Wednesday 25 August 2010

Chest Back & Balls - Tony Horton One on One Volume 3 Disk 1

Tony Horton
One on One
P90X - MC2
Volume 3 Disk 1
Chest Back & Balls
Beachbody
For the first time I am truly disappointed in a product from Beachbody and Tony Horton. A few of the other workouts in the series I have not been fond of, but some of that was personal preference. But now in Volume 3 of One on One with Tony Horton, they have rebranded it P90X One on One, and Tony is the first tester for new routines for the next evolution of P90X. I have to be honest - I am a little tired of hearing Tony say: "I have never done this routine", or worse "I have never tried this exercise before". He is supposed to be the fitness expert, been doing this for years, and these workouts are supposed to give us some more variety. If Tony can barely make it through the routine and even hits failure at less than a quarter of the reps he wants on his last exercise, how are we mere mortals supposed to make it through? Also in the original P90X you could do everything with just bands, or weights and a chin up bar. Now it seems almost every workout being presented requires more equipment. In this video, about a third of the exercises are directly from the last video of Volume 2. That being said, there were some good new exercises in this routine. There are 20 exercises with the goal of 20-30 reps for each.

The Exercises are:
Pull-Up X
Stability Ball Plyo Push Up
Core Crunch Chin Up
2 Ball Push Up with Side Arm Balance
Levers
4 Ball Push Ups
Chin-Pull
The Impossible Pushup
L-Pull Ups
3 Ball Plyo Push Up
Switch Grip Pull Up
Elevated Stability Ball Push Ups
In & Outs
Swimmer's Push Ups
Flip Switch Pull Ups
Double Wide Push Ups
Double Wide Pull Ups
Military Push Ups on Medicone Balls Feet on Stability Ball
2-Towel Pull Ups
One Ball Plyo Push Ups

Equipment Needed:
Stability Ball or Balance Ball
4 Medicine Balls
Pull-up Bar or Powerbands
2 Hand Towels
Exercise Mat
It is a hard workout. The final version in P90X-MC2 might be really interesting, after going through a test group and final filming, but this workout seemed a little too rough even for the One on Ones. I hope it is not a sign of things to come in all of Volume 3.
To find out more about this series or other workouts in the collection follow the links below. I have created a random workout generator that uses 1 on 1's and P90X if your interested.Volume 1, Disk 1: Plyo Legs
Volume 1, Disk 2: Power 90® Road Warrior
Volume 1, Disk 3: Killer Abs

Volume 1, Disk 4: Just Arms
Volume 1, Disk 5: 30-15: The Upper-Body Massacre
Volume 1, Disk 6: Fountain of Youth
Volume 1, Disk 7: Super Cardio

Volume 1, Disk 8: Mammoth UML
Volume 1, Disk 9: Bun Shaper
Volume 1, Disk 10: Medicine Ball Core Cardio
Volume 1, Disk 11: Recovery 4 Results

Volume 1, Disk 12: Diamond Delts
Volume 1, Bonus Disk - Holiday Workout
Volume 2, Bonus Disk - Pay It Forward
Volume 2, Disk 1: Cardio Intervals
Volume 2, Disk 2: Core Ball Sandwich
Volume 2, Disk 3: Patience "Hummingbird"
Volume 2, Disk 4: 10-Minute Crusher Pack

Volume 2, Disk 5: Butt and Belly (I Dare You)
Volume 2, Disk 6: Back and BellyVolume 2, Disk 7: On One Leg
Volume 2, Disk 8: Iso Abs
Volume 2, Disk 9: Cardio Confusion - Mason's Choice
Volume 2, Disk 10: 100/30/20
Volume 2, Disk 11: On One Leg 4 legs
Volume 2, Disk 12: Upper Body Balance
Volume 3, Disk 1: Chest, Back & Balls
Volume 3, Disk 2: ARX2 (Ab-Ripper X 2)
Volume 3, Disk 3: Shoulders and Arms MC2
Volume 3, Disk 4: Base and Back
Volume 3, Disk 5: MC2
Volume 3, Disk 6: Plyocide
Volume 3, Disk 7: Stretch And Recovery
Volume 3, Disk 8: V Sculpt
Volume 3, Disk 9: Core Synergistics MC2
Volume 3, Disk 10: UBX
Volume 3, Disk 11: PAP
Volume 3, Disk 12: Total Body X
(Disclaimer: I am asked frequently if I am a Beachbody Coach, no I am not, I am just some one who has used their products, P90X, 1on1 with Tony Horton and more and liked them and achieved good results. I am not paid by Beachbody or any of their affiliates. You can see my full disclaimer here.)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The more One on Ones I see, the more apparent it becomes that this series is being driven by profits (I know, naive of me to think otherwise) instead of having something truly new to say. There is so much repetition from past workouts, or just making old moves "new" by adding a gimmick (like the two ball/side arm balance move)...I'm starting to wonder about the emperor's clothes. Thanks for the review, I was wondering what these new workouts would be like.

Scott Pratt

Dysfunctional Parrot said...

What I'm tiring of is "Core Work". About 8 in 10 of the One on One DVD's are core work and to be honest, enough is enough. I want muscle isolation and I want it yesterday!!

This was a good DVD in terms of difficulty, but sometimes I wonder if the stability balls would be better suited towards a "Core Synergistics" routine, and NOT a muscle routine. Hopefully disk 3 which is the remake of "Shoulders and Arms" will redeem this.

Steven R. McEvoy said...

Valid feedback both of you, thanks for chiming in.

Steven

Anonymous said...

I think the whole purpose of the "New P90x" is too challenge you. Who wants to do an easy routine? The first time I did this routine, I could barely get through it. The second time was better, and the third time I could almost finish every rep.

