I’m sure there are many people like me out there, who would love to purchase the P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout DVD Program
Bring It!: The Revolutionary Fitness Plan for All Levels That Burns Fat, Builds Muscle, and Shreds Inches
When I looked at the reviews of the book on Amazon, there were a lot of complaints such as “This is for non-P90X users” or “Not enough information” (compared to P90X or other health/fitness programs). Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but they are overlooking the point of the book. It’s Tony’s fitness philosophy in written form, meant to be accessible for anyone, from beginner to advanced. There’s a fitness test, to determine your fitness level. If you’re looking for a new workout, it’s in here. As a matter of fact, there are Phase1 and 2 workouts for each fitness level. If you’re already at Striver (intermediate) or Warrior (advanced) level, but you need to work on your healthy eating habits, there’s a nutrition plan. Along the way, there’s motivation from Tony, in the form of Feel Good Fitness, The Cycle of Success, and 11 Laws of Health and Fitness. Again, there are many similarities between the book and what is found in P90X, which is no surprise, but it is not meant to be a direct replacement, with apologies to the Amazon reviewer who was disappointed that it does not include all the P90X exercises.
I purchased this book as a package deal when I attended a Tony Horton book signing (which included a live workout with Tony, of course). I had already completed several rounds of P90X, so I wasn’t starting at the Beginner level of fitness or nutrition. I still got a lot out of the book in terms of motivation, Tony’s nutrition plan (which is different than the P90X or P90X2 plans), and a P90X-style workout that is simplified and portable (in book form, or a couple of photocopied pages per workout). The downside, for me, which no one mentions on Amazon, is that he did not include worksheets for the workouts. He didn’t even recommend them, the way he always does in P90X. So I created my own worksheets. Problem solved.
If you’re looking for a lower-cost P90X alternative, here are the pros and cons:
Pros
- A much lower price! You will still need a lot of the same equipment required for P90X (pull down bar, dumbbells, and/or resistance bands, and an exercise mat).
- Written instructions for workouts, which sometimes can be easier to use in situations where you can’t play a video.
- Just like P90X, the workouts include resistance work (push ups, pull ups, bicep curls, etc.), cardio (plyometrics, martial arts exercises, and more), and yoga.
- A nutrition plan which includes a progressive “cleanse.” A certain food group is eliminated each week, to see how your body benefits or changes as a result.
- Motivation and education from Tony Horton which is based on, or even adds to what we’ve seen so far in P90X and the subsequent programs.
- The Beginner or Striver level workouts can be used as preparation for a P90X purchase. It can help you decide if Tony’s style of training works for you, and you’ll be ready for the challenges of P90X or P90X2.
- Check out my vacation workout blog entry, when I did the Warrior Phase 1 workouts (except for yoga) in a hotel exercise room. When you’re familiar with the workouts, all you really need is the workout exercise list, the right exercise bands, and a mat.
- For users of the Kindle app on Apple devices, there is a follow up e-book called CRUSH IT! which provides both pictures and video demonstrations of the Warrior level workouts. Unfortunately, the videos do not play on other Kindle devices or apps.
- Tony estimates that each fitness level will take about six weeks to complete. That’s three weeks using the Phase 1 workouts, three weeks for the Phase 2 workouts, at each level (Beginner, Striver, Warrior). That’s about four and a half months total, if you start as a Beginner. On the other hand, if the fitness test indicates you’re a Striver or Warrior, you might not need to complete all the workouts in the book. How do you feel about skipping phases, or spending more than the now popular 90 days to complete the program?
- Each Phase is composed of three workouts: Resistance, Cardio, and Yoga. You have three Resistance and two Cardio days per week, and one Yoga day. Unlike P90X, each week is the same until you progress to the next Phase or Level, so there isn’t as much variety.
- As a beginner at yoga, I found it difficult at first to follow along with the P90X Yoga workout. When reading a book, it’s probably even more difficult for a beginner to put together all the exercises described on separate pages when it’s time to do them as listed in the yoga workouts.
- No worksheets! As I mentioned above, Tony talks about worksheets all the time in P90X, and they are available online, but there are no worksheets available for the book. Just make your own.
- There is a list of exercises for each workout, of course, but no page number reference for each exercise description (listed in a separate section of the book). If you’re not familiar with one or more exercises, you have to flip back and forth. I photocopied the workouts, then wrote the page numbers and short descriptions of each exercise.
- The Beachbody-branded workouts (including P90X) have an online support community at the Team Beachbody website, but I couldn’t even find a promotional website for this book. There’s no Internet resources “for more information or support” provided in the book, either. That’s unusual for a book published in the age of social media.
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