For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

[DC]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

If you know you are going to eat horribly, do you do anything to prepare for it? DO you eat any foods that will help you out with the digestive processes? What about AFTER? If you know that you just ate 5 slices of pizza, what do you eat the following day to try and get rid of it?

[stiffarmleft]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Anyone have any tips on how to do more pull up/chin up reps. I just started p90x and day 1 doing the pull ups was pathetic.

I'm on phase 2 and can now do 6 pull ups, initially I could only do 3, it will come as you lose weight and get stronger. I supplement my pull ups or lack of with bent over dumbell rows, it generally works the same area, I will keep doing this until I can do at least 15 pull ups, which should come soon, hopefully.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Did you use a chair as they showed in the vids?

Yeah, stick a chair in front of you so you can reach it with the toe of one of your feet to take off a little bit of the weight from your arms and back.

Try to do as many as you can without the chair and the add the chair until you are fatigued.

[ehh]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

If you know you are going to eat horribly, do you do anything to prepare for it? DO you eat any foods that will help you out with the digestive processes? What about AFTER? If you know that you just ate 5 slices of pizza, what do you eat the following day to try and get rid of it?

LOL, Sean come out with a new vid?

[Kruza]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

I thought this would be an interesting article to share with those of you trying to get in or stay in shape. There are some simple yet cool tests included within this feature from Outside magazine. Check it out:

Fitness Test

Kruza

[Trevytrev11]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Just finished up week 7 of P90X last week and now am moving onto my second recovery week. After the recovery week, only 4 more weeks of workouts, followed by a final recovery week.

So far I am pleased. I've lost about 12 pounds (175-ish to 163-ish) My chest is much more developed and pronounced, my stomach is much flatter and I can definitely see the makings of a 6-pack coming. I notice that my shoulders, bi's and tri's are all bigger and my back is more defined. My pants are almost all too big and shirts that used to look a little too small, now fit nicely. I used to wear 34's and this weekend I tried on a pair of 32's that were actually a little big.

In the first weeks, I could barely get through the workouts, now I power through them. When I started I could do only a few pullups and chinups, now I can do several, though I would still like to be able to do more.

My max pushups has also gone up. I was getting tired on 15-20 at the beginning and now can do many more. I'll get a better picture next week when I go back and repeat the workouts from Week 1.

For almost every excercise that involves more than just a light weight, I have gone up in weight by 5 or 10 pounds.

The first few times I did ab-ripper, I took a break on every excercise and it litterally hurt when I coughed or laughted for the next few days. Now I do every rep including the bonuses and get my hands off the ground when their guys do.

And the yoga pays off as far as flexibilty goes. When I started I could sit down and barely reach my toes with my fingers. Now, I can pretty much reach out and wrap my hands and cross my fingers around them. I still struggle with some of the balance stuff, but I can hold them much longer now than I could when I started.

Some days are definitely tougher than others and it can be difficult to motivate yourself every single day, but I think it has definitely been worth it. I felt tht I hit a bit of a lull last week being stuck in the middle with a ways to go, but after finishing up phase 2 and now being able to see an end in site, I feel that I have caught a bit of a second win and am excited to hit these last weeks harder than the first ones.

[ehh]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

I'm technically 7 weeks in as well, though I repeated Wk 1-3 workouts after Week 4 was off.

My arms are just too damn long to do one-handed push ups, the chest workout in the 2nd phase was too much for me. I'm not sure what I'm going to do in two weeks, I guess try Phase 2 again and see what happens.

Love the results so far, I've been perfect with my diet during the week, weekends is so/so but it hasn't curtailed my progress. I've doubled up on some days with basketball and always play on Saturdays instead of the Stretch X. The progress in the Ab Ripper is remarkable. I have spondylosisthesis and chronic back problems so the in/outs and bicycles are problematic but besides that it was a bitch to get through it the first week. Now I can plow through it and it feels great.

[Brankles]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

I'm technically 7 weeks in as well, though I repeated Wk 1-3 workouts after Week 4 was off.

My arms are just too damn long to do one-handed push ups, the chest workout in the 2nd phase was too much for me. I'm not sure what I'm going to do in two weeks, I guess try Phase 2 again and see what happens.

Love the results so far, I've been perfect with my diet during the week, weekends is so/so but it hasn't curtailed my progress. I've doubled up on some days with basketball and always play on Saturdays instead of the Stretch X. The progress in the Ab Ripper is remarkable. I have spondylosisthesis and chronic back problems so the in/outs and bicycles are problematic but besides that it was a bitch to get through it the first week. Now I can plow through it and it feels great.

I think you and I had the same back injury (I've got spondylolisthesis and injured my L5-S1 disc about 4 or 5 years ago) . I was looking into doing this, but wasn't sure if it was good for the back. I might give it a go now.

How long does each day of exercises usually take and what kind of equipment do you need to have available?

[ehh]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

I think you and I had the same back injury (I've got spondylolisthesis and injured my L5-S1 disc about 4 or 5 years ago) . I was looking into doing this, but wasn't sure if it was good for the back. I might give it a go now.

How long does each day of exercises usually take and what kind of equipment do you need to have available?

There are obviously varying degrees of spondy so I'm not sure how bad you have it but you should be able to get through P90X. Mine flared up horribly during my college basketball career because my coach forced me to play through it but outside of that if I take care of my back I can get through most athletic things with some back pain but nothing horrible.

