In 2001, personal trainer Tony Horton launched ‘Power 90’ through Beachbody, a fitness company dedicated to offering home exercise routines. Power 90 was so successful that in 2004 Tony Horton launched P90X, a program that sold 2 million units, became a household name and a favorite workout for celebrities. However, even as P90X claimed the spotlight, Power 90 continued to sell out and remains one of the most popular home fitness programs on the market today. In this article we ask: Is Power 90 still a relevant workout? Can you deliver outstanding results? Hasn’t it been superseded by P90X?

First, a brief overview of the Power 90 workout itself: Intended to take 90 days, the workout is designed to go through 4 stages of gradually increasing intensity as you go through six different workouts contained on 2 DVDs. These workouts consist of two ‘Sculpt Circuit’ workouts, two ‘Sweat Cardio’ workouts and two ‘Ab Ripper’ routines. It is the user’s responsibility to decide when they are ready to move from one difficulty level to the next; Power 90 clearly states that you need to listen to your own body and progress at your own pace.

The actual workouts are pretty short. The longest runs in the Sculpt and Sweat workouts range from 29 to 42 minutes, while the ab workouts are very short at 4 to 6 minutes. Anyone familiar with P90X training will recognize the components that go into each of these routines. Sweat Cardio begins with yoga as a warm up and then continues with a variety of cardio exercises including martial arts moves culminating in a yoga stretch/cool down. The Sculpt Circuit also begins with some light stretching and yoga, and then continues with a weight resistance routine demonstrated with free weights and resistance bands. As such, they progress through a mix of different styles and workouts in their 40-minute run.

What is immediately obvious when viewing these workouts is that they do not have the intensity or output values ​​of P90X. The stage is a nondescript, featureless studio space and you’ll definitely want your own music playing to keep you going. The workouts themselves just aren’t as extreme as the P90X, since not only are they short in duration, but the actual exercises will fit most people’s upper comfort levels.

This is bad? No. Of course, having a beautiful stage with all the accessories and effects that the P90X boasts is more impressive, but that has nothing to do with the quality of training. The only effect such a cheesy setup has is to make it more difficult to take workouts so seriously. However, anyone who it is serious about getting physical results should be able to look past this initial iteration of a Beachbody product made when the company was still young and focus on the exercises themselves.

It is important to note that P90X and Power 90 are intended for different audiences. P90X is literally an extreme program, and should only be attempted by those who are already in good physical condition. This is not meant to be a provocative statement designed to hurt your pride and goad you into ‘taking charge’, but the plain truth. P90X is very, very difficult, and just as someone setting out to learn to run shouldn’t adopt an Olympic marathon routine, novices and those who haven’t exercised in a while shouldn’t attempt P90X.

Instead, Power 90 is the perfect program for them. This is where Power 90’s moderate intensity level is valuable. While anyone can push their workouts while pushing this routine to the max for better results, Power 90 is a more flexible routine that lends itself to a wider variety of athletes and individuals.

In conclusion: the principles behind Power 90 are solid. If you follow the workouts and nutrition guide for three months, you should achieve impressive results. The degree of results will depend on your dedication and effort; Power 90 will tell you how to get them, but it will be up to you to do the exercises and eat correctly. Has it been superseded by P90X? No. It is the logical precursor to P90X, and should be viewed as a challenging workout for anyone interested in moving from an entry-level or mid-level of fitness to a more advanced position. What is required of you is to put aside your ego and pride and ask yourself where you are and how best to achieve the results you want. Some athletes can jump right into P90X, while the rest of us have to gain that required fitness level. Which is exactly where Power 90 fits into the picture.