hypo
Board Supporter
Hi guys, I used to be very active on this site and learned a ton about nutrition and workout technique, but lately I've been slacking a bit. I'm still in fair shape, though not as big as I once was. I'm in senior year of a mechanical engineering degree and work as well, so time is not available like it once was!
Nevertheless, my neighborhood has a basic gym with up to 100lb dumbbells, a rarity for apartment gyms, so that has helped me to not lose everything. Unfortunately, they don't have a squat rack, just a bar, so I can only do deads, not squats. I've reached plateaus in most body parts, mostly just because of non-dedication to the routines, lack of writing down my sets, and lack of proper (ie, enough) diet.
Anyway, I thought I'd try P90X for a change of pace and because I want to gain some athleticism, which I currently do not have much of, unfortunately. I tried running but it is so boring! Plus my knees started to ache about two weeks into it, and since I already have a bad back I am not willing to sacrifice another body part. Another weakness for me is my inflexibility, which I think contributes to my back problems. My goal from this program is to retain, and hopefully add, muscle, and cut fat.
I started my second week today, so thought I'd start a log here. Hopefully people can learn from my experiences.
Changes to the Program
Having been through the first week, I have decided to change the routine up a tad. There are six workouts per week, three of which are weight training days. The other three are cardio or yoga based workouts. On the weight days I am going to substitute some of their weaker movements, or add some of my own that I believe the program lacks. For example, today was chest and back day; mostly just a bunch of pushups and pullups. They also have some back thickness movements, but my dumbbells at home only go up to 65lbs or so per dumbbell. Since I usually DB row 90-100lbs, I have decided that on this day, in the morning, I am going to go to the neighborhood gym and do 3 sets of high weight, low rep DB rows, and also 3 sets of high weight, low rep DB incline presses. Then in the P90x workout I will skip about half of the rowing movements (there are 6 sets total). My hope is that this will allow me to keep my strength and size throughout the program.
I am only in phase one, but here is what I plan to add:
Chest/back: add 3 sets of DB rows, 3 sets of incline DB
Shoulders/arms: add 4 sets of BB shrugs (there are no shrug movements in P90x, plenty of presses though)
Legs/Back: add 2-3 sets of heavy deads or squats (when I can get to the university gym). Hopefully I can alternate.
I think adding these weighted movements will help hit the areas neglected by P90x, and hopefully add some strength to the endurance I will be building. As I move into phases two and three I will update what I will be adding/changing.
Diet
Before now, I have NEVER counted calories. This has undoubtedly been my biggest weakness. Luckily, I always eat pretty healthy, sticking to low GI carbs and lean proteins. Unfortunately, I've never paid much attention to fats or to including fruits and vegetables into my diet. Also, I tend to cheat several times per week.
For this program though I am sticking to a totally strict diet. I am using fitday to track calories and macro breakdowns, and adding healthy fats like nuts and flax to the diet. I am currently trying 3200 calories per day, but think I might drop to 3000 soon. I think this will make a big difference. I won't bore you all with daily food intake, but will update weekly with macro breakdowns and calorie averages for the week.
My main proteins are chicken and turkey breasts, with the occasional red meat in the form of a stew or steak. Main carbs are low/mid GIs like brown rice, oatmeal cereal, and cream of wheat, though I will be having a fruit smoothie (that I make at home) daily, or sometimes twice daily. Also, apple juice will generally be consumed (only .5 cup) after the workouts. Fats will be mostly from nuts and olive oil.
Equipment
I've purchased the following equipment:
-Adjustable dumbbells (the kind where you add the weight plate then screw on the collar, the old school kind). I have 120lbs total weight for these in 10s, 5s, and 2.5s, though can only have about 55x2 or 75 on one dumbbell due to size constraints and plate constraints. This is why I am adding the gym exercises.
-Terrell Owens Bodylastics elastic bands (don't laugh!). These are actually very high quality (read the reviews on amazon), and the thickest bands are no joke. I bought them mainly to add resistance to the dumbbells when I max out, though I think using the gym's dumbbells is going to supersede this idea. Probably a waste of money at this point. One idea I had for them was to put a band behind the back to add resistance to pushups. We'll see how these play out.
-Foam mat for yoga, plyo, and ab days.
-Pushup handles, which I'll be using on all pushup exercises.
Goals
It's always a good idea to have clearly defined goals. Mine are to retain all my muscle mass and drop from my current body fat of about 14% to around 8-9%. An added bonus would be adding muscle mass and/or strength at the gym when I'm done. The health benefits from the diet and cardio are of course beneficial, as well.
