Creating a Healthy Core, Tony Horton style

I began 150 days ago to work on improving my health and fitness. Today I'm really excited to be literally in what I view as the best shape of my life. But what I want now is to take my fitness to new heights! What I'm pursuing is something most men and women only dream of achieving, a six-pack of abdominal muscles! It feels like mine are buried right now below a surface layer of belly fat. It seems to be elusive and just out of reach at the moment, so I keep on pressing forward and sweat a lot!  

When I began my quest in February of this year, I was obese at a whopping 34% body fat! No wonder my belly was 47 inches of pure fat!! To-date my belly is just under 36 inches and my body fat around 18 percent. I've got to BRING IT in my workouts and healthy eating to see that fat percentage trim down to about 10-12%. That's when I'm hoping to finally have an amazing beach body. My target is to get the abdominal washboard, but realistically this is not a short-term goal, but rather a long-term


milestone to get to, like climbing a mountain to the top and staying their for a brief period of time. After that the long-term goal is to maintain a slim mid-section for good health and core strength. By eating healthy and moving my body through functional and periodizational training, I know I can reduce unhealthy fat and have a strengthened healthy core.

What I like about P90X is it gives me a structured, easy to follow, total body workout and nutritional guidance that is bringing me what I view as amazing results! The AB RIPPER X is the 15 minute routine that concentrates on the abdominal core muscles, while the other workout's keep me working on everything! Having a healthy core is critical, like the strong core of a tree that supports the limbs and branches. The core of my body is the foundation from which to work and build on. Since I've been exercising my entire body, my back and ab muscles have grown stronger. I no longer have the muscle aches, tension, stiffness and soreness associated with daily activities at work or at home. The simple fact is the pain is now virtually gone, except for the soreness of the workouts, which I measure as a good soreness. My posture has greatly improved and the risk of back injury is reduced.

The following video's are of my AB RIPPER X workout. Push play on both and watch the difference 5 months has made! There's audio on the before video from my first week in February and no audio on the after that I record two days ago. If I can do it, I know you can too!!




As you can see, The AB RIPPER X routine is comprised of 11 exercises each having 25 reps or more. This means that if you complete all of them, you'll have done over 275 reps!!    Each exercise can be varied depending on your fitness level as you saw in the before video where I was unable to complete each exercise.   Just do your best and forget the rest!  From my own experience, this training is challenging and in the beginning was a huge struggle.  However, you can also see that it works and is bringing core strength results now.   Keep pushing play!


I do this 15 minute AB RIPPER X workout three times a week, every other day. You will feel soreness in the days and weeks to come after starting, but then you will also start to feel stronger as the weeks and months go by. It's extreme work that's better than any machine in any club.  If you truly put in the work and healthy eating, I promise that you will not regret it and you will have great results too!

If you want the straight dope on fueling your body with nutritious food and what to avoid, I'm here to help and it won't cost you a penny for the free advice based on my own experience and what has worked for me. I hope you'll follow my blog and provide me with some feedback on my posts. I'll be catering good choices that include both dietary and lifestyle changes. So if you could use a boost to your engine, buckle up for the ride of your life and let's get started!