GPS Rushfit for Tennis

tennis34

New User
After I did P90X (slightly modified to work with my tennis schedule), I decided to do something different. Here's my post on this forum about my P90X adventure: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=385477

I completed full 90 days of P90X the first time, and started doing the second round. About half way in the second round, I pulled a muscle in my shoulder, and decided I had enough of it. All in all, I enjoyed doing it, and it was a great introduction to work at home videos.

However, P90X gets boring after a while. There's a lot of rest/waiting around in between exercises. And not enough cardio/core kind of stuff that we need for tennis. (I got my cardio workout playing tennis, it complemented it nicely).

Accidentally, I stumbled upon Insanity, and started doing it for 3 weeks, but it was too much with my tennis schedule and moving to my new place.

Fast forward few months later, I discovered George St Pier's Rushfit. I just completed full 60 days of it, and it was a lot of fun! Rushfit is based on MMA (mixed martial art) training, and translates nicely into tennis. All videos are about 40 minutes long (including the warm up).

Here are the Rushfit videos and my quick review of each:


* DVD 1: STRENGTH & ENDURANCE WORKOUT
- Excellent video, 5/5 stars! A lot of balancing, isometrics, and endurance based workout routines.

* DVD 2: ABDOMINAL STRENGTH & CORE TRAINING
- Another really fun video. My abs are finally starting to show. 5/5 stars.

* DVD 3: THE FIGHT CONDITIONING WORKOUT
- I didn't like this video, it's supposed to be cardio. There's lots of combination moves, and it was tough for me to follow. I replaced it by playing tennis. 2/5 stars.

* DVD 4: EXPLOSIVE POWER TRAINING
- This is supposed to be plyometrics dvd. Definitely the weakest video. It felt like waste of time, it was really easy. Do P90X plyo instead. 1/5 stars.

* DVD 5: FULL BODY STRENGTH & CONDITIONING WORKOUT
- Another excellent video 5/5 stars.

* DVD 6: (2 workouts)
BALANCE & AGILITY and
- I loved this video. It's the shortes4/5 stars.

STRETCHING FOR FLEXIBILITY
- This was kind of a weak video, I did P90X yoga instead - way better. 2/5 stars.

All in all, Rushit helped me with my core strength, balance and agility on the court.

I'm more than happy to answer any Rushfit questions!
 

dak95_00

Hall of Fame
I've done P90X once seriously and once or more not as serious.

I've attempted Insanity a couple of times and could never get past the first 5 weeks w/o injury or over-training issues. I was trying to play tennis or run at the same time. When I say run, I'm usually training for a 1/2 marathon or at the least keeping my longer runs at 6-7 miles and my shorter runs at 4-5 miles.

I've done Rushfit at least twice.

I've never followed any of the eating/dieting plans.

Here is the way I'd rank them followed by my reasons:
1) P90X

If you do it and give your best, you will be fit, fast, etc. and see benefits in all aspects of your life. The drawback is that each workout will take at the minimum of 75 minutes. You'll also have to push yourself and it requires equipment too. The time and equipment is a drawback. It worked best for me when I was doing it with 2-3 other guys and we were pushing each other to show up, out do the others in reps, etc. I gained 10lbs the first time because I had no upper body muscle because I had become a runner and neglected the upper body. I was lean and mean and could run and jump as well as many athletic 25 year olds when I was 1/2 way through. My issue is that I'm 40 now and I lose it just as quickly as I gain it. I really have to work hard to keep the superior athleticism. As I said, it is difficult to maintain the commitment and motivation w/ a busy lif of playing tennis, basketball, working, and taking my kids to their many activities. P90X is the best if you can commit to the work. Tony is annoying but you learn to love him after awhile and even miss some of the ridiculous things he says.

2) Rushfit

Rushfit is great for core strength and I don't mean abs. If you do it all the way through, you'll find doing air squats and lunges to be nothing and feel like you could easily do 100s w/o ever getting tired. Good for tennis? I think so. I wish it had different warm-ups exercises depending upon the day. It gets really old to see and hear the same instructions each and every day during the same exact 12 minute warm-up. If you canb fight through that and I recommend you do since it is a good workout in itself, you'll like Rushfit. The average time commitment is probably 50 minutes total. That's better than P90X. However, it is much harder to push yourself in these workouts when you are punching and kicking in air. I wish I had a heavy bag nearby but that would involve equipment and Rushfit requires very little equipment; maybe a couple sets of dumbbells is all that is needed. Unless you really go all out and crazy, it is hard to get explosive fast through Rushfit. Its strengths are definitely in the core area and building strength. I was impressed with what I saw as similarities between Rushfit and the workouts my daughter did when she was rehabbing from ACL reconstruction surgery. Rushfit does many of the same types of exercises to help you strengthen your legs to greatly reduce the risk of injuries and that is also a big, big strength. If Tony is annoying, Erik is ridiculous with his arm/hand waving and over analyzed instructions. It is also a bit much to hear the same instructions every day since the warm-up and cool down are the same with each workout. Honestly, if you can get through it, it is good. The warm-up is a good 12 minute workout all by itself. Rushfit is behind P90X but just barely. If you aren't going to give it all you've got and really commit to P90X and don't have 75-90 minutes, you should really consider Rushfit. I definitely agree w/ Tennis34's ratings of the videos. The 4 and 5 stars that he gave are to the best workouts and if you just did those, you'd have a great workout and lots of fun.

