Power of 4 BODi Review – Does it Work?
I am pumped to see Tony Horton’s independent program Power of 4 was just added to the BODi library! I have a long history with Tony’s workouts and have had the amazing opportunity to connect with him in person and workout live countless times over many years as a Beachbody/BODi Coach, now affiliate (2009-Present). In fact, Tony’s P90X changed my life back in 2008 and is still one of the all-time classic workout programs. I have since completed all of Tony’s programs including the lesser known One-on-One volumes from the early years of his experimentation with new concepts and movements; that is, I completed all of Tony’s programs EXCEPT his independent Power of 4 release outside of the BODi platform. The time is now!!
Tony Horton is one motivational dude. Yes, his workout instruction and banter with cast members can be corny, but this man has a heart of gold and genuinely cares for people. I have witnessed this in person many times. He even gave me some guidance on leveraging P90X2 way back when I was recovering from serious lower back injuries. I also had the opportunity to be one of Tony’s body guards at a local event in Minnesota in 2018. This was one of the first events he did after being hospitalized for Ramsay Hunt syndrome, which caused him to lose a significant amount of weight and muscle. I talked to him at that event and he shared how bright lights and noise really impacted him during his recovery. This is around the time Tony’s association with Beachbody shifted so he was able to explore independent projects. As such, he developed Power of 4 with some of his old friends from the original P90X to regain health and physique after his severe illness. I have come across social media posts touting Power of 4 as the P90X4 that wasn’t, but I highly doubt it; it seems more like Tony’s One-on-One series at first look. However, it doesn’t mean this program doesn’t offer many wellness benefits. More to come with this Power of 4 review!!
The Power of 4 program is built on four core pillars—fitness, nutrition, supplementation, and mindfulness—that Tony personally used to restore his health. Each pillar is a component that when combined helps achieve results that last as you train smarter across strength, cardio, mobility, and recovery to avoid burnout, boredom, and plateaus. Sessions are efficient yet effective, maintaining busy schedules while still delivering results. Pair it with simple nutrition and mindfulness practices available on BODi to support energy, focus, and long-term results day after day.
Across 13 weeks, you’ll move through 23 unique workouts and 2 bonus sessions ranging from 10 to 70 minutes, 7 days a week. Workouts blend strength, cardio, mobility, yoga, and plyo so you build muscle, endurance, and resilience. Every workout includes “Power Up”, “Power Down”, and Stop Options™ to customize volume and intensity in the moment. You can complete the program with dumbbells and resistance bands; some workouts use other optional equipment, like a pull-up bar and mat. The two add-ons, 1 + 5×5 (a fast 10-minute burner) and Body Scan Meditation (a restorative breath-led reset), live in the Bonus Workouts section and can be added to any day. Start where you are and progress on your terms!
My goal with this detailed Tony Horton Power of 4 BODi Review is to both try the program AND create perspective for you to make a decision on leveraging POWER OF 4 for your health and fitness goals. Again, given that I am a Science guy, I will leverage heart rate analysis for each workout to draw conclusions and comparisons including the data in my perspective. This approach is similar to my popular reviews for P90X3, Insanity Max:30, Hammer & Chisel, 22 Minute Hard Corps, Body Beast, Country Heat, Core De Force, Shaun Week, Shift Shop, LIIFT4, Transform :20, 6 Weeks of THE WORK, 10 Rounds, 645, LIIFT MORE, Tough Mudder T-Minus 30, Chop Wood Carry Water, Dig Deeper, and 25 Minute Speed Train. I have a Polar OH1 Bluetooth enabled heart rate monitor synced to my iPhone using the free Polar Beat Mobile App and Polar Flow. Warmup and cooldown time is typically included in the heart rate analysis. Add additional time to stretch if needed.
Nutrition is CRITICAL for getting the results you want with your fitness program and the targets need to be aligned with the clean eating system (Nutrition + Portion Fix recommended, but you may need to bump calories for mass gain depending on goals). My current supplements include the BODi Performance Advanced Stack of ENERGIZE pre-workout, HYDRATE during workout, and RECOVER post-workout with Shakeology and Beachbar snacks. Be sure to let me know if you would like to join my private support team for daily motivation and accountability, the slight edge, for your success. Check out my TESTIMONIALS! Click JOIN TEAM RAGE with any questions. Let’s do this!
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The Workouts
The Data Analysis Summary
Power of 4 was a pleasant surprise addition to the BODi core library this year. I heard about this program when it launched years ago and was excited to work through this detailed review of the workouts. Given the timing of this renewed relationship with BODi combined with the upcoming release of P90X Generation Next in February 2026, I do wonder if Tony is helping to create X Gen Next and perhaps will even make an appearance in the workout(s). We will see. In the meantime, Power of 4 is a strong compilation of effective routines to help with your health and fitness goals. Check out more of my perspective below on the pros and cons along with some tables and charts to compare Power of 4 relative to other BODi programs!
PROS of Power of 4:
- Tony. I have a long history of appreciation for Tony Horton. As I mentioned, P90X changed my life in many ways and Tony has always been kind to me and my family. His chest and back workouts are still some of the best, most challenging routines with bodyweight control given the broad range of push-up and pull-up variations.
- Tony does a great job combining fitness with mindfulness/moving meditation in this program. Few programs incorporate this much meditation and yoga. I admit I need to do more of these disciplines and plan to incorporate the shorter Three Part Meditation and Morning Yoga into my schedule. My mobility and flexibility improved significantly during Power of 4 while the controlled breathing techniques helped destress my mind and body. Good stuff.
- I generally like the mix of yoga and meditation with upper body, lower body, core, plyo, primal movement, and martial arts. There are some great new functional fitness movements introduced. I even noted progress with my balance, especially with weights involved. Muscular and cardio endurance are challenged as well with Power of 4.
- The workouts are long. Part of the reason is the extended warmup and cooldown similar to the original P90X. I am certainly okay with the extra time for proper warmup/cooldown, although the long workouts are also attributed to a lot of banter between exercises. I do like the STOP OPTIONS added to most workouts that allow you to cut the workout shorter if you do not have the time or fitness level for the longer duration. It is a great concept. Sure, you could just stop when you want for any routine, but Tony put some thought into the best way to structure the STOP cadence.
CONS of Power of 4:
- Tony. Love Tony, but I feel like he is trying very hard in this program to be funny. He uses a lot of recycled P90X jokes for banter like Groucho Marx, Jerry Lewis, fake musical instruments, and random singing to fill the void between exercises; silence is golden sometimes. He starts just about every workout in the middle of a joke, almost like we are interrupting him. I suspect certain Tony fans enjoy this comedic relief and the cast was sure eating it up, haha. Many of his jokes will not resonate with a remotely younger audience and, as a consequence, the workouts themselves tend to be very long due to extended breaks. Personally, I will be muting the workouts and listening to music like I do with his other P90X and One-on-One routines.
- This is not P90X4. I heard many reviews that promote Power of 4 as P90X4. This program is much closer in format to his older P90X One-on-One series on BODi. I completed all of the One-on-Ones many years ago and occasionally still press play on my favorites like 30-15 Upper Body Massacre, Diamond Delts, and Just Arms. Although Power of 4 is more structured than the One-on-One series, it is certainly lacking the cohesive structure and presentation of a typical Beachbody/BODi program. The movements performed in the workouts were tested and refined with multiple beta test groups in his online Power Nation fitness group. At times, the workout schedule feels random with only slight variations between the different versions of routines; plyo, meditation, yoga, martial arts, and push-pull. I did get bored often. The sessions feel repetitive and there is very little resistance work. I am not sure this should be a surprise since Tony created this program from the types of exercises he used to recover from his serious illness. As such, this is an intermediate program at best, which is supported by my detailed heart rate analysis results below.
- The workouts are too long (see above). It feels like they are long just to be long. Many of the routines are in the 1-hr+ range. This is where BODi may have been able to help Tony get more dialed in with efficiency even with a proper warmup and cooldown. Further, many of the exercises in this program come from his P90X series, One-on-Ones, and Tony exclusives on BODi.
- There is not enough resistance work for my goals. Mass gain and toning is not really the focus of this program. Power of 4 is more body enhancement and functioning, I would say. This is okay since I will select a different program for that type of resistance like Body Beast, Dig Deeper and LIIFT MORE. Or, I may opt for a hybrid schedule with Power of 4 and one or more of these lifting programs.
