Tony Horton (exercise instructor)
Encyclopedia
Anthony Sawyer "Tony" Horton, Jr. (born July 2, 1958 in Westerly, Rhode Island
) is a fitness guru best known for the boot camp style P90X
home fitness program. His direct-response advertisements are some of the most frequently aired infomercials on American television.
Horton was raised in Trumbull
, Connecticut
, and attended the University of Rhode Island
where he became a brother of the Phi Kappa Psi
fraternity. By 1980, however, he had embarked on a coast-to-coast move to Los Angeles
with the intention of becoming an actor. For a time, he also earned a living as a stand-up comedian;
but, following his love of fitness, he began working out at the World Gym
in Venice, California, which had been frequented by professional bodybuilders such as Arnold Schwarzenegger
and Lou Ferrigno
.
In an attempt to avoid the bulky, non-flexible bodybuilder look, Horton focused more on exercise routines to bring about speed, flexibility, and balance, as well as muscle growth. Later, he collaborated with former-triathlete and Ironman
competitor Mark Sisson
,
who introduced him to interval training
.
It was also during the early 1980s that Horton became a personal trainer and established his business, ASH Fitness (based on the initials of his given name), in Santa Monica
. He began to gather a list of clients that boasted such artists as Billy Idol
, Tom Petty
, Lindsey Buckingham
, Stevie Nicks
, and Bruce Springsteen
. More recently, he has trained multiple-Grammy-winner Usher Raymond
and actor Ewan McGregor
, and he has developed workout plans for a variety of health and fitness magazines.
Prior to his success with P90X, Horton served as spokesman for NordicTrack
exercise machines.
Horton is on the Board of Directors of GO Campaign
, a nonprofit that supports orphans and vulnerable children around the world.
-style program. Power 90 combined quick, intense cardiovascular exercises
with moderate-level strength and weight training
moves. Power 90 was followed by a variety of other one-off fitness series; and by 2004, Horton had created the much more intense P90X program, which delivers a “ripped” physique to those who follow the rigorous workouts and meal plans for 90-day rounds. P90X features workouts with such participants as Dreya Weber
, among many others. Adapting his penchant for bodyweight
and resistance training
exercises and yoga
, Horton compiled in P90X a format that also included cardio
training, jump training (or plyometrics
), and the martial art of kenpo
. The varied workout schedule is based on the concept of “muscle confusion,” a form of periodization
or cross-training that is designed to achieve maximum results while avoiding the plateau effect
, allowing muscle groups to continuously improve during phases of controlled yet unfamiliar movements. It was due to the concept of muscle confusion that Billy Idol nicknamed Horton "Muscle Confucius". After the P90X program was released, the P90 Master Series workout was created as a bridge between Power 90 and P90X. P90X has become the best-selling product offered by parent-company Beachbody, with an estimated 3 million copies having been sold, as of November 2010.
. The series was renamed "P90X One-on-One" and aimed as a trial program for the upcoming P90X:MC2. Rodale published Horton's first book, "Bring It!", in December of 2010.
, marketed by parent-company Beachbody and a network of authorized affiliates, as well as through infomercial
s.
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
) is a fitness guru best known for the boot camp style P90X
P90X
P90X, or Power 90 Extreme, is a home exercise system developed by Tony Horton in conjunction with Beachbody CEO Carl Daikeler, Beachbody Fitness Advisor Steve Edwards, nutritionist Carrie Wyatt, Creative Director Ned Farr, and workout video director Mason Bendewald of MEGA MACE productions...
home fitness program. His direct-response advertisements are some of the most frequently aired infomercials on American television.
Horton was raised in Trumbull
Trumbull, Connecticut
Trumbull, a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut in the New England region of the United States, is bordered by the towns of Monroe, Shelton, Stratford, Bridgeport, Fairfield and Easton along Connecticut's Gold Coast. The population was 36,018 according to the 2010 census.Family Circle magazine...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, and attended the University of Rhode Island
University of Rhode Island
The University of Rhode Island is the principal public research university in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Its main campus is located in Kingston. Additional campuses include the Feinstein Campus in Providence, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West...
where he became a brother of the Phi Kappa Psi
Phi Kappa Psi
Phi Kappa Psi is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania on February 19, 1852. There are over a hundred chapters and colonies at accredited four year colleges and universities throughout the United States. More than 112,000 men have been...
fraternity. By 1980, however, he had embarked on a coast-to-coast move to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
with the intention of becoming an actor. For a time, he also earned a living as a stand-up comedian;
but, following his love of fitness, he began working out at the World Gym
World Gym
World Gym was founded in 1976 by Joe Gold during the glory days of “Muscle Beach” in Venice, California. Since that time, World Gym has evolved into an internationally recognized brand....
in Venice, California, which had been frequented by professional bodybuilders such as Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
and Lou Ferrigno
Lou Ferrigno
Louis Jude "Lou" Ferrigno is an American actor, fitness trainer/consultant, and retired professional bodybuilder. As a bodybuilder, Ferrigno won an IFBB Mr. America title and two consecutive IFBB Mr. Universe titles, and appeared in the bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron...
