can some recommend a dumbbell set (weights, kinds) that works best with p90x?

1/31/2009 11:22:50 PM

well that really has to do with how much you're willing to spend and how much you can handle already

there are a lot of bicep curls, tricep extensions, lawnmowers, and seated back and shoulder lifts so you will most likely be changing weights a lot to best suit each muscle group

I've got some threaded dumbbells, but since you usually work them in sets (shoulders, bi, tri, then repeat with modified stuff) it can get kind of annoying to have to pause, unscrew, change weights, play, and then when you get to the second round have to put them back on, take them back off, etc

I'd recommend if you have the $$$ and are serious about it either multiple sets of single weight or something that can be adjusted quickly like the bowflex select-tech or something similar where you just change a dial or move a peg to set the weight back and forth

1/31/2009 11:30:50 PM

I got the powerblock sport 5.0 and they seem to be working just fine. Finding a pair in Raleigh was the biggest challenge as most places were sold out due to p90x new years resolution buyers.

2/2/2009 8:55:52 AM

So of those of you doing this P90X thing, is anyone also following the suggested diet and supplement regimen?

2/4/2009 1:36:13 PM

Just pick up a set of olympic handles, and numerous plates. They will usable when you upgrade to a real set of weights ( ) and MUCH cheapper.

You might check craigslist, too.

2/4/2009 3:42:32 PM

^yes.

Itll get really pricey if you keep buying dumbbells that are 20lbs, 25lbs, 30lbs.

Sidenote: what ever happened to good ol fashioned weight lifting?

2/4/2009 4:10:26 PM

I'd like to buy a kettlebell or two if anyone knows of a place to get good deals. Looking for a 45#-55# right now.

[Edited on February 4, 2009 at 4:33 PM. Reason : l]

2/4/2009 4:33:01 PM

http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/im-0310.html

actual kettlebells are over priced.

2/4/2009 5:34:05 PM

^ Good call and I might go that route, but I'd need to see one in person first. I'm wondering how wide the grip is for two handed swings and also how many plates you can stack on it. Anything bigger than 5# might be a little cumbersome for movements close to the body.

2/4/2009 9:59:04 PM

i tried out a few of the p90x dvd's and so far the only ones i could complete end to end were CardioX and Ab Ripper X

2/4/2009 10:00:46 PM

I don't understand how you could not complete them. The DVD's are very challenging, but Tony encourages you to take breaks as necessary and hit pause if they are moving to quickly. Plus, on many of the videos, it's "do as many reps as you can" so as long as you are doing a few reps, you have technically completed the exercise.

It absoluely amazes me just how tough the Ab Ripper video is. It's only 15 minutes, but jeez does it pack a lot of crap in it. I TRY to keep up with them timewise, but I end up hitting the pause button a lot. The fact that they always have you do abs after a 1 hour workout (and thus very tired) is also a huge contributing factor.

I am doing this. On day 3 now, and man am I sore. I bought all the exercise equipment and supplements (or suitable replacements), and I fully intend on seeing this through. I took before pics, and needless to say I am not happy with how I look at all right now. I am also doing the nutrition plan, and wowser, I am eating a lot.

2/9/2009 1:41:25 PM

I just finished the first rotation of my plan (I extended mine to 5 weeks each phase instead of 3) so this is the first recovery week for me. I can understand people saying they didnt make it all the way through the first few times I did some of them I seriously just couldnt get off the damn floor but I did the harder ones a few times before I began the full out routine which helped me push through them once I started. I havent seen huge results yet but I can tell Im more toned and have lost some of the love handle fat. Once the small amount of belly fat I have starts to disappear then Ill be really happy. I have tried to stick to the diet as best as possible and yes you actually end up eating more than you thought. I am on a 3000 calorie diet based on their chart and that isnt hard if you are eating candy and soda but 3000 good calories is actually a lot of food so I eat 5 or 6 times a day now. When I dont eat or miss a meal now I can tell the difference come work out time as I feel drained of energy and its much harder to make it through the routine going as hard as I can.

2/9/2009 3:32:17 PM

besides the dumbbells, what else do you need?

2/9/2009 3:36:44 PM

I have been frequenting the Beach Body message boards, and one of the common things I hear about belly fat (on men) or thigh/butt fat (on women) is something similar to this:

Quote :

"Fat will come off in sheets on your body. It's near on impossible to spot reduce fat. As you get fitter and start losing body fat it will remove itself in layers. (Imagine your body covered in acetate clear sheets and removing them.) That said, if the least amount of body fat is on your forearms, back, or shoulders, then that is the most noticeable area it will go initially. The same amount is being removed from your stomach but if that is the area where you have the most fat, it won't appear to be moving as fast."

Also, from what I understand, the most dramatic results occur in Phase 2 and 3, especially Phase 3.

2/9/2009 3:50:21 PM

Pullup bar, mat (especially if you dont have carpeted floors), chair, and at least 1-1.5 hours a day six days a week.

