Tackling P90X

[headhuntr]

I haven't followed the diet at all throughout the whole program. I'm just sticking to my own diet and working on a recomp. Basically, I'm eating at maintenance with trying to get as close to 1 g/lb for protein and keeping my fat intake under 90g. So far in over 2 months I haven't lost or gained any weight, which is what I'm aiming for. I'm much more defined however. The two supplements I'm using are creatine before every workout to get some added energy mostly, and a scoop of protein powder after the lifting workouts. Other than that I'm just sticking to a healthy overall diet. I'm sure my results could have been much more dramatic if I followed everything to a T, but I'm very happy with them so far. I'll be starting the Starting Strength program in September to work on strength and size. P90X is basically just to get back into shape for sports and overall health and looks.

Cheers!

[saloman]

Originally Posted by Cronos1247

Saloman, I haven't made it to that stage of the diet yet, but the sound of it scares me, high carb / low protein I've never done before. Which diet cycle did you have the best results on? I definitely see the high protein / low carb cycle probably giving me the most results, but I'll switch as the routine calls for it.

I think I had the best results in the first month, high proteins with only vegetable carbs.
In the second month I had much lower energy, even though I was able to add more bread & oats to my diet.

I've followed this diet very strictly up until now, when I think I'm going to modify it to add higher protein.

[Cronos1247]

In the first month it says you get 1 carb serving a day, so I've been using 1 cup of oats pre-workout as my carb serving. In the second phase is it upping it to 2? A moderate carb intake?

Yesterdays Recap:
Core X. First time for me to do Core X, it wasn't as hard as a lot of the routines I've done, but a lot of the things they did I don't think I had 100% correct form on. Some of the moves are kind of goofy at first and it takes me a few tries to get into the swing of things, especially the squat into chataranga run. All in all I definitely covered in sweat at the end of the workout, as usual. I'm still feeling a little drained over these past few days, I'm not sure why, it might be the weather, or it might be that it's my off week from Animal Cuts and the lack of caffeine that I was consuming from them is out until next week when I resume my cycle.

[sonofwally]

I did the P90x Ealier this year and got decent results. I think the main thing is to keep in check with your diet(I was pretty good with it for 75-80% of the time). I watched the videos once or twice. After that I just went to the gym and did them out of the book (The lifting workouts, not the cardio). I live only 2 miles from the gym. Which is really nice. That is one of the really good things about the program. They have every workout right there, and a log for it. It sounds like your doing awesome. Keep it up!

[maxedout916]

Cronos looks like your still doing great! Did you take pics yet of the first phase? How do you feel it is going so far? Pants starting to feel a little looser? I have my start date as Sept 1st and I will be keeping a detailed log on my transformation lag that's listed in my sig. It has some starting training and diet things that I am doing now but way more detailed when I start. I can't wait!!!

[Cronos1247]

Originally Posted by maxedout916

Cronos looks like your still doing great! Did you take pics yet of the first phase? How do you feel it is going so far? Pants starting to feel a little looser? I have my start date as Sept 1st and I will be keeping a detailed log on my transformation lag that's listed in my sig. It has some starting training and diet things that I am doing now but way more detailed when I start. I can't wait!!!

Hey Maxed! Thanks for the support, I'm feeling absolutely DRAINED this week. Actually today is a bit better than the previous 2 days, I think I'm regaining my composure finally lol. As far as definition & overall progress so far, I feel like it's going great! My BF % gets retested this coming Monday. I'm still debating on taking some progress pics or not, if there isn't much change I don't want to be discouraged, but it's a gamble because if there IS a big change it will probably push me even harder to get better results in the following 2 phases.

Today on the schedule is Stretch X, which really isn't a workout at all, so it's sort of like Christmas today! Looking forward to you starting your log, I'll definitely be following along, I should just be entering phase 3 whenever you start up.

[MrDiego]

great job Cronos, it's true what they say, you can work out and feel great, but a good diet is what will make you Look great.
I ordered my P90X after reading a lot of these journals and I can't wait to get started. I'm waiting for the pullup bar and bands too, but I never considered changing all of the recommened supplements.

