It took me a little longer than the fourteen days expected to go from session 55 because I spent one day getting holiday stuff taken care of, and the rest I just blew off. Frankly, going through the P90 Phase 3 and Phase 4 program has taken its toll on my enthusiasm. The standard workout seems robotic and the repetition is killing me. As such, I was very happy to break the recommended routine and do a six-day detour to Hawaii.

The Beachbody P90 Fat Burning Express Hawaii edition, that is. Here’s my opinion of this DVD after a second helping.

Here’s the short version: the Fat Burner Express workout is far more entertaining than the traditional basic P90 system. It is shorter than the Phase 3 and Phase 4 workouts, but I have so much fun that I put more of myself into each movement. I found myself shouting along with trainer Tony Horton and trying to best my previous session. Jump higher, punch faster, lunge deeper.

That being said, I can see the weaknesses in the program now. The Phase 1 and 3 workouts feature an ab routine afterwards (100 and 200 reps, respectively). The Fat Burning Express doesn’t have a single isolated ab movement. Sure, your abs get used in the majority of the exercises in the video, but doing the “Twister” ten times is nothing like doing twenty bicycles after cranking out 160 other ab movements.

After doing a hundred pushups in the Phase 4 on top of military presses, front raises, and a bunch of other crazy shit, I don’t feel like I am getting enough of an upper body workout, either. The legion of squats and lunges in Phase 3 prepared me for the relatively easy leg workout of the Fat Burner Express. However, the FBE’s leg exercises are more “static” and are probably better for your overall core development. For example, one of the exercises in the FBE is called the “chair to prayer.” You extend your arms all the way up and mimic sitting in a chair. This is hard enough, but then you transition to a yoga-style “prayer squat,” wherein you enter a DEEP squat stance, with your elbows pushing your knees apart to open up the groin. You do this twenty times, alternating each side.

It’s a different feeling than doing twenty lunges with forty squats in between, but it’s still a good workout. Those of you familiar with the weight lifting “pump” might get more satisfaction from the P90 basic workout. The FBE takes a far more sneaky approach to the workout. By throwing tons of different exercises at you, your muscles never get close to failure like one may experience with true weight lifting. It may not feel impressive at first, but when I woke up the following day with tight legs I knew the Fat Burner Express program was no joke.

I have twenty-four workouts left. In addition to going back to Phase 3 and 4, I have also been restricting my diet a little more. Two weeks ago, I gave up cheese for the rest of my routine. Last week I gave up potatoes, and this week I am giving up other starches and pasta. I think desserts/sweets are on the chopping block for the week thereafter, and then things will get even more fucked up after that. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are my stats:

I am really proud of my progress. My midsection is being stubborn, but at my age I think this is unavoidable unless I make some drastic dietary changes.