Hey everyone, this is Stevie Richards. Welcome back to the home studio. In today's video, we have the full X3 bar review after using it full-time for two weeks.
You're saying, well, why aren't you in the garage, Jim? Well, it's pretty cold today in the garage, Jim, and if you're in another part of the world, 53 degrees may not be cold to you, but as a Floridian now, an official Floridian, my blood has thinned out and 53 degrees is very cold. So we're going to do the rest of the review from here.
but we have b-roll from the past two weeks i'm going to share my experiences and oh it's heavy we actually have the x3 box right here which we did unbox this we've been going through every step of the consumer experience because this thing like i've said in every video in every video moving forward this thing's expensive it's not cheap so i want to share every piece of the journey in using this from the delivery unboxing all that stuff so we're gonna have time stamps and chapters in the description below we're gonna go through all that stuff also we have dedicated videos unboxing first workout push day pull day all that different stuff so check those videos out so in case you want the cliff notes version of the unboxing it comes in this heavy box right here and basically comes with the bar which is the standard bar there's also a long bar and a force bar but this is the standard bar that measures right up to the foot plate also it comes with the foot plate comes with a quick start guide comes with the program and also it comes with four resistance bands which i'm only using three of them after two weeks and even this one right here and this one right here actually all three of them are a little bit heavy when I get to use them but they've held up extremely well we're going to take a closer look at the foot plate the bar the bands the program we're going to talk about the one set philosophy from Dr. J and then we're going to give our conclusion all right let's put the box down and talk quickly about the delivery because it did come very quickly about 10 to 12 days after ordering the x3 bar system It came standard FedEx. I got a tracking number from the company when the order was shipped. Like I said, 10 to 12 days, pretty standard.
No signature required. You may want to change that option. Like I always say, this thing's not cheap. You don't want it stolen. You don't want it lost.
Make sure if you want the signature required, you want to deliver it to your business rather than your home if you're working a nine to five job and you don't want this thing sitting outside. It was pretty discreet and a brown box. So. It wasn't logoed with, I'll bring the box back up right here.
It wasn't this that people saw at the doorstep or outside my door. But if you want peace of mind, see if you can get a signature required request through X3 or through FedEx and make sure that, God forbid, it doesn't get stolen nor lost. So let's talk about the short bar right here or the standard bar that comes with the X3.
There's also a long bar and a force bar. I really like the hook system here and the fact that it spins. That has come in really, really handy, no pun intended, because my hands moving around like that.
Now I know with some of the exercises like chest press and stuff like that, I did not have the neutral grip and also I wasn't pushing down. I was pushing up and I sure felt it in my delts. But this has held up very well. I brought it in here, but it's been living in the garage, Jim, in a non-climate controlled environment, and it's holding up just like the day I used it. I'm not babying this thing.
I'm just leaving the bands on it, throwing it down on the mat, putting it on top of the footplate, and it has definitely held up very, very well. But we're going to update everybody months and months down the line, hopefully years, and see how the bar is holding up. Here's the foot plate right here and this thing is built like a tank just like the bar. Turn it around here you have six rubber feet that really hold it in place.
I have the mat in the garage gym but if I was on a wooden floor, a concrete floor, tile, anything that could be slippery this is nice right here to have this. Also you see right here there's a little channel right here to put the bands whether you're going to go single or double or even stack a couple which I'm not going to do. anytime soon.
And also Mike, before I drop it, said there's a little bit... of an extra piece right here that he didn't have in the original X3 bar and this could aid so you don't basically tear at the resistance band. Looks like a little cap right on the edge here to keep the sharpness of the foot plate from damaging the bands over time because they're going to rub up against here no matter what but having a smoother edge right here I think will help for the longevity of the bands.
So here are the branded X3 resistance bands. I believe these are 41 inch bands. This is the lightest one right here. Then it gets a little bit thicker right here.
Then we get even thicker. As you can see, these are the three I'm currently using. I'm really sticking with the lightest one and then maybe the second lightest one, but I'm sure as hell I'm not using this one yet.
It's still in the rubber band right now. And they also have an elite band, which I will not get anywhere close to. for a very very long time but they give you enough bands to go now some people say these bands are too long they would go with a 37 inch band as opposed to whatever length i believe 41 is mike from sliding bench trainer by the way subscribe to his channel great x3 total gym all sorts of great content but these bands here some people say they're too long i'm 6'2 the only time i really feel that a shorter band or even a thicker shorter band would work out is with squats and deadlifts.
