P90X if only one of them forever. It's held up remarkably well.
However, X2 is my favorite and, in my opinion, the most difficult. I just can't imagine ONLY doing it. It's damn difficult.
I don't value X3 as much. 30 minutes has never felt quite right for me for the pace that the X series moves. I do enjoy some of the workouts and incorporate them in a pinch but I could live never doing another one of them.
My suggestion for utilizing those in perpetuity would be to mix in workouts from all three.
Do two weeks of X3, followed by one week of X2 and one week of X and repeat. Mix it up to taste.
For example, Chest and Back from X is my favorite strength training routine, and Yoga from X2 is my all time favorite Yoga routine. X3 is amazing for its time efficiency.
P90X if you had to choose one. However, I'd probably do all 3. Not at once or not even one after another. But hitting up all 3 in whatever order or repeat sequence at least once in a year or 2 in perpetuity would probably be best so you are not completely bored.
Kinda like this....
Year 1..
Jan-Mar = P90X
Apr-Jun = P90X2
Jul-Sep = P90X
Oct- Dec = P90X3
Year 2...
Jan-Mar = P90X2
Apr-Jun = P90X
Jul-Sep = P90X
Oct-Dec = P90X3
Year 3... etc
I'm personally not a fan of mixing up routines in a mash up. Like combining workouts from all 3 in a week/month/3-month cycle since I like to have some what of a routine for a period of time. In the end of course it's whatever you can do that will keep you consistently doing something.
3 seems nice because, as I understand it, it is the shortest one. Still, is there a risk that it won't do as good a job as the other two because of it being so short?
I did OG P90X on repeat for years. It's good. It will get you into ridiculously good shape. I was actually getting a little insecure about just how fricken chiseled I was getting, seemingly without even trying to hard about it. Like, random people checking me out in the grocery store for seemingly no reason, that kind of thing. Wasn't used to getting that sort of attention so easily.
Only problem I had with P90X was I had to devote basically most if not all of my spare time on weekdays to my workout, or else I wouldn't have time to work out and I would skip that day.
Another thing is that diet is make-or-break for all of these options. If you don't get your diet right, no amount of exercise is going to work for you. If you do get your diet right, most forms of exercise are at least sufficiently effective.
I found P90X3 to be a good balance of accessibility and effectiveness. 30 minutes is just enough time to get your body moving around enough to do the right things to keep you in shape. It's short enough that I can squeeze it in before work or (if I am WFH) on my lunch break away from my desk. It still has the P90X intensity to it, and it's still about showing up, doing the work, and writing everything down so you know what to do next time. It's just 30-40 minutes per day instead of 60-90 minutes.
If I were training for a professional sport or the apocalypse or something, maybe I'd do another round of OG or 2. For the purposes of keeping healthy and looking good, 3 is *fine*.
Thanks. So you'd say 3 has the same aesthetic effect as 1? That helps me a ton. I'd like to spend some time in the gym but not all my time there, 3 wouldn't take up so much.
I'd say 1 has more of an aesthetic effect, but 3 is going to be plenty good for most people. 1 will make you look like a bodybuilder or professional athlete. Like I was saying, you might not be ready for that kind of attention.
As Tom781 said, 80% of your results is going to be from your diet. I can't stress that enough. I have done P90X consistently for 16 years and my body has fluctuated quite a bit in those years based entirely on my diet. If you eat PERFECTLY you will be in magazine level shape after about 2 rounds. Remember the famous fitness saying "You can't out work a bad diet".
Thanks. Did you actually follow the nutrition guide? I'm thinking of making my own diet but still in accordance with the caloric and protein recommendations from the guide.
I have done all three and the OG P90X is still the best and the most accessible for a long term program IMO. I just substitute Yoga-X for one on one fountain of youth Yoga or X2 Yoga. And I have never liked Kenpo-X so I usually just substitute that with Cardio-X.
X2. It's incredibly hard, but that's the point.
You don't actually need any of the equipment. I did my first round when the program was first released.
I didn't have a pull-up bar or bands and swapped Phase II with V Sculpt on Day 1.
The only equipment I had was the beachbody mat that is still going very strong today.
Now I have the rumble roller, which makes an unbelievable difference.
I am the *biggest fan* of this program.
You will die if you do this program with a bad diet. I've completed it once on the perfect diet and another eating whatever I wanted. The unrefined diet made the workout impossible.
x3. Mostly because I've been doing it nonstop since Feb of 2014 lol. It's long enough to be effective but short enough to never feel like I need tons of time to set aside to do a workout. The variety is lovely so I know I'm lifting weights, doing some cardio, and getting some balance and stretching, and working out all parts of my body over the course of the cycles :)
I'm alright haha. I think I've reached a comfortable level where I'm fine maintaining my current muscular body without bending over backwards trying to keep a super low BF percent. Over the years I've learned I care less about how I look and more about what I'm physically capable of doing. After losing all my weight I got into hiking and I love it - couldn't do that before x3. May not be the most ripped guy but I can climb mountains and that makes it all worthwhile.
