P90X - Almost with a straight face

Where are you guys getting your dumbbells? I can't find any available cheap.

NotThatRob wrote:

Note: Need to watch calorie intake. I was hoping my few pound weight increase was at least some muscle gain until I started jogging in place during warm-ups and felt my midsection doing its own, slightly offset, jogging in place routine.

As someone who's midsection takes every oppotunity to do it's own syncopated rhumba, take it from me, watch out for the resonant frequencies!

Oh man, stairs suck! I sure am glad it didn't snow enough for me to shovel today!

I use the Select Tech dumbells. They're far from cheap, but they take up very little space. You might be able to get by with just two dumbell sets, a heavier and lighter set for different exercises. Right now, I think I use 15 and 30 as weights more than any other.

I was using bands exclusively until this week, but decided to get myself a set of adjustable dumbbells:

http://www.sportsauthority.com/produ...

But again, not cheap, at roughly 10X the cost of a set of bands.

Back in the saddle today. Shoulders and arms + ab ripper X. I'm going to be sore tomorrow, but I got through it ... dammit.

Ab ripper was definitely easier.

ColdForged wrote:

Where are you guys getting your dumbbells? I can't find any available cheap.

Do they have Dick's Sports near you? I bought some dumbbells there and I remember them being pretty cheap, not adjustable though, just standard metal hex ones of different weights. This was a couple of years ago and they might have been on sale, I don't really remember.

The Dick's near me has iron hex for about 80 cents a pound, which is pretty good.

rabbit wrote:

The Dick's near me has iron hex for about 80 cents a pound, which is pretty good.

Yeah, that's pretty good for now. When I bought mine I was getting them a $0.45/# and I wish I'd bought more. I only have through 50# pairs and it'd be cheaper to dump my hexes and get a Powerblock style set up to 120#.

Day one complete:

Holy sh*t. That was, ow.

I was ding pretty good, really. Didn't take things too far*, took breaks to allow for recuperation, but I knew I was in for trouble when the warm up stretching got me pretty worn out

There were definitely things I couldn't do much of, like the decline push ups. When they got to those the first time I believe i did 2.5 - 3. Near the end of the first round the dive bombers got me, and on the second round..yeaaaah.

I got done and went to the other room to tell the g/f how I was was beat when I realized I hadn't done the ab ripper yet.

Oh wow, that sh*t was mean. Of the 349 moves they did I did maybe 100. Some were easier than others, some just sucked.

* Right right arm at the elbow (tendon and triceps, mostly near the elbow joint) is a little bit more sore than it probably should be. I have a feeling that I was putting more of my weight on my right side than left (I am right handed after all) and that caused it to be pushed further than it should have been. I can still bend it, and retain 90% flexibility, but it was close. Very close.

Dr.Ghastly wrote:

Day one complete:

Holy sh*t. That was, ow.

It gets better. I think most people quit (if they quit) somewhere around week 2. But now that I'm on week 3 I can tell you that it is getting...not easier because I try to improve/max out...but I can see improvement on number of reps, not having to pause as much, etc.

Oh wow, that sh*t was mean. of the 349 moves they did I did maybe 100. Some were easier than others, some just sucked.

.

I probably did 100 the first time through. Now that I've done it 7 times I think that I might be up somewhere around 275 or so. And Rabbit, from what I can tell, is doing even better. I've found that my ability to do Ab Ripper X directly correlates with my ability to maintain soft, even breathing. As soon as I hold my breath or start gasping, I'm done.

NotThatRob wrote:

I probably did 100 the first time through. Now that I've done it 7 times I think that I might be up somewhere around 275 or so. And Rabbit, from what I can tell, is doing even better. I've found that my ability to do Ab Ripper X directly correlates with my ability to maintain soft, even breathing. As soon as I hold my breath or start gasping, I'm done.

Yes, I definitely need to work on my breathing. It's a major game changer for me (and everyone).

What Rob Said. I'm definitely seeing (and feeling) improvements in pretty much every area.

To be fair, there's no magic in this -- I think you could do 7 hours a week of almost ANY intense exercise and you'd see some pretty real improvements pretty quickly, especially paired with diet. The Abs have perhaps been my biggest area of improvement. I can't do all of everything, and I still need a break here and there, but it's no longer just ludicrous and impossible.

The declines and dive-bombers I pretty much failed on completely for the first workout. Second week was MUCH better. This week was actually a real workout, not just a flail.

I did the Arms workout today with dumbbells instead of bands. I think a combo is the sweet spot. I like doing all the flys on bands a lot better, as I can position my hands more easily. But I do like the feeling of doing things like curls with real weights.

I'm looking forward to some new videos to mix things up though.

Okay. I've been off the workout wagon for a few months now (a combo of work, illness, and more work). But after New Year's, I'm back in, and I'll be posting what I'm doing. It's good to see the people in here staying with it.

Got my P90X package in the mail today! My pull up bar hasn't gotten here yet, and I need to go get some bands/dumbbells. Then watch out, fuggers.

* Right right arm at the elbow (tendon and triceps, mostly near the elbow joint) is a little bit more sore than it probably should be. I have a feeling that I was putting more of my weight on my right side than left (I am right handed after all) and that caused it to be pushed further than it should have been. I can still bend it, and retain 90% flexibility, but it was close. Very close.

Hoo boy, just wait until morning. That area destroyed me for a couple days, hopefully you managed to avoid that!

just remember. do your best and forget the rest!

This thread is going to go downhill quickly once people start posting
beefcake pictures. Please people, no speedos. For the love of god, no speedos.

Goodjer Swimsuit calendar...got some possibilities. Expanding the female demographic.

Bullion Cube wrote:

Goodjer Swimsuit calendar...got some possibilities. Expanding the female demographic.

