i just need a good plan thats dynamic to what im doing

right now i lift with no real results because i dont really have myself a plan, its specific for whatever i THINK i need to work on.

im small as it is now, around 10% BF, id like to keep that if not make it smaller % but mainly I want to gain some noticable size/look in the muscles, chest, arms and core...so i assume some lean mass is what i am going for

I've tried some stuff lately that isnt really working for me...like the Abs diet and workout, no carbs to big arms, even a straight workout from a buddy thats a body builder.

just need something to look more toned and i know a lot is in the diet, which i do fine...except for the occasional beer binge, but other than that, im pretty strict.

9/9/2008 4:44:40 PM

As of now I go to the gym regularly, I'm just curious to see if this works and I can skip the whole driving to the gym and crap. After I reach my goal I'll probably change the plan to maintain, no need to continue with the hardcore p90x routine I would assume.

Its not like I'm wasting money or anything, no harm in checking it out. If anything at least I'll pick up a few different exercises and stuff that I like and can use to make my own workout plan.

9/9/2008 5:11:50 PM

^^Crossfit seriously...you cant get anymore dynamic

When I started I was pretty close to your situation (~8% BF, 6' 1" 175), occasional binge etc. Been doing it for a month and Im toning up like crazy. Muscle definition has gotten a lot better in just this first month than it did in lifting weights and running for over a year and a half.

and its free, just go to the website and see what you have to do for the day. Some days are relatively easy and others will make you wish you didnt start doing crossfit.


[Edited on September 9, 2008 at 8:33 PM. Reason : s]

9/9/2008 8:30:07 PM

one of the advantages of p90x is that you don't need a bunch of equipment, just some dumbells and a pull-up bar. Crossfit seems to use a lot of different equipment iirc.

9/9/2008 9:23:56 PM

^That is definately an advantage, but crossfit does have substitutions that usually involves a pullup bar or dumbells for just about all of the more specific exercises.

You could do everything you needed to do at Carmichael gym or your standard run of the mill gym. Wall ball shots would be the one thing that comes to mind that a gym probably wont let you do.


If i ever get bored of Crossfit (doubtful) or I wanna a change of scenery, I will definately try this P90X stuff to see how it compares.

[Edited on September 9, 2008 at 10:20 PM. Reason : asd]

9/9/2008 10:15:48 PM

I tried the ab ripper x workout in my class today... FAIL.

It certainly seems like something that would be good to do alone/with a partner/etc, but it didn't work out so well in a large group setting.

I tried.

9/9/2008 10:17:49 PM

i think i like this crossfit idea

provides some mix up every day and seems like i can do it pretty easily and it should add exactly what i need, hopefully

we shall see

thanks

9/10/2008 1:43:26 AM

If anything you can just pick certain days that you like to add in crossfit along with your normal workout, thats what my friend does who told me about crossfit.


Like todays workout is going to be rough, definately going to be hurting for a couple of days. When you go to the site, click on start here tab on the left and then brand X scaled workouts. They have different levels that you can do because the "as prescribed" shit is damn near impossible for me half the time

9/10/2008 12:08:02 PM

what is the "warmup" they talk about?

and i actually was thinkin todays wouldnt be so bad, but i could be wrong

9/10/2008 2:13:55 PM

Its a pretty basic warmup but it gets me loose enough to do what I have to do. I'll throw in some jump rope in there from time to time as well.

On the exercises page at the bottom of miscellaneous Demo's and videos there is gregs warm-up

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFit_GregAWarmup.wmv

another one that I havent watched yet is

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/cfj-nov-05/burgener-warm-up.wmv

at the top of olympic lifts

I thought that too but I think im going to scale it down to .75x my bodyweight. basically 135# ,PU, 135#

havent done this one yet so I'll proceed cautiously

9/10/2008 2:38:29 PM

good idea to proceed with caution...the bench wasnt too bad, worked out to a nice pyramid scheme...but once i got to the pullups, it wasnt like omg...and I hate squats because i thinkkk i have a mild hernia, but i pushed thru about 3.5 sets of them

overall, i think im gonna like this crossfit plan so thanks

may start a crossfit thread

9/10/2008 5:25:23 PM

I got my roomate to burn me a copy of ab ripper X and it hurt to move after the first time I tried it. I think you would have to be in pretty awesome shape to get through the whole thing with decent form. I can see that if you do it for a while your abs will truely be ripped..er..X.

