I decided to write a review of DDP Yoga that might help someone decide if they want to give this workout a try. Please let me know what you think, agree/disagree, etc.

TLDR: It's a good workout and is great for beginners. For someone looking for something more advanced and to progress their yoga skills, it does leaving something to be desired.

Brief history about me. 3 years ago I weighed 320 lbs (6'3"). I started Insanity and struggled to complete the program. 3 times I was cut short due to injury. After a drastic change in my diet that helped me drop more weight and training specifically to do Insanity, I finally completed it last year. I went on to do Asylum 1, another round of Insanity and Asylum 1, then I did Asylum 2. This year, I did my first run through of P90X and decided after that I needed to give my body a rest. That's how I found DDP Yoga. I now weigh 188 (on a good day!). I also do Orange Theory on Saturdays.

Let me start by saying I generally feel positive about the program. It's decently designed, has some good dietary advice (that should be considered even when not doing the program), and is generally fun to do. I would recommend this program to anyone looking to get into yoga or who needs a place to start their fitness journey (in fact, I already did recommend it over on r/insanity).

That said, there are some issues with the program that I wish I had known about prior to purchasing. I'm glad I went through with it, but had I known, I may have gone with a different program. Regardless, anyone looking to learn the basics of Vinyasa style yoga can't go wrong with this. For what it's worth, I would have said I was at an intermediate skill level prior to starting (now I'd say possibly advanced, at least in some areas).

The Good
I like DDP. He brings a good energy and keeps it entertaining. I feel like I could give this to my 70 year old dad to try and he'd be able to get into it (if Wally can, so can my dad!). He does a good job of making it feel like anyone can do this stuff.

The routines are also pretty good. I personally found disc 1 to be a waste (by the time the workouts are done, I've barely broken a sweat), but other than that, everything else is pretty enjoyable and feels like a workout. It's also nice to see them focused, Stength Builder on Strength, Stand Up on Balance postures, etc, it's nice to know what you're going to get into.

At the core of the video, it's a great workout and and short of the early videos, I've always walked away feeling like I've accomplished something.

The Bad
I feel for the most part, this program has been way too easy for me personally. The first 4 weeks (following the "Advanced" schedule) were a complete waste of time. I did not feel challenged until Diamond Cutter came around, and even then I was subbing out the Disc 3/4 videos for some of the workouts. I get he probably wants us to learn his style, but putting Diamond Dozen on there in week 3? Seriously, the book should have advised the video is watched and followed along with before starting, and week one should have been the last time Fat Burner and Energy were done. In fact, Disc 1/2 are labeled as "Beginner/Intermediate". How are beginner workouts appropriate for an Advanced track?

This brings me to the "Extreme" workouts. It's obvious these workouts were an afterthought. They're not on the schedule at all and don't use the YRG name at all. My best guess is that these workouts were the original YRG system and he decided to make the extreme videos and rebrand the videos. The frustrating thing is that the extreme videos are what sold me on DDP Yoga. I saw the videos and wanted to do what was in the preview, but unfortunately, the videos don't really teach you or work on any progressions into the more advanced things in the extreme videos. If they're sold as one program, by the time I finish the Advanced workouts, I should be able to jump into the extreme with relative ease. Nothing in the YRG program teaches you hand stands, forearm stands, jumping into crow from downward dog, etc. That's all new, and while it's good to have new stuff, I don't feel like the YRG videos give you the foundation for moving to the advanced in the way that Fat Burner and Energy give you a foundation for the harder YRG workouts. Had I known, I might have just purchased the advanced, and tried a more traditional program (still not sure about this one).

