P90X2 – X2 Ab Ripper Review

I haven’t had the pleasure yet, but all of these moves I have done before with Insanity, P90X, Asylum or in my own bootcamp class so I can’t imagine it will be technically challenging. It’s a really great variety of movements though. It doesn’t have the intensity of the Ab Ripper, it seems more user friendly but honestly the  thing I liked about Ab Ripper was Tony getting all wound up about it!

Scissor Twist – 20 – Laying scissors touching opposite foot
Row Your Boat – 20 – Like Crunchy frog but with rowing motion not fly
Superman Banana X – 20 – superman banana in X position
Oblique Roll Crunch – 20 – Same as side crunches but switch sides each rep
Roll V Hold – 20 – V sit then grab hamstrings, roll back, roll up to V sit hold
Abrinome – 10 – Rainbow legs. Lay with legs up 90 degrees, wipe from side to side like windshield wipers or a rainbow
Gate Bridge Lift – 10 – Just simple leg lift with straddle at bottom
Phelon Twist – 10 – Sit with legs straight and together, fold arms across belly and lean back to 45 degrees and twist. Hold twist position then twist opposite way and hold
Scissor Clapper – 30 – V Sit scissors with clap under each leg as you switch
Tornado – 20 – Laying position with feet straight up at 90 degrees, circle feet with straight legs
Balance Bike Crunch – 20 – bicycles alternating knee to elbows but in v sit position. Modified move is just laying bicycle switch.

R9D2 – P90X2 – Plyocide Review

It’s Friday today, if I get home early enough I will complete this bad boy, if not, it will have to wait until tomorrow since I have to coach today.

This morning I felt great after X2 Core yesterday, my knot in my back is gone, thanks to the foam rolling I guess. The workout wasn’t that hard, I do lots of that kind of stuff for my bootcamp but there was enough technical challenge for me to stay focused. I guess being in shape already it’s not supposed to be brutal, but more of a technical exercise anyway. I am sure Plyocide won’t be such a pushover. I am reviewing it here as a log of the movements done, I will report back tomorrow or maybe during the weekend as to exactly how much of a challenge it is!

For plyocide you need all the regular stuff, a foam roller, mat, water and in addition an X taped on the floor and also if you have it a plyo box to do box jumps and so on.

The warmup is the same pretty much as X2 Core, and just like P90X the warmups are probably all going to be pretty standard.

Warmup:
Stability ball work
twists, squats, side bends, lunge back, shelf stockers.

Foam Rolling – Myofascial release using the foam roller
This is a great section to do daily and even better to go into more detail with when you have tight spots or knots.
Roller Sphinx
Worlds Greatest stretch (runners stretch with a double twist) alternating legs with brief hold each count.
Inch Worm – from standing, hands on floor, walk out to plank and back
Scorpion – Laying face down arms out 90 degrees, bend knee bring your foot up to your butt and lift away from the floor. Gently twist the leg to the opposite side of the body but don’t go too far!
Groiners – runners stretch foot switch

The Plyocide Workout:

Wide leg tiptoe squat – Simple wide squat up to tip toes 35 reps
Killer Katherine Lunge – Mary Katherines with med ball side to side, first at hip height then overhead
Fast Feet Chair Jump – Football fast feet with jumps added in
Slalom Line jump – jump over your taped line and back in a slalom forward then back
Water Break
Warrior 3 lunge – W3 back to lunge then back to W3
Jack In The Box Knee Tuck – Touch floor to tuck jump
Think Drill – wide feet football run with occasional sets and stance and arm changes
Spartan Squat Lunge – Squat touching opposite foot, jump into lunge and raise arm overhead. Do both sides!
Water Break
Super Skater Kicks – Exactly what it sounds like!
Depth Charge – Use plyo box, step up, jump down far side then straight jump.
Frog Burpee Hop – burpee with tuck jump
1 leg slalom – hopping slalom
Water Break
1 leg squat – Not pistols, just squat touch floor
Surfer Spin – Jump turns. Start with 2 half turns, then try full turns
Power 90 Cross Hop – Use taped cross and hop across quadrants then switch to other 2 quadrants
Wide Leg Jump Press With Med Ball – Like the X jump but with a med ball
Water Break
Launcher Lunge – With med ball, shelf stacker lifting non loaded leg away from body
Toe Tap 360 – Tap toes on med ball on floor, work all around the ball
Flying Fighter Kicks – scissor front kick followed with back kick
Set Sprint Plank Plyo Jump – Football set to high knee sprint to plank to plyo pushup to jump. Tony calls the order, you follow!