Overall, I HIGHLY recommend Power of 4!
Moving on to my final analysis, the table below demonstrates the VERY detailed results from comprehensive heart rate analysis for all 25 workouts for Power of 4 (click to expand for easier reading). The data includes calories burned, average heart rate, max heart rate, time in each of 5 workout zones plus the percentage of time in max zones 4 and 5. Normalized calories are also shown (calories/workout time). The subsequent graph also summarizes the workouts with regard to heart rate analysis (calories burned, average heart rate).
I feel really good about the data set and the regression analysis below indicates a very strong correlation to the data set for normalized calories and heart rates, which is a good sign (very close to perfect correlation R2 = 1). Although not shown in graphical format, max heart rates vs. average heart rates for all 25 Power of 4 workouts actually provides a good fit at y = 1.2462x + 2.2528 (R2 = 0.9315).
You can see from the data set that Power of 4 provides a range of intermediate to entry level workouts that challenge in different ways. (By the way, I know that you are not actually “burning” calories, ha, it is just a term like “expenditure”.) Based on my data I get an average calorie burn of 321 cals/workout over the 25 Power of 4 workouts, which is mostly due to the longer workout duration than actual intensity. The average % of workout in the upper zones 4/5 and average normalized calories are lower as well, as expected. There are a lot of lower impact movements that reduce the time in elevated heart rate zones. Further, the extended breaks I mentioned in the CONS section provide time for heart rate to recover while the meditation and stretch routines reside in the lower zones 0-1. The heart rate data confirms some of the plyo, primal, and martial arts routines were (by far) the most challenging in the entire program.
Check out the comparison below to some key performance indicators relative to other top Beachbody programs P90X3, Insanity Max:30, Hammer & Chisel, 22 Minute Hard Corps, Body Beast, Country Heat, Core De Force, Shaun Week, Shift Shop, LIIFT4, Transform :20, 6 Weeks of The Work, 10 Rounds, 645, LIIFT MORE, Tough Mudder T-Minus 30, Chop Wood Carry Water, Dig Deeper, and 25 Minute Speed Train (click to expand for easier reading). Numbers shown are averages of all 16 Insanity Max:30 workouts, all 20 P90X3 workouts, all 19 Hammer and Chisel, all 13 22 Minute Hard Corps workouts, all 15 Body Beast workouts, all 11 Country Heat workouts, all 14 Core De Force, all 7 Shaun Week workouts, all 11 Shift Shop workouts, all 34 LIIFT4 workouts (excluding B4 LIIFT4), all 51 Transform :20 workouts, all 33 10 Rounds workouts, all 90 645 workouts, all 52 LIIFT MORE workouts, all 24 Tough Mudder T-Minus 30 workouts, all 24 Chop Wood Carry Water workouts, all 24 Dig Deeper workouts, and all 51 25 Minute Speed Train workouts relative to all 25 Power of 4 workouts. Workout times generally average in the 30-35 minute range for most of the programs compared to the longer ave. 45-min range for Power of 4, as designed.
The data comparing Power of 4 to other Beachbody programs is not surprising considering the length of workouts, low impact movements, extended breaks, and meditation focus; that is, the Power of 4 program overall has the longest average workout time while yielding some of the lowest average heart rates, max heart rates, and normalized calorie burns. I did find it interesting the average time in the upper workout zones 4/5 was mostly on par with Joel Freeman’s LIIFT4, LIIFT MORE and Speed Train programs, which incorporate more lifting. With that said, my Beachbody program comparison is a high level exercise and not always indicative of relative difficulty since these reviews have been performed over time. More specifically, the summary data in the table was generated over a time span of 12+ years when I had varied fitness levels and many other factors that may have contributed to the results. In addition, some programs have more lower impact workouts that may depress the average heart rate data sets including primal flow, stretch, recovery, foam rolling and mobility. And, there are many breaks built-in to certain programs for short bursts of energy and power. As such, I am not surprised Power of 4 rates at the lower end of the heart rate data in most metrics shown in the table.
So, Does Power of 4 Work?
YES! As I always say, I am not going to lie, most if not all of these programs will work if you follow them, especially the nutrition guide and discipline. I know this from my personal experience as well as the experience of thousands on my Team across the World 16+ years as a Team Beachbody/BODi Coach/Partner/Affiliate. I can confirm Power of 4 is a great program for endurance, flexibility and mindfulness! Power of 4 is ANOTHER tool in the toolbox for achieving your health and fitness goals. I hope you enjoy my Power of 4 Review and be sure to reach out to me to get connected to the broad reach of TEAM RAGE and my personal coaching support !!
Favorite Workouts: Triple Trouble Challenge, Chest and Back Round Robin, Shoulders & Arms Recharge, 1+5×5 (bonus), The Power of Core, Arms and Abs
Least Favorite Workouts: Flash Card-io and Flash Card Plyo (didn’t like the game show contest theme)
Hardest Workouts (for me): Primal Flow, Don’t Skip Yoga, Power and Strength Yoga, Drop Pulse and Hold
Easiest Workouts (for me): Kickin’ and Punchin’, Cardio 24, Meditations, Pure Stretch
If you appreciate the hard work that goes into these detailed BODi workout reviews and hybrids, I would be honored if you use the links below for my team credit plus you get a 15% discount. I appreciate you!! As always, please let me know how I can help!!
Be sure to use this new 15% off promo code savings when you use any of the links on this page only! >>> MIKENBODI
Please contact me directly if you have any issues using the promo code, need links to different products, or, would like help selecting the products to maximize your results! >>> MikeNowakFitness@gmail.com
- Special Offer: GET BODi ACCESS to EVERY Beachbody program ever created HERE!
- Download the programs here without a BODi subscription
- CLICK HERE for the shop with ALL products!!
Nutrition is CRITICAL for getting the results you want with your fitness program and the targets need to be aligned with the clean eating system (Nutrition + Portion Fix recommended, but you may need to bump calories for mass gain depending on goals). My current supplements include the BODi Performance Advanced Stack of ENERGIZE pre-workout, HYDRATE during workout, and RECOVER post-workout with Shakeology and Beachbar snacks. Be sure to let me know if you would like to join my private support team for daily motivation and accountability, the slight edge, for your success. Check out my TESTIMONIALS! Click JOIN TEAM RAGE with any questions. Let’s do this!
The Reviews
Cardio 24
This is 27 minutes of lickety-split heart/lungs/legs cardio action! There are no official Stop Options in this one, but you’ll get a break every 5 moves to catch your breath and do a salutation.
Here we go my friends; excited to get my Power of 4 review started! Cardio 24 consists of 20 moves at 30 seconds each with a salutation active recovery sequence every 5 moves. I believe it is called Cardio 24 since the workout is approx. 24 minutes in length. The workout options to adjust intensity include Power Up (fast pace) and Power Down (slower pace, decrease range of motion). Nice to see Sean C. in this workout with the Power Up variation. I met him a few times in LA years ago and he is good dude!
There is a short 3-min dynamic warmup to start before beginning the main cardio focus. The warmup has the feel of Tony’s 22 Minute Hard Corps program where he counts down the reps out loud with the cast. The cardio movements in the main workout are jump rope, alternating step back lunges, mountain climbers, A-skips, front kick/back kick, jab cross, call out (march/jog/sprint), shuffle jab, butt kicker flys, cross climbers, body blows, hop over the line, fast feet shuffle, twist & pivot with elbows and upper cuts, lunge punches, hook elbow downstrike, tinman clappers, jumpshot step side-to-side, shoulder knee tappers, and burpees. The workout finishes up with a short cooldown and stretch.
My heart rate data shows 247 calories burned in 26-min with average and max heart rates of 128 bpm and 162 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 3. I followed Power Up and used a 10-lb medicine ball for the lunge punches exercise. The heart rate data confirms my general observation that Cardio 24 is a fairly easy workout overall (intermediate), even with the Power Up version of the moves. With that said, the salutation sequence introduced every 5 moves brings down the heart rate for recovery. In addition, the exercises are fairly simple at only 30 sec each so there are many breaks. I measured 9.48 cal/min for Cardio 24, which is significantly lower than other BODi cardio routines including Shaun T’s Max:30, Joel’s LIIFT4, and even Tony’s 22 Minute Hard Corps and P90X3 cardio, which typically had me in the 11-15 cal/min range. It was still a fun, effective workout where my heart rate generally ramped throughout providing a good sweat by the end. I liked the A-skips, which were previously found in 22 Minute Hard Corps as well as the P90X-like body blows (Kenpo) and line hops (Plyometrics). A few final comments… Tony is back with his corny jokes and even more jokes were added post-filming with pop-up bubbles on the screen. I do like that there is background music and two timers; one timer for the current move and one timer for the overall workout countdown. Overall, great session and it is good to be back working out with Tony Horton!
