Best Home Workout Videos and DVDs

Am I ready for P90X?

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:

• 3 pull-ups if male, 1 pull-up if female. Many people can’t do any when they start, but you will get the most out of the program if you can at least do a couple then use a chair for assist and modified.
• Vertical Leap 5 inches if male, 3 inches if female.
• Push-ups 15 if male, 3 female or 15 on your knees if female. There are push-ups in almost every routine. You won’t be able to do Yoga if you can’t do push-ups. Push-ups are everywhere in this program, Tony LOVES push-ups! If you can’t do at ten start with Power 90 or Power 90 Master. Plenty of push-ups and plenty of time to get in shape to be able to attack P90X the right way.
• The Heart Rate Maximizer part of the fitness test checks your max heart rate and how quickly you recover. The test is jumping jacks for 2 minutes at a quick pace. During the final 30 seconds go as fast as you can. Then measure your heart rate. If you can’t do jumping jacks for two minutes you don’t have a chance in the Cardio X or some of the other routines. Power 90 has cardio every other day and you start out easy and work your way to longer routines in Sweat 3-4 and 5-6.

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

P90 Power 90 In Home Bootcamp is the precursor to the now famous P90x. If you bought P90X only to find out you couldn’t pass the fitness test or couldn’t make it past the warm-up, the original Power 90 is a good place to start.

P90 is more basic – push-ups, dumbbells, (no pull-ups), squats, cardio and abs routines every other day. All you need for P90 is a chair, dumbbells or bands, towel and water. Tony Horton looks a lot younger in these videos which is fine. If you want a workout that goes back to basics and will prepare you for P90X, do Power 90 for the 90 days and you will be able to keep up with P90X a lot better, especially in the push-up and cardio sections.

Power 90 Routines

There are 7 routines: Sculpting, cardio, abs and a bonus routine showing Tony with a bunch of people in Hawaii. The sculpting routines are split between beginner 1-2 and more advanced 3-4 routines. The difference between 1-2 and 3-4 is 3-4 has more routines, more reps and different push-ups.  The sculpting routines are basic military press, 3 different sets of curls and other arm routines, basic stuff, but a good start if you haven’t had any sort of intense workout in awhile.

The two cardio routines are also split between 1-2 and 3-4, beginning and more advanced. Both cardio DVDs start with a warm up, some yoga, hi impact (jumping with both feet), low impact, along with basic punching and kicking. Cardio 3-4 has more sets and is longer. Each Cardio DVD has the Ab routines on the same workout, but also the ab routines have their own DVDs as well.

Ab routines are 100 and 200. Ten sets of ten, one hundred crunches and leg lifts of some sort, then the same routine, but with ten sets of twenty – 200 reps.

This is a great basic workout alternating between lifting weights and cardio every other day. Power 90 is the perfect place to start if your older or haven’t worked out regularly in more than a few years. The weightlifting is only as hard as the weights you use.  Start light and work your way up, slowly.

The Power 90 In Home Boot Camp includes bands which can be upgraded to heavier resistance if you’re a guy, the DVDs a bonus workout, meal plans, calendar, measuring tape, manual to get the most out of Power 90 and a bonus 6-Day fat burning express plan to jump start your weight loss.

The Only Downside in Power 90

If you follow the program correctly and consistently, including the diet, you will lose weight and gain muscle. The only bad part is that I’ve found after about halfway through, it’s a little boring. The same routines are done from 1-2 and 3-4 is the same and adding a few more. If you already bought P90X and it is sitting on the shelf, break out the Kenpo or Cardio routines to break up the cardio days and try a P90X weight routine to break up the weight routines.

Power 90 is a straight 90 days of alternating weight and cardio routines, which adds to the boredom factor but the Power 90 Master Series and P90X and P90X+ have changed to three weeks of weight routines then take a week off from the weights, not resting, just not lifting weights for a week while still doing cardio, Kenpo and Yoga. You can probably modify Power 90 the same way, especially if you already have P90X or one of the other P90 series. Or you can buy Power 90 Master Series individually to add some variety to your Power 90 Boot Camp routines.

Want a discount on Power 90 In Home Boot Camp? See how on our Discounts page or check out the Power 90 page at Beachbody.com

TOTAL BODY TRANSFORMATION IN 90 DAYS – GUARANTEED with Tony Horton’s Power90 Boot Camp