X and Asylum before P90X2.
Month Two of P90X2 (Strength Phase) Was OK
Again, some moves were easy and some very tough. Even with me dealing with the elbow injury I found myself being able to complete a number of the moves in the allotted time. When it was time for pull-ups and chin-ups I used a resistance band to not re-aggrivate my elbow injury. There were days where I would try doing pull-ups and chin-ups but once I felt the tendons in my arm starting to stretch too much I’d stop and get the resistance band.
Month Three of P90X2 (Performance Phase) Was Not Fun
You do P.A.P Lower and P.A.P Upper twice a week for four weeks with X2 Yoga and Recovery & Mobility workouts mixed in. These are sold as the “hard workouts” for P90X2. Both leaned towards total body workouts in my opinion.
P90X2 Did Not Meet Expectations
My expectations of P90X2 was for it to be a lot like P90X but just a little bit different. I’ll tell you now that I was not impressed with P90X2. Heaven forbid a Beachbody Coach say that.
Keeping with my tradition of not finishing in exactly 90 days and completing in 110 I found myself getting bored with P90X2 through out the entire program. I just never felt that desire in P90X2 to “come back for more” like I did with P90X.
Moves were either way too hard (“Around The World Pull-Ups”) or way too easy. Even though most of the workouts were focused on one or two particular muscle groups I found many moves to be total body, i.e; Balance Curls.
X2 Ab Ripper was very easy. I cannot remember a time where I did not finish or felt sore the next day. Did not like how it was once a week in phase one and not used at all in phase three. Doing Ab Ripper X three times a week in P90X is what took P90X over the top.
I rarely used more than 20 pound dumbbells. This is quite different from P90X where 25 pounds was common and 35 pounds was my max weight (besides moves like “Lawnmowers” where I’d use 50+).
Maybe my morning Shakeology and the P90X Recovery Drink I took after each workout helped reduce soreness. Maybe not.
Lost The Simplicity
What made P90X great was its simplicity. And that you could do it in a small space in your home.
P90X2 was neither of those.
Beachbody brought in Dr. Marcus Elliott who is one smart dude to help develop P90X2. This guy trains Olympians and pro athletes.
Not to take anything away from the athlete I think I am but I am nowhere near the type of athlete Dr. Elliott trains at his Peak Performance Project (P3) facility.
And that’s kind of my takeaway with P90X2.
It was the first and only Beachbody program where I felt like I needed to be at a gym working out with somebody or with a trainer pushing me. That’s just not what Beachbody workouts are supposed to be about.
Tony Horton was a little long winded with his jokes too. It slowed down the pace of each workout making it tougher to follow along. And it felt way more scripted.
Summary
Even with me dealing with an injury I never felt the excitement and challenge with P90X2 as I did with P90X.
And I probably should not have. Because they are two separate programs designed for two different types of people. Saying that, I still thought P90X2 could have been better. It was way too tough or way too easy and it didn’t have a snappy pace.
I did like how X2 Yoga was only an hour long and how X2 Recovery & Mobility introduced me to foam rolling. These two are workouts I see myself doing in the future on their own.
It was a good attempt by Beachbody to try and build on the success of P90X. Maybe that’s why sequels are rarely as good as the original. Maybe if it was called “P90X Different” or “P90X Elite” or “P90X Athlete” instead of P90X2 the expectations would have been different.
Who knows, maybe I’ll attempt another round of P90X2 in the future. But probably not.
