I''ve completed weeks 1-3 and am in the middle of week 4. Here are my thoughts:1. The product itself is rock solid. I''m not worried about straps breaking on me, they are VERY sturdy. The rotational aspect of them is fairly underwhelming; the straps don''t slide that easily, and so the difference between these and TRX are just not that noticeable.
2. The door anchor... meh. You won''t have a lot of clearance between the door and your feet with away facing movements, so your feet may bang on the door. The metal portion just below the strap that is the door anchor will also scratch your door up if you don''t use the protective cover. Even with that, it still scratched up la quinta''s bathroom door.
3. The DVDs: LOTS of recycled footage, which annoys me. You''ll be very tired of the warmup and cooldown by week 3. Also, there is quite a bit of plyometric stuff, especially jumping jacks, so if you have issues with high impact, you might not tolerate the warmup. The rip:60 trainer movements are alternated with some sort of cardio in 60 second bursts, so you will definitely keep your heart rate elevated through most of the workouts.
Week 4 is recovery week, and the DVD for this week SUCKS. I did it once, and I like yoga, but it consists of a warmup and sun salutations and that''s it: the longest, most drawn out, horrible sun salutations you can imagine. Apparently the power yoga video is supposed to be similar to this, so I won''t be subbing that, either.
4. I have some shoulder injuries, and I''ve found this has been helpful. I do have to be careful though with instability, but they''re definitely stronger even in unstable positions.
Good buy for the money so far, but I think I''m moving on to P90X/Insanity rather than going through weeks 5-8.
The program is 8 weeks long and you workout with one DVD each week. Weeks 1-3 gradually build up in difficulty. Week 4 is a yoga routine to recover. Week 5 is a step up from week 3 in both time and challenge. Week 6 is the most challenging--it is longer by ~10 min, and then weeks 7 and 8 back off a bit from week 6. It seemed to me that weeks 6, 7, and 8 focused a bit more on cardio than strength. The exta workout called lean muscle is a pretty challenging strength workout thats lots of fun, but only 25 min long. After running through the program and the extra DVDs, I find myself repeating the week 3 and week 5 workouts....with some week 4 spattered in the mix for yoga and balance. Weeks 5-8 use kettle bells. I have successfully substituted dumb bells both at home and in hotel gyms.
After running through, P90, P90X, Insanity and 10 minute trainer--rip60 is my favorite. I continue to string together some ten minute trainer sessions for when I travel and don''t want to take the rip60 straps. I have tried out TRX is some gyms, and I would have to say that I think that rip 60 and TRX straps are pretty equivalent in quality. rip60 allows rotation and so there are excercises that can''t be done with TRX straps. Conversely, I think all TRX excercises can be done on rip60 straps. I have come to like using suspension training more than dumbells or elastic bands--it seems less stressful on my aching bones.
I recently purchased some of the TRX "Essentials" workout DVDs. The pace and level of intensity seems lower than the rip60 workouts. I think that I may rotate some of them into my workout routine for days when I want a less intense workout.
I travel frequently for work. When I was in the 8 week initiation phase of the program, I did bring the straps with me.....I could use them in hotel doors in many hotels where there was enough room. I also would take them to the hotel gym and han the straps from one of the weight machines. Lately, I have been on a kick to reduce the weight of my bag. The rip60 straps weith 4 lbs (heavy metal triangle that the straps rotate through), so I have stopped carrying them, reverting back to hotel gym cardio equipment.
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Review originally posted under an identical product listing for Rip60 on Amazon...AWESOME system and workout... but with important warnings
This is an AWESOME system and workout. The workout covers everything: Balance, Agility, Flexibility, Endurance and Strength. It takes about an hour each time and runs four to five days a week depending on the week. In the time it takes me to drive to the gym and back I can get in a great workout and not leave the house and waste time along with gas and gym membership money. I absolutely love it.
In my opinion, the trainer (Jeremy Strom) knows what he is doing, why he is doing it, and is good at it.
Warnings:
(1) Finding a place to mount this system which has the required space available might be harder than it appears. I don''t know if you would have a door would work like it shows in the advertisements and it won''t work as well as on the videos (the straps are suspended freely in the videos). Your best option would be a ceiling mount, which I have; however, I have looked around my house for a place this might work on a door and I can''t find a good one. Forget the additional mount that sells (at additional cost) with the system; for half the price (if you can access your attic and know how to install braces in your rafters you know who you are) you can do much, much better with an eye bolt, a carabineer-like piece of hardware to attach the bolt to the straps, a couple short 2 by 4''s, a drill, and some screws and nails. It wouldn''t take much more mechanical skill to do this than finding the studs and installing the official, additional, overpriced mount. Again, if you can work in an attic and have some basic mechanical skills you can do much better, much cheaper.