Shoulders and Arms Recharge
We call this one ShArms: You’ll do 3 moves (shoulders, biceps, triceps), then repeat those. Then 3 new moves and repeat those, etc., etc., for a total of 4 rounds and 24 moves. Now let’s go lift some weights!
I was super pumped to press play on this Shoulders and Arms Recharge routine. Tony has created some monster weighted workouts over the years. P90X Shoulders & Arms is still one of my go-to workouts when I have the time available! Similar to P90X S&A, this routine focuses on targeted rounds that hit the shoulders, biceps and triceps in succession for two sets each round before moving on to the next round. There are 4 rounds resulting in 24 exercise sets in total with limited breaks between sets and rounds. There are two STOP OPTIONS in this workout, which allow you to stop after certain rounds if you do not have time or simply working up to greater endurance with your fitness level. Regardless, you will still get an amazing workout that will fuel results!
Recharge begins with a short dynamic warmup to start before hitting the weights. Round 1 is static military press, standing bicep curls, and supine tricep extension. Round 2 consists of swimmers press, 21’s, and dolphin pushups. Round 3 involves arc rows, hammer curls, and standing kickbacks. Round 4 is punch presses, drag curls, and tri pumpers. There is a short cooldown and stretch to finish up.
My heart rate data shows 353 calories burned in 40-min with average and max heart rates of 123 bpm and 155 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zones 3-4. These are SOLID numbers for a lifting routine. Although the rep range allows for 8-12, I targeted 8-10 reps to lift heavier, which is aligned with my goals. I used 20-40-lb dumbbells in this workout. S&A Recharge is indeed similar to P90X with some new variations incorporated. My favorite exercises are arc rows and punch presses. You have to be really careful on arc rows with proper form to safely work your posterior delts, rhomboids and traps. But man, arc rows are a rocker with some weight. The dolphin pushups are also challenging as a slight variation to pike press pushups. Awesome stuff. If you like the P90X and Tony Horton One-on-One series you will love this Power of 4 program! Join us!
Be sure to use this new 15% off promo code savings when you use any of the links on this page only! >>> MIKENBODI
Please contact me directly if you have any issues using the promo code, need links to different products, or, would like help selecting the products to maximize your results! >>> MikeNowakFitness@gmail.com
- Special Offer: GET BODi ACCESS to Power of 4 and EVERY Beachbody program ever created HERE!
- Download the individual programs here without a BODi subscription!
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Crunch Town
Bobby and Dreya join Tony for this ab-eriffic routine with 11 moves, 20 reps each – except for Scissor Crunches which “only” has 10 reps. Core, abs, intercostal muscles, lower back, even the hip flexors – this one covers them all!
Crunch Town is another stroll down P90X memory lane with Bobby and Dreya rejoining Tony. Nice to see them back and doing so well; they are both still fit and motivated for success. This is a shorter workout, but it is definitely not easy. There are 11 total moves at 20 reps each, excluding the scissor variation at 10 reps given the higher difficulty level. There are Power Up and Power Down options to modulate your intensity. This session can be utilized as a standalone or stacked with other workouts.
There is no warmup so you get right into the core work. I recommend a quick warmup on your own to safely transition into this challenging routine. The moves in Crunch Town include boat pumpers, alternating jack knife crunch, scissor crunches, banana X crunches, leg circles, figure 4 crunch twist, split leg reach, torso twister/straight leg crunch, swiss twist, hip raisers, and 4 punch crunch. My heart rate data shows 88 calories burned in 22-min with average and max heart rates of 93 bpm and 118 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 1, as expected. I mostly followed the Power Up variations, but had to leverage the Power Down on a couple moves and/or support my lower back given my history of back issues.
My abs were absolutely on FIRE in this workout. In fact, I didn’t get around to writing this review for a couple of days after I pressed play on Crunch Town due to busy schedule and my abs and core were REALLY sore 1-2 days post-workout. My obliques and hip flexors were even worked in this routine. The boat pumpers and jack knife crunches are a tough way to start, serving as a strong pre-fatigue. I have to be honest, I have a hard time keeping my legs perfectly straight in certain moves, but I made it work… haha. The banana X crunches are killer as a tribute to P90X while the split leg reaches were the most difficult for me. My favorite exercises are the 4 punch crunch at the end and leg circles, which remind me of windshield wipers from Body Beast and other programs. Crunch Town gives Ab Ripper X vibes!!
Three Part Meditation
Settle in for this 15-minute breathing routine that is part of the Mindfulness pillar in Power Nation, designed to help you chill, and counteract stress.
Three Part Meditation is an integral part of the Power of 4 program to support the “mindfulness” pillar. I believe meditation and yoga are key components most programs do not do well, or at all. Personally, I need to consistently do them more myself since I recognize the benefits including to destress and relax my body/mind. From my perspective, these routines bring balance and flow back to the week if done properly to help balance the sometimes chaotic and demanding nature of lifting and plyometric workouts, especially in Power Up mode.
The Three Part Meditation session consists of diaphragmatic breathing, 4×4 breathing, and rolling Oms. The three parts are performed for roughly 3 minutes each. Tony allows you to sit in whatever position is most comfortable for you (e.g., chair, floor). Diaphragmatic is simply deep breathing focused on expanding your belly using the entire lungs top to bottom with big inhalation/exhalation preferably through nose only. 4×4 involves inhalation over 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds full lungs, exhalation over 4 seconds, and then hold for 4 seconds empty lungs. Rolling Oms require you to prepare the lungs for a big inhalation followed by a big exhale with humming or Oms to help empty the lungs.
Although mostly irrelevant here, my heart rate data shows 28 calories burned in 15-min with average and max heart rates of 75 bpm and 87 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 0 (5-sec in Zone 1)! I really enjoyed this meditation session and will definitely incorporate it more weekly moving forward. There are meditation routines on BODi, but I do like this Three Part Meditation the best. The other program I recommend is “Relaxation and Meditation” on BODi (99 meditations at 5-30-min/day). I noticed near the end of Tony’s version that I was much more relaxed and able to really get more range in my deep breathing lung capacity inhalation/exhalation. I suck at Oms, particularly when compared to Tony who clearly does this very frequently with super long Oms! I am confident I will improve over time. Don’t skip the meditation!
Who’s Got Your Back?
There’s so much variety in this routine that will work your (chain, chain, chain), posterior chain. Heavy pants, chin-ups, arc rows, oh my! Choose your weapons among dumbbells, bands, a pull-up bar, a bench, or a sturdy chair.
I was excited for this back workout and certainly expected a mass amount of pull-ups since Tony is involved!! Pull-ups are my favorite exercise and one of the best overall movements for total body strength. The back routine consists of 4 rounds of 3 moves with each round repeated two times. There are two STOP OPTIONS to shorten the length due to busy schedule or simply ramping up your strength and endurance for longer workouts. The reps range from 8-12 depending on your goals with lower rep range for more muscle mass vs. lean focus endurance at higher reps per set. Tony and the cast demonstrate dumbbell and resistance band variations.
The workout begins with a short 3-min dynamic warmup. Round 1 is switch grip pull-ups, heavy pants and bent over flys. Round 2 includes chin-ups, lawnmower and straight arm bent over flys. Round 3 involves zip kip pull-ups (1-sec hold top and bottom of rep), alternating heavy pants and arc rows. Round 4 is V pull-ups, seated combo row and seated V-flys. There is a short cooldown stretch at the end.
My heart rate data shows 449 calories burned in 55-min with average and max heart rates of 120 bpm and 161 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 3. I used 20-70-lb dumbbells in this workout. These are solid heart rate numbers for me today! This workout is classic Tony Horton back stuff. The format is similar to P90X minus the production quality. I felt worked throughout. I went heavy on the weights in the lower rep range and focused on as many clean unassisted pull-up/chin-up combinations as possible. I targeted 10-15 reps for most pull-ups with the exception of switch-grip at 8 reps per side. The zip kip with iso hold is challenging. I also like the seated combo row movement. A few random comments… Tony spams us with some sponsor shout-outs at the beginning of the workout, which I get given Tony’s launch into independent sponsorships post-Beachbody. In addition, he has one janky pull-up bar in his home gym. He makes fun of it, but seriously just get a power tower or something, haha. With that said, Who’s Got Your Back is a great back workout. Keep them coming!
