Basic HTML Version
touchline
1
Feature
Imagine being only halfway through the Chest and Back
workout for P90X2, and you are already shaking from
fatigue. Your eyes burn from salty sweat and your legs feel
like overcooked spaghetti.
Then Tony Horton, the Guru of home fitness, announces
that the next exercise is called Impossible/Possible. With his
unique brand of goofy, tongue-in-cheek bravado, he explains
that the name is more a promise than a threat.
You won’t be able to do it for weeks, but then you will do two
and feel pretty good about yourself.
The exercise requires you to place both feet on a 75cm
round pilates ball and grasp a medicine ball with your hands.
You then simply lock up the core and pump out twenty push-
ups. Nothing to it.
So far, I have managed a grand total of exactly zero push-
ups. So very much in the Impossible stage of my exercise
journey.
Now, you might wonder why anyone would continue with this
madness. Everything is harder in P90X2. Standard Burpees
are hard enough: Horton has you do them with dumb bells,
or with a mule kick, or on one leg. Do enough push ups
and you get strong. But is that good enough for Horton? No.
His push-ups have you balancing on four medicine balls,
or springing between three medicine balls, or doing decline
push-ups on the Pilates ball.
Remember when you set yourself up with a solid base before
ripping out bicep curls? Well, forget about that. Try P90X2
and all curls require you to balance on one leg.
The reason for all this pain and discomfort has been dubbed
Muscle Confusion. The idea is not new and was a core
principle of the wildly popular predecessor, P90X. Known
in the scientific community as daily undulating periodization,
the idea is that if you keep the body guessing in exercise, it
cannot adapt to the movements. Keep the body guessing,
and it grows.
Of course, as road tests go, this one is in its infancy.
Enthusiasts will be just finishing up as Touchline goes to
print, as the new edition was shipped just before Christmas.
The author is currently battling through the Strength Stage.
By now, most of us have conquered the Foundation Stage
–a series of exercises designed to get the core as strong
as possible, so when we are balancing on 4 medicine balls,
there is a better chance that we won’t flop onto the floor in
a sweaty mess. The foundation stage introduces you to the
new mentality of the sequel: it is not enough to be strong
GETTING RIPPED WITH P90X2
TOUCHLINE CONTRIBUTOR AND P90X GRADUATE
TIMOTHY MOTTRAM
GETS BACK IN TRAINING WITH BEACHBODY’S NEW RELEASE, P90X2.
Photo By Bruce | SuperFantastic