Fitness Destinations

There are 3 primary movements that should be incorporated into any leg exercise program, and those movements are Squats, Lunges, and Step ups. If you aren’t incorporating Lunges, Squats, and Step ups into your leg exercise program, you are missing out on huge weight loss and physical fitness benefits!

Lunges use every muscle in the legs at some point during the movement, including the largest muscle group in the human body – the Gluteals (butt muscles). In laymen’s terms, the bigger the muscles that you use, the more body fat you will burn both during the exercise, as well as when not exercising.

When you use large muscle groups, such as those found in the legs (quadriceps, hamstrings, and gluteals), the metabolic boost that you get from working those muscles helps your body to burn body fat even when you aren’t exercising.

Add to all of that the fact that working those muscles gives you tight, toned, sexy legs, and a firm butt, and the benefit of doing lunges becomes very clear!

Lunges are frequently used during the P90X Extreme Home Fitness workouts, specifically the Plyo X routine, and the Legs and Back routine. Click on through to see my personal P90X results.


Click here to see my personal P90X 90 Day After Pictures!

If you’ve seen the P90X^® infomercial, gotten excited, and then asked yourself How does P90X work?, then this 12-part series is for you. Part 2 covers the P90X Plyometrics workout.

PlyometricsThe P90X plyometrics workout is considered by many to be the most intense and challenging of all of the P90X workouts. Considering that every single P90X routine is very intense and challenging, for any one particular routine to stand above the rest when it comes to intensity and getting results is definitely a feat!

The P90X plyometrics workout does such a good job of helping people get results because, in a nutshell, it’s hard! If you push yourself to do the best that you can do during this routine, it will absolutely wipe you out. Like any workout, you could “dog it” and not get that much out of it, but if you are the type of person who is going to only put forth a half-hearted effort, then you shouldn’t be considering P90X to begin with.

How does the P90X Plyometrics routine work?

Plyometrics is also called “jump training” by many people, although you can do plyometric exercises with your upper body as well. In plyometric movements, you basically “load” your muscles by contracting them, and then explosively expanding them in an all out, 100% effort.

Range of Motion

Unlike many exercises that have a very defined range of motion (R.O.M.), during plyometric movements, you can jump or push off as hard as you are able to, and as long as you have plenty of room to execute each movement, your range of motion is limited only by your level of strength and available energy for any given exercise.

If you refer back to the full P90X Plyometrics Review for a detailed overview of each of the exercises included in the plyometrics routine, you will see that it’s more about what you can put into each exercise, and less about any type of limit on your range of motion. Since your range of motion is not limited, you can BRING IT during the plyometrics routine, and do every exercise to the best of your physical capabilities.

Large Muscle Groups

Another secret to the effectiveness of the P90X Plyometrics routine is that you are using all of your body’s largest muscles groups during almost every single movement. Your quadriceps (front of the legs), your hamstrings (back of the legs), and your glute muscles (butt) are all part of the plyometric routine, and are used in almost every exercise.

Whenever you use your large muscle groups, you burn a lot more calories, and you also crank up your metabolism a lot more. This means that your body keeps burning calories even after the workout is over. In addition, by eating and resting properly whenever recovering from plyometrics (and all of the P90X workouts), you will create a faster-paced metabolism as your muscles demand more and more energy to both power and recover from workouts. In short, this means that you will burn more calories on an on-going basis, not just when you are exercising.

Very Little Rest

The P90X Plyometrics routine is divided up into several segments, and each segment has 4 exercises in it. You do all 4 exercises, you repeat those same 4 exercises again, and then you get a 30-second break before moving on to the next set of 4 exercises.

30 seconds is NOT a very long break, even if you weren’t working as hard as you will be when doing plyometrics. By the end of the 30 seconds, you have barely brought your heart rate down from way up in the rafters, and here you go starting another set of 4 exercises again.

In addition to the short breaks between the exercise sets, there are no real breaks to speak of in between the individual exercises, either. You might get about 10 seconds to wipe the profuse amounts of sweat off of your face, but that’s about it.

A Great Combination of Exercises

The actual exercises that this workout contains are very well chosen, and also spread out very well over the approximate 55-minute routine. Each set of 4 exercises contains at least 1 exercise that is REALLY challenging, and at least 1 exercise that is challenging, but not at the same level as the more difficult movements.

In addition, the harder exercises are put at the beginning of the 4-exercise set, directly after your 30-second break. Now, you don’t get that 30-second break before you repeat the 4-exercise sequence for the 2nd time, but by that point you are over the halfway point for that particular exercise set, so you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Conclusion

When it comes to raw intensity, and straight-up, no holds barred, effective, challenging exercise, the P90X Plyometrics routine is right up there near the top of the list. Every P90X workout has its moments of glory, but Plyometrics will always be an incredibly challenging workout, no matter how in shape you are.

As with all P90X workouts, however, always remember that P90X is a program that works because of the overall effect that the program provides, rather than just picking and choosing individual routines that you enjoy doing. P90X has 12 workout routines, and not only should you do them all, but you should do them all in the proper order as well.

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Click here to see my personal P90X 90 Day After Pictures!