Be sure to use this new 15% off promo code savings when you use any of the links on this page only! >>> MIKENBODI
Please contact me directly if you have any issues using the promo code, need links to different products, or, would like help selecting the products to maximize your results! >>> MikeNowakFitness@gmail.com
- Special Offer: GET BODi ACCESS to Power of 4 and EVERY Beachbody program ever created HERE!
- Download the individual programs here without a BODi subscription!
- CLICK HERE for the shop with ALL products!!
Flash Card Plyo
In this twist on a traditional plyo routine, there are twelve 40-second-long moves, then you’ll repeat those 12 moves again in round 2. The good news? You’ll get longer breaks between moves than in a cardio routine since you’re tapping into more muscle recruitment. Enjoy!
So, this was an interesting workout! Tony really tries to make things different and fun here, although I found it rather corny I admit as he pretends to host a game show contest. Further, I was slightly confused during the intro chatter because Tony references how the cast was already part of the Flash Card-io game show; however, that particular workout shows up later in the Power of 4 workout schedule. These are some of the details that lack production quality and cohesiveness of the overall program, from my perspective. With that said, I can put all of that aside if the workout is quality!
Flash Card Plyo leverages 12 playing cards with unique exercise moves written on the cards. Tony selects a random move from the card deck to perform for 40-sec each round. There are small breaks at approx. 20-sec between moves while Tony draws the next card. The extra break is provided since plyo incorporates more muscle recruitment relative to traditional cardio. After all 12 moves are complete, Tony shuffles the deck and you hit all 12 moves a second round in randomized order. There are Power Up and Power Down options throughout the workout.
After a short warmup, the 12 moves include shuffle jumps, A-skips, long jump, alternating lunges and squats, jump rope, weighted mountain squats, plank pops, skater freeze, 90/10 squat jumps, pile squats, the juanitadrew lunges (lunge side twist), and ride your pony. There is a short cooldown stretch to finish up. My heart rate data shows 431 calories burned in 42-min with average and max heart rates of 134 bpm and 160 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 4 (19 min 12 sec). I used a 15-lb dumbbell for mountain squats and followed the Power Up variation of the exercises. This is a solid workout. It was not overly challenging for me yielding the 10 cal/min expenditure range, which is slightly higher than Cardio 24 earlier in the week and comparable to many other intermediate BODi cardio routines. The weighted mountain squats were a nice addition as a low-key getup type variation. The skater freeze tests your dynamic mobility to iso hold strength. There are a few classic moves from Tony’s previous Beachbody programs. Overall, fun workout. Not sure I will add this one to my regular workout rotation, but it is certainly effective if you push hard and Tony tries to bring some fun to the challenge!
Attack and Defend
In this fast-paced martial arts routine, you’ll sweat through 3 rounds of 4 moves per round, and then repeat that whole thing, a bit faster the second time, though. Keep your water and towel nearby and take breaks if you need to.
I was looking forward to Attack and Defend in the spirit of Tony’s P90X Kenpo X and P90X3 MMX. It is always fun to mix up the approach for cardio. This routine focuses on 3 rounds of 4 moves per round at approx. 40-60-sec/move on average. Each round is repeated a second time at faster pace. After a longer 8-min dynamic MMA-style warmup (with bonus stretch), the fun begins with many attack and defend combinations. Round 1 is low block/cross/hook, low back kick/hook/uppercut, jab/front knee/down-strike, and shuffle/chamber/uppercut. Round 2 consists of hook elbow/down-strike/sprawl, back knee/back kick/vert punch, front push kick/superman punch, and back kick/high block/cross. Round 3 involves over the top elbow/back knee/low block, horse stance body blows, roundhouse kicks, and jab/cross/hook-elbow/uppercut. There is a 5-min cooldown stretch and mindful exercise at the end.
My heart rate data shows 522 calories burned in 49-min with average and max heart rates of 136 bpm and 160 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 4. You can see my heart rate ramped initially and hovered near the upper yellow to lower red zone for much of the session. This was a challenging workout! It is similar to a hybrid of Kenpo X and MMX, as expected. I also recognized some moves found in Joel’s Freeman’s 10 Rounds boxing program and Core De Force from Joel and Jericho. I had a good sweat going by the end. There are Power Up and Power Down options and you can further moderate the intensity via pacing. I did fairly well with the exception of roundhouse kicks. My hips and legs don’t do roundhouse, haha. This was a solid workout and great way to hit cardio in a fun, engaging approach. My entire body was clearly more mobile and flexible by the end. Good stuff!
Bonus Body Scan Meditation
If you’re experiencing stress, pain, injury, or trauma, this inhaling/exhaling-while-lying-down routine will leave you feeling like a weight has been lifted (without ever lifting a single weight).
Body Scan Meditation is an extra bonus for the Power of 4 program. It gives another option for practicing the mindfulness pillar, which helped Tony recover from his serious illness years ago. This session is significantly longer than Three Part Meditation from Week 1 (14.5-min), coming in around 24 minutes this time. The session focuses on diaphragmatic breathing introduced in Three Part Meditation. While lying flat with or without pillows, Tony guides you through proper breathing with focus on how specific body parts feel from the crown of head down to feet. As Tony says during inhalation-hold-exhalation, “in with the good, out with the bad”. He encourages the visualization of the energy circulating through your body during the process.
Although not really relevant here, my heart rate data shows 40 calories burned in 24-min with average and max heart rates of 70 bpm and 86 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 0, as expected. To be honest, I like Three Part Meditation a lot more than Body Scan Meditation. I had a hard time really syncing my “energy” in all of my body parts with breathing. It moves at a decent pace between focus areas. Further, there is too much talking by Tony; it is challenging to become mindful with a lot of outside noise or interference. I feel Three Part Meditation struck a better balance of instruction vs. “doing”, plus it is shorter so it fits my busy schedule better. Overall, Body Scan is still solid and definitely worth checking out to see how well it works for you.
Don’t Skip Yoga
This routine helps to improve so many aspects of fitness: balance, flexibility/range of motion, strength, and even mindfulness. But only if you do it. So please… don’t skip yoga!
I know the importance of yoga and have always found great results using yoga for balance, flexibility, range of motion, and mindfulness. In fact, I always add P90X3 X3 Yoga as an optional but recommended component in my HowDoIGetRipped.com hybrid workout schedules. I usually select X3 Yoga because it is only 30-min and does the job. Don’t Skip Yoga in Power of 4 is over an hour! It certainly appears similar to the infamous P90X Yoga X, which is my nemesis. Tony’s yoga routines can be quite challenging; hurts so good! This version has two stop options between yoga sections for those ramping endurance or running short on time.
Don’t Skip Yoga begins with focused breathing technique while stretching the entire body and basic yoga warmup to prepare for what is to come. Tony includes a lot of instruction for proper form, which is good. The first section of the routine targets many standard yoga moves with salutations plus chaturanga/upward dog/pushup/downward dog transitions to Warrior 1/2, similar to Yoga X. He adds some pulse cadence to help with the warmup during this first 23-min section. There is a stop option before heading into the next sequence of more progressively challenging salutation variations. This includes a fast sequence of 6 Warrior 1 progressions into childs pose. The next longer section of approx. 20-min is the most difficult with Warrior 1/2/reverse/wrap between legs/triangle/half moon variations each side. This is followed by more of a dynamic core focus with 20 reps each of boat pumpers, scissors crunch, and open close lifts on command. Finally, the last 15-min is a stretch and cooldown to finish up the routine with deep breathing at the very end.
