Yesterday started the second week on P90X2 with the X2 Core workout. This went better than my first introduction because I knew what to expect and could adapt to the poor cuing and ignore the bad acting. Now I’ve been doing a lot of complaining about Tony and the production of this new workout series, but the workouts themselves are darn good.

The new plan for the next 12 weeks is as follows:

• Seven days a week Rodney Yee’s AM Yoga first thing in the morning.
• Five times a week a one hour walk/run in the morning.
• Two times a week a 4-5 hour paddle in the morning.
• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday afternoon the P90X2 workout of the day followed by Insanity Pure Cardio.
• Wednesday and Friday Rodney Yee’s Power Yoga or X-Stretch or another yoga routine in the afternoon.
• Sunday is a rest day but I still do the morning walk

Today is Plyocide so it’s going to be tough.

This was a tough workout. Again I was sweating like crazy at the end and felt like I had been through a meat grinder. The heaviest dumbbell used was only 12 pounds.

Tony said the key to this workout is that virtually every muscle in the body is used for relatively simple moves which is what generates the work resulting in all the sweat. He’s right.

The bad cueing and Tony’s new sort of over the top attempt at humor continue. It’s really too bad that his success resulted in this. He hit it perfectly in P90X and really needs to dial it back if there ever is a P90X3.

At the end of the first week I have come to a conclusion on P90X2. I have been thinking that I should return the DVDs and just do the old P90X. But the new moves are good in the actual workouts. I can ignore the bad acting and cueing. Instead of doing X2 Recovery + Mobility I will substitute the old X-Stretch. Instead of doing X2 Yoga I will substitute real yoga from Rodney Yee or some other yogi.

So, one week down and twelve to go.

I tried P90X2 Yoga yesterday. I was really looking forward to this new Yoga workout because it is about one hour long instead of 90 minutes as in the P90X version. To say I was disappointed is an understatement . After about 10 minutes of lousy moves I was very disgruntled. And the disjointed cueing that seems to plague all the P90X2 workouts continued.

I am sure that tens of thousands maybe hundreds of thousands of people are going to claim that P90X2 is the greatest workout ever. But I am extremely disappointed. I can heartily recommend P90X, but I cannot recommend P90X2. I hope it grows on me.

Anyway, back to Yoga. I pulled the P90X2 Yoga DVD and put in Rodney Yee’s Power Yoga workout instead. This is an 80 minute Yoga routine that is much better than either the P90X or P90X2 version. I figure if I have to do Yoga at least once a week, I might as well do it right.

Well, I did X2 Recovery and Mobility yesterday and I’m totally disgusted with the program. I won’t be using that workout ever again. I may substitue X-Stretch from the old P90X instead.

I am thinking about sending it all back, but I’ll finish the first week and then decide.

Tuesday is Plyocide day jokingly referred to by Tony Horton as “death by plyometrics.” I was expecting a tough workout based on the P90X Plyometrics session.

It starts out once again with the new warmup section that uses the stupid foam rollers. Tony has really drank the Kool-Aid on these time wasters. Oh well, time to get with the program so I did it and I won’t mention it again.

Finally the warm up is over and we get into the actual moves. I’m expecting lots of jumping pretty much the same as in Plyometrics only different. (BTW, I always thought the Plyometric workout was one of the very best in P90X.) Although there is still jumping in Plyocide, it is way different than Plyometrics. Lots of the new stuff is jumping while balancing if that makes any sense. And the jumps seem lower impact too. And fewer of them. In fact, I was starting to think the workout was toned down too much and I was sort of starting to think I may have wasted my money. Maybe I should have stayed with P90X and just do it again.

But then I noticed that just like the X2 Core workout, I was sweating more and having difficulty completing all the moves with good form. The whole floor was covered in sweat. My heart rate was lower than when doing Plyometrics, but it was a deceivingly tough workout.

This morning my whole body is stiff and sore in all new places. One main difference between Plyocide and Plymetrics is that in addition to jump training it works the core more. It seems I was snookered again. The new workout is harder than it looks.

I’m ready for a rest day and am looking forward to X2 Recovery + Mobility. The only problem is that there is a lot of that stupid stuff I said I wouldn’t mention again.

My transition week is over and I have started the new P90X2 program. The first workout was X2 Core. I now have aches and pains where I have never had aches and pains before.

When I started the workout I was very worried that I had made a big mistake. The warmup isn’t like any previous warmup. Instead you have to use a stupid foam roller and a medicine ball. I went through it and was just thinking Oh Crap! Finally the warm up was over and it was time for the big workout.

And then Oh Crap – again!!!! What stupid moves. Each move was more stupid than the last one.

But then I started to notice a couple of things. First, I was sweating like crazy. Then I noticed that even though the moves looked easy on the screen, I couldn’t do some of them. And the ones I could do I wasn’t doing with good form. At the end of the workout I had a whole new respect for the X2 Core workout. My aches and pains that I feel this morning are good aches and pains. It means I activated muscle systems that haven’t been used lately.

Today the workout is Plyocide or “death by plyometrics” which is sort of ominous. But I am looking forward to it and will post the first impressions.

Warning: If you are considering any of the BeachBody programs, take their fitness test first and get a clearance from your doctor. If you have never done them before, consider this sequence: Power90, P90X, and then P90X2.