Best Home Workout Videos and DVDs
They don’t say this in the infomercial, but P90X is not really for complete beginners or serious couch potatoes that want to start a program.
Aren’t sure you’re in shape for P90X? Maybe you should start with Power 90 or Power 90 Master Series. Bottom line is if you’re young ~20s or 30s and used to be in decent shape, you might be able to get away with starting with P90X. If it’s been awhile since you’ve done any serious exercising of any kind, it might be a good idea to set your sights on getting to the P90X starting level.
According to the P90X manual
We ask that you complete the equivalent of Power 90 or Slim in 6 before you begin”… “If you can’t do what is listed below, you’ll see better results by doing another exercise program before you take on P90X.”
I would agree. You can “keep pushing pause” on P90X, keep doing the modified, but to get the most out of the program without first killing yourself or worse getting disgusted and quitting or injuring yourself, you should at least be able to do:
Tony says he’s a big fan of the pause button, but if your hour workout becomes two hours, that’s a lot of time commitment not everyone can do. If you burn out during the warm up, the rest of the workout isn’t going to be any fun and you might give up too soon.
Here are a few ideas if you can’t do P90X (yet).
Power 90 In Home Boot Camp: Great place to start. I went from doing 3 push-ups to 20. Basic push-ups, dumbbell presses, curls, squats. Cardio that is called Sweat for a reason. P90 will get you up to the P90X minimum level so you can P90X without passing out or calling 911.
Power 90 Master Series: If you’re in decent shape but not quite at the P90X level, Power 90 Master was produced after P90X as a step in-between P0wer 90 and P90X. There are a lot of the same or similiar routines in Power 90 Master as P90X, no pull-ups, but plenty of push-ups of all kinds, cardio, yoga and core routines.
10 Minute Trainer: It’s not really publicized much but it will get you used to using the bands and cardio. The workouts don’t have to be over in ten minutes, if you have more time, do two or three for a great 30 minute workout.
Slim in 6: The P90X manual recommends starting with this one. It’s in my library and on the list to be reviewed, but haven’t done it yet. But it looks like it might be worthwhile and oriented more toward women then the Power 90 series.
Chalean Extreme: I’ve got a review on this later, it looks like a great program, but for the cost, especially if you already bought P90X another $100+ program might be too much. At $60, Power 90 or Power 90 Master is the way to go if you already spent money on P90X. But that’s just me.
All of the Power 90 workouts are excellent, you can’t go wrong with any of them. If you absolutely hate them, Beachbody has a money back guareentee but only if you buy direct from Beachbody. They’re not going to give a refund on DVDs you got from eBay or Craigslist. See our Discounts page for more info.
Power 90 is a lifestyle. You’re not going to put away the DVDs after your 90 days. You’re going to want to keep “pushing play” and the more variety in your workout, the more you’ll enjoy doing it. Some people get tired of Tony’s goofiness, but turn down the sound, pump up the tunes. Or choose another program for your variety, either way, keep pushing play!
Links:
Power 90 In Home Boot Camp
Power 90 Master Series
10 Minute Trainer
Slim in 6
Since it’s possible to buy individual DVDs from the P90 Master Series maybe I should review each DVD separately. Sculpt 5-6 starts out with warming up a little, stretching, then push-ups. Same as 3-4, but the push-ups are first hands normal width, then hands narrow, then normal width again. Instead of separate sets of normal width and narrow push-ups. The weight routines are different in that you are using lighter weights and moving your arms in more varied motions. Instead of the straight heavy pants, it’s one arm at a time heavy pants. Instead of regular Shoulder Flys, it’s Six Direction Shoulder Flys using a very light weight especially at first.