Day 5 of the P90X® programs brings back several great workouts, including Ab Ripper X and several exercises from the back routine first done on Day 1. In addition, however, Tony Horton and the gang bring on some leg exercises that don’t look like much until you try to DO them!

This workout is also different in the fact that although the back exercises repeat for 2 rounds, the leg exercises are all done only once – and that is enough, believe me. For anyone who really struggled with Yoga X on Day 4, be prepared for some of your leg muscles to give out earlier than you would normally expect them to.

However, that being said, the standard P90X guidelines continue to apply during this routine – “Do your best, forget the rest”. P90X in general is based entirely on that philosophy. As long as you are truly giving the program your best effort – but also listening to your body – you’ll see the promised results.

Exercises during this workout include: Balance Lunges, Calf-raise Squats, Super Skaters, Wall Squats, Step Back Lunges, Alternating Side Lunges, Single-leg Wall Squats, Deadlift Squats, Three-way Lunge with Two-Kick Option, Sneaky Lunges, Chair Salutations, Toe Roll Iso-Lunges, Groucho Walk, Calf Raises, 80/20  Speed Squats

Conclusion

Definitely impressed with the workout that this routine gives to your legs, yet without using very much external equipment, or even heavy weights. After doing countless reps with large weights in the gym environment, I was skeptical about how good of a leg workout could be delivered in the home environment.

P90X not only delivers an incredible workout, but it does so by simply modifying some basic exercises in order to either make them more difficult and/or to put them in an order that really cranks up the intensity.

This leg routine is an extreme challenge, to be sure, and it can easily be modified to make it easier or harder, which makes it both a short-term and a long-term workout solution.

See other related P90X Review posts:

• P90X Review Day 1 – Chest, Back, and Ab Ripper X
• P90X Review Day 2 – Plyometrics
• P90X Review Day 3 – Shoulders and Arms
• P90X Review Day 4 – Yoga X
• P90X Review Day 6 – Kenpo X
• P90X Review Day 7 – X Stretch
• P90X Review Day 8 – Core Synergistics
• P90X Review Day 9 – Cardio X
• P90X Review Day 10 – Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
• P90X Review Day 11 – Back and Biceps

Click here to see my personal P90X 90 Day After Pictures!

How many ways can I say “OUCH!”? When you park it in front of your TV for the P90X® Plyometrics workout, be prepared to leave your pride on the floor – along with a huge puddle of your own sweat.

Plyometrics loosely translates into “jump training”. There are also plyometric exercises for your upper body, but the really intense, fat shredding plyometric exercises are the kind done in the P90X plyometrics program, and they are primarily lower body movements.

There are numerous benefits to plyometric training, and you get a healthy dose of all of them in the P90X program. As with all exercise programs, the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it:

• Massive calorie burn
• Increased balance
• Increased endurance
• Increased explosive strength
• Increased strength of muscles as well as all connective tissues
• Massive metabolism boost from the sheer intensity of the exercises
• Increased confidence in your ability to really push the limits and to make measurable progress

The program starts out in a pretty no-nonsense manner. Tony Horton runs you through a good warm up, and the warm up itself is challenging. In addition, to quickly silence the whiners who want to think they don’t have what it takes, Tony introduces the 3 people exercising with him, including one guy who has a prosthetic leg.

Yes, the guy has a prosthetic leg, and not only does he pull off the workout, but he excels at it. So, with no further excuses available to not give it 100%, the exercises begin!

Exercises during this workout include: Jump Squats, Run-stance Squats, Airborne Heisman, Swing Kick, Squat Reach Jump, Run-stance Squat Switch Pick-up, Double Airborne Heisman, Circle Run, Jump Knee Tucks, Mary Katherine Lunges, Leapfrog Squats, Twist Combo, Rock Star Hop, Gap Jump, Squat Jacks, Military March, Run Squat 180 Jump Switch, Lateral Leapfrog Squats, Monster Truck Tires, Hot Foot, Pitch & Catch, Jump Shot, Football Hero

Conclusion

Unless you are already used to high intensity cardiovascular training, the P90X Plyometrics program is going to be an extreme challenge for you the first few times you go through it. Even if you regularly do other types of cardiovascular training, this workout is very intense, and very challenging.

Once you start to get used to it, and build up your strength and endurance, you can still easily crank the intensity right back up by jumping higher or farther, and/or by speeding up the repetitions of the exercises.

Don’t kill yourself the first time out when you do this workout, but DO give it everything that you’ve got on an on-going basis. This one workout alone will probably burn more calories and do more for your cardiovascular fitness than any other workout that most people have ever been exposed to.

See other related P90X Review posts:

• P90X Review Day 1 – Chest, Back, and Ab Ripper X
• P90X Review Day 3 – Shoulders and Arms
• P90X Review Day 4 – Yoga X
• P90X Review Day 5 – Legs and Back
• P90X Review Day 6 – Kenpo X
• P90X Review Day 7 – X Stretch
• P90X Review Day 8 – Core Synergistics
• P90X Review Day 9 – Cardio X
• P90X Review Day 10 – Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
• P90X Review Day 11 – Back and Biceps

Would you believe that real weight loss and noticeable muscle gain can happen without ever setting foot inside a gym? YES is the answer, and here is how I did it!

