P90X2 Review
P90X2 Review and update of our X2 Crew Challenge!
The X2 Crew still is almost ready to show off the awesome results we’ve had with P90X2. And I’ve got to say, this program has put it all together for me. It’s amazing! This P90X2 Review will explain more about that. You’ll see my results soon, and you will be amazed. Trust me! (I posted a pic below just to wet your appetite and make sure you’ll come back and watch my P90X2 Results video once I get it complete!)
I couldn’t wait to write up a P90X2 Review for you in case you are considering this workout program.
For those who haven’t read my P90X2 review of the Foundation Phase (the first of the three P90X2 phases), you can read it HERE.
This P90X2 review / update serves to give my impressions of the Strength and Performance phases (the second and third of the three P90X2 phases).
P90X2 Review — STRENGTH
Strength Phase (P90X2 Review)=
The strength phase is basically like the entire P90X program wrapped up into one single phase. It’s got the usual suspects (Chest/Back, Shoulders/Arms, Base/Back, V Sculpt, Chest/Shoulders/Tris) mixed with Plyocide and Yoga, so you can get a very similar experience to P90X during the Strength phase … although everything has been taken up about 50 notches! No moves are easy. No moves are stable and balanced. Everything requires core strength, stability, and synergy of muscle groups working together. It’s frustrating … and so rewarding … at the same time. Not to brag on myself, but these strength workouts have made me feel like a total beast! I feel so much stronger and complete as an athlete now than I did before. That’s why this P90X2 review gives an A+++!!!
I also like how the workouts are so much more intentional. Warmups and cool downs are longer but more purposeful and targeted. The workouts themselves are actually shorter, but intense and complex so that you get a total body blasting workout every time. I’m very impressed with these workouts. Just like the catch phrase says, these will “blow the roof off your fitness”.
P90X2 Review — PERFORMANCE
Performance Phase (P90X2 Review)=
Speaking of catch phrases, the T shirts you earn for going through P90X2 say on the back “I’ve gone pro”, and that’s how I feel after doing the Performance phase workouts. These workouts are a total test of strength, form, endurance, and conditioning. There are no breaks. You do big compound strength moves to tax your system, and then go right into explosive moves and isometric moves. It makes holding a plank, which normally isn’t a hard thing, become a BRUTAL thing due to the speed at which you are doing the circuits. It’s awesome! LOL!
And these Performance phase workouts are the type of training that elite athletes are doing in professional and Olympic sports to take their bodies to new levels. Tony and Beachbody have figured out how to bring that kind of training into our homes and turn us into elite athletes. It’s really awesome.
It was fun working out “with Wayne” on PAP Upper. Man was I a wimp! It’s the perfect test to how much this program has advanced my fitness to work out along side the “old Wayne” that moaned and groaned all the way through that workout. I can smoke that dude now! LOL!
P90X2 Review — What next?
Plans from here (P90X2 Review) …
I spent 2 years doing P90X, Insanity, P90X Plus, the 1-on-1′s, and Asylum, and they are all awesome workouts. I always preferred a hybrid because I believe each program has different strengths and weaknesses.
P90X2 is the closest thing to an all-out, complete program, that I’ve done. I definitely plan doing an entire round of X2 again when I finish this one. I don’t have that usual feeling toward the end of a program where I am ready to change it up or feel like there is a part of my fitness that is lacking due to the strengths or weaknesses of the program I’ve been doing. Doing P90X2 has helped me build strength and muscle, lose body fat, and feel awesome.
Since P90X2 is designed on a 5 day/week workout plan with 2 recovery days, I spent this round doing only 1 recovery day and a weekend “cardio choice” day. This could be playing basketball, going cycling, or (if the weather is bad outside) then I can choose a cardio home workout to get my sweat on. So the occasional weekend Asylum or Insanity workout for my “cardio choice” has been the only deviation I’ve made from the straight P90X2 workouts. And I’m not even close to getting bored yet! That’s why I’m already planning on diving back into another 90 days of this for the next round.
P90X2 Review — My phase modifications
I originally intended to do the 3 phases in order, with an extended stay in the phase 2 “Strength” workouts. As I went through them, though, I felt it made more sense to actually do a 4 phase approach = 1 Foundation, 2 Strength Basics, 3 Performance, 4 Strength Advanced.
