Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

UPDATE: 2/11/15 (original review first, then update at the end) First off, I like to start out my reviews by saying that I'm not a Beachbody coach, nor have I ever purchased any supplements or equipment from them. For those of you that read my previous P90 review, you know that I'm a 20-something female and I've been a longtime devotee of the Beachbody programs, having worked with fellow reviewer Garvinstomp through the various P90X series, Insanity series, as well as some of Chalene's series that I've done on my own. I finished P90 after I came off of an injury and needed to get back in the game. Max 30 is what I decided to jump into right afterwards when the opportunity was presented to me. Bottom line, it is an absolute BEAST! Let's get into it. While they market it as not being Insanity cut in half, that's not completely true. Insanity is hard. Real hard. Much of Max 30 is like the hardest parts of Insanity glued together without the cool down moves in between. And that's the point. The whole program is designed around you going for as long as you can, for as hard as you can, until you can't go any more (called "Maxing Out"). Once you stop, you write that time down, jump back in and do what you have to do to finish the workout. The next day, you try and go a little longer than you did the previous day, and on and on. Theoretically, if you can add 30 seconds every day you'll be able to go the full 30 minutes by the final week. While it's a great concept, not all workouts will challenge you the same, so going 30 seconds longer one day may not necessarily be a greater accomplishment. But it is a nice, easy metric to abide by. The workouts are broken down into two sections, month 1 and month 2, much like the original Insanity. You'll do the same workouts (5 per week) for the first month and then get into the more advanced workouts for the second month. And what I'm really enjoying this time around is that they've split up the cardio and the resistance exercises fairly nicely. Instead of having everything blended together like in the original, here there are two routines per week whose primary focus is resistance. Even better, they use Tabata intervals. Tabata is something that I've been hoping Tony would use for a while in his workouts as they'd complement what he does nicely. But Shaun T steps up to the plate. Tabata is a Japanese scientist who worked with the Japanese speed skating teams to find the most effective interval lengths and intensities to get the most work in the shortest time. His research showed that 20 seconds of max work with 10 seconds of complete rest was optimal. So Max 30 is going to have you doing all sorts of body weight exercises with this protocol. You're going to find out that 20 seconds at high speed is an eternity, while 10 seconds blows by. This is cutting edge science designed for maximum effectiveness in minimum time. Garvinstomp and I do Tabata protocols with battle ropes, and in 8 minutes we're destroyed. 30 minutes is, well, Insane. Oh, and in the second month the intervals become 45 seconds on and 15 seconds off. This is all about pacing. Go too fast and you'll max out in no time. Although, one difference here is that the 20 seconds is a little more paced. In a true Tabata you go as fast and hard as you can for the 20 seconds and then come to a dead stop for 10. You then repeat them same exercise for 8 sets. In Max 30, you might do 2 or 3 sets of similar pushups at a nice pace and then move into 2-3 sets of a different body part. So it's kind of like a modified Tabata. But it really does get everything working really well. And Shaun T even takes Tony's diamond push-ups (that have been sorely missed in Tony's newer series) and put them front and center. I forgot how hard those are! Some workouts do have built in breaks, so it's a matter of being able to make it from one quick rest period to the next. Cardio Challenge, for example, will give you several 30 second breaks. So setting mini-goals is a must. It helps to know that there's only 20 seconds left before break to keep you pushing through. One of the points to note is that there is a low impact modifier, meaning there's a person demonstrating alternate ways to do the exercises. I want to point out that the modifier isn't showing you easier ways to do the exercises, only ways to do them to take some of the impact out of the movements if you've got some joint issues. The modifiers aren't shortcuts to cheat, trust me. My first few times I switched over to the low impact modifier due to a slight hip issue and I was still exhausted when I was done. If you can make it through all 30 minutes just following the modifier it will be a major accomplishment. I've tried all the workouts individually and am now working through the entire program, for which I'll add updates when I'm all done. But it's important to note that Max 30 is not for beginners. It doesn't ease you in like the various P90X series or Chalene. It starts at really hard and only gets harder. This is for people that have a good fitness background and are looking to really test themselves by seeing how hard they can push. If you've got joint issues or injuries, no good. There are lots of movements that require you to jump, get up and down off the ground, go deep into squats and lunges, or every movement I've named all in the same thing (yeah, some of these new moves are out of