Tony Horton’s P90 Base Kit DVD Workout

• †Results may vary. Exercise and proper diet are necessary to achieve and maintain weight loss and muscle definition.
• **Resistance bands contain natural rubber latex, which may cause severe allergic reactions.

I was introduced to Beachbody and Tony Horton back on the old Power 90 DVDs. At the time, a lot of friends were doing P90X but I wasn’t ready so I started off with that. So since then I’ve been through the original Power 90, the first P90X, I attempted Insanity (it wasn’t for me), and now the new Tony Horton’s P90 Base Kit DVD Workout. I had bought this off Beachbody’s website so I feel ahead of the reviews, so here’s my full review of all the workouts and everything offered.

DIET: With all of Beachbody’s routines, a food and nutrition plan is offered which also includes a 6 day shred to do the first week. I really liked how they provided a grocery list of everything you’d need, and I followed the 6 day shred as directed. It was a bit of a struggle at first but I was pleased with the weight loss and it should be safe for anyone. But I’m currently on Weight Watchers so I followed my WW plan with a coach while continuing to do the workout from there on. One thing I did incorporate was Shakeology, which is advertised to an ENORMOUS degree on these DVDs. When I ordered this through Beachbody, it came with a Shakeology trial and I got a 2 month supply from there. It is a good, super food supplement that I’d consider on using in the future, although it might be difficult for some to use as a meal replacement at first (it worked best for me at breakfast with my work schedule). Later as the workouts got a bit more difficult, I had also taken the old P90X Recovery Drink which I think is still Beachbody’s best supplement. It’s not mentioned in the diet plan, but you will notice a container of it sitting in the background during the exercises so they are still casually advertising it, and I’d recommend it if the workouts feel a bit difficult in the 2nd and 3rd months. Lastly, they do suggest taking their Activit vitamin supplements, or you can just take your own vitamin pills.

Warning about Shakeology: The shake formula itself is fine, I liked it a lot. The way it’s currently being sold, I’m really not a fan of. If you look it up here on Amazon, you’ll note that you’ll be taken directly over to Beachbody’s website to order it. And here’s where my warning comes in, they will very likely have it set up to come to your house monthly. I found this extremely annoying and tarnishes the Beachbody brand a bit for pretty much forcing it on their customers who are all likely very surprised when a month later, they have another bag of Shakeology at their doorstep and see their credit cards had been charged again. The stuff is not cheap, so this is real disappointing they’d decide to force sell it this way. If any member of Beachbody is reading this, please stop doing this and make it available on Amazon just like the P90X Recovery drink is without fooling anyone into a monthly subscription of a $140 product. Thank you.

MONTH ONE  of Tony Horton’s P90 Base Kit DVD Workout:

SWEAT A: I’m starting with the cardio, as I decided to do Sweat A three times a week (you can do Sculpt A three times a week instead if you want to focus on muscle gain, the choice is yours. I went with the cardio to burn more fat). The first month is overall pretty relaxed and most of the moves don’t push you very hard. There’s a lot of running in place, press jacks as opposed to regular jumping jacks, and only a few sprawls where you’ll get on the ground. They do have modifiers in every workout which you might find following along with the first day or two of the exercise until you know all the moves, but with Sweat A you’ll be joining Tony and the other trainees that are moving at full speed pretty quickly. Sweat A is a good place to get started in the routine for sure, it’s a 25 minute workout that I’m confident anyone can do and you’ll build up a descent sweat out of it.

AB RIPPER A: 10 different moves, with 10 reps each. This routine runs under 10 minutes and immediately follows Sweat A. Most of the moves here will be familiar to anyone who’s done any of Tony’s previous workouts. For anyone new that’s struggling, just stick with it and really try to get the 10 reps. It had been awhile since I’d done a workout routine so I had to push myself a bit more to get them all, but once you do it becomes easier and another good first month workout.

SCULPT A: This one is perhaps a bit too easy! It’s not a bad thing at all, especially if it’s been awhile since you’ve worked out – but I thought this was the easiest routine by a long shot. All the sculpting exercises are full body workouts, so you’ll be doing chest, back, legs, arms, biceps, triceps, and legs again. It might sound like a lot, but the first month focuses much more on just getting your body ready for the second month. A lot of the workouts here are with resistance bands and you even do half push ups as opposed to full ones. Anyone can handle this, you’ll be fine and thankful to be moving on to the second month. This also runs around 25 minutes.

SATURDAY SPECIAL: The Saturday Special routine runs through the entire program. It’s important to note that as with the first month routines, it might seem like the hardest workout of the week in the first month. It’s 25 minutes, but very much centered on your core, so if you decide to do Sweat & Ab Ripper A three times a week like I did, your abs will get a fourth workout at the end of the week. I really struggled with this one throughout the first week, but I highly recommend not worrying about it and do what you can. Since you’ll be coming back to this routine every week, you’ll notice real progress in the 2nd month, and will likely be able to do it all by the 3rd.

