Workout Routines

[Arkuski]

wtf is triometrics

[Vendetta21]

Yeah I've been interested in starting up P90X because I don't like gyms how hard was it to learn all the routines?

[Arch0wl]

P90X could be useful as a cardio routine, but it can't substitute for resistance training, which is extremely beneficial for long-term fitness. If your goal is cardiovascular improvement, then P90X could be useful as I understand it's fairly high-intensity and high intensity interval routines are proven in their effectiveness.

Originally Posted by Vendetta21

because I don't like gyms

This is a really strange reason to pick an exercise routine. Why don't you like gyms?

Either way, you shouldn't limit yourself to cardio-only because of this.

[NorthStrong]

IMO lifting weights should be lifting weights for the sake of getting bigger stronger and faster, not so much a tool for conditioning and general exercise like P90X prescribes.

I'd much prefer to squat or deadlift and do some hill sprints and get quality work done on both, rather than lifting light weights and not really getting stronger, and not really doing enough conditioning with the weights to give me a conditioning effect.

[SCWolf]

Originally Posted by Vendetta21

I don't like gyms

Not that there's anything wrong with not liking the gym, but if you don't mind me asking, why don't you like the gym?

[Arch0wl]

You *can* get the benefits of going to a gym without actually going to the gym if you buy a power rack at home. Keep in mind that this is at least a $600 and probably closer to $1000 or even $1500 investment, though.

http://stronglifts.com/power-rack-bu...gym-equipment/

Also, if you live in a place where you can't make much noise or if you live in an apartment on a higher floor and your floors aren't made of concrete, you definitely don't want to buy a power rack. But if you don't want to go to gyms, this is probably the only way to get full-body resistance training by yourself.

It's far cheaper and more practical in most cases to get a gym membership, since even at $30/month with signup fees you're only paying $400 yearly.

However, speaking from purely anecdote, I feel like most people "don't like gyms" because they've postured themselves as somehow above 'meatheads' or people who invest time into their physicality. Going to a gym and lifting weights would be putting themselves on a hierarchy that they've tried to say isn't worthwhile, either because they're above it because they're 'smart' or above it because muscles = gender and they're enlightened progressives who don't see gender or whatever. People you've labeled 'douchebags' might be better than you at something you're trying to be good at. For a certain kind of person who has invested a lot of self-esteem into their taste or intellect or nonphysical traits this is a kind of subordination that they're not willing to bear.

[Mahou]

Originally Posted by Arch0wl

P90X could be useful as a cardio routine, but it can't substitute for resistance training, which is extremely beneficial for long-term fitness. If your goal is cardiovascular improvement, then P90X could be useful as I understand it's fairly high-intensity and high intensity interval routines are proven in their effectiveness.

It is. Very useful too if you're the type of person who likes to go out and run a lot like long distance runners; however, even though you're building up your cardio ability, I found it to be quite helpful to get some resistance training in. It helps you become faster.

[idoler]

Originally Posted by Mahou

It is. Very useful too if you're the type of person who likes to go out and run a lot like long distance runners; however, even though you're building up your cardio ability, I found it to be quite helpful to get some resistance training in. It helps you become faster.

yr not wrong, but if you look @ any world class sprinter they aren't training using only HIIT/conditioning/whatever programming. a lot of full body movement (bread and butter lifts; squats, DL), probably "explosive" work (power cleans). practicing your running while becoming a lot stronger through stressing your body with those types of lifts is without doubt more beneficial then solely conditioning yourself.

there's more than one type of "fast".

endurance/long distance runners wouldn't apply the same principles because to succeed at running long distances it is more useful to be light and train for huge periods of exertion.

[NorthStrong]

It's important to consider that sprinting is the highest velocity / stress that the human body can achieve. So if any world class sprinter tried to run an all out sprint, their training for the next week or so would be down, simply due to the fatigue induced by that sprint.

That same principal applies to all sports, and is why people train using both specific and general means, as well as training submaximally for the most part.

A marathoner does not run marathons to get better at them, they run portions of the race, work on running technique, etc. A 100m sprinter will run tempo runs, 40m sprints, etc.

Charlie Francis has a lot of great information on this topic, as he is / was the best sprint coach in the world really.

