Workout Update: Power-90 Day 71

 Day 71 was the sculpt 3-4 workout. I felt like I was a bit stronger than during last Friday's workout, and I was able to hit 15 reps on the forearm curls in the fourth block. I have been dropping weight after a bit of a plateau. I am still carb cycling, but I backed off on my total calories a bit, and have stopped eating after 4pm, doing a modified fast overnight. I am still doing a free/cheat day (usually on Sunday) where I eat more calories so I am not worried about my body trying to go into starvation mode. I have not taken measurements since day 1, but I will do so two weeks from Sunday. I think I am losing more inches than I am losing scale weight given that my jeans are fitting a bit better. As I have said before, I really don't care what the scale weight is as long as I am losing inches. I am one of those that can put on both a decent amount of muscle and a lot of fat. The trick is always getting the fat off (which my body is very efficient at storing) to get the muscle to show. 

Workout Update: Power-90 Day 34

 Day 34 was a rest day again. It was also my "free day" when it comes to food. I have found that, after a couple of months of carb cycling, that even on my free days, in which I tend to eat more junk food, I cannot really overeat anymore on the free days. On my "regular" days I tend to be in the 2200 calorie range, give or take, and on the free days I tend to be in the 2500 calorie range (occasionally I can go higher than that, but not much higher). But I definitely cannot house 5000 to 10,000 calories in junk food on free days like I could when I was in my early 20s doing free days on my first round of Body For Life. 

Book Review: Body-Rx

  

Body Rx was a fitness and nutrition program released in 2001, right at the height of Body for Life's popularity, so much so that the creator of Body Rx, Scott Connelly was accused of "ripping off" Body For Life. Which was unfair for a couple of reasons. First, the programs are actually very different, even if there are some common themes (as there are in nearly all fitness and nutrition books), and Bill Phillips (the author of Body for Life) actually worked for Connelly's supplement company, Met-Rx, BEFORE he went out on his own and created EAS. So, the supplement product that Connelly discusses for all of one chapter in the book existed before Myoplex (EAS' meal replacement formula at the time) was ever a thing.

The main focus of the book is nutrition. Connelly has two main points regarding nutrition. First, eat more fiber, and by more, he means eventually eat a LOT of fiber. Second, do as much as you can to eliminate high fructose corn syrup from your diet. He calls it the worst kind of sugar you can consume, explains how it is creating a nation of diabetics, and points out how pervasive it is. He also (rightly) rails against the USDA's food pyramid as it existed at the time, specifically how it was so focused on lumping all fats together as "bad" that it had people eating minuscule amounts of protein and way too many refined carbs (which was also making people fat and contributing to the type-2 diabetes problem in the United States). 

His nutrition plan calls for eating a lot of protein, emphasizing lean protein, and a lot of fiber. The nutrition plan has three phases which gradually increase the amount of protein and fiber you consume. In the third phase of the program, you will be eating 60 grams of fiber and the amount of protein depends on your weight. Of course, if you try to eat 60 grams of fiber right out of the gate you will have horrible pain in your gut, so you have to build that up gradually. He breaks carbs down into three categories green (vegetables and other high-fiber content carbs), yellow (this is where most fruit and grains fall), and red (basically anything with little to no fiber and a lot of sugar, like sweets). There is no limit on the number of green carbs you can eat, but he sets limits on yellow and red carbs. The book is a bit confusing about yellow carbs. It is not clear if the number is a daily target or a limit. Years ago I was on a message board that Connelly would respond on from time to time, and he made clear that the yellow carb number is an UPPER LIMIT, that you do not have to hit daily, but should not go over. The only two numbers that he wanted people to hit every day were the protein and fiber numbers. 

In the workout portion of the program, he emphasizes weight training over cardio. He splits the weight workouts into 4 per week, three upper-body days (Chest & Biceps, Back & Triceps, and Shoulders & Abs), and one lower-body day. There is no built-in cardio (he basically says you can do it if you want to, but do not do the "cardio bunny" thing where you spend hours on the treadmill day after day). He advises mainly using cardio as a way to warm up and that is it. He also has you lifting as heavy as you safely can, emphasizing maxing out on the last reps in the last set. Because of this, the workouts are very hard to do at home (especially on lower body days). 