The Nitpicking
(Don't let this section discourage you, understand these are my own personal nitpicks. I also originally forgot that this is marketed as "Not Your Momma's Yoga", so I decided to change these points to nitpicks as opposed to bad items. They annoyed me personally, but might not annoy most people)

Changing the names of the moves. I'm not going to pretend to be a yogi master, but after doing P90X and a couple of other yoga videos and learning most of the English names of the moves, it was really frustrating to have to relearn the move names. In addition to being frustrating, I'd actually worry it might turn someone off from regular yoga since classes can move quickly and not knowing the correct names could be discouraging to someone. I went to my first class recently and had to "unlearn" all of DDP's modifications. Additionally, it's not like he has an army of videos that use these modifications; it's like he's trying to stand out when he's a small fish in a very large pond. I mean, was it really necessary to change the name of Corpse pose to "Deadman... and WOman"? I get it's an Undertaker reference, but c'mon DDP, there was a Mummy on ECW you could have referenced.

The basics of yoga are discarded in general and some of his sequences don't make a lot of sense. Start off relaxing (Pinfall), go to Safety Zone, then Ignition! All yoga routines I've done start off relaxing and clearing your mind, then with small movements and into harder ones. The idea is to keep you relaxed so you get focused on the pose. While DDPs method definitely gets the heart rate up and quickly, it misses one of the major points of yoga entirely, relaxation and to some degree meditation (more on this later). I can see this working well for the early 20 - 30 minute videos (Fat Burner and Energy), but it works poorly for the longer videos. After going back and doing the P90X routine, I found the way it starts in Prayer Pose/Namaste much more effective than the quick "Ignition".

Still on basics, some things I've seen in every video like Swan Dives are absent. He talks about working the low back and these work it out great. In fact, if Swan Dives and Reverse Swan Dives were in the video, we could do less Diamond Cutters. It's really confusing as to why he would cut so many of these basics.

Breathing. As I mentioned, I went to my first yoga class recently and was corrected by the instructor "In yoga, we breath through the nose, this is not pilates!" I did a little googling and came across this. Now, while I'm not expecting DDP to explain the texts of the ancient yogis, I've been trying to breath with my nose exclusively during the program and I'm finding it to be very beneficial. I recover much quicker, I can hold poses longer, and I feel more flexible. I can't really explain it, but there seems to be some bit of truth to what's being said. I can't fault DDP for not knowing this (Tony Horton doesn't mention it either and P90X2 Yoga has a yogi who's been practicing for 15 years!), but he did make a yoga video and not a general fitness video where TH made a general fitness series of videos.

As I said, relaxation and clearing your mind is a big part of yoga. It's one of the things that got me into yoga in the first place, the fact that I could work as hard as I do and still finish feeling relaxed and at peace was amazing. Not only is this skipped in the beginning, but the cool down completely undermines this. All of my yoga experiences have ended with about a minute to three minutes in Deadman/Corpse pose. DDP does it for about 30 seconds then gets you jacked up again with a stretch that is better suited to be done before the end. I'm not saying he had to end with oms, but I think it would have been much more effective to end with "YRG Warrior Pose into pinfall and take 5 deep breaths", or something similar. I find myself getting into Namaste, waiting for the music to end and letting out my oms.

The Verdict
Ultimately it's how good of a workout is this and these are great workouts. I couldn't call my friends over who don't exercise and get them to finish Double Black Diamond without them drenched sweat.

While these workouts stick to the basics, anyone purchasing these videos will get through the basics and get very good at the basics. I wouldn't recommend these to someone looking to expand their library of yoga videos, but I would definitely recommend it to first timers and people looking to learn a bit about yoga. That said, I'd also make a disclaimer that while these videos are based on yoga poses, there's MUCH more to yoga and that this is a starting point. Most of what you'll learn during DDP Yoga will get your feet in the water.

Hope this helps anyone looking for more info, please let me know what you agree with and disagree with in the comments.

