How Much Of The P90X Equipment Do I Really Need?
What P90X equipment do I really need is a question I get asked all the time. Do I really need a chin up bar? Do I need a yoga block? How about a mat? What is the exact P90X equipment needed? When I first did P90X I too had many concerns on what P90X equipment I would need and what I really didn’t need. It really came down to my budget. I wanted to have great success with the program but I didn’t want to waste money. I’m sure getting all the equipment would be a great idea but was it really necessary? Let me first tell you right off the bat that this program really doesn’t need a lot of equipment. You need minimal equipment and just a a small area in your home to do the program such as an area in front of your coach where your coffee table probably is. So don’t worry! This won’t put a hole in your wallet. There is some investment but its pretty minimal. I have done over 10 rounds of P90X and have tried everything. So let me share with you the all the P90X equipment you can use and the pros and cons of each.
The P90X Equipment
Out of all of the P90X equipment lets first discuss the doorway chin up bar. This is a chin up bar that goes right in the frame of most standard doorways in your home. You don’t have to screw anything in. It simple goes up and comes down and supports itself within the frame. I think the chin up bar is a very important piece of the P90X equipment. You do a lot of chin ups throughout the program and this is money well spent. The other option is to use resistance bands that go through a nylon loop that connects to the top doorway hinge. You can then kneel on one leg and mimic a pull up. You will see in all of the P90X workouts that there is always somebody using resistance bands for the workouts. Its basically a modified version of each move in case you don’t have a piece of the P90X equipment such as the chin up bar. However, I feel the chin up bar is almost a must.
P90X Equipment
Secondly, you will need some dumbbell weights ranging from about 10-30lbs for most males and 5-20 lbs for most females. The other option of P90X equipment is a set of resistance bands. They come in different levels of thickness (color) which directly affect the level of resistance of that individual band. Getting all the dumbbells could be a little pricey but its really a matter of preference. But beware the resistance bands still give you a killer workout!
The third piece of P90X equipment is push up stands. The push up stands allow you to get that extra 6 inches of depth when you do a pushup. When you come down to start another push up you can actually go lower than your hands thus allowing for a deeper range of motion. The push up stands also help people with weak wrists who feel uncomfortable being in the push up position. This is a nice added bonus piece of P90X equipment.
The fourth piece of P90X equipment is a Yoga mat. This is a must. A few times a week you will be doing an additional ab workout that you need a mat for. Furthermore, once a week you will be doing Yoga that also requires a mat. I can honestly say this piece of P90X equipment is a must as well.
The fifth piece of P90X equipment is the chin up assist. This is a relatively new piece of P90X equipment. Instead of using a chair to put your foot against to help get yourself up this a band that connects to the pull up bar and hangs down near your feet. You place one foot inside the loop that hangs down near your feet and then when you do a pull up this band helps lift you up. Its a pretty cool piece of P90x equipment that I wish Beachbody offered when I first started.
Last is the Yoga block. For must of us including myself I struggled with Yoga. I still do!! A lot of the balance poses in Yoga are difficult and you need the assistance of the Yoga block. You can balance using your fingertips for most of the moves but you just don’t get the full benefit of the Yoga move you are performing. A Yoga block is pretty cheap and well worth the money. This is a good piece of P90X equipment to have.
The Exact P90X Equipment I Used
The first time I did this program I didn’t have all of the P90X equipment and learned through trial and error on how to proceed. I have always had the doorway chin up bar and I feel this is a very good investment for the program. As I mentioned above you can substitute the chin up bar for bands but I feel you don’t get the full benefit here.
P90X Equipment
As for weights the first few rounds I did P90X I used the resistance bands. My recommendation to you is this is a place where you can save some money and still get great results. I had a lot of success. Just make sure you get a good variety of bands. I have 6 quality resistance bands that gave me all different levels of resistance. Don’t go cheap here and try to get some low quality bands. They will probably tear and come apart on you. Today I have the Bowflex Select Tech dumbbells which I love. They are a few hundred dollars so I didn’t purchase these right away. The bands were more than sufficient in the beginning. I will put links of all the P90X equipment below for you to check out.
As for the push up stands for P90X workout equipment I didn’t use them the first round and ended up regretting it. I never really realized the benefit to getting a deeper range of motion an how it can improve your results until I used them. I now have two pairs of push up stands and currently use the Tony Horton power stands. I love them because they have a much larger base that will give you a lot of stability. Additionally, the handle portion is soft and wide that allows for a very good comfortable grip.
I always incorporated the Yoga mat and Yoga block to my P90x equipment inventory. The yoga mat is an absolute must so you don’t get hurt. As for the yoga block it was cheap and I definitely wanted all the help I could get to make Yoga easier. These two pieces of P90X equipment are essential in my opinion.
I never had the chin up assist piece of P90X equipment but I sure wish it was around a few years ago. If you are someone that struggles with chin ups then I highly recommend this to help you get started. You can change the level of supportive resistance you get which is a pretty cool feature.
Where Can I Get The P90X Equipment?
So where did I get all my P90X equipment from? First let me tell you that the vast majority of this equipment is pretty cheap. Don’t skimp here and try to save a few dollars in the end. I have heard many stories of people’s bands tearing or their chin up bar not being sturdy in the doorway. You don’t want that. If you are going to do the program do it right. I got mine all through Beachbody. Their equipment is guaranteed and their customer service is great. Here are the links to all of the P90X equipment:
Resistance Bands (I recommend the Standard Kit and Extreme Kit – 6 bands total)
I hope this review of the P90X equipment helped answer any unanswered questions you had. Feel free to email me with any other questions you may have on anything health and fitness related. Don’t hesitate to sign up and make me your FREE Coach RIGHT HERE!
Your Coach,
DAVE
