I have been doing the P90X Legs and Back workout for the past four weeks because I think it’s the hardest P90X workout in the entire 90 day series. I have done well over 200 days of strictly P90X (over two rounds) and have pretty damn extensive experience with all of the routines. Additionally, I have done Insanity, The Asylum, and many of the One on One with Tony Horton routines. I can confidently testify to the fact that the combination of leg exercises and maximum rep pull ups in the Legs and Back routine has (on certain days) made me feel dizzy, on the verge of puking, and ready to collapse. Whenever I pop in the Legs and Back DVD, I know I’m in for an awesome lower body workout, and I also know that my arms are going to get blasted with over 120 pull ups by the time I’m done with this routine.
"It's because I do legs and back"...haha
Not only do I have to fight like hell to make it through this routine, but the day after this workout, I usually wake up with sore legs and really sore glutes or buns (pause). Anyways, this routine is a total monster, and if you’re not prepared to go all out and work hard, you may even end up deluding yourself in thinking that this routine is easy. Why? Because if you aren’t doing maximum reps for every variation of pull ups and aren’t using heavy weights for the leg exercises, this routine shouldn’t be that hard. Like any of the P90X routines, you will reap what you sow – if you work your ass off, you’re going to get great results. If you put forth a half assed effort, you’re going to get half assed results.
P90X Legs and Back Review
“My god how do you get legs like that and how do you do so many pull ups? It’s because I do legs and back, and I do them together on the same day.” – Tony Horton
With the Legs and Back workout, you can expect to build strength in your legs (calves, thighs, glutes, quads, etc.) as well as in your back, arms, and especially your core (from both pull ups and using weights during the leg exercises). The constant transition between lower body and upper body will really throw you for a wicked loop because you are going from 2 hardcore lower body exercises to 1 set of maximum rep pull ups. At times these transitions may make you feel lightheaded and dizzy – especially if you are really challenging yourself. Each time I perform this workout, there is usually one point where I feel so dizzy that I want to quit or collapse, but I take a sip of water, get my shit together, and push through the pain and minor lightheadedness.
Let’s meet the peeps…
The P90X crew consists of Dreya Weber (superstar, aerialist, gymnast, fit as a fiddle, dancer extraordinaire, Tony’s crush, etc.), Eric (one of Tony’s Sunday workout buddies, pure gristle from head to toe, plus dude lives on a boat, oh and he’s also from Belgium), Sophia (she’s studying to become a dentist; look at her teeth, it’s like Chiclets going across…LMAO) and of course (everyone’s favorite) Tony Horton. The crew for this workout is perfect – they all work hard and Eric the Belgian a.k.a. Pure Gristle, is a beast on the pull ups. I would recommend using Eric as a role model for good form and motivation on your pull ups, but if he is way above your level, roll with which ever cast member you want.
Structure: Legs, Legs, Pull Ups
If you’re fairly observant, you will quickly notice the way in which the P90X Legs and Back workout is structured: 2 leg exercises followed by 1 set of maximum rep pull ups every third exercise. The reason that pull ups are included in this workout is to give your legs some mini-breaks from their hard work and also to work your back muscles. There are a total of 23 exercises in this routine (eight of which are variations of pull ups). There is one water break at the halfway point (after the initial 12 moves) so make sure you take advantage of it.
Equipment you need…
The equipment needed for this routine will include: dumbbells (a variety of weights to challenge yourself), a pull up bar (as usual), a wall (for squats), and a chair (for the very first move). By the time you are done with Legs and Back, your legs should be dead tired and your arms should have experienced a huge pump from all of the maximum rep pull ups.
P90X Legs and Back Workout Exercises
Tip of the day: “Quality over quantity.” (Don’t fight to get more reps just because you’re all jacked up about the numbers. Form is everything here with Legs and pull ups).
Warm Up
- High Knee March – March in place, making targets with your hands to make sure that your knees come up above your waist with each step.
- Running in Place – You then run in place so that your knees are up above your waist, then you bring your knees wide like you are riding a horse (keeping them high), and finally you bring your knees down and kick your heels to your butt for the last 20 seconds or so.
- Jumping Jacks – Do some half-assed jumping jacks (bringing your hands to shoulder height) to get your upper and lower body loosened up.
- Run Lunges – Do lunges in place just like you’ve been doing for all the other workouts. I like to mix it up with a hybrid between the straight arm variety and the pull variety.
- Neck Rolls – Keeping your arms down by your side, roll your right ear to your right shoulder, get a stretch, then roll your left ear towards your left shoulder, get a stretch, and keep alternating until your neck is loose as a goose. While you are doing these, reach towards the floor with your fingers and avoid shrugging your shoulders.
