Exercise

[John]

Prompted by Frank's revival of this thread, and my falling off the workout wagon this winter, I decided to order one of those DVD trainer programs. I looked at both Insanity and P90X as well as the versions of each that are slightly shorter-workouts per day. I read and watched online reviews, and decided to get the P90X3 which is a 3-month program, 30 min. per day (not including cool down) at six days per week. I also ordered a chin up bar and resistance bands to use in the program. I never done a program like this before. I'll probably start next weekend and will provide updates here!

That's awesome, Mike! I'm really looking forward to your updates. It's inspiring to hear how people's stories of physical fitness success.

[Cole]

Prompted by Frank's revival of this thread, and my falling off the workout wagon this winter, I decided to order one of those DVD trainer programs. I looked at both Insanity and P90X as well as the versions of each that are slightly shorter-workouts per day. I read and watched online reviews, and decided to get the P90X3 which is a 3-month program, 30 min. per day (not including cool down) at six days per week. I also ordered a chin up bar and resistance bands to use in the program. I never done a program like this before. I'll probably start next weekend and will provide updates here!

Right on Mike. What's your goal ? Just weight loss/general health ?

[Mike Dunn]

Right on Mike. What's your goal ? Just weight loss/general health ?

Moderate weight loss (20 lbs) but also stamina and tone. Wanna look lean and mean, not flabby and shabby .

[Lions]

Awesome, Mike! Ironically, one of my goals was to look less lean... and also less shabby.

[Mike Dunn]

The P90X3 program arrived Friday, as did the pull up bar and resistence bands. Today was my Day 0, which consists of body measurements, photos, and a fitness test. All of these are for comparison purposes when you're done the 90 day program. These are Tomorrow is Week 1, Day 1. I watched the first program just to get a sense of how it works, but the workouts begin in earnest tomorrow. Off we go!!!

I will say the entire product is very impressive -- the quality of the fitness manual and nutrition guide is quite good. My wife is also impressed, and she's very skeptical of things that are sold on infomercials. But after watching the intro DVD and reading the nutrition guide, she's even thinking of trying the program also.

I also registered at the company's website and was assigned a personal trainer (no extra charge!) There are also forums and online chats to ask questions.

I was going to post my 'before' beer belly picture but like Frank I'm too embarrassed. If by July its gone, I may be willing to do that .

[Cole]

Good luck Mike. No doubt if you stick with it and stay consistent you will see some results - the same can be said for most any form of fitness. The key however, is sticking with it.

And remember, it's not vital to follow the nutrition guide to a 'T' in order to benefit, but the closer you can get your diet on to something appropriate, the better off you'll be. About 80 per cent of achieving body goals has to do more with diet than exercise.

I am not sure what P90X3 has in terms of food tracking, but I would recommend a program like My Fitness Pal. I use it as a calorie counter/food diary log in order to keep on top of my diet and I've found it's quite helpful.

[roncollins]

Yes, the bottom line is that if you merely improve your diet, and add serious movement to your life, things get better. I wanna see the before and after photos. :)

[Mike Dunn]

Day 1 went well. I am now on 1800 calories per day. I am tracking my diet with myfitnesspal.com.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/ ... o626%22%3E

It has a linked phone app so I can add things I'm eating on the go. Pretty nifty. Yesterday I was about 100 calories under my goal.

After work I did the first workout program, Total Synergistics, which is really a mash-up of a different stuff, so a good intro. 16 different exercises crammed into 30 min. A couple I could not do, a few others I struggled with. I had an easier time with weight-bearing exercises than those relying on flexibility. I paused the DVD probably 4 times for a total of two minutes to catch my breath. At the end I was drenched in sweat and felt good. This morning only my calves are sore.

Onward!

[John]

Mike, when I clicked on your diary entry, it said it was private. Do you need to change the settings so we can view it?

[Mike Dunn]

Mike, when I clicked on your diary entry, it said it was private. Do you need to change the settings so we can view it?

Oops, you're right. I changed it to public. Should be viewable now.

[John]

Glad to see a daily apple in your diet, Mike. If you get bored of the ones you're eating, I know where you can find inspiration for new ones to try.