My heart rate data shows 423 calories burned in 68-min with average and max heart rates of 106 bpm and 142 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 1. This was a TOUGH session for me with an impressive calorie expenditure for yoga! It is always hard for me to get into these long, mindful type sessions. Some of the yoga variations had my entire body shaking, especially in the second longer yoga section of Warrior moves with reverse wrap and half moon. I had a good sweat going, which is reminiscent of Yoga X. Tony has a faster pace going in some of the sequences, which also ramped up heart rate and intensity as demonstrated in the heart rate curve mapped over time. I liked the incorporation of the core work near the end. I found the scissors crunch challenging since my legs don’t like to stay straight (!) and I have to really pay attention to any added pressure in my lower back. The stretch and breathing to finish up was much needed. Don’t Skip Yoga is entirely too long for me so I will likely stick to P90X3 yoga or one of the other yoga options in Power of 4 like Morning Yoga at only 37-min. Of course, the other approach is to use the STOP OPTION to shorten Don’t Skip Yoga. I do prefer P90X Yoga X relative to Don’t Skip Yoga given the extensive stretch portion found in Yoga X. I do see the benefit. And… I survived! Your turn!
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Bonus 1+5×5
Wait, there’s math?! Nope. But you can choose this 10-minute calorie burner if you have energy left after finishing another workout. It’s 5 quick rounds of burpees and jumping rope!
1+5×5 is one of the bonus workouts from Power of 4. This one actually stood out to me as a rather intriguing routine when I first scanned the program upon release on BODi. The short <10-min workout consists of 1-min jump rope followed by 5 burpees, repeated for 5 total rounds. There is little rest between rounds. It is a lot harder than it sounds, especially if you use a jump rope vs. imaginary rope. Using a real jump rope ramps the intensity significantly. Further, stacking jump rope with other dynamic movements in series like this is difficult as I found out years ago from Insanity Asylum Volume 1 Vertical Plyo! There are also some bonus pushups at the end for any misses on jump rope.
My heart rate data shows 76 calories burned in 10-min with average and max heart rates of 115 bpm and 144 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 3. This workout was more difficult for me than the heart rate data suggests, although my max heart rate ramped near the end with the final pushups. I loved this workout and actually felt out-of-breath at times. I will be adding it to my regular schedule as a stack and even standalone on busy days. Awesome stuff, Tony. Bring it!
The Power of Core
This routine is 21 minutes of fire-in-the-belly core exercises. You’ll do a 20 count of 12 different core exercises. Where else can you hear about dirt and grasshoppers in a core workout?
I was looking forward to Power of Core on the schedule to compare against Crunch Town. These ab/core routines can be stacked with other workouts or standalone based on individual goals. Power of Core hits 12 different core variations for 20-count repetitions each movement. The core moves include VW crunches, calf clappers, straddle circles, J-kicks, side plank kicks, 2plank toe tappers, banana twist, abrinome plus, banana hook crunch, low plank hip drops, plank dancing, and shoulders knees toes. There is a short cooldown stretch at end.
My heart rate data shows 144 calories burned in 22-min with average and max heart rates of 107 bpm and 142 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 2. These are solid numbers and I definitely had a good sweat going by the end! Turns out there are actually a good amount of crunches in this one along with many other challenging dynamic core moves. I particularly enjoyed the straddle circles, abrinome plus, and low plank hip drops, all of which helped adjust my tight back. Abrinome plus may look familiar from P90X2. J-kicks remind of 22 Minute Hard Corps while the plank dancing variation is fantastic for building balance. Banana twists were tough for me given my lower back sensitivity so I used the powered down version for some later reps. Finally, shoulders knees toes was really difficult at the end to finish up for 20 reps where 1 rep in plank = hand to right shoulder, hand to left shoulder, hand to right knee, hand to left knee, hand to right foot, and hand to left foot!! Power of Core is a great complement to Crunch Town in the Power of 4 program!
Chest and Back Round Robin
This routine is 24 sets of push-ups and pull-ups, with a ton of variety (because that’s the spice of fitness!): options include using the floor, Power Stands, med balls, a pull-up bar, and/or bands.
Chest and back are my favorite muscle groups to hit during workouts. Although I prefer weightlifting routines for chest hypertrophy like Body Beast, LIIFT MORE or Dig Deeper, I have had great results with push-ups with P90X or otherwise. Tony is all about the push-up variations; now that I think about it, I’m not sure he has ever created a program with standard dumbbell weight training for chest (I may be wrong). Anyway, I was excited for this workout!
Chest and Back Round Robin is old school Tony Horton push-pull with a range of push-up and pull-up movements. There are 4 rounds of two moves performed for 3 sets each before moving to the next round; a push-up type followed by pull-up variation where you select your own target number of reps. Each round changes the movement mechanics while there are extended breaks between rounds. There are two STOP OPTIONS after rounds 2 (28-min) and 3 (42-min) to shorten the routine if you are busy or still building muscular endurance. Tony encourages you to vary the way you do the exercises such as power stands, chair or med balls for pushups while considering resistance bands or dumbbells for back alternatives to standard pull-ups. I focused on using the power stands for pushups and standard pull-up rig for unassisted reps at my home gym. Round 1 is standard push-up and wide front pull-up. Round 2 includes military push-up and chin-up. Round 3 involves staggered push-up and vaulter pull-up. Round 4 is diamond push-up and isometric pulls. There is a quick cooldown to finish up.
My heart rate data shows 498 calories burned in 57-min with average and max heart rates of 123 bpm and 159 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 3. I pushed fairly hard on this one, per set; Round 1 of 25 push and 15 pull, Round 2 of 20 push and 12 pull, Round 3 of 20 push and 20 pull, and Round 4 of 25 push and 8 pull. That is 270 total push-ups and 165 total unassisted pull-ups in less than an hour!! I probably could have done a few more reps all-around as my first time through this one, but I felt challenged enough. Overall, the routine felt much like One-on-One Volume 1 30-15 routine, P90X Chest and Back type, and The Challenge from P90X3. I really liked it, but Tony doesn’t really offer much new here. As mentioned, he does allow for creativity and flexibility in how you perform the push-pull reps so there are at least endless ways to press play for muscle confusion. Solid workout!
Arms and Abs
In this unique routine you’ll work your biceps, triceps… and your abs. There are three rounds, plus a burnout round at the end. What’s not to love?
Let’s do this!! After a short warmup, there are 3 rounds of bicep/tricep/ab movements with a surprise burnout series incorporated at the end of the workout. As usual, Tony instructs targeting reps that are aligned with your goals, mostly in the 8-15 rep range excluding the intentional high volume exercises. The ab moves are approx. 1-min per set. There are two POWER STOP options to shorten the routine based on time available or fitness level (i.e., STOPS approx. 23- and 34-min).
Round 1 is curcles, alternating supinating hammers, tricep extensions press combo, yogi bicycle, and wide crunch. Round 2 involves goblet curls, elbow kickback curls, triple kickers, eccentric back fist kickers, jack knife crunches, and calf clappers. Round 3 includes high and tight curls, heavy curls, shoulder kickers, wrist flickers, and Rachel two step dream crunch. The final burnout series is heavy curls, tricep dips, and scissors burnout. There is a short cooldown stretch to finish up.
My heart rate data shows 250 calories burned in 42-min with average and max heart rates of 103 bpm and 137 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 2. I used 12-35-lb dumbbells for reps primarily in the 8-12 range. You can see my heart rate maintains fairly low levels in this workout. I didn’t feel very challenged from that perspective throughout the routine. There are enough breaks to allow heart rate recovery between moves and rounds. This is still a solid arms and abs workout! I really liked the curcles variation for biceps and the tricep extensions press combo for tris. The jack knife crunches were very difficult for me while I enjoyed the other ab/core variations. A few of the moves tend to work other muscle groups if you are not careful with safe/proper form. For example, I felt goblet curls hit my shoulders more than biceps while heavy curls targeted my back. I give Tony credit though for adding some completely new moves to hit different angles for arms!
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Pure Stretch
Long muscles are strong muscles, as they say. This “alternative to yoga” will lengthen and stretch everything, top to bottom. It’s on the schedule but truly can be done every day if you’d like.
I was excited for Pure Stretch. I am a big fan of extended stretch routines for physical and mental recovery during the busy week. In fact, X Stretch is perhaps my favorite P90X routine, haha! Pure Stretch focuses on comprehensive breathing and stretch sequences that target the neck, side, arms, wrists, chest, back, shoulders, hamstrings, quads, groin, glutes, calves, etc. In other words, it is a total body stretch and relaxation session. There are several low-key yoga variations added throughout. For completeness, my heart rate data shows 125 calories burned in 48-min with average and max heart rates of 83 bpm and 104 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 1. No surprises here. Although I still prefer P90X X Stretch based on the progression of moves, Pure Stretch is excellent and highly recommended. I plan to incorporate these stretches more moving forward to get the most of Power of 4 and other fitness programs!