MONTH TWO of Tony Horton’s P90 Base Kit DVD Workout:

SWEAT B: I think this is probably my favorite workout of all the DVDs (including Ab Ripper B). Everything you learned in Sweat A is taken up a notch and you really get a great cardio workout. Even better, you FEEL great at the end of it and know you worked your tail off. The routine runs about 31 minutes (35 with the cooldown at the end) and contains similar moves from Sweat A with a bit more intensity. While running Tony will call out squats, you’ll get a bit more airborne, and you’ll even finish with a few jump kicks. While Sweat A had some kicks and punches, Sweat B gets closer to MMA style workouts. You will spend more time on the ground with a climbing routine that DRILLS you and feels exceptionally good when you make it through the whole minute. Does this sound like much? Even if it does, your body will be ready for it after the first month and you’ll do better and better each time you do the routine. I highly recommend P90 for this routine alone.

AB RIPPER B: The same ten moves, with five more thrown in. All ten reps each. While the workout is simply just an extension of Ab Ripper A, since Tony doesn’t have to explain every move to you this time (it’s not secret that he likes to talk, a lot) it moves a little bit faster. The whole routine is about 14 minutes total, so with Sweat A both exercises will take about 50 minutes total.

SCULPT B: If you enjoyed using resistance bands in the first month, you can still use them here. But the real workout is benefitted with a much better focus on free weights. You’ll still be getting the same full body workout here again, and Tony asks that you really try and get 16 reps of each move (which isn’t always easy). The pushups and upper body moves are a bit more intense here and you’ll enjoy the results. Just a few complaints with this routine – especially on the leg exercises, it is pretty annoying when the people on the video get confused with what Tony wants from them and don’t do it properly. It actually happens a few times in the video, where they’re asked to lunge or hold and yet they move any way. Tony makes comments throughout P90 about how it’s ok for them to mess up so he can correct them (and indirectly correct you at home), but in the instances throughout Sculpt B it really takes you out of the routine and feels downright confusing. Still a very good workout that will leave you a bit sore afterwards. 30 minutes, with a couple minute cooldown afterwards.

MONTH THREE of Tony Horton’s P90 Base Kit DVD Workout:

SWEAT C: I was really looking forward to month three, but I don’t think it’s as good as the second month. Don’t get me wrong, this will make you sweat, BIG TIME. But again they are kicking up the moves a bit further this time around and it doesn’t feel…. right. Some of the MMA stuff especially feels like you’re going against your body and just feels like a mix up of Sweat B just to give you something different, without feeling better in any way. There are a lot more sprawls so you’ll be saying hello to the floor a lot more often, and wearing out your arms a lot in the progress. But I was surprised that things weren’t moving much faster, and instead it just felt like more, but it seemed much more confusing. It runs over 35 minutes, close to 40 with the cooldown. While I had a few minor complaints with P90 up until this point, Sweat C is ultimately why I dropped it down to a 4 star review and just don’t think it’s very good…

AB RIPPER C: …Though that is certainly not the case with Ab Ripper C. Definitely the best of ab ripper exercises, and if you wondered if you could handle the P90X routine – Ab Ripper C is right on par with Ab Ripper X and runs roughly the same length (15-16 minutes). You will definitely be defining your abs by the end of the third month, and with those with a little less fat will likely have a very nice 6-pack to show for it when they’re all completed. Great stuff here.

SCULPT C: As a whole, Sculpt C is an excellent full body workout and you will be sweating hardcore at the end of it. I liked this a lot better than Sculpt B, but I do wish that there were 2 separate sculpt workouts. While in the first month, a full body sculpting workout is fine since it’s about getting your body ready for what’s to come, I think by Sculpt C the same doesn’t apply. Splitting up the routines so you had a full leg and back workout one day, and a full arm, biceps, triceps one would have been so much more beneficial than cramming it all in this 35 minute workout. In the end, I really felt like I wanted to jump right back into P90X or try P90X3 – and I’m pretty sure that was their plan all along.

OVERALL:

Yes, I definitely recommend doing the new Tony Horton’s P90 Base Kit DVD Workout. The old Power 90 (which was just 2 DVDs) was pretty long outdated so I’m glad Beachbody realized they needed to redo it for people that weren’t quite ready for doing something as extreme as their other workouts. This is something that is meant for everyone, and I do think anybody can benefit from it greatly and be a perfect introductory step into getting in shape. For me, gyms never worked out because as soon as I found a reason one morning not to go, it became the norm and I had a very hard time doing it as consistently as I liked. With these home workouts, they really push you and give you an intense, full body workout that you needed. All you have to do it keep telling yourself “just push play” and do it. I hope it becomes as beneficial for you as it has for me. Moving onto P90X3 now.