P90x Results

[datalink7]

90 days ago I started P90x.

I was in decent shape, but I was eating terribly and not working out as much as I used to. I was gaining weight and wanted to reverse that trend before it became hard to do so. I still ran, but not as much as I should. I still worked out upper body, but not as much as I should. And I ate like crap.

Starting body weight: 196 lbs.
Starting Body fat: 23%

I'm 5' 9"

I followed the workout 100%. I followed the diet only 50%. Part of that is because I didn't always have time to cook the meals in the book. Part of it is because I do love to eat good food . But even though I only followed 50%, I still tried to eat better with the other 50%. I used to drink 2+ Coke's a day. Stopped that entirely. Stopped fast food for the most part. Stopped my weekly Friday Night Pizza.

Results.

Final Body Weight: 182 lbs.
Final Body fat: 19%

Not super dramatic, but certainly a nice improvement. I want to get down to 16% so I'm going to continue with the program and start it over again. Now that it has thawed out from the winter I also started running again about three weeks ago, so that should help. And I lift weights with my dad two nights a week. Want to get down to at least 16% body fat.

For those in the Army, my APFT was 282 right before I started. I have another test in 1 1/2 months. Looking to get a 300.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Nice job!

 

[Powermoloch]

great job, keep it up!

 

[eits]

i've been doing p90x for a week and doing a modified paleo diet (i've been doing the diet for about a month now). i think i lost roughly 8 lbs this week and put on some muscle.

 

[blackdogdeek]

good job, op.

keep up the good work!

 

[Phobic9]

Nice job! I like it when people decide to be healthier. Noticing positive results doesn't hurt either.

 

[purbeast0]

i've been doing p90x for a week and doing a modified paleo diet (i've been doing the diet for about a month now). i think i lost roughly 8 lbs this week and put on some muscle.

if you really lost 8lbs in 1 week AND gained muscle ... that means you had an even larger total loss of weight.

so for example you lost 10lbs then gained 2lbs of muscle.

and that rate is extremely unhealthy.

and i highly doubt your numbers are accurate ... unless you are extremely obese (like those people on that show HEAVY). but if they are accurate, and you aren't obese like those people, then yea, your weight loss is extremely unhealthy.

GJ OP ... should have taken some before/after pics.

 

[yh125d]

if you really lost 8lbs in 1 week AND gained muscle ... that means you had an even larger total loss of weight.

so for example you lost 10lbs then gained 2lbs of muscle.

and that rate is extremely unhealthy.

and i highly doubt your numbers are accurate ... unless you are extremely obese (like those people on that show HEAVY). but if they are accurate, and you aren't obese like those people, then yea, your weight loss is extremely unhealthy.

GJ OP ... should have taken some before/after pics.

Realistically more like -6lbs fat, -4lbs water, +2lbs muscle


HnF keeps hem-hawing about how losing weight fast like that is unhealthy, but it sure seems that a lot of people do just that, and are doing it just fine.

 

[datalink7]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'm going to keep with it until I reach my goals. Just about to start it all over again today (just got back from a run).

GJ OP ... should have taken some before/after pics.

I did. Here you go:

Before

After

Still overweight but getting there

 

[gar655]

You can't gain 2lbs of muscle in a week. Even harder when restricting your caloric intake as well.

Not gonna happen- unless you're on the juice, a LOT of juice.

 

[eits]

if you really lost 8lbs in 1 week AND gained muscle ... that means you had an even larger total loss of weight.

so for example you lost 10lbs then gained 2lbs of muscle.

and that rate is extremely unhealthy.

and i highly doubt your numbers are accurate ... unless you are extremely obese (like those people on that show HEAVY). but if they are accurate, and you aren't obese like those people, then yea, your weight loss is extremely unhealthy.

GJ OP ... should have taken some before/after pics.

i was 195... i weigh 188 now. i figured some of it was water weight. i haven't been eating as much, but i'm getting close to the necessary calories per day. being depressed will really hit an appetite hard. i also started smoking (yeah, i know). my life recently went to shit.

... fml.

 

[Alone]

Quit smoking while you can. I made the mistake of starting and now regret it more than anything.

Also, weight can fluctuate around 7lbs daily. It's best to base your numbers off BF%.

 

[dlock13]

You can definitely see an improvement with the before and after pictures. Keep it up OP.

I can borrow P90x from my friend, but I don't know what equipment I have to have to use it. What do you actually need to do it?

 

[datalink7]

You can definitely see an improvement with the before and after pictures. Keep it up OP.