Love this program because it works. Love DDP because I think he genuinely wants to help people. Since he has put Steve Yu in charge, Steve Yu is HURTING DDPY. DDP encourages people. Steve Yu acts like a teenager and insults them. DDP puts in the effort. Steve Yu doesn't even prepare for his own TU lectures. He bullies his employees. He bullies his customers. Trying to have a civil disagreement with him is like talking to a teenager. If you don't agree with him completely, all the time, he talks about you on Facebook and tells folks "you don't really want to change your life." Steve Yu and his sidekick Naddya (self-described actress on LinkedIn) participate in TU and regularly post on facebook. They love people whose stories they can exploit for marketing DDPY. They trash the rest. I once pointed out a food safety issue during a TU lecture they were giving. They started very late. They were not prepared. They were using very poor food hygiene. They were going to get someone sick. I made a comment about cross-contamination and they made fun of me for it. Naddya then told me I shouldn't comment. DDP tells you to make DDPY your own. Steve Yu tells you that you're cheating if you use a GLP-1. Then he goes on to gossip about GLP-1 users with horror stories. No facts, just stuff he read on the internet or "heard". Steve Yu screwed up the new app, then got hostile about it with everyone. You can't treat paying customers like this and expect people to stay. Especially when you are marketing to the older crowd. Older folks are more mature and expect better from a brand they support. Steve Yu thinks he is perfect, and if you disagree he sics his people on you, trying to discredit you on Facebook. If I hear one more person tell me "Oh Steve Yu loves you so much!", I think I am going to puke. The worst thing is, he is surrounded by good people like Hayden and Lucy, Pam, Candi Rotten, and pretty much everyone else at DDPY. These people make the program work. Steve Yu needs to let them do their jobs and stop trying to "be the boss". Steve Yu has done alot for DDPY behind the scenes no doubt, and I am grateful for his work, but he is NOT a public relations kind of guy. He needs to stay in the background and let the DDPY staff do their thing. He lacks the maturity and the humility to be the face of DDPY. I bought the DVD's and will let the annual app subscription expire this fall. I hope they make a change or I fear the future of DDPY is not bright. That is a shame because the program works and can help a lot of people. Nobody needs to buy a product or service and then be insulted by the company president or be called cheaters, lazy. etc. So unprofessional. SO OPPOSITE of what DDP stands for. Oh, and his comment about "We're going to stop giving out T-shirts for people who reach 100K points on the app because its too easy." Giving out those shirts is a GOOD thing! The more people that reach the goal, the better! This one statement from him shows how disconnected he is with the whole purpose of DDPY.

I heard about this program called DDP Yoga. The guy who created it (DDP) came on Shark Tank which is pretty cool. And apparently he's responsible for the transformation in this video below, which I've seen before but didn't know it was related to DDP.

This is quite the endorsement! Any thoughts?

https://youtu.be/qX9FSZJu448?si=Oz3Mya99NqYXNmjZ

I've been saying a lot about it lately and I'm thinking it could really help me in my wife get into shape and possibly out of depression.

Oh internet, how you vex me! I just stumbled onto a “review” of DDP Yoga on Reddit, and as has been the case before, I can’t let this one go without a rebuttal.

I don’t even know where to start with this one. The reviewer, EtherBoo, complains that DDP Yoga is simultaneously not challenging enough and also too challenging (?!?).

Schrödinger’s yoga? Oh, c’mon, that’s funny dammit!

1. Too Easy?

Let’s take the “not challenging enough” claim first. The reviewer’s background is as follows: he was 300+ lbs, before losing the weight (seriously, congrats!!!) via diet and cardio (Insanity followed by P90X), and found DDP Yoga after P90X left his body needing “a rest”. I could take the chance to detour into one of my rants about how Beach Body systems are universally high impact and injurious -the reviewer had to cut his Insanity attempts short on 3 occasions for injury- but I will try to stay on topic.

The reviewer writes that he jumped right into the Advanced schedule. However, he also claims that the program guide doesn’t advise going to the Diamond Dozen until Week 3, when it is in fact the very first workout on Day 1 of the Advanced Schedule.

That’s a major flaw in the reviewer’s argument, because going into DDP Yoga workouts without following this tutorial will rob you of the information needed to get the very most out of this workout program, regardless of your background in fitness. The reviewer said he was at an intermediate/advanced level but that doesn’t apply to DDP Yoga. The positions you need to learn and methods of holding poses in DDP Yoga are so unique, that anyone, whether it’s their first time working out, whether they can bench 300, run marathons every weekend, or have a decade of classical yoga under their belt, is at the beginner level when they start DDP Yoga. That’s why the phrase “check your ego” is one of the most commonly uttered in the DDPY community.