You got to give Tony credit, he is trying different things and creating variety. It has got to be hard to keep coming up with new things.

I personally like using different equipment (medicine ball, jump rope, stability ball, etc) I guarantee we will see a kettle ball in the future.

Just my two cents.

Steven R. McEvoy said...

Don't get me wrong different is good, but for the cost it should be a finished product, not I listed 20 exercises and lets see if I make it through. Everything I have seen on forums and in discussion groups for the most part is positive. But I hear a lot of clamoring for more like Just Arms and Diamond Delts.But if this is suppose to be P90X 2 it is adding a lot of equipment and one of the greatest strengths of P90X is you can get great results without having a massive home gym or budget.

Anonymous said...

i agree that the orginal p90x had that appeal of not needing a lot of external equipment to get in shape but lets face it, you can only go through the orignal so many times before you start wanting more. ive been through it 7 times and im glad that these new p90x one on ones are adding new equipment like the stabilty balls and medicine balls. as tony says variety is the spice of life you can't just do standard pushups and pullups all the time and most people who are complaining about this workout are too weak to make it through. my first time doing this workout i didn't do very good but i just kept at it and now i can do more or the same reps as tony. you just got to practice and give it time and just because tony isn't good at some of the moves doesn't mean you can't be

BeActive Health and Fitness said...

I hate to rain on parades, Steven, but Chest, Back and Balls wasn't made to be easy. It wasn't even made to be moderately challenging--it was made to be, perhaps, the hardest version of a chest and back routine. When you go through the workout you hear Tony saying over and over that "this is the super hard version of this move" and that there are easier modifications of the moves for those that can't keep up yet. YET.

Challenges, everlasting, are the keys to ongoing fitness and bettering your overall level of "healthy". If you do what you've always done you'll end up with what you've always had. And you'll get bored. Adding a core strengthening aspect to a workout only makes it harder. Since when did we forget that the muscle is still being isolated (using the term loosely)--your body is simply struggling with other things at the time. Doing curls with 35lbs while sitting down can be the equivalent muscle strengthening and "isolation" as doing curls on a stability ball or on one leg with 25lbs. Forcing the stabilization muscles to work more often during any movement IS muscle work--it's just more complete. You want muscle isolation, then take the balls out and do regular pushups; you want a challenge that involves more than just upper body strength, put 'em back in!!

This version of Chest and Back is JUST what the doctor ordered and it is exactly what it was advertised to be: a test kitchen for more "muscle confusion". Not all of these moves are going to end up in the next P90X but rest assured that the routines are going to involve more challenges to help you improve your overall fitness. If you want a finished product, wait until fall 2011 and just order the next P90X. This series was branded to be uncut, unfinished, raw and way out of the box.

Challenges, everlasting.

Steven R. McEvoy said...

My problem is if you were already on auto ship you are now being charged for a work in progress. Not a finished routine. The One on One's were suppose to be working out with Tony and the routines he did. Not a new crazy mix of things never tried even by Tony the man. For the most part I like the One on One's I use about half of them regularly and some of the others for extra variety. This volume 3 just seems from this first one to be too unfinished to be much use.

Dysfunctional Parrot said...

I just finished a review on AB Ripper X2. If the downtime on this one drove you nuts, you'll pull your hair out during a 45 minute long ab routine!

http://dysfunctionalparrot.com/2010/08/20/ooo_v3/

The workout itself is good. Just not very well time managed.

Steven R. McEvoy said...

Thanks DP, I have watched it but not done it yet. Here is a live link to your review DP.

Steven

Kate said...

I just broke down and signed up to receive the Vol 3 series. I have 1 and 2 and LOVE these workouts. Although not every workout is perfect, most of them are for me. But then, I'm a huge Tony/P90X fan. I look forward to reading more of your reviews as your blog is one of the reasons I became interested in the One on Ones in the first place. Can't wait to read more.

Steven R. McEvoy said...

Thanks Kate. Just did Shoulders & Arms: MC2 last night for the first time. One of my favorites out of all the 1on1's. review will post later this week.

Steven

Anonymous said...

I gotta tell ya, I haven't done this one yet but did Upper Body Balance and loved it. Mostly because of the completely different take on working the chest with the med/stab balls and how it worked muscles I never knew I had. Still, I would love to see the opposite of this down the road; workouts where you lift HEAVY (think Chalean Extreme Push 1,2,3, where she challenges you to lift heavier than you have before, but in 6-8 reps). I'd even love to see a "Heavy ARX" where you use weights. Let's hope for that in Volume 4 in a few years?
-Dan

Anonymous said...

Hi Steve and everyone else leaving comments. I have no clue as to how to message you any way. Sorry. I just love reading your reviews about the Tony Horton One on One reviews. So with that being said I was wondering if you were planning on reviewing the rest of the workouts from the Volume 3 series? Also do you recommend even purchasing volume 2 or 3. I have 1 and love the workouts but I, much like many people, wouldn't having a little more variety. I really want to try back and belly, on one leg 4 legs, iso abs, and plyocide. Also yoga mc2. Not that you needed to know that but I would just like your personal opinion on whether any of those workouts previously mentioned are really worth the investment? I mean couldn't you just combing a workouts like bun shaper and and killer abs from volume 1 and have butt and belly from volume 2? Thank you and I look forward to reading your future reviews regaring the One on One workouts.

Steven R. McEvoy said...

I would not buy volume 3 as a complete set, maybe pick and choose. Volume 2 is awesome and well worth the investment. I do plan on reviewing the last few just dropped on my priority list with the series ending. Will try and have them done by end of May.