Rushfit vs. TapouT XT - My review/opinion/observation.

contingencyplan

I'm a 43 year old Martial Artist, who is in decent shape (i've lost almost 30 lbs), but wants to supplement his training with a Martial Arts-based workout system. Now, i see you've been comparing Rushfit with Tapout XT, but i was thinking of getting Les Mills Combat instead. Which one of the three would you recommend?

Les Mills Combat is a cardio-specific kickboxing program that basically is a home version of the Les Mills Bodycombat classes held in gyms. It's not as good as the actual classes conducted in class rooms, and it is pretty much strictly cardio, so if your regular training does not include strength training it's not ideal. Think of it as Tae Bo only more resembling actual kickboxing. The question is how do you plan to get your strength training in? Combat is ideal if you already have strength training you're doing on your own.

I don't do that much strength training, so which program would you recommend then?

Rushfit has a schedule that allows you to do high intensity cardio on your off days (which would be good for your actual MMA training). TapouT XT doesn't really leave room for that but you CAN make it work if you're in a pinch. TapouT XT is more value-conscious because the only equipment needed is bands which are cheaper than dumbbells.

To be honest though I don't think these programs are suitable for ACTUAL MMA training. They're MMA-THEMED programs for conventional exercisers who want an MMA theme to their workouts. But actual MMA fighters don't supplement their training with stuff like this. They high intensity, dynamic strength training using off balance loads using either sandbags or kettlebells or something else along those lines. You'd be better off getting a few kettlebells or a sandbag training system from either Ultimate Sandbag or Brute Force Sandbag and a DVD that guides you through high intensity workouts with them.

fantasma62

I had knee scope in early January to repair a meniscal tear. Today the doctor released me to go ahead and start jogging, and to resume my regular life. However, I really would like to begin working with RF. My therapist knows P90X and Insanity, but not RF. She wouldn't recommend Insanity due to its impact on the knees, so I am looking for opinions on the impact that Rushfit, which I purchased already, could have in my surgically repaired knee. I have read your review (very comprehensive...thanks for the work you put into it) plus many others, and have yet to see anyone recommend not to do it because of the joint impact, but have also not seen anyone advocating its use, post procedure.

Earlier this year I completed 54 days of Insanity, before my traveling schedule interfered. Yes, 54!!! LOL...No, the knee damage did not occur due to that. I did my last day at the end of March of last year and did not hurt myself. My injury occurred in October.

In any case, it would be nice to hear from others who may have gone through something similar and of course, Contingency's opinion here...

contingencyplan

I had knee scope in early January to repair a meniscal tear. Today the doctor released me to go ahead and start jogging, and to resume my regular life. However, I really would like to begin working with RF. My therapist knows P90X and Insanity, but not RF. She wouldn't recommend Insanity due to its impact on the knees, so I am looking for opinions on the impact that Rushfit, which I purchased already, could have in my surgically repaired knee. I have read your review (very comprehensive...thanks for the work you put into it) plus many others, and have yet to see anyone recommend not to do it because of the joint impact, but have also not seen anyone advocating its use, post procedure.

Earlier this year I completed 54 days of Insanity, before my traveling schedule interfered. Yes, 54!!! LOL...No, the knee damage did not occur due to that. I did my last day at the end of March of last year and did not hurt myself. My injury occurred in October.

In any case, it would be nice to hear from others who may have gone through something similar and of course, Contingency's opinion here...