3) Power 90

This is the workout that led to P90X from Tony Horton. It is comprised of 4 workouts; Sweat 1-2, Sculpt 1-2, Sweat 3-4, & Sculpt 3-4. It is simple. Alternate the 1-2 series day-to-day for 45 days and then alternate the 3-4 series for 45. It is sort of an all-star shot of what is done in P90X but the workouts are only 45-55 minutes and does a little of everything each day instead of focusing on a particular section of the body. It is simple and effective. Not as much fun as some of the others but does a little for you and I really couldn't complain about any of it. If time is an issue, this could easily be your and my #1 workout program. It will help you become explosive, etc.

4) Insanity

My 40 year old body can't take the pounding. Enough said. If I were young and in good shape, I'm sure it would be better. As it is, you can get all of these moves and strength improvement from any of the above mentioned programs. Not worth the injuries for me.

BONUS REVIEW:

Nike Trainer for the Xbox 360 w/ Kinect

I just started this 4 weeks ago. I love it so far and am still learning it. It is fun and really counts and calculates a score based on how you do the moves. As I've said earlier, I need explosive speed. I especially need it when I play basketball against 25 year olds and doing these workouts have helped me keep up. I've gotten the explosiveness back a little but it will always be a work in progress as I'm 40 and lose it quickly. The workouts are between 35 minutes and 1 hour. It depends upon the number of rounds you want to complete. I usually do at least 2 rounds. You do many of the same exercises from Rushfit, Power 90, and Insanity along with new ones that are fun such as simulated dodgeball and another called split decision where you have to jump, duck, or move into openings of a moving glass wall. It requires very little equipment aside from the Xbox w/ Kinect. It is my #1 favorite so far and I doubt it will change. It really does adjust to your needs and tracks your reps and progress. If it could be made so more than 1 person could workout together at the same time it would be amazing but it is really cool as is.

That's it.

I recommend Rushfit to anyone who has minimal time to just do the warm-up each day as it really is a good workout in itself at only 12 minutes. When I was cleared to start working out after breaking my foot this summer, I spent the first 4-6 weeks just doing the Rushfit workout each day. It helped my strength getting back since it is non-impact and it also made me numb to Erik and his repetitiveness.
 

tennis34

New User
Great write up, Dak95!

I started Tapout XT, just finishing up the first week. It's similar to Rushfit, but way more intense. I will post a write up once I'm half way into it and did all the DVDs
 

jrompola

New User
my p90x/insanity review

I just wanted to give an overview of my experience with p90x/insanity

1st off either of these programs would be great to do as I'm sure any workout would be as long as you stick to it.

Bit of a back story
I completed 90 days back in 2009 with my wife, but did not follow the nutrition at all. I got decent results, but none that really showed because I did not eat properly. Did nothing really after that besides run and play tennis as well as other sports.
I am currently finishing month 2 of p90x/insanity hybrid workout with some running and I am dialing in the nutrition and getting proper rest and it's night and day compared to my 1st go around.

P90x
The dvd's are challenging and it combines strength training with cardio & yoga. The strength training is broken up in to different muscle groups. Chest & Back, Shoulders & Arms, Legs & Back and then in month 2 it is Back & Bi's, Chest, Shoulders, Tris, Legs & Back. In month 3 you rotate each week. There is a recovery week in between each month as well as at the end.

The workouts are challenging and you get what you put in to the workout. Every move can be modified, but those that great results really bring the intensity each move every workout.

The strength videos are 60 minutes long + 15 minutes for the ab routine. The videos can be shortened to 45 minutes if you don't take 15 minutes to warm up and cool down. Plyo/Kenpo/Cardio X are 45 minute workouts. Yoga is the longest one at 90 minutes, but you can always shorten it by not doing all the moves or subbing in core synergistics in its place which is a 45 minute workout.

I don't recommend skipping the warm-ups or cool downs, but if you are pressed for time you can speed it up. Same with the strength training...if you're done with push-ups fast forward to pull-ups. If you go from 1 move to the next with no break(don't know how you could) you could finish the workouts in 25-35 minutes.

Overall if you follow the nutrition plan and your goal is to bulk up or lose weight this workout can meet your needs.

Insanity

This workout is more high intensity interval based. I substitute some of the max dvd's in with p90x to form a hybrid routine. Again these videos are also extremely hard and if you can do every move perfect and keep up with the video amen to you!! The 1st month the workouts are around 30 minutes. The 2nd month the workouts get a little longer and little harder around 45 minutes.

If your goal is to increase your stamina or cut body fat this workout will work. If your goal is to gain body mass and muscle you may want to try something else.

Now to my current story. I've been doing p90x/insanity for 60 days and have dropped 30lbs and have seen significant muscle definition. Is this due to the workouts solely? No...what's really made me succeed is the nutrition. Eating 1900 calories a day with 50% protein, 30%carbs, 20%fat and drinking shakeology for breakfast.
I can't wait to see the improvements in my tennis game this year...its going to be djokovic esque!!
 

tennis34

New User
jrompola,
may i suggest you try Tapout XT? It's definitely a step up intensity-wise from Rushfit or P90X, but it's a lot of fun. It's similar to Insanity, but you do need resistance bands (I'm using dumbbells instead of the bands, works just fine in 95% of the workouts).
 

jrompola

New User
Thanks for the suggestion. I have insanity asylum volume 1 & 2 as well as p90x2, so I think I'm set for the remainder of this year :)

Maybe 2014 or if I get bored from any of the workouts I already have.

I like doing the base p90x strength training with insanity cardio mixed in rather than the p90x cardio.

You a steelers fan??? I'm a huge steelers fan...was at the chargers game this past year where they got blown out.
 
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