Customer Reviews

P90X+ (1) UPPER PLUS & (2) ABS/CORE PLUS with Tony Horton by Beachbody

5 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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P90x Plus brings a whole new tempo and attitude to the P90x workout. The two resistance workouts move lickety split with lots of new moves using weights or bands, push-up bars (optional), and pull-up bar. The Upper Plus is 41:35 long, so it is almost 20 minutes shorter than most P90x resistance workouts, but it is just as intense because it moves so quickly and some of the moves work multiple parts of the body (i.e. core, arms, legs) at the same time like the "Fly Blast" and "Warrior Swim." The "Combat Push-ups" are very hard. They are military isos where you move your feet from side to side for each rep. It runs for 90 seconds, which is very difficult. What I've found with a lot of the exercises in the P90x Plus series is that they are timed rather than maximum reps, so they really test your endurance as well as strength. The "Shoulder Everything" and "Bicep Everything" where you do shoulder lifts and bicep curls in different positions isn't difficult at first, but they each run 90 seconds which really challenges one's fortitude. Traci Morrow uses dumbbells for the exercises using weights while Mark Briggs demonstrates the same moves with bands.

The Abs/Core Plus is excellent. It runs 20 minutes, so it is about 4 minutes longer than Ab Ripper X, but, unlike ARX, it does not consist of just floor exercises. Abs/Core Plus incorporates what I like to call "stations" (I've never heard that term used before, but I like to use it). You move from one "station" to the next in each round of exercises. Each round consists of an exercise hanging from the pull-up bar, standing sometimes with weights, in plank position, and on the floor. There are 5 rounds with all different movements. Most of them are 30 seconds long which is a relief when doing the hanging crunches because they are hard--especially "Mixed Bike" where you're cycling your legs while hanging. A couple of the plank exercises count repetitions. The weights used are very light (2.5 to 5 lbs for women, probably 7.5 to 15 lbs for men). Brand new moves are introduced in this workout including "Scorpion Plank" and "Cherry Bomb." New music is used in these workouts, too, but listen for the one played during "Wood Chopper"; it sounds like a whale sneezing.

I am happy to add this workout (as well as Total Body Plus) to my rotation and look forward to using it because of all the variety of moves it uses. My favorite workouts tend to fly by, and this one is definitely over before I know it, plus I feel good afterwards. Anyone who has been doing P90x for awhile will benefit by incorporating the resistance workouts in the Plus series to their regimen. I'm not a big fan of the cardio workouts in the Plus series, but they also bring a different style which is what "muscle confusion" and breaking plateaus is all about.

Luckily I have 90% of the equipment that was used on this DVD. But if you are a person that doesn't own much exercise equipment and isn't looking to buy any, then you probably don't want to purchase this DVD. I thought it was a really great (and tough) workout and thought it was worth the money. Just make sure you buy all the equipment they use in this DVD when you purchase it. Most of it is pretty inexpensive pieces that are used (like resistance bands), so it's really not as bad on the wallet as you would think.

I didn't know what to expect after P90x. After trying, I was in for a new challenge.

Great and short workout. I continued to drop body fat and my endurance, stamina and fitness levels rose higher.

Overall, great..

Today was WorkOutAtHomeGuy.com guy's 2nd time doing Upper Plus and Abs/Core Plus. So after spending much of my first time learning the new exercises, I knew them a lot better this round and proceeded to get my pump on. A lot more of the moves are timed rather than max reps or "X amount" (pun unintended) of reps. I'm still working up to doing some of the 90 sec moves without taking a "mid set break", but hey, I'm doin' my best and forgettin' the rest!!

Maybe because Tony's doing more talking than exercising in UP and the exercises move lickety-split, not even the people he's training are logging anything. I think that logging your reps and trying to beat your previous best was a key aspect of P90X that kept me and others motivated through the end of the original to get those "after" photos. Too bad they dropped that here.

Another negative about this video was all the product placement. Tony mentions how he invented the P90X push up stands and then they promote the SelectTech dumbells and then they show everybody drinking their recovery drink and talk about that a few times. I've never seen a workout DVD advertise other products. I just thought it was tacky. Beachbody puts ads after the workouts, so do that kind of stuff there, I don't want to hear it in the middle of my workout.

The workout is basically a 5 part lifting circuit that starts from a pushup exercise to a pull up one, then hits shoulders, then bi's and then tri's. And.... there's four glorious rounds! By the end of this thing, my shoulders, chest and biceps were swollen!! I love that feeling! I've gotta' tell ya' Tony Horton and the people at Beachbody have put out another incredible DVD.

Then it was on to Abs/Core Plus which was a bit of a letdown after remembering how insanely hard Ab Ripper X was. Abs/Core Plus really mixes it up compared to any other ab DVD workout I've done by using ab moves hanging from a pull up bar, standing ab moves and compound seated ab moves as well. The hanging ab moves were super fun to do, but 30 secs isn't long enough to do them to get enough reps of them to feel the burn. However, some of the core moves done from the standing position do require considerable balance and I struggled with some of them. These moves really exposed some weakness in my core and I look forward to the challenge of repeating this workout because of it.

All of the floor moves were excellent, creative combinations of moves you may have done before and they really brought the burn. Favorite moves: Banana Mason, Seated Backstroke, and Cherry Bomb. Least favorite: all the hanging ab moves because they didn't last long enough to feel a good burn. Initial opinion: Abs/Core Plus is an easier, fun change of pace workout from the intensity of Ab Ripper X and can help add to your "muscle confusion" repertoire of DVDs, but you'll need something else (like Ab Ripper Plus) to compliment it.

It seems like it would be a good workout, but you will need a chinup bar. Without it you can only do half of the video.