- Shoulder Rolls – Roll your shoulders back 6 times (doing big rolls) so that you really feel loosened up. Then roll your shoulders forwards to get them loosened up in the opposite direction.
- Shoulder Stretch – After the rolls, you do the infamous shoulder stretch which involves flipping your hands, pressing your palms together in front of your body, and pressing your shoulder blades together as close as possible. After you get the front, you clasp your hands behind your back, bring your palms together, and pull your straight arms down so that your shoulders come together behind your back.
- Wide Elbow Stretch – With wide legs, reach up, plug your fingers into the ceiling, and pull wide so that your elbows flare out to their respective sides. Take deep breaths while doing this stretch and try to reach as wide as possible.
- Ballistic Shakers – Like a diver, swimmer, or fighter, just shake everything out from head to toe.
- Huggers – Bringing your right arm high, then left arm high, hug yourself just to maintain the looseness.
- Swimmers – Do the backstroke for a few times with one arm, then the front stroke a few times with the same arm. Then switch arms and do the same thing.
- Wide Feet Hamstring Stretch – With feet wider than shoulder width, inhale up, then as you exhale, bend at the waist, fold your arms, and rock side to side.
- Runners Stretch – From your hamstring stretch, turn to the side so that your front knee is bent (over your ankle) and your back leg is fully extended and straight. Lean down low and place your hands on the floor (on your instep if you can) to maximize your stretch. If you want even more of a stretch and are super flexible, you can touch both elbows to the floor. Oh and I usually laugh out loud when Tony says, “Oops I think I ripped my pants.”
- Leaning Hamstring Stretch – From your runners stretch, you simply extend the front leg, balance on your heel, and keep your back leg locked out so that you get a hamstring stretch.
- Quad Stretch – Stand up straight, bend one of your knees, grab your ankle and pull it to your butt so that you stretch out your quad. Keep your knees close together and stand up tall for an optimal stretch. Then switch legs and stretch out your other quad for the remaining 30 seconds before the workout starts up.
Round #1: P90X Legs and Back
Balance Lunges
Balance Lunges are the first exercise in the Legs and Back routine and they are pretty wicked if you choose a heavy set of weights. To do the Balance Lunges, you need to get a chair, and you extend one leg straight back so that it is perfectly straight and the toes of the straight leg rest on the middle of the chair. Your other leg is should be extended out in front so that you “balance” on one foot at a time while in a lunge position. The knee of the front leg should be behind your ankle when you start this exercise.
Balance lunges... peep da knee ankle alignment...
Before you get into position though, you should grab a dumbbell in each hand so that you add to the overall burn. I chose to use 22.5 lbs. per side and for me, adding a total of 45 lbs. was more than enough for me to feel a huge burn. While holding the weights in each hand, you drop down to get as deep in the lunge position as possible (by bending your knee), and then you straighten your front leg to pop back up. You are instructed to do 25 reps, and then switch your feet (and do 25 reps on the other side). Make sure that you choose a weight that delivers maximum burn if you want the best possible results.
When I first started these, I was only using 10 lbs. per side and it was really tough. Now I am using 22.5 lbs. per side and I feel a huge burn every single time. In fact I recently upped my weight this past workout just to see whether I could handle the 22.5 pounders. The last few weeks I had been using 20 lb. dumbbells per side and they were challenging, but I wanted to test the waters with heavier weights and it worked out. The Balance Lunges are a wicked move to start the workout, so hopefully you were ready to rock and roll when the warm up ended.
Calf Raise Squats
The Calf Raise Squats are done exactly the way the name implies. To perform these, you grab dumbbells in each hand (I recommend heavier weights than the Balance Lunges) and drop down into a squat position. If you don’t know how to properly do a squat, focus on dropping your butt down and back as far as possible, keep your chest and head up, and lower your body by using your legs. Never bend forward or lean over your kneecaps – that is bad form. Once you have dropped down into your squat (shifting most of your weight to your heels), you pop back up and when you are in a normal standing position, you raise both calves (shifting all the weight to the balls of your feet and toes).
Just like the previous exercise, you are expected to do 25 reps, so make sure you choose a weight that gives you enough burn. Today I rocked with 30 lbs. per side for a total of 60 lbs. and it honestly wasn’t too tough. I may consider testing out 35 lb. dumbbells next time to see whether I can handle the extra weight. By the time you are done with these, you should have experienced some major burn in your legs. If you don’t feel the burn, you need to either check your form or use heavier weights. Just because the people in the crew aren’t using heavy weights, doesn’t mean that you have to stoop down to their level if you can handle more. Do what you can, but always remember the tip of the day: quality over quantity.