Overall, the book has some good advice, but is still a bit cookie cutter and may not work for everyone. If you do not want to do the very heavy lifting you probably do not want to eat as much protein as he suggests, because if you are not using it to repair your muscles, you will just pee it out. His advice on fiber and eliminating fructose is spot on. Even if you carb cycle (as I do) eating as much fiber as you can tolerate (utilizing green carbs) will not impact your low-carb days. I think the focus on the different phases, with muscle building in one phase (and preparing you for gaining some fat as well) and fat burning in a different phase (by cutting the amount of yellow and red carbs you are allowed), are good. It is definitely worth trying the program (with appropriate modifications for you) to see how it works. Just make sure you are not overeating yellow carbs. Even if you are allowed 300g of yellow carbs a day, if you are full after eating 150g of yellow carbs and hit your protein and fiber numbers, stop there. You are good. I think that will be the big key to a person's success (or lack thereof) with the program.

Week 4 of P90x2

Hey everyone, today is the beginning of week 4 of P90x2.  I had a pretty good week.  I did take some liberties with my diet this week.  There were a couple days where I was super hungry, so instead of eating total junk, I increased the portions of the healthy food, so I took in more calories on a couple days than I normally would have, but they were clean.  Here are the updated stats.
Weight 177.2
Waist   37.8"
Hips    39"
Chest   41.5"
Right and left thighs 22"
Right and left arm about 12"

Supplements?

There is always a debate out there about whether or not to take supplements when working out. Some people swear by them, others subscribe to the theory that you can get everything your body needs through food. I fall somewhere in the middle. First and foremost I will only take supplements from sources I trust, like Beachbody. The supplement industry is not regulated by the federal government and as a result, a supplement does not have to do what it claims or contain what it claims to have in it. Think of how many times you have seen a commercial or infomercial with some powder or pill that claims to do whatever, only to disappear never to be heard from a few months later. The reality is there is no pill, powder, or shake that can block fat, block carbs, or give you ripped abs all by itself. The only role a supplement should have is to do what it says, supplement, not replace what you are getting through food.

The only supplements that I take on a regular basis are a multivitamin, a joint support, and an immune system booster. All from Beachbody. I do not take the recovery drink. After a workout, you need to consume simple carbs and protein, both of which you can get in a glass of chocolate milk. Which is far cheaper than any of the post-workout drinks and powders in the market. I also take shakeology as a meal replacement because it is the one thing you can do to get all the fruits and vegetables you need (and foods that you would have almost no shot at finding at a grocery store).  If you want more information about it click the link on the left. I have never found things like creatine to be all that helpful to me. I know other people who have really been able to put muscle on with it. The bottom line is, do your research, and once you find a source that you consider reputable, decide wisely. Supplements can get very expensive, but if they work for you the cost will be worth it, but if not using them can amount to throwing money away.

Week 1 of P90x2 is in the books

Hey everyone. I just started on week 2 of P90x. I did X2 core for the second time today. I am getting better at the moves and am definitely able to do more and better reps. I managed to burn around 400 calories today, which is great considering how slow and controlled most of the moves in that workout are. Here are my stats after 1 week. waist 38.8" (loss of .7") Hips 39" (loss of 1") chest 42.5" (loss of .5")weight 178.4 (loss of .4 lbs). Remember what I said about scale weight? If not, go read my post from earlier this month. I ate cleanly from Sun to Friday. I did have a couple cheat meals last Saturday. Here is a screenshot from Diet Power showing my numbers for the week.

If you want to see my progress pics you can check out my beachbody message board thread here Again thanks for reading! I will try to post a short update tomorrow after plyocide.

