This was my first attempt at the Base + Back workout. I did some preview for this one; not all of it, but enough to get the idea. Basically, Tony Horton describes this as “my wheelhouse” (i.e. where he excels), which is pull ups and plyometrics. This replaces the Day 5 “Legs and Back” workout in P90X, where we hear Tony say things like “out of the bag,” “out of the box,” or “off the bat.” During this workout, he says “Out of the box” twice, unless I missed other times he said similar phrases.
The cast for this workout includes Julie, another super-fit and blonde mom (of 3 school-age kids); Brian (or is it Ryan?), a mechanical engineer whom Tony describes as “single”; and Garrett, a.k.a. “International House of Arms,” whom Tony mentions in one or two other DVDs for his brawn and lack of flexibility. Garrett is a former Marine, so he gets well-deserved respect for that too.
The workout itself consists of two rounds of 11 exercises each, divided by three water breaks. A set of pull ups is followed by a plyometric exercise. Tony suggests the formula “10/12/20/30” as a guideline, which stands for 10-12 pull ups and 20-30 repetitions for the plyo exercises. In other words, pace yourself! The instructions and transitions in between exercises are intentionally long, because it allows time to recover for the next effort.
I increased the weight of my bands for the first time since I started P90X2, to get stronger I hope. The Bodylastics bands I am using have weight estimates stamped on the side of the clips, so I am trying to get closer to pulling half my weight, at least. After all, one of my goals is to do lots of real pull ups.
They use the word “kip” to describe a couple of the exercises here, which I guess means “no movement”? The No Kip Pull Up is apparently a traditional wide-grip pull up, with straight legs. The creatively-named Kippy Cross Fugly Pull is a sideways-grip, with fast movement up and down, but apparently as little core and leg movement as possible.
The Plyo Lunge Press is harder than it looks! On the second set, I did not use weights.
It’s a little more complicated than I would like to use the resistance bands for the V Pull Up, which is done while lying on the floor. I have to move my snap-on handles back and forth, which takes a minute. I need to get better about using that as my rest time, instead using additional time.
I did the Ab Ripper later that day, which works better for my schedule and my exercise form.
A production-related note: Today I figured out what Tony is talking about at various times when he mentions a jib, as in “Let’s get the jib over here to see this.” It’s a long stick or “boom” with a camera on one end, and a counterweight to move it up and down. When words like that go flying by, sometimes it’s hard to figure out what they mean, and you never see the jib from another camera. As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen a camera operator so far in P90X2, but I’ve heard some familiar names (like Jerry from P90X, maybe?).