In particular Dynamic Resistance is not something you’re going to pick up on the fly. Despite the reviewer’s claim that he was not adequately informed that it was critical to get the Diamond Dozen down pat, you are told about this in multiple places throughout the email you receive when you buy the DVDs, on the new members page of TeamDDPYoga.com, in the program guide, and within the community.

Dynamic resistance replaces high impact movements to create a high cardio workout. Without perfecting that skill, someone at an intermediate/advanced level may not get a into their cardio zone in the shorter workouts (the Double Black Diamond will kick anyone’s ass, Dynamic Resistance or not). In contrast, when you have Dynamic Resistance down, even short workouts like Fat Burner can get you straight into your cardio zone. In fact, I can get into my cardio zone within a minute doing DDP Yoga moves.*

Let’s be clear. Dynamic Resistance is hard! I struggle with it to this day. As humans, we are built to expend as little energy as possible, so it takes a lot of practice to force yourself into the habit of turning that on its head. Dynamic Resistance is not something you will get down after a couple of workouts, which is why reviews like this one, and Adam Bluestein’s poorly researched piece are never going to fully describe the benefits of DDP Yoga. Like classical yoga, DDP Yoga will always be a “practice.”

2. Too Hard?

On to the “too challenging” complaint. The author figured that a couple of weeks of the advanced schedule would be all he needed to jump straight into the Extreme Psycho Workout. It didn’t work out so well, and so he complained that nothing in the Combo Pack workouts prepared him for the advanced moves in the Extreme Psycho. If only there were some sort of resource that would help you out in that respect... There's a tutorial on the SAME disk called the Extreme Psycho Tutorial!!

Aside from the tutorial specifically intended for the Extreme Psycho, the preceding workouts do in fact prepare you for it. The increased flexibility will help you with the banana splits, Red Hot Core will help you prepare for forearm balance, the progression of 3, 5, and 10 count push-ups will help you build to Psycho Push-ups.

And you are not going to get everything first go… you’re not meant to! In contrast to Mr. Boo’s claim that DDP Yoga is not ideal for someone looking to build their yoga DVD library, DDP Yoga is something that will keep advanced yogis busy for a long time. As we say in DDP Yoga, “There’s always some place to go!”

3. Now For My Nitpicks!

a) The reviewer makes the claim that the Extreme workouts were clearly an after-thought. I love when people declare something to be true merely on the grounds that they thought it. Having studied DDP Yoga for quite a long time, I can now see the progression, and it appears to me that the Extreme Workouts are aimed at the certain percentage of the DDP Yoga community who are advanced in their DDP Yoga skills, looking to kick it up a notch, and want to get down and dirty. It’s filmed with a more gritty feel, and with more advanced students to incorporate that sense. This is a nitpick, because even if EtherBoo is correct, they are fantastic workouts, and continue to challenge me to this day.

b) The author speaks of swan dives and reverse swan dives as if they were the second coming of spinal rehab. They’re not. They are certainly good for lower back strength, but his assertion that doing more of them would replace the Diamond Cutter is ridiculous. It would make it more like traditional yoga, but as we will discuss below that is not what DDP wants to do! Also, it shows a profound lack of understanding of the anatomy of yoga. The Diamond Cutter works to stretch and lengthen the spine. Reverse swan dives strengthen lower back muscles. Not interchangeable. Also, reverse swan dives aren’t absent from DDP Yoga! I can actually hear DDP saying “back flat, arms stretched out like wings” in my head. This highlights the gripe I have with Messers Boo and Bluestein: you need more than a fleeting familiarity with a program to write an informed review!

c) The author totally confuses the point of DDP Yoga and who its target audience is. He is definitely under the impression that DDP Yoga is aimed at the practitioners of classical yoga, and that DDP is trying to compete with more established names in that genre such as Iyengar or home DVD names as Yee, Kest or (ugh) Tony Horton. The fact that he (repetitively) throws P90X in as evidence of his familiarity with classical yoga, and therefore proof of his ability to compare DDP Yoga to classical yoga makes me hang my head in shame.