Yeah thats why I say once I notice it coming off my belly thats when Ill really feel the results coming as that was my worst problem area. Luckily for me it wasnt a whole lot so it should start coming off soon hopefully at least in a noticeable way. Other than that and the slight love handles the rest of my body was pretty thin so I didnt have a whole lot to lose.

[Edited on February 9, 2009 at 3:53 PM. Reason : .]

2/9/2009 3:51:10 PM

Quote :

"besides the dumbbells, what else do you need?"

Well to do the exercises, they recommend a mat (I do them on carpet, so I don't use one). You also supposedly need Yoga blocks (I haven't done the Yoga yet, that's tomorrow) but I also hear you can get by without them. The biggie is a pull-up bar. I bought one at Dicks that works well, hangs in the doorway.

Here's a Wiki article that I find very useful: http://dandv.wikispaces.com/p90x-faq-wiki

2/9/2009 4:03:01 PM

By the way if you have never done yoga prepare to hate that shit. It is going to make you feel uncoordinated, awkward, and just plain stupid. The first 40 minutes or so arent too terribly bad but at some point you start to think to yourself who the fuck came up with this and why is it so hard (you will know when you reach this point). I usually skip yoga and instead do cardio or something that day.

2/9/2009 4:06:35 PM

^ lol i skipped it too and did more core work

2/9/2009 7:52:53 PM

^^ it doesn't help that it's a fucking hour and a half long, either

a lot of the time I have done cardio instead as well

2/9/2009 8:06:27 PM

so is anybody making copies of this? i would pay a few bucks for some dvds

2/9/2009 11:46:35 PM

might as well just fucking download it if you are going to pirate it

2/10/2009 12:16:48 AM

yes but i am lazy when it comes to downloading... id rather someone do it for me

2/10/2009 1:36:47 AM

Yeah I know this guy that it only took a few hours on Limewire. Supposedly you can download the meal plans too.

I will say that from what I read, doing P90X without doing the nutrition plan takes away a huge chunk of the effectiveness of the program. If you're going to bother doing it, I would dedicate the hours/money to eat the right food and get the recommended supplements.

2/10/2009 9:07:22 AM

I happen to have all the videos on my computer if you wanted to come hook up an external hd and get them you could

2/10/2009 10:08:19 AM

Quote :

"By the way if you have never done yoga prepare to hate that shit. It is going to make you feel uncoordinated, awkward, and just plain stupid. The first 40 minutes or so arent too terribly bad but at some point you start to think to yourself who the fuck came up with this and why is it so hard (you will know when you reach this point). I usually skip yoga and instead do cardio or something that day."

Did you actually finish the Yoga DVD? I actually felt like the first 45 minutes were very challenging, hitting a peak at some absolutely ridiculous acrobatic trick where they wanted me on one leg with my other leg at a 90 degree angle behind me, hands on the floor, and twisting in the opposite direction my body wanted to go while looking up in the air. I was highly frustrated at this point but then all of a sudden things got easier. The rest of the moves I could pretty much do, or at least a modified version. They seemed to actually stretch me out a lot (I am very inflexible) and at times relax me, which is what I suppose Yoga is all about. If you haven't gone through the video at least once, I would recommend it. Plus, I think the program kinda designs this in as a "rest-like" day, so if you're doing cardio or somethign else, you're probably not allowing your body to heal like the program is designed for.

2/10/2009 12:49:58 PM

yeah the first half is the harder half. that triangle pose you are talking about sux if you arent flexible (which I'm not).

rest is just balance and shit, which isn't so bad. then again, i did skip past the ones on your shoulders at the time since i had just gotten a tattoo and it hurt like a bitch.

2/10/2009 1:48:22 PM

Well I have finished Week 1. Well, almost.... today is my rest day, so I suppose as long as I survive the day I will have completed Week 1. I am a little sore, definitely not as bad as the beginning of the week. Kenpo was fun. My wife actually did it with me. This is definitely something that I will follow through to completion. I have my before pics, but I will wait to post them until my after pics are ready.

2/13/2009 11:33:11 AM

I'm definitely picking this back up toward the summer when results will at least be appreciable

2/13/2009 1:06:35 PM

^ Pretty sure you do this now so you will look good in the summer

2/13/2009 1:47:00 PM

I mean I won't be doing shit during the summer, actually have time to do it, and then be done by the time people start coming back for school again, plus July/August are the best beach months anyway

2/13/2009 4:08:03 PM

If its your rest day consider doing the X stretch like suggested as optional especially if you are sore, it really helped a lot going into week 2

2/13/2009 4:44:08 PM

The guy in the wiki above links to http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AJ05D/ref=cm_rdp_product for resistance bands. Do you need to get more than one at different tension levels or does it really matter at the end of the day (as long as you don't get medium or below)?

2/16/2009 8:24:44 AM

Once I got weights I didnt really use the bands much more other than for a few things now and then just because the bands felt more natural. I start phase 2 this week after a nice recovery week so I am ready to hit this hard again. Should be good to add a few new routines in to change things up some again.

2/16/2009 8:49:41 AM

Well, I want to go with bands at first because I'm looking more into toning and slimming down than muscle gain. And they're cheaper

So any advice as to which bands to get, or will just 1 do the trick?