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Nevertheless, my neighborhood has a basic gym with up to 100lb dumbbells, a rarity for apartment gyms, so that has helped me to not lose everything. Unfortunately, they don't have a squat rack, just a bar, so I can only do deads, not squats. I've reached plateaus in most body parts, mostly just because of non-dedication to the routines, lack of writing down my sets, and lack of proper (ie, enough) diet.
Anyway, I thought I'd try P90X for a change of pace and because I want to gain some athleticism, which I currently do not have much of, unfortunately. I tried running but it is so boring! Plus my knees started to ache about two weeks into it, and since I already have a bad back I am not willing to sacrifice another body part. Another weakness for me is my inflexibility, which I think contributes to my back problems. My goal from this program is to retain, and hopefully add, muscle, and cut fat.
I started my second week today, so thought I'd start a log here. Hopefully people can learn from my experiences.
Changes to the Program
Having been through the first week, I have decided to change the routine up a tad. There are six workouts per week, three of which are weight training days. The other three are cardio or yoga based workouts. On the weight days I am going to substitute some of their weaker movements, or add some of my own that I believe the program lacks. For example, today was chest and back day; mostly just a bunch of pushups and pullups. They also have some back thickness movements, but my dumbbells at home only go up to 65lbs or so per dumbbell. Since I usually DB row 90-100lbs, I have decided that on this day, in the morning, I am going to go to the neighborhood gym and do 3 sets of high weight, low rep DB rows, and also 3 sets of high weight, low rep DB incline presses. Then in the P90x workout I will skip about half of the rowing movements (there are 6 sets total). My hope is that this will allow me to keep my strength and size throughout the program.
I am only in phase one, but here is what I plan to add:
Chest/back: add 3 sets of DB rows, 3 sets of incline DB
Shoulders/arms: add 4 sets of BB shrugs (there are no shrug movements in P90x, plenty of presses though)
Legs/Back: add 2-3 sets of heavy deads or squats (when I can get to the university gym). Hopefully I can alternate.
I think adding these weighted movements will help hit the areas neglected by P90x, and hopefully add some strength to the endurance I will be building. As I move into phases two and three I will update what I will be adding/changing.
Diet
Before now, I have NEVER counted calories. This has undoubtedly been my biggest weakness. Luckily, I always eat pretty healthy, sticking to low GI carbs and lean proteins. Unfortunately, I've never paid much attention to fats or to including fruits and vegetables into my diet. Also, I tend to cheat several times per week.
For this program though I am sticking to a totally strict diet. I am using fitday to track calories and macro breakdowns, and adding healthy fats like nuts and flax to the diet. I am currently trying 3200 calories per day, but think I might drop to 3000 soon. I think this will make a big difference. I won't bore you all with daily food intake, but will update weekly with macro breakdowns and calorie averages for the week.
My main proteins are chicken and turkey breasts, with the occasional red meat in the form of a stew or steak. Main carbs are low/mid GIs like brown rice, oatmeal cereal, and cream of wheat, though I will be having a fruit smoothie (that I make at home) daily, or sometimes twice daily. Also, apple juice will generally be consumed (only .5 cup) after the workouts. Fats will be mostly from nuts and olive oil.
Equipment
I've purchased the following equipment:
-Adjustable dumbbells (the kind where you add the weight plate then screw on the collar, the old school kind). I have 120lbs total weight for these in 10s, 5s, and 2.5s, though can only have about 55x2 or 75 on one dumbbell due to size constraints and plate constraints. This is why I am adding the gym exercises.
-Terrell Owens Bodylastics elastic bands (don't laugh!). These are actually very high quality (read the reviews on amazon), and the thickest bands are no joke. I bought them mainly to add resistance to the dumbbells when I max out, though I think using the gym's dumbbells is going to supersede this idea. Probably a waste of money at this point. One idea I had for them was to put a band behind the back to add resistance to pushups. We'll see how these play out.
-Foam mat for yoga, plyo, and ab days.
-Pushup handles, which I'll be using on all pushup exercises.
Goals
It's always a good idea to have clearly defined goals. Mine are to retain all my muscle mass and drop from my current body fat of about 14% to around 8-9%. An added bonus would be adding muscle mass and/or strength at the gym when I'm done. The health benefits from the diet and cardio are of course beneficial, as well.
Pics edited out
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