P90X

[Pats2006]

What you think is lacking and that I need to focus on ?

Over all I think that you are good.. Your pretty ripped.. If I had to pick one thing.. maybe work on the chest? But you can already see a big difference from the 1st to the 3rd pic.. your chest did fill in a bit..

I am having the same problem.. I also need to work on my abs..

but good job!

[badger6]

Over all I think that you are good.. Your pretty ripped.. If I had to pick one thing.. maybe work on the chest? But you can already see a big difference from the 1st to the 3rd pic.. your chest did fill in a bit..

I am having the same problem.. I also need to work on my abs..

but good job!

I'm pretty impressed with Dave's progress. He's leaning out very well !!! But yea, I think my chest needs a little more bulk to it. I think that it's a bit of genetics and age for the poor shape but I'm gonna start a lean bulk in a month or two. I still wanna get to 9% body fat before I start bulking though. I'm not ripped yet, @ 9% I would be ripped. You wanna see ripped ? How about a ripped liver in St Augustine after a late night walk on the beach with my old friend Jose, ha ha.

BTW Pats, how's the mdrol working ?

[Pats2006]

Hahahah mdrol didnt work out good.. didnt feel any thing from it so I ran 2 bottles of hdrol at 100mg..

added on 5-6 lbs of muscle.. hope to keep on during PCT!  Would post a pic but after yours I feel small lol

[badger6]

Hahahah mdrol didnt work out good.. didnt feel any thing from it so I ran 2 bottles of hdrol at 100mg..

added on 5-6 lbs of muscle.. hope to keep on during PCT!  Would post a pic but after yours I feel small lol

I thought mdrol and hdrol were the same ? Or is that sdrol ? Been a while, ha ha. I think I'm gonna run a cycle of something when I start my bulk up in a few months. Oh, and by the way, I am small. I just wanna look good, but @ 40 years old it's kinda hard, lol. Post some pics dude !!! 

[Dave Gray]

Badger definitely looks like he's toned up quite a bit, but he had a pretty solid starting point. 

I am now in my last week of lifting, after finishing up Friday with legs, then Monday with Chest, Shoulders, and Tris.  Today was plyometrics and I did well.  I had a rough week with my knees last week, but this one was definitely better.

I was talking today about progress (since I'm nearing the end of the program), and a lot of the changes are not visible in the pictures we've taken.  The pictures definitely show the weight loss in key areas.  Without question, my neck flab and stomach fat are pretty much gone.  Those were problem areas before.  But I'm bigger in areas in my core that doesn't really show in the pictures: underneath my armpits, across the top of my back, and on the back of my upper arms.  There is also muscle definition where there was none before.  I still have a few days left this week and a full week of non-lifting exercises next week, but I think that what I am now is pretty much what I'm going to be. 

Am I ripped after 90 days?  No.  But I'm definitely in much, much better shape than when I started.  I'm probably in the best shape of my life, in terms of sheer strength and muscle definition.

I'm going to do the last week and see if the work I'm doing now gives me any more results.  From there, I have no plans.  I'm just trying to finish this program and then decide if I want to try to maintain, try to move on to a different program, or just go back to being a fat, out-of-shape loaf.

[badger6]

Badger definitely looks like he's toned up quite a bit, but he had a pretty solid starting point. 

I am now in my last week of lifting, after finishing up Friday with legs, then Monday with Chest, Shoulders, and Tris.  Today was plyometrics and I did well.  I had a rough week with my knees last week, but this one was definitely better.

I was talking today about progress (since I'm nearing the end of the program), and a lot of the changes are not visible in the pictures we've taken.  The pictures definitely show the weight loss in key areas.  Without question, my neck flab and stomach fat are pretty much gone.  Those were problem areas before.  But I'm bigger in areas in my core that doesn't really show in the pictures: underneath my armpits, across the top of my back, and on the back of my upper arms.  There is also muscle definition where there was none before.  I still have a few days left this week and a full week of non-lifting exercises next week, but I think that what I am now is pretty much what I'm going to be. 

Am I ripped after 90 days?  No.  But I'm definitely in much, much better shape than when I started.  I'm probably in the best shape of my life, in terms of sheer strength and muscle definition.

I'm going to do the last week and see if the work I'm doing now gives me any more results.  From there, I have no plans.  I'm just trying to finish this program and then decide if I want to try to maintain, try to move on to a different program, or just go back to being a fat, out-of-shape loaf.

