So often we are tempted to put a time limit on our health and fitness goals. We see new products make promises we know they can’t keep: “Lose 10 pounds in 10 hours!!”. But because we are lured by a time guarantee we often buy into things that our better sense cautions us against. There is no question that long lasting fitness progress requires hard work, and more than 10 hours and empty promises. A 90 day workout plan that focuses on better eating and really working your body is a realistic timeframe that can give you the results you want, if you are willing to do the work.

The harder you work on your fitness routine, the more drastic results you will see. You know you can’t expect to truly change your body or even change your fitness habits in 10 hours or even 2 weeks. New habits are built through routine and repetition. Hard bodies are built through sweat and hard work consistently applied over a measurable amount of time. A high quality 90 day workout has the potential to not only change your body but to transform your attitude about fitness and health overall.

If you have accepted the fact that the body and mind transformation will take nothing short of seriously hard work and a period of months rather than days, then you may be ready to commit to a 90 day workout program that lives up to its promises when you live up to the hard work required. P90X is the ultimate in 90 day workouts. It is the ultimate in home fitness programs!

P90X can promise extreme results because the program is based on the knowledge and experience of celebrity trainer Tony Horton. Horton knows that there is no substitute for hard work when it comes to a total body transformation. With his expertise and motivation, you will be driven to achieve the results you have been seeking all along.

This 90 day workout goes above and beyond any home fitness system you have ever experienced. There is no doubt that you will likely work harder with this program than any other home fitness routine. The physical and mental rewards that go hand in hand with it, however, make the time and sweat worth it.

If you are debating on whether or not to try P90X, one thing that could be holding you back is the unknown. It is obvious from the commercials and reviews out there on the web that this is quite possibly the most intense workout you will ever do. You may wonder if you can keep up or if the challenge will be too much. So, just how intense is P90X? Very. However, you can’t let a challenge discourage you. Our bodies are built to meet and sometimes exceed our expectations. If you set the bar high, you will be amazed at what your body does to reach that bar.

Tony Horton encourages you to “bring it” and wants to “see” you putting maximum effort into the P90X workouts. However, he knows that this is a process and for that reason, never suggests you do anything that will cause injury or discourage you. You are encouraged to set goals realistic but challenging enough for your fitness level. If you can only do 10 reps of a certain move, then do 10 but make them the best 10 ever!

The beautiful thing about P90X is the versatility. No doubt there will be days where you question your ability to stick with the program. But, as you meet and exceed your own expectations, your motivation will be spurred by your successes. The satisfaction you get from pushing yourself beyond your doubts and through your rough days will give you the confidence needed to carry on.

 
Look at what some P90X customers have to say about the program and its intensity:

“Tony will tell you if you cannot finish an exercise, that it is okay and encourages you to rest and then pick your pace when ready and also ensures you that you will be able to do the whole workout soon.”
-Suzanne F., N.J.

“The Power 90X routines keep you moving for over an hour each day! You really have to “Bring It” but the results are worth it!”
-Vanessa M., CA.

” I look at myself in the mirror now and I can’t even believe it’s me. I work for the Postal Service so I am always on the move, P90X has made my job so much easier!”
-Jeff H., IL.

For a great first-hand look at regular people doing P90X and bringing it on a daily basis, check out this day by day P90X review from husband and wife team, Jen and Tom. The weekly recap videos are a lot of fun to watch and give you a good idea of just how hard you will be working.

Although Yoga has gained significant popularity over the last decade, many people still have their doubts. They picture chanting and breathing and can’t see how this gentle workout could possibly do anything other than relax them. This misconception couldn’t be further from the truth. While yoga is typically gentle and can be relaxing, it can do wonders for your fitness regime and strengthen and stretch you in ways that other exercises can’t.
There are many different styles of yoga. Some are more focused on breathing and meditation while others will rock your body to the core. We are looking at the latter styles and are interested in those styles of yoga that will help you to create a lean and flexible body, strengthening your body through fluid movements and power poses.

Ashtanga Yoga, also referred to as Power Yoga, is a type that is different from many others because it requires constant movement rather than extended periods of stillness. Although it is still a no impact exercise, Ashtanga will have you sweating like you ran a mile. With their strong influence of Ashtanga Yoga, the Yoga routine in P90X and 10 Minute Trainer’s Yoga Flex, will show you that yoga is definitely not just about chanting.