Can you tell me what was your final list of shakes, pills, and protein bars? Would you recommend them or do you wish you would of used others?

I'm going to copycat your diet, and since I'm kind of a noob I'm hoping for those Beginner-muscles. thanks

[Cronos1247]

Originally Posted by MrDiego

great job Cronos, it's true what they say, you can work out and feel great, but a good diet is what will make you Look great.
I ordered my P90X after reading a lot of these journals and I can't wait to get started. I'm waiting for the pullup bar and bands too, but I never considered changing all of the recommened supplements.

Can you tell me what was your final list of shakes, pills, and protein bars? Would you recommend them or do you wish you would of used others?

I'm going to copycat your diet, and since I'm kind of a noob I'm hoping for those Beginner-muscles. thanks

Hey! Glad to see you on the thread!

The products that I subbed in I'm MORE than pleased with. This is what I have been taking altogether...

-Torrent
**I used Torrent instead of the P90X recovery drink, I wanted to continue supplementing creatine, and while the P90X recovery drink has a tiny bit (500mg), Torrent has a very good blend that totals out to 3,000mg. (which is actually still a little under my normal 5,000mg intake I was using previously). Aside from the creatine aspect, it is made with waxy maize carbs (quickest absorption) & MUCH less sugar content than the P90X. I bought the biggest container off Bodybuilding.com, it was about $55, and it has lasted me this whole month so far, tastes great too...I actually look forward to drinking it after my workout lol.
-Pure Protein Bars
**I used Pure Protein bars instead of the P90X bars, because, again, I'm not a fan of anything with a high sugar or carb content. The Pure Proteins are maximum 2g of sugar depending on the flavor, 2g or below in carbs, 20g of protein & fewer calories than the P90X ones.

Aside from substituting those 2 products for the P90X ones, I'm running cycles of Animal Cuts (3 weeks on, 1 week off each phase) for a thermo fat burner. I've been really pleased with Animal Cuts, I've taken a LONG list of stim & non-stim fat burners and have taken a liking to cuts. I don't think you NEED to supplement any fat burners here, I just wanted the extra boost in case it took me a while to tinker with my diet.

I'm using AST 32x as my Multivitamin, Prima force CLA caps & ON Fish oil caps. I was taking Yohimbine & a few other supps but I will be discontinuing those after they run out. So, all in all, my stack was:

-Torrent (recovery drink/post workout shake)
-Pure Protein Bars (bar supp)
-Animal Cuts (thermo)
-AST 32x Mult-Vit (would like to switch to Orange Triad, but pricey)
-ON Fish Oils
-Primaforce CLA

Other than that, I've just been making sure I hit my diet on key. Also during recovery week & the weekends I've been leaving my Torrent post workout shake out, since I'm really not needing the creatine intake or extra carbs because I'm not working as hard, this also helps the drink last for more than one months time.

The key aspects to this whole program is diet, diet, consistency, diet & make sure you do all of the DVDs. A lot of people negate Yoga X & Stretch X, their all important parts to the program, I feel great after doing Stretch. Yesterday was my 3rd or 4th time doing Yoga X, I think 3rd, and I can feel that I'm getting better at it, it's great.

Feel free to ask any questions on the program!

[headhuntr]

Sounds like you're doing great! I wouldn't worry too much about the pictures not showing you dramatic results. I'm sure you look at yourself in the mirror and have noticed changes or not. You may not remember 100% what you used to look like, but if you're happy with the results so far, I doubt you'll get discouraged.

I'm just about to finish my first week of Phase 3 on Sunday. I'm on day 61 right now. Looking forward to seeing what the next 3 weeks have to offer! Keep up the good work!

I totally agree with the skipping on Yoga and Stretch. I myself find that I've missed these two workouts more than I would have liked, but that's what happens when you workout 7 days a week. Something is bound to come up eventually :/

Cheers!

