P90X2 Review: A In-Depth Look at the Program and Results

The follow-up to the wildly popular P90X program, P90X2, promises to take your fitness to the next level.

This revolutionary workout system promises to help you build lean muscle, increase strength and flexibility, and sculpt your body to perfection.

In this comprehensive review, we’ll take a closer look at the P90X2 program, its features and benefits, and what you can expect from this intense workout regimen.

Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just starting your fitness journey, read on to find out if P90X2 is the right program for you.

Beachbody on Demand (Online Program)

At the core of the P90X2 is Beachbody on Demand – an online program created by Tony Horton where he coaches you about the moves for different exercises.

Originally launched in 2005, the P90X2 Beachbody on Demand was a revolutionary program designed to help you get ripped in 90 days. This online fitness program also includes diet plans to help you achieve your fitness goals.

The P90X2 Beachbody on Demand covers a total of 28 workouts and has a duration of 50–60-minute sweet spot. You will find everything from cardio workouts, yoga, core exercise, lean muscle building, and recovery weeks. 

Tony Horton no longer creates new training videos for the program, but the original P90X workouts and others are still available through the online program.

What’s included in the Beachbody on Demand

Beachbody on Demand has several resources you can access once you get an account on the platform. Using your Beachbody account, you can access the following materials.

Getting started

It starts with the P90X2 trailer, where Horton introduces the program, and you get a good overview of the workout sheets.

Fitness guide

The P90X2 fitness guide gives you a good idea of what exercises and program phases you can expect and the equipment you will need. You will learn how to track your fitness progress and have a good idea about Pre-and Post- workout supplements.

Nutritional guide

The Beachbody also has an awesome diet guide so expect lots of tips for healthy eating and clean eating recipes. Horton also suggests the infamous 1,500 or 1,800-calorie diet in this section.

Workout calendar

The P90X2 Beachbody workout calendar is a detailed guide to the different exercises and different phases.

Worksheets

The worksheet is where you will track your fitness progress, log in the weight you lifted, the number of reps, and so on.

What Equipment Do You Need for P90X2?

Horton recommends 16 pieces of equipment for P90X2 workouts, which might be necessary for a powerful workout. Realistically though, you can get away with the following gear and still enjoy the full benefits of the P90X2.

Now let me break down the P90X2 workouts. The P90X2 has 12 workouts that are divided into three phases, so let’s start with the 1st phase.

Phase 1 – Foundation

The foundation phase of P90X2 lasts 3-5 weeks and consists of six different types of workouts with AB Ripper as the bonus. The seven exercises in this phase are set up for four days of plyometric moves, high-intensity core training, and strength and balance workouts.

Schedule: The P90x2 Foundation Phase

h3-X2 Core

The high-intensity workouts are mixed with yoga, recovery, and mobility, so your body can rejuvenate its energy reserves. However, instead of doing recovery and mobility, you can also choose a couple of rest days before you proceed with the exercises.

The X2 Core lasts 57 minutes and focuses on explosive core workouts, which can leave you weak for the first couple of sessions. The other benefits of explosive power moves are improving your balance and posture.

The X2 Core relies heavily on a bar foam roller, stability, and medicine balls. Contradicting popular misconception, it is not the upgrade of the original P90X but is a new routine for the ultimate core strength and development.

Total body

The Total Body starts off where the X2 ends and focuses on strengthening the weak spots. The entire routine lasts 64 minutes and divides into two sets for each side. The total body also focuses on the core so expect to do a lot of chest presses, curls, pushups, and chin-ups.

AB Ripper

The infamous X2 AB Ripper is 17 minutes long, focusing on the obliques and super concentrated core workout. The power moves in this one, such as the Phaolin Twist, are not for the faint of heart, but it delivers stellar results.

You can alternate between X2 Core and the AB Ripper, which is a good thing since doing the two simultaneously, can leave even the hardcore trainers feeling weak. AB Ripper in the P90X2 is a bonus addition.

Plyocide

With 57 minutes of workout duration, plyocide is known for integrated flexibility moves such as the Asylum, Insanity, and others – 5 sets of 5 moves.

The plyo strength training is fantastic for body strength, while the end stretches with tight IT bands are very calming on the tight spots.

In my experience, performing the plyo moves is a great preparation for lower body PAP that you will inevitably face in phase 3.

Attempting to undertake lower body PAP without the combo moves in this step is simply torture and a recipe for definite failure.

X2 yoga

A lot of people dreaded the 90-minute yoga routine in the original P90X program.

Horton tweaked the workout yoga X2 in this one while still keeping the original moves, so there are still a lot of vinyasas and stretches. The yoga moves in this fitness routine are shorter and less repetitive than in the original program.

The combination of warm-up stretches and vinyasas in the X2 yoga is essential for maintaining flexibility, strength, and a young visage.

Balance and power

The balance and power section in the P90X2 foundation is dubbed as a core part 3, and rightfully so. Stability ball stretches, balancing on pushup stands and elbow on a stability ball are common moves that combine both slow and fast movements.

Balance and power, as the name implies, focus on building a strong foundation, starting with strengthening the core muscles. The entire duration of 50–60-minute workouts aims to keep your core tight and prepare your body for the next phase of the workout routine.

Recovery and mobility

Recovery and mobility are vital in the basic P90X2 workouts and last an hour long. Tony’s rumble roller is the show’s main star and works better than a traditional foam roller.

It focuses on massages, which is a perfect cure for muscle soreness and prepping your body for the 2nd week of P90X2. The recovery and mobility in this fitness program are akin to the rest days in circuit training or CrossFit so take advantage of it, especially if you want to be strong and crush the next two phases.

