P90x3

[CU]

Anybody do P90X3. Searched and found lots on P90X and P90X2, but was wondering if anyone had tried P90X3. Just picked it up off ebay and plan on starting the classic. 37 years, old 5'10", 170lbs. and soft. I passed all the pre-fitness tests except for the pull ups. I can only do half of one. The max heart rate test was pretty rough also. It was like 174 after that and I had to lie down for awhile. Will try to eat better, but I won't be following the diet. Time, desire, food likes, and lifestyle change are all factors in that. Will see how it goes.

What is a good cheap after work out drink? I read low fat chocolate milk was good. Already use 0% milk and have nesquik for the kids, so that would work.

 

[blackdogdeek]

What is your goal?

 

[smackababy]

Milk seems like an awful decision for anything before, during, or after an intense workout. You know what the best drink is? Water.

 

[HN]

Milk seems like an awful decision for anything before, during, or after an intense workout. You know what the best drink is? Water.

I've always mixed protein powder with milk and have it after a workout. Should that not be the case?

 

[smackababy]

I've always mixed protein powder with milk and have it after a workout. Should that not be the case?

Milk itself is already pretty terrible, so having it after an intense workout just seems like the recipe for it coming back up.

But then again, I'm lactose intolerant.

 

[CU]

I will google the milk after workout some more. I don't really have a goal per say. I guess not to be so soft, loose a little weight as I am close to overweight using BMI, and build endurance. Being able to do a few pull ups would be nice. Kinda sad I cannot even do one.

 

[CU]

Looks like chocolate milk is pretty good after a workout.

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=after+workout+drink+milk

 

[Maximilian]

Ill generally drink water and eat something with protein in it. Cottage cheese, maybe fish, maybe chicken etc. I think chocolate milk is decent, good mix of protein fats and carbs but it tastes so damn good you may well crave it at other times, depends how good your self control is.

I used to put 40g of skimmed milk powder and a scoop of whey in a shaker and mix it all up with water. I still do that but not as often.

 

[z1ggy]

Have not done p90x3.. Don't ever plan on it either. Have done the original and x2, and the only thing I feel like is good about them is their core/ab video.

Are you looking to go from a soft 170lb to a more muscular frame? Or... just able to do a few pull ups? I think p90 could help form a good base, but IMO nothing beats a real gym, where you can do actual bench presses, squats and deadlifts.

 

[CU]

Finished day 1. Not to bad. I think I did all the moves rep for rep. Sure, I didn't look as good and controlled as them, but I did them. Toward the last 5 minutes though I was really running out of gas. I didn't even do the cool down stretches at the end, because I was to tired. My cool down was sitting in the floor drinking some water for 5-10 minutes.

To answer z1ggy's question, more strength would be nice, but if I could say do 10 pull ups at the end that would be great. Doing 60 push ups in a minute and 60 sit ups in a minute would also be nice. Right now I can do low 30's of each in a minute. Not really interested in going to the gym and focusing on body/muscle building. Not to mention a gym takes more money and time. Neither of which I have with three small kids.

 

[JimKiler]

Finished day 1. Not to bad. I think I did all the moves rep for rep. Sure, I didn't look as good and controlled as them, but I did them. Toward the last 5 minutes though I was really running out of gas. I didn't even do the cool down stretches at the end, because I was to tired. My cool down was sitting in the floor drinking some water for 5-10 minutes.

To answer z1ggy's question, more strength would be nice, but if I could say do 10 pull ups at the end that would be great. Doing 60 push ups in a minute and 60 sit ups in a minute would also be nice. Right now I can do low 30's of each in a minute. Not really interested in going to the gym and focusing on body/muscle building. Not to mention a gym takes more money and time. Neither of which I have with three small kids.

After running a marathon I did p90x3 Jan-Mar 2014. I was in shape but never could build muscle on my chest, shoulder, and arms. (not just from running). I was still scrawny.

I only did the videos Mon-Fri over lunch at my work. Sometimes we added other things in after the designated 30 minute video but mostly one video a day for 90 days. I got stronger and added muscle to my chest, arms and shoulders. It was very noticeable. I also improved my core and strength so i could do more push-up and pull-ups and anything else.

I did the videos with my co workers and we also do Shaun T's Insanity and Focus videos. I am currently doing his newest Max 30 insanity.

The difference between Shaun T's videos and P90x3 are Shaun's are 90% cardio and going non stop. p90x3 is a good mix of cardio and lifting and lots of breaks. But despite the breaks i got stronger.

My favorite video is The Challenge which is 30 minutes of pull-ups and push-ups. But again you get breaks between each so it is tough but not impossible. It was also the easiest to see my performance gains each week in the number of reps i could do.

I cannot wait to get done with Max 30 Insanity because while it is good cardio, there is not enough weigh lifting and I am already losing my stamina.

 

[z1ggy]

Finished day 1. Not to bad. I think I did all the moves rep for rep. Sure, I didn't look as good and controlled as them, but I did them. Toward the last 5 minutes though I was really running out of gas. I didn't even do the cool down stretches at the end, because I was to tired. My cool down was sitting in the floor drinking some water for 5-10 minutes.

