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 4 covers the P90X Yoga X workout.

P90X - Yoga XThe P90X Yoga X workout will make a believer out of anyone as far as the power and the difficulty of yoga. Many people (myself included) have thought that yoga may be an effective exercise modality, but that it was - at best - something to do once in awhile just for a change of pace. The P90X Yoga X workout will show you conclusively that not only is yoga a great use of your exercise time, but it is an exercise modality that should be a part of your weekly exercise regimen as well.

There are countless benefits to doing yoga, and each person will enjoy different aspects of it. However, regardless of your personal enjoyment level, there are 6 primary benefits to doing the Yoga X workout, and each of those benefits also enhance the effectiveness of the P90X program overall. For a full review of each of the moves that are performed during Yoga X, be sure to check out P90X Review Day 4 - Yoga X.

Muscular Endurance

Although yoga does not use the same set/rep type of training that traditional strength training utilizes, that does not mean that your muscles aren't being put through their paces. There are several moves in the Yoga X routine that you repeat many times, giving rise to an ever-increasing level of muscular endurance.

Also, yoga is an overall body workout that does not target any particular body part for maximum stimulation, instead focusing on the use of many different muscles over and over again. This allows for a high level of muscular stimulation without "wiping out" any particular muscle so much that it cannot be used in subsequent workouts later that same week.

Mind-muscle Connection

The ability to control your muscles is actually a function not just of a muscle's size, but of how well your brain can control any given muscle or muscle group. Since the yoga poses cause you to use many different muscles all at the same time, your level of neuromuscular coordination is radically enhanced.

An enhanced level of muscular coordination not only assists you in future yoga workouts, but it also allows you to create more muscle-building and fat-burning intensity when you perform more traditional types of exercises. 

Active Recovery

The term "active recovery" basically means to work a fatigued muscle in such a way that warms it up, opens up the blood vessels, and washes away soreness-causing lactic acid from previous workouts. This is great not just from a comfort level, but it also allows you to work a muscle or muscle group before it is completely recovered from a previous workout that was very intense.

The Yoga X routine is normally done on Day 4 of the workout week, and the previous 3 P90X workout days were all filled with very intense exercises. Since yoga is difficult but does not wipe out any given muscle group completely, there is great value in the yoga workout from an active recovery standpoint. 

Flexibility

The importance of flexibility in both injury prevention as well as real-world and athletic ability cannot be overstated. If you have flexibility issues, it is very often not a matter of IF you will get injured, but rather just a matter of when.

The P90X Yoga X routine has many moves that would be considered "classic" flexibility exercises, but the real benefit comes from the constant need to stretch various parts of your body while in unusual and/or difficult to hold poses. Even people who consider themselves to be very strong and flexible will nonetheless be challenged repeatedly during Yoga X, and they will improve their level of overall fitness drastically as a result. 

Agility

Agility is loosely defined as "the ability to be flexible while in motion". Consider any professional athlete and you will see that just being flexible is not enough, since they have to use that flexibility combined with their strength in order to perform at peak levels during their sport, and also to prevent injury. Although most people are not professional athletes, the benefits of agility in both recreation and injury-prevention apply to all people.

Many of the poses in Yoga X are called "Moving Asanas". In essence, a moving asana is a pose where you start in one position, and then while holding a certain part of your body perfectly still, you move other parts of your body into very difficult to attain and/or maintain stances. Although the moving asanas are done at a slow speed during the workout, the increased flexibility and agility that they create is easily translated into real-life or athletic movements.

Mental Focus

Although Yoga X is a very challenging workout, it is also a "fluid" workout where you stay in a certain zone and a frame of mind, rather than stopping and starting with different exercises as traditional resistance training calls for. You are encouraged the entire time to focus on the present moment, and to give your attention to your body and to the workout, rather than daydreaming or letting your mind wander to other things.

The Yoga X workout is 90 minutes long, so allowing yourself to "detach" from the outside world for the entire workout gives you a much-needed mental break from the day-to-day grind, and also allows your mind to expand and to become receptive to ideas, thoughts, or emotions that you would probably never experience through your "normal" lifestyle and exercise habits.

Conclusion

For people who don't understand the value of Yoga X, it may - at first - to look like a waste of time to use one of your workout sessions each week to perform an activity that wouldn't seem to build the kind of bodies that you see in the P90X infomercials. Nothing could be further from the truth!

The P90X Yoga X workout is not only worth every minute that you spend doing it, but if you skip it and deny yourself the active recovery that was discussed above, not only would you be missing the many benefits of yoga, but you would be setting yourself up for an injury as well.

As with all P90X workouts, 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®
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