Just try power cleans with no warm up one week. Then the next with 4 or 5 brief warm up sets. You will feel the difference.

There is a proper weight range where people will have optimal form on Oly variants. If I can reverse curl the weight. I'm not going to have good hang clean form, same for trying a 1RM. But to suggest that inferior form completely stops the muscles from warming up is dumb.

5'10
175lbs
Squat 3x5: 215
Bench 3x5: 145
Deadlift 1x5: 275
Press: 3x5: 105
Power Clean 5x3: 135

I've changed my focus to cutting, and gaining relative strength.

Primary goal: Lose fat, build/maintain muscle
Secondary goal: Clean+Jerk bodyweight

My last workout:

Squat 3x5x205
Push press 3x5x125
Power Clean 145... 1 single every 30 seconds
Chins 3x5xbw

I switched to push presses cause I stalled hard on the press, and I do power cleans once every 30sec-1min now because it just makes more sense to me.

Does this type of workout make sense for replacing SS workout B? I'd probably keep workout A as is.

As for diet...

Maintenance looks to be about 2500cals/day

How about 1500-1700 on nonworkout days and 2200-2400 on workout days? Obv ~200g protein no matter what.

Also, Thremp made a post recently that said that fat loss, strength, and conditioning should not be attempted all at the same time. It made sense... but I'd like to run mostly for mental reasons. 3 miles is really not that taxing for me... so...

M: SS Workout A
T: 3 miles
W: SS Workout B / Revised B (above)
Th: 3 miles
F: SS A
S: 3 miles
Su: Rest

I know that was a pretty long post for a relatively simple matter, but any advice and suggestions are appreciated.

i used to run 3mi as active recovery all the time. i just had to remind myself to take it easy. if you're on a deficit, you may have problems. try and get some protein intake before and after running. i doubt you'll progress in any of your lifts, but isn't going to be a focus.

i'd drop a workout, and replace it with interval or fartlek runