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Power 90 Reviews: Sweat 1-2

Lori Harden — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:55:16 +0000

You just couldn’t help it, you had to come back for more of my Power 90 Reviews! This time, I have Sweat 1-2 up for grabs! Sweat 1-2 is a fancy way of saying this is the first cardio portion of Power 90. I would just like to add that the word “Sweat” is very appropriate choice for a title word. But, it’s good! As much as I used to despise sweating, I have grown to appreciate it, and quite frankly….I love it. If I am not sweating, what’s the point??? The only piece of equipment that you need for this workout is yourself. But, if you do the Ab Ripper 100, I would encourage you to use a towel at the very least to lie on. It hurts to have your spine and hip bones digging into the floor after the first couple of reps, and I try to avoid stupid, unnecessary pain at all costs. Pain with a purpose is acceptable.

All right, Power 90 Sweat 1-2 is approximately 35 minutes in length. Not too short, not too long, but just right. Here’s our layout:

Stretch: Approximately 4 minutes. This consists of the usual stretches. You can refer back to the Sculpt 1-2 article for the stretch names.

Power Yoga: Approximately 4 minutes, 40 seconds. This is a combination of yoga moves, including: plank, downward dog, upward dog, runner’s pose, crescent, and warrior poses.

Part 1: Heat Up (Low Impact):

Knees Up
Knees Out
Crossover
Do this rotation once, and repeat for a total of 2 rounds.

Part 2: High Heat (High Impact):

Jumping Jacks
Running in Place
Run/Lunge
Do this rotation once, and repeat for a total of 2 rounds.

Part 3: X-Work

Lateral X-Work
Fast Feet
Cross Hops
Do these once, and repeat for a total of 2 rounds. *For this part, you can either mark an “X” on the floor, or simply visualize the “X” which is what I do.

30 Second Break

Part 4: Kicking

Right Front Kick
Left Front Kick
Right Knee Thrust
Left Knee Thrust
Right Side Kick
Left Side Kick
Do these once, and repeat for a total of 2 rounds.

Part 5: Punching

Left Jab, Right Cross
Right Jab, Left Cross
Left Hook, Right Uppercut
Right Hook, Left Uppercut
Body Blows
Do these once, and repeat for a total of 2 rounds.

2 Minute Cool Down

2 Minute Stretch

And, that’s all, folks! But, wait, there’s more!

Ab Ripper 100

This is approximately a 4 minute ab workout routine. You’ve got 10 moves, 10 reps each. Here’s the lineup:

Crunches
Left Side Crunches
Right Side Crunches
Elbows to Knees
Superman Crunches
Leg Lifts
In & Outs
Hip Rock
Bicycles
Full Body Crunch

I won’t lie to you, this a TOUGH ab workout. But, if was easy, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Tune in next time for my review of Sculpt 3-4. It has a lot in common with Sculpt 1-2, but you’ll have to come back and read it to find out more! Thanks again for stopping by and checking out another one of my Power 90 Reviews. Thanks for tagging along with me!

Power 90 Reviews: Sculpt 1-2

Lori Harden — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:17:14 +0000

Okay, kids, here is the next of my Power 90 Reviews. Today, I am going to cover Sculpt 1-2 which is what I call the “weights” part of the workout program. Now, that is just my way of referring to it, but you do NOT have to use hand/free weights to do this workout. The Power 90 system comes with a resistance band, which is the alternative to weights. I personally use Power Blocks for my workouts, but this is just because my husband has them already. Use which ever equipment you are comfortable with, or what your environment allows. Resistance bands are great if you are traveling. So, let’s move on to the workout itself.

Sculpt 1-2 is approximately 29 minutes in length. This time-frame includes stretching/warm-up in the beginning, and stretching at the end. It’s amazing how much you can put into just under half an hour. Power 90 Sculpt 1-2 starts with approx. 5 minutes and 42 seconds of stretching. Here’s the stretch line-up: neck rolls, shoulder stretches, side stretches, chest stretches, lower back stretch, inner thigh stretches, runner’s stretches, and waist stretch. I feel like the titles of these are pretty self-explanatory, and you don’t need me to bog you down with any unnecessary reading.