I can borrow P90x from my friend, but I don't know what equipment I have to have to use it. What do you actually need to do it?

Weights (dumbbells) and a pull-up bar and you are good to go. You can use bands instead of weights but I prefer the weights.

 

[iluvdeal]

Nice job! If you want dramatic results like you see in the testimonials, you really need to eat clean the whole time. BTW if you are doing another cycle of it and you wanna spice things up, pickup P90X+ and substitute some of the workouts.

If you really wanna challenge yourself, substitute some of the cardio workouts with cardio workouts from Insanity. If you think Plyo-X was hard, wait till you try Insanity workouts.

 

[dlock13]

Weights (dumbbells) and a pull-up bar and you are good to go. You can use bands instead of weights but I prefer the weights.

Are we talking about 20+ lbs? I don't have those at my disposal sadly.

 

[douglasb]

Are we talking about 20+ lbs? I don't have those at my disposal sadly.

I think P90X advocates using light weights, or the resistance bands (even worse IMO). I tried the P90X program for a month or so when it first came out, and I wasn't impressed. I was losing strength like crazy, so I went back to the Stronglifts routine.

 

[datalink7]

I think P90X advocates using light weights, or the resistance bands (even worse IMO). I tried the P90X program for a month or so when it first came out, and I wasn't impressed. I was losing strength like crazy, so I went back to the Stronglifts routine.

It doesn't advocate light weights actually. He advocates number of repetitions, depending on whether you want lean muscle or more strength. Either 8-10 repetitions where you are struggling on the last three, or 12-15 where you are struggling on the last three.

Unless you are a big lifter, you probably wouldn't lose strength as long as you chose the appropriate weight.

 

[datalink7]

Nice job! If you want dramatic results like you see in the testimonials, you really need to eat clean the whole time. BTW if you are doing another cycle of it and you wanna spice things up, pickup P90X+ and substitute some of the workouts.

If you really wanna challenge yourself, substitute some of the cardio workouts with cardio workouts from Insanity. If you think Plyo-X was hard, wait till you try Insanity workouts.

I thought about getting P90x+. However, I think for now I'm just going to stick with adding running back into my routine. Started 3 days a week about three weeks ago and this week I'm upping it to 5 days a week of running.

 

[DJK Frank 16]

Good job!

 

[douglasb]

It doesn't advocate light weights actually. He advocates number of repetitions, depending on whether you want lean muscle or more strength. Either 8-10 repetitions where you are struggling on the last three, or 12-15 where you are struggling on the last three.

Unless you are a big lifter, you probably wouldn't lose strength as long as you chose the appropriate weight.

If you can do 10 -15 reps, I consider that to be light weights. I prefer enough weight where I struggle to do 5 sets of 5 reps. I have found that to be much more effective at building strength. In the past, when I bumped up the number of reps to 10, my 1RM numbers took a pretty big hit on virtually all of my lifts. Depends what you are training for, I guess.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

It doesn't advocate light weights actually. He advocates number of repetitions, depending on whether you want lean muscle or more strength. Either 8-10 repetitions where you are struggling on the last three, or 12-15 where you are struggling on the last three.

Unless you are a big lifter, you probably wouldn't lose strength as long as you chose the appropriate weight.

If you're doing 8-15 reps and you're not actually close to failure, you can very easily lose strength (especially if you're focusing on higher reps like 12-15). P90X is fine for losing weight, but not great for overall strength.

 

[datalink7]

If you're doing 8-15 reps and you're not actually close to failure, you can very easily lose strength (especially if you're focusing on higher reps like 12-15). P90X is fine for losing weight, but not great for overall strength.

Well how I've been doing it is going for 8 reps as a max. If I get over 8, then I up the weight next time so 8 again is the most I can do.

I think it is fine for most people. Most everyone, including me, doesn't need to be super huge. But I am gaining muscle with the above method.

 

[dlock13]

So what weight would you recommend to a beginner of P90x? Currently, all I have at my disposal is 5 lb weights. I can easily buy different ones, but that's all I have. Would that be fine for a beginner or would higher weights be a better idea?

 

[douglasb]

So what weight would you recommend to a beginner of P90x? Currently, all I have at my disposal is 5 lb weights. I can easily buy different ones, but that's all I have. Would that be fine for a beginner or would higher weights be a better idea?

Depends how many reps you can do of each exercise with the 5 lb. weights. I couldn't imagine using something so light, but if you struggle to complete 8-10 reps with the 5 lb. dumbbells, that would be sufficient for now.