With those two exercises, I do feel like some of the resistance, even if I'm going two to three seconds up and down, and I'm going maybe in an RDL fashion, or even box or bench squats, I'm still, there's some resistance being released, obviously at the top of the deadlift, the top of the squat. It's going to be inverse to a regular weighted squat, where I feel the most amount of resistance at the top portion of the squat and the top portion of the deadlift. But at the bottom, I'm not feeling like I have anything. It's kind of loose, and I kind of have to reset myself to do those squats and also do those deadlifts. So let's talk about the program because I did not follow it in the first phase.
I jumped right to six days a week. I love working out. So six days a week of doing this, doing a push day, doing a pull day.
And then repeating two more times totals out to the six days a week. And I really did enjoy it. There's only two things that I did basically outside of the X3 bar.
I did morning cardio anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes. I know we say cardio is a big waste of time. I love doing cardio. It gets my blood flowing, gets me warmed up and ready for any workout. And then on top of that, I did one total gym session for pull-ups.
along with abs. I love using the Total Gym, but I really wanted to dedicate the two weeks strictly to the X3 bar. But I felt one day I want to do some pull-ups, do some core.
And I was doing core like every third day on there. The Total Gym is excellent for leg raises, ab coaster work, and also cable rotationary work. Rotationary? Cable rotation work on that. So I was tempted to do that, but it was only one workout.
The other... 13 days at the time of this recording. We're done, actually 14 today.
Two full weeks, all X3 bark, six days a week, two push days, actually three push days, three pull days. I'm a fitness guy, I'm not a mathematician. As a matter of fact, I can't even pronounce mathematician while I fill an accent after recording these videos, so go figure. So let's talk about the one set theory, which Dr. J polarizes a lot of people.
People love it or they hate it. Now, personally, I love working out 10 minutes a day to me. I love to work out longer than that, but I wanted to try my best to stick with the one set to absolute complete failure.
And trust me, I did that one set to absolute complete failure, full reps, two to three seconds out, two to three seconds back in the case, say of the chest press. So The cadence, I was really trying to stay slow with the reps. Be intentional. Full reps. Partial reps. Mini reps. Super mini reps. And so I couldn't even push out the most minute rep. And then what did I do? Now I'll do another set. I'll try another set and it felt good but I didn't get anywhere near the benefit in the second set.
So after thinking about this one set the absolute failure and trying to figure out the volume as opposed to say a regular set Athlean-X or I was doing a mind pump media aesthetic program which had foundational and also focus days foundational or the heavier days focus days are like the light cable days or dumbbells stuff like that. And I was totally out the reps I would do on those foundational workouts as opposed to the X3. And I actually did more volume on the X3 bar in the one set that I was doing in the four to five sets on the foundational days of the Mind Pump Media workouts or even the AthleanX workouts where they do splits or full bodies.
And I said, okay, well, I can get behind that theory, although my mind, my emotions, my Rocky training montage. indoctrination says I want to work out longer than 10 minutes. So I'm struggling with that part personally because I love to work out. And after the year that I had after recovering from the severe spine infection, I love spending time in the gym.
I want to spend as much time as possible. Of course, that's not scientific. That's not logical. That's strictly based on emotion. And that's what I'm battling with.
But after two weeks, I do feel like these workouts are giving me a hell of a pump, and I do feel like I'm progressing little by little with strength, and hopefully I'm going to end up looking better from it. So after two full weeks of using the X3 Bar System, what's my initial conclusion? I say initial because I'm going to update each and every one of you as I use this more and more, let you know if there's any defects.
premature ripping of the bands, the footplate wears down, the bar wears down, anything like that. Also, as we get more X3 accessories, we do have the belt squat. We're going to have a dedicated review on that.
As a matter of fact, I picked the large by mistake. They swapped it out for a medium. Really, really quick.
The customer service has been awesome. It better be for the price that you're paying for the system. Also, we're going to have updated reviews, full workouts, all that stuff.
Like I said, if I can get the long bar. the force bar, and then compare the bars and stuff like that to help you make the most educated consumer decision, I'll do my best to do that. We do have an affiliate link for this if you are interested in getting it.
I know it's very polarizing. Personally, I'm really enjoying it right now. And I'm going to do comparison reviews.
As a matter of fact, now that I'm thinking about it, to each and every piece of equipment that I currently own, because you might be looking at one of those platform cable trainers, you might be looking at an all-in-one trainer. You might be looking at power block dumbbells, a bull worker, an isomax. I'm going to compare the X3 bar to each and every one of those things and other things as they come into the garage gym.
That's about it for this video. Most importantly, God bless each and every one of you. Have a great day.
Besides to my happy place, I'm walking in the light of a brand new day.