More on Nutrition

One question that seems to get asked a lot when people start a fitness program like P90X is do I have to follow the nutrition plan? I think it is more important to follow A plan, whatever plan it is, that gives you a balance of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fat, than it is to follow any one specific plan. Beachbody puts together nutrition plans based on sound scientific principles, but they keep most of the science behind the scenes. All you have to do is a few simple calculations that they walk you through to figure out how much you should be eating, then you just eat the right portions. The one beef I have with the P90x plan is that the first phase has you eating a lot of protein. If you google how much protein should I eat you will find a lot of articles out there, may of which conflict with each other, on how much you should consume. One thing I learned from the nutrition class I took last semester is that if you eat too much protein your body cannot use it and you essentially just pee it out. While people who are working out need more protein than a sedentary person, it is possible to overdo it. I do however love the second and third phases of the P90x food plan. I am most likely going to cycle those phases the rest of the way out. Personally I believe it is important to keep track of what you are eating. How detailed you get with it is up to you. It can be anything from just keeping a food journal to actually logging your meals into a program that tells you how much you ate and will actually give you a numerical breakdown each day. Personally I like the Diet Power software program. I have a link to it over on the left side. It is not the only one out there, but I find it the easiest to use. If you keep track of what you eat, you keep yourself accountable. You can see if you are really eating what you should be, of if you have cheated too much. You can also see how your body is responding to the food you eat. If you use one of the logging programs or internet sites you can also see if you are eating too much of hidden things like sodium which we get way too much of in our food that can derail your progress. Ultimately the more you know about how your body reacts to the foods you are putting into it, the better results you are going to get. So, do you need to follow the plan you will get with any workout program. No. Our bodies are all different and they way mine reacts to food is going to be different than how yours does, or how another person's does. You do however have to follow whatever plan works the best for you. Sometimes that requires eating less "starchy" carbs like bread and pasta, some can handle eating more of those kinds of foods. The key is to keep it balanced, with protein, carbohydrates, vegetables and healthy fat. No amount of exercise can make up for eating too much junk. If you want to get the ripped abs and look like the people in the infomercials you need to eat well. You will always see in the small print that the people followed a nutrition plan to get the results that they did. If you have any questions you can click the link for my Beachbody page and send me an e-mail, or post a comment on this page. I do moderate the comments to keep the spam out, so it may be a while before I see it. Stay fit everyone!

P90X and nutrition. How important is it?

It seems that people often ask do they really need to follow the nutrition guide to get results on P90x. The quick answer it depends. It depends on two things, what kind of results you want and your body. P90x or any other workout program is going to come with a nutrition guide that will give you a plan to follow. The nutrition plans that come with the various beach body programs are tailored to whatever program you purchased. At their core they all use a balanced approach to eating enough carbohydrates to give you energy, protein to build muscle, and fat (yes fat) to keep your tissue (skin, hair, and organs) healthy. The P90x program runs through three eating cycles that start out with higher protein and lower starchy carbs (like bread pasta and rice) and then transitions to lower protein and higher starchy carbs.

I actually took a nutrition class last semester so I may do a post later on with some tidbits about just what overall healthy eating is, but in the context of working out, the closer you follow a balanced plan, that incorporates protein carbohydrates and healthy fat (and yes vegetables) into the meals and snacks the better results you are going to get. It is often said that a good nutrition plan is going to be at least 75% of your results. Depending on your metabolism and how your body reacts to food that number may be closer to 85%. But I think everyone has enough common sense to know that it does not matter how much you work out, if you are eating like crap every day you are not going to have ripped abs.

Which takes me back to my original point. What are your goals? So people just want to take off 10-15 pounds and are not interested in having 6 pack abs. In that case you probably do not have to follow any one specific nutrition plan. If you already eat reasonably healthy then just working out might do it for you. It may be that all you have to do is change a few things about how you eat. In that case maybe ditching dessert once a week is all you need. If however you want six pack abs, chances are you will need to follow a fairly strict nutrition plan and will have to pay attention to how much of what kind of food you are eating.

Even that depends however. If you are one of those people who can stay fairly lean no matter how you eat (insert obligatory I hate you comment here) then you probably will not have to track what you eat as stringently. For those of us whose bodies store fat more easily we will.

Personally I am following the P90X2 nutrition plan, but using one day as a cheat day where I don't pay attention to portions, and if I want will eat junk food. Once I start P90X2 I will knock that down to a couple cheat meals per week. Even with the cheat day I am getting stronger, becoming more toned and am starting to see definition in my abs. Look for a post tomorrow on the anatomy of a cheat day where I will talk more about my philosophy on them and how it has changed over the years.

Stay fit my friends!