Obviously I haven't finished the 90 days in four weeks so this is only a partial review, but I've had some really great results and so I didn't really want to wait to draft a full review. I was thinking I might do a second review after I finish the second 30 days, and then another when I get to the end of the 90 days.
In the box it comes with:
4 DVD's
1 resistance band
1 door attachment (to be used with the band)
A nutrition plan
A "6-Day Shred" plan (to jump start results)
and
P90 4-Step Power Plan
A rotation calendar to follow the workouts
I'll start from the bottom and work my way up!
Rotation Calendar: There are two to choose from: Sculpt or Sweat. Both follow a six day per week schedule. You choose Sweat if you want a more cardio focus to burn calories, and you'll follow Sculpt if you want a more strength-training focus that will help you build muscle. I chose to follow the Sculpt calendar.
4-Step Power Plan: Is basically a guide to get you started.
- Step 1 is set a goal and take your starting measurements. I admit- other than noting my weight the week I started I didn't take any other measurements. I didn't even take a before picture until after about my 2nd week. I didn't expect to see drastic changes really, so I didn't bother.
- Step 2 is "hit it". Basically put your calendar on the wall and get started.
- Step 3 is read the nutrition guide (more on that later)
- Step 4 is take after photos and pat yourself on the back for a job well done.
6-Day Shred: This is a "jump-start" guide to follow for six days. Without going into specific detail it's a diet to follow for six days while you follow the workout rotation calendar. It's a very restricted calorie diet and in the guide they tell you not to follow it for more than six days because it really is a very low calorie intake. Day 1 is 1200 calories, Days 2 & 3 are 1000 calories and Days 4, 5 & 6 are only 800 calories.
I did not try this. The diet consists of foods that are allergens in my household (eggs and almonds), plus it's only 800 calories per day. And while I know that it's meant to be very short term, there's a reason I'm a Weight Watcher: I like to eat.
P90 Simple Kitchen: The nutrition plan
This nutrition plan is a little more realistic. It gives you options for breakfast, lunch and dinner all around 400 calories each. And then it gives you options for 100-200 calorie snacks. You do some quick math to figure out how many calories you need per day to lose weight and then mix and match (or pick and choose, or pick and mix, or whatever you want to call it) your meals and snacks to hit that number daily. There's some other information in there too about the types of food to eat more of (fruits, veg, lean protein, etc.) and the kinds of foods to avoid (sugars, saturated fats, alcohol, etc.) which, as a Weight Watcher, I already knew. There's a lot of recipes in there that are for Shakeology (which as you can probably guess is another Beach Body product that they're trying to sell to you). But, I never liked the idea of replacing a meal with a shake. Again, I'm a Weight Watcher for a reason. I like to eat. Food. Real food. Yeah...
So I can't really review the plan because I didn't follow it. I continued to follow Weight Watchers as per usual. I did try a couple of the recipes though. The spiced oatmeal for breakfast was good (though it called for Shakeology protein powder and I used Quest), but literally every other breakfast item had eggs in it and that's a major no-no in my house for allergy reasons. From the lunch choices I only tried the pasta with veggies and goat cheese, but really how can you go wrong with goat cheese? So that was good. The white bean and tuna salad was also very good. But those were the only recipes I tried. And as of right now, I don't remember what the points were... But they were all pretty low, and every one of them was definitely less than 10 SmartPoints.
The Workouts:
The system comes with 4 DVD's:
- How to Hit It, Sculpt A, Sweat A, Ab Ripper A
- Sculpt B, Sweat B, Ab Ripper B
- Sculpt C, Sweat C, Ab Ripper C
- Saturday Special
So, as I said earlier I only finished the first four weeks so I can't review it all, but I'll tell you about what I did finish.
The 90-Day rotation works like this: Follow the "A" workouts for the first 4 weeks, the "B" workouts for the second 4 weeks, and the "C" workouts for the next 4 weeks. The last week you repeat "A" for 2 days, "B" for 2 days and "C" for two days. So far, I've finished the "A" workout weeks and I've done the first Sculpt workout in the "B" series. For now I'll stick with just talking about the "A" series though.
