The P90X One on One with Tony Horton Super Cardio workout (Cardio 5-6) (Volume 1, Disc 7) was what I decided to pop in my laptop today and try. I had already done about 10 miles worth of rollerblading since the weather was really nice and I found a nice paved path to blade on. When I was done, my legs were pretty sore, but I figured that I could easily handle any cardio workout by Tony Horton. The reason that I decided to do this workout from the “One on One” series is because I recently finished The Asylum with Shaun T and was itching to try something new.
Tony's beastly kick
My brother had given me all of the Tony Horton “One on One” workouts and I figured that they would be perfect to try. I had already tried one and thought that it was actually pretty tough, but when I saw the workout called “Super Cardio” I was somewhat intrigued. Could it be anywhere near as hard as The Asylum? If you want to know more about my experience and know everything that you need to about the program, read The Asylum Review that I wrote.
Anyways, today I decided to pull a random DVD out of the package and wanted to do some cardio, so “Super Cardio” is what I settled on. I decided to write up a thorough review to let you know how it compares to other cardio workouts that I have done. I am going to break down the exercises as well so what you understand what you will be getting out of this workout if you are thinking about buying it or own this series.
One on One with Tony Horton: Super Cardio Workout Review
Tony Horton starts off talking to his buddy Mason Bendewald (the director) for this 47 minute workout. He says that the workout is going to be similar to “Cardio 5 6 Plus” (or Master Series) – something that I have never tried. Also before I forget to mention it, the music that is playing in the background is courtesy of Jason Scheff – Tony makes it clear that he likes to rock out.
Warm Up (10 Minutes)
- Jogging in Place – You do a little bit of jogging to start the warm up and to get the blood flowing.
- Plyo Bounce – This is basically like bouncing in place and is not very intense; “nice and gentle” as Tony says. It loosens you up and gets your legs warm.
- Half Jacks – You just do jumping jacks halfway up and Tony Horton talks about his “hippocampus coming alive”…haha
- Heismans – You do the Heismans at a very low speed across your mat or a space on your floor just to get warmed up.
- Moving Tires – You do tires (one half of wacky jacks) which are basically like running with wide knees. You have the option of moving back and forth while doing these – I did and I could feel that my legs were actually pretty burned out from my 10 mile rollerblade session earlier in the day.
- Jab Cross Boxing – You might remember this move from Kenpo X… You do it in the warm up and it gets you a little bit more loosened up.
- Topas Stretch – I actually miss doing these, you get into horse stance and take deep breaths while opening up your shoulders and arms.
- Yoga Stretches – You do some swan dives, split leg hamstring stretches, etc. At this point there are some very odd camera angles from Mason.
- Salutation Rotations – You do the Warrior 1 rotations with the ashtanga sun salutations, push ups, plank, downward dog, chair pose, etc. These got my entire body loosened up because Tony really made sure that we did enough.
Super Cardio Workout Exercises (Cardio 5-6)
In this workout, there are really only a total of 9 exercises, and you do them in a total of three rounds. There are three moves per round, and you do three sets of each move per round, each for 30 seconds. It may sound confusing, but if you actually do this workout it will be very easy to understand. Anyways when the workout started, I wasn’t sure if Tony Horton was pacing himself and getting progressively more intense each round or doing his best from the start. I was going all out from the very first round and to be honest, Tony seemed like he was slacking.
One on One: Super Cardio (Preview)
With that said, there is an age difference, his leg was bothering him, and the guy is in amazing shape for his age. Plus, in terms of non-cardio exercises, he can probably kick my ass. However, I was feeling pretty cocky going into this workout having just finished The Asylum. You had better believe I was going at maximum intensity from the very first move. Below are the three rounds of moves that are included in Super Cardio.
Round #1
- Duck and Cover – You duck and cover as to protect yourself if you were in a fight. You get down low and pretty much squat down low and then switch sides with a little hop. Tony pretty much just takes a step; I was actually hopping because his version looked pretty anemic. Fortunately he picks it up in the second and third round.
- Twist Lunge Reach Jump – You pretty much lunge, twist, and reach at the same time, with a little hop in between. You should go all the way down to touch the floor for your “reach” after you lunge. You should also make sure that you are reaching up high too to get maximum benefit from this move. These are pretty easy and Tony is moving like a sloth, but does pick it up in the second and third round. Despite the fact that it wasn’t too tough, I actually liked the creativity here with this particular move.
- Squat Knee Kick (Alternating Legs) – Tony busted out some Kenpo X on me with the squat knee kick. For these, you basically keep your guard up, squat down, and then kick. You alternate legs each time you do the kicks. By the time the third round was done, I had finally felt like I was actually getting a little bit of cardio. Tony acted like this was a beastly workout, but I really felt like the set of three moves was just average.
Water Break – At this point of the workout, I’m thinking that this workout is pretty lame for a “One on One” workout entitled “Super Cardio.” The way he hyped it up had me thinking it was going to be tougher than Plyo X. Anyways, I thought that the first round might just be easy and that everything would intensify as the workout progressed.
Round #2
- 180 Squat Spin Jump – Apparently this move is “brand new” but I’m pretty sure I have done something similar before. You squat down, touch your fingers to the floor, and you do a 180 jump spin, and then come down for the squat. It is pretty basic, but if you jump higher, squat lower, and move faster than Tony, you will actually get your heart rate up a little bit. I’m pretty sure I did almost double what he did here. I think he should have made me jump 360 degrees for the final round…haha I think he does in Plyo if I remember correctly!