9/10/2008 7:59:12 PM

im 5'11 130lbs and i was able to do most of the ab ripper workout. there was 1 move in particular that i could never do, so i skipped it, but i did 25 of most.

the key is just do as many as you can or pause the tape and take longer. if one exercise is bad, do 5, rest 5, do 5 rest 5. still a helluva workout.

[Edited on September 10, 2008 at 9:00 PM. Reason : if you have a gut, i bet you'd want to die though]

9/10/2008 8:59:55 PM

^^^Yea i started off fine but was dragging ass towards the 5th set

started out at 16/10/12 and finished with 8/6/6


Just about all the hero workouts look um "fun"

Ive done murph before scaled 50,100,150 and that last mile is brutal.

Havent decided which hero workout I will do. You?

9/11/2008 1:15:31 AM

think im going with Jason

need to get my legs back in shape and my chest is burnt out from yesterday

9/11/2008 8:45:56 PM

^I thought about that one but Im gonna wait till my rings come so I can do the muscle ups.

I wound up doing Michael
"Run 800 meters
50 Back Extensions
50 Sit-ups "

cause i played squash earlier in the day and I didnt think I could muster up enough energy to do some of the more spirited workouts. My legs and chest are toast right now.

Hopefully tomorrows wont be too bad

9/11/2008 10:08:26 PM

Do you do that multiple times or is that a one time workout?

9/11/2008 10:18:31 PM

3 rounds for time

Basically running to each station in the gym so that I dont lose too much time. People kinda look at you like

9/12/2008 12:03:16 AM

Ok, looks like you chose to go w/ crossfit. Good stuff. You may want to pair it w/ a strength based program like starting strength or Dan Johns' one lift a day.

For integrating starting strength (or other 3 day full body plan) you could do

M SS
T CF metcon
W SS
Th CF metcon
F SS

or

M CF metcon
T ss
W CF metcon
Th ss
F CF metcon

Or for the one lift a day

M Squat, CF Metcon
T Powerclean, CF metcon
W Bench, CF metcon
F Dead, CF metcon
S Press, CF metcon

9/12/2008 5:31:12 PM

I kind of get the idea P90 is catered more towards ppl who need to lose weight and gain muscle mass. Is it as effective on someone that already had pretty low body fat percentages (I'm around 5' 11" and 145-150lbs.. so pretty skinny..) and mainly needs to get in shape/gain mass? My biggest problem the last time I spent 9 months working my ass off was I just couldn't gain any weight.

9/12/2008 8:53:50 PM

if you read my comments in the thread, im in the same boat (5'11/130lbs).

the diet provided by p90x is not meant for mass gain and theres a decent bit of cardio involved. i tried making some tweaks but still found it difficult to gain mass. on the p90x, there are a few threads devoted to gaining mass, but that isnt its major goal.

still gets you in pretty good shape and you'll be cut, just not get much bigger.

[Edited on September 12, 2008 at 9:10 PM. Reason : note: i did the program for 3-4 weeks and i decided to quit for the time being]

[Edited on September 12, 2008 at 9:10 PM. Reason : mostly cuz i was actually losing weight despite eating constantly]

9/12/2008 9:09:31 PM

ah.. any better ideas? i guess i should talk to my brother.. he was smaller than me 3-4 years ago and now is benching well over 300 and weights 235lbs so whatever he did worked. i'm more after less mass and more cut than him though

9/12/2008 9:23:11 PM

Quote :

"I'm around 5' 11" and 145-150lbs.. so pretty skinny..) "

and your nervous about gaining too much mass..............


You aren't just going to wake up w/ muscle one day. I'd reccomend you picking up a copy of starting strength or new rules of lifting, read which one you buy and follow a plan in it. Consume excess calories.



[Edited on September 12, 2008 at 9:55 PM. Reason : http://www.johnberardi.com/ a good place to start reading on nutrition]

9/12/2008 9:50:28 PM

^^^^^Thats definately a good work out to incorporate more basic weight lifting into your workout.

^^^^I agree with Cyrion. If all you are trying to do is gain mass, then you want to lift heavy sets with shorter reps. Like 5 sets of 3 or even heavier 3 x 3. Higher reps are good for toning and muscle definition (Like 4 or 5 x 10).

