P90X Extreme Home Fitness

The P90X Extreme Home Fitness series is exactly that: A 90-day workout program that includes 12 extreme workouts designed to push your limits in every way. From pushups to pull-ups and plyometrics to yoga, Tony Horton’s P90X promises to “transform your body from regular to ripped in just 90 days,” and it does live up to its promises…if you can follow it. The schedule is very structured, with just one rest day a week, and the exercises are intense and challenging. Overall, Tony has created a challenging, thoughtful and balanced program that will appeal to people who want to take their training to the next level.

A 90-day workout program taught by a talkative and muscular Tony Horton, that includes 12 workout DVDs with a focus on high-intensity resistance training. The workouts are divided by different muscle groups and fitness objectives (e.g., chest and back one day, cardio the next, shoulders and arms, yoga, etc.) and increase in intensity every 4 weeks. The included calendar helps you map out your schedule, with 3 weeks at a high intensity (workouts are scheduled every day except 1) followed by a week of recovery. There’s a diet plan included as well, which is not reviewed.

Before starting the program, you’re urged to take a fitness test to make sure you’re ready. It would be nice if that were included in one of the videos, but it is outlined in the included manual. The test alone is intense with exercises like pull-ups, leaps, pushups, sit and reach, wall squats, biceps curls, in and outs and jumping jacks.

P90X certainly isn’t for everyone, especially beginners, but it may appeal to:

• Experienced exercisers who want a challenge
• Men – There are women in Tony’s videos who could kick my butt three ways from Sunday and I know a number of women who enjoyed the videos, but they are geared towards men. There are no pretty sets or choreographed moves and they don’t follow the beat of the music. There’s an emphasis on pushups, pull-ups, and heavyweights, all of which often appeal more to men — though women will get a lot out of these exercises as well.

The workouts themselves are non-stop, moving from one exercise to the next with incredible variety. Note: These workouts will make you sore and may need more rest days. My husband, who’s a few weeks into the program, hobbled around with sore muscles for two weeks. The following is a brief breakdown of the workouts:

• • Chest & Back involves alternating a variety of pushups and pullups, doing as many as you can in the allotted time, as well as a few strength moves. Tony shows modifications (e.g., using a band if you don’t have a pull-up bar) and suggests stopping when needed…or, as in my husband’s case, collapsing.
  • Plyometrics – This very tough workout is an hour of powerful and intense plyometric exercises like jump squats, side jumps, and squat jumps, all of which leave you a dripping mess. My husband did this the first time on a business trip and texted, “I’m tired after the warm-up.”
  • Shoulders & Arms – This workout involves a series tri-sets in which you work the shoulders, biceps, and triceps one after the other…over and over and over. At the end of this, my husband remarked, “I can’t feel my triceps. Is that bad?”
  • Yoga X – This 90-minute routine is as challenging as the strength workouts. There are common poses like sun salutations, downward dogs, and warriors, but there are challenging, advanced moves (such as the crow pose) that almost made my husband cry.