An interesting anecdote is that Ben Johnson used to be able to squat 600x5 (i believe that's the right amount of reps). He was pretty damn strong and fast.

Because fast is a product of strong, and strong is a product of big. That is why sprinters are jacked. They're jacked to facilitate their ability to be strong, which enables their speed to happen. (more or less)

[Reach]

There's absolutely no way Ben Johnson could squat 600x5 lol.

Wives tales.

I don't doubt he was strong though.

With that said I've been training to become faster lately.

[SCWolf]

Essentially there are far better things you could be spending your time and money on than P90x. You could be reaching your goals at a much more optimal rate.

BUT if you truly enjoy doing P90x, go for it. We're simply here to help you achieve your goals optimally with as little trivial dogshit as possible.

[NorthStrong]

Originally Posted by Reach

There's absolutely no way Ben Johnson could squat 600x5 lol.

Wives tales.

I don't doubt he was strong though.

With that said I've been training to become faster lately.

I wasn't there for it obviously, but 600x6 is a number that has popped up a lot. Heard that one from Chad Wesley Smith who is a very credible guy. Like I said though it is just an anecdote and was meant to show that strength and speed are intimately related which is what you extrapolated from it anyway.

Originally Posted by SCWolf

Essentially there are far better things you could be spending your time and money on than P90x. You could be reaching your goals at a much more optimal rate.

BUT if you truly enjoy doing P90x, go for it. We're simply here to help you achieve your goals optimally with as little trivial dogshit as possible.

This - if you wanna do p90x, do it with everything you have, and you'll get more out of it than you would if you were doing something "more better" with less effort.

[Reach]

I only say that because it would basically be a world record lift for his weight if it was raw.

I mean, Johnson was on steroids and was obviously jacked, so I'm sure he could squat a lot. Just not that much.

But yeah, of course, I agree with that conclusion. I've been working speed a lot lately and have been impressed with how hard sprints actually are. I've been having to drop leg sessions because sprints basically serve as a leg day at this point.

For those that do care, my routine is PPL and basically as follows:


Push:

1. Barbell Benchpress 4x5
2. Incline Dumbbell 3x8
3. Hammer Chest press 3x10
4. Cable flyes 3xFailure
5. Shoulder press (Been favoring machine lately but I also do barbell) 3x8
6. Tricep superset (usually rope pulldowns + dips) 3xfailure each. Been doing angled dips recently, holding myself more and more parallel each session. Goal is to eventually be able to do planche dips.
7. Lateral raises 3x15


Pull:

1. 1x5 heavy deadlift (add 5 lbs once I feel like I can pull 6 reps at a given weight) or 2x5 at a lighter weight.
2. Dumbbell curls 3x8, superset with Barbell shrugs 3x8
3. Pullups (weighted). L-sit pullups as of late to work abs at same time. Usually 3 sets to failure -1
4. Cable rows 3x8
5. Incline seated curls 3x8
6. Machine curl 3x10, superset with abdominal work (as of late, L-sit holds, increasing angle and duration as I can)

Legs:

1. Hack squat 4x8
2. Romanian Deadlift 3x8
3. Leg extension 3x10

Calves are superset through all of these sets. I try to do at least 4x15 seated calves and 4x15 standing calves.


Misc: Calves EOD at home
Bodyweight training and sprint training 1x a week each.

[Adamaja456]

Originally Posted by Arkuski

wtf is triometrics

its various one legged and two legged squat exercises. my quads are hard as a rock and becoming increasingly defined, id highly recommend giving it a try.

Originally Posted by Vendetta21

Yeah I've been interested in starting up P90X because I don't like gyms how hard was it to learn all the routines?

not hard whatsoever. starting up original p90x or starting up the new p90x3 that just came out dec of 2013? ive done both. i did original p90x back in 2010 and went from 200 lbs down to 175 in the 90 days and bulked up on muscle pretty dang good, im sure not as much if i would of done weights at a gym every day but it worked for me. for the original, its easy to pick up because he takes time to explain every single exercise and each workout is about an hour with yoga being 1 1/2 hours. doing p90x3 this year, gone from 210 down to 187 now and im on day like 105(doing it again) and i prefer this over the original p90x because its moreso dedicated to pushing yourself and keeping your heart rate up through the entire workouts(well the cardio ones at least). but because these workouts are only 30 mins, he doesnt explain how to do the various workouts that often, instead it just jumps right into it so you have to watch him and then pick it up but really, after you see the videos once or twice, you pick it up fast so learning all the routines definitely isnt a problem. but yea, like others have been saying, p90x3 lean calendar definitely works for cardio. cheers

[Arch0wl]

Originally Posted by Adamaja456

i did original p90x back in 2010 and went from 200 lbs down to 175 in the 90 days and bulked up on muscle pretty dang good, im sure not as much if i would of done weights at a gym every day but it worked for me.