Yea Dave, I try to do at least 3 months every year, starting sometime in the spring. But when I first started a long time ago, I had to do 9 months to see dramatic results. It's kinda progressive and consistency really matters as does diet. I hope you take a couple weeks off and then continue on with the adventure. If you don't you'll never know how far you could go. A different program might give different results !!!

[Pats2006]

Dave.. maybe take a little break.. Then if I were you I would start hitting the gym. Lifting and cardio.. nothing against P90X but I think you might be able to get better results? Just my opinion... put on some muscle and trim up

[Dave Gray]

^^ P90X is pretty much lifting and cardio (with a day thrown in for Yoga).  I'm happy with my results.  I don't want to come off like I'm displeased.  I think that P90X will probably work really well with people who are strong, but fat.  They will burn off the fat and the muscle with show even more.  I was already pretty thin, except for some problem areas.  Even then, I've built quite a bit of muscle.  I'll post my measurements after next week.

Today was my last day of lifting (biceps and back), since I'll be out of town on Friday.   I hit it hard today, increasing weight and reps.  I also killed it when it came to abs.  So, good stuff for me today.  Strangely, it also dawned on me that I think I may have been doing one or two exercises incorrectly.  When I did them correctly today, I was like "Holy crap."  They worked out different areas than before.  Oh well.  From here on out, it's all non-impact, recovery-type stuff: Yoga, core, kempo, stretching.  That stuff still builds and leans, but not aggressively.

[badger6]

Dave.. maybe take a little break.. Then if I were you I would start hitting the gym. Lifting and cardio.. nothing against P90X but I think you might be able to get better results? Just my opinion... put on some muscle and trim up

I agree pats. P90X is more of a recomp type program, which ain't bad for what it's supposed to do. But you can only recomp so long before you have to either go into a bulking or cutting phase. Most people can't bulid muscle and lose body fat for too long before they plateau. If I were you Dave, I would take a couple weeks off and then go straight into a cutting routine until you hit around 10% body fat. Probably take a couple months. Let me warn you though, you're gonna be hungry most of the time, ha ha. Then once you get down on body fat. I would start a moderate lean bulk through the winter, IMHO.............

[Dave Gray]

I don't think that cutting fat is my best course of action.  I'm pretty skinny as it is.

[badger6]

I don't think that cutting fat is my best course of action.  I'm pretty skinny as it is.

Hell I'm kinda skinny and I'm gonna keep cutting for the next 30-45 days. People think that I'm crazy, but as far as I'm concerned, the lower the body fat the better before bulking because you're gonna gain a bit of fat while bulking. I was only was only assuming that you were at a higher BF%. If you're somewhere around 10-12% you  could probably go straight into a bulking routine. That's just always worked well for me. You might want to check your BF% to get a better idea of where you are at...........

[Dave Gray]

How do you check your BF%?  Calipers? 

[badger6]

How do you check your BF%?  Calipers? 

I have calipers and a body fat scale, bout $35-40 for both. Neither is super accurate but between the 2 they are about 1% of body fat off from each other. And they fluctuate about the same with weight loss or gain. I just take 3 measurements with each one and average them then I average the 2 resulting numbers and use that as my BF%. May not be 100% accurate but it's close enough and tells me if I'm making progress or not.............

[Dave Gray]

Today was yoga.  My workout partner is a girl and she does Yoga, barely sweating at all.  For some reason, it makes me sweat more than the other workouts.  I am drenched by the end.  I still suck at balance postures, specifically anything that requires standing on one leg.  There are these groups of moves that require you to stand on one leg and lean with your arms a bunch of strange ways.  I am falling out of position the entire time.  I am able to get in it and hold from time to time, and when I do, it really burns and works me out.  Through this whole program, though, my balance in that area still totally blows.

I also think that I discovered that I was doing a particular move incorrectly today, after all this time.  ...not a big deal, but a stretch I didn't feel before.

[Dave Gray]

Last week!

Missed Friday      However, I went to Universal Studios and walked around for 10 hours sweating my balls off, so there's that.

Anyway, today was Yoga.  I did pretty well.  I still suck at the one-legged balance postures, falling out the entire time.  The rest are good.  I was thinking today, while showing after the workout, that although the workouts are hard, they have become much, much easier.  At the beginning, I was totally debilitated while trying to shower and get dressed.  Now, it's relaxing afterwards.

Tomorrow is core synergystics, which is weight based, but all in the core...not lifting. 

Side note: roller coasters made my back all tight and sore.  That's a workout in itself.