Who is it for?
It’s for those who are in good shape and want to build a body that can handle any rigors the world throws at it. The biomechanical adaptations that P90X2 forces on your body will ensure it’s working about as well as possible.
What equipment does it require?
Weights and/or resistance bands. A pull-up bar or door attachment for your bands. A yoga mat, stability, and medicine balls. A good pair of shoes. A plyo mat, yoga blocks, and push-up stands are excellent options to have also. You can do the program using only bands and a door attachment, but for the full effect, the gear is necessary.
Why doesn’t X2 feature Classic, Lean, and Doubles?
It’s a program that works on biomechanics, forcing deep adaptations within the body to make it very strong, able to balance, and very, very hard to injure.
What’s the rationale behind this?
We partnered with Dr. Marcus Elliott and his P3 training facility to create this program. We evaluated common injuries and physical deficiencies that happen across all demographics, especially those of college- and professional-level athletes, to determine the most efficient program for eliminating these injuries on a broad scale. P3 has practically removed the instances of noncontact injuries with its athletes. P90X2 promises similar results for you.
Will this improve my athleticism?
Yes, greatly. As the body corrects for imbalances, it’s freed up to move as it should. This means greater athleticism before you’ve even gained strength, and you’ll gain a ton of strength, too.
But will I get visible results?
While this program is less focused on hypertrophy (muscle growth) than P90X, the balancing of your physique will lead to excellent body composition change, as long as your diet is also in order. If you like the lean, chiseled look of most pro athletes, that’s good, because it’s mainly what you’ll get with X2.
How effective are the modifications?
The modifications are mainly here for those who need to take X2 on the road. That’s why they’re called “hotel room modifications.” While you get nice results following only the modifications, this pales in comparison to what you’ll get using all the appropriate gear. This is an elite level program and, unfortunately, requires gear for best results.
Why is stability so important?
Your body is more than just the muscles you can see, and perfect harmony occurs when all of your muscles are strong. Forcing stabilizing positions fire muscles that have greatly atrophied in not only most people, but athletes too. But building up these smaller, less sexy muscles frees up your body’s prime movers (the muscles you see) to do their job more efficiently. What this means is that your body will work better and age more gracefully.
What if I can’t finish the workouts?
It means that you could probably use some more time doing P90. You can still progress through P90X2, however, by abridging each workout to suit your current fitness level. It’s somewhat common for people to begin doing only the warm-up, cooldown, and one round of a workout, then increasing the time and intensity as they can. Perhaps it’s not as effective as doing P90, but it works just fine.
I need a basic, basic meal plan for when I am training with P90X2.
The Portion Plan in the P90X2 Nutrition Guide is as basic as it gets. However, if you’re looking for more detail, check out the Meal Planner tool on Team Beachbody.
Can I do the 21 Day Fix Eating Plan with P90X2?
Given the three phases of the P90X2 Nutrition Plan, we recommend sticking to that. However, the 21 Day Fix Eating Plan will still work. Just follow the calorie levels given to you in the nutrition guide that came with your program with one of the Fix Calorie Charts.
I missed a week due to vacation/work travel/sickness. Where do I start from today?
Missing a few days is no big deal. Just jump back into your program where you left off. After about five or six days off, your body is fully recovered and very strong, and you actually have the ability to hurt yourself by breaking down your fast-twitch muscle fibers. This can make you too sore to work out for over a week. If you’ve missed more than five days, start slow on your first day back, maybe doing a third to a half of your normal workout and ramp up little by little, taking about a week to get back to where you left off.
What’s the perfect next step?
The world is your oyster. If you can nail this program, you can’t get much fitter. Any fitness option is possible. Find something you’ve always wanted to do and go for it. We recommend that you take a short break consisting of maintenance work before moving into your next hard program.
What is maintenance work?
It’s much harder to get into shape than it is to maintain that shape once you get there. You can generally maintain a level pretty close to peak fitness with about half the volume of your program. To maintain, you can utilize many different forms of training but the easiest is often 3–4 days per week of the program you just finished. It will decline slowly over time, but you’ll probably start another program or activity to pick up the slack after awhile.