Sculpt 3-4 is basic presses, curls and push-ups, Sculpt 5-6 in the P90 Master Series is more focused and targeted on key muscles in the shoulders, arms and biceps with different variations on presses, curls and different kinds of push-ups. It starts out kind of slow, but I was seriously sweating and ready for the water break half way through. No pull-ups but plenty of presses, curls, push-ups and squats with enough variation it’s not boring and seems to combine different muscle groups in the same exercise. Instead of just squats, you do a squat then calf raise. Other sets have multiple movements like instead of a regular lawn mower, it’s a lawn mower with a circular motion and instead of a straight up and down press you’re press at angles you’re probably not used to doing.
Power 90 Master Series was done after P90X. The gym area isn’t as dark with a wood floor and blue walls, instead of the basement look of P90X. If you’re doing Power 90 Home Boot Camp, Sculpt 5-6 would make a great replacement for Sculpt 3-4 which, honestly after 6 weeks of 1-2 and then 3-4 is basically the same as 1-2, but more, 5-6 would be a greatly needed variety. With the right weights, it’s still “advanced”, but it is more then the normal presses and curl motions.
TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION IN 90 DAYS – GUARANTEED with Tony Horton’s Power90 Boot Camp
P90 Master is the program between Power 90 and P90X. Power 90 Master came out after P90X and you can tell it’s almost P90X. There are no pull-ups in the Master Series but there are a lot of push-up, weights and cardio.
There are tons of reviews and people trying P90X. Even though P90X is now the flagship home exercise video DVD for Beachbody, for those not quite at the P90X level should seriously look at P90 Master Series. The P90X precursor has many of the same moves and routines but without the pull-ups. P90X goes nuts with pull-ups and if you can’t do pull-ups either because of strength issues or the doorway pull-up bars don’t fit in your doorway and you don’t want to spend up to over $200 for a stand alone unit just yet, P90 Master is a great routine to work your way up to P90X.
If P90X is too hard to get through the first week, the P90 Master Series may be a better step down then the regular Power 90 Home Boot Camp. It’s a little more advanced and you begin to get into Beachbody’s Muscle Confusion technique, a fancy marketing term that puts variety in your workout. Where Power 90 is alternating weights and cardio every day with one rest day, Power 90 Master is three weeks of alternating weight and cardio with one week of cardio, plyo and Upper Middle Lower (UML).
Power 90 Master Series begins with a warm-up before stretching. There is still a little yoga, but no entire DVD of yoga. There are also two cardio routines, Core Cardio, Cardio Intervals and Sweat 5-6. Routines become longer than Power 90, most are almost 50 minutes with Cardio Intervals at 56 minutes.
Every routine begins with a short warm up of running in place, jumping jacks or something similar followed by stretching before the main workout.
Throughout each workout, there is a modified version, if you’re having problems because of an injury or any other reason. P90 Master Series is different from Power 90 because many of the routines are done with multiple sets, just like P90X.
P90 Master Series seems like it was done before P90X, but there are posters on the back wall of the gym that clearly say P90X. Either way it is a great set of routines that can prepare you for your next P90X attempt or is a perfectly good program all by itself.
There isn’t as much documentation with the Master Series as you would think. There is also no calendar and even though there are two versions of the schedule, it’s only published in the forums. There is a Lean version and the Classic version and just like P90X the Lean version is heavy on cardio with weight routines only two days a week. Both Lean and Classic have a “recovery week” where there is more focus on cardio and non weight routines.
For those that are unable to get the most out of P90X because of lack of pull-ups or lack of initial conditioning, this is a great program with plenty of variety to keep your workouts interesting. The music is low key and you don’t really hear it. Tony is his same, sometimes funny or even goofy, but encouraging.
You can buy the entire Power 90 Master Series or you can buy individual Power 90 Master DVDs to augment your Power 90 Home Boot Camp or P90X programs.
Want a discount on Power 90 Master Series? See how on our Discounts page or check out the Power 90 Master Series page at Beachbody.com or purchase the Power 90 Master Series DVDs individually.
TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION IN 90 DAYS – GUARANTEED with Tony Horton’s Power90 Boot Camp