**The Official P90X Thread**

[otc]

bah....I hope to get back on the wagon on saturday (when I have my cycle starting).

Having my apartment flood ruined my awesome record of not missing any workouts...but its kind of hard to do them when you have no open floor space. It did let me get in some extra biking though...so not all is lost.

 

[BlackToothedGrin]

I've been doing p90x for several months now with pretty good results. I've lot some fat, gained a little muscle and gotten much more athletic. I'm a pretty skinny guy at 6'2" 175 with little body fat, and I think I'm ready for change. My goal is to add some mass while still getting the cardiovascular and athletic benefit from p90x. What do you guys think about this plan? Will I be able to gain mass with this many reps and this much cardio? Is there enough rest for each muscle group? I know p90x isn't the ideal plan for mass building, but I love the intensity and the fact that I can do it at home which I'm not sure I could replicate on a starting strength type regimen, and I'm willing to sacrifice some potential gains for those reasons.

Day 1) Chest, shoulders, and triceps
Day 2) Plyo
Day 3) Back Biceps
Day 4) Short yoga, stretching, or rest
Day 5) Chest, Shoulders, and Tris
Day 6) Legs and back (homemade workout consisting mostly of squats, single leg squats, stiff leg deadlifts, lunges, calf raises)
Day 7) Rest

Repeat

 

[willpower]

As Tony constantly mentions, heavier weights with less reps for size.

I'm a little burned out on P90X as well. I'm on a 2 week vacation from it. I tried Insanity Asylum but it's brutal and almost all cardio.

Genetics is the biggest factor in being able to get bigger. It's very tough putting on mass if you're an ectomorph.

Try the Evil Russian program for 2 weeks in place of the upper body P90X videos. Use it for both push ups and pull/chin ups. I'm already getting noticeable results after 10 days. I still do squats and abs every other day.

http://forums.menshealth.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/855109121/m/612106525

I've also been doing isometric variations of the P90X exercises, like holding lower plank position for the duration of a pushup set.

 

[Erenoth]

After 104 days of caloric deficit, I've dropped 47 pounds. I look and feel better than ever, but my obsessive compulsive personality won't let me just stop counting calories and continue a boring cardio routine without seeking results. I've had the wonderful P90X hammered into my memory through friends and relatives alike who tried it and had surprising results, even without taking their diet seriously alongside the dvds. This past week, I picked up all of the required objects to start P90X, and have been taking my weight training (mostly bodyweight exercises) much more seriously. There's a shipment from Amazon coming tomorrow with a modest amount of supplements, and I intend to start the program this upcoming Sunday.

Critique my rough plan, please:

Age: 20
BW: 154.5
Est calories/day to maximize fat loss while promoting muscle growth: 2300
There's a lot of debate whether or not the above is possible, but I figured I had might as well try. Most before/after photos appear as of the individual in question has cut down on a lot of fat while increasing muscle leanness/mass/definition, so 2300 calories should be sufficient for this goal. After eating ~1200-1400 cals/day for so many months already, I'm finding it difficult to stuff myself with 1500 or more.

I'll be doing the classic P90X routine six days/week, possibly substituting my off-day for Cardio X depending on how I feel.
I've never taken supplements before, but am adopting an ON whey/casein routine to achieve my protein goals. This isn't necessary for most, but I can't afford the amount of chicken breast I'd be consuming otherwise. Breakfast in the morning along with 5mg creatine, workout, post work-out 5mg creatine, 20mg dextrose followed by whey, lunch, shake, dinner, shake. Whey or casein depending on the time of day, obviously. For example, I plan on taking a single scoop of casein prior to bedtime.
After researching at least 50 articles about creatine, I've decided to try it out to maximize my muscle gains. I don't want to go overboard with the 15-20mg/day cycling nonsense than is often recommended, but is 5-10mg/day enough?
My diet is already very healthy. Lots of Mediterranean food averaging 60/25/15 to maintain my muscle when cutting, so it shouldn't be difficult at all to follow the macro plan supplied in the nutritional guide.'
Lastly, after much thought, I opted to take one ON opti-men multivitamin each morning. Is another before or after working out worth it? There's a lot of mixed opinion on this, but I figured I'd might as well ask anyway.

Not sure if I left anything out, but I'm open to thoughts.

Chris

 

[willpower]

Have you gotten the requisite Pull-Up Bar, Dumb Bells, and Push Ups Bars for P90X ? You don't need to buy the ones from Beach Body, any will do. Target or Walmart will have all of that stuff. I also found having resistance bands for certain exercises to be very useful and much better suited than light dumb bells (you'll see in some of the shoulder exercises). http://www.amazon.com/DYNA-BAND-Silver-Extra-Heavy-Resistance/dp/B00150B21U/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

Take it easy for the first few P90X workouts so you don't injure yourself (or get too sore to work out the next day) and use lighter weights than you you can handle. Make sure you bend your knees slightly with any of the Dumb Bell exercises to protect your lower back - that's the part that got me early on. And don't strain while you're lifting so you don't get a hernia.

Take pictures of yourself the first day so you can compare in 90 days.

Slowly introduce the supplements to your body. One vitamin a day is enough - if your urine turns dark yellow, your body is eliminating the excess vitamins. Don't go overboard on the protein, my doctor said he's seen a bunch of cases recently where overzealous P90 participants (yes, he specifically mentioned P90) had severely elevated levels of protein in their blood. If your urine starts becoming foamy, you're overdoing it. Get enough Potassium as well - Bananas and Coconut Juice contains lots of it. I don't know anything about Creatine.

If you're an ectomorph, gaining muscle mass is a slow process.