.
In an attempt to avoid the bulky, non-flexible bodybuilder look, Horton focused more on exercise routines to bring about speed, flexibility, and balance, as well as muscle growth. Later, he collaborated with former-triathlete and Ironman
Ironman Triathlon
An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation consisting of a swim, a bike and a marathon run, raced in that order and without a break...
competitor Mark Sisson
Mark Sisson
Mark Sisson is an American fitness author and blogger, and a former distance runner, triathlete and Ironman competitor. Sisson finished 4th in the February 1982 Ironman World Championship. He has written several books, including The Primal Blueprint, which is based on the paleolithic diet. The...
,
who introduced him to interval training
Interval training
Interval training is a type of physical training that involves bursts of high-intensity work interspersed with periods of low-intensity work...
.
It was also during the early 1980s that Horton became a personal trainer and established his business, ASH Fitness (based on the initials of his given name), in Santa Monica
Santa Mônica
Santa Mônica is a town and municipality in the state of Paraná in the Southern Region of Brazil.-References:...
. He began to gather a list of clients that boasted such artists as Billy Idol
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...
, Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
, Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American guitarist, singer, composer and producer, most notable for being the guitarist and male lead singer of the musical group Fleetwood Mac. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released six solo albums and a live album...
, Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
, and Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
. More recently, he has trained multiple-Grammy-winner Usher Raymond
Usher (entertainer)
Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
and actor Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
, and he has developed workout plans for a variety of health and fitness magazines.
Prior to his success with P90X, Horton served as spokesman for NordicTrack
NordicTrack
NordicTrack is a manufacturer of exercise equipment, and is known for its ski machines. It was founded by Edward Pauls in 1975, and acquired by CML corporation in 1986. In 1990, they began to open retail outlets. Around 1995, sales began to decline, leading to bankruptcy and closure of its 300...
exercise machines.
Horton is on the Board of Directors of GO Campaign
GO Campaign
GO Campaign is a national nonprofit organization based in Santa Monica, California that raises awareness and funds to help orphans and vulnerable children throughout the developing world. The organization supports projects at the grassroots level that bring direct relief to children in need of...
, a nonprofit that supports orphans and vulnerable children around the world.
P90X and earlier programs
When BeachBody asked Horton to help develop and star in a workout video series, his biggest early success came in 2001 with Power 90, an in-home boot campFitness boot camp
A fitness boot camp is a type of physical training program conducted by gyms, personal trainers, and former military personnel. These programs have been increasing in popularity for the past several years....
-style program. Power 90 combined quick, intense cardiovascular exercises
Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise is physical exercise of relatively low intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. Aerobic literally means "living in air", and refers to the use of oxygen to adequately meet energy demands during exercise via aerobic metabolism...
with moderate-level strength and weight training
Weight training
Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength and size of skeletal muscles. It uses the weight force of gravity to oppose the force generated by muscle through concentric or eccentric contraction...
moves. Power 90 was followed by a variety of other one-off fitness series; and by 2004, Horton had created the much more intense P90X program, which delivers a “ripped” physique to those who follow the rigorous workouts and meal plans for 90-day rounds. P90X features workouts with such participants as Dreya Weber
Dreya Weber
Dreya Weber is an American actress, producer and aerialist.She was born in Bloomington, Indiana, and attended Hunter College in New York.She performed aerial silks at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City....
, among many others. Adapting his penchant for bodyweight
Bodyweight exercise
Bodyweight exercises are strength training exercises that do not require free weights; the practitioner's own weight provides the resistance for the movement...
and resistance training
Resistance training
Resistance training has two different meanings. A broader meaning that refers to any training that uses a resistance to the force of muscular contraction , and elastic or hydraulic resistance, which refers to a specific type of strength training that uses elastic or hydraulic tension to provide...
exercises and yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, Horton compiled in P90X a format that also included cardio
Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise is physical exercise of relatively low intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. Aerobic literally means "living in air", and refers to the use of oxygen to adequately meet energy demands during exercise via aerobic metabolism...
training, jump training (or plyometrics
Plyometrics
Plyometrics is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system, generally for the purpose of improving performance in sports. Plyometric exercises may also be referred to as explosive exercises...