Reverse Grip Chin Ups
After finishing 2 leg exercises, you head over to your pull up bar and prepare to do some Reverse Grip Chin Ups. You should be very familiar with these because they are a staple exercise in the P90X workouts. You grab your pull up bar with an underhand grip with hands about shoulder distance apart, and go for maximum rep chin ups. In order to have good form, you should be dropping all the way down at the bottom of each rep so that your arms are fully extended (your elbows should be locked at the bottom). Once you are hanging all the way down, you pull your body up so that your chin comes over the top of your bar, and then drop all the way back down again.
Since I am really good at these and this was the first set of Reverse Grip Chin Ups, I managed to do a total of 24 reps (consecutive) before the timer expired. As the workout progresses, the pull ups get a lot tougher, so I always make sure I get my money’s worth during this first round. When I first started the Legs and Back routine, I know for a fact that I wasn’t able to do more than 15 reps. As I continued to do workouts, my pull ups got better and I got stronger – now I can do over 20 reps every time. Don’t get discouraged if you can’t do a ton of reps here, but always do your best and use good form. I would rather have you do 5 legitimate reps (dropping all the way down with extended arms) than 10 half-assed chin ups (not coming all the way down).
Super Skaters
Super Skaters are a pretty easy leg exercise, but they should give your legs a little bit of a burn by the time you finish 25 reps per side. To do the Super Skaters, start out with all of your weight on the left foot and balance yourself. Lift the right leg up off of the floor and when you start, extend your right leg back like you would if you were speed skating. When your leg is extended back, you should bend at the waist and your left arm should also extend back (your right arm comes forward). You have the option of letting your foot touch the ground after each rep, or you can balance on one leg the entire time.
Every single time I’ve done this exercise, I have done it balancing on one leg the entire time because I don’t think that the toe taps would give me a burn. Anyways when you are extended back and are down low like you are in a speed skater stride, you then pop back up, but instead of letting your right foot touch the floor, you raise your knee up to your chest. Doing this entire sequence of the stride back, all the way up to the knee raise counts as one rep and you need to do 25 per side. To be completely honest, this is an easy move, but you still should feel the burn and work on getting down low and doing the knee raise to improve your balance.
Wall Squats
Here we are doing some good old fashioned Wall Squats with no weights for 90 seconds. These can be easy or tough depending on how hard you are willing to work. To get in position for these Wall Squats, you put your back up against the wall, keep your feet about hip distance apart, and squat down. While you are squatting, your knees should be aligned with your ankles (not in front of them or too far behind them). There are two variations of Wall Squats that you do throughout the 90 seconds – one is where your hips are slightly higher than 90 degrees, and the other is where you are at 90 degrees. You alternate between the slightly higher than 90 degree position and the 90 degree position for the full time.
While you are holding your wall squat, your arms should be relaxed and against the wall by your side – not on your knees or out in front of your body. If you ever get to the point where you think the Wall Squats have gotten “too easy,” I would recommend starting at 90 degrees, and then dropping down lower than 90 degrees for an inverted Wall Squat to really crank up the burn. I usually get down lower than 90 degrees if I want an intense burn in my legs. Usually I make myself work hard enough so that my legs are shaking for the final 20 seconds. When your legs start to shake is when you need to fight as long as possible – if you collapse that’s cool, at least you’ll have done your best.
Wide Front Pull Ups
After you have blasted your legs with the Wall Squats, you get to head right back to your pull up bar. In this workout, you better learn to love pull ups or you are going to struggle. Wide Front Pull Ups are a pretty easy variation, but I honestly hate doing them on the door mount pull up bar that I own. Every other variation works well, but when I do Wide Front, it seems like my doorframe is going to snap off because my pull up bar has some flex to it. Anyways to do Wide Front Pull Ups, you grab your bar with an overhand grip wider than shoulder width, and do maximum rep pull ups.
Once again, you should be dropping all the way down so that your arms are full extended at the bottom of the rep, and your chin should come above the bar each time at the top. I managed to do a total of 20 reps, but had a pretty damn tough time doing my last 5 reps here. To fight through the last few reps, I would hang down, then pull up quick, then hang down, take a breath, then pull back up – I did a really good job today fighting through these. Although I was pushing my limits, I was still performing the exercise properly with good form. If I don’t do at least 18 reps here, I know I am not pushing myself hard enough.
Step Back Lunges
After your pull ups, you go back to work your legs with some Step Back Lunges. To perform the Step Back Lunges, you grab a dumbbell in each hand and you step back with one foot so that you are in a lunge position. You step back with the same leg for 15 reps, then step back with the other leg for the next 15 reps. To properly do the Step Back Lunges here, you start out standing normally, and simply step back. While you step back, you bend the front knee so that your knee is aligned with your ankle, and the leg that steps back is fully extended – this is one rep of the Step Back Lunge.