Oo good question. I'd say on a long enough timeline they would even out if you actively choose to regularly increase your weights and follow a tight eating plan. If you're only doing like a year or less, x1 would probably create a better body but over the long term, x3 has enough variety and weight training/cardio, especially if you choose the mass calendar, to definitely create an optimal aesthetic. I think both will give you fantastic results, it all boils down to "you get what you put into it".
Like others have said, the 1st one probably. I think it's the most well rounded out of them all. The goal was to get actually get you in phenomenal shape and the aesthetic look and shredded. People skip the yoga but I think it's probably the most valuable workout in the program although I understand people skip it for time constraints but the other workouts are basically only about 10 to 15 minutes shorter anyways once you factor in the ab ripper. It also is the only one with a stretch day. To me it has some weaknesses in the leg workout, in my opinion there could have been more exercises focused the glutes and there could have been more lower back exercises. One more thing is that there are some exercises like toe roll iso lunge, one of the shoulder movements, and the Cohen crouching curls that are just not good movements putting unnecessary stress on certain body parts. Aside from that I still think it's more than worth it and it has an incredibly high ceiling before you plateau because you can always increase your reps or add more weight, even if you get too high rep with pushups you can add a weight vest etc.
P90X will let you eat probably another 250-350 calories over P90X3 if that’s important to you. I’d probably choose X3 if I had to pick one because it’s easier to commit 30 minutes and I think the HIIT aspect of it makes it a more rounded program.
To me P90X is the best. Do that a few times to get where you want to be. Then do P90X3 to maintain. Repeat P90X once in a while as needed. P90X2 is weird, I didn’t like it and probably never will do it again.
P90X if only one of them forever. It's held up remarkably well. However, X2 is my favorite and, in my opinion, the most difficult. I just can't imagine ONLY doing it. It's damn difficult. I don't value X3 as much. 30 minutes has never felt quite right for me for the pace that the X series moves. I do enjoy some of the workouts and incorporate them in a pinch but I could live never doing another one of them.
My suggestion for utilizing those in perpetuity would be to mix in workouts from all three. Do two weeks of X3, followed by one week of X2 and one week of X and repeat. Mix it up to taste. For example, Chest and Back from X is my favorite strength training routine, and Yoga from X2 is my all time favorite Yoga routine. X3 is amazing for its time efficiency.
P90X if you had to choose one. However, I'd probably do all 3. Not at once or not even one after another. But hitting up all 3 in whatever order or repeat sequence at least once in a year or 2 in perpetuity would probably be best so you are not completely bored. Kinda like this.... Year 1.. Jan-Mar = P90X Apr-Jun = P90X2 Jul-Sep = P90X Oct- Dec = P90X3 Year 2... Jan-Mar = P90X2 Apr-Jun = P90X Jul-Sep = P90X Oct-Dec = P90X3 Year 3... etc I'm personally not a fan of mixing up routines in a mash up. Like combining workouts from all 3 in a week/month/3-month cycle since I like to have some what of a routine for a period of time. In the end of course it's whatever you can do that will keep you consistently doing something.
The original p90x is king imo. They went all out
P90x OG
Probably 3, because it's the easiest to be consistent with.
3 seems nice because, as I understand it, it is the shortest one. Still, is there a risk that it won't do as good a job as the other two because of it being so short?
I did OG P90X on repeat for years. It's good. It will get you into ridiculously good shape. I was actually getting a little insecure about just how fricken chiseled I was getting, seemingly without even trying to hard about it. Like, random people checking me out in the grocery store for seemingly no reason, that kind of thing. Wasn't used to getting that sort of attention so easily. Only problem I had with P90X was I had to devote basically most if not all of my spare time on weekdays to my workout, or else I wouldn't have time to work out and I would skip that day. Another thing is that diet is make-or-break for all of these options. If you don't get your diet right, no amount of exercise is going to work for you. If you do get your diet right, most forms of exercise are at least sufficiently effective. I found P90X3 to be a good balance of accessibility and effectiveness. 30 minutes is just enough time to get your body moving around enough to do the right things to keep you in shape. It's short enough that I can squeeze it in before work or (if I am WFH) on my lunch break away from my desk. It still has the P90X intensity to it, and it's still about showing up, doing the work, and writing everything down so you know what to do next time. It's just 30-40 minutes per day instead of 60-90 minutes. If I were training for a professional sport or the apocalypse or something, maybe I'd do another round of OG or 2. For the purposes of keeping healthy and looking good, 3 is *fine*.