You can make your meals a lot tastier by using Marinara Sauce, Salsa, and Sriracha Sauce (awesome stuff) to season your food. I'll have a can of black beans for lunch and I'll add some Salsa and Sriracha to make it something I look forward to eating. Same goes for a big bowl of mixed vegetables - Marinara Sauce makes it 1000% better.

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Sriracha_sauce $4 at the supermarket.

 

[Erenoth]



Have you gotten the requisite Pull-Up Bar, Dumb Bells, and Push Ups Bars for P90X ? You don't need to buy the ones from Beach Body, any will do. Target or Walmart will have all of that stuff. I also found having resistance bands for certain exercises to be very useful and much better suited than light dumb bells (you'll see in some of the shoulder exercises). http://www.amazon.com/DYNA-BAND-Silver-Extra-Heavy-Resistance/dp/B00150B21U/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

Take it easy for the first few P90X workouts so you don't injure yourself (or get too sore to work out the next day) and make sure you bend your knees slightly with any of the Dumb Bell exercises to protect your lower back - that's the part that got me early on. And don't strain while you're lifting so you don't get a hernia.

Take pictures of yourself the first day so you can compare in 90 days.

Slowly introduce the supplements to your body. One vitamin a day is enough. Don't go overboard on the protein, my doctor said he's seen a bunch of cases recently where overzealous P90 participants (yes, he specifically mentioned P90) had severely elevated levels of protein in their blood. If your urine starts becoming foamy, you're overdoing it. Get enough Potassium as well - Bananas and Coconut Juice contains lots of it.

If you're an ectomorph, gaining muscle mass is a slow process.

Check, check and check on all of the equipment you listed, and then some. The only thing I'm lacking is an extensive set of dumbbells (I have a pair of 22.5lb adjustable that will suffice for the first week or two, but I'll probably outgrow those and move on to stacking bands afterwards). +1 to these recommendations, along with the rest of what you noted, though. I've been taking photos on a weekly basis to document my denim, so I'm very anxious to see how both with mature over the three months.

On a different note, do you happen to know if coconut milk is a viable source of potassium? I usually end up eating a banana/day post-workout for some carbs and potassium, but I might use my "breakfast cereal" milk for shakes as well. In particular, I'm drinking Silk Pure Coconut, but it has very little potassium (40mg/8oz).

Lastly, I'm not entirely positive what my body type is, but from the descriptions I've read, I'm probably leaning towards mesomorph, in-between meso and endomorphs. Weight loss came very easily, but I believe my bone structure would be considered medium-large.

Thank you again for the reply,

Chris

 

[willpower]

Cool. Coconut Juice/Water, rather than milk is better for you. http://runtrails.blogspot.com/2007/03/coconut-water-natures-electrolyte.html

 

[Erenoth]



Cool. Coconut Juice/Water, rather than milk is better for you. http://runtrails.blogspot.com/2007/03/coconut-water-natures-electrolyte.html

Ah, interesting. I glanced at this on Amazon the other day, but didn't pay close enough attention to detail evidently. I'll be looking into this.

 

[Liquidus]

Thanks for the advice about coconut water. I've been looking for a good-tasting alternative to soda/juice. Would one scoop of whey protein powder every day be too much?

I think I'm the classic example of an "ectomorph." I'm 5'8", 21 years old, and have been at around 145 pounds for the last few years. I'm not looking to build a ton of muscle, but the slow progress is kind of discouraging. Were you satisfied with the amount of muscle you got after completing the program? Any tips specifically for an ectomorph?

 

[fuji]

No, a scoop a day would not be too much. A scoop is like 20g of protein at most. If you want to build a ton of muscle, your not gonna do it via P90X

 

[robinsongreen68]

like i said earlier, i've added in normal bench press and incline bench to the chest and back routine, i substitute each one just for the set of ordinary pushups, doing the other 11 steps as prescribed.
i definitely think this is the way to go if (like me) you are an ectomorph and keen to build/maintain a bit of mass.
i dont know about lower body stuff in p90x but i think you absolutely have to have squats in your routine too.

 

[Erenoth]

Finished day three, thoughts thus far-

The exercises aren't as horribly difficult as I imagined initially, minus plyo. Plyo kicked ****** hard, even after taking 3 brief "pause breaks".
The dietary changes are the hardest part of this for me, personally. I've been eating no more than 1400 cals/day for the past three months, so upping the load to 2200 or so/day is kind of disgusting. Yes, I realize I'm still only landing at around ~1600/day with an intense workout included, but I feel as if I'm constantly binging in order to see evidence of my hard work. Limiting myself to a maximum 4 scoops of protein powder per day, but I think I might start mixing it with almond milk or something for a few extra calories.

To the rest of you who're doing P90X post-diet, how did you cope with the change?

 

[mkarim]



Finished day three, thoughts thus far-

The exercises aren't as horribly difficult as I imagined initially, minus plyo. Plyo kicked ****** hard, even after taking 3 brief "pause breaks".
The dietary changes are the hardest part of this for me, personally. I've been eating no more than 1400 cals/day for the past three months, so upping the load to 2200 or so/day is kind of disgusting. Yes, I realize I'm still only landing at around ~1600/day with an intense workout included, but I feel as if I'm constantly binging in order to see evidence of my hard work. Limiting myself to a maximum 4 scoops of protein powder per day, but I think I might start mixing it with almond milk or something for a few extra calories.

To the rest of you who're doing P90X post-diet, how did you cope with the change?

I've actually liked the diet change. The diet plan is actually a lot easier than it looks, once you decide which level (Classic, etc) you want to be at.

 

[mkarim]



No, a scoop a day would not be too much. A scoop is like 20g of protein at most. If you want to build a ton of muscle, your not gonna do it via P90X

Yes it's to build some mucsle but it focuses more on toning.

 

[oaw01]

before

after 10 days

I'm 40 years old