Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Review - TapouT XT: Extreme Training

Being a night owl, I happened to catch the infomercial for the 90 days home workout called TapouT XT: Extreme Training. Since I have slowly gotten myself back into an exercise routine, I became interested in this cardio intense workout program.

TapouT XT was created by Mike Karpenko and uses MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) style workouts to help you lose weight and build muscle over the 90 days schedule. The workouts are not meant to teach you any actually fighting or self-defense moves as they are meant to help you tone up.

The basic kit arrived fairly quickly by UPS in a black box with the TapouT logo printed on the packaging tape. The kit consist of the Strike Training DVD; a cardboard slip case to store the workout DVD cases; the twelve workouts on twelve DVDS; the 90 days workout schedule; the 48 pages Food Plan & Nutritional Guide; the twelve page 10-Day Slim Down Guide; the extreme resistance band; the leg training band; a TapouT XT sticker; and a TapouT XT towel. There are two DVDs in each slim case, helping you to save space and they are also easy to travel with.

The workouts range from 40 to 53 minutes, except for Buns and Guns XT that is 31 minutes and Ultimate Abs XT at 15 minutes.

The workouts are:

Cross Core Combat - This is the first workout on the schedule and it is not an easy one. I was covered with sweat by the end of the workout.

Yoga XT - My least favorite of the workouts is 50 minutes of downward/upward dogs and stretching. I'm not a flexible person, so I struggled through it.

Sprawl and Brawl - A MMA style workout that is heavy on punching and ground work. There is an option to wear a pair of weighted gloves to intensify your workout.

Strength and Force Upper - There are many pushups, strikes, and band work in this fun workout.

Plyo XT - This workout is a mix of plyometrics and martial arts. I recommend taking water breaks when you have one, because you'll need it to survive the 51 minutes.

Competition Core - At first I thought this was going to be similar to Cross Core Combat, but I was wrong as it focuses on planks and crunches that will leave your core sore the following day.

Muay Thai - This is the most MMA style workout with a lot of punching and kicking. My abs was on fire at the end of the workout. I also used a pair of weighted gloves.

Legs and Back - The annoying leg band is needed for this workout that involves many lunges. The back gets a decent stretch, but it doesn't get much of a workout as the title suggests.

Ultimate Abs XT - Basically fifteen minutes of crunches.

Ripped Conditioning - High band reps and more pushups that attacks your entire body in this grueling workout.

Cardio XT - One would think this cardio workout would be intense, but I've seen better.

Buns and Guns XT - It's only a half an hour, but it is an intense workout that focus on your buns for the majority of the time.

There are many workout programs on the market that claim you'll be in ripped shape in 90 days, so I was naturally skeptical about TapouT XT. The workouts are primarly core related with some cardio. The resistance band is for beginners. I only used it for the first day and I switched to a heavier one that I already owned. I have the habit of slouching and I found my back becoming stronger with each workout. The leg band is also for beginners, but I thought it was annoying. The band wanted to twist up and made it uncomfortable for me, even though I was wearing socks with it.

The instructor and creator, Mike Karpenko, is entertaining, but he keeps things at a serious level. The workouts are intense at times, but they are also a lot of fun. Even though the majority of the workouts are nearly an hour, it actually feels like thirty minutes as I was having too much fun. The towel that came with the kit will be needed as you'll be sweating all the way through each workout.

There are a few cons, like the overly long Yoga XT. I understand that after several workouts you need to stretch your body, but it could have been shorter. I'm not much of Yoga fan, but I do respect it. I also have a problem with Ultimate Abs XT. It is a well put together workout, but the schedule has it added after another workout. This is overkill for your abs as each workout is already focused on your core and abs. Maybe the Ultimate Abs XT could have been scheduled as a PM workout instead of back to back with another. The schedule itself is extreme as it can get, with only one day of rest. It would have been nice if there were a beginner, intermediate, and advanced schedules.

I'm giving the TapouT XT: Extreme Training 4 of 5. My final thought is that the workout program is great for anyone who is in decent to athletic shape. Anybody who is out of shape should take their time and get to know the moves with the Strike Training DVD. Overall, I more than enjoyed reviewing the program and I can't wait to see what I'll look like on day 90!

Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy from TapouT, LLC in exchange for my honest review.  

5 comments:

  1. So, how is the progress?

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  2. @Anonymous
    I had a family emergency in April, so my workouts have been limited. TapouT XT is a fun workout and I try to throw it into my routines as much as I can.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You did a great review. I have completed Tapout Xt. I really enjoyed it and got great results.

    I actually did my own review of results

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  4. I am interested in this type of work but my budget is so limited that i have to think a 100 times before taking any kind of risk.
    top home workouts

    ReplyDelete
  5. I will say that the workouts are hard. I'm an athletic guy, but not necessarily in athletic shape. From playing sports, my knees are quirky, as are my wrists. This routine is really tough on the knees. I personally made it through 30 days before the wrist soreness became too much along with the pain at the top of the kneecaps from all the lunges. I was doing it 5 days a week because 6 just couldn't be done. I planned on getting back to it, but the mental remainder of the pain has been difficult to overcome. I can say that after 30 days, I looked better and was significantly stronger. Before this program, I could do about 15 pushups, then maybe 12, ten, and then i'd be failing after 5...so 50 in a day would be as much as my body would allow. After 30 days, I could get to about 22, then 20, then sets of 15 pretty easily after that allowing me to do about 120 within maybe 2 hours.

    ReplyDelete

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