control, like the burpee lunges and pike up spiders). And Friday Fight lives up to its name. Lots of yelling and swearing from me on this one. Shaun T is intense. He pushes and pushes. If you don't like instructors who get real animated, he may not be to your liking. Tony Horton is much more chilled out. But Shaun T gets right in the camera and pushes you to go further and further. I love that man! There's also very little instruction ahead of time. Because the pace is absolutely blistering, most of the moves you'll have to learn on-the-fly. And some take a fair amount of coordination (all the planks involving shoulder taps comes to mind). There's one type of jumping jack, the Slap Back Jack, where my hands always want to go the wrong direction. So there is definitely a learning curve. Shaun T will walk around and point out finer points on some of the movement, but it's likely you'll be too engaged in doing your thing that you might miss it. Every once in a while he'll do a quick demo if you're coming off a break. But usually you're just learning as you go. You just have to jump in and then worry about if you can swim. As a female I'm very happy with the body weight resistance routines. Garvinstomp is still skeptical because he loves his weights. But he's going to give it a try in the new year and chime in about muscle retention. I can honestly say that I love this combination of routines more than most of the others I've done. It's incredibly effective. It couldn't be longer than what it is or you wouldn't walk away. The set also comes with PULSE and AB ATTACK 10. The first is an optional recovery workout (which I don't do, I use my two free days for bike riding or some other activity in the world) and the second is a 10 minute ab-routine you can add in a couple times per week, which is what the AB MAXIMIZER calendar is all about. So really, if you do the cool down and the ab work, you'll average about 45 minutes per workout for 2 days and 40 minutes for the other 3 days. Best of luck to all brave enough to try it. Oh, and my first max out was at 8:16 (10 and 2s are a lot harder than they look). I probably should have tapped out a little sooner as my form was starting to go. But that's my time. I'm currently over 14 minutes and it's brutal. Love it! And please don't hesitate to ask any questions if you have them. UPDATE 2/11/15: I finished my first 8 week session a few weeks back. I've been waiting to update because I wanted to try some of the other workouts to see how my results held up. Here's the verdict. I leaned up more than I expected. I lost about 11lbs, which is more than I even thought I had to lose. I wasn't carrying much extra weight coming off of P90 when I was rehabbing my injury. My diet was fairly clean, but I certainly had my share of cheat meals. But my abs are as tight as they've ever been (I incorporated two of the ab routines, the included Ab Attack 10, and the bonus 360 abs-which is my favorite of the set and really hits all the spots). My cardio is as good as its been with a Beachbody program. I tried a few of the classic Insanity routines, including Pure Cardio, and was able to keep pace as well as I ever have. I did lose strength, which is to be expected given the lack of weights. Going through some of original P90X routines (Chest and Back, and Shoulders and Arms) my numbers weren't as high as they used to be. I went from 9 unassisted pull-ups to 6. And most of my weights on the dumbbells dropped by about 5 lbs. So it wasn't a terrible loss, and one that I'll be able to make back in the next few weeks most likely. But this cardio is absolutely fantastic. My legs and lungs feel limitless on my bike rides and I'm hungry a lot, which means my metabolism is burning. My resting heart rate also dropped by about 6 bpm. I've seen the comments people have made about tweaking their backs, and I can see that. There's a lot of getting up and down and a lot of working from the plank position. The reality is that this is a very hard workout program. It's not going to be for everyone. I usually roll on my Trigger Point Performance The Grid Revolutionary Foam Roller with SMRT-CORE Level 1 DVD after I cool down to relax my legs and back. This series left me sore, even on the final days. But there was nothing so bad as to ever take me out of the game. But I would absolutely recommend some additional stretching after you finish each day to minimize any soreness. Next up I'll likely jump into INSANITY ASYLUM with Garvinstomp to get that mix of cardio and weights going again. Overall, this series is my favorite thus far. 30 minutes really is enough when the intensity level is that high. With stretching and abs and rolling it takes me about an hour to finish everything. But it's well worth it. I couldn't be happier with the results and I'm very much going to be doing this again. Once I'm done with two months of Asylum I'll take another assessment of my fitness. I imagine I'll either do Max 30 again, or that I'll start working Max 30 routines into some sort of hybrid routines with other workouts. I can't recommend this program highly enough. It's tough, and it hits back. People with questionable health issues or joint issues (especially in the hips) are going to have a lot of problems with this. And the modifier is fine, but won't get you anywhere near the workout of the regular versions of the movements. Good luck to all and please ask any questions if you have them!