Power Yoga requires strength and flexibility that, as a beginner you might not have. One of the great things about Yoga, however, is that the poses can be adjusted to grow with you. This means that you will be challenged appropriately whether you are just starting out or if you have been doing it for years.

Yoga will help you improve flexibility, core strength, and burn calories in a way that you didn’t realize was possible. Being able to step past your misconceptions about Yoga and give it a chance, you will see that Yoga isn’t just for New Age meditation. Yoga can and should be an integral part of your weekly fitness routine.

For more information about Yoga and its benefits, try it for yourself and check out these additional articles:

BBC article on Ashtanga Yoga
Power Yoga

If you are looking into P90X and wondering if you have to purchase the pull up bar to successfully transform your body, the short answer is: no. The more complete answer is: the P90X pull up bar has the potential to take your fitness transformation even further in a shorter amount of time. This high quality piece of equipment can take your total body transformationn to the next level. While you don’t need the P90X chin up bar to be successful it is a highly recommended accessory to the P90X system.

The P90X pull up bar is easily installed and removed. With metal brackets that fit above a 24-32″ trimmed doorway, the chin up bar can be quickly removed when not in use. When it’s time for your workout, you just click it into place and “bring it”!

An excellent piece of fitness equipment, the P90X pull up bar is made of heavy gauge steel that is rated for up to 300 pounds. The professional grade foam grips make for a comfortable hold. And speaking of holds, the design allows for 6 different grip positions, maximizing the moves and benefits you can reap from a singular piece of equipment.

There is no doubt that progress can be made without the P90X pull up bar, but it’s true that progress can be multiplied exponentially with the chin up bar. By utilizing your own body weight you are giving yourself the perfect amount of resistance in a singular piece of equipment. To truly dedicate yourself to the P90X program and to see the most dramatic results in 90 days, the P90X chin up bar is a near necessity.

When searching for an at home exercise routine, you want to ensure that you are getting your money’s worth. If you decide to dedicate yourself to getting fit in your home you want to know that the program you are choosing has the right stuff to keep you interested and get you healthy. With all of the at-home fitness routines on the market, your head may be spinning just trying to decide which one is best for you.

So, what should you look for in the best workout videos?

1. Quality exercises: Spending your money on a program that only focuses on one muscle group or single approach will not benefit you as much as one that give you a total body workout. The best workout videos must work your entire body to give you the overall benefits you are seeking. While we all have trouble spots and problem areas, your total body health is more important than simply reducing the size of your saddlebags.

Likewise, a program that only focuses on cardio is less effective than one that also includes strength training. You want to be certain the program you invest in allows for several approaches to maximum fitness. Cardio is great for fat burning and heart health, but in order to increase your metabolism and give you that sleek strong look, strength training is a necessary aspect of the best workout videos.

2. Qualified Instructor: To ensure that your program is designed with the real science of exercise in mind, you want to be sure that it is created by or delivered by a qualified professional. Although it may be tempting to spend your money on a program created and starring your favorite model or television star that is not always the best method in choosing a home workout system.

3. Fun: Yes, the very best workout videos are those that are fun. What would be the value of a home workout system if you couldn’t stick with it? Exercise must be fun in order to keep it interesting and keep your motivation at an all time high. The instructor must have a positive attitude and contagious enthusiasm, especially on those days you would rather be napping.

So, now that we know what to look for, are there any recommendations I can make on the best possible workout videos? Of course! Depending on your fitness levels and goals, Tony Horton has created a few programs that would definitely make the cut of “best workout videos”. For those who have time and a serious amount of dedication, P90X provides serious fat blasting, muscle building training for the highly dedicated. If time is something you never have enough of, check out Horton’s 10 Minute Trainer that offers complete workouts that anyone can schedule. If you’re not sure which one would be best for you, try them both with our 30 day money-back guarantee!

Finding a strength building routine you can do at home doesn’t have to be a chore. You don’t need a big weight bench or a fancy piece of home gym equipment. All you need is dedication to your health and a plan. P90X is the ultimate in home body transformation systems. It is a strength building routine like no other. As trainer Tony Horton moves you through the 12 DVD workouts, you will use muscles you may have forgotten existed. Utilizing all muscle groups, in a variety of moves and routines, you will be building strength, adding muscle, and losing fat in one fell swoop.

