Workout Update: P90X Day 16

Day 16 was Plyometrics. I felt pretty shitty during the workout, so I modified a lot, even modifying some of the modifications in the video. But I got through it, even if it was not the greatest workout I have ever had. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 15

Day 15 was the final chest and back workout for Phase I. My numbers did not increase substantially from last week, but I was able to increase the amount of weight I used for the standing rows (what are called heavy pants) in the workout up to 35 lbs.  For ab-ripper, I continued to do 15 reps on most exercises, except for the twists at the end. I did 50 reps of that one.

Workout Update: P90X Day 14

On Day 14, I just took a rest day. It was very much needed, and I feel like I have recovered well from the prior week's workouts.

Workout Update: P90X Day 13

Day 13 was yoga. It was not as bad as last week, but I am still not attempting moves like the shoulder stand and crane. The first 50 minutes or so was not as hard (at least until the half-moon sequence at the end) as it was last week, but was still not what I would call easy.

Workout Update: P90X Day 12

Day 12 was the legs and back workout, followed by the ab-ripper routine. The pull-ups (which, to me, besides yoga, is the best measure of progress in P90X) were not as hard today as they were in week one. I again did 15 reps in ab-ripper, which were a bit easier today than on Monday.

Workout Update: P90X Day 11

On Day 11, I switched the order of the workouts and did Kenpo. That was in large part because I was going out to dinner and did not have time to do the 90 minutes of Yoga. I also shortened the workout by skipping the beginning because I have always hated that he goes right into cold static stretching (which he says in another video not to do). Essentially, P90X was when extended warmups and cooldowns were a big deal. So I just used the twist-and-pivot and punching sequence to warm up. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 10

Day 10 was the shoulders and arms workout (and ab-ripper). I was able to increase the amount of weight I used for some exercises from last week, and I was able to get to 11 reps on a couple more this week. So, I am making progress. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 9

Day 9 was plyometrics. It was pretty much the same as last week. As hard and tiring. In fact, on a couple of the exercises, I had to back off more than I did last week. So, I definitely feel the first week of the program. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 8

Day 8 was the second round of Chest and Back during Phase I. I improved slightly on some of the push-up and pull-up exercises over week 1, but those where mostly the same. I was able to hit 10 reps on a couple of the weighted exercises, so I will be increasing those next week. I also increased the number of reps in ab-ripper to 15, and that was a bigger change than I expected. 10 reps were easy, but 15 of all reps were very challenging, especially on the last few moves. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 7

I mostly used day 7 as a rest day, however, I did do ab-ripper, since I had not done the third ab-ripper workout after either Legs and Back or Kenpo. I stuck with the 10 reps, and will bump up the number of reps to 15 next week. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 6

Day 6 was the Kenpo routine. It had been a while since I had done this one. It is probably the P90X routine closest to what was done in Power 90, as a good portion of the Cardio workouts in Power 90 included moves from this routine. For the first workout, I did not focus on following the number of reps the cast were doing, I just stuck with the time. If I could do more reps, I did. If I could not do as many reps as they did, I didn't. During the breaks, I skipped the x-jumps and just drank water during the last 30 seconds. I did not end up doing ab-ripper after the workout as I intended, so I will do it tomorrow. 

Workout Update: P90X Day 5

Day 5 was the legs and back workout. It is the second workout in Phase I that works the back, but this time, all with pull-ups. There are no weighted back exercises. Some of the leg exercises did use weight, but many of them are high-rep (24-25 reps) bodyweight exercises. I did not do ab-ripper after the workout since I had done the end of the Yoga workout yesterday, which includes a core component toward the end. I will probably save it for after tomorrow's KenpoX workout.

Workout Update: P90X Day 4

Day 4 was the workout that is the bane of the original P90X, Yoga. I did the entire 90-plus minutes for the first time in a long time and did much better than I anticipated. It is a double-edged sword: it is a much harder routine than it should have been, but it is also the routine where you can really measure your progress across all facets of fitness as the program progresses, because it involves strength, flexibility, and cardio endurance.  