[MrDiego]

ok cronos, so I'm still waiting on some equipment, and I'm actually going grocery shopping today, I'm hoping to have everything by this week so I can start this journey on Monday.

Questions:
I've researched all of the supplements you're using and I can't seem to find the fish oil. ON fish oil? is ON short for something?

So far my bill is going to add to $132.53 from BB.com, excluding fish oil, taxes and shipping. (I decided to go with the Orange Triad.) This surely is an investment on many levels, more motivation I guess.

It's probably in the P90X book somewhere, but do you recommend I follow your diet exactly, since I'm currently 174lbs and want to drop my BF and weight, or is that too many calories? Good luck man, remember, always be better than you were yesterday.

[johnnyD7]

Originally Posted by Cronos1247

Hey! Glad to see you on the thread!

The products that I subbed in I'm MORE than pleased with. This is what I have been taking altogether...

-Torrent
**I used Torrent instead of the P90X recovery drink, I wanted to continue supplementing creatine, and while the P90X recovery drink has a tiny bit (500mg), Torrent has a very good blend that totals out to 3,000mg. (which is actually still a little under my normal 5,000mg intake I was using previously). Aside from the creatine aspect, it is made with waxy maize carbs (quickest absorption) & MUCH less sugar content than the P90X. I bought the biggest container off Bodybuilding.com, it was about $55, and it has lasted me this whole month so far, tastes great too...I actually look forward to drinking it after my workout lol.
-Pure Protein Bars
**I used Pure Protein bars instead of the P90X bars, because, again, I'm not a fan of anything with a high sugar or carb content. The Pure Proteins are maximum 2g of sugar depending on the flavor, 2g or below in carbs, 20g of protein & fewer calories than the P90X ones.

Aside from substituting those 2 products for the P90X ones, I'm running cycles of Animal Cuts (3 weeks on, 1 week off each phase) for a thermo fat burner. I've been really pleased with Animal Cuts, I've taken a LONG list of stim & non-stim fat burners and have taken a liking to cuts. I don't think you NEED to supplement any fat burners here, I just wanted the extra boost in case it took me a while to tinker with my diet.

I'm using AST 32x as my Multivitamin, Prima force CLA caps & ON Fish oil caps. I was taking Yohimbine & a few other supps but I will be discontinuing those after they run out. So, all in all, my stack was:

-Torrent (recovery drink/post workout shake)
-Pure Protein Bars (bar supp)
-Animal Cuts (thermo)
-AST 32x Mult-Vit (would like to switch to Orange Triad, but pricey)
-ON Fish Oils
-Primaforce CLA

Other than that, I've just been making sure I hit my diet on key. Also during recovery week & the weekends I've been leaving my Torrent post workout shake out, since I'm really not needing the creatine intake or extra carbs because I'm not working as hard, this also helps the drink last for more than one months time.

The key aspects to this whole program is diet, diet, consistency, diet & make sure you do all of the DVDs. A lot of people negate Yoga X & Stretch X, their all important parts to the program, I feel great after doing Stretch. Yesterday was my 3rd or 4th time doing Yoga X, I think 3rd, and I can feel that I'm getting better at it, it's great.

Feel free to ask any questions on the program!

Looking great man, keep up the good work. Also, good call on the Torrent, I know a couple guys taking it and they love it, like you do, and have made great gains.

[Cronos1247]

Hey guys, sorry, long weekend & been crazy busy at work. Yea the Torrent is great, I'm glad I took the advice on it.

Diego, I wouldn't follow my diet exactly unless you fall into the same category as me. If you fall into the level II category, all you would do probably is take out a scoop of whey here or some egg whites there. You can go off of my diet & adjust the ounces to fit your level, when I get home I'll check the differences on level II & III and I can help you tailor it if you'd like. So really your grocery list should be fine if you go with the same foods I'm using, we'll just make it so that your using less of the ingredients and they'll probably last you longer.

As for the fish oil, ON is just short for Optimum Nutrition.

