Product Review: Fountain of Youth Yoga – Tony Horton One on One

We know. You hate Yoga X. It’s long. It’s boring. Yadda yadda yadda. Let me be the first to say that I LOVE yoga. After a week of body-crunching workouts, the yoga helps you realign yourself and stretch out your skeletal system. And believe me, it needs it. I’ve got a bit of scoliosis in my back, so I wouldn’t dream of skipping it. Yoga also helps with strength, flexibility, and massaging your nervous system. I love yoga and I love Yoga X, but I do understand the gripe. Committing an hour to an hour 15 a day to workout is already tough, so for a workout to last a whole 90 minutes – especially given that it’s many people’s least favorite workout – that’s pushing it. Well, fear not, I’ve found an answer.

Fountain of Youth Yoga, from Tony Horton’s One on One Series. If you’re new to the One on One series, it’s just Tony and a camera man in his Santa Monica home gym. He’s vintage Tony – and I guarantee you’ll laugh at least a couple times as he goofs his way into shape. The other thing that will happen, is your jaw will hit the floor when you see how FLEXIBLE this 50+ year old muscle man is! Proof yet again, that thanks to yoga you can be fit and flexible, and you can literally negate the effects of age. The very best part? It’s only 45 minutes long! Half the length of Yoga X!

The workout is familiar, as it’s Vinyasa based. Vinyasa is the same style used in the first half of the Yoga X DVD – a series of sun salutations into the warrior poses, but instead of wasting time holding poses till you feel like you’re going to die, he moves through them relatively quickly – which is a nice change of pace. He also scatters some new moves throughout the workout, which help to mix things up a bit and keep the workout fresh. You spend a lot less time in Right-Angle pose, which a lot of people will thank Tony for – as that was probably the most painful of the bunch in X. That’s not to say this workout is a complete walk in the park – I still was soaked in sweat after 20 minutes or so, but he does ease back on some of the more difficult postures. However, Warrior 3 and Half Moon are still here to kick your butt, if balance is a weak point.

He finishes up with some really great stretches and twisting postures. Overall, since the original P90X, Tony himself has learned a lot more about the practice of Yoga, and updates the workout accordingly. He gives extra advice on getting the most out of certain poses that wasn’t present in Yoga X, and it’s a welcomed addition. All in all, it’s a good little yoga workout, that calorie burn wise, doesn’t stack up to Yoga X, but I’d recommend it to anyone who’s having trouble with the current yoga regimen in P90X. Use this one to start, then see if you can graduate to Yoga X. Or, if you already can handle the X, use this one to mix things up so you don’t get bored of doing the same workout every week!

You can purchase it HERE! (Just make sure you select Fountain of Youth Yoga on the pull-down menu)

Till next time.