P90X Yoga is trying to compete in the classical yoga field. Tony Horton takes regular yoga and teaches it badly (in Yoga-X he has you go straight into a deep hamstring stretch with zero warm up, and Yoga-X3 is just a mess with zero flow, modifications or focus on form). The author throws down his trump card by saying “P90X2 Yoga has a yogi who’s been practicing for 15 years!” Fascinating. DDP Yoga has a two main yogis, one (DDP) that has been practicing for 16 years and another (Yoga-Doc Craig Aaron) that has been practicing for 27 years, and they have both been developing the program together from Day 1, not just breezing in for the second set of DVDs (such as P90X2)! Q.E.D.

The reviewer makes the assumption -and therefore delivers as fact- that DDP is “a small fish in a very large pond,” and has renamed all the yoga moves funny things like Touchdown, Catcher, Deadman and Woman, Showstoppers, and (my favourite) HPS as a gimmick to stand out from the crowd. I get it, after immersing yourself in Beach Body products for a number of years, all you see is gimmicks! But that’s not what’s happening here.

DDP isn’t interested in selling DDP Yoga to classical yoga practitioners. Attend any of his workshops and you will hear him tell the history of DDP Yoga. He talks about how he wanted to bring DDP Yoga to the people who “wouldn’t be caught dead doing yoga.” He has done amazing work both with the troops, and with professional wrestlers to that end. DDP isn’t trying to stand out in the crowd… he’s in a different building! The funny names are just one part of an overall approach to make DDP Yoga accessible to those who are put off by the inaccessible elements of classical yoga.

That being said, DDP Yoga is universally beneficial, even to those who have practiced classical yoga. From the sounds of things, I have a much stronger background in classical yoga than EtherBoo. However, because DDP Yoga incorporates Dynamic Resistance, sports rehab and old school strength building, I was able to get a lot more out of it than I ever did in classical yoga classes: rehabbing the joints Beach Body et al. bust up, building strength (can you hold a plank for 30 minutes, EtherBoo??) and in calories burned. As DDP always says, “It Ain’t Your Mama’s Yoga!” And it’s not trying to be!

d) A similar “this isn’t classical yoga” point can be made about breathing. Yes, in certain moves in classical yoga nose breathing is appropriate (as pointed out by the author). However, in power moves, a more Pilates-like mouth breathing is more suitable. The author again confuses DDP Yoga as classical yoga and criticizes the lack of focus on nasal breathing. This isn’t classical yoga. We don’t just hold static poses for long periods of time and slowly move from one pose to the next. This is a high cardio workout. Learning to perfect diaphragm breathing, which DDP hammers home in a separate tutorial and in the intro of every workout is going to help the body efficiently utilize oxygen to get through each position and build strength and cardio endurance for this type of workout.

Don’t get me wrong, my hat is off to EtherBoo. I tried to lose weight with the Beach Body catalogue, but just couldn’t. I couldn’t stay on the wagon with the repetitive injuries and ended up gaining weight. EtherBoo, on the other hand, plowed through, although ultimately found those programs unsustainable. I was luckier; I found DDP Yoga at the start of what ended up being my successful weight loss journey, and found it to be accessible as a beginner, sustainable** throughout and beyond my weight loss journey, and challenging now that I am at an advanced level of fitness.

*I consider myself to be at an advanced level of cardio fitness (full marathon and multiple half-marathons completed, workout 1 – 2 hours a day, multiple fitness certifications, active DDP Yoga instructor, etc. etc.)

**No injuries!

Note: after publishing, a Team DDP Yoga member pointed out the irony of taking issue with DDP’s renaming of standard moves when Tony Horton does the exact same thing! (Thanks Lyn M.)

Is it just me, or is the app's UX/UI outdated and ineffective?

Honestly, it makes me wonder if the company's still active.

You can't retrieve your password, the calendar update spams your calendar with full-day activity for a single workout, and you can't effectively download videos for offline viewing.

It's such a turn-off.

I am interested to know what the general opinion the Yoga community has towards DDP Yoga?