With this approach, I break up the strength workouts so that I don’t have one long phase of strength, but rather 2 shorter (3 weeks) phases that are broken up for variety. The first set of Strength workouts are the ones that come with the Base kit (Chest/Back/Balance, Shoulders/Arms, and Base/Back). The second set of Strength workouts are the Advanced workouts (V Sculpt, Chest/Shoulders/Tris, and Base/Back).
P90X 2 Review – My second round of the Deuce
This is what I plan on doing for the next round (Round 2 of P90X) =
3 weeks Foundation
3 weeks Strength 1 (Base Strength Workouts)
3 weeks Performance
1 Recovery week
3 weeks Strength 2 (Advanced Strength Workouts)
P90X2 Review – Conclusions
In my own fitness, I’m most impressed with my strength gains. This type of training is different than I’m used to, and at first it makes a person think it won’t work as well for building muscle and strength, but I’m finding that my strength and muscularity have definitely increased (and I was pretty muscular before).
I hope you have found this P90X2 review helpful. And I hope you are ready to tear the roof off your fitness!!
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stephentroop25 You can do only 5 workouts a week with X2. It's ok to put those back to back. Most people like to space them out though.
The first time you did P90X2 did you do it according to the schedule? I have two doubts; first did you do the Recovery & Mobility twice a week like it's asked to or did you add another workout and canceled one R&M? And honestly I don't really like doing Ab Ripper X2 after my strength workouts because I feel like I lose the pump I get and because I like keeping my workouts under an hour. It's my first round of X2 and I'm about to enter the Strength Phase next week so I'd just like to insight before
coachjavyperez You will always lose your pump after a workout. It would great to walk around with it all day, but that's just not the case. You can move X2AR to another day if you want (I did), but it really won't hurt after lifting days.
Here is what my calendar looked like: http://teamripped.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/P90X2-Round-1-diff-ab-days-Sheet1.pdf I did R&M once a week.
Like your calendar better than the original. I think I will follow this from now on.
What excercise did you do for cardio on Saturdays?
@CoachWayne I like that schedule. However instead of doing Cardio on Saturdays I'll place Diamond Delts, is it wise?
coachjavyperez That would be ok. Just listen to your body. If your shoulders are feeling too spent from Balance & Power or Base & Back, then go with cardio to get some rest for your shoulders.
Hi Coach,
was watching a p90x2 vid last night and saw you in it. Congrats dude.
Is it possible to do one week of foundation and then move straight into the strength phase?
nav007_2000 You could but I wouldn't recommend it. Foundation builds and builds. You need a few weeks to start really getting a lot out of the workouts. I would do it for three weeks. That seems to be the right number for most people.
Wayne! Great news! My wife and I just celebrated our first Christmas together today! I was deployed last year and was gone again for some training the year before that. I know what you are thinking (today is the 16th not the 25th) well on Wednesday we are flying to VA for her first trip to VA to visit my family for Christmas! We wanted to have our own special christmas celebration here at the house in WA. Anyways we were opening gifts these morning with her friend and her dad and guess what she got me................................ P90X2 Deluxe Package! I already have the Powerstands but I have been waiting to try X2 for a while. I am so pumped up! I been doing p90x for a while now and I am looking forward to how P90X2 will be. Do you recommend me do a 4 phase approach? Or the 3 phase approach? How is everything going with your new son btw? Thanks for all you do! Is the X2 Crew still up and running?
Jerry, I think a 3 phase approach is good. Most guys did not need a recovery week between Foundation and Strength, but definitely take one before Performance to get the most out of it. The X2 Crew is still running (http://www.facebook.com/groups/171687996262400/) Our son is doing great! Thanks for asking.
Good day coach Wayne! I'm finishing my first week of the PAP phase, did 6 weeks of strength phase with a calorie surplus to try and add mass and strength. But as I have read and now experienced, the PAP phase, though awesome, is not really condusive to adding lean muscle mass. So would you recommend dialing back the calories to a deficit of 500 or so at 40/40/20 to tighten up and get as ripped as I can? If I have gaines the muscle mass I can expect to gain at this point I would like for my final results to be as ripped as possible. I don't need fat shredder as I'm about 5-6% body fat by caliper as it is.... Thanks again for everything!
