P90X Series: Legs and Back

This is a 59 minute lower body & back workout. Tony works out w/ 3 backgrounders in a dim gym set. You will need dumbbells or a band, a chair, and a pull up bar or band for this workout. I dont have a pull up bar and dont have a stable area to loop the band so I just did row variations- which was fine. One backgrounder provides modifications. This dvd also has Ab Ripper X on it which I will review separately later.

This workout is set up to do 20-25 reps of most of the exercises. Most of the lower body work is unweighted- you can easily grab dumbbells to up the intensity. They show pull ups w/ a chair to assist, w/out a chair and band pullups (though you still need something sturdy to hook your band to).

Exercises include: a warmup and LONG stretch, elevated rear leg lunges, calf raise squats, body wt skater, wall sit, plenty of pull up and chin up variations, side lunge, dips, toe lunges, chair pose, static lunge w/ a rear leg shift, low pliet walk, calf raises, 1 leg hop squats, lunge kick combos, and ends with a cooldown & stretch.

I rate this a high intermediate workout for the lower body and I even added weights to many of the lower body exercises. As far as back- its gotta be advanced if you are able to do the pullups- since I did row variations, it wasnt as challenging. I think you could easily make this advanced by adding poundage to the lower body work. This workout moves right along but is not rushed at all. Tony provides plenty of different exercises and new spins on exercises that there is no boredom and the time really goes by quickly.

I've always wanted to write a review, but never really found the motivation to do so :) I love the P90x workouts so much that I have decided to stop being lazy.

I generally don't enjoy working my legs because most videos/dvds are all squats and lunges and other exercises that become mind-numbing after a while. Well, I can honestly say that I enjoyed Legs and Back and look forward to doing it again. The legwork is not the same old, same old. There were quite a few moves that I have not seen in other workouts. There were moves that seemed like they would be great for strengthening the muscles around the knee, particularly the wall-sit variations and the sneaky lunge.

The back work is all different types of pull-ups. I used my ABC dance bar for all those moves by laying underneath and pulling up. I will definitely be purchasing a real pull-up bar in the future.

This is a really different workout that combines primarily unweighted leg exercises and combines it with pullups for a really nice Leg and back workout. There were several moves that could become compound moves if you were interested in trying to get a few more upper body exercises in there. It was very sneaky in that you don't realize the DOMS you are creating while you are doing it. There were some interesting moves that developed balance, coordination, stamina, and flexibility. Not your standard squat/lunge-o-rama.

The pullups are killer as always.

There are 23 exercises after a thorough warmup that lasts about 10 minutes and a nice cooldown afterward. Here they are:

1) Balance Lunge

2) Calf Raise Squat

3) Reverse Grip Chin Up

4) Super Skater

5) Wall Squat

6) Wide Front Pull Up

7) Step Back Lunge

8) Alternating Side Lunge

9) Closed Grip Overhand Pull up

10) Single Leg Wall Squat

11) Deadlift Squat

12) Switch Grip Pull up

13) Three Way Lunge with Two Kick

14) Sneaky Lunge (HARD!)

15) Reverse Grip Chin Up

16) Chair Salutations

17) Toe Roll Lunge

18) Wide Front Pull Up

19) Groucho Walk (HARD!)

20) Calf Raises

21) Closed Grip Overhand Pull Up

22) 80/20 Cyber Speed Squat

23) Switch Grip Pull Ups

I like to avoid working my legs whenever possible!:) Being that this workout includes pullups makes it much more attractive to me and I really liked it.I can see how this would really help develop strength and stamina for people that practice yoga.

Grade A :)