The best part of P90X is the core strengthening that it provides which is very helpful for spondy. I have L4/L5 problems and this helps a lot, mainly because of yoga (if you've never tried yoga for real I highly recommend it for your back, even if you don't try P90X) the Ab Ripper and the plyo/agility stuff.

There are a few exercises here and there that I skip because of my back (these things called Cohen Curls where you are basically in a full squat doing bicep curls between your legs - no thanks lol) so if you're smart and know your limits you will benefit from P90X and your back will be spared or improve.

Each workout takes an hour to an hour and a half to complete. But this also includes an 8-10 minute warm up, a 2-4 minute cool down and the Ab Ripper if it's a day you're lifting as opposed to doing yoga/stretching/plyo, etc. So the actually "lifting" part probably takes 45 minutes plus after you get familiar with the routines/exercises and don't need the vids you can reduce your rest between exercises and speed up the workout.

For equipment you need...

- Yoga mat
- Pull up bar or resistance bands (I use the bands)
- Dumbbells (you could use resistance bands here too but it won't help much IMO)
- Chair

Look on craigslist for used dumbbells if you don't own any. You probably need 15-50lb DB's depending on your strength. It's high rep, lower weight, low rest workouts so you don't need to be benching 250 or anything along those lines.

[ODogg]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Hey guys, I just thought i'd post a picture I took today and one from 2 months ago to show my progress. I was 271 in May (pic on left) and i'm 257 today (the pic on right was taken today)

[Alex the Great]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Okay, so I really just read the first 10 pages and the the last 3 or so, but I'm basically going to put out a few things that I know/have read about working out, and possibly give some suggestions. I'm only 15, but I think I know a good amount about working out.

1. Look up the Tabata method. You can apply it to any exercise (though some will be more difficult than others). What it consists of is interval training of 20 seconds of maximum intensity, then 10 seconds of rest, and repeat nonstop for 8 reps. It sounds easy, but it is incredibly difficult. I suggest using this method on an exercise bike, or doing body squats. Studies have shown that it pushes your metabolism into high-gear for roughly 24 hours, so if you do it once per day, you can lose fat pretty quickly (I do it twice a day, but that's just me). It's all over the internet if you want more information.

2. Carbohydrates really aren't even needed in your diet. You could survive just fine getting 0 mg of carbs every day. Just think about it, back during the cavemen days, they never ate carbs (no bread, processed foods, etc.) except for maybe the sugars that came out of some fruits. Were there any overweight cavemen? I don't think so. But if you insist on eating carbs, I would suggest eating somewhere between 80-100 grams per day. I've seen a few studies that say if you eat ~80 grams per day, then it becomes pretty easy to lose weight.

3. Treadmills (and long distance running) are overrated (in the case of trying to lose weight/burn calories). For one thing, the constant jogging for a long period of time puts a lot of stress on your knees. Another, you really don't burn that many calories just walking or jogging. If you really want to burn calories/lose weight, then you should run sprints. You will burn the same amount of calories in less amount of time, and while some people may say that they couldn't do many sprints, it's okay, because you should be dead tired after running them, that means you've burned a lot of calories.

I probably have a few more things to offer, but I just can't think of some right now.

[larrygiterdone]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Okay, so I really just read the first 10 pages and the the last 3 or so, but I'm basically going to put out a few things that I know/have read about working out, and possibly give some suggestions. I'm only 15, but I think I know a good amount about working out.

1. Look up the Tabata method. You can apply it to any exercise (though some will be more difficult than others). What it consists of is interval training of 20 seconds of maximum intensity, then 10 seconds of rest, and repeat nonstop for 8 reps. It sounds easy, but it is incredibly difficult. I suggest using this method on an exercise bike, or doing body squats. Studies have shown that it pushes your metabolism into high-gear for roughly 24 hours, so if you do it once per day, you can lose fat pretty quickly (I do it twice a day, but that's just me). It's all over the internet if you want more information.

2. Carbohydrates really aren't even needed in your diet. You could survive just fine getting 0 mg of carbs every day. Just think about it, back during the cavemen days, they never ate carbs (no bread, processed foods, etc.) except for maybe the sugars that came out of some fruits. Were there any overweight cavemen? I don't think so. But if you insist on eating carbs, I would suggest eating somewhere between 80-100 grams per day. I've seen a few studies that say if you eat ~80 grams per day, then it becomes pretty easy to lose weight.

3. Treadmills (and long distance running) are overrated (in the case of trying to lose weight/burn calories). For one thing, the constant jogging for a long period of time puts a lot of stress on your knees. Another, you really don't burn that many calories just walking or jogging. If you really want to burn calories/lose weight, then you should run sprints. You will burn the same amount of calories in less amount of time, and while some people may say that they couldn't do many sprints, it's okay, because you should be dead tired after running them, that means you've burned a lot of calories.

I probably have a few more things to offer, but I just can't think of some right now.

agree with all 3 points, good stuff here people

[DC]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

But do we really know if there were any overweight cavemen

[DC]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

Jose Reyes Ab Routine

<object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h_chz8kz9HQ&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h_chz8kz9HQ&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object>

[ehh]

Re: For all you guys wanting to gain muscle, size, etc.

The Tabata method is up on my to-do list after P90X. It's basically HIIT applied to lifting, which is why I always avoided it because of my knees and back. However, the core work in P90X has my back feeling great so I'm going to finally try the Tabata method.

What is a full workout though for a week? Just squats and thrusters three days a week? Like with any workout there is no way you should do this every day.