How Does It Work?

The key to any strength building routine is resistance and repetition. Your muscles will respond the best when they are pushed harder, repeatedly. P90X does just that. It pushes your muscles as they may have never been pushed before. Day after day you will push your body to the limit and ask it to build itself back up. Through the science of muscle confusion, P90X asks your muscles to push through any potential plateaus by constantly changing up the routines and asking your body to adapt.

Muscles grow through this tearing down and building up. Tiny tears or trauma within the muscle fibers occur during heavy exercise. The powerful cells in our muscles repair these tears and reinforce them, making them stronger and larger. An effective strength building routine takes this break-down and repair cycle into consideration.

What Do I Need?

With a strength building routine like P90X, little is needed but your body. If you are a 200 pound man, that’s 200 pounds of resistance that can be put to use in a well-made strength building routine. Minor, inexpensive equipment like resistance bands and a chin-up bar will only increase the effectiveness of the routine and the pace of muscle growth.

If P90X seems a little extreme for your fitness level, or if you don’t have the time to dedicate to P90X, take a look at Horton’s 10 Minute Trainer that allows for complete workouts including strength building routines in just 10 minutes a day.

Any of us regular Joes who have tried P90X know how the series can affect our bodies, health, and lives. However, those who haven’t tried it may still wonder if it’s worth the hype. While nothing would prove its effectiveness like actual personal results, a testimonial from NFL kicker David Akers might help a little.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Akers who plays for the Eagles, has greatly improved his game and his health with the P90X series. Like so many of us, he saw a late night infomercial, was impressed, and decided to give it a shot. Says Akers about the program: “…its not some gimmick. It actually involves working hard and changing the regimen all the time”.

After a less than impressive 2007 season, Akers was discouraged with his record and needed something to give him an additional push. In addition to seriously impacting his kicking record in training camp, Akers lost 20 pounds and 6 percent body fat on the program.

“There’s something to it,” Akers says of P90X. “It’s not like, ‘Hey, take this pill, you’re going to lose 40 pounds of fat.’ You bust your butt. It’s tough.”

For more details click here for the P90X / Akers article

Turn on the television at any given time and chances are you will see a paid advertisement for the hottest new home exercise equipment. Often it only takes 15 minutes of these high power ads to have us nearly convinced that we need to invest in a large piece of hardware in order to get fit away from the gym. While a large piece of workout equipment can help you get fit, it is far from necessary. Many of us who have purchased home exercise equipment know that we never really stay dedicated to it long enough to make it worth the investment or the space it takes up. Often it ends up gathering dust or dirty laundry in some seldom seen corner of the house.

If you are willing to invest sometimes thousands of dollars into a large piece of home exercise equipment, you should be able to justify spending a fraction of the cost on something that you are more likely to stick with and that can multiply your results. P90X is just that item. With P90X, you become the home exercise equipment. With just a few small tools and your own body, you can transform your appearance without having to assemble a thing.

Many people who invest in home exercise equipment think that by investing a large sum, they are guaranteeing big results. This is not always the case. In order to see big changes in your body, you have to work and work hard. Trainer Tony Horton know the power of hard work and is certain to teach you about it through the 12 DVD workouts included in P90X.

You certainly can’t pack up a home gym when you go on a business trip or vacation, but you can pack a P90X DVD to ensure that nothing will stand in the way of the hard body you are after. Home exercise equipment is made to replace gym equipment. P90X is made to improve on the results you could get at a gym.

The next time you are up late and watching paid advertisements, feeling the lure of a giant piece of home exercise equipment, consider this: you are likely to spend 10 times as much on a large piece of workout equipment than you would on the entire P90X series. You will see bigger results and be more likely to stick with the P90X program, with the motivating assistance of Tony Horton. The P90X series is totally portable and does not take up an entire room of your home. Finally, P90X will push your body to places it has likely never seen before, multiplying not only your physical results, but your confidence and improving your overall health and attitude.

A fitness buzz term, core training has become the latest must- do addition in everyone’s workout. Unlike other trends, however, core training should not be considered a fad or fleeting phase. Training your core can increase muscle growth, improve posture, increase athletic performance, prevent injury, and even help reduce back pain. Benefits of core training are far reaching and well known.

