UBX Review (1-on-1, Vol3)

May 31, 2011 –

The ASYLUM CHALLENGE has kept me away from (2) new 1-on-1 discs that I have been itching to tryout. Now that the ASYLUM RESULTS are in, we are moving onto our next training block where I have made UBX my very first workout.

You can read my full One on One, Vol3 review HERE.

You can also download the One on One, Vol 3 worksheets, including UBX  HERE

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Disc 10 – UBX

Length: 60 Min

Routine: 24 Exercises split into 4 Sequences. Each Sequence has 2 Rounds of the same (3) Exercises.

P90x Replacement: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

My Recommendation Rating: 5 Stars (out of 5)

Equipment Required: 4 Balls, Bench or Chair, Resistance Band, Stability Ball (Optional),  Band-to-Door Assembly (included with V-Sculpt disc), Dumb bells, Pro Sliders or Piece of Cardboard

Tony continues his theme of performing resistance exercises on an unstable surface. In fact, this routine reminds me alot of Chest, Back, and Balls. So get ready for another skill-based routine. It may take some time to perfect this one. To do all the moves at their hardest level, you actually need quite a bit of equipment as you can tell from the list above.

One of the more difficult moves is a “4-Ball Pike Press”. I am fairly decent at the “4-Ball Push-Up” (See Video HERE) from Chest, Back, and Balls so I was confident I could nail this out of the box. Well, I was wrong! This is actually much more challenging given that your butt is up in the air and hence your center of gravity is higher. The first round I used only 3-balls and the second round I was able to do about 5-6 reps with 4-balls.

Another tough balance move is the “3-Ball Burpee”. Your hands are each on a ball and your feet are on the third ball. As you do a push-up and come up, you bring one leg to your chest while your other leg balances on the ball. Cool move once you get the hang of it. This is when the ball you use is important. As I posted in my Medicine Ball Review, having the right grip on the ball can make a huge difference in being able to do these moves.

Just when you thought you had seen every push-up imaginable, Tony introduces the “Chaturocker Push-Up”. He uses a pizza box top sized pieced of cardboard to slide his feet. After doing Core Synergistics:MC2, I decided to purchase the Valslides that Tony uses in that video for the “Inch Worms”. Effectively these are really high performance sliders for use on carpet. So, I used those instead of the pizza box top and they worked really good.

And just in case you want to get some nice “diamonds” on the back of your arms, Tony does not disappoint with some new Tricep moves. There are new balance moves including “Kickbacks” and “Extensions” while on your forearms as well as a soon to be infamous “One-Arm Bench Dip”. The first time I saw it, I wasn’t so sure I could do it. However, after a couple of ugly reps, I got the hand of it. Triceps are one of my strength areas and I felt pretty good after I finished this. But if this is too much for you, just bring your feet closer to your body to make it easier.

One last note on triceps. The final move is called “High-Bar Band Extension”. Tony puts a band around is pull-up bar and proceeds to do overhead tricep extensions. I used the Band-to-Door Assembly that came with V-Sculpt. You can use whatever you like, but you need something that secures your band up high.

So how did this compare to the original P90X Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps? I found that workout to be one of the hardest resistance workouts in the P90X series. By the time the “One-Arm Push-Ups” came along, I was spent! So, this routine had big shoes to fill. I would actually give the original an edge on raw toughness and endurance required. However, UBX excels at bringing in the element of unstable surfaces which adds a whole new dimension to the workout. You will have lower reps in UBX as the moves are not built for speed.

From a  variety standpoint, the original had 8 rounds of different exercises while UBX repeats each round twice to give you 4 sequences. One isn’t better than the other, but UBX does allow you to adjust yourself in round 2.

Overall, this is another killer resistance routine from the 1-on-1 series and I highly recommend it. This workout could be paired up with the original P90X Back & Biceps or the 1-on-1, Vol 3 disc, V-Sculpt.

3 Responses to “UBX Review (1-on-1, Vol3)”

1. Csakegy says:

   February 4, 2012 at 11:04 pm

   Coach Jeff / Tony monitens tilting your pelvis forward during the stability ball arm circles. When I focused on that I felt it put more pressure on my arms on the stability ball and kept me in place.

   Reply