Fitness Friday: P90X3 Review: Block Two (Days 30-60)

For my review of Block One (Days 1-30) click here.

I’m a little late posting this. Sorry. According my handy dandy calendar, I’ve been doing P90X3 since January 6. That makes today Day 96, not day 60.

But here’s the deal: I took a few days off here and there for various reasons, causing me to skip some workouts along the way. Instead of giving you a haphazard review with mediocre results at exactly Day 90, I wanted to finish the program strong, even if it took me a little longer.

So, I’m continuing to work hard on P90X3 until the end of April (making it more like P108X3) and I fully intend to give you my final review of the entire program at that time.

So, if you are out and about, trolling The Internets, looking for a realistic review of Block Two, here is what you may want to know:

Day 1: Eccentric Upper

First off, that’s not “eccentric” as in odd, strange or flamboyant. It’s actually pronounced “EE-sentric,” and it is the kind of contraction that causes your muscle to lengthen.

For example, in a standard bicep curl, bending the arm would be a concentric contraction. Straightening the arm would be an eccentric contraction.

Got it? Of course you do, because you’s is so smart.

This workout focuses on the upper body, going slowly (counting 1-2-3) during the eccentric contraction part of the exercise. You do a good variety here: all different kinds of push-ups, pull-ups, bicep curls and tricep extensions. There are 19 moves, plus a burnout session, with 10 reps each move. You don’t focus on speed or high reps. Instead, you concentrate on going s-l-o-w during that eccentric (not odd) contraction. It’s a great upper-body strength workout.

Can beginners do this? Sure. You can modify push-ups on your knees, pull-ups with a chair, do fewer reps or adjust weights depending on your fitness level.

Is it Challenging? Yes! I’ve done this workout 4 times so far, and there are still a few moves where I cannot do the full 10 reps.

Day 2: Triometrics

This workout is mostly legs, no weights. The idea here is that you do one move for a full minute, but you do the move three different ways within that minute, changing the intensity about every 20 seconds.

So, you may start out doing a basic squat touching fingertips to the ground at the bottom of the squat for the first 20 seconds, progressing to fists to the ground for the second 20 seconds and then palms to the ground for the final 20 seconds.

You do all kinds of crazy squats, lunges and jumps, many on one leg. This one works a lot on balance, but is a major LEG BURNER!

Can beginners do this? Yes. The modifier stays in the second position while the rest of the group moves to the third. If you needed to, you could stay at the first position. There are no rules here.

Is it Challenging? Absolutely. I’m always sore after this workout.

Day 3: Yoga

I explained my initial reaction to the yoga workout here, which wasn’t all that great. I have to say, however, this particular workout is really growing on me. The more I do it, the less I feel rushed through it. Plus, I love having a 30-minute yoga option. I’m finding myself wanting to do this when I’m feeling stiff or sore, even when it’s not on the schedule.

Day 4: Eccentric Lower

Quiz time: Does everyone remember what Eccentric means?

See? I told you you’s was smart. 🙂

Well, this is just like Eccentric Upper, but it involves all kinds of squats, lunges and kicks. Plus, you have weights in your hands during most of the moves.

Can beginners do this? Sure, but you would need to drop the weights and do fewer reps.

Is it Challenging? Dude: moving from Triometrics to Yoga to Eccentric Lower is crazy hard on the lower body. I’m a bit curious, actually, why the workouts are ordered this way. My legs are toasty-toast by this time each week.

Day 5: Incinerator

This is an upper body workout with weights, but it’s different from Eccentric Upper. Here you do as many reps as you can in the time allowed, followed by another move working the same muscle group. That’s two moves, back to back, intended to work your muscle to failure. (In the world of fitness, muscle failure is a good thing.) (Come to think of it, failure in life can be a good thing, too.)

Can beginners do this? Yes. Lower the weights/use no weights and do fewer reps.

Is it Challenging? It’s as challenging as you want it to be. So, yes.

Day 6: MMX

This is a Mixed Martial Arts workout. For the record, I am not a fan of Martial Arts, Kickboxing or any workout that involves punching moves. When I did P90X, always substituted something else for Kenpo, just cuz I hated it. Despite the fact that I was cheerleader for-like-EVER, and happen to pride myself on my swag dance moves (just ask my kids), I cannot coordinate my arms and legs to punch and pivot. I end up closing my eyes, turning my head and flailing my arms like a little girl in a playground fight.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that there are some moves in MMX where you go onto the floor, kinda like Burpees (they call ’em sprawls). Those moves kicked my butt, so that by the end, I felt like I actually had a good workout, despite the flailing.

The other good news is the second time I did this workout, I felt slightly more coordinated and didn’t hate it as much as I did the first time. (Notice, I never said I liked it.)

Can beginners do this? Gosh—ummm….I would say, it takes a lot of practice to do this workout well. All three cast members in this workout have some kind of Black Belt, so there isn’t anyone for the beginner to follow.

Is it Challenging? I think I’ve already answered that question.

Day 7: Rest or Dymamix

I reviewed Dynamix here. I don’t do this workout on my rest day. I prefer to do nothing. Even God rested on the 7th day.
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After three weeks of that craziness, you move to the Transition Week. All the workouts listed are workouts we already did in Block One.

Day 1: Isometrix–Love this workout.
Day 2: Dynamix–easy and low-impact.
Day 3: Accellerator–Hard, sweaty cardio.
Day 4: PilatesX–Finding myself substituting Yoga here.
Day 5: CVX–My favorite X3 workout.
Day 6: Yoga–Yay!
Day 7: Rest–Double Yay!

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My Overall Impression of Block Two: I loved having almost all new workouts for Block Two. I started off Block Two coming off a sickness, so my first couple of workouts were fairly pathetic because I was weak. Weeks Two and Three went much better.

My only complaint about this Block is that I would like more cardio. I feel like I have to supplement with a walk or run or the elliptical or something–which defeats the purpose of a 30 minute workout, in my opinion.

Triometrics is a little bit of cardio (a few jumps), and MMX would be a cardio workout, if only I could coordinate myself to do it properly. But most of Block Two is pure strength and balance work.

My Results After Block Two:

I had some weird weight fluctuations during this phase. Partly because of our transition to going Gluten Free. And Partly because I think I was gaining muscle (let’s go with that—muscle. And also, big bones). My biggest results were not in pounds, inches or fat percentage lost, but in strength gained. From the week I started Block Two to the week I ended Block Two, I increased steadily in weight and reps in all moves and every workout! I felt super-strong at the end of Block Two.

Total weight lost since Day 1: 2 lbs.
Total Body Fat lost: .6%
Total Inches lost: 7.5 (about 1-2 inches everywhere)

Be sure to check back for my final review with results in a few weeks!

For my full review of Block Three (days 60-90) and my final review of the entire program, click here.

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If you’d like to buy P90X3, I am a Beachbody Coach and can help you out with that. Click HERE for more info. (this is an affiliate link–if you buy P90X3 through this link, I will receive a small commission. And I would be so happy.)

Q4U: Do you have a Q4Me?

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Linking up with Jill Conyers and her Fitness Friday Blog Hop