If by "expanding" you mean an outwardly expanding ring of fleeing females, then yes, I'd say it has some possibilities of doing so.

Yoga X today. Every time I approach Yoga I imagine it will be cake and then it kicks my ass. I expect similar results today.

Certis wrote:

Yoga X today. Every time I approach Yoga I imagine it will be cake and then it kicks my ass. I expect similar results today.

If you put an X after something, it automatically makes it more manly. Like the Vin Deisel movie, XXX - if I see two (XX) you think "chick chromosome", but if you see three (XXX) you think Vin Diesel and porn.

I can get good dumbbells for a buck a lbs + shipping same with kettle bells if anyone is interested in my contact for them pm me.

I've been tracking my food on Livestrong after some recommendations here and it's a bit bizarre to quantify things. I've never tracked my food so it's eye-opening to see in many ways. On my non-workout days it's wild how quickly I eat into my calorie budget. On my workout days it's insane how much additional room I "earn". Today, for instance, was my long run day and I burned an estimated 2700 calories... which is over 600 more than my typical daily allowance. Crazy.

I'm really looking forward to getting going on the P90X plan. The only real thing keeping me from doing it tomorrow is my pull-up bar hasn't gotten here yet.

I found calorie tracking key when I was marathon training.

Yoga today was a bit of an asskicked. I'm also blowing my diet today a bit, for social reasons, but I'm feeling in control. I'm looking forward to getting some additional cardio in next week in the form of some running. It will also be the first time I have to figure out how to get my workout in on the road on Monday. I may end up having to do kempo in my hotel gym just using audiocues on my iPhone or something.

ColdForged wrote:

I've been tracking my food on Livestrong after some recommendations here and it's a bit bizarre to quantify things. I've never tracked my food so it's eye-opening to see in many ways. On my non-workout days it's wild how quickly I eat into my calorie budget. On my workout days it's insane how much additional room I "earn". Today, for instance, was my long run day and I burned an estimated 2700 calories... which is over 600 more than my typical daily allowance. Crazy.

I can't speak toward running, as my knee usually won't allow me to do it, but livestrong's calorie calculator for physical activities tends to overestimate, in my opinion. I use calcs for long-distance cycling a lot, and their calculator is generally 30%-40% higher than every other cycling calculator, including the crazy one that asks for average rise, total rise, wind speed and direction, etc. So, I dunno. I don't trust it as much as maybe I should.

Certis wrote:
* Right right arm at the elbow (tendon and triceps, mostly near the elbow joint) is a little bit more sore than it probably should be. I have a feeling that I was putting more of my weight on my right side than left (I am right handed after all) and that caused it to be pushed further than it should have been. I can still bend it, and retain 90% flexibility, but it was close. Very close.

Hoo boy, just wait until morning. That area destroyed me for a couple days, hopefully you managed to avoid that!

I'm still a bit sore, but it wasn't as bad one time I lifted way too much too many times.

Day 2 - Plyometrics:

Omfg. The total session is 58 minutes or so and I lasted maybe 28. Could barely walk, right after and the morning after. I really hurt, but not in a "Oh crap I hurt myself way," more of a owww, this will be nice when I recover;)

Woke up this morning with my right shoulder a bit more sore than I would like, verging on "oops...", so I'm taking an day off . Will get back on the horse tomorrow for day 3!

bighoppa wrote:

The X is more for people who are trying to get ripped or ready for the Iron Man.

I've done a sub 10 1/2 hour Ironman recently and I'm currently training for another in Germany next July. I'm telling you: there's no way I'd put myself through all this stuff. It sounds so repetitive, painful and boring - not to mention alarmingly homo-erotic.

There's no way I could get my head around the thought of doing all my weekly exercise in the same room in front of a DVD player.

So, as a triathlete, would it be against the spirit of the thread to suggest that some swimming, running and biking whilst eating a normal diet might be more appropriate for many readers? To my mind it's a much more enjoyable, sociable and civilised regime. More importantly it's a much more sustainable lifestyle than a particular exercise program.

I should say that I think that it's great that you're all making this effort but suspect that most out-of-shape gamers would benefit more from a gentle aerobic based exercise workout plan.

Finally (and in response to a query on this weeks podcast) if I can't get out on the road then I'll often play Speedball 2 on XBLA whilst turbo-training on my bike. Aero-bars are the key to freeing up your hands to hold the controller...

So, as a triathlete, would it be against the spirit of the thread to suggest that some swimming, running and biking whilst eating a normal diet might be more appropriate for many readers?

There are a lot of rational answers to this (no access to a pool, no money for a bike, etc.) but the bottom line is that I don't really want to do these things so, therefore, I wouldn't.

But a 90-day 'dare' to see if I can finish a program that a lot of people at work couldn't...? That's something I want to do and, therefore, I will.

I agree alot of it is the 90 day "can I make it?" mentality. I maintain a fairly reasonable shape and don't gain a ton of weight when I'm not exercising like crazy, so a 90 day routine that blasts me into shape is exactly what I'm looking for.

I know it's entirely valid to assume people on the internet trying a workout will abandon all healthy living and maintenance after the workout is over, but I know several of the people doing this and everybody knows how to maintain. It's just a good way to drop a few pounds and get in shape.

I just hate running and riding in the cold, and there's not enough snow yet to cross country, and there's no pool I can get to. I go out for hikes all the time, but this is definately the 90-day deadzone of outdoor sports in my neck of the woods.

The 90-day thing is basically a "game" -- and since I can't get to the gym (don't drive, it's many miles away, and my workout partner has bailed on me), my options are limited. Doing the program is way, way less boring that time on the trainer honestly, and less boring than just turning on some music and working through a normal weight progression from book of muscle or whatever.

But believe me, if it was august, I'd just be out running and riding for the cardio portions of this.