Pierre, you can still stay at maintenance and gain strength and speed during PAP. If you want to lean out a bit, go to a little deficit and push hard. 40/40/20 would be a good split.
Hi Coach I am currently doing a p90x insanity hybrid and I was just wondering where, if possible, I could squeeze some of the PAP workouts from P90x2 in? Also would that be okay if I have not done the entire P90x2 workout program?
Alex, I would really go through X2 as designed before jumping into PAP. The whole program builds up to that point and you really rely on the strength and balance you have created up to that point.
Hey Coach W, I was initially planning on going with the extended strength phase for round one of X2, but after reading this, I'm not so sure. Would you recommend the extended strength phase or to break it up into four phases?
Mark, I actually ended up doing an extended strength phase. I really enjoyed it.
Hey coach Wayne Ive been on a bulk with P90X and my 90 days are almost up. I was woundering if P90X2 would be a better choice for round 2,would i get better gains off of it.
Steve, X2 would be a great way to continue your muscle confusion and keep progressing.
Hey coach, I'm finishing up the foundation phase of X2 and was wondering if you thought the recovery week was necessary. I'm considering just adding a week to the strength phase to make it a 4 week phase. What are your thoughts. Also! Do you feel the advanced workouts helped? I didn't get them but was thinking of buying them and adding them after the performance phase.
John, most guys in the X2 Crew didn't take one there. They only added a recovery week after strength. I really liked the advanced workouts. V-Sculpt is a great workout!
Okay! Sorry for all these questions coach! lol. When you say cycle off the Pre Workouts, does that include E&E? Also, you said Kre-Alk you can use it without ever cycling off, but correct me if I'm wrong, if I do plan on using Creatine Mono, I have to cycle off ALL CREATINE (include Kre Alk) for 1 month? Thanks Coach, always appreciative of your replies!
Hey BJ, you only need to cycle off PWO's that contain creatine. E&E does not have creatine and does not require cycling. And yes, if you do mono, you have to cycle off all creatine for a month to reset.
Coach, are you going to be taking a recovery week after this Pump/Asylum 30 day Hybrid or will you be jumping right into X2? Also, for the Kre-Alkalyne and Creatine Monohydrate, when are you not on either one of them? Or are you always on either one? Thanks coach!
Hey BJ, I'll jump right into the foundation phase of X2. You can take kre-alk without ever cycling off if you want. If you take creatine mono, you need to cycle off all creatine products for 1 month after using mono for 2 months (including pre-workouts). I used no creatine at all for 9 months or more, but during X2 I started using kre-alk.
Hey Coach, what do you think about X2 in the AM, with 30 min of p90x in the evenings? I don't see any conflicts with the foundation phase, but in the strength phase of X2 do you think there is enough variation of the exercise moves between X2 and X for a benefit, or would it be detrimental?
You could do that Andy as long as you are doing the same type of workouts on the same day (for example, if you do V sculpt from X2 in the am, you would need to do back and bi from X in the pm).
Coach! Since this will be your 2nd go around with X2, do you plan on putting any asylum workouts in there? What about yoga, are you planning on doing that as well or subbing in something else for it? Just curious as I would like to follow along and do EXACTLY what you plan on doing since it seems to work for me as well. Thanx Coach!
Hey BJ, I am going to do it by the same schedule I did round 1 (see that in my free downloads section) with a 6 day per week workout schedule and 1 recovery/mobility day.
Yeah I really want x2, but I want to try my own program that I've put together before i do x2. P.s. Your website is awesome.
Thanks Carter!
Thanks Ill try lower cals same perctges U like. 3 low 1 high 2 low 1 high?
That's fine Mike. Go for it!
Hey Wayne, I've finished X2 and have gone back to the X. I was wondering what you would think about applying the X2 philosophy of adding the rest week in whenever you feel you need it to P90X. Or is that counter productive to the program? Thanks!
You could do that Mike, but the entire X program is really just the strength phase of X2 so there isn't a lot of choice of when to do a rest week other than between the training blocks.
