There’s no denying that P90X took the home fitness world by storm in the mid-2000s. Like a blockbuster movie, the sequel schedule was always considered inevitable.
As we sadly see so many times with a movie sequel, there are so many factors related to substance and perception that affect critical and commercial success.
Rumored/confirmed that P90X2 was in research and development for basically two years before the actual product launch in late 2011. During that time, anticipation grew by a torrent, especially among P90X graduates. The reason was simple: P90X was popular and many graduates had done it multiple times. They wanted more and better. To that end, early previews of the P90X2 promised an evolution and innovative vehicle to increase your overall fitness.
The online forum chatter during the intro was pretty even. What P90X veterans wanted was something fresh and new to spice up their home workout, the expected hard work and now even better results.
What Happened Since Launch is a case study in how rare it is to achieve impressive P90X-level success in the fickle home-training market. After using the product and taking a closer look at almost 100 reviews online, I believe P90X2 represents a game changer, it takes hard work and it gets results. These are the very things that the audience said they wanted during the years and months they spent waiting for their P90X2 to arrive.
Instead, reviews across the board have been decent to good, with the rarer ones sprinkled into the mix. P90X, on the other hand, achieved a good to excellent rating on just about every reputable review site I could find.
Even with the good ratings, there have been many complaints about P90X2 not working people hard enough, but at the same time requiring the user to engage in movements (mostly posing) that are a radical departure from what people were used to. at P90X. Basically, P90X2 tries to be a total body workout and adheres to that credo in every phase of the program.
The science behind P90X2 is still efficiently based on the idea of creating muscle confusion, but the approach is radically different than P90X. In my opinion, this really undermines customer service. I have seen written that P90X was popular, not only because it brought great results, but because it puts user expectations on a training basis.
This appears to be a hole in P90X2. The people who buy it are not sure what to expect due to a marketing message that is definitely not focused. Sure, people are getting results. The problem is that if it doesn’t feel right every time, it creates a situation where the user feels divorced from the process. Review after review reveals that many people do not believe in what they are doing. This is 180 degrees outside of the overall P90X user experience.
Does this mean that P90X2 is doomed? No. For the person who may be thinking of purchasing the program, keep in mind that this is a different approach with many different exercises. You have to put your trust in the people behind the creation and really judge the training free of expectations and memories of the previous program.