The reason why so many people hate yoga and P90X Yoga X in particular is because it’s hard. Guess what people, the reason why you’re doing P90X is to get into shape. If you’re already flexible and in shape then you don’t need yoga! If Yoga X doesn’t make you uncomfortable then guess what–you’re already a ripped, flexible beast and you don’t need to do P90X.
Does 40 minutes of yoga sound better than 90? Try Fountain of Youth, Tony Horton’s recommended alternative to Yoga X. To purchase, CLICK HERE and select YOGA-FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH from the drop-down list. It won’t give you the same benefits of Yoga X, but it’s better than no yoga at all. Or, see how you can get a free Fountain of Youth DVD.
Sure, you can skip Yoga X and decide to do Cardio X, Kenpo X, or run on the treadmill instead. But none of these things come even close to doing what Yoga X can do for your body. Yoga X has attributes that you won’t find in any of the other P90X workouts. On the flip side, you’ll notice that many of the exercises in other workouts are based on yoga. Is this a coincidence? The beauty of it is that when you get better at yoga you’ll be able to do all the other workouts so much better. Do you think you get better at Plyo or Core by doing the workouts over and over and over again? No. That’s not how P90X works. You get better because you challenge your body with things its not quite used to doing.
You can certainly leave yoga out of the equation but all you’re going to do is sell yourself short and flush the money you spent on P90X down the toilet. Most people are more than willing to fork over their hard-earned cash because they need help getting in shape. Otherwise they would already be healthy and fit. But even fewer still actually follow through with the hard part of actually doing it! Especially when things start to get a little uncomfortable.
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Without Yoga X you might as well keep working out at the gym and spinning your wheels on the treadmill if you’re not going to follow the program. You signed up for P90X, not step class! You either do it or you don’t. Start thinking like Yoda.
Do I know how to turn myself into a lean, mean muscle machine? Nope. That’s why I need P90X. If I take out Yoga X and substitute it with something else, guess what–it’s not P90X anymore. That’s all there is to it. Seriously–NO ONE CAN DO YOGA FOR THE FIRST TIME! Trust me, I’ve been there. I put in Yoga X for the first time, saw it was 90 minutes long and wanted to cry. I couldn’t do half the stuff they were doing . . . I felt wholly inadequate and wanted to quit. But I figured it’s gotta be here for a reason. Guess what. Now I look forward to that 90 minutes because I know it’s going to be productive time. Not a single minute is wasted sitting in front of the TV or computer! And it’s way better than being at work!
Now, the mind wandering and relaxation and OOOMMMS and whatever I’m not a huge fan of. But–the strength, balance, flexibility, and coordination you get from Yoga X is amazing. Besides increasing your strength and flexibility, the other main benefit of Yoga X is that it helps minimize the potential for injury and soreness from doing your other workouts. Yoga X is a complete muscle conditioning workout. If you think about it, Yoga X is probably the most important workout of the program no matter what your ultimate goal is at the end of 90 days.
The first few times you do Yoga X IT WILL BE HARD. But like Tony always says, “It’s supposed to be.” Just do what you can. DON’T LOOK AT HOW MUCH TIME IS LEFT. Just live in the moment and concentrate on whatever exercise you’re doing. With every move think about how your body is changing and improving. A yoga block helps A TON and will improve your confidence. Instead of looking at the time bar and thinking to yourself, “I can’t wait to get this over with” live in the moment and concentrate on getting your form right for every move. After the third or fourth time you start to notice that it gets a little easier and you might even start liking it a bit. I’m at the end of Week 4 and now I look forward to doing Yoga X. I never thought I’d be saying that four weeks ago! I’m so glad I decided to stick with it.
Need some extra support while you do P90X? Sign up for a Team Beachbody account and I’ll be assigned as your coach! CLICK HERE so we can get started TODAY!
If you currently hate Yoga X then you definitely need to do X Stretch on your rest day. You can even do X Stretch a couple days during the week in the morning (if you do your main workout in the evening) or the evening (if you do your main workout in the morning). X Stretch has helped me out a lot. The hardest part of Yoga X is the first 45 minutes. The rest is balance postures and more stretching. However, it does finish off with some nice ab exercises called the Yoga Belly 7 which will help you with Ab Ripper X.
To make your Yoga X experience as pleasant as possible, invest in a good quality yoga mat. The Beachbody folks recommend the Manduka Mat, which is high-quality, shock-absorbing and pretty expensive. But I’ve been pretty happy with my extra-thick Gaiam yoga mat so far. If you don’t have a good yoga mat and find yourself getting rug burn or slipping all over the place . . . you’ll hate Yoga X even more. A yoga block will also make life a little easier.
Just keep in mind–if a workout or exercise is difficult for you, there’s a reason. If Yoga X was easy, we wouldn’t need P90X! So please, stop whining and JUST DO IT. You’ll hate me now but thank me later. 
If you’re still tempted to replace yoga with something else, you might want to watch the video below. And if 90 minutes of Yoga X is still too much, you might want to check out Tony Horton’s One on One Yoga DVD: Fountain of Youth or Gillian Clark’s Pure and Simple Yoga. Neither workout will give you the same benefits that Yoga X provides, but it’s better than doing no yoga at all! The Fountain of Youth DVD is Tony Horton’s recommended Yoga X substitute.
Do you have more questions about P90X? Check out my archived list of P90X Articles as well as P90X Questions. If your question isn’t answered there, please submit it using the comments form below or use my contact page.
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Hello, my name is Amanda K. Jones and I live in Michigan. This website is a journal of all my favorite things in life. For more info, check out my 
You’re welcome Michael! Go tackle that beast!
Just started P90X and tonight is my yoga night, you “tough love” inspired me.