Simply step back up, and repeat this 15 times per side in order to make it through the move. Don’t half ass it here though, really get low in your lunges and use good form if you want to feel some actual burn. You are only doing 15 reps, so you will want to choose a weight that is pretty challenging. I know that you may be a bit winded from the earlier exercises at this point, but test the waters here with some challenging dumbbells. I ended up choosing to use 30 lbs. per side for a total of 60 lbs. during this exercise, which is the perfect weight for me here.
Choose a weight that makes you fight really hard during the last few reps, but never compromise form. A good rule of thumb to use is if weights feel too heavy, then they probably are. The Step Back Lunges always induce a nice steady burn in my legs and even make my arms want to take a break from carrying the weights after all of the pull ups that I just finished – but I continue to fight.
Alternating Side Lunges
Immediately after the Step Back Lunges are finished, you are expected to do some more lunges. The only difference between Alternating Side Lunges and the previous exercise is that with this move, you step directly to the side of your body. Additionally, instead of completing all of your reps on one side, you alternate feet: stepping with the right foot for a right lunge, then stepping with the left foot for a left lunge. You keep this up for a total of 24 reps (12 reps per side) with good form. If you listen closely, Tony Horton recommends really exploding after your lunges when you step back to center.
For the Alternating Side Lunges, I recommend toughing it out with the same weight as what you used for your Step Back Lunges. I try to always stick with the same weight – I ended up using my 30 lbs. in each hand for a total of 60 lbs. once again. The weight worked out very well, but my legs were absolutely exhausted by the time I had finished my 24 reps. My arms were sagging and this was a tough exercise, but this is where you need to dig deep and “bring it.”
Closed Grip Overhand Pull Ups
After two leg exercises, you are back to the beloved pull up bar for some Closed Grip Overhand Pull Ups. My arms are usually pretty tired at this point, but the “closed grip” makes things a little easier because most of the pressure ends up getting put upon the forearms. Just like the name implies, you use an “overhand” grip and your hands are “closed” (i.e. close together, thumb distance apart, etc.). Although you should feel most of the burn in your forearms, you still should be dropping all the way down (fully extended arms) at the bottom and you still should bring your chin above the bar (at the top of each rep).
Today I managed to crank out 18 reps of Closed Grip Overhand Pull Ups, which was really good for me. The past couple weeks I have been including this routine in my itinerary, I managed to do 17 reps, so even improving by just one rep was huge. My all time record for these at this point in the workout is 19 reps, but I was using lighter weights for some of the leg exercises that particular week, so maybe that’s why I managed more reps. Anyways, just do your best and never compromise form. If you half ass your pull ups (i.e. don’t go down or up all the way), you’re going to look like a total noob if someone ever asks to see you do them.
Single Leg Wall Squats
Now that the pull ups are done, we get to experience a double leg blast once again. The next move is called Single Leg Wall Squats, which should be pretty self explanatory. You head over to the nearest wall, and drop down in squat position just like you did earlier. The only difference between these and regular wall squats is that you are only going to be using one leg for balance, and the other will be extended straight out; elevated off of the ground. Start with your legs touching and get your body in a squat position with your hands against the wall.
Single Leg Swag... Woop woop
Drop down so that your butt and legs form a 90 degree angle from the wall to the floor. When the timer starts, raise one leg straight out like you would for a leg extension. Try to lift it above the knee of the leg that’s bent and hold it straight. You are expected to hold this for 10 seconds, and then place the foot that was extended onto the ground, and lift the other leg for an extension for the next 10 seconds. You alternate legs every 10 seconds until you have done single leg wall squats for a full 90 seconds. I think that a slightly more specific name would have been Alternating Single Leg Wall Squats – but you should be able to figure it out.
These always do a nice job at bringing the burn to my legs. If you get down low and are maintaining a 90 degree angle the entire time, this move should be pretty tough for the last 30 seconds. I usually end up getting the shakes for the last 20 seconds or so – depending on how well I’m feeling that day. If these are easy for you, double check your form, and if your form is good, drop down lower and lift your extended leg up higher – the burn will increase.
Dead Lift Squats
The Dead Lift Squats that you do here are somewhat similar to the Super Skaters that you did earlier. To do the Dead Lift Squats, you balance on one foot, bend the knee of your other leg, keep your hands by your side, bend your waist, and touch the floor. When you drop down to touch the floor, you should slightly bend the knee of the leg that you are balancing on. Imagine that you are going down and are going to perform a dead lift. Try to keep your chest up as you drop down and make sure that you always use good form.