To answer z1ggy's question, more strength would be nice, but if I could say do 10 pull ups at the end that would be great. Doing 60 push ups in a minute and 60 sit ups in a minute would also be nice. Right now I can do low 30's of each in a minute. Not really interested in going to the gym and focusing on body/muscle building. Not to mention a gym takes more money and time. Neither of which I have with three small kids.

I think p90X could get you to those goals then.

Focus on eating right and enough. If you want to build muscle and strength, but you're not eating enough to support that, you won't see results. Similarly though, if you eat too much, you'll gain fat.

Years ago when I first really got into BB'ing and more than just "I want to lift X weight" I really didn't know crap about nutrition. That's why I spent years in the terrible "limbo" phase, where I was neither muscular looking, or cut looking... I was skinny fat.

All I'm saying is, nutrition is still crucial for you. If you want to reach that goal, eating well is still going to matter. There's plenty of knowledgeable and good coaches in this forum, you can find personal advice if you need. Even though you aren't looking to lose weight, I'd still read the Fat Loss sticky if I were you. It has good information in it.

 

[CU]

Eating wise I don't think I eat to much. Breakfast and lunch are almost set in stone, but supper varies more.

Breakfast:
-1 bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios or Oat Blenders with Honey & Almonds with 0% milk
-banana and a hand full of dry roasted peanuts
-some days nothing, but trying to stop that.

Lunch:
-honey ham and american cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread.

Supper:
-Half of a large pepperoni pizza and 3 bread sticks (chain)
-hamburger meat & cheese tacos made at home, small can of corn (1 cup?)
-salad with fried chicken and shredded sharp cheese in it and ranch or italian dressing
-nice sized plate of spaghetti (not wheat, tried, yuck) with store bought meatballs and spaghetti sauce,
-12" meatball sub on wheat bread, sauce and meatballs are store bought, 3-4 baby carrots, hand full of doritos
-store bought meatloaf, some random veggie.
-McDonalds double quarter pounder or fried chicken sandwich w/ fries and coke, once a week on a busy day.

That is pretty much my staple foods. Like I said supper varies, but that should at least give you an idea of what I eat. I don't eat sweet/junk food as a snack. When I snack, I usually grab a hand full of dry roasted peanuts or 3-4 baby carrots.

I only drink water unless I go out. Then it is coke.

 

[z1ggy]

stuff...

So right off the bat, with out even reading what you eat, I know that you don't really have a huge idea what you're doing diet wise, which is fine.

In my experience, quality and what you eat is obviously important... But how much, is way more important. Others here will back me up. Naturally, you will list what you eat... but you never included how many calories you eat (vs what you should be intaking... do you even know??) and how much protein, fat, and carbs are in each meal.

I know my goals and your goals are different, but if you expect to truly be more than just a 170lb dude who can't even do 1 pull up, you'll need to pay attention to calories, and macros.

If you would like more detail, ask. I believe there is info on this in the Fat Loss sticky, but there is plenty of info out there if you Google.

For example, I am ~ 5' 9 1/2'', 185-190lb, and maybe... 16% body fat? I'm not sure I haven't measured in a while. I was about 14% in early December, but I'm bulking up a bit now. Anyway, I am looking to gain 1-1.5lb/month. This equates to me eating roughly 2800cal a day, while going to the gym 5x a week, and having a few sporting activities. For food, I usually have about ~200g protein, 275-300g carb and ~75g fat.

See where I am going here? I didn't tell you the foods I eat specifically, because it doesn't matter. I'm not saying go ahead and eat BS food like cake and cookies... But don't obsess. I really do believe in a If It Fits Your Diet approach, as long as it's reasonable. As long as I hit the calories and macros everyday, I don't quite care about the rest. If Chipotle or Subway meal fits my goal for the day, then cool. If I can squeeze in a few beers with friends, then that's ok, too. The key is keeping track of what you eat, and keeping steady.

 

[CU]

Yeah, I get you. A quick google search tells me I should eat 2000-2400 calories if I don't do any activity to maintain weight. I picked what I thought would be my worst day (pizza day, 1/2 a large and bread sticks). That day came out to 1920. I will need to devote more time to figure up how much protein, carbs, and fat I eat on average. I did find out I should eat 6.5oz of protein though, again for no activity. If P90X3 is considered high activity by most online websites, I would be running easily a 500+ calorie deficiency based on 2500-2800 calories.

 

[z1ggy]

Yeah, I get you. A quick google search tells me I should eat 2000-2400 calories if I don't do any activity to maintain weight. I picked what I thought would be my worst day (pizza day, 1/2 a large and bread sticks). That day came out to 1920. I will need to devote more time to figure up how much protein, carbs, and fat I eat on average. I did find out I should eat 6.5oz of protein though, again for no activity. If P90X3 is considered high activity by most online websites, I would be running easily a 500+ calorie deficiency based on 2500-2800 calories.

Right. Now you're getting it!