I say it is much harder than it should have been because the original Power 90 workout, of which P90x was supposed to be an extension, had about 4-5 minutes of yoga at the beginning of the cardio workouts. It didn't have a separate yoga routine that could remotely prepare someone for some of the shit that gets thrown at you in P90X yoga. And, it is just way too long. It should have been 45 minutes to an hour tops, not anywhere near 90 minutes. But I got through it. I am definitely not as good at it as I was back around 2008-2009, but I got through it and will hopefully get back to being as proficient at it as I was years ago.

Workout Update: P90X Day 3

Day 3 was the shoulders and arms workout, followed by ab-ripper-x.

Shoulders and arms was not too bad. I was able to use the weight I finished Lift More with as the starting weight for this workout. Because I am doing 8-10 reps, I will be able to increase the amount of weight I am using for a few of the exercises next week. I still just did 10 reps for the ab exercises, and will evaluate whether to bump that up to 15 next week; as of now, I am leaning toward doing so.

Workout Update: P90X Day 2

Day 2 was the plyometrics workout. It is really the first "real" cardio workout I have had since the last round of Lift 4. It was challenging as I thought it would be, but thankfully, my cardio strength was good enough that I could make it through. I did have to do the low-impact modifications for some of the exercises, and I swapped out speed skaters for the guitar jumps because that one messes with my back, even when I was in great shape. But I was able to do unmodified versions of some exercises I thought I would have to modify. I definitely have room to improve, but I am happy with the first plyo workout of the program.

Workout Update: P90X Day 1

Today was day 1 of my original Beachbody program, and the third structured workout program I did (after Body For Life and Body Rx) when I began lifting weights: P90X. I know BODI released a new version of P90X with a new trainer, which was stupid for many reasons, including that Tony Horton recently created a new 90-day workout on the BODI platform. So I, like many people, wanted to support the original program. And, frankly, the best shape I have ever been in is after doing P90X and the original Insanity program. So that is my plan — to do a round or two of P90X, then transition to the OG Insanity.

So, today was Chest and Back followed by ab-ripper x. It is the P90X workout that uses the fewest weights. It consists mostly of variations of push-ups and pull-ups, with a few weighted exercises. I definitely found I'm no longer in "pull-up" shape, as I could only do 3-4 of each. That said, I did push-ups on my toes the entire time, and while I was only getting 10-12 per set (unlike the 20-30 that the cast were getting), I did not have to do them on my knees, and was getting lower down than I have in a long time. For ab-ripper, I did ten reps of each exercise (except for the mason twists at the end; I did twenty reps of those) and plan to increase by 5 reps each week until I hit 25. We will see how that goes. Ultimately, it was a good workout. It was tough, but it was very nice to have time between the exercises for the first time in a long time.

Workout Review: Lift 4

 

Lift 4 is one of the newer BODI (formerly Beachbody) workout programs. It was released in the summer of 2018 and now has a follow-up workout called Lift More. It was created by trainer Joel Freeman, who was also one of the trainers on the MMA-inspired workout, Core De Force. As is the case with all of the new programs the company releases, this one is only available on the BODI online platform (either the website or the app) and is not available on DVD like the early programs were. The best way I can describe this program (if you have done some of the other Beachbody programs) is that this is what you would get if you combined BodyBeast with Insanity and made both of them a bit shorter.

The program is 8 weeks long and has you working out 4 days a week. It also includes two optional recovery workouts, a foam rolling routine and a stretching routine that each lasts about 10 minutes that you can do on the off days. Each workout has you lifting and/or doing cardio. During the first six weeks of the program, you work out for two days (doing chest and triceps and then back and biceps), then you get a rest day, then you do shoulders, and finish out the week with legs. The lifting workouts generally fall into one of three categories, a 50/50 workout in which you do half lifting and half cardio, a circuit workout in which you just lift, but do four exercises in each block with no rest in between them, or a circuit workout in which you do two lifting exercies followed by a 30 second HIIT exercise.  Every other week, the leg workout is a leg-focused HIIT workout (so no lifting). Each workout ends with three sets of core in which you alternate between two or three core-focused exercises. 