), and the martial art of kenpo
Kenpo
is the name of several Japanese martial arts. The word kenpō is a Japanese translation of the Chinese word "quánfǎ. This term is often informally transliterated as "kempo", as a result of applying Traditional Hepburn romanization, but failing to use a macron to indicate the long vowel...
. The varied workout schedule is based on the concept of “muscle confusion,” a form of periodization
Periodization
Periodization is the attempt to categorize or divide time into named blocks. The result is a descriptive abstraction that provides a useful handle on periods of time with relatively stable characteristics...
or cross-training that is designed to achieve maximum results while avoiding the plateau effect
Plateau effect
A Plateau effect occurs when a formerly effective measure ceases to cause further change. For example, plateau effects may appear in learning, when students experience a dwindling benefit from their learning effort....
, allowing muscle groups to continuously improve during phases of controlled yet unfamiliar movements. It was due to the concept of muscle confusion that Billy Idol nicknamed Horton "Muscle Confucius". After the P90X program was released, the P90 Master Series workout was created as a bridge between Power 90 and P90X. P90X has become the best-selling product offered by parent-company Beachbody, with an estimated 3 million copies having been sold, as of November 2010.
Post-P90X
In 2007, Horton created P90X+, a series of follow-up DVDs designed as a supplemental series for graduates of P90X, although P90X+ was not a stand-alone series as was P90X. Ten-Minute-Trainer, a collection of brief workouts designed for those with tight schedules, came to the fitness market in 2008. Also in 2008, "Tony Horton's One-on-One" series, a monthly offering of individual workouts, has continued to provide high-intensity workouts in a minimalist style, as they feature Horton personally engaging in extreme exercise routines filmed in his home fitness studio by Mason BendewaldMason Bendewald
Daniel Mason Bendewald is an American director, producer and photographer. He is the director of the P90X workout program, which is still the top ranking infomercial...
. The series was renamed "P90X One-on-One" and aimed as a trial program for the upcoming P90X:MC2. Rodale published Horton's first book, "Bring It!", in December of 2010.
Program distribution
Horton's fitness programs, along with associated gear and nutritional supplements, are sold mainly by mail orderMail order
Mail order is a term which describes the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote method such as through a telephone call or web site. Then, the products are delivered to the customer...
, marketed by parent-company Beachbody and a network of authorized affiliates, as well as through infomercial
Infomercial
Infomercials are direct response television commercials which generally include a phone number or website. There are long-form infomercials, which are typically between 15 and 30 minutes in length, and short-form infomercials, which are typically 30 seconds to 120 seconds in length. Infomercials...
s.
Videography
- P90X2 (available for pre-order, shipping expected by Christmas)
- P90XP90XP90X, or Power 90 Extreme, is a home exercise system developed by Tony Horton in conjunction with Beachbody CEO Carl Daikeler, Beachbody Fitness Advisor Steve Edwards, nutritionist Carrie Wyatt, Creative Director Ned Farr, and workout video director Mason Bendewald of MEGA MACE productions...
One on One (formerly known as "One on One with Tony Horton"), monthly exercise video series (2008 until present) - 10-Minute Trainer (Exercise Video Series) (2007)
- P90X Plus (Exercise Video Series) (2007)
- The Gymnast (film role: Chad) (2006)
- Power 90 Master Series (Exercise Video Series) (2005)
- P90X (Exercise Video Series) (2004)
- Ho’ Ala ke Kino – Awaken the Body (Exercise Video) (2004)
- Tony & the Folks! (Exercise Video) (2003)
- Tony & the Kids! (Exercise Video) (2003)
- Power Half Hour (Exercise Video Series) (2002)
- Power 90 (Exercise Video Series) (2001)
- Great Body Guaranteed! (Exercise Video Series, with Debbie Siebers) (1998)
- "Rebecca's Secret" (TV movie role: Howard Martin) (1998)
- Last Action HeroLast Action HeroLast Action Hero is a 1993 American action-comedy-fantasy film directed and produced by John McTiernan. It is a satire of the action genre and its clichés, containing several parodies of action films in the form of films within the film....
(film role, uncredited) (1993)