In team sport, the coach plays an instrumental role in unlocking the players true potential and eventfully win championships. The same can apply to fitness as well. The right coach can formulate the right training routine that provides the right amount of challenge to make the workouts feel rewarding and makes the customers hunger for more. On the contrary, picking the wrong program not only won’t help you lose weight, overtraining can easily discourage your mind and promotes dangerous injury. This is the foundation of creating Workout Buddy X – an achievable and optimal weight loss solution for people of all fitness abilities.
While we cannot review every online workout program, and every personal trainer in your local gym. We have carefully tested some of the most popular fitness video programs. Before you or your friends invest time and money in a fitness program, check out the following reviews base a group of people in a wide range of age, gender, and physical abilities.
P90X
What is it: 90 Day extreme home training program focused on muscle building with the training philosophy of “muscle confusion”. Trainer Tony Horton was once a stand-up comedian. His stage presence carried well to the screen. Some user may find his jokes annoying, but mostly the light humor keeps the workout video a bit more entertaining. Half (6/12) of the videos are targeted weight training exercise (Ex. Back & Biceps in one day, Shoulder & Arms the next day). The other half are mixed with cardio, yoga, plyometrics, and kickboxing, etc. Workout time: The cardio videos are about 60 minutes, but the targeted training days are 60 minutes + 15 minutes of abs at the end, which makes it 75 minutes. The yoga day is 90 minutes. For the strength training days, the ab workouts are located separately after a 60 minutes training with cool down. If you do P90X, we recommend skipping to finish the 15-minutes ab video (Ab Ripper X), then rewind the DVD to do the cool-down.
Requirement: The product advertiser that you can get the same result with resistance bands instead of dumbbell and pull-up bars. But in reality, we found that a set of dumbbells and a pull-up bars are still essential to get the similar results as they advertise.
Cost: $120 + $20 shipping = $140
Additional Equipment cost: Pull-up bar: $30, dumbbell set: $40 - $80 = up to $110 in additional equipment.
Who is it for: P90X is a great alternative for hiring expensive personal trainer to do targeted muscle building routines. Out of the all the product we evaluated, P90X requires higher additional investment. If you have prior athletic training and was in a pretty good shape, P90X provides a good alternative home fitness solution. Since it does require a lot of upper body strength to do the pull-ups, push-ups, weight lifting, etc, some woman will find the weight training days extra challenging.
Training Principle: Muscle Confusion
INSANITY
What is it: A 60 day super intensity cardio interval training promise to deliver extreme results for the most physically and mentally motivated individuals. No weights and no equipments required for all videos. However, for the same reason, the variety of moves is also very limited. In fact, most of the videos are very similar. You get 10 DVDs, but there are not that many different moves. For example, you may do a drill that combines “Burpee with 3 push-up”, then tomorrow you’ll be doing “burpee with 8 push-ups”. You will be doing a lot of high intensity moves that requires jumping. The explosive movement is highly effective in burning calories, but at the same time, it puts more stress on your joints. Even though it’s only a 60 day program, this is the hardest one to complete. In fact, a lot of test users who are in decent physical shape had a hard time completing the 10-minute “warm-up” which consist of jump-and-jack, butt-kicks, high-knees, etc. “Interval training” is about mixing short burst of high intensity exercise with recovery period. Insanity extend the high intensity drills and shorten the low intensity drills, in order to prolong the Afterburn Effect. If you can actually complete it, you can burn up to 1,000 calories per workout. However, that’s a big “IF”! Not only that it’s very physically taxing, since there is less variety of workouts, it is also mentally challenging to do the similar intense moves everyday.Workout Time: Day 1 to Day 30: about 30 - 40 minutes per day.
Day 31- 60: 65 minutes to up to 86 minutes of hardcore insane workouts. The 2nd month was very challenging for our test group users who were able to complete the first month.
Principle: Max Interval Training
Cost: $120 + $25 Shipping & Handling fee = $145
Who is Insanity for: While no equipment is required, Insanity is designed specifically for people already in above average physical shape. You will be doing similar moves everyday, but you will still feel “the rush” and sense of accomplishment when you do finish each workout.
For beginners and average users, it will take a lot of mental discipline to complete the full 60 days without feeling discouraged both physically and mentally.
Not recommended for people in beginner physical shape, and requires extra caution for people with prior injury, especially in the knees, shoulders, ankles, lower back, etc.
WORKOUT BUDDY X
Additional Requirement: The current version is available exclusively online only, so a broadband internet access is required. No DVD version is available yet, but you can hook up a laptop to a larger flat screen tv. Because it is required to be viewed in front of a computer, all moves are designed for minimal amount of space. I.e., dorm rooms, small bedrooms, hotel rooms, etc. About 70% of the exercises require no weights, and the other 30% requires dumbbell, medicine ball, or kettlebells. However, since most of the resistance training moves are adapted from kettlebell training, which promotes a more “nature” way human body move weights, the weight training can easily be replaced with a 1-gallon water bottle with a steady handle.
Who is it for: Beginners who want to develop functional strength, and start losing weight the smart and efficient way.
Intermediate users who want to start challenging themselves with more advanced training and accelerate weight loss.
Advanced athletes who want to challenge their endurance, add highly defined lean muscle tone, boost stamina, expand mobility, develop deep core strength, and improve all aspects of fitness.
The current workout program is designed specifically for losing body fat and building lean muscle tone, which translate to the“fit & ripped” body look , but it is not for “bulking up”.
Training Principle: A fusion of Afterburn Training, Functional Strength Training, FAST (Flexible, Agile, Strong, Toned”) Kettlebell training.
Cost: $19.95 per month or $39.95 for the full 12 week program. Sign up for 7 Day Free Trial Offer - Click Here
10 MINUTE TRAINER
What is it: You get four 10- minute quick workouts that combines cardio and resistance training that targets multiple muscle groups simultaneously. Yes, what they say it’s true that you can get a more efficient workout in 10 minutes by training multiple muscle groups. However, this concept is nothing new. In fact, you’ll find many of the exact same moves in Insanity, P90X, and Workout Buddy X. So in reality, each 10-minute workout here is about as effective of doing 10 minutes of the other exercise programs. In other words, you burn about 1/6th of the amount of calories, comparing to doing P90X or Workout Buddy X for 60 minutes. Who is it for: 10 Minutes Trainer provides a decent workout for people are out-of-shape, and looking for a very doable fitness program.
Not recommended for people who are more serious of losing weight and getting in substantially better shape.
Price $80 + $10 shipping = $90
