DDP Yoga Review from the Trenches

After over a year of posts about DDP Yoga, and all of my experiences, I decided it was time to write an honest-to- goodness review of the program, because I realized I haven’t actually put it all together that way before!

If you are new to my blog or haven’t heard about DDP Yoga before, this is for you! DDP Yoga is a program designed by WCW 3 time World Champion wrestler, Diamond Dallas Page. (Yes, DDP is Diamond Dallas Page, not Diet Doctor Pepper as a few of my friends thought at first!) It’s a zero impact series of workouts based on traditional yoga moves that are amped up and shaken up to make them more intense and use more muscles. The program originally started out as a rehabilitation for DDP as he got injured in wrestling but then evolved into a crazy cool workout that can literally be done by anyone. The most famous and poignant example of what you can do with DDP Yoga (as well as being living proof of the fact that the program is phenomenal) is Arthur Boorman. Take a look at this video. Arthur’s Transformation. When I saw Arthur’s video, I had heard about DDP Yoga from a friend who pretty much pushed and dared me to try it. I was sedentary at the time, and had pretty much given up ever getting back in shape. I watched the video and thought “what if”…  Then I went to the website and tried the free workouts (I’ll tell you more later), and the “what if” voice got louder! I could do some of it. Not all of it, but some of it, which made me realize the rest would come. I bought it and have never looked back!

It sounds too good to be true, right? That’s what I thought! Honestly? Like any other program, DDP Yoga is what you make of it. If you put in the work, you will lose weight, gain an incredible amount of strength, flexibility and muscle tone. I’m literally awestruck by how well I’ve done on the program. When I started, I decided to keep a log of my workouts. The first week, I did 52 minutes total. I lost weight. Then, as I learned the moves, my body became more flexible, and I got into a routine, following the beginner schedule in the book, I ramped up. By the end of the first month, I had lost 7 pounds and 7.5 inches. I was stunned. Happily stunned, but stunned nonetheless. My weight loss slowed, as I replaced fat with muscle, but my body continued (and still continues!) to morph and change. My waist has slimmed and overall I am longer and leaner than I have been since my swimming days! That’s all the great stuff, right, now you want the dirt. I know you do. It’s really hard for me to find anything negative about this program. I guess working out alone can be a negative because you don’t get the feedback you would get in a class with a live instructor, but even that, at this point, isn’t really an issue, as DDP has added certification for instructors, so there are numerous instructors offering online classes that you can join. Some are free, for those who are working on their certifications, while others, who are already certified, charge. Another negative is that it’s still delivered on DVD, because it means I have to bring my laptop when I travel. That is also being addressed, because there will be a DDP Yoga app later in the year.

I’m sure your next thought is, can I really do this. You CAN! Honest. Really. ANYONE can do this program. If you listen to DDP, he tells you to modify and adapt the program to what you can do. Remember what I said earlier. In the first week I did 52 minutes. That’s not in one workout, that’s total for the week! I modified like you would not believe! I had to, I couldn’t DO much of what was being done. I wasn’t strong enough. As I’ve progressed, in each workout, there have been moves that I couldn’t do yet, and there are still moves I have to modify, even in some of the easier workouts, but it’s all good. I’m moving, I am activating muscles, and healing my body. After watching Arthur’s video and seeing people who have debilitating injuries, I have to say I’m not sure there isn’t anyone who wouldn’t benefit from DDP Yoga. I will say this, if you are looking for a calm, peaceful, quiet, spiritual workout, with serene music and water rushing gently down a stream in the back ground, this is NOT the workout for you! This is intense, high energy, supercharged hard work with great results if you put in the work!

Are you convinced? What more can I tell you? I bet you want to know more about my loss, right? I’ve been doing this for 13 ½ months, and I’m down 42 pounds and almost 40 inches. Has it been steady loss? Not really, but it has always been moving in the right direction, so it’s all good! You get what you put into this program, like any other program, and I’ve had a couple of injuries that slowed me down.

DDP himself has helped me on my journey. I had a 4 month plateau. He reviewed my food logs, had me on DDPYoga radio, and he and Stacey Morris (an amazingly successful DDP Yoga participant with a loss of over 180 lbs!) guided me in changing my food some and encouraged me to take a hard look at what I was eating and how. Their guidance resulted in a 3.8 pound loss in 3 weeks. I’m forever grateful for their support. It wasn’t the easiest part of my journey, but it was amazing that people who barely know me reached out in such a wonderful show of support.

On top of everything else, there is a HUGE community family of supportive DDP Yoga warriors who are always willing to accept newcomers and help them on their journey! There is a great community on www.teamddpyoga.com and various Facebook groups that also are willing to help folks. If you, like me, are tired of squeezing into airplane and movie theatre seats, huffing and puffing to cross a room, struggling to find clothes that fit, and not having general mobility and quality of life, it’s time to Own Your Life and join the DDP Yoga Revolution!

Make sure you come back often and check on my progress, because I usually do an update around the 22^nd of the month! This month’s should be epic. I can hardly wait!