P90X+marathon training simultaneously too much?

[DisgruntledVirus]

So, while marathon training is going well I was asked to join a volleyball team for a thing in July. It's a mud volleyball tournament in Cleveland, OH done for charity, and figure it's a good time to work on my goal of getting a more toned upper body.

I have access to P90X, but don't want to screw up training for marathons because of it. So does it make sense to do P90X doing upper body stuff (chest, arms, shoulders, abs, etc) on the rest days for marathon training, OR is there something that would provide better returns on the time invested?

 

[darkxshade]

Just my observation but this is what I've noticed about P90X for me personally. I've heard a lot of success stories and I'm convinced it works but surprisingly, I have yet to see any on a personal level and I know of about half a dozen people doing the protocol BUT and this is a big but... BUT none of them are following it faithfully 100%. ALL of them are doing just the parts they like expecting the results that would require the full adherence to the program. They say stuff like "I'm just doing just the abs portion because I wanna get a six pack". 90 days later, the routine has become a staple taking up a chunk of their time in the gym and while they might have gotten some results, it is a far cry from what their goal is and quite honestly, they could have done a lot better had they not heard about P90X at all.

The point I'm trying to make is that P90X is somewhat of an autopilot program for those who knows what they want but have absolutely no idea how to get there. Which is why IMO it actually might be detrimental to those who otherwise already have a solid foundation on diet and fitness. It's for this reason that I don't do P90X and not to toot my own horn but I have achieved way better results than the other 6 who are but admittedly I've taken more than 90 days myself but I'm more about long term consistency than the "get x in y days" gimmick.

 

[YoungGun21]

I would say it is ok to do it, but everything I have read states that you should stop heavy lifting and similar stress exercises 1.5-2 months before your race. Obviously, the body is very fragile at the peak of your marathon training, and you wouldn't want to overtrain. If it is early, I would just do as much of it as you feel comfortable with. I know that I quit lifting 3 months before my race because my legs and back couldn't handle the mileage and the lifting at that point.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

It's too much for the average person. If you're superhuman with recovery and maintain your body well, it might be doable, but you're really walking the line here. You could very easily walk into overtraining unnecessarily. If your goal is to run the marathon, run the marathon. It would behoove you to pick one for now.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

It's too much for the average person. If you're superhuman with recovery and maintain your body well, it might be doable, but you're really walking the line here. You could very easily walk into overtraining unnecessarily. If your goal is to run the marathon, run the marathon. It would behoove you to pick one for now.

My goal is to drop body fat % and get leaner and more tone. I want more overall definition to my upper body (namely abs) which I haven't seen solely from running and dropping body fat %. I also have the goal of running the marathon. These two goals are about equivalent in importance, with the marathon holding the slight preference.

So while I want to do both, I realize that it might be unrealistic and detrimental. I don't want to try and do both which pushes me too hard and into injury zone. I would like to do both simultaneously though if possible. If not, what can I do (while still running) to help get more abs and body definition back in my upper body? Or is it something that I shouldn't think about until after marathon stuff?

 

[SociallyChallenged]

My goal is to drop body fat % and get leaner and more tone. I want more overall definition to my upper body (namely abs) which I haven't seen solely from running and dropping body fat %. I also have the goal of running the marathon. These two goals are about equivalent in importance, with the marathon holding the slight preference.

So while I want to do both, I realize that it might be unrealistic and detrimental. I don't want to try and do both which pushes me too hard and into injury zone. I would like to do both simultaneously though if possible. If not, what can I do (while still running) to help get more abs and body definition back in my upper body? Or is it something that I shouldn't think about until after marathon stuff?

More definition is a function of decreasing body fat and increasing muscle mass. Sure, you're decreasing body fat right now, but you're not increasing muscle mass at all. That's definitely something you should approach after marathon training.