(2) The workout is challenging, as in C-H-A-L-L-E-N-G-I-N-G. Not for everybody. In one of the videos there is a former three-time Olympic athlete who won a silver medal in the bobsled and who, if you look closely at the video, has some difficulty completing the exercises. It made me feel human to know that I was not alone. But DO NOT let this discourage you from buying this product if you are motivated and, possibly, willing to take some extra time to get through the weeks. I found I had to stay on a given video for two to three times as long as the program called for, including additional rest days when initially beginning a video, to get to a place where I could complete the majority of the workout as directed, in the number of days directed, and therefore advance to the next video. If you find it just too challenging just send it back and get a refund. If you are motivated and not grossly out of shape don''t let this discourage you.
(3) Starting about week five, you need a kettlebell, preferably adjustable, for the whole series of workouts. Wait before you order this; you can order this after a couple weeks and you know if you are going to complete the system. They don''t tell you this upfront. I got a soft-sided kettlebell from the official website which I really like, but I don''t think they sell that one anymore. Cheesy not to tell you upfront and include it in the system, but the workout itself is so good as to overlook this marketing slight-of-hand.
(4) Menu guide is missing a grocery list. You would have to build a grocery list from scratch if you wanted to follow the menu religiously.
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I am a 5''9" 40-year old male who used to weigh 202 lbs before starting Rip60. I just completed all 8 weeks and I now weigh 173, and my waist size dropped from size 36 to size 33! I am in as good of shape as I was at age 25, if not better!THE GOOD
1. Before settling on Rip60, I borrowed my friend''s P90X and Insanity DVD''s, and checked out from my local library Zumba, Jillian Michaels 30-day Shred, and Rushfit DVD''s. All of them were excellent programs, but Rip60 matched my fitness goals the best. I think Rip60 has the best overall balance. I wanted to find a program I could do for a lifetime (not just 30, 60, or 90 days), and I think this fits the bill. Of course, you could do any program for a lifetime, but I thought Rip60 was the best in terms of being challenging, keeping me motivated and enjoyable all at the same time.
2. I liked how each workout is a mixture of several different exercises, and not just focusing on one area like just Chest & Back, or just Shoulder & Arms, or just Stretching. (Rip60 does have two yoga-only DVD''s though).
3. The suspension straps are of superb built and high quality. It''s very sturdy. I think the straps alone are worth at least $50-$60. I didn''t have any trouble using it in both a door-frame setup and also a ceiling-mount setup. It''s quite easy to set up--I don''t know what all the complaints are about from other reviewers.
4. I like the portability of the straps. I took it on two out-of-town trips with me and I had no problem setting it up and using it in the hotel rooms. The storage bag is nice too!
5. As for the workouts themselves, it progresses in difficulty from Week 1 to Week 8. But actually I thought Week 6 was the hardest, not Week 7 or 8. The warm-up and cooldowns at the beginning and end are great. The length of the workouts range from about 50 minutes to just over an hour, which keeps it challenging. The intensity level throughout the entire hour is perfect, and you can adjust the intensity to your fitness level -the trainer Jeremy Strom explains it well as you go along. The time flies by when you''re working out!
6. I thought the George St. Pierre (GSP) bonus DVD was actually quite challenging. GSP doesn''t do any talking--he just demonstrates while Jeremy Strom does the voice-overs.
7. The Jillian Michaels bonus DVD was very well produced. It is more like a Rip60 25-minute Express workout, but it is challenging and can easily stand on its own. She has finesse and honestly I wish she had done the entire Rip60 8-week program, not just the bonus DVD. If I had to choose 2 DVD''s out of the entire set to do for the rest of my life, I''d probably choose Jillian Michael''s bonus DVD and George St. Pierre''s bonus DVD. I''d just alternate between the two DVD''s.
THE BAD
1. The most annoying thing is adjusting the straps up and down throughout the exercise. Ideally, you should have two sets of straps--one kept at knee-height and the other kept at hip-height. You can even see some of the people in the video struggling with the straps at times. But this is not a deal-breaker, just a minor annoyance.
2. The two yoga DVD''s (Week 4 DVD and the bonus yoga DVD) are similar and kind of boring. I did them for a day, but quickly replaced them with one of the other DVD''s. I do see value in keeping them as a rest-day alternative.
3. The Rip60 for Runners bonus DVD seems to be Jeremy Strom''s "baby", meaning where he really shines. It''s not a surprise given that his background is primarily in running and rock climbing. But most of the exercises in this DVD is also contained in the other 8 DVD''s, so it feels somewhat redundant, rather than a real "bonus".
In a nutshell, I highly highly highly recommend Rip60! I don''t know why I wasted money on gym membership all these years, with no lasting results. Other DVD-based workout programs are excellent. You just need to find one that matches your fitness goals and keeps you motivated and enjoyable. For me, Rip:60 is it.
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I have used a few different suspension devices over the years and this one comes in the middle of the pack. I really like the handles but the metal piece is large and very uncomfortable to throw in a back pack and take on a jog. It sets up easily on a bar but I have not tried the door mount as of yet. I''m curious because I weigh about 215 pounds and that is a lot of force. When I used it on a Squat Rack that was unsecured I added a few 45 pound plates to the base of the rack to keep it from tipping. I f you use this at home great if you plan on traveling or doing some strength training after a run I would look elsewhere.Save 59% off
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