^^If all you are trying to do is get cut, then from the sound of it, P90x may be optimal for you. Crossfit is more about total fitness than getting ripped like P90x. You may get ripped by doing crossfit but its main goal is elite fitness.

i wasnt really looking for more mass but have gained a good amount from doing crossfit. Ive also been getting a lot more cut/toned from it too. I was in decent shape then but Im in a lot better shape now because of crossfit. Ive only been doing it for 5 weeks too.

V that too. That kind of mass is more nutrition than working out constantly. You bulk up and then you cut down. A lot of people dont like it but for getting like that creatine can help a lot. Ive never used any supplements but Ive seen people who do and they got ridiculously big.




[Edited on September 12, 2008 at 10:56 PM. Reason : post below]

9/12/2008 10:46:42 PM

Quote :

"so whatever he did worked. i'm more after less mass and more cut than him though"

To get this, you need to gain a bunch of mass, and then cut down

it's really hard to gain a large amount of lean mass and not put on any weight

9/12/2008 10:50:05 PM

Quote :

" agree with Cyrion. If all you are trying to do is gain mass, then you want to lift heavy sets with shorter reps. Like 5 sets of 3 or even heavier 3 x 3. Higher reps are good for toning and muscle definition (Like 4 or 5 x 10). ^^If all you are trying to do is get cut, then from the sound of it, P90x may be optimal for you. Crossfit is more about total fitness than getting ripped like P90x. You may get ripped by doing crossfit but its main goal is elite fitness. i wasnt really looking for more mass but have gained a good amount from doing crossfit. Ive also been getting a lot more cut/toned from it too. I was in decent shape then but Im in a lot better shape now because of crossfit. Ive only been doing it for 5 weeks too. "

PLEASE STOP TRYING TO GIVE ADVICE.

[Edited on September 12, 2008 at 10:56 PM. Reason : ]

9/12/2008 10:55:37 PM

not really giving advice there bud



are you a professional trainer or something?

9/12/2008 10:58:33 PM

Quote :

"and your nervous about gaining too much mass.............."

i didn't say (or mean, rather) I was worried about gaining too much mass--but I also have seen friends turn into damn near fatasses for 6-9 months while when they were gaining "mass"..eventually it turned into some muscle but IMO it never really got to the cut-ness that they were wanting and the stretch marks, etc weren't worth it.

Quote :

"it's really hard to gain a large amount of lean mass and not put on any weight"

i know.. I'm not trying to not gain any weight--i NEED to gain weight--i look damn near anorexic sometimes even though I eat an absolute ton of shit everyday that is way more calories a day than most ppl my size do without gaining weight..it's just how everyone is my family is which is specifically why i brought my weight up.. it's not like i'm on a diet and that got me to the weight i'm at.. i eat 4-5 meals of stuffing my face with fat ass food everyday over the last 10 years and still don't gain any weight so i don't see gaining weight to be easy. that probably also has a lot to do with why i saw so little results when i decided to devote 9 months to working my ass of in the gym in college. unfortunately i just copied what my friends were doing and didn't work on gaining mass and i essentially saw almost 0 results (although I do have to admit I felt a lot better)

Quote :

"To get this, you need to gain a bunch of mass, and then cut down"

define a "bunch" of mass.. again, I don't want to look like him. 165-175lbs and being much more muscular is what i want.. maybe a little more since I didn't actually look up how big that really is.. but essentially i do not a 200+ lbs body weight

Quote :

"I'd reccomend you picking up a copy of starting strength or new rules of lifting, read which one you buy and follow a plan in it. Consume excess calories. "

missed this.. will do. i'm not trying to come in here sounding like an ass, i'm wanting advice of what books to read, forums to read, articles to read, etc, so i don't bother everyone with stupid questions. so, ideas like this are welcomed.

[Edited on September 12, 2008 at 11:30 PM. Reason : asdf]

9/12/2008 11:22:54 PM

^definately dont think you sound like an ass. You want to find something that works.

well barring arcgreek from yelling at me for giving more "advice"

From the pic you posted, I thought you wanted to get biiiiiiiiiiiiig (well to me that is biiiiiiiiiig), as in a bunch of mass.


Im sure you know this but diet is really important when you are trying to get in shape. Well that and not drinking a shit ton of alcohol.


You may want to go to a professional and see what they say considering your metabolism and body type. Otherwise, Im a fan of crossfit as stated above, a lot of people on the first page are fans of P90x, and then you have people like arcgreek, who like more traditional lifting exercises from what I can tell.

