This article provides a detailed review of Beachbody's P90x Extreme Home Fitness Workout DVD Program with Tony Horton. Includes a detailed break down of what to expect from each of the P90x Workout DVD's, what is included in the DVD package, and where to buy P90x Fitness Workout DVD Program!

I personally completed the P90x 90 day challenge and decided to share my experience with all of you. The review gets pretty specific for those of you who like to know EXACTLY what you are getting into. Check out the review below and decide if P90x is for you.

What is P90X?

Many people have heard the name P90X but are unsure of what it is exactly. P90X is a Fitness Workout DVD Program, it consists of 12 DVDs that each focus on either a targeted area of the body, or a specific type of exercise. For example, one DVD targets the legs and back area to tone, strengthen and trim specifically the legs and back. Another DVD targets overall toning, strength and balance by implementing Yoga as the method of exercise.

What does P90X come with?

When you order the P90X Fitness Workout DVD Program you will receive 12 workout DVDs, a guide including different schedules for different results as well as what each DVD consists of. You will also receive a 3 phase nutritional guide that is strongly recommended to follow during your 90 day challenge for optimal results. This guide gives you a great breakdown of eating healthy, eating a variety of foods, portioning and a diet affects your body.

 The 90 Day Challenge that is associated with P90X is exactly how it sounds - a 90 day challenge to complete the DVD program. There are different program options depending on the results that you want. You choose a program and then follow the schedule of which DVDs to do on which days, how to long to repeat the schedule, when to rest, and when to change repeating workouts. If you're utilizing the nutritional guide and eating the recommended diet on top of completing the workouts, you'll be VERY surprised at what you can accomplish in 90 days!

P90X Review - MY Experience

To start off, I'll tell you a little about my personal fitness history. I played sports in high school and club sports in college, so I've always been athletic and enjoyed a good workout. However, as many of you know out there, a 9 to 5 or any type of time consuming job can affect your energy level and exercise routines. Needless to say about 2 years out of college I was VERY out of shape and overweight. I was going to the gym here and there, but P90X was the first DVD program I tried. After seeing the infomercials countless times and the results of other people I decided to give it a try. I knew I was unhealthy and that it would be difficult, but it looked like just the right thing to kick my butt into shape. I ordered it through Amazon, and the DVDs, General Guide and Nutritional Guide were delivered within a week. Overall I was VERY pleased with my results and can honestly say fi you're serious about getting into the best shape of your life, the P90X Workout DVD Program is for you!

The first DVD I tried was the Cardio DVD, just to test out the program. Not even kidding I was drenched in sweat by the end of the video and was exhausted! I even took a picture of myself and sent it to a friend because I couldn't believe how sweaty I was. As I began the program however, I realized that the Cardio DVD was actually, in my opinion, the EASIEST and the shortest DVD of the 12. After getting into the workout schedule and routinely completing the other DVDs, the Cardio DVD began to feel like a breeze.

There are 3 workout schedules you can choose from.  


Classic: This Routine offers a lot of resistance training and strengthening.
Lean: This Routine is mostly cardio with some resistance training for toning.
Doubles: This Routine is pretty much the Classic Routine with more cardio added. So you may be doing two DVDs a day rather than one.

I chose the Lean Routine, because I wanted to tone, shape, and slim down all areas of my body, rather than build bulky muscle. Many guys will choose the Classic Routine, since it produces bigger, stronger and well defined muscles. The Doubles Routine would work well for someone who wants to develop a good amount of muscle mass, but who also needs to loose a substantial amount of fat. If you're doing the Lean Routine you'll also need to purchase free weights and either resistance bands or a pull up bar. These are used in certain DVDs to created added resistance and target specific areas of the body.

Most of the DVDs are about an hour long, the Cardio is the shortest at about 43 minutes, the Yoga is over an hour and a half. With the Lean Routine, I completed one DVD a day, according to the schedule, and typically rested or stretched on the 7th day. The scheduled DVD pattern would repeat for 3 weeks, then change into a "rest" week focusing more on stretching and low intensity workouts, until the next phase began, aka month #2.

The first week was definitely hard. One thing you have to understand P90X is meant to be extreme and challenging, this doesn't mean that you can't do it if you're not in good shape. The DVDs do have somewhat of a disclaimer in the beginning that explains that if you have serious health issues and/or never partake in activity the workouts might be too extreme for you. After trying out all of the DVDs however, in my opinion anyone could become accustomed to these workouts if they don't over-exert themselves, and try hard to build stamina, strength and endurance through the completion of the program. Following the Nutritional Guide and trying recovery products will also help your body handle the extreme workouts and energy exertion. Tony Horton does a great job of explaining each and every move, taking you through a good warm up, stretch and cool down, encouraging you to go at your own pace and motivating you throughout the video.  

The 12 DVDs

Chest and Back: I honestly didn't use this DVD very much. I wasn't really incorporated into the Lean Routine, but focuses on defining pecs (chest muscles) and traps and lats (back muscles). 

Plyometrics: In my opinion this is by far the hardest DVD. Surprisingly it's not included in the Lean Routine at all, but after trying it I would strongly suggest throwing it in the mix. It's the most intense cardio workout of the DVDs because it involves a lot of jumping and constant moving. Also it will improve your strength and coordination for those of you who aren't very athletic. 

Shoulders and Arms: This will trim and shape you arms and shoulders giving them a healthy, athletic look. The great thing about P90X is you can always adjust your results by adding or using less weight. Tony does a great job of telling you how much weight you should be using for each type of results.  

Yoga: Way harder than you might think. The longest DVD, also requires the most mental focus. These moves will feel uncomfortable and some may feel impossible at first, but repeating the yoga routine will help you develop some serious flexibility, strength and balance. I actually love this workout, it's very calming while still producing serious sweat and results. 

Legs and Back: This DVD has some great moves, it pretty much alternates between a legs exercise and a back exercise the whole time. You will use the resistance bands and/or pull up bar for your back in this DVD a lot. Leg work mostly consists of using your own body weight to contour the various muscles in your legs - i loved what this DVD did for my thighs and butt!!  

Kenpo: My favorite DVD. It's a twist on kickboxing with an emphasis on cardio. Great for upper back and arms.  

X Stretch: Entire DVD is stretching only. Great for flexibility and rest days/weeks.  

Core Synergistics: Another good one, this DVD will challenge your core with moves you've never seen before. Strengthening your core will help you improve your ability to complete other exercises as well as prevent injury. 

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps: Upper body, upper body, upper body. Builds the 3 main areas to give you physical strength and a strong pronounced look - a lot of guys like this one who are going for the "guns" look.  

Back and Biceps: Again targets building muscle mass - a lot of push ups in this one. 

Cardio X: Good old cardio, keeps your heart rate up and helps burn fat. This workout can be added as a secondary workout just to burn some extra calories.  

Ab Ripper: 15 minutes of hard core, ab burning exercises. It starts right away no warm up and is over quickly but really gets your abs going, and will literally give you ripped abs. It's only advised once or twice a week.  

So there you have it! Overall I would say P90X is a great workout DVD Program that will really get you into great shape. You'll feel stronger, healthier, sexier, and not to mention accomplished! Check out the links below to see how you can get your P90X Work DVD Program on Amazon.com today!