The Push
In this upper body routine, you’ll work your chest, shoulders, and triceps with 21 exercises, cycling through a chest, shoulders, then triceps pattern. Enjoy the variety with no repeated exercises!
Push-style workouts are some of my favorite. This Push routine consists of 21 total exercises with 7 groups of 3 moves hitting the chest, shoulders and triceps in succession. The sets are typically 60-sec in length yielding 8-15 reps depending on goals. There are two STOP OPTIONS around 26-min and 13-min. Bring it!
After a short warmup, the work begins. Round 1 is shoulder tap push-ups, arc row shoulder fly, and tricep kick outs. Round 2 includes military rocker push-ups, hail Ceasar row, and tri-flipper smasher. Round 3 involves chataranga leg lift, 21’s shoulder press, and 21’s triceps kickback. Round 4 is charlie bear push-ups, squat/curl/corkscrew, and elevates side/tri rise. Round 5 consists of elevated eccentric push-ups, open and shut shoulder fly, and supine throwers. Round 6 is close grip press, eccentric hammer fly, and triple kickers. Round 7 includes marine corps push-ups, punch presses, and cheater dolphin push-ups. Tony finishes up with the typical short cooldown.
My heart rate data shows 381 calories burned in 49-min with average and max heart rates of 115 bpm and 144 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zones 2-3. I used 10-40-lb dumbbells in this workout. Awesome stuff! I am happy to say I now stand corrected… Tony finally incorporates moves with dumbbell chest focus; close grip press and punch presses! Although he has the cast use a stability ball, I recommend bench or floor for close grip press for safety. The punch presses are tough, further hitting the shoulders similar to some variations from 6 Weeks of The Work. I used the power stands for many of the push-up variations to get deeper into the chest reps. Success, especially with the challenging elevated eccentric version and charlie bear push-ups. Other than that, I enjoyed the “21’s” for shoulder press and kickbacks as well as the squat/curl/corkscrew press for total body compound flow. Solid routine, Tony!
Morning Yoga
This short-ish yoga routine can be done any day or every day. It’s best to do this in the morning before (or maybe even instead of?) diving into a bucket of coffee. This routine will leave you refreshed and ready for your day.
I was focused on starting my day off right with stretch and yoga so I decided to press play on Morning Yoga for my next Power of 4 review. I had this one near the top of my list since it is a much shorter version of yoga, unlike 1+ hours of “Don’t Skip Yoga”! The session begins with an extended sequence of breathing, gentle stretch, and flow movements to enhance mindful meditation with body relaxation. The focus areas include neck, back, chest, arms, shoulders, and legs. Tony adds some low-key dynamic lunge/pulse and stretch variations around the 10-min mark followed by basic yoga at approximately 20-min. The routine finishes up with additional stretch and mind/body relaxation techniques.
My heart rate data shows 107 calories burned in 36-min with average and max heart rates of 85 bpm and 112 bpm, respectively, with most of the session in Zone 1. I really like this version of yoga in the Power of 4 schedule. Morning Yoga is indeed shorter and incorporates more relaxing stretch iterations that worked well to relax my body and spirit; whereas, I found a lot of sweat and body shaking with the yoga sequences in Don’t Skip Yoga! I will definitely be adding Morning Yoga to my regular schedule to create more balance in my busy life.
Plyo 30/15
You’ll be on the clock in this plyo routine: For each of the 20 exercises, you’ll do 30 seconds of the exercise, then the last 15 seconds the intensity goes up. But not to worry – for each move, there are Power Up and Power Down demonstrations and 2 separate Stop Options. So have fun with it and as always, do your best and forget the rest.
Decided to press play on Plyo 30/15 after a great Morning Yoga session. I like the approach here of 20 unique moves with the 30/15-sec timing intervals to ramp intensity for each variation. Be prepared to go hard the last 15-sec for best results. After an extended 8-9-min dynamic warmup, the main workout exercises include jog/sprint, little jacks/big jacks, skaters/super skaters, alt skip lunges, A-steps/A-skips, frog squats/frog jumps, pulse chair/chair jumps, step back lunges/hop lunges, squat jump kicks, easy feet/fast feet, squat press/squat jump, lunge squat lunge/rulk squat lunge, long jumps/mega jumps, straddle squat hops/jumps, lateral steps/hop squats, lat. lunge knee raise/lat. lunge jump, plank to frog squat/jump, alt. run lunge/squat jump, alt. mountain squats/squat jumps, and wide narrow squat hops. There is no formal cooldown in this workout. The STOP OPTIONS are at 23- and 33-min for those targeting a shorter workout due to ramping fitness level and/or limited time.
My heart rate data shows 338 calories burned in 43-min with average and max heart rates of 116 bpm and 143 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zones 2-3. I used 10-lb dumbbells in this workout for the few weighted movements. Although I used the Power Up technique and pace throughout, I didn’t find this workout particularly challenging with a calorie expenditure of only 7.88 cal/min, which is lower than most plyo-based workouts for me that reside in the 10-12 cal/min range.
Tony does teach some cool new moves in Plyo 30/15. I really had to pay attention to my form on the plyo exercises with light dumbbells (e.g., squat jumps). There are a lot of plyo jumps incorporated for the last 15-sec variations for a majority of the moves. As a side note, it was disturbing to see how much sweat the dude with the blue shirt had going on during even the first half of this workout. I mean, maybe it is really hot in Tony’s Santa Monica studio, haha! Overall, good but less than remarkable routine.
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Head to Toe
In this calorie-burning routine you’ll work your body from (…you guessed it!) head to toe. You’ll rotate through 4 different moves in each of 5 rounds: upper body, cardio, core, and plyo. Sweat happens!
Head to Toe was one of the more intriguing workouts on the schedule for me when reviewing the program. I was interested to see how Tony would structure this one; hoping to see more of a weighted focus here with dumbbells, but that is not the case like most workouts in Power of 4. The routine consists of 5 rounds with 4 moves per round of plyo, core, cardio, and upper body exercises. There are no repeats. Most sets are 20-30 reps and/or 60-sec intervals. There are two STOP OPTIONS, approx. 31- and 40-min, as well as the standard Power Up and Power Down variations.
After the warmup, Round 1 is two dog push-ups, rope/jack/run, down dog cross crunch, and rocket hop squats (w/ 10-lb med ball). Round 2 includes circle push-ups, speed skater, row your boat backwards, and high-low fighter jumps. Round 3 involves dolphin push-ups, fast feet jacks, oblique roll crunch, and mountain squat jumps. Round 4 is bear push-ups, 3 direction pivot punches, leg climber, and hop squat lunge. Round 5 includes standard push-ups (30, 40 or 50 reps), shuffle chamber jab, up down open close V formation, and bear crawl burpee squats. There is a 5-min cooldown and stretch at the end.
My heart rate data shows 431 calories burned in 55-min with average and max heart rates of 115 bpm and 158 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 2. This is another intermediate routine in the <8 cal/min range for the entire workout. It was fun overall and felt like a mix of some of the other workouts in the program including plyo, attack and defend, power of core, etc. The dolphin push-ups are challenging for 60-sec, which really hit the triceps, shoulders and chest. Oblique roll crunch is a solid core movement. I found the mountain jump squats difficult for 20 reps Power Up version at that point of the workout. Other than that, the bear push-ups at 30 reps targeted the chest, shoulders and triceps again before I knocked out 50 standard push-ups in the last round with no breaks. As always, you can make these Power of 4 workouts more challenging by adding reps, faster pace, limit your breaks, and add weights where possible!
Flash Card-io
In this fun cardio routine, there are 30 exercises, lasting 20 seconds each. You’ll get a 45-second break between the first 15 and the second 15 exercises. Annnnd then you’ll do all 30 exercises again.
Here we go… more plyo from Tony. Haha. There is a lot of plyo in the Power of 4 program mostly leveraging similar movements that you have seen in past Horton Beachbody programs such as P90X/X2/X3, 22 Minute Hard Corps, and One-on-One. Flash Card-io is similar to Flash Card Plyo where Tony pretends to be hosting a game show contest (corny!) leveraging playing cards with unique exercise moves written on the cards. Tony selects a random move from the card deck to perform for 20-sec each round this time. There are virtually no breaks between moves while Tony draws the next card, unlike Flash Card Plyo that has extended breaks. There are 30 exercises that are broken up into sets of 15 with breaks in between. All 30 moves are repeated a second time. There are Power Up and Power Down options, as usual, but no formal STOP OPTIONS.