- DB Scoot – For these, you go from one corner of your room to the other and do a scoot, touching each corner of the room. Tony switches up his lateral crossovers from time to time during this move. It is pretty basic though, just stay consistent with your crossovers and basically sprint from one side to the other. If you do this workout, you will want to push hard through these so that you get your heart rate up more.
- Moving Tires with Elbow (Wacky Jacks) – I don’t know why Tony didn’t just call these “Moving Wacky Jacks” because they are basically just wacky jacks while moving back and forth. If you don’t know what a “wacky jack is” it’s basically doing a tire (running with wide high knees) and elbows to knee with your hands near your head. It’s pretty easy to follow if you see Tony do it.
Water Break – After the second round, you get some more water if you need it. I got a sip of water, and I was sweating, and my legs were tired from rollerblading earlier in the day, but this workout wasn’t like the cardio that I’m used to doing in The Asylum. Then again, I don’t know why I’m even comparing the two, because this isn’t even as intense as the cardio in P90X.
Round #3
- Jab Slide Uppercut – For these, you do a “jab” with a slide forward, and then an “uppercut” to really knock someone out. This is where Tony actually gets intense and picks it up! I had a lot of fun with this move and like the fact that he incorporated some Kenpo into this workout. You do this move 15 seconds on the right side and 15 seconds on the left side.
- Low Block Lunge Hammer – You block low with one arm, do a big lunge, and then hammer forward. I’m definitely more of a “sword hammer” fan, but this is cool too. Once again, you do this move for 15 seconds per side. I guess he kept it 100% karate Kenpo for this final round, which is pretty cool.
- Jump Kicks – For these, you put one knee out in front of the other leg, and then drive forward with your back leg so that your knee comes up. When your knee comes up, you kick with the opposite foot and knock out your opponent…haha As usual, you do 15 seconds per leg and then you move on. I love doing this move, but it wasn’t really too hardcore in terms of cardio. Also, I should say to make sure you are careful not to pull a muscle in your leg (e.g. hamstring) during the extension of your kick because the kicks are pretty high impact.
Cool Down: Stretches (Bonus)
When the workout ends, Tony takes the time to show us some pretty nice “cool down” stretches. I made sure that I did them all because some of these Kenpo moves can really throw your joints for a loop. I honestly was slightly wishing that there was a hidden fourth bonus round of exercises as a surprise, but there wasn’t – there was really just some stretches that Tony wanted to do because one of his hamstrings was really bothering him.
- Shake It Out – Shake out your body while doing a light jog in place.
- Hip Twists – Tony also does some moving hip twists to help the heart rate come down.
- Little Kicks (Hugs) – He also does some little kicks with hugs in order to really make sure you know that you’re cooling down.
- Inhale / Exhale – The classic inhales and exhales to make sure you are breathing while doing a wide stretch.
- Wide Hamstring Stretch – With your feet a lot wider than shoulder width, you let your head hang, and stretch out your hamstrings.
- Downward Dog – Classic, we all know and love this one.
- Cat Stretch – This helps loosen up your spine and back if there is any remaining tension.
- Super Duper Quad Stretch – This is the same stretch from Yoga X where you really feel your quads loosen up. Right after, you lie down on your back and move your legs in a circle.
- Happy Baby – I really missed this stretch because I hadn’t done it in a long time… I love it though. Plus you can add the rocker too.
- Shoulder Twist – Another classic stretch from Yoga X to loosen things up more. Later you add the crossover courtesy of Isabel.
- Cross Legged Hamstring Stretch – This is a new stretch that I had never done before and was pretty cool because it was more challenging than the traditional.
- Standing Quad Stretch – Standing up, you do the quad stretch to finish the workout and then you see Tony Horton skiing in the video clip at the end where he gives you a glimpse of the next One on One.
How does Super Cardio compare to other workouts? It’s easier….
So how does this “Super Cardio” workout compare to other workouts that you probably have done? Based on my experience, this is one of the least challenging cardio workouts I have ever done. Not only was the title misleading, but I really didn’t get that amazing of a workout. Yes, I got my heart rate up, yes I felt like I burned calories, and yes I was definitely getting in more reps than Tony. However, it really seemed like it took awhile for my heart rate to actually get up.
If I had not gone rollerblading for about 10 miles earlier in the day, I think that this workout would have been even easier. In terms of comparing it to other workouts that you have probably done, I will start out by saying that Kenpo X is harder. Additionally, Plyometrics is a lot harder, the workouts in Insanity make this one look like child’s play, and I honestly think that I got more intense cardio in The Asylum warm ups than this workout. Also, the Insanity Fast & Furious workout makes this one look like it was strictly for people who are really out of shape.
“Super Cardio” is definitely far from “super” – in fact, it barely qualifies as average cardio. With that said, I am a fan of Tony Horton and I have done some of his other workouts from the “One on One” series and thought that they were awesome. The fact is that you will burn calories, you will get your heart rate up, and you will sweat if you are working hard. However, the Kenpo moves don’t usually get most people’s heart rates up as much as Tony thinks. He did include some quality stretches, but this was really just a little bit tougher than Cardio X. I may keep this workout in my arsenal for a day where I need a very light workout.
Final thoughts: The title should honestly be changed to “Super Easy Cardio” because it’s just NOT very intense.