This is an exercise that should help you improve your balance since you are balancing on one leg. I always do the more advanced version of this move because I have it mastered. The more advanced version involves dropping down just like everyone else, but you bring your knee up to your chest when you come back up at the top of each rep. I also always try to start this exercise as soon as possible (while Tony’s explaining it) so that I can get in more reps. Today I ended up doing 25 reps on both the right and left side.
And even though this is a pretty basic exercise, if you use good form, go for the more advanced version, and fight for extra reps, your legs will feel some burn. I actually felt a huge burn by the time I was through with these.
Switch Grip Pull Ups
The last move before your first water break is Switch Grip Pull Ups. If you have been doing the P90X series in proper order, you should already know what this move is all about. But if you don’t, all you need to do are 2 Pull Ups, followed by 2 Reverse Grip Chin Ups, and switch back and forth between the two. What really pisses me off is that I’m working with a door mount pull up bar and my elbows smash the side of the door if I try to make the switches without my feet touching the ground. So what I do is just a quick drop to the floor and pretty much an insta-switch for the switch grip.
Additionally instead of switching off between Pull Ups and Chin Ups every 2 reps, I usually do it every 3 reps. When I get tired, I switch positioning every 2 reps, and when I can no longer do 2 reps, I stop. Today I managed to do a total of 16 Switch Grip Chin Ups, which I was more than happy with. My arms were ridiculously tired at this point; I was out of breath, and feeling slightly dizzy. Do your best here and shoot for as many reps as possible because you do have a nice water break on deck.
Water Break – This is your first and only water break during the Legs and Back workout. You have a full 60 seconds – so make the most of it! I recommend toweling off and getting plenty of water. If your stomach can handle it, I also recommend taking a sip or two of a recovery formula. Don’t go overboard with the formula sippin, but have some if it’s not too sweet. I usually have a sip or two of my mixed protein powder, and then have a couple huge swigs of water. Water is essential here – if you aren’t thirsty for water, you aren’t working hard enough.
Round #2: P90X Legs and Back
The second round of Legs and Back is structured in the same way as the first round. You get to do a couple of leg exercises, followed by working your arms on the pull up bar every third move. I personally think that the first half is tougher than the second half, but there are still some wicked moves in this half too.
Three Way Lunges
The 3 Way Lunges are the very first move of the second round and in my opinion, they are pretty generous. They aren’t too difficult, but could have been made a helluva lot tougher if Tony would have decided to add weights. But since he specifically says that we will be doing these with “no weights,” I avoid using them here. The workout is already tough enough for me, so I’m not going to be a rebel and add weights to moves that he says to avoid using them. To perform the infamous 3 Way Lunges, you simply start out standing, and you lunge in three directions with one foot.
If you want to start with your right foot, you step with the right foot and do a Side Lunge to the right. After you have done your lunge, you can add a kick or leg raise as you step back in to a normal stance again. Then you step at a 45 degree angle (diagonal) from your body for another lunge and add the karate kick like Tony or a leg raise as you step back to center. Then for the third lunge in the sequence, you step straight forward (out in front of your body) and add another kick or leg raise.
You repeat this sequence of lunges in three directions with your right leg until you have done a total of 15 reps (or 5 sets). Then you switch legs and step with the left leg out to the left in the same three directions for 15 more reps. When I finish these, I can feel that my legs are still feeling the burn from the moves in the first half of the workout. If you get down low in your lunges and lift your legs high on your steps back up, you should continue feeling as though these are helping build up your leg strength.
Sneaky Lunges
The Sneaky Lunges are among my favorites in this entire workout. Although the Sneaky Lunges aren’t insanely difficult, they promote balance, control, and do a nice job at making your legs continue to work. To do these Sneaky Lunges, you stand up on your toes (or balls of your feet) – keeping your heels off of the ground the entire time. You then take a step forward with your right foot and hold a lunge position with your back angled at 45 degrees like a launching ramp. Then you take your arms from your side and extend them straight out by your head so that your hands are near your ears.
After you have fully extended your arms, you continue holding the lunge position and bring them back down by your sides and step up so that your feet are even. For your next lunge, you step with your left foot and repeat the same sequence. You are supposed to alternate the leg that you step with each time until you have done a total of 25 Sneaky Lunges. For the entire move you have got to remember that your heels should never touch the ground; focus on balance and control the entire time.
I am pretty good at these so I usually end up doing 30 reps, but today I was really rolling and ended up doing 34 reps of the Sneaky Lunges (which may have been a record for me). I could have probably eeked out a couple more before the timer expired, but my legs were pretty damn tired so I got a quick sip of water before heading to the pull up bar for the next move.