Phase 2 – Strength

The 2nd phase of the P90X2 program puts supreme emphasis on balance and strength by using multiple muscle groups. There are three main workout types here, but two bonus workouts are sold separately.

Schedule: The P90x2 Strength Phase

Shoulders and arms

Running a total of 53 minutes, the exercises will chisel and build upper body strength in no time if you stick to the routine. Pushups and presses on stability balls and a series of moves that involve standing on one leg will seriously challenge the muscles in your back and shoulders.

In addition to arm balance, you can expect to improve your core balance significantly in this phase.

If you lack core strength or need a bit of balance work, you absolutely need to work on the first in the first phase to crush these progressive moves.

Chest and back

Here, you will balance on pushups/pull-ups on a balance ball or perform chin-ups for at least an hour.

This advanced home workout exercise routine is a combination of easy and regular moves, but some, like the Impossible Pushup, can challenge your balance moves to a great extent.

This stage of P90X2 is designed to perfect balance, but it also targets the chest and back muscles.

Back

Yes, an actual workout routine of 56 minutes is dedicated to sculpting the back. The workout series focuses on Plyo with explosive movements such as the Jack-in-the-Box Knee Tucks that will strengthen and work your back to the max.

Phase 3 – Performance

This is the PAP or Post Activation Potentiation dreaded by anyone who has causally tried out the original P90X workouts.

If you know anything about this workout program info, the creator suggests that you do it for no more than three to four weeks, so you don’t destroy your body for the sake of fitness.

The PAP in the P90X2’s supreme focus is on muscle building by targeting the same muscle group with heavy resistance training and explosive movements in succession.

There are two distinct phases in the final week of the P90X2 performance.

Schedule: The P90x2 Performance Phase

PAP for Upper Body

This phase lasts a total of 53 minutes and is further grouped into the first and second rounds.

The first round has four moves – plyo, resistance, iso, and iso, and each is performed two times.

In the second round, your core muscles and the rest of the upper body muscles will be bombarded with two rounds, each of resistance-plyo and resistance-plyo.

Your upper body and even your hands after a workout might feel sore after the session. PAP for the upper body in this workout calendar is quite fast, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself struggling.

PAP for Lower Body

P90X2’s PAP for the lower body is 63 minutes long, including grueling weights with two plyo moves and rounding up with an isometric hold. Similar to the upper body PAP, here you will perform four moves in two sets four times.

Some of the moves in the PAP are relatively easy, but even veteran trainers struggle with complex moves such as Side Bridge Leg Lift.

As I mentioned earlier, if you’ve done the plyo/strength combo in phase 2 of the fitness program, it’s a lot easier to complete the lower body PAP.

Benefits of P90X2

Since its introduction in 2011, P90X2 has been equally dreaded and loved by fitness experts and athletes. This all-around fitness program is built on the principle of muscle integration, so it conditions the nervous system builds endurance and chisels your muscles.

That being said, the P90X2 delivers the following benefits.

Excellent benefits

The P90X2 is built on sports science and uses a range of motion or ROM during the routine. According to a recent study, individuals who used the ROP training method gained up to 1.6% of muscle in one week, which is fantastic.

In addition, the PAP training method also improves the overall performance in men, especially during resistance training, as revealed in one study. 

The P90X2 also has a lot of high-intensity exercises, which greatly improve the overall physique. Such type of training reduced the chance of firefighters becoming obese by almost 50%, according to one NIH study.

In another ResearchGate review, Post Activation Potentiation or PAP can also develop explosive strength and overall speed in female athletes.

Several exercises in the P90X2 program also aim to harden your core to superman level and perfect your balance. 

You will also love the yoga moves and the stretches that soothe your sore body and improve your flexibility like no other.

Detailed nutrition guide

Few fitness programs can rival the P90X2’s nutrition guide. It has everything from professional diet plans to an extensive list of healthy foods and recipes for all types of diets, including restrictive and special dietary needs.

Unless you pay a nutritional/dietary expert for a 101 consultation, no other fitness program can beat the nutritional guide in this fitness program.

Minimal equipment

Despite the wide range of exercises involved in the P90X2 program, you don’t need additional equipment apart from the basic ones.

If you really pare down, all you need to execute this fitness program are a couple of adjustable dumbbells, a pull-bar, and a stability ball.

This s a great advantage of the P90X2, considering the gamut of exercises and routines it comes with.

Customizable

Another fantastic benefit of the P90X2 is the ability to customize it to your specific requirements.

If, after you complete the first two phases of the fitness program and you think you have not acquired the sculpted body that you want, take a couple of rest days and go back to phase one – but this time, double the duration of the workouts; if you can handle it.

Just remember to follow the length of the program to the dot, so you do not overexert your body.

Complete satisfaction

The P90X2 is by no means easy or beginner friendly. In fact, some moves such as the Impossible Push Up, Insanity, and Asylum can make even a veteran athlete feel weak.

But this complete program beats and then soothes and stretches your muscles and the entire body like no other. In particular, the foam rolling on sore muscles is a completely new experience that will change the way you see recovery.

Apart from the new muscle and improved performance, nothing beats the satisfaction of successfully completing this monster of a fitness routine that only a handful can boast of accomplishing like a pro.

Results of P90X2

The P90X2 program includes 12 different workouts that are designed to be done over the course of 90 days. These workouts include a variety of resistance exercises, such as weightlifting and bodyweight exercises, as well as cardio and yoga. The program also includes a nutrition guide and a fitness guide to help users achieve their goals.

Many users have reported that the program is challenging but also highly effective. Some users have even said that the program has helped them achieve results that they never thought possible.