You didn't "bulk up on muscle" doing P90X, especially not when you're going from 200lb to 175lb in 90 days. You lost body fat and the loss of fat revealed existing muscle.

[Mahou]

25 pounds of loss fat in 90 days is very impressive Arch. Good job.

[SCWolf]

Originally Posted by Adamaja456

went from 200 lbs down to 175 in the 90 days and bulked up on muscle pretty dang good

Unfortunately you probably built little to no muscle whatsoever, considering you need to be eating a sufficient amount of food to build muscle (caloric surplus) yet you lost 25lbs. The fact that you lost 25lbs means that you were at a caloric deficit. The two contradict each other.

It's progress nonetheless though, so congrats on that.

[Arch0wl]

Originally Posted by Mahou

25 pounds of loss fat in 90 days is very impressive Arch.

This is what I wrote:

"You didn't "bulk up on muscle" doing P90X, especially not when you're going from 200lb to 175lb in 90 days. You lost body fat and the loss of fat revealed existing muscle."

I'm not sure where in this sentence you got the impression that 25lb of fat loss wasn't impressive.

[meno_rocks123]

Just finished my first week of lifting and have been building a routine for the next 2-3 months. Suggestions welcome as I'm not super knowledgeable in the area and would prefer to be as efficient as I can.

Monday:
Back squat 5/3/1
Wide-grip pull downs 3x15
Horizontal pull up 3x10
Seated Rows 3x10
Leg curls 3x10
Leg extensions 3x10

Tuesday:
Flat bench 5/3/1
Incline bench 3x10
Shoulder press 3x12
Flyes 3x12
Dips 3x10

Thursday:
Deadlift 5/3/1
Wide-grip pull downs 3x15
Horizontal pull up 3x10
Seated Rows 3x10

Friday:
Shoulder press 5/3/1
Incline bench 3x10
Close grip bench 3x10
Flyes 3x12
Dips 3x10

I supplement this with cycling on wednesday or saturday usually and volleyball on tuesdays. I also am just finished recovery from a surgery on my left shoulder which liked to dislocate frequently and my right shoulder just semi-dislocated last week so I have to be careful about fucking it up and requiring surgery as well.

[NorthStrong]

Meno you need to work your legs. Squats and deadlifts are the only thing that are good for them that you have. Leg curls are ok. Leg extensions can fuk up knees in a major way over time.

What are your numbers right now for the main lifts? You very likely need less variety, and more of the important things.

What will do more of your back - deadlifts, bent over rows with a barbell, and chin ups, or various grips of pulldows and cable rows? If you can't do pullups / chins then pulldowns are fine though.

Be cautious with the amount of pushing that you're doing for your shoulder, especially the inclines. Some people find them aggravating, some don't. Just be aware of it.

I'd switch it to something like this personally. (assuming your goals are to be bigger and stronger)

Squat 5/3/1 + first set last, 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps
Stiff Leg Deadlift 5x5 @ 75%
Lunges 4x8/leg
Heavy Ab work

Bench 5/3/1 + first set last, 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps
Overhead Press 5x10 (boring but big)
Bent Over Rows 5x10
Pulldowns / ups 5x10
DB Curls 3x10

Deadlift 5/3/1
Front Squat 5x5 @ 75%
Lunges 4x8/leg
Heavy ab work

Press 5/3/1 + first set last 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps
Bench Press 5x5 @ 75%
Bent Over Rows 5x10
Pullups / downs 5x10
Tricep isolation whatever you want for like 3x10

Just something like that as a beginning template - play around with it after every couple months. The exercises that say 5x5 @ 75% are to have a training max that increases every cycle as well.

Or if you're a total beginner this wouldn't really be the best thing for you imo.