Try crossfit



[Edited on September 12, 2008 at 11:45 PM. Reason : a]

9/12/2008 11:44:06 PM

Quote :

"From the pic you posted, I thought you wanted to get biiiiiiiiiiiiig (well to me that is biiiiiiiiiig), as in a bunch of mass. "

haha, my point was my brother who has a similar metabolism did it so i should be able to get cut and less massive

Quote :

"You may want to go to a professional and see what they say considering your metabolism and body type"

what kind of professional?

Quote :

"Well that and not drinking a shit ton of alcohol."

fuck. ahahha

9/12/2008 11:47:37 PM

Quote :

"haha, my point was my brother who has a similar metabolism did it so i should be able to get cut and less massive "

gotcha

Quote :

"what kind of professional? "

Dont know if you are a member at a gym or not but they would have a fitness trainer that could maybe help you out. It may cost money though, and if you are like me then I would tell them to fuck off cause im cheap.

I worked out lifting a different muscle group each day for over a year and saw minimal gains because of drinking. I would work out 5 days a week and then drink like crazy on the weekend, basically breaking even or maybe just barely improving (physically) in that time. Amazing what alcohol can do to ya. heh

9/13/2008 12:00:23 AM

I'm interested in trying this out. Does anyone have any cds that they want to loan/sell? I don't feel like dealing with Ebay right now.

9/18/2008 1:57:55 AM

I've been wanting to gain mass for a looong time. I've been 6'1" ~165lbs since the age of 16. I thought I was skinny as hell, but wow - 5'11" and 130?? I have the p90x CDs, but have yet to actually try them (no dumbells). I might try out the abs one though to get more defined there.

9/18/2008 2:22:03 AM

Quote :

"well barring arcgreek from yelling at me for giving more "advice""

If you stopped talking about getting "toned" he probably wouldn't.

9/18/2008 8:01:02 AM

p90X is the most vigorous routine that I have been put through. I am on my second cycle and went from 275 to 240, a size 40 to about a 36 inch waste, and a decent drop in body weight. I am 6'4 and have always been athletic, I just needed something to push me along and this program did it for me. Usually the people who hate on it either A) Never tried it B) Did it for a week and said it sucked bc it was too hard so went back to the gym to have casual conversations and throw a bar up a couple times a week C) Really have no clue what they are talking about. I didnt follow a diet at all, and I feel if I did, I would have gotten more results but college food is too good to pass up

9/18/2008 8:28:20 AM

I'll admit the AbRipperX kicks my ass everytime definitely one of the areas that needs work, some of those moves for me were damn near about physically impossible

Also I am 6'3 200 lbs and people generally call my skinny, took a while to take off the 15 lbs from last summers excess amount of drinking when I had ex marine roommates lol

[Edited on September 18, 2008 at 8:30 AM. Reason : .]

9/18/2008 8:29:03 AM

bump

1/27/2009 1:41:51 PM

Quote :

"I've been wanting to gain mass for a looong time. I've been 6'1" ~165lbs since the age of 16. I thought I was skinny as hell, but wow - 5'11" and 130?? I have the p90x CDs, but have yet to actually try them (no dumbells). I might try out the abs one though to get more defined there."

This sounds like me. I've been around 165lbs for the past ___ years, and been trying to put on weight. I do all the big lifting programs, and try to eat enough calories, but here I sit, still 6'0 and still 165 lbs. It's tough when all you do is eat and lift big, and don't see any real results.

The P90x in my opinion is much more of a cutting program than a gaining program. The method I've always heard (and I need to follow more closely) is to keep training hard, and add 500 calories per day to your diet for about 2 weeks. If you don't see any improvement, add another 500, and so on.

It was mentioned earlier that people were eating and basically looked like fatasses without gaining muscle. That's just trying to gain dirty weight, and it sounds like they weren't busting their ass in the gym. Doing 3 sets of 40 reps on a curl machine isn't going to do it. Doing 5x5 reps of 1.5x bodyweight on squats will definitely put some muscle on you if you are eating enough.

1/27/2009 3:13:21 PM

i just started this on saturday and i can already tell a bit of a difference from not working out at all to not feeling tired so early at night. I have a bit more energy and im sleeping better when i do get to bed.

im only doing the lean program and im not going by the diet only because of my circumstances which dont really allow me to eat THAT healthy, im on the road everyday so fast food is 99% of my meals but working out and fast food is better than not working out at all.