The final two weeks are "shred weeks" in which you switch up the exercise combinations (Chest and Back, Legs, rest day, Shoulders and Arms, and Full Body HIIT). The Full Body HIIT workouts consist of three rounds, each with two exercises, then a bonus round in which you do all six exercises. In the first round, the duration of the exercise and the breaks are the longest and in the third round, they are the shortest. In the bonus round, you do each exercise for 30 seconds with no breaks in between them.

The idea behind the workouts is that you lift as heavy as you can, mostly doing just 10 reps of each exercise. You get very little rest between the exercises (about 15-20 seconds, max) and a little more rest between sets and blocks (30 seconds between sets and however long it takes Joel to explain what you are doing in the next block). Usually, the circuit workouts will include a burnout round in which you do two exercises back to back for 30 seconds. There are 10 cast members that appear throughout the workouts. Most of them are young (in their 20s or early 30s) and very fit. Some of them clearly have a fitness background. One of the female cast members is probably in her mid to late 30s and there is one older guy who is probably in his 50s who is fit but is the most "regular" looking of all the cast members. In each workout, only 4 cast members appear (until the last workout of the program) and one person is always a modifier for the HIIT and core moves. One plus is that the workouts are fairly short. The longest is 39 minutes and the shortest (not counting the two recovery routines) is about 28 minutes. So, it is an easy program to fit into most people's schedules. Even when you are modifying the workouts are tough. And, as you get in better shape the harder you can go so it is good regardless of your fitness level. You can tell that is the case because all of the cast members end up modifying at some point in the program, regardless of whether they are the designated modifier for that particular workout. 

The one drawback to the program is that you will need dumbbells to do it. There are no band modifications like you get in some programs. And, you need a decent selection of weight as you will use light, medium, and heavy weights, whatever that is for you. The lightest weight I used was 3 pounds (for the shoulder exercise he calls swimmers) and the heaviest was 45 pounds (for the calf raises). This is definitely a workout in which you need to check your ego because, since there is so little rest between exercises and sets, you will very likely end up having to use lighter weights than you would doing the same exercises in a program like P90x where you get a lot of breaks (comparatively). The benefit to the minimal rest, however, is that even on the days when you are not doing any HIIT moves, you are still getting a cardio workout. 

Overall, I would say it is a good program for a beginner who is in decent to good shape, but probably best for someone who is at an intermediate or advanced level. There are a handful of "before Lift 4" workouts that are shorter versions (each about 20 minutes long) of the regular workouts that you can do if you want to try pared-down versions of the workouts and see what it is like before committing to the full program.

Workout Program Review: 645

 

645 is one of the newer Beachbody/BODi workout programs, created by Amoila Cesar. It was filmed in 2021 and was one of the first workout programs to be filmed with a cast as the pandemic was easing. There are 8 cast members who rotate in and out of various workouts during the program. This is a 13-week program split into essentially 4 phases. Three of the phases last for four weeks, three "regular" weeks, and one "de-load" week in which you do fewer reps overall, but still use heavy weight. The final week is a performance week in which you do a lot of reps (20) of each move, and go as hard as you can with very little rest between moves. The workouts are a bit longer than what Beachbody has been releasing recently, with each workout lasting 45 minutes. You work out for six days a week (hence the name 645), with four days (M, T, Th, and F) being lifting/resistance days, one day (W) being a recovery workout in which you work on flexibility and mobility, and one day (Sat) doing cardio. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros:

1. The workouts are very structured. In each workout, you do seven exercises doing 2-4 sets of each exercise, depending on whether you are in a de-load week or not. The exercises are split up into blocks. Sometimes the exercises are split 3 in block 1, 1 in block 2, and 3 in block 3. Other times you get 1 in block 1, 2 in block 2, and 4 in block 3. A couple days a week you will have an EMOM block during the workout, which stands for every minute on the minute. In that block you do the same exercise for four sets, doing 10, 15, or 20 reps (depending on what phase and/or week you are in). When you finish the set, you get to rest until the next minute starts. So, if it took 10 seconds to get through the reps, you get a 50-second break. If it takes 45 seconds to do the reps you get a 15-second break. Otherwise, between each move in the regular blocks you get at least a 14-second transition (sometimes more if Amoila is talking a lot) and between each block, you get a longer break (usually 45 or 50 seconds).