Over the weekend I was able to psych myself up for Yoga X & really hit it pretty hard instead of dreading it, was a good change of pace & it's getting easier. My recovery week is over, I have energy again this week and today is my first day of Phase II. I've had to re-structure my diet going into Phase 2 which adds 2 more servings of carbs & lessens the dairy and protein a bit. It wasn't too hard to change and I'm enjoying meals a LOT more now. Though I'm a bit scared that putting my carbs at normal again will make the results come slower, but I'm trusting the diet and program to know what their talking about, though Phase III scares the **** out of me because it's a lot of carbs & low protein, we'll see how it goes.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Phase II has in store for me, will be re-taking my BF % tonight with some digital calipers I got, we'll see how the 1st month treated me!

[j6-stone]

Im in!

Keep it up, looks like you are really sticking with it.

[MrDiego]

thanks cronos, I'd appreciate it if you can help me customize my diet, I'll have to check out the meal book to learn some of the recipes and pick out the simplest and quickest meals. I'm getting mentally prepared, and hope you're seeing some good results, I know that would be motivation for people who are indecisive about starting P90X. Keep it up.

[Cronos1247]

No problem, that's what I did as far as easy meals to prep. I pulled the 10 egg mushroom / cheese / green onion omelet from the book, that one is pretty easy & also the vegetable soup lasts all week so I would just make that every Sunday.

Yesterday was my first day of Phase II & the moderate carbs portions. The upper body workout was great, it switched it to Shoulders / Chest & Triceps instead of Chest/Back. Today is Plyometrics, the most dreaded day of the week lol. I looked over the Phase II schedule and was a little sad to see that my favorite workout, Kenpo X, has been pulled from the routine. I'm feeling great, though I haven't been able to turn on my body fat calipers, I'm not sure why, either I'm retarded or I've gotten a defective product twice now. I will probably just have my % taken at the gym some day this week.

Breakfast is great, I've been able to incorporate 2 different approaches while hitting the same macros. Since I'm able to add carbs, I'm adding organic whole wheat toast every morning & either using half of my omelet to make an omelet sandwich & eat the other half regular, or making my protein french toast recipe that I love & having my yogurt with it. Variety is great & it makes me look forward to breakfast every day.



For lunch I'm back to one of my favorites since I was able to add a carb intake here, I have a cup of brown rice, 6oz of chicken cut up and a cup of broccoli & mushrooms in the mix, doused with Franks Red Hot Sauce, it's a Godsend.

[Cronos1247]

Day x recap:

I hit plyometrics hard yesterday, gave it my all, took no breaks & was satisfied with my workout. Today my lower back hurts, which isn't a good sign but I'm sure it will pass. Today is Biceps / Back & Ab Ripper X.

My routine is going to be rough to keep in check today & tomorrow. I've got to run to the airport to pick up someone for work that is flying in for some training demonstrations, which means I'll probably have to go for dinner tonight with him and be a good host so I'm trying to figure out exactly how I'm going to squeeze in my meals & workout sessions over the course of the next 2 days, this would be so much easier if I was still in school!

I think I'm going to try & post more pictures of daily meals, etc. just to keep things a bit more lively on the thread. For those

My job is to make these..

[johnnyD7]

Originally Posted by Cronos1247

dude, you CAN'T post a pic like that and not share the recipe.....

[yogini]

Originally Posted by Cronos1247

Day 4 Recap:

Kenpo X:

... the workout was over I was soaked in sweat, but I felt that I could keep going for another round. I've done some MMA training & Muay Thai that was very similar to this workout ...

Hey Cronos,

I noticed in one of your previous posts that you mentioned something about P90X and MMA training. Are you doing both training programs together? If so, do you ever feel overtrained?

I'm currently doing mostly MMA with some weight lifting work (not as structured on the lifting). I got the P90X to push myself more than anything else. Haven't started with the entire 7 day routine on P90X yet, but am thinking about it starting next week in combination with MMA. Just wanted to get an opinion from someone who is doing both. I understand that MMA is high impact by nature, just trying to get a perspective from someone who might be doing both.

