P90Xperimenting, Bring It!

During this past weekend (was actually my family and I's thanksgiving because of work scheduling issues) I did a little bit of thinking about how the P90X program is setup, both the classic and doubles version.  I recognized the program only works one muscle group on the body more than once a week (except for abs), in all three phases.
 E.G.

• Phase 1 (All of list is going to be Classic)

Monday - Chest and Back + Ab Ripper X
Tuesday - Plyometrics
Wednesday - Shoulders and Arms + Ab Ripper X
Thursday - Yoga X
Friday - Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X
Saturday - Kenpo X
Sunday - Rest or Stretch X

Phase 2 is fairly similar where Mondays and Wednesdays get swapped out for a video that covers similar muscle groups as the previous DVDs, and Phase II has a back section on MWF.  That being said I decided it would be absolutely fine if I changed the phase 1 non-recovery weeks (listed above) to have Mondays and Wednesdays combined together, for a 2 hour total upper-body workout, on BOTH Monday and Wednesday.

When increasing your workload this much there are a few things you have to watch out for.

1. Protein intake - With all the resistance training and muscle breakdown, you absolutely need to be taking in a lot of protein throughout the day, but NOT all at once, as your body can only utilize so much of it at a time through the digestion process.  Try to have 4-6 high protein meals a day to help repair the muscle tissue.
2. Calorie intake - You're working out for 2 hours a day, and muscle building burns a lot of calories, you'll need to up your calorie intake in order to sustain energy throughout the day.
3. Rest - The absolutely most important part of any fitness program is to get 8 hours of rest a night.  Your body does most of its tissue repair when your body is at rest, and goes into overdrive when you sleep. More sleep = less soreness and quicker gains with less recovery time needed.
4. The final thing you need to watch for is over-training.  Over-training can lead to injury, and often times you'll notice lack of improvement in your program because your body hasn't had time to repair between workouts.  Other side effects of over-training can be your body breaking down and you start to feel sick, get congested and have cold-like symptoms.  If it gets that bad, your body is telling you to take it easy and get more rest.

I'm personally going to need to keep a close eye on over-training because there is a lot of muscle breakdown on my new setup.  I'll also be moving Ab Ripper X forward one day, so I do it on days w/ Plyo, Yoga, and Kenpo.

If anyone is looking for a workout schedule that doesn't  take a lot of time out of the day, or general tips on how to improve their results, or just general time management get in contact with me.
Everyone has time to get fit, but not everyone can get past their excuses on why they wont make the time available.

Plyo time!

P90X Round 2 Week 3 (Phase 1)

To begin this blog, I'll do a quick overview of my current progress with Tony Horton's fitness program P90X and some information about the programs expectations and benefits you can claim from it.

Earlier this year, in July I believe, I started the first round of P90X after deciding I felt I wanted to be fit.  I was introduced to the program through my sister and being the awesome sister she is, gave me a discounted rate on the program.  I decided I was going to stick with it, since her husband had already started, and I'm a fairly competitive person that likes to one-up others in physical/realistic challenges.

I had a rough time keeping on track with the program, but I did my best, added an extra week to each phase, and finally hit the final recovery week of Phase 3 (I think my total days on the first round was around 115 or so).  My final results were a drop from a 38 waist pant to a 34, and my weight dropped from 235 lbs to 195 lbs.  I could see the changes and so could everyone around me.

A basic overview of what this program expects, and does for you:


Things it does for you:

• You can get stronger, faster, healthier, and generally more physically fit.
• Increase your energy throughout the day
• Self confidence boost
• Stress relief

Things it asks from you:

• Follow the planned out schedule as best as possible
• Don't overwork yourself, do as much as you can, and move onto the next move
• Eat healthy, there is a guide to give you an idea of what changes you need to make to do this.
• Drink lots of water, and get plenty of rest (At least 8 hours, it'll help with soreness and energy alike)
• Bring all your energy and focus to the workout, this is NOT a get fit quick scheme, you need to work and power through the moves with good form and give your best.  I can guarantee you will see results if you do.

Tomorrow I'll try to remember to put down some thoughts/ideas on my future workouts for the rest of the program.