Rushfit only has one high impact workout in the whole rotation and that workout is omitted from the schedule completely if you follow the beginner rotation (except for on the second to last day of the whole 8 week rotation). If you do the intermediate one they have you doing it once every couple weeks and advanced they have you doing it once a week. Other than that, there is no high impact exercise found anywhere in the program.

fantasma62

Thank you very much. By the time I get to my eighth week, I should not only be able to do Rushfit, but also every other high impact exercise...

srmojorisin

I'm considering doing the Tapout XT workout because it is more cardio oriented with an emphasis on care strength. While researching it I found this great thread that you have going here. I've read through the whole thread and I see that you are very critical of the schedule they provide. This particularly paragraph really grabbed my attention,

"Will you see results following the schedule? Sure you will. But you can see results that are just as good, if not better, if you closely analyze the strengths and weaknesses inherent in the overall scheduling format and where it unnecessarily borrowed from P90X. Why do extra work when you're not getting any better of workout? Sometimes it's a case of work smart, not hard. I do not do anything workout related without studying it extensively and learning the science behind it. More people should be this way too. "

Now from what I've read it is your opinion to completely toss out the ab workout since it is unnecessary to supplement the already core intensive strength training videos. But what I would like to know is if you were to "re-schedule" the workouts, in which order would you put them in order to get better results and what would be the basis of that order? Thanks for your help in advance.

contingencyplan

I'm considering doing the Tapout XT workout because it is more cardio oriented with an emphasis on care strength. While researching it I found this great thread that you have going here. I've read through the whole thread and I see that you are very critical of the schedule they provide. This particularly paragraph really grabbed my attention,

"Will you see results following the schedule? Sure you will. But you can see results that are just as good, if not better, if you closely analyze the strengths and weaknesses inherent in the overall scheduling format and where it unnecessarily borrowed from P90X. Why do extra work when you're not getting any better of workout? Sometimes it's a case of work smart, not hard. I do not do anything workout related without studying it extensively and learning the science behind it. More people should be this way too. "

Now from what I've read it is your opinion to completely toss out the ab workout since it is unnecessary to supplement the already core intensive strength training videos. But what I would like to know is if you were to "re-schedule" the workouts, in which order would you put them in order to get better results and what would be the basis of that order? Thanks for your help in advance.

Remove Plyo XT from Month 1 for another rest day, remove Ultimate Abs from the rotation entirely.

During Month 2, look at Cardio XT, Plyo XT, and Ripped Conditioning. There's no reason to have all three in one week. You can remove one for another rest day. 6 day a week workout schedules are pretty pointless and don't really give much benefit. 4-5 is more ideal. Look for the weak link workout each week and omit it entirely. Remove all redundancy, which includes Ultimate Abs, and given the intensity of the cardio you only need two cardio workouts per week. Any more and you're putting some strain on the CNS with the tight schedule.

Lil2868

I was wondering if you have any suggestions for me. I have 15-20 pounds to loose. I want to get lean and toned, not beefed up. I tried insanity and only made it through the first week. Solo much cardio, it kicked my *kitten*! When I saw made it through I mean like only 20-30 minutes of it . Haha. I ordered the Rockin Body video, thinking it may be easier for me. Do you have any opinions about it, or can you suggest anything else I can try? I wanna do 5 days a week at 30 minutes a day and tone up and lean.
Thanks

contingencyplan

I was wondering if you have any suggestions for me. I have 15-20 pounds to loose. I want to get lean and toned, not beefed up. I tried insanity and only made it through the first week. Solo much cardio, it kicked my *kitten*! When I saw made it through I mean like only 20-30 minutes of it . Haha. I ordered the Rockin Body video, thinking it may be easier for me. Do you have any opinions about it, or can you suggest anything else I can try? I wanna do 5 days a week at 30 minutes a day and tone up and lean.
Thanks

I lost about 30 pounds in 6 months combining the Rockin' Body cardio workouts with strength training. It's definitely doable. It's a solid cardio workout but no program is completely without strength training so you should do that in addition. Bear in mind it is impossible for you to bulk up while strength training unless you eat at a calorie surplus.

Lil2868

Thanks! What strength program should I do? I'm at a total loss with all this.:0/

contingencyplan

Depends, do you have access to a gym? And if not, what equipment do you have access to?

tnkhart

This might sound silly but is one more inspiring than the other between Rushfit and Tapout? ShaunT was very inspiring to me while I found Tony Horton to be much less inspiring and a bit quirky.

contingencyplan

This might sound silly but is one more inspiring than the other between Rushfit and Tapout? ShaunT was very inspiring to me while I found Tony Horton to be much less inspiring and a bit quirky.