1/27/2009 3:29:37 PM

another vote for crossfit.

I like working out with the group. the competitive part in me makes me go harder.

1/27/2009 4:03:56 PM

i dont know much about p90x

but both crossfit and p90x operate on similar philosophy of the elimnation of stagnation and plateauing


tha being said, based on the commercials it seems that p90x seems heavily sculpting/weight loss oriented while crossfit is more of a functional athletic training regiment (even though the potential for weight loss/gain is a given)

im glad there is now a trend towards more dynamic workouts and less of the bowflex style of fitness products...now we are seeing the promotion of an entire system and philosophy of conditioning rather than being sold a machine or an ab roller

^i think that p90x would eb just as effective in a group, its just not promoted that way.


but i definitely agree, group competitiveness and support are big bonuses

[Edited on January 27, 2009 at 4:06 PM. Reason : e]

1/27/2009 4:05:07 PM

I started my program seriously on the 5th of January so I am on week 4 now, I am extending the program to 120 days mainly because I definitely feel I have a bit more to gain from the first rotation and pullups still kick my ass. Ive been trying to stick to the basic idea of the diet as best I can eating mainly protein with a small amount of carbs each day. I didnt have a lot of extra fat weight to lose but I can definitely tell im a bit smaller around my midsection. Ill be sure to give my full evaluation once I complete the program for the first time.

1/27/2009 9:23:50 PM

I started P90 yesterday. It definitely feels like a solid workout for such a short amount of time (30-40 minutes.) The workout band that it comes with is somewhat of a pain to use, so I'm going to use my dumbbells tomorrow. I wanted to start on a Monday, but since I've let myself go recently I was in a hurry to get started. I looked over the fitness test they provide for P90X, and while I could pass it I figured I'd be better off starting off with P90.

1/28/2009 11:05:52 AM

To be honest there were parts of the fitness test I could not pass at first. I took a few weeks of doing a couple routines a week to ease into it and then just hit it as hard as I could. While I cant do nearly the amount of reps those guys on the program can I also realize they have already been through the program at least once. P90X definitely isnt for the faint of heart its at minimum an hour each day with an extra 15 minute ab ripper added on every other day so most days it takes me at least an hour and a half to get through start to finish. Ive just tried to go hard each day and every week I have seen improvements in the reps and amount of time I am able to keep each thing up. There have definitely been times though where I seriously just gave out and had to lay on the floor for a good 5-10 minutes before I could really pick it up again. I like the fact for most exercises they give you examples of how to do it if you are a beginner, the normal way, and ways to intensify each one if you are finding the normal way too easy. I used the resistance bands the first 2 weeks and then I got myself a weight set and definitely could feel the difference once I went to weights. I could roll through the shoulder and arm routines with the bands but I threw on weights last week and I could definitely feel the burn the next day or two after.

1/28/2009 3:46:24 PM

^what kind of set did you buy? where'd you buy it? how much was it?

Is there a consensus on the Iron Gym pull-up bar for use with P90X?

1/28/2009 6:56:06 PM

im on the road so i had to get one of those ones you just jam in a doorway for hotel rooms

1/28/2009 10:04:58 PM

This is the iron gym my roommates and i are using for p90x

http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=301561&navAction=jump&navCount=0&nug=VPD&skuid=sku4252735&id=prod4253865

We've been using it for the past month and it has worked out pretty good.

1/29/2009 8:19:25 AM

I just got the bar they sell on the p90x site and it was worked fine for me. Also I picked up the powerblock sport 5.0 set, I dont have tons of room so a set like this was perfect for me. It ran me about 300 bucks.

1/29/2009 8:21:11 AM

Quote :

"Is there a consensus on the Iron Gym pull-up bar for use with P90X?"

It works fine, I was going pretty well for a few weeks but school is starting to kick my ass right now and I can't maintain the time commitment, it's kinda frustrating, hoping to pick back up soon

but if you can fit it in your schedule and seriously commit it's a really solid program

1/29/2009 10:07:17 AM

ive lost 16 pounds on crossfit in 3 months...down to about 215 or so. i feel like i am in the best shape of my life short of midseason in football.

big fan

1/29/2009 9:26:58 PM