The first 15 Flash Card-io moves include fast feet floor taps, A-skips R + L, mountain climbers, alternating downstrike, jab cross R + L, jump shots R + L, jog/run, shuffle chamber jabs, lateral shuffle, T-jacks, hook elbow downstrike, side lunge jumps, Mr. bumps, jump rope, and twist + pivot. After a short break, the second round of 15 exercises involves long jump pedal, alternating front kicks R + L, shuffle R + L, step/hop overs, uppercut run, groucho walk, weighted press jacks, hook uppercut back knee, cross climbers, weighted johnny jumps, step back lunges, soccer drills, twister, 10/2 pivot punches, and skaters. The cards are shuffled and moves repeated during the rest of the workout. There is a 6-min cooldown and stretch session to finish up.
My heart rate data shows 395 calories burned in 47-min with average and max heart rates of 120 bpm and 150 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 3. I used 10-lb dumbbells for the weighted variations (press jacks and johnny jumps). This workout moves much faster than most of the Power of 4 cardio routines. There really aren’t any breaks during each round as you immediately transition to the next movement. As such, my average/max heart rates were slightly higher than Plyo 30/15 in this program, although lower than Flash Card Plyo where the time interval for each move is twice as long. There are some interesting variations of moves in this routine, but more of the same cardio here overall that we have come to expect from Tony. The light dumbbells definitely ramp the intensity for press jacks and johnny jumps!
Heart Lungs and Legs
This routine is a leg burner – each move is a full minute long. You’ll get a recovery break after every 3 moves, and there are 21 moves total. If it looks like plyo, and feels like plyo, let’s call it… Heart Lungs and Legs!
More plyo! This was my Halloween 2025 workout before enjoying some candy later in the day! The warmup and stretch sequence moves far too fast in this one for me. I could have used some extra stretch. Perhaps next time I will leverage Power of 4 Pure Stretch prior to pressing play. There are Power Up and Power Down variations plus two STOP OPTIONS after Rounds 3/5. There are 7 rounds of 3 unique exercises each with a short break between rounds. The moves are typically performed for 20-30 reps to achieve the 60-sec range per set.
Round 1 is crescent chair, press jacks, and alternating one leg jump squat. Round 2 includes 5 rep rocket squat hops, two speed A-skips, and rulk pop squats. Round 3 involves scomo screamer lunge (20R + 20L), jump rope fast feet, and side lunge jump shot. Round 4 is gorilla crawl, stepovers, and spiderman squats. Round 5 includes alternating mountain squat crunch, jog and sprint, and 3 direction jump squats. Round 6 involves one leg seat squat hops, Shala shuffle, and plyo frog squat reach. Round 7 is hell’s chair, knees and heels, and long jump. There is an extended 5 min 45 sec cooldown and stretch.
My heart rate data shows 451 calories burned in 58-min with average and max heart rates of 116 bpm and 151 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zones 2-3. I used 10-lb dumbbells for the weighted variations (press jacks and mountain squats). You have to be careful when incorporating light dumbbells for some of these plyo moves, but they sure do ramp the intensity. I found crescent chair and hell’s chair particularly tough in this routine. My legs were on fire and you have to keep your core engaged to maintain form and safety. I found the rulk pop squats and alternating mountain squat crunch as the most difficult variations for me. Otherwise, Tony uses a lot of his call out type cadence where you perform a rep based on his instruction. The spiderman squats are also familiar from Plyometrics!
Triple Trouble Challenge
Pick your number of pull-ups and push-ups, then do 3 sets of each, for a total of 24 sets of push-ups and pull-ups. Wow. This one is intense, so take breaks if you need to, or use one of the two Stop Options.
Triple Trouble Challenge was the one workout I was MOST looking forward to reviewing in the Power of 4 program given the push-pull focus. Unfortunately, it is super long so I had to work it into my busy schedule. The time is now! This routine is basically an expanded version of the original P90X3 The Challenge, or even, the earlier precursor called P90X One-on-One Volume 1 30/15 Routine: The Upper Body Massacre! 30/15 is one of my favorite workouts of all-time in the BODi library. One-on-One 30/15 targets 12 rounds of 30 reps for push-ups and 15 reps for pull-ups. With Triple Trouble Challenge, you can select your own numbers for reps in a similar 12-round format, although all 3 sets of push are done before moving to pull here whereas 30/15 has one push and one pull per set. There are two STOP OPTIONS at 31- and 48-min. I will note other differences below as well.
After a short warmup, Tony alternates between 3 sets each of push and pull exercises. That is, 3 sets of push followed by 3 sets of pull, etc. I selected reps of 20 for push and 10 for pull in this first try at Triple Trouble Challenge. The exercises include standard push-ups, standard pull-ups, military push-ups, chin-ups, staggered push-ups, vaulter pull-ups, fly push-ups, and narrow grip pull-ups. There is a short cooldown at the end.
My heart rate data shows 389 calories burned in 70-min with average and max heart rates of 101 bpm and 127 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 1. I used the power stands for push-ups to enhance range of motion. All of my heart rate numbers are very low given the significant amount of breaks; some of the lowest in the program for upper body focus. I only spike my HR during active reps into Zone 3. Part of the reason for so much downtime is Tony performs his reps during our break, which actually seems to extend the breaks more than normal (or needed), from my perspective. I found myself standing around a lot waiting between sets. To be fair, I selected 20/10 for my reps. I was able to easily hit all of my push-pull reps unassisted so next time I will move to 30/12, or something like that range to ramp the intensity even more.
The push and pull variations used in this workout are more of the same from Tony over the years. Really nothing new here, but it works! The reps are more basic versions of push-ups and pull-ups performed in most other routines from Tony and other trainers. The vaulted pull-ups were fun; I was able to switch my grip without dropping my feet to the ground, which was tough and reminiscent of P90X switch-grip pull-ups. Triple Trouble Challenge is indeed very similar to X3 The Challenge and One-on-One 30/15. The pull-up variations are much tougher in the One-on-One version (e.g., Lever pulls); however, I do love these routines for absolute push-pull bodyweight burnout. I will be pressing play on this workout again soon!
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Power and Strength Yoga
Yoga. Sounds mellow, right? Well, this yoga routine has Ted the Floater demonstrating some moves that require lots of power and strength. Use the modifications if you need to, otherwise, you’re gonna love it when you’re done with this little monster.
Power and Strength Yoga is one of the last workouts for my Power of 4 review. I was interested to see how this yoga version compares to Don’t Skip Yoga and Morning Yoga. I believe they are all different, in practice. Power and Strength is specifically designed to incorporate more deep core and yoga focus with numerous vinyasa and chaturanga transitions. This includes a blend of strength, balance, range of motion, and mindfulness via moving meditation. As always, there are Power Up and Power Down options depending on your yoga skills. Let’s do this.
After an extensive approx. 15-min basic breathing and yoga warmup progression, the session quickly transitions into more intense power strength moves with iso and core focus including single knee drive holds and chair twist variations. Ted from P90X3 Powers Up his movements, as usual. The chair movements are a leg burner. The second section of the routine is even more challenging, beginning around 21-min. Tony ramps up the pace and adds extra pushups in the yoga transitions. The poses involve Warrior 1, Warrior 2, Reverse Warrior, Triangle, Right Angle, and Wrap. The Wrap move is a killer leg burner! Further progressions are Half Moon and Reverse Half Moon. The session finishes up with some staggered side arm balance, iso core hold, stretch, and breathing meditation.
My heart rate data shows 360 calories burned in 66-min with average and max heart rates of 101 bpm and 122 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zones 1-2. This yoga session feels a lot like Yoga X from P90X to me. It has a great mix of balance, flex and mobility to open up your hips for getting deep in the movements. Breathing is key! My normalized calorie expenditure was 5.46 cal/min, which is lower than 6.27 cal/min for Don’t Skip Yoga (similar length workout). Morning Yoga is much less intense in the 2.96 cal/min range, as expected. Overall, Don’t Skip Yoga is the most challenging yoga in Power of 4 for me, but Morning Yoga is my favorite given the shorter length and reduced intensity. However, this Strength and Power Yoga is no joke. Don’t skip it!
