P90 Ab Ripper A

This is my first review to add to the site. I'm a 47 year old male that's in decent shape, but not great. I've recently lost 30 pounds and am working on toning up.

For those that don't know, Ab Ripper A is the first of the ab routines in Tony Horton's new P90 system. Unlike P90x (p90x2, p90x3, etc), P90 is designed for people returning to exercise after being away for a while.

Ab Ripper A is about 10 minutes long and consists of the following exercises:

1. Pacman

2. Plantain Roll

3. Ish Combo

4. Rope Climber

5. Pike Crunch

6. Circle Crunches

7. Bridge Crunch

8. Triangle Crunches

9. Roller Bike

10. Bug Crunches

The schedule for the program has you do the Ab Ripper routine after doing the Sweat routine, so there is no warm up for Ab Ripper. Since I treat Ab Ripper A as a stand alone routine, I do a brief warm up prior to starting Ab Ripper.

I feel that this is a great routine. It works all parts of your abs. It is a fun routine. I really like the Plantain Roll. The only exercise I don't like is the bug crunches. It is likely a good exercise, but it has so much movement that it feels like I'm just flopping around on the floor. Luckily there is a modifier to this exercise, so I do the "easier" version of bug crunches.

P90 is an update of Tony Horton's first Beachbody series, Power 90 which was released back in 2000. While there is nothing wrong with Power 90 from an exercise point of view, it does appear quite dated and the production values are poor. Hence, creating an updated version for 2014. P90 is geared toward the person just getting back into fitness or for someone who, for whatever reason, can't do high intensity or hardcore workout systems that Tony and Beachbody have become known for producing.

The P90 set includes 10 workouts broken up over 4 DVDs. The program starts with the 3 workouts on the A disc which are the shortest in length and meant to be foundation for the other 2 stages. There are 3 more workouts on disc B, and another 3 on disc C. There is a 4 disc which has the Saturday Special workout. For an additional cost you can purchase the Speed disc which has 3 Speed workouts and Tony's Greatest Hits.

This is a review for Ab Ripper A.

There is no warm up for this workout because it assumes you're coming directly off Sweat A (it automatically starts after Sweat A finishes). You can also access the workout from the main menu. All exercises are done for 10 reps. Total running time is about 9 minutes.

Exercises: Pac Man crunches, plantain roll, Ish combo, rope climber, pike crunch, circle crunches (both directions), bridge crunch, triangle crunches, roller bike, and bug crunches.

Although 10 reps doesn't feel like a lot, Tony makes sure the pace is deliberate so you really feel each rep. The only exercise I didn't like was the final one, bug crunch as it felt somewhat spastic and I didn't feel it in my core, but more in my neck.