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 1 covers the P90X Chest and Back workout.

P90X Chest & BackThe P90X chest and back workout wastes no time in showing you how intense P90X can be. It tackles the basic "pushing and pulling" activities that many regular exercisers will be familiar with. Rather than splitting those activities into separate workouts, however, the P90X chest and back workout gives you a healthy - and intense - dose of both types of movements during this routine.

There are 5 primary reasons why this workout is so effective, and each of them are detailed below. Click here for the full review of the P90X Chest and Back workout.

Angles of Activation

The human body is made to perform in countless different positions, yet many workouts only target muscular activation from a small handful of different angles. The P90X chest and back workout pounds on the same muscles over and over again, yet from many different angles.

The push-ups that are part of this routine hit your chest and your shoulders from a total of 5 different angles, and the pulling motions likewise target the shoulders and the back muscles from many different directions.

Just as doing so provides a very well-rounded approach to working those areas of the body, you are also able to perform for longer since the constantly changing angles give you a constantly changing set of difficulty levels. 

Intensity

Most of the movements in this routine are "compound" movements. In other words, you are forced to engage multiple muscles groups and often more than one joint (knees, shoulders, elbows, etc.) all at the same time. By targeting so many muscles and stabilizing joints in many of the exercises, you use a massive amount of energy, and your heart rate stays very elevated the entire time.

Examples of these compound movements include all of the different push-up varieties, several different types of pull-ups or chin-ups, and many back exercises that cause you to use more than one muscle group, or to at least use a secondary muscle group as a stabilizer while the primary muscle group does the majority of the work. 

Range of Motion

Just as the many different angles of motion cause you to stimulate the same muscles and connective tissues from different directions, that same concept modifies the range of motion that is available for any given exercise. This allows you to strengthen the mind muscle connection while doing similar movements over shorter or longer distances, and it also strengthens the connective and supportive tissues more than would be accomplished by just doing standard movements.

A good example of this is wide grip push-ups vs. standard grip push-ups. When your hands are closer to your body, the stimulus on your shoulders, your chest, and your triceps (back of the arms) is radically different than when your hands are placed much further away from your body.

Doing exercises that work you through many different ranges of motion not only makes you stronger, but it helps to prevent injuries over the long-term as well. 

Leverage

Leverage (with regard to exercise) is basically the ability to push or pull with more force because part or all of your body is braced against something immovable. The more leverage you have, the more force you can exert, and the more results you will see.

Looking at an exercise like push-ups (or which there are 5 varieties in this workout), your hands and feet are braced against the floor, so you can push with all of your might against the floor, and you don't have to worry about keeping your balance. This allows you to focus 100% of your mental and physical energy on doing quality repetitions, rather than sloppy reps that won't generate good results.

Combination of Weighted and Non-Weighted Exercises

As the entire P90X workout program demonstrates throughout the 12 different workouts that it contains, there are multiple ways to perform intense, effective exercises without using any equipment whatsoever. That is great because it means that you can still exercise consistently, even if you don't have an entire room full of equipment.

At the same time, however, there are many very effective movements that can be done using dumbbells or resistance bands, and those movements allow you to stimulate your muscles in ways that are different (not better or worse) than bodyweight exercises.

Each of the P90X videos shows you how to modify the exercises based on your level of fitness and/or the equipment that you have available. To get the most out of the program, though, you should at least have a sturdy set of resistance bands. Also having a pull-up bar and a good set of dumbbells will allow you maximum flexibility with the program however. P90X creator Team Beachbody^TM carries all of that equipment in their online store.

Core Muscle Activation

The "core" muscles are basically the muscles of the torso, including your inner and outer abdominal muscles, your side abdominal muscles (obliques), and the muscles of your upper and lower back, as well as the muscles surrounding your spine.

The more you activate and strengthen your core muscles, the more force you will be able to exert (and control) during all lifestyle activities, not just exercise. In addition, a strong core will prevent injury, and radically eliminate the possibility of having lower back pain, which is one of the most commonly diagnosed ailments. 

In the P90X chest and back workout, all of the push-up exercises use your core muscles, and the muscles in your upper back and spine are stimulated very effectively when doing the pull-ups, chin-ups, and rowing movements that are part of this routine.

Conclusion

All of the P90X workouts are intense in their own regard, but when it comes to gaining strength and building a fast, fat-burning metabolism, the chest and back routine is definitely right there near the top of the list.

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. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

Purchase your own copy of P90X®
Join the Million Dollar Body Club
Teach others P90X as a Team Beachbody Coach