A lot has been written over the years about the P90X Yoga
workout, from ‘it’s too long’ to ‘it’s too hard’. I think the biggest problem is that Tony
Horton is just not a great yoga teacher because, in part, he treats it like a
competitive event. Or, at the very
least, like it should be a sweat-fest cardio workout.
The DVD is 90 minutes which is too long. It’s about 45 minutes of ‘moving asanas’ and
then 45 minutes of balance/stretching poses. Though I have attended many yoga classes over
the years, I certainly haven’t tried all of the types of yoga that are out
there. But, the structure of the first
half of this routine doesn’t resemble anything I’ve seen before either in a
class or on a DVD. For example, in every
class I’ve ever been to, if the first move is Warrior I then the second move is
Warrior II. Tony has you do Warrior I
and then for the second move, Warrior I again and then move from that into Warrior
II. This odd sequencing is one of the
reasons the workout is overly long. The
balance/stretching poses have a better flow, though he really doesn’t seem to understand
the purpose of Corpse pose at the end of the session.
The reality is that as fond of yoga as Tony seems to be, when these DVDs were made several years ago he wasn’t
really qualified to either construct or lead this routine. He doesn’t do much to describe/demonstrate
correct form which makes a huge difference in yoga. This is one of my two least favorite workouts
of the P90X program.
For a much better yoga session, look for Rodney Yee’s “Yoga
For Athletes”. It’s an older video
(circa 2000) – and I like it so much that I originally had it on VHS and later bought it again on
DVD. It’s 60 minutes, and really focuses
on areas that get tight from sports or exercise. I generally replace the P90X yoga with this
one, though I’ll do P90X yoga every once in a while just to monitor my progress
in doing Crane.
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