2/16/2009 9:01:00 AM

I got a 3 piece set with the workout you probably want a couple different ones as some exercises require more weight than others and same with resistance. Im not sure the exact weight equivalent the bands I have are but Ill try to check on it.

2/16/2009 9:09:32 AM

Day 1 done last night, very hard to keep up towards the end. I wasn't able to do do all the various types of pushups, but those that i couldn't do i tried to do variations of or just do standard pushups.

2/26/2009 10:14:00 AM

just do your best.....

2/26/2009 10:33:18 AM

have had these for a while just now stopped drinking enough at night i felt hydrated enough to try it. i dont really understand the plan though and how i am supposed to pick which video to watch. maybe I will read more about it. I start with abs and back this morning after like 20 minutes I was sore from the stretching let alone anything else.

2/26/2009 10:40:39 AM

sounds like you've got some reading to do, it's all laid out very clearly in the starter guide and manual that comes with it

that is, unless all you did was torrent the videos and dont even have any of the reading materials

if that's the case i'll leave it up to you to find the rest

2/26/2009 10:46:58 AM

hehe apparently the guide is the only thing my set didnt come with. i have the workout sheet and the calendar just not the actual guide

2/26/2009 10:58:14 AM

I'm not planning on following the food plan at the moment, though I'm attempting to adjust what I eat to have more protein while staying under 2k calories. If I don't notice any decent results after 3-4 weeks I may try to follow the diet and see how that goes. Though I think getting my body used to the workouts is priority 1.

2/26/2009 1:52:51 PM

It's OK to not follow the nutrition plan exactly as it's laid out, but I PROMISE you that you won't see the results you want if you are only consuming 2000 calories per day. You'll just get frustrated thinking the program isn't working because instead of gaining muscle mass, your body will just revert into a semi-starvation mode and attack the muscle that you gain. Read up on the nutrition plan, and at the very least realize what its intent is so you can attempt to follow something close to it. For the first month it's basically consume 60% protein, 20% carbs, and 20% fats, which equates to LOTS of veggies, nuts, fat free dairy, chicken, fish, and lean pork/beef.

For the person who was asking about the routine, yes you should have it in your handbook. But as a starting guide, the first 3 weeks are:
Day 1: Chest and Back / Abs
Day 2: Plyo
Day 3: Shoulders and Arms / Abs
Day 4: Yoga
Day 5: Legs and Back / Abs
Day 6: Kenpo
Day 7: Stretch or Rest

2/26/2009 2:51:50 PM

whats the difference in classic doubles and lean in what they are supposed to do to you?

2/26/2009 3:32:13 PM

Quote :

"whats the difference in classic doubles and lean in what they are supposed to do to you?"

Well Classic is the "basic" plan that I am guessing most people do, with a good blend of lifting, cardio, and stretching.

The Doubles is exactly the same as the Classic for the first month, then it starts throwing in 3 extra cardio sessions per week on top of the regularly scheduled workouts on Month 2, and 4 cardio seesions on Month 3.

The Lean is just a lot more cardio type stuff and a lot less weights/resistance, so it's more tailored to weight loss.

So is anyone else on here actively engaged in doing this? I am on Day 23 today of the Classic Version. I am following the nutrition plan and taking nutrition supplements too.

3/1/2009 11:59:43 PM

hows that working out for you?

3/4/2009 11:03:35 PM

Really well thus far. I am in Day 26 right now, so I'll be hitting the 30 day milestone soon. That is awesome because I start a new regimen, change my diet up (I am REALLY looking forward to it) and take my next set of pictures.

I know I have gotten significantly stronger in just 3.5 weeks. My wife says she can see improvements in how I look too. I kind of doubt they are that pronounced yet, cause from what I read on the Beach Body forums, most of the visible changes start coming in the next two months. I can definitely say I am happy I am doing this. 90 days is a very realistic and manageable time frame. I feel much better and I am eating much better, which I know was a huge barricade to me being in shape in the past. As soon as my 90 days are up I will post pics.

3/5/2009 1:41:27 AM

PM caddyman1967 (my brother) he started Jan. 2.

I saw him this weekend and he has lost several pounds and has toned up significantly. He is very pleased. I have the regular one and I was thinking about starting at some point. I started going to the gym and am doing tons of cardio and even took a fitness test. I wanted to get myself in better shape before starting (maybe 4/1). I have lost 24 pounds so far and am looking at this as something to use when I lose my focus.

Congrats Jim!

3/5/2009 7:23:24 AM

I am in the 2nd phase but admittedly the past 2 weeks I have only managed to get in a couple workouts as I was sick last week and out of town a few days this week so I feel I am set back some. May add a week or two onto this phase to make up for it. I definitely feel like a lazy fatass now after 6 solid weeks of doing this up until then. Hoping to pick things back up today to finish the week strong at least. Will probably hit up lake johnson once or twice this weekend as well for a little extra cardio.

3/5/2009 10:21:23 AM

anyone one got a used p90/p90x set they want to sell/let me borrow?

3/6/2009 8:42:04 AM

^ the same.

3/6/2009 9:24:05 AM