Cool Kerri, glad I could help. Just keep pressing play!
I love my P90X workouts….up until yoga time. I’m a pretty muscled guy and was born with a club foot so my flexibility strength and balance is terrible in the areas you need it for yoga. Yoga really reminds me of how bad it is. I really really REALLY want to skip the yoga in fact I want to break the dvd and throw it in the ocean. But your comments convinced me to keep trying it.
honestly, you lot are better off learning straight yoga from an guru/instructor than horton. The core focus of yoga is body and mind development. You need to look inwards while doing it. You need to understand its true purpose.
Yet for you it is just another set of “poses” and breathing techqniques so you can get “more bendy.”
Thanks for the tips Ash! Let me know when your yoga DVD comes out and I’ll be sure to buy a copy.
I must say, it seems like you wrote this post especially for me! I was whining and complaining after week 1 when I got to the yoga. My fiance found this post and sent it to me and I have since checked out tons of your posts, all great! I will be hitting the yoga again this week (week 2) with a much better attitude! You are right, “stop whining and just do it!” Thank you for the kick in the butt, I needed it!
Thank you for posting this, Amanda. My story is nearly identical to that of Amanda B above. I think I just needed a pep talk, and that’s what you gave me. It was tough last week and I really gave in too quickly. Not this week (week 2). I may not get everything “right”, but I’m going to stick with it. Thank you again.
Thank you for the info. I will try not to make excuses next time for the yoga and just do it.
blah, fine, I will do it!
Great post! I’ve been looking for a little Yoga X inspiration lately as I power through weeks 9 through 13! I’ve been following the Classic exactly, but dreading the days I see Yoga X on the weekly calendar. I need to read this again on Sunday morning before my next bout with Yoga X! THANKS!
thanks so much for this post. I managed 45 minutes of yoga yesterday before stopping. It is a very long video and I was going to substitute Cardio X next week. however after reading this I will “stop whining” and get at it! much needed inspiration.
FINE I’ll do it lol.
Hi, I have no plans to do the plyo and cardio days, but I plan to do the phase1 and phase 2 of chest arms etc. daily.I hope that it works
The reason people get so easily discouraged is because they COMPARE themselves to all the success stories out there… which is a load of Bull… some dude gets super ripped in 90 days…bullshiz… ignore those people, who cares how long it takes etc…that’s all marketing bullsh#t… all that matters is that you are consistent and make exercising enjoyable… both of these go hand in hand… I never miss a work out and 95% of the time I look forward to it… the dude is right though with “do your best, forget the rest”…
is it ok just to do the strength part of yoga? like the first 40 minutes
Thanks Amanda, I needed that kick in the boot!
I am on week three of Phase 1 and last night was more bearable after reading your encouraging words (were they encouraging
Frank
i struggle mightily w/ the yoga. but do see the value. could only do 25 min the first time. i tried it last night again, just to get thru it to see what all they were doing [to make it easier the next official time] and only managed to do 35 min. the downward dog is killing me and i can’t get the other poses either – but i love to try them…still planning to push ‘play’ though.
40 minutes is better than nothing. I believe I already addressed this question in the blog post itself
I’m in week 1 and just did Yoga this morning. I tried to watch it first last night, but fell asleep after 1/2 hour.
Man, I was NOT ready for what I “attempted” to do at 5am! It was an eye opener thats for sure. I did some things ok but was wobbly and unstable most of the time. I fogot about the clock 30 minutes in because I was concentrating on what I was supposed to be doing and no longer shaking my head and saying to myself “ARE YOU KIDDING ME???”
I honestly think this DVD will be the one I will be able to judge all my progress in. Between the strength and flexability I really can’t get any worse!
Press play, do what you can….thats all there is to it.
I like your attitude Sue! Can’t wait to see your results 90 days from now!!
Haha…it’s been a week and I needed some motivation to push play for Yoga X tonight!
I improved on my other DVDs so expecting the same with the balancing act and 100 downward dogs. Going to skip the “you can do a push up here if you like” and focus on the moves and my breathing.
I will prevail!
Thanks so much. I’ve just finished Insanity and am starting p90x next week so I’m using this week to see which weights suit me and which bands ( I think bands or weights should be both not either, different for some exercises).
So this week I’m looking through them giving them a 75 percent effect just to see when I came to yoga x tried about 2 mins and thought the same as a lot of people. I know I’ll do more cardio instead, but you are right and so strange my favourite quote ever is “do or do not there is no try” , I quote it myself not I should practise what I preach an DO!
Thanks once again ,
Regards dar…
Thank you for the feedback. Prior to the Yoga X ,I never did yoga. You addressed some very valid points in your blog; especially regarding the comparisons to others who have tried the program. I will continue to push through the Yoga X Dvd.
Girl, you hit the nail on the head. I am starting phase 3 P90x (first time) and I haven’t done a single Yoga day. I have found every excuse in the book to not do it, knowing it’s there for a reason. I do cardio on those days. I just hate yoga with a passion. You gave me a real eye opener here. it’s not P90X without it. I’ll spend the next 30 days doing the yoga workouts as prescribed. Thanks for the inspiration also in your story. Good luck with your half marathon.
Update, I did my first yogax this week and oh my word was it hard , good relaxing and a really good workout . I had to pause it at one point to get a towel to wipe my face I was sweating that much my eyes were stinging! I’m now a full convert and will definitely ne doing my yoga every week. In short do it.
I noticed recovery week had 2 Yoga days!! its good to know am not the only one struggling. I’ll bring it.
The yoga is playing in my living room and i realllly didnt want to do it! so i was searching google for someone who would say “yes no problem yoga is dumb skip it!” im glad i stumbled apon your response and i will stop typing now and go do the yoga. lol thannks