What is your Core?

The muscles that make up the core are those that hold you upright. They are all of the muscles around your torso that are responsible for your stability. While some experts include different muscles in what they believe make up your core, it can consist of everything from your abdominal muscles, to your back, hips, and even your gluteus maximus (rear end). These muscles make up the strength powerhouse of your midsection.

Your core muscles do more than hold you upright, they also protect your important organs and bones. Muscles in your core cushion your spine and provide a strong base of support for the rest on your body. Core training then, not only protects your body but also strengthens your poise and gives you a greater power base for using your extremities.

Although new to the mainstream fitness world, athletes have been using core training to improve performance for years. Having a strong core can make you stronger in all-brute sports like football, and can greatly improve your balance and stability on your feet for sports like gymnastics and even basketball. Track stars use their core on their strong push offs, and for the balance and cushioning that strong core muscles provide.

How do I incorporate core training into my fitness routine?

Many good core training exercises are probably already a part of your exercise routine. Things like push-ups that require full body stability, and sit ups that work individual core muscles, are good examples of core exercises you are probably already using.

However, for a greater core workout, there are alternatives that allow you to complete an entire fitness routine for the core, greatly increasing core strength and bringing all the benefits that go with that. For instance, Core Synergistics, included as part of the P90X series dedicates a whole workout to strengthening the core through a combination of cardio, resistance, and stretching moves.

Core training is an indispensible piece to a high quality fitness program. Core training is definitely worth the buzz it has been getting and is a vital addition to your workout. By working your core you are benefiting your body in a multitude of ways that simply cannot be duplicated.

Even since elementary gym class we have been taught to stretch before exercising. Much of the time, as adults, we are so enthused about actually moving our body we skip the stretches. It seems as if when we exercise for weight loss we see stretching as a waste of time, particularly if we are only able to dedicate a limited amount of time to our exercise routine.

The benefits of a stretching routine, however, are far reaching and worth the time spent. The subtle stretching movements prepare your cold muscles for exercise by slowly and gently warming them up. If you jump right into a high energy routine without stretching or warming up, your muscles are more prone to injury and soreness. Stretching after exercise has its benefits too, cooling the muscles down and helping to minimize soreness.

tretching both before and after exercise provides a perfect warm -up and cool-down, allowing you to prevent injury while gradually easing you in and out of more intense exercises. Making the extra 5 minutes available for stretching can keep your muscles healthy and make your fitness routine a more pleasurable experience overall.

Aside from using stretching as a warm-up or cool-down, stretching can also be used as a more significant component in your larger fitness plan. The benefits of a stretching routine are multiplied when the time spent stretching is increased. In addition to preventing injuries, stretching can provide many benefits not commonly thought of.

In a study from the American College of Sports Medicine, stretching was found to have a similar effect on muscles as weight training. Although the effects were not as dramatic as weight training, the study showed the benefits of a stretching routine can include a surprising increase in the overall strength of the muscles used.

There is no doubt that stretching improves flexibility. Many of us have experienced firsthand the stiffness that comes with age and inactivity. Stretching can combat that aching and inflexibility. Flexibility and mobility have also been shown to have anti-aging effects, keeping your body moving in a more youthful way.

So, while short periods of stretching provide short term benefits, longer periods of stretching provide improvements that can add to your weight loss goals and overall health. Finding a fitness routine that recognizes the benefits of a stretching routine is important in incorporating these benefits into your life.

Some home work-out systems neglect the importance of stretching all together while others simply touch on it as a warm-up and cool-down method. Trainer Tony Horton recognizes the long reaching benefits of stretching and added a complete stretching workout to his P90X system. A 57 minute stretching DVD is sure to maximize the benefits of stretching and do so in a way that feels good.

Another way to get in your stretching is through workout methods that are based in flexibility training and stretching. Some types of Yoga are excellent for this. With the Yoga Flex routine included in the 10 Minute Trainer system, you can add a complete stretching program into any busy schedule.

Whether you use a DVD totally dedicated to stretching, as in the P90X system, or get your stretching through Yoga, you are reaping the benefits of having a long, lean, flexible body. The benefits of a stretching routine will be evident after consistent application of this activity that not only helps in your health and fitness goals, but also feels great after a long day.