I have not used the entire P90X system; it fact, Cardio X, which I tried on loan, was my first exposure to this series. In this DVD, instructor Tony Horton blends styles from several other P90X workouts, with mixed success.

The workout begins with a 3-minute aerobic warm-up consisting of light jogging, jumping rope, and jumping jacks; Tony then moves into 2.5 minutes of static yoga-type stretchs. Following this is a flowing 10-minute series of Astanga-type yoga postures. Although I love yoga and practice it regularly, I didn't like this sequence for several reasons, mainly 1) I hate doing yoga with sneakers and no mat as shown here, and 2) it felt odd to do yoga at this point in the workout (ie, after an aerobic warm-up but before any other cardio). Tony performs sun salutations and adds standing postures including warrior 1, warrior 2, and reverse warrior, with the plank-up dog-down dog vinyasa series between every posture.

The next section was Kenpo, or kickboxing, and I enjoyed this. Tony starts off with basic drills--eg, a front kick, a hook-uppercut--and then does a few very simple combinations (jab-cross-side kick; front-side-back kick, etc.). He generally performs 20 repetitions on each side, and the entire kickboxing segment lasts about 9 minutes. Following this is a 7-minute Plyometrics section; to my surprise, I enjoyed this part as much as--and maybe even slightly more than--the kickboxing! It is a high-intensity segment with unique moves. The first, the Airborne Heisman, involves a hop from side-to-side, briefly balancing on each foot. Next comes Swing Kicks, where you hurdle each leg in turn over a stool (I used my stability ball). After this are Jump Shots, a basketball-like move where you fake catch an imaginary ball on one side and then shoot it on the other. Tires is a football-inspired drill, with Tony encouraging you to get those knees way up ("they're SNOW tires!"). The final plyo move is Wacky Jacks, where you swing your legs from side to side while bending the torso on each side (ie, elbow to hip). Each plyo move is performed for 30 seconds, and the entire sequence is repeated once.

The final 7-minute cardio segment is Core Synergistics, which I reallly didn't like at all. Some of the moves were okay, but others were extremely difficult for me to execute, especially at Tony's rapid pace. Squat X was moving from a squat to an X position, jumping for the last 10. Steam Engine was a very fast standing abs move where you are crunching your elbows to your knees. The Dreya Roll was the toughest of all for me: you roll down to a flat position on your back and then spring back up without using your hands. Not only did I find the move itself challenging, but also the quick up and down left me feeling quite dizzy. Squat Runs were next, and this was the only move that I kind of liked. It's hard to describe, but you get down into a runner's squat position and sort of pump your arms as if you are running in place. The final core move, Superman/Banana, just made no sense to me: you lie flat on your stomach in a superman position with arms and legs raised, hold a few seconds, then roll to your back and hold up your arms and legs in the position. Like in the plyos segment, you do each move for 30 seconds.

This workout ends with a 4-minute cool-down: Tony first leads you through some slow jobs and jump ropes, then repeats the stretchs from the warm-up, bringing the total workout time in at 43 minutes (a countdown clock appears on the screen throughout). I would have enjoyed this workout much more if Tony had stuck with pure cardio. In fact, the second time I used the DVD, I did only the warm-up, Kenpo, Plyometric, and cool-down segments, and I liked this a lot--I got a great, intense cardio workout of about 25 minutes. Luckily, the DVD is well-chaptered, so mixing and matching is an option, but variety junkies certainly may enjoy the workout in its entirety more than I did.

Instructor Comments:
This was my first exposure to Tony, and I was surprised by how goofy he is! He frequently calls his 3 background exercisers "dude" (including the one female) and says things like "whatever turns you on." He sometimes exercises, sometimes moves around the class, and he does not mirror cue. Although I didn't have any problems with his instruction or his personality, I can definitely see how some people might find him to be annoying. I thought the music (which was barely audible at times) enhanced the workout nicely, but the DVD offers both music off and instruction off options.

Beth C (aka toaster)