Kickin’ and Punchin’
This martial arts routine has 4 rounds, but each round is done twice (so shhhhh, it’s really 8 rounds!). If you’re not gassed by then, there’s also a Bonus Round we like to call the Titus Round.
After a 5-min dynamic MMA warmup there are a series of 4 rounds with 4 mixed martial arts combinations per round. Each round is repeated two times before moving on to the next round followed by the Titus bonus round to finish up. The movements in the rounds are roughly 25-sec per side and the pace/intensity ramps in the second round. There are two STOP OPTIONS. Round 1 is hook elbow/cross/knee, vertical punch/over the top/ uppercut, back knee/front kick/cross, and jab/downstrike/sprawl. Round 2 consists of push kick/snap kick/downstrike, knee/front kick/low back kick, vertical punch/claw/knee, and cross/jab/downstrike/sprawl. Round 3 includes over the top/up elbow/back kick, uppercut/downstrike/sprawl, jab/hook/back kick, and low block/high block/jab/cross. Round 4 involves body blows/shuffle R+L, 2 hook/downstrike/sprawl, duck/uppercut/jab, and jab/cross/low block/high block. The bonus Titus round at 50-sec per combo is squat outside kick, front roundhouse back kick, inside axe kick, and alt superman kicks. There is a 4-min cooldown at the end.
My heart rate data shows 460 calories burned in 69-min with average and max heart rates of 108 bpm and 139 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 2. This was a fun workout in the intermediate intensity range as supported by my modest 6.69 cal/min calorie expenditure average for the routine. I had a good sweat going but found this routine less challenging than Attack and Defend earlier in the Power of 4 program, which had much higher cal burn, ave/max heart rates, and workout zones with approx. 10.6 cal/min average expenditure. I focused on strong form with the kick and punch combos and did well. Fortunately the kicks were more push and snap kicks vs. high kick roundhouse variations, excluding axe kicks! A few of the combinations move very fast and it can be hard to keep the sequence on track in order (e.g., low/high block with punches). This workout has some similarities to Kenpo X and Tony’s other MMA workouts like P90X3 MMX. It is also feels a bit like Joel and Jericho Core De Force. Overall, Kickin’ and Punchin’ is enjoyable and effective!
Drop Pulse and Hold
This lower body workout became an instant classic when it was released. It’s one of the toughest workouts in The Power of 4 by Tony Horton®, so enjoy! Your legs will thank you (in a couple days).
Well if Tony says this is one of the toughest workouts in the program, I’m all in! I do know it is the longest workout in Power of 4… 72 minutes! Man. Drop Pulse and Hold consists of 10 exercises where every move is 15 reps followed by +10 pulses and +10-sec isometric hold… talk about a leg burner! This sequence is then repeated for a second round for all 10 movements. There are Power Up and Power Down options. The Power Up adds weights and goes deeper in the move. There are STOP OPTIONS available. Ater a dynamic 10-min warmup, the exercises are plie’ squats, lunge pumpers R+L, Lincoln squats R+L, frog bridge, butterfly squats, deadlift reach R+L, rock and roll lunges R+L, lean backs, curtsey lunge R+L, and ballet squats. This entire round is repeated a second time. There is approx. 6-min cooldown and stretch to finish up.
My heart rate data shows 521 calories burned in 72-min with average and max heart rates of 112 bpm and 137 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zone 2. I used 15-lb dumbbells throughout. Yes, this is indeed a lower body burner my friends; my legs and glutes were on fire by the end. I already have soreness in my glutes and hamstrings just hours post-workout and expect some serious DOMS in the coming days. With that said, I do agree this workout is one of the hardest in the entire Power of 4 program. Only Primal Flow (524 cals) and Attack/Defend (522 cals) burned more calories overall, although the calorie burn normalized to workout length for Drop/Pulse/Hold is lower than other routines given the amount of breaks and slow count variations.
I think Drop Pulse and Hold is a very challenging workout that can be made even harder by pushing yourself on the weight selections for the Power Up option. You do have to be very careful with any weights since some exercises may compromise knees or lower back, from my perspective (e.g., plie’ varieties, ballet, curtsey). Drop Hold and Pulse definitely hits glutes, legs and core from all angles. The weighted frog bridge, butterfly, and ballet squats were especially difficult for me. There was a lot of sweat and shaking by the iso hold stage for certain moves! The single leg balance DB reach is a rocker and reminds me of P90X3 variations. My favorite movement is the weighted lean backs for glutes, lower back, core and hip flexors. I may incorporate this routine into my regular workout schedule to help strengthen my lower back for rehab. Great workout. Time for some well-earned RECOVER!!!!!!!!!
Primal Flow
You’re in for a treat with this one! Primal Flow will have you on the floor, moving around like you’re a kid again. It’ll work your core, upper body, legs, eyelashes – everything. There’s a learning curve, so be patient with yourself.
Bring on Primal Flow! This workout has 4 sections; 1) warm-up at 45-sec/move, 2/3) main sections with 45-sec/move, 4) bonus at 30-sec move. Exercises in sections 1-3 are repeated for two rounds each while section 4 is only one round. The routine has Power Up and Power Down variations and two STOP OPTIONS. Section 1 is 4 direction beast crawl, swimmer superman, lateral lunge jump right, and cobbler’s bridge crunch. Section 2 includes beast side kick through, atomic push-ups, beast to crab reach, and burpee jacks. Section 3 involves beast front kick through, reverse plank leg lifts, pike press dolphin push-up combo, and squat pop kicks. The bonus section 4 is mountain frog, rulk pop squat callouts, burpee shuffle, fast feet 3 way callout, bear in a square, high knees butt kickers, and squat jumps. There is a 8-min cooldown and stretch at the end.
My heart rate data shows 524 calories burned in 56-min with average and max heart rates of 127 bpm and 161 bpm, respectively, with most of the workout in Zones 3-4. This was a rocker. One of the more challenging routines in the entire Power of 4 program as supported by my average calorie expenditure ~9-10 cal/min. Some of the primal movement technique is similar to basic primal moves from Amoila’s Chop Wood Carry Water BODi program. The swimmer superman is actually kinda tough in the warmup, haha. The atomic push-ups in section 2 are definitely a tough exercise and even require strong core focus. Section 3 is the hardest, especially beast front kick through, beast plank leg lifts (woah!), and pike press dolphin push-up combo. One of the Power Up options is to add mini handstands between some transition moves. I tried them and they pushed me harder. The squat pop kicks were ugly for me since my kicking form/range of motion is lacking as mentioned in other Power of 4 reviews. The bonus burpee shuffle was awesome. This routine was fun and challenging all around; may be my favorite of Power of 4. Good stuff, Tony!
And, with that I’m DONE with my detailed review of all 25 Power of 4 workouts! Check out the data analysis summary above near the beginning of this review as well as my PROS/CONS. I hope you enjoyed my Power of 4 review!!
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Nutrition is CRITICAL for getting the results you want with your fitness program and the targets need to be aligned with the clean eating system (Nutrition + Portion Fix recommended, but you may need to bump calories for mass gain depending on goals). My current supplements include the BODi Performance Advanced Stack of ENERGIZE pre-workout, HYDRATE during workout, and RECOVER post-workout with Shakeology and Beachbar snacks. Be sure to let me know if you would like to join my private support team for daily motivation and accountability, the slight edge, for your success. Check out my TESTIMONIALS! Click JOIN TEAM RAGE with any questions. Let’s do this!
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Please contact me directly if you have any issues using the promo code, need links to different products, or, would like help selecting the products to maximize your results! >>> MikeNowakFitness@gmail.com
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- Download the individual programs here without a BODi subscription!
- CLICK HERE for the shop with ALL products!!
I’m two and a half workouts in
The hardest one was the ab routine- crunch time. I forget how much Tony attacks the abs. I’ll be feeling that tomorrow. The cardio routine cardio 24 wasn’t too hard about four or five out of 10. The shoulders and arms recharge can be hard depending on how much weight you pick which is always hard to determine the first time you do a workout. The pace can be a little slower than normal bodi workouts. I’m enjoying it so far especially with nostalgia from the old P90X days
Hey Todd!! Awesome review after a couple of workouts; keep up the good work man! I checked out some of the routines in advance and they definitely seem to be a mix of some of his previous programs. I pressed play on Cardio 24 yesterday and agree with your assessment. Excited for this program review. Bring it!