Reverse Grip Chin Ups
Just like the third move in the first round, you also get a nice set of maximum rep Reverse Grip Chin Ups for the third move in round two. At this point, my arms are fairly tired, but not as dead as they were during the Switch Grip Pull Ups to end the first round. Since I got a nice water break and two pretty easy leg exercises, I was ready to do boss up on this set of Reverse Grip Chin Ups. I ended up doing a total of 22 reps which was pretty damn good for me at this point in the workout. I know that last week I did 24 reps, but my arms couldn’t handle that many this week so I kept in mind the tip of the day and called it after 22.
If you worked hard during the first round, you should notice that your numbers drop a little bit in the second half of this workout during the pull ups. If you ever finish the pull ups early and have extra time left on the clock, I recommend doing some quick ballistic shakers, and hopping right back up to your bar for a few more reps if you can handle them. The more quality reps you are able to do before the time is up, the stronger you are going to get.
Chair Salutations
Immediately after you finish your Reverse Grip Chin Ups, you need to be ready for some Chair Salutations. You should be familiar with this move from the Yoga X workout, but if you have a poor memory, Tony will re-teach it to you. To perform the Chair Salutations, you stand up straight, bring your feet together, inhale with your arms up, exhale and drop your fingertips to the floor. After your fingers touch the floor on each side of your feet, you sit your butt back like you are going into a squat. As you sit your butt back as far as possible, you lift your arms up and tilt the upper half of your body forwards at an angle.
Your arms should be fully extended and should be near your ears the entire time. Your body should look slightly like a chair with you sitting back – that’s why it’s called “Chair Pose.” You then hold this position for 30 seconds. After 30 seconds, you inhale, exhale to prayer (or Namaste) and then drop back down into Chair Pose for 30 more seconds. If you are down low you should feel the burn in your legs and if your arms are in the proper position, you should feel the burn in your arms. I always am sure to engage my core and focus on my breathing here because the final 30 seconds are sometimes pretty challenging.
Toe Roll Iso Lunges
The Toe Roll Iso Lunges can be pretty wicked and really fuck up the tips of your shoes if you have poorly made footwear. I had a pair of fairly new NewBalance kicks and this exercise peeled back the rubber coating after a few weeks of Toe Roll Iso Lunges. Anyways, to perform the Toe Roll Iso Lunges, you grab a pair of dumbbells and get down into an exaggerated lunge position. One of your feet should be bent at the knee in front and your back leg should be extended as far back as possible. While holding the weights down in your exaggerated lunge, you should check to make sure that your front knee is behind your front ankle.
Once you are in proper position, you roll your back toe (i.e. lift your back heel up off of the ground) and while you are rollin, your front knee should align with your front ankle. Then you roll your back foot back to its original position so that your heel is on the ground once again. You repeat this entire process for a total of 20 reps per side. Today I decided to increase the weight that I used because I had noted on my worksheet that I had been doing well with 20 lbs. per side for the past three weeks. So I upped my weight to 22.5 lbs. per side for a total of 45 lbs. which was pretty tough, but I survived.
There is another version of these where you can add curls with each toe roll, but there was not a damn chance my arms would have been able to do curls in a lunge position with this weight. I think Eric adds the curl, but he’s using really light weights (like 10 lbs. per side) which makes everything easier, including the Toe Roll Iso Lunges. Just know that if you are doing this move properly, you should notice that it really wears on the toe area of your shoes. You transition from having your heel planted, rolling your toe, to a position where only your toe is touching and your entire back foot tilts forward.
Wide Front Pull Ups
After getting your roll on with the Toe Roll Iso Lunges, you are back to your pull up bar for another round of Wide Front Pull Ups. This week I was trying to beat the number that I put up last week, but fell short by one rep. I managed to do 14 reps at this point in the workout and to be completely honest they were really fucking tough for me here. As I already mentioned, I hate doing Wide Front Pull Ups on my pull up bar because the entire door frame flexes when I have such a wide grip. I wish I had a permanent stainless steel bar hanging from the ceiling, but I don’t have a genie, so I’m still stuck with the door mount – which still works out.
At this point in the workout, you may be really tired and lagging, but here’s where it’s really important to keep in mind the tip of the day: “Quality over quantity.” As soon as you start to strain yourself for more reps and/or are using bad form, just stop. You should have a grip wider than shoulder width and should still be dropping all the way down at the bottom of each rep (arms fully extended) and should be bringing your chin above the bar at the top of each rep. You are in the final segment of this workout, so don’t get sloppy now.
Groucho Walk
To work your legs some more, you walk away from the pull up bar and act a fool like Groucho Marx. Tony asks what one of Groucho’s favorite sayings was and Dreya responds with: “Ain’t no such thing as a sanity clause” and Tony says, “Well hello!” and the exercise begins…haha. To do the Groucho Walk, you separate your legs wider than shoulder width and drop your butt down really low like you are in a deep squat. The goal here is to get down really low, but still keep your chest and head up. You should feel the burn from this exercise in your legs – if you don’t feel the burn, you need to get lower and/or wider in your stance.