Thanks!

[johnnyD7]

Originally Posted by yogini

Hey Cronos,

I noticed in one of your previous posts that you mentioned something about P90X and MMA training. Are you doing both training programs together? If so, do you ever feel overtrained?

I'm currently doing mostly MMA with some weight lifting work (not as structured on the lifting). I got the P90X to push myself more than anything else. Haven't started with the entire 7 day routine on P90X yet, but am thinking about it starting next week in combination with MMA. Just wanted to get an opinion from someone who is doing both. I understand that MMA is high impact by nature, just trying to get a perspective from someone who might be doing both.

Thanks!

This is just from a lay person, but I would think even if you didn't do the whole workout, the exercises for plyometrics, core strength, and flexibility would certainly benefit a fighter. Again, just my opinion, could be wrong.

[Cronos1247]

Originally Posted by yogini

Hey Cronos,

I noticed in one of your previous posts that you mentioned something about P90X and MMA training. Are you doing both training programs together? If so, do you ever feel overtrained?

I'm currently doing mostly MMA with some weight lifting work (not as structured on the lifting). I got the P90X to push myself more than anything else. Haven't started with the entire 7 day routine on P90X yet, but am thinking about it starting next week in combination with MMA. Just wanted to get an opinion from someone who is doing both. I understand that MMA is high impact by nature, just trying to get a perspective from someone who might be doing both.

Thanks!

Hey, I was doing MMA training & Muy Thai, I decided to take off for the 90 day period. I would love to do both, but in order to gain strength you need time for your body to recover and grow, doing both would put too much strain on it I believe. Aside from that aspect, there's no way I could find the time to work, do P90X & my MMA. I would recommend running P90X solo as it's designed to tear your body apart.



Hey Johnny, here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
SF cool Whip
Strawberries
Vanilla Whey protein
Cinnamon
Egg Whites
2 Pieces of Wheat bread (or bread of your choice, I even use Ezekiel)
SF Maple Syrup

Steps:
1.) 1 Scoop of Whey in a bowl
2.) Top the whey with cinnamon
3.) Use 1/2 Cup of Liquid egg whites or 2 raw whites, slowly pour over Whey.
4.) Beat it with a fork slowly until it forms a batter
5.) Dip each side of the bread in the batter for 10 seconds
6.) Spray skillet with non-stick spray, cook each side for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

Put it on a plate, pour your syrup over it, put your cool whip on, slice strawberries & top it off.

**I used Waldens Farms calorie free Blueberry Syrup this morning, was GREAT. Also I sometimes will replace the strawberries with sliced bananas or blueberries.

This would count as 1 serving of protein, 1 serving of fruit & 1 serving of carbohydrates from your P90X book. (Totals at a little under 400 calories, 35-40g of protein depending on whey and bread, and about 50g of carbs depending on the fruit)

[johnnyD7]

Originally Posted by Cronos1247

Hey Johnny, here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
SF cool Whip
Strawberries
Vanilla Whey protein
Cinnamon
Egg Whites
2 Pieces of Wheat bread (or bread of your choice, I even use Ezekiel)
SF Maple Syrup

Steps:
1.) 1 Scoop of Whey in a bowl
2.) Top the whey with cinnamon
3.) Use 1/2 Cup of Liquid egg whites or 2 raw whites, slowly pour over Whey.
4.) Beat it with a fork slowly until it forms a batter
5.) Dip each side of the bread in the batter for 10 seconds
6.) Spray skillet with non-stick spray, cook each side for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown.

Put it on a plate, pour your syrup over it, put your cool whip on, slice strawberries & top it off.

**I used Waldens Farms calorie free Blueberry Syrup this morning, was GREAT. Also I sometimes will replace the strawberries with sliced bananas or blueberries.

This would count as 1 serving of protein, 1 serving of fruit & 1 serving of carbohydrates from your P90X book. (Totals at a little under 400 calories, 35-40g of protein depending on whey and bread, and about 50g of carbs depending on the fruit)

thanks a ton, will be eating this tomorrow morning

[yogini]

Thanks Johnny and Cronos for your pointers.
The recipe and the picture look great!