The concept sounded good on paper when I considered it, but to be honest, I had my doubts if a full-on weight loss and muscle-toning effort was going to be as successful outside of the gym as inside. After successfully pulling it off, however, I'm glad to say that not only is it possible, but it is recommended!

I figured this whole thing out about a month ago when I was getting ready to go on a mini-vacation to St. Pete Beach, FL. I had just moved to Daytona Beach, which is on the opposite coast of Florida, and I had just over 1 month before a long weekend that I had planned in St. Pete Beach. As most people do before a tropical vacation, I wanted to trim up a bit before the trip. However, after having just moved, I did not yet have a gym membership set up anywhere, nor did I want to workout at home.

How Did I do It? 

Lower Body Exercise 

Living in the beach side community of Daytona Beach, FL, I got into the habit of taking my bicycle almost everywhere. Pretty much everything that I do is within 3 miles of my house, so hopping on my bike is usually an option to get from Point A to Point B. My house is actually on the non-ocean side of the Port Orange Causeway, a steep climb over the Inter-Coastal Waterway that leads directly down to the water's edge of the Atlanta Ocean. The total one-way distance is about 2 miles, and I made that trip at least 2 or 3 times each week.

In addition, Daytona Beach "proper," i.e. – where the real fun is – sits about 8 miles north of my house. Well, I didn't move all the way down here not to enjoy the neighborhood, so I also resolved to go up to Daytona Beach on my bike at least 2 or 3 times each week. Now remember, most of Florida is pretty flat, so it's not like these trips were constant up and down hills – just steady pedaling. On the other hand, I usually had my 15-lb computer strapped to my back, in addition to water and other supplies that I would take each time I left the house for a journey on my bike.

Upper Body & Core Exercises

Although my "primary" work right now is on the Internet, since I do work for myself, I can decide each day what I want to do and what I don't. So it was as I was getting ready to go on my mini-vacation that I wanted to bring in some extra cash, so I hired myself out to do things such as helping people move, doing landscaping work, etc. I'm in pretty good shape, so it was easy for me to find work – people are always looking for a strong back and a good work ethic to help them out.

I ended up getting hired to help a guy "dig a ditch". I put that in quotations because the job ended up being much more involved than that, the ditch ended up being HUGE, and the guy I was working for turned out to be a really great guy whom I am glad to have gotten to know.

Digging ditches is very hard work, and given the fact that part of the ditch was in a very cramped spot where no leverage could be had, and the entire ditch was covered with gravel that had to be shoveled away before digging could even start, the job ended up being quite the workout!

Sometimes with his help, and sometimes by myself, we spent a combined total of over 5 full days working on the job. All of the following activities were part of the process:

• Shoveling
• Pushing
• Pulling
• Balancing
• Twisting
• Lifting
• Holding

Most of those activities were done with at least a huge shovel full of dirt in my hands, and often while perched precariously on loose rocks, sands, or gravel. Long story short, I worked really hard!

By the time I got home at the end of any of our work days, I was tired, sore, cut, bruised, scraped, and just generally beat up.

But I felt GREAT!

By intensely pushing myself to the max (I'm just a hard worker like that), not only did I push my body to the max, but after spending a very long time sitting in front of a keyboard, I pushed my mind to the max as well.

Nutrition

This part of the story cracks me up, because it is so "off the mark" that it's hard to believe it even worked. Basically, I ate whatever I wanted to.

A standard day was Pop-Tarts for breakfast, Burger King for lunch (large-size everything), and Ramen Noodles and hot dogs for dinner.

No 5 or 6 meals per day, which is my normal recommendation. No real healthy food to speak of, yet plenty of protein. No fresh fruits or vegetables of any kind. For an entire month!

The End Result?

After a month of riding my bike everywhere, working REALLY hard at outdoor labor, and basically eating like a bachelor, I had:

• Lost more bodyfat in a shorter period of time than ever before in my life
• Defined the muscles in my arms, shoulders, and legs to a degree they had never been before
• Built up my core stabilization muscles to a previously unheard of level, including visible musculature that had never been there before
• Proven to myself that I could still work as hard and push myself as hard as if I was 27 instead of 37

By the time I got to the party in St. Pete Beach, several of my friends commented on the fact that I had lost weight, clothes that had been snug even when I was a personal trainer now fit more loosely than ever, and I had the energy and the motivation to basically party like a rock star for 4 days straight.

So, am I recommending that you abandon all advice about structured exercise, proper nutrition, and scientifically-proven methods of weight loss and physical fitness? Hardly.

There is a time and a place for that type of training program, and I'm sure that I'll be back on that type of program eventually myself. However, in the meantime, if you're cramming for a family reunion, trying to lose the fat before a vacation, or just trying get to the bar before your belly does, consider just hopping on a bike and going outside for some good old-fashioned hard work.

You might just feel absolutely wonderful on top of the fact that you'll be accomplishing your weight loss goals at the same time!

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