Once you are in the low position, you need to maintain it for a full 45 seconds while walking four steps forward, and four steps backwards. Your goal is to stay controlled and as low as possible while you are taking these steps. If you stay on pace with the crew, you should end up taking a total of 40 steps in the Groucho Walk for a total of 5 rotations (five times forward and back). I always feel an intense burn during the Groucho Walk because I get super low and do the advanced version like Eric with my arms locked straight out in front of my body the entire time. This is an awesome exercise that will deliver the burn to your legs if you get wide, low, and take decent sized steps.
Calf Raises
When I first did this workout, I was extremely glad that Tony decided to include Calf Raises in this routine because not many people are aware of how effective these are at increasing calf strength. To perform Calf Raises, you grab a dumbbell in each hand and position your feet shoulder width apart. For the first set of these, you are supposed to point your toes outwards like a duck. You then hold your dumbbells by your side and lift your heels up off of the ground as high as possible, and then slowly back down for one rep. After performing 15 of these Calf Raises at a slow steady pace with your toes pointed outward, you then do 10 at fast pace (i.e. rapid-fire).
For the next set, you turn your feet so that they are both straight like you are on skis and you repeat for 15 slow steady Calf Raises with 10 fast reps after your initial 15. For the final set, you turn your feet inwards like you are pigeon-toed and perform 15 slow steady reps followed by 10 fast reps. If you don’t feel a burn during the very first set of 15 reps, my guess is that you aren’t using heavy enough weights. If you want results from these, you need to step your game up and choose weights that really bring the burn to your calves. I chose to use 30 lbs. in each hand for a total of 60 lbs. because it’s a weight that really makes me fight hard during the final set.
Close Grip Overhand Pull Ups
As you near the end of this workout, you only have a couple sets of pull ups leftover. This is the second to last set of pull ups and you are doing Close Grip Overhand Pull Ups. So get back into position as quickly as possible after those Calf Raises and go all out for some pull ups. I ended up doing a total of 17 reps for my Close Grip Overhand Pull Ups and it was really damn tough for me to do that many. My arms were dying after 10 reps, but I fought hard just to see how many I could end up with by the time the timer ended. At this point I was pretty pumped up just to be near the end of the workout.
When you finish your pull ups, you are going back to just one set of leg exercises before one last pull up massacre. If you hate the pull ups in this particular workout, then I would highly recommend avoiding the Upper Body Massacre routine at all costs…haha.
80 20 Siebers Speed Squats
The last leg exercise of this routine are the 80 20 Siebers Speed Squats (introduced to Tony by the chica Debbie Siebers). I actually really like this exercise to cap things off for the legs because it is pretty high intensity. In fact, it gets my heart rate up a little bit more too which makes me think that it could have easily been included in the P90X Plyometrics workout. Anyways to perform the 80 20 Speed Squats, you put 80% of your bodyweight on one leg and 20% on your other leg. The foot of the leg with 20% of the weight should be on the toes during this move and foot of the leg with 80% of the weight should be firmly planted on the ground.
You are to perform Speed Squats, which basically involve dropping down with your butt back for a quick “speedy” squat, and then popping right back up. The only thing that you really need to remember is that you need to keep the 80 20 weight distribution the entire time. For your initial 30 reps, you could have 80% of the weight on your right foot, and for the next 30 reps, you would have 80% of your weight on your left foot. After you finish the first 15 reps on each side, you add a jump from the bottom of your squat to make it a higher impact exercise.
The only thing to remember here is to make sure that you are landing with the same weight distribution in which you jumped. If you watch Tony, he explains it well and you should be able to get the hang of it. Anyways, by the time I finished my 30 reps here today, I felt pretty effing winded, but I was glad to know that I only had one move left before I was cashing out of this routine.
Switch Grip Pull Ups
The last set of Switch Grip Pull Ups is nothing more than a mental battle, but one that you need to win. Give this last set every ounce of energy that’s left in your arms and if there is more time left on the clock, shake it out, and get your ass back up to the bar as soon as possible for more reps. If your arms are so dead that you can’t do anymore regular reps, pull up a chair and do the chair assisted type until the timer hits zero. For this final set, I managed to do a total of 18 reps of the Switch Grip Pull Ups (alternating between pull ups and chin ups every two reps).
As I mentioned earlier, I do let my feet briefly touch the ground on this type of pull up because my door frame is pretty narrow and I don’t want to get hurt trying to make the transition mid-air. When I finished these, I felt an intense burn and noticed that my arms were pretty pumped up. Immediately after finishing these, I took a little sip of my recovery formula and had some water to close things out proper.