Then, we move on to Round 1. Here’s the line-up:

Push-Ups: 8-15 reps
Heavy Pants: 8-15 reps
Military Press: 8-15 reps
Standard Bicep Curls: 8-15 reps
Back Scratches: 8-15 reps, alternating sides * This one can be modified if you have shoulder issues, Tony calls the modification a Kick-Back *
Lunges: 3 sets of 3
A very small interval of stretching follows completion of this round.

On all of these, start off with a weight/resistance band that isn’t too heavy. If you can’t do 8 reps with what you’ve chosen, you need to go lighter. If you can easily do 14-15 reps, you need to go heavier. Don’t kill yourself starting out, but don’t make it easy.

Round 2 line-up:

Fly Push-Ups: 8-15 reps
Back Flys: 8-15 reps
Swimmer’s Press: 8-15 reps
Open Bicep Curls: 8-15 reps
2 Arm Kick Backs: 8-15 reps
Lunge & Squat x 3: Basically, lunge once, squat 3 times, lunge again. Turn around, repeat. Do this 3 times total.
A very small break of about 20 seconds, and a 45 second stretch.

Round 3 Line-Up:

7-7-7 Push Ups: 7 each of Wide, Close (tricep), and Standard
Lawnmower: 8-15 reps
Shoulder Flys: 8-15 reps
Bicep 21′s: 7 each of Low, High, and Full Bicep Curls
Chair Dips: 8-15 reps
3 Part Squats: 8 reps each of Regular, Wide, Widest Squats
A 50 second stretch finishes out the Round.

That’s it, Power 90 Sculpt 1-2, in a nutshell. All of this in just less than a half hour!!! This is a great workout, and when these workouts are paired with a healthy diet, you’ll get great results! So, next up in my Power 90 Reviews series will be Sweat 1-2. Thanks for tagging along with me!

Power 90 Reviews: This is only the Beginning

Lori Harden — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:37:54 +0000

This will be the first in a series of Power 90 reviews. As the title hints, Power 90 is only the beginning. I’d call it a gateway workout program, a stepping stone, if you will. This workout system opens up a whole new world of possibilities for people who want to get in shape, lose weight, tone up, or all of the above. My biggest motivation has been to lose weight, I’ll worry about the tone up later. To me, losing weight is relative rather than absolute. Some people want or need to lose 50 or 100+ pounds, others may only need to lose 10 or 20. Whatever that weight is, it’s important to the person who wants to lose it.

I started Power 90 at about 15 pounds over what I would consider my “ideal” weight. I am a 32 year old mother of 2, our daughter is 6 and our son is 4. With that being said, some people may think “15 pounds is nothing, that’s not a big deal,” but like I said earlier in this review…it’s important to me. I finally decided, this is it. “It” is time to shed those pounds, and feel better about myself. And, you know what? “It” is happening.

Like I mentioned earlier, this is going to be a series of Power 90 Reviews. I’ll cover the diet/nutritional plan, the 6 different workouts that make up the total program, and maybe do a comprehensive review. I’m currently on Day 65 of the plan. I’ll rewind and talk about my first 64 days….bring everyone up to speed, and then I’ll bring you along for these last 26 days. But, to give you an idea of how things are going so far, I’ve lost approximately 10 pounds, and lost approximately 10″ overall. Not too shabby! So….to meet my goal, I need to lose 5-6 pounds in the remaining 30 days. It’s gonna happen!

I truly believe that Power 90 is a great workout program. I also believe that Tony Horton might just be a genius. This is a program that is made to be basic, simple, and effective. You can’t NOT lose weight if you follow the workouts and nutrition plan. Power 90 has worked for so many people, and it has given them the motivation and encouragement to move on to bigger, more demanding workouts. Power 90 Master Series, P90X, P90X +, and Tony Horton’s One on One series are patiently waiting for us!!! Next up in my Power 90 Reviews series will be Sculpt 1-2. Thanks for tagging along with me!