10 Minute Cool Down

This looks pretty intense and I am looking forward to the challenge!

 

R9D1 – P90X2 – X2 Core Review

Round 9 is here. To help you along, here is a full review / workout listing of what is in the P90X2 DVD set.

Round 8 was a pretty successful program I think, with 66 workouts in 94 days, that’s almost exactly 5 days a week average.

Not even 3 minutes in to the workout and he’s already said “but-tocks” in his Forrest Gump voice… seriously, it’s been how many years and he’s still doing that?

X2 Core seems like a gentle start to P90X2 with a section completely devoted to using foam rollers up and down your body to get rid of your tight points, muscle knots and smooth out those bound up joints. Then a short stretch of your legs to get ready for the workout.

The actual workout looks like this:

Warmup:

Stability ball work
twists, squats, side bends, lunge back, shelf stockers.

Foam Rolling – Myofascial release using the foam roller
This is a great section to do daily and even better to go into more detail with when you have tight spots or knots.
Roller Sphinx
Worlds Greatest stretch (runners stretch with a double twist) alternating legs with brief hold each count.
Inch Worm – from standing, hands on floor, walk out to plank and back
Scorpion – Laying face down arms out 90 degrees, bend knee bring your foot up to your butt and lift away from the floor. Gently twist the leg to the opposite side of the body but don’t go too far!
Groiners – runners stretch foot switch

Workout:

 

Sphinx Plank Crunch – touch each elbow with your knee while in Sphinx
Warrior 3 Cross Crunch – Warrior 3 pose to standing one knee to elbow cross
Single Leg Walk Out To Sphinx – Just like it sounds, stand on one leg, go down to hands and walk out to sphinx
Half  Angel – Side elbow stand, raise leg up and raise arm above your head
Roller Boat – Start in V Snap position, grab knees and roll back to shoulders. V Snap is a held position.
3 Speed Med Ball Pushup – Put med ball under your face, do a pushup and tap fingers on ball at top position. It’s like doing clapping pushups but with a med ball in the way.
1 Leg Lateral Leap Squat – It’s a single leg squat with a sideways leap inbetween. Touch the outside foot with the inside hand.
Core Circles – On stability ball in sphinx position just roll the ball clockwise then anti-clockwise.
Holmsen Screamer Lunge – Just like Insanity, it’s a lunge position then kick the knee through to a hop
Med Ball Dreya Roll – Didn’t think you were going to escape the weird obsession with Dreya did you? It’ s just a Dreya Roll with a med ball at your chest that you press overhead during the jump.
Plank Burpee On Stability Ball –  Keep the stability ball in your hand, do burpee but only on 1 foot then switch.
Banana Ball Switch Crunch – Same abs movement you have seen for years, pass the ball from hands to feet staying in banana.
3 Point Squat Press With Med Ball –  Squats extending ball overhead to left, then middle then right.
Slo Mo Balance Climber – Stability ball in sphinx – bring knee to same elbow. Just like spiderman that I do with kids but on ball.
X2 Diver – Wide foot standing to pushup, explode up and clap overhead. It’s a little like an insanity move for triceps where you push back to your feet.
Ryan Sphinx Twist Crunch – From side sphinx touch your hand and foot at hip level then reach hand all way under body and back.
1 Leg Med Ball Burpee – Just like it sounds, a burpee on one leg with med ball extended overhead.
Cool Down – there is an extended cool down with the use of the stability ball to get extended range and keep working that stability!

They probably should have called this thing X2 Sphinx since that seems to be the position of the day! It’s a good mix of balance, agility and strength using bodyweight and I think it’s a perfect way to introduce P90X2. I just hope the rest of the workouts are as well thought out and balanced.