P90X Reviews

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P90X, or Power 90 Extreme, is a home exercise system developed by Tony Horton in conjunction with Beachbody, which improves physical fitness in 90 days through a rigorous periodizationalized training program. The program emphasizes full-body fitness, and consists of strength and cardiovascular training using circuits, intervals, and plyometrics, as well as yoga, core, and stretching workouts that are divided into three 30-day phases, combined with a nutrition and optional supplementation plan.

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P90X brings athlete-type training to the laymen (many athletes and coaches were consulted) and stresses the importance of what it calls “muscle confusion” (a term for adding variety through cross-training and periodization), so it switches the order of exercises and incorporates new movements during each phase. According to Horton, muscle confusion prevents the body from adapting to exercises over time, resulting in continual improvement without plateaus.

History

P90X is the current incarnation of several generations of training programs developed by Tony Horton with the Beachbody home fitness company. In 1998, Horton began his relationship with Beachbody, when he created, along with fellow fitness trainer Debbie Siebers, a series of workouts called Great Body Guaranteed. Tony’s next fitness program was the highly successful Power90 in-home “boot camp”, which combined cardio and strength training. Power 90, marketed via infomercials and other broadcast media, was a best-seller in the fitness arena, and in 2004 Beachbody debuted Horton’s “extreme” version.

P90X was designed for the graduates of Beachbody’s fitness programs who were demanding a more rigorous regimen. Horton honed the program by utilizing the exercises and techniques he used personally to stay fit as well as consulting fitness experts in disciplines that he wanted to incorporate into P90X. Development was a long process involving many fitness experts, including triathlete/author Mark Sisson, 5th Dan Kenpo star Wesley Idol, aerialist Dreya Weber, Beachbody’s fitness and nutrition expert, Steve Edwards, and Beachbody CEO Carl Daikeler. Beachbody began testing the program in March 2003. The Test Pilots included Beachbody President Jon Congdon and Mega Mace director D. Mason Bendewald, who went on the direct the final show.
They began with a comprehensive “fit test”, measurements, weigh-in and photos. With the encouraging results, a wider test group of 30 people were put through the same P90X program before it was ready for the public. Due to the extreme nature of the 12 fitness routines, there was difficulty casting for fitness professionals to be featured in the filmed workouts. The decision was made to use test group participants when shooting the workout videos because they were the ones who could be handle the program’s rigors.
In total, Horton has created five different 90-day programs associated with the Power 90 name: Power 90, Power 90 Master Series, P90X, P90X+, which is intended for P90X graduates. P90X continues to be Beachbody’s best-selling product after years of positive word of mouth and heavy infomercial advertisements. In April 2008, P90X became the best-selling infomercial of any type in the United States.

Since its introduction, P90X has been used by a reported 2 million people.

Program overview

P90X workout is an intensive 90-day home fitness program that combines a variety of exercise styles, including strength training, cardio, yoga, plyometrics, and stretching. The system also stresses overall fitness by including bodyweight exercises such as pull-ups and push-ups, as well as plyometrics (dynamic training), yoga, and kenpō. Most of the workouts are just under an hour in length, and feature Tony Horton as instructor and motivational leader along with 3 or 4 fellow exercisers as backup.
For workouts that require weights, one of the backup exercisers will generally demonstrate the exercise using the alternative resistance bands. The backup exercisers also demonstrate some moves at lower levels of intensity for participants who aren’t as fit. With the exception of the Ab Ripper X routine, which is scheduled to be done at the end of another workout, each P90X workout generally begins with about a 10 minutes dynamic warm-up and ends with a cool-down of 3–5 minutes.

The background cast includes actress-aerialist Dreya Weber and film actor Erik Stolhanske of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe, as well as Wesley Idol.

Variations

Beachbody offers free support where their trainers help clients mix and match their various training programs into hybrid programs.

An increasingly popular variation amongst P90X graduates is to replace the cardio workouts sessions from Shaun T’s Insanity Workout. This allows them to increase the intensity of their aerobic and anaerobic training while maintaining the resistance workouts of P90X.

Nutrition

The nutrition plan, developed by nutrition expert Carrie Wiatt in conjunction with Beachbody, is broken into three separate phases intended to go hand in hand with the exercise schedule. Generally, the first 30 days emphasizes higher protein and lower carbohydrates in order to teach the user the relationship between carbohydrates and energy. As soon as they are ready, participants are encouraged to move into the second phase that increases the percentages of carbohydrate in the diet. The third phase is the goal, which is a higher carbohydrate “athletes” diet. Users are asked to move through these phases at their own pace.

A post-exercise drink is also recommended within an hour of finishing each workout to help the body recover more efficiently. The P90X recovery formula contains 4 parts carbohydrates to 1 part protein, which sports nutritionists consider the ideal ratio for muscle repair post exercise.

Equipment

Standard home gym equipment that can be used with P90X: Yoga blocks, yoga mat, dumbbells, pull-up/push-up bar, push-up handles, gloves, and chair

The workout routines come on 13 DVDs. Since the program is done at home, the user should have either dumbbells and a pull-up bar, or else resistance bands, for strength training exercises, along with a sturdy chair. Optional equipment includes a yoga mat for the abdominal and yoga workouts, push-up stands(which increase the range of push-ups and put less stress on the wrists), and a heart rate monitor for the cardio workouts.
Beachbody sells a custom pull-ups bar, designed by Edwards, and push-up stands, designed by Horton, as well as bands. They also recommend Bowflex select-tech dumbells because of their space efficiency in the home.