As I also mentioned earlier I chose to follow the "Sculpt" focus rotation. The workouts go like this:
Sunday: Rest
Monday: Sculpt A
Tuesday: Sweat A & Ab Ripper A
Wednesday: Sculpt A
Thursday: Sweat A & Ab Ripper A
Friday: Sculpt A
Saturday: Saturday Special
I didn't follow this rotation exactly. There were two weeks where my commitments and obligations caused me to miss the Friday workouts. And every week I did the Saturday Special on Wednesday after the Sculpt workout because I like to keep my weekends open for the boat and beach ;) But other than that I followed the calendar it came with.
The first thing you should watch is the "How to Hit It" video on the first DVD. It explains how to install your resistance band and door attachment, and how to use painters tape on the floor to create an "H" shaped grid. The grid is used in the workouts to assist with proper form on the moves. Then it's time to work out!
Sculpt A is about 30 minutes including the cool down. It starts with a warm up and then alternates upper and lower body exercises for building muscle. The upper body can all be done with the included resistance band, or, for a few of the moves, you can use dumbbells if you want. The lower body is all about isometric holds so even though they're not using weights or bands you will still feel a burn!
Sweat A is also about 30 minutes with the cool down. You do a round of various cardio exercises, take a 30 second break, and then repeat the same pattern for the second round. They include some kick-boxing style moves as well as basic things like lateral runs, press jacks, etc.
Ab Ripper A is about 8 minutes and immediately follows Sweat A. You don't even have to go back to the menu on the DVD, it will just cue up automatically after Sweat A. But if you wanted to do an extra Ab day you can go into the menu and simply select the workout on its own. In this workout you do various ab exercises for 10 reps each. They focus on all ab muscles including upper, lower and obliques.
All of the workouts have three modifiers: beginner, intermediate and advanced. The trainer, Tony Horton, will do a few reps at the beginning of each move, and then move about between the three other modifiers to demonstrate what they're doing differently for each move. For the most part I followed the advanced or intermediate modifier. But if you were totally new to exercise this would be a great workout because the beginner modifications were really very low impact and totally doable for someone new to fitness.
My Results:
Like I said earlier I didn't take any "before" photos until I was about two weeks into the program but I really wish I had taken them on Day 1 because I've had really good results. It wasn't until I was two weeks in though that I realized things were changing and that I might want to take a picture. You see, I wasn't expecting much. The system is advertised as an easier, less extreme version of P90X and it's good for people who are beginners, new to exercise. I am not new to exercise. I'm pretty fit and I had finished Body Shred earlier this year (but admittedly for most of that I was following the beginner modifier or occasionally the intermediate modifier), plus the advanced rotations of some of my older FIRM workouts. So when I started I figured it would be easy, but at least it would be something different. I was getting bored with my old stuff.
As I also mentioned earlier, I didn't follow the nutrition plan that came with the system. I continued to follow Weight Watchers. I didn't even change from "maintenance" to "losing". I kept my food settings set to the same old "Maintain My Weight" and "Swapping FitPoints First". While doing the first 30 days of P90 I tracked almost every day. I did take a couple of days off here and there, but as usual a break from tracking does not equal an excuse to engorge myself and go completely off the rails. I tried to remain mindful of my eating even when I wasn't "on-program".
In four weeks I've lost 4.5 pounds.
Yeah. You read that right. 4.5 pounds in a month! WITHOUT doing anything different except the P90 workouts. I kept my diet the same and all my other routines the same. I just did the workouts.
My other bit of progress:
I had to buy heavier weights. And not for lower body. For upper body. For a woman - that's a big deal. Previously the heaviest set of dumbbells I owned were 12 pounds. I had to by 15's.
So all in all I've been thrilled with my results! I would recommend these to anyone and everyone looking to get in shape and build some muscle. The workouts really can accommodate every fitness level and they are mostly fun (if you can call exercise "fun" lol). And Tony Horton - well, he's a total dork, but he's funny. When you're cooling down and doing "cat" stretches he makes cat noises. He makes lame jokes throughout. By day 28 you might get tired of it, but I thought he was amusing.
And I will be posting an update when I've finished the second round of "B" workouts sometime around day 60. I'm looking forward to what happens next!
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