Hard to say. Mike in TapouT XT tries to be but I think he talks way too much for it to be effective. His mouth is always running. On the other hand Erik in Rushfit doesn't even try. He is all business. He leaves the off topic discussion and motivational speeches to Georges St. Pierre who only talks in between sets, not during. Personally I prefer the all business way.

tnkhart

Ok. Thank you for the reply. Lots of good info here. I always thought that ShaunT was very motivating. Just my 2 cents.

contingencyplan

Ok. Thank you for the reply. Lots of good info here. I always thought that ShaunT was very motivating. Just my 2 cents.

Honestly as far as motivation goes I found Shaun T to be very annoying in Insanity. He was MUCH better though in Asylum. I think Asylum Shaun T beats Insanity Shaun T by miles in that department.

jfazio22

My wife and I are currently on day 53 of TapouT XT. I prefer a real person over a "professional persona" and think Mike is genuine. Honestly, especially for inexperienced people, Mike says a lot of useful things regarding form and what muscle group you should be engaging. I've improved immensely by just listening to what he is saying to the video participants.

contingencyplan

My wife and I are currently on day 53 of TapouT XT. I prefer a real person over a "professional persona" and think Mike is genuine. Honestly, especially for inexperienced people, Mike says a lot of useful things regarding form and what muscle group you should be engaging. I've improved immensely by just listening to what he is saying to the video participants.

I have to be perfectly honest with you, I never really needed any sort of "motivator" while doing any of these workouts. That's the main reason I prefer people who are "all business" like Erik Owings, the guy in Rushfit. I just don't see what could possibly be motivating about a pre-recorded, mass produced message.

jfazio22

Different strokes for different folks.

MastaPaPz

Hi! Great reviews.

I am pretty sure Rushfit is for me but I am going to ask anyways. Most of you seem to be experienced. I see people saying they have done all the videos already lol. So saying that, I am a complete beginner. I am over weight. I am 5'10 about 197. I play basketball 3 times a week. I am in 2 leagues. When I play, I run my *kitten* off and I really don't run out of energy. For some reason even though I am over weight. I am more active then anyone out there. I saw that maybe its not good to mix cardio with Tapout XT. I didn't know if basketball is the kind of cardio that counted.

Just wanted to let you know so you have a good idea on what to recommend me. Oh ya time is not really an issue. Btw you can throw in p90x if you recommend that. That just seems not as good or fun for me. Though again I have no experience in this so who knows?

Thanks for all your advice. This is a great thread.

contingencyplan

Hi! Great reviews.

I am pretty sure Rushfit is for me but I am going to ask anyways. Most of you seem to be experienced. I see people saying they have done all the videos already lol. So saying that, I am a complete beginner. I am over weight. I am 5'10 about 197. I play basketball 3 times a week. I am in 2 leagues. When I play, I run my *kitten* off and I really don't run out of energy. For some reason even though I am over weight. I am more active then anyone out there. I saw that maybe its not good to mix cardio with Tapout XT. I didn't know if basketball is the kind of cardio that counted.

Just wanted to let you know so you have a good idea on what to recommend me. Oh ya time is not really an issue. Btw you can throw in p90x if you recommend that. That just seems not as good or fun for me. Though again I have no experience in this so who knows?

Thanks for all your advice. This is a great thread.

In general, most workout programs that have you following a set schedule of 5 or more days working out a week don't allow for adding in other exercise along with it. You're kind of going to have to come up with your own thing for that. Basketball practices alone should be enough cardio so you should be focusing exclusively on the lifting. Rushfit would be a good choice because you can substitute the cardio days for your basketball stuff. But the best would be to put together your own thing.

MastaPaPz

Would it really be such a big deal if I did the work out and then played basketball later in the day?