Another question - do you receive direct emails of other team member's results? Is it ok to send you a little bio/write up of my round and some progress pictures via email? I assume you ultimately decide on whether it's "post worthy" for the public to see (with first getting permission of course)... I just wanted to know the process of sharing results, thanks!
Hey Les, we are probably going to do a second run of the X2 Crew shirts so I'll let you know on that. On the nutrition guide, I say go with what fuels your body better. Some feel better with more fat and less carbs. I feel better with more carbs and less fat. But either can be a good option. And you can DEFINITELY send me an email with your pics and write up! I'd love to check out your results!!
Thanks for the review Coach Wayne! I am about to complete p90x2 (day 90 will be on April 7)... I am 100% impressed by the program. So impressed, I just may have to do another round! It's funny, about 2 months ago I was already mapping out my round 2 which would be a hybrid of p90x, insanity, and asylum - but, I love x2 so much I just HAVE to do it again... I am very curious if I have improved on some of the "foundation" moves. Definitely excited to find out. Oh, and by the way - I've lost 10 lbs and 10% body fat. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU COACH WAYNE! Question - the p90x2 nutrition guide has different ratios for energy booster (30p/40c/30f vs 40p/40c/20f)... i assume you will say to go with the lower fat ratio, and to bump up the carbs, correct? I think it's time to order a teamRIPPED shirt. Do you still have some "x2 crew" shirts in stock as well? Do i have to "earn" it first? LOL...
2 questions. as per our conversations, that i started zig zag, at 1600 cal and 2200 i m doing 3 low, 1 high, 2low 1 high, repeat, do u like that? also, i read your zig zag article for the 20th time. you say to keep your protein the same. do mean actual number or percentages. i was going to d0 50% prot, 30% 20% of 1600 on low days and of 2200 on high days. is this correct? or on low am i keeping protein at 50% of orginal 1900 calorie and lower everything else little confused again im 194 and 6 1 doing x2, and at 11.5% bf and want to get to 8 thanks
Hey Mike, you can do it either way (keep the % the same and adjust the grams so that the low days and high days are still the same total %, or you can skew the low days to actually be higher in protein). It's really up to you and it's trial and error to decide which way works best for you.
have you done the extra bonus workouts dvd? not the vscult and other. those other 2 bonus cds. if so, how and when did you or will you incorporate them. are they good workouts? thanks i havent even opened them.
Hey Mike, those bonus workouts are from the Tony Horton 1-on-1 series. They are great workouts, and I've done them before, but I'm not using them in the current workout calendar. I'm sure I will use them in a hybrid at some point, but right now it's all P90X2 for me :-)
coach, are you not supposed to do abrx during the last (perform) phase? i have been adding it anyway,,, i like that mix up , ill do it for round 2 of x2, but i will be subbing out yoga, sorry, sub in a cardio? how is fountain of youth?
Hey Mike, it's not on the schedule, but if you want to do it you can. FOY yoga is okay. I personally like X2 yoga better than FOY.
Hey coach wayne I was just on the team beachbody website starting out my profile and i was trying to add my workouts but i couldn't find p90x plus. Am i missing something or do they not have p90x plus as a workout to add? if they don't what should i add for my workout because today i did p90x plus interval plus
Hey Greg, the Plus workouts are on there if you have indicated in your profile that Plus is one of the workouts you do. If you only chose P90X or Insanity, for instance, then the only options you'll have to enter workouts are those. Go to your profile and add the Plus workouts.
I had the same experience/results as Terrance in doing the extended Strength Phase. I had good strength gains throughout but towards the end of the phase I was not able to reach my numbers/reps that I had achieved in earlier weeks. I like your idea, Coach, of splitting the Strength Phases up - great suggestion! Really, I think thats how it should probably be structured. I look forward to trying it in my Round 2. Thanks for your review, i hope my feedback helps out too! Keep killing it Xers!
Thanks Wayne! After reading the "Guide" post I am going to track my Macros instead. It will be easier b/c like you I am confused on certain things, is PB a fat? a snack? So I will track it. Thanks for your help
Perfect Jai!!
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Hey coach, I was wondering instead of doing a cardio day on Fridays could I just have two days of rest in a row or would that be a bad idea??
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