[Cronos1247]

Originally Posted by johnnyD7

thanks a ton, will be eating this tomorrow morning

Let me know how you like it!

[Cronos1247]

So yesterday was back & biceps, great workout, strip set curls are pretty intense. I ended up taking my company out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse and just ordered a plain grilled chicken breast with dry grilled veggies. Aside from that I had 2 or 3 glasses of red wine, all in all I would say that given the situation I handled it as best I could.

I was actually pretty glad to see that I misread my lineup and today is Kenpo X! They didn't take it out after all. I'll be traveling today to do some training on a gelato machine for a customer, given that it will take probably 5-7 hours I won't be able to hit my diet on key. I just had my french toast breakfast and I've packed a few protein bars so we'll see how it goes.

[Cronos1247]

well...I worked a retarded schedule today to train a customer on her gelato machine, ended up being 7am-7pm training, going to the airport to drop the person I picked up off, eating dinner with him while dropping him off, getting back at 9pm and pushing myself to doing Kenpo X even though I could barely keep my eyes open (Not to mention, being that I was not able to be around my own food all day, I was unable to follow my planned diet!!!). That took a LOT of persuading myself to complete, I had all sorts of reasons not to do it and alternate plans (scrapping stretch x & doing kenpo on sunday instead, pushing all workouts back a day, doing 2 workouts tomorrow, etc.) but just went on auto pilot.

Regardless, I feel dead, and will post something that's worth reading & a bit more informative than this.

/rant off

[snyper99]

no updates?

[johnnyD7]

Originally Posted by Cronos1247

Let me know how you like it!

very tasty, thanks again. Finally I can have some healthy variety in my breakfast. (it's been eggs and ham or protein smoothie for a year)

[Cronos1247]

Originally Posted by snyper99

no updates?

Hey, got real busy at work Friday & on the weekends I'm gone without a computer for the most part. Friday was legs & back, no change there, I am definitely getting better at the Ab Ripper X though which is great seeing as when I started it, that DVD really kicked my ass. Also, I just now realized that they have put Ab Ripper X at the end of the DVD's that are done on Ab days, so, instead of changing out the DVD to the AB Ripper X one after your workout is over you can just wait until the end of the DVD and it plays automatically...would have been nice to know this!

Anyways, weekend was good, Yoga X was exceptionally good this weekend I think because it was raining like crazy outside and just made for a nice overall atmosphere. I'm sore as hell, mainly in the buttocks from lunging like a madman constantly. No progress pictures still....I think I'm going to do a total of 2, one at Day 45 (halfway point) and one at day 90.

I've been noticing that on Sundays, my appetite is a lot higher than on my normal days, I'm wondering if it's because my diet is out of order timing wise since I sleep later and get my macros through different foods or what, but I could eat all day long without getting full, maybe because Mon-Fri I have work to keep me occupied.

Breakfast this morning was my 10 egg omelet with mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes & fat free cheddar, but I took half of it and made it into a sandwich and ate the other half with hot sauce. Also put some SF grape jam on the bread (I like sweet eggs, syrups, etc on them).

[headhuntr]

Looks like you're doing great man! Keep it up! You're also a lot more creative than I am when it comes to your diet. Some of the stuff you're making looks real pro! Anyway, what day are you on right now? I have just a couple of more weeks to go (day 72). Keep up the good work!

Cheers!

[Cronos1247]

Originally Posted by headhuntr

Looks like you're doing great man! Keep it up! You're also a lot more creative than I am when it comes to your diet. Some of the stuff you're making looks real pro! Anyway, what day are you on right now? I have just a couple of more weeks to go (day 72). Keep up the good work!

Cheers!

Thanks! I believe I should be on day..36 if I'm not mistaken, will have to double check when I get home. How do you feel being on Day 72? A good amount of progress since day 1?