2.    This is something that could be a pro or a con, depending on your preference. However, this workout program focuses on functional moves as opposed to "show" muscles. Amoila really hammers the concept of movement and how having strong and stable hips, shoulders, and back will help in all aspects of your life, especially as you age. So, most of the exercises are focused on those muscles. That is not to say that you do not work your biceps, triceps, and abs, because you do, but the focus of the workouts is not on those muscles.

3.    The cast includes people of varying fitness levels. Of the 8 person cast, there are two modifiers who look like normal people, and then there are also people who are clearly in the fitness industry and/or are models in great shape. The cast definitely seems to have fun with each other and there is a lot of banter (which some people may not like). Even people who are in great shape struggle with some of the moves at times, so it is a challenging workout no matter what your fitness level is. Fun fact, one of the cast members is an actress who was a supporting character in the movie Stick It, which starred Jeff Bridges and FBI's Missy Peregrym. 

4. Closely tied to point 3, it is good for people of all fitness levels and experience. You can do this workout as a beginner someone who is out of shape or someone who is in very good shape. It is a good program to use to work your way up to Amoila's harder programs like 4 weeks of the prep and 6 weeks of the work (in which all of the exercises are similar to the week 13 exercises in this program).

5. It is a real-time workout, meaning that every workout is at least a little bit different and you are doing a new workout each day, as opposed to doing the same workout multiple times. Of course, some of the workouts do use the same moves, (e.g. week 1 and week 3 have the same exercises in each workout as do weeks 2 and 4), but it is not like doing the same P90X legs and back each week for 9 weeks. 

CONS:

There are really no big cons or negatives to the program. But, there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. You have to have a BODi streaming membership. Gone are the days of getting the workouts on DVDs so you have to pay the $120 a year membership. But, you also get access to all of the other Beachbody programs as well, so your money goes a long way. Much farther than paying $120 for a single program. It also makes real-time workouts possible.

2.    You do need a good selection of free weights. This is not a bodyweight-only program and you cannot really substitute the resistance moves for bands. It is also better if you have a workout area with tall ceilings because there are some clean and jerk moves that will have you explosively bringing weight over your head and if you have low ceilings you will hit it (unless you are very short).

3.    As I said above, the workouts are longer. As many Beachbody programs have transitioned to 30-minute or shorter programs, this one does require a larger time commitment. 

4.    It does not have as much traditional cardio as other programs. This just has the single cardio-focused workout each week, but there are definitely times in which you are still getting a cardio workout because the transitions are going fast (this is mostly in Phase 3 and the performance week).

Overall, it is a good program and can be done by nearly everyone. You do have to have a baseline fitness level (if you cannot do a push-up on your knees then you would have to go with a less intense program and work your way up to this), but you do not have to be in great shape to do this program. Amoila breaks down every move before you do it, and you can always see what the modifier is doing and follow along with that person if you need to.

Workout Update: 645 and XB Stretch Hybrid - Day 90

Day 90 was cardio in 645, which was the last day of the program. It was another emotional workout, starting off with Amoila bringing his dad on set, and it also got a bit silly at times. It was much harder than any of the other cardio workouts, with more intense (and faster) moves. Even though you got a 15-second transition between moves, it did not help all that much.

Workout Update: 645 and XB Stretch Hybrid - Day 89

Day 89 was lower body flexibility again in XB and was Total Body Tempo in 645. This was the last lifting/resistance workout of 645, and the last day for half of the cast members, so it got a bit emotional and silly on set. The workout was definitely hard and was again very fast-paced. I was definitely gassed toward the end of it, but I made it through.