Cool Down Stretch
Perhaps the most important workout to give your legs a great cool down stretch is that of Legs and Back. If you don’t want to be completely knotted up the next day, you should at least follow Tony and company for the cool down. If you feel like you need more stretching, feel free to do more.
- Ballistic Shakers – Shake out your entire body to get a little loosened up after the workout.
- Huggers – Tony hugs Dreya Weber during these prolly because she’s his secret crush or something.
- Reachers – Reach high with hands above your head, and then back down behind your waist to stretch out your arms.
- Karen Pot Stirrers – Dreya has the lentil soup, Eric has green bean soup (sounds kind of nasty), Sophia has lobster bisque (I don’t know if that’s on Beach’s Ladder or the P90X diet guide), and Tony has Tomoato Basil in a vegetable broth! I laugh every time peeps are stirring up their soups because Tony always has a hilarious comment to nitpick the slightest of potentially unhealthy ingredients. I think I would probably be stirring up some alphabet soup with letters that spelled “tomato basil soup is disgusting” or something.
- Elephant Trunk – Shake out your trunk (i.e. both arms) like an elephant and rise back up slowly.
- Wide Elbow Stretch – This is the stretch where you plug your fingers into the ceiling and pull wide so that you feel it across your chest.
- Hanging Hamstring Stretch – This is a “stablatic” (ballistic and static stretch) if you rock side to side. Anyways hang down low, fold your arms, and rock side to side to work your hammies.
- Downward Dog – Really work your calves by bending one knee at a time to target each individually.
- Kenpo Quad Stretch – Stay on the ground and perform stretches to both of your quadriceps to close out this routine.
P90X Legs and Back Review (Conclusion)
When you finish blasting your legs and arms, you get to stretch it out and cool down, but once that’s over, you also get to enjoy Ab Ripper X (sometimes I do Killer Abs instead). This workout probably blasts your core more than any other routine and you get to do ARX today immediately after to work your abs. I usually have the toughest time with Ab Ripper X on days with Legs and Back because I can barely hold my legs up after putting them through this workout. However, if you fight to the best of your ability, you can learn to cope with the extra pain from the ripper and make it through without a problem. In my opinion, this is the best leg strengthening routine that Tony has developed. I guess the Plyo Legs workout sometimes gives me a burn, but all the pull ups in this routine make that routine a distant second.
Keep track of reps, weights, and difficulty like a boss
Choose heavy weights
Although Tony doesn’t really emphasize using heavy weights for the exercises in this routine, I recommend doing whatever weights you can handle with good form. The weights that I used today ranged from 22.5 lb. dumbbells to 30 lbs. When I first did this routine (years ago) I was using really light weights like 10 lbs. and 15 lbs. Over time, I realized that using light weights makes this routine way easier than it should be. If you use heavy weights on the leg exercises, you should wake up the following morning and literally have a sore ass…(pause). But seriously, the day after this routine I usually can barely roll out of bed because my legs are so keished out.
Always go for maximum reps
As Tony mentions at the end of this workout, “And for some of you, you just did over 120 pull ups!” When he dropped that classic line in the past, it really pissed me off because I thought that there was nofa king way anyone is seriously doing that many pull ups. When I first started, I don’t know if I even reached 80 pull ups during this routine. But after a few years of working hard on my fitness (nearly every single day) I am living proof that it’s possible to do 120 legitimate pull ups during this routine. Today I managed to do 149 pull ups which I was certainly happy about, but my personal best is still 163 pull ups during this workout.
It really just goes to show you that if you work hard from start to finish and keep working at your fitness, you will improve as time passes. If you expect to be a pro and do 120 pull ups your first time with this routine, you’re probably going to fail miserably unless you take long breaks or do half-assed reps. Don’t let the numbers get to your head – focus on quality over quantity the entire time, but at the same time, make sure you are “bringing it.”
Legs and Back: Is it the hardest P90X workout?
Yes, this is the hardest P90X workout if you challenge yourself with the proper weights during the leg exercises and are honestly going for maximum reps on all of your pull ups. The hardest strength workout is the P90X Chest and Back routine (i.e. very first workout) and the hardest cardio is obviously Plyo X. With that said, this is the toughest leg strength routine and depending on the day, it may seem like the toughest of them all.
For me I usually get a light-headed, dizziness, (sometimes slightly pukey) sensation before I’m even halfway through with this routine simply because I am blasting my legs and then going all out with every set of pull ups. Fortunately, this is still a significantly lesser degree of torture than something like the Crossfit Murph workout (which is a whole nother story). Anyways hopefully this article has helped you respect the pure badassery within this routine.