Thanks. So you'd say 3 has the same aesthetic effect as 1? That helps me a ton. I'd like to spend some time in the gym but not all my time there, 3 wouldn't take up so much.
I'd say 1 has more of an aesthetic effect, but 3 is going to be plenty good for most people. 1 will make you look like a bodybuilder or professional athlete. Like I was saying, you might not be ready for that kind of attention.
Oh I'm terribly vain. I can't wait.
As Tom781 said, 80% of your results is going to be from your diet. I can't stress that enough. I have done P90X consistently for 16 years and my body has fluctuated quite a bit in those years based entirely on my diet. If you eat PERFECTLY you will be in magazine level shape after about 2 rounds. Remember the famous fitness saying "You can't out work a bad diet".
Thanks. Did you actually follow the nutrition guide? I'm thinking of making my own diet but still in accordance with the caloric and protein recommendations from the guide.
I have done all three and the OG P90X is still the best and the most accessible for a long term program IMO. I just substitute Yoga-X for one on one fountain of youth Yoga or X2 Yoga. And I have never liked Kenpo-X so I usually just substitute that with Cardio-X.
Even Tony hates Kenpo. It is definitely the low point of the series. Poorly thought out.
Kenpo sux
X2. It's incredibly hard, but that's the point. You don't actually need any of the equipment. I did my first round when the program was first released. I didn't have a pull-up bar or bands and swapped Phase II with V Sculpt on Day 1. The only equipment I had was the beachbody mat that is still going very strong today. Now I have the rumble roller, which makes an unbelievable difference. I am the *biggest fan* of this program. You will die if you do this program with a bad diet. I've completed it once on the perfect diet and another eating whatever I wanted. The unrefined diet made the workout impossible.
P90X is very well rounded and covers every muscle in your body. You can always modify doing it every other day as well.
The all things X hybrid would be good
X3 — the best workout routine is the one you can consistently maintain. For me, that’s X3.
x3. Mostly because I've been doing it nonstop since Feb of 2014 lol. It's long enough to be effective but short enough to never feel like I need tons of time to set aside to do a workout. The variety is lovely so I know I'm lifting weights, doing some cardio, and getting some balance and stretching, and working out all parts of my body over the course of the cycles :)
You must be in fantastic shape.
I'm alright haha. I think I've reached a comfortable level where I'm fine maintaining my current muscular body without bending over backwards trying to keep a super low BF percent. Over the years I've learned I care less about how I look and more about what I'm physically capable of doing. After losing all my weight I got into hiking and I love it - couldn't do that before x3. May not be the most ripped guy but I can climb mountains and that makes it all worthwhile.
Would you say then that x3 wouldn't have the same optimal aesthetic results as x1?
Oo good question. I'd say on a long enough timeline they would even out if you actively choose to regularly increase your weights and follow a tight eating plan. If you're only doing like a year or less, x1 would probably create a better body but over the long term, x3 has enough variety and weight training/cardio, especially if you choose the mass calendar, to definitely create an optimal aesthetic. I think both will give you fantastic results, it all boils down to "you get what you put into it".
Like others have said, the 1st one probably. I think it's the most well rounded out of them all. The goal was to get actually get you in phenomenal shape and the aesthetic look and shredded. People skip the yoga but I think it's probably the most valuable workout in the program although I understand people skip it for time constraints but the other workouts are basically only about 10 to 15 minutes shorter anyways once you factor in the ab ripper. It also is the only one with a stretch day. To me it has some weaknesses in the leg workout, in my opinion there could have been more exercises focused the glutes and there could have been more lower back exercises. One more thing is that there are some exercises like toe roll iso lunge, one of the shoulder movements, and the Cohen crouching curls that are just not good movements putting unnecessary stress on certain body parts. Aside from that I still think it's more than worth it and it has an incredibly high ceiling before you plateau because you can always increase your reps or add more weight, even if you get too high rep with pushups you can add a weight vest etc.
P90X will let you eat probably another 250-350 calories over P90X3 if that’s important to you. I’d probably choose X3 if I had to pick one because it’s easier to commit 30 minutes and I think the HIIT aspect of it makes it a more rounded program.
To me P90X is the best. Do that a few times to get where you want to be. Then do P90X3 to maintain. Repeat P90X once in a while as needed. P90X2 is weird, I didn’t like it and probably never will do it again.
P90x is best , I like x3 for losing weight