Extreme Home Fitness 

Power 90 / P90 Review: First 90 days to the rest of your life!

Power 90 is one of several Beachbody entry level fitness programs. This workout was made long before Tony Horton’s now famous P90x workout and this gem of a starting program is what I used to changed my life. I lost 170lbs using it, escaped life threatening high blood pressure levels, got out of the prediabetic range, and got rid of obstructive sleep apnea , I highly recommend this to anyone who is overweight or just out of shape and looking for a strong foothold to restart their fitness. You can not go wrong with Power 90. Trust me. This program is highly modifiable to your starting fitness levels, you just have to stick with it and you will be amazed at the results. In the first week of Power 90 I lost 20lbs! If I can do it, anyone can. These pictures are me from 440lbs to 270lbs. I will always say this program is the” first 90 days to the rest of your life”. It saved mine. I also have my brother to thank for that.

This program has 2 phases. Phase 1 is day 1 to day 30-40. On the DVD’s this is listed as “1-2″, its recomended for you to advance to the Phase 2 or 3-4 on the DVD’s around day 30 or 40, until you finish out the full 90 days. But as Tony will tell you, listen to your body, if you use their chart to gauge your fitness progression, and be honest with yourself, you can advance to the 2nd phase earlier or a bit later in the program.

Along with the workout program you get a nutrition guide, a 90 day calendar, resistance band and everything you need to start your weight loss on the right foot. Things to help you calculate your body fat %, figure out how many calories you should be eating and the meal planner is helpful in having easy to go meals, in the back there is michi’s ladder to help you pick the best choices when it comes to food and preparing your own individual meals.

Tony Horton starts you off witth Sculpt 1-2 weight training, using his sectional progression method of training, he takes you through individual sections of the upperbody and even into the lower body with lunge movements. They include a resistance band with your purchase but I recommend free weights if you can afford them. The weight lifting DVD is roughly 30 minutes with a small warmup and stretch before you head into the exercises, which will go from pushups to shoulder presses and into bicep curls and tricep extensions and even into the chest and back! Nothing is missed in this workout. You are walked through each exercise with a demo video, showing you the proper form to prevent injury.  Tony keeps count while interacting with his two assistances “the kids” they are often called throughout the video, his general happy and silly personality is encouraging and keeps it from being a boring experience. He will always remind you, do what you can do, you don’t have to keep up with them. Its about going at your pace until you get better.

In the Cardio 1-2 DVD, you had better be prepared for the burn. You start off with a stretch to warmup your body and to get you nice and flexible and then you head into Power Yoga. If you’re laughing, you have never done yoga, let alone Power Yoga. Its a wonderful experiencee as you increase your range of flexibility while pouring sweat as you go through the movements. Its only a quick 3 to 5 minutes but it feels much longer when you first start out, again, do your best. When I first did it, I didn’t get very far as a 440lb man it seemed very impossible but yoga in itself is very relaxing and feels great once its done, so its a perfect warmup before cardio. The Cardio starts out with leg raises and a few variations, using your legs and arms at the same time can be a coordination hassle at first but once you get into it you really get a workout that leaves your inner/outter thighs on fire, your sides pulsing and your arms warmed. This dvd also features a small section of jumping jacks and running in place, sports cardio drills is what I call them. It keeps your heart rate up, this is typical where I was out of breath and covered in sweat. Thankfully you’re greeted with a small break but you go right into a core/upperbody focused cardio session. If you have ever seen P90x’s Kenpo X, its similiar to that. Jabs and Crosses, hooks and uppercuts, things that really tone your arms while keeping your heart rate up as well as front and side kicks that will have your legs on fire. You know you’re burning some serious calories with this workout! This dvd runs around 36 minutes or so.

Immeditately following the Cardio workout and 3 minute cooldown/stretch is AB ripper 100. Tony Horton’s 100 move ab workout. You do 10 reps per move. Just like the Sculpt DVD, you get a small demo of what the move should look like before you do it, so there is plenty of time to adjust and get it right. This is a really solid ab workout, its simple and effective for those out of shape or overweight like I was it may seem challenging but it can be done. Do as many reps as you can for the specific workout and just aim for a higher number next time. Doing something is better than doing nothing.

Phase 2 workouts run up to 10 minutes longer than the phase 1 workouts, the sculpt workout has a bunch more advance movements to it to keep your muscle growth challenged, the phase 2 cardio is longer and faster paced, the ab ripper 100 workout becomes ab ripper 200. 20 reps per move, it may not sound like a lot but your abs will be sore in the best sort of way after that workout. This is a complete body sculpting workout program. Don’t be fooled by its age, it will kick your behind into shape. If you accidently picked P90x up thinking you were ready and you weren’t, this is the place to start. If you are new to fitness, this is where you want to be. It works, its so easy to start out with and it will ingrain life long fitness habits.

I highly recommend Power 90 and Shakeology for fast starter results, if you need more information click the banner below.