[Lions]

Well... I did it! 63 days of Insanity are now complete. As mentioned previously, I took a bit longer in my recovery week due to a vacation, but I'm proud of having completed the program once through. I haven't decided yet what's next. I may do some upper body weights and then give Insanity another go. I've got family visiting from out of town starting tomorrow so the timing is quite good for some rest. Especially since their 3 year old will be sleeping in my workout area. My legs are quite worn out from the last 4 weeks of higher intensity.

Insanity has a fit test you take every other week. I'm not sure what's a "good" score, if such a thing exists, but here's a comparison of my Day 1 versus my Day 63:

Switch Kicks: 42 -> 120
Power Jacks: 40 -> 50
Power Knees: 63 -> 114
Power Jumps: 20 -> 65
Globe Jumps: 6 -> 10
Suicide Jumps: 11 -> 17
Push-Up Jacks: 24 -> 33
Low Plank Obliques: 68 -> 90

[Jason]

Cole - I broke 300# dead lifting last weekend! Only 305 - so barely - but I'm coming for you!!!

In all seriousness, the rep was clean, but there was no way I would have been able to complete a second one. My GRIP wouldn't have held. I only use an over-over grip, so does anyone know what else I can do to improve this? Maybe farmer's walk?

Having my foot looked at for a third time next week. I had a cortisone injection a few weeks back that was unsuccessful in treating it. This has limited my ability to do much of any cardio - which is making me mad.

[Cole]

Cole - I broke 300# dead lifting last weekend! Only 305 - so barely - but I'm coming for you!!!

In all seriousness, the rep was clean, but there was no way I would have been able to complete a second one. My GRIP wouldn't have held. I only use an over-over grip, so does anyone know what else I can do to improve this? Maybe farmer's walk?

Having my foot looked at for a third time next week. I had a cortisone injection a few weeks back that was unsuccessful in treating it. This has limited my ability to do much of any cardio - which is making me mad.

Congrats Jason! And dude, the time is now for mixed grip! One hand supinated, one hand pronated on the bar. You know what I mean? I am surprised you have never used mixed grip before, it's how most people go when they lift heavy. At the same time, you will be amazed how much more you can lift just by switching to this grip alone.

You did 305 with double overhand? That's pretty impressive, I usually do warmups up to 275 and then switch to mixed grip for rest of warmups and work sets.

I wouldn't be surprised if just switching to mixed grip will allow you to almost instantly lift 30 to 50 pounds more on your max. You will be surprised how much easier it makes things.

Also, if grip is the issue, chalk always helps.

I think people usually recommend the following progression, move up to the next one when you can't lift any more with the previous.

Double overhand -- Double overhand with chalk -- Mixed grip -- Mixed grip with chalk -- Straps (although you'd have to get into some pretty serious weight to need straps I think. I've personally never used them or thought to use them).

There's also hook grip but I can't say I've ever used or tried that before and I don't know how easy it would be to implement.

And, keep coming at me, you'll have a pretty good chance to catch up over the next four months or so. During baseball season I doubt I'll be lifting too heavy/close to maxes, more so maintenance lifting. THat's kind of why I wanted to get that 400 pound milestone out of the way (and kind of wish I had just done 405 so I could say I could deadlift four plates, hah)

[Cole]

Well... I did it! 63 days of Insanity are now complete. As mentioned previously, I took a bit longer in my recovery week due to a vacation, but I'm proud of having completed the program once through. I haven't decided yet what's next. I may do some upper body weights and then give Insanity another go. I've got family visiting from out of town starting tomorrow so the timing is quite good for some rest. Especially since their 3 year old will be sleeping in my workout area. My legs are quite worn out from the last 4 weeks of higher intensity.

Insanity has a fit test you take every other week. I'm not sure what's a "good" score, if such a thing exists, but here's a comparison of my Day 1 versus my Day 63:

Switch Kicks: 42 -> 120
Power Jacks: 40 -> 50
Power Knees: 63 -> 114
Power Jumps: 20 -> 65
Globe Jumps: 6 -> 10
Suicide Jumps: 11 -> 17
Push-Up Jacks: 24 -> 33
Low Plank Obliques: 68 -> 90

Awesome Frank! It's an accomplishment alone just to make it through one of those programs without quitting and although I don't know what a lot of those exercises are, those are some solid number increases, so you've obviously made some great progress.

Let's see some before/after photos! Did you lose a lot of weight (if that was even your goal?)