Generally, a rule of thumb I follow is having ~.8-1g per body of body weight in protein. Then, for fat, I might go around .4-.6g per lb body weight. The rest, I will fill in with GOOD carbs. If you do "mess up" a bit, you need to be conscious of that, which is why tracking helps very much, especially in the beginning.

Until I started taking diet seriously, I just kind of spun my wheels for a while (not being consistent in the gym wasn't helping either). Not that I am even really strong/jacked/ripped or whatever now, but once I ate right, all my lifts went up by a lot, I felt better, etc.

I suggest using MyFitnessPal to track your food intake for a week. Generally, I mess around with a daily meal plan, til it hits my calories and macro goals. Then, I eat just that meal, every single day, for about 2 weeks. Yes, it does suck a bit, and is quite boring. What this did for me though, was help me establish what my real daily needs were for food. If I was eating to stay exactly the same weight for those 2 weeks, but my average weight at the end was different than what I started by more than a pound or so, I knew my diet was a bit off.

 

[vi edit]

Some of my thoughts on P90x3.

I did two seperate cycles of the original P90x. I've done one of X3. And that wasn't even a "real" cycle. It was more of a 2 month rotation of the various workouts that I enjoyed.

If you really want to get into shape, the original is without question the real deal. You'll trim up, you'll gain some mass, and you will feel great. But that comes at the cost of dedicating 5-6 days a week at nearly an hour a day. It's a real commitment. The workouts are hard, and they are 60+ minutes with warmup, cooldown, and ab ripper.

X3 feels like a reaction to the complaints about the length of the original workouts. All of them are 30 minutes. Most of them are watered down or compacted versions of the original exercises. There isn't as much emphasis on true weight lifting as there was in the original. The Triometrics is a much easier version than X1's Plyometrics. The lower eccentric is nothing compared to the original legs and back day for X1. The upper eccentric is okay. Warrior is a decent 30 minute workout if you want something quick.

X3 would be best as a primer for the original P90, or for maintenance or cheater days when you just don't feel like or have an hour to do the full P90X original work outs.

Truth be told, I've stopped following an actual program and my wife and I just mix up different disks between the original P90x, P90x3 and RushFit. There's close to 30 different workouts there and we try to get one good core day a week, a leg day, an upper body day, and two more cardio based days each week. We mix and match to taste and time.

None of these are going to turn you into a beast. You are limited to body weight + dumbells. There's only so much resistance you create with that. But what they can do is help you lose weight, build a much stronger core (RushFit in particular), and help you with more practical fitness. X3 and Rushfit both put a lot of focus on stability exercises. It really helps in just everyday stuff like lifting boxes, climbing stairs, and just feeling good with your body.

 

[CU]

Well it has been a week and I am still going. The 30 minutes works for me. 60+ would just take to much time considering I do them at 9PM or later. Not looking to turn into a beast so just body weight exercises are fine. Would rather be fit, flexible, and have good balance. That will go along with my karate training more than turning into a beast.

I did find Yoga to be the least fun. Not sure I would call any exercise fun yet, but you know what I mean. It was not overly hard nor did it get my heart going. It was also hard to see what he was doing on the TV when I felt I was looking at the ground most of the time.

Now just to make it to the end of the 90 days.

 

[JimKiler]

Well it has been a week and I am still going. The 30 minutes works for me. 60+ would just take to much time considering I do them at 9PM or later. Not looking to turn into a beast so just body weight exercises are fine. Would rather be fit, flexible, and have good balance. That will go along with my karate training more than turning into a beast.

I did find Yoga to be the least fun. Not sure I would call any exercise fun yet, but you know what I mean. It was not overly hard nor did it get my heart going. It was also hard to see what he was doing on the TV when I felt I was looking at the ground most of the time.

Now just to make it to the end of the 90 days.

The Challenge is a fun workout and my favorite!

 

[vi edit]

I like X3 yoga. It's a good one between hard workouts or after several days of working out or just when you need a down day. It's great stretching, relaxing, and excellent for core strength and stability. It's not one to skip.

Now the pilates...uhg. Yeah that one sucked.

My one complaint about most of the P90x (1 or 3 versions) is the ab exercises. Sooooo many of them are leg based and I'm a very long legged guy. They are brutal because of leverage and just really don't feel good on my back. I like RushFit for my core workout. It just is much more functional and I can do a lot more of the workout.

 

[CU]

I also liked the challenge. I couldn't stick to the number I picked. Once we hit military push, which I had never even seen before, it was over. I couldn't even do one of those in good form. Way harder than standard.

I don't plan to skip Yoga. I figured it is there for a reason.

And, yeah those abs exercises where you hold your legs out. It is all I can do to do all of them without bending my legs.

 

[JimKiler]

I also liked the challenge. I couldn't stick to the number I picked. Once we hit military push, which I had never even seen before, it was over. I couldn't even do one of those in good form. Way harder than standard.

I don't plan to skip Yoga. I figured it is there for a reason.

And, yeah those abs exercises where you hold your legs out. It is all I can do to do all of them without bending my legs.

For the Challenge, my number is only used in the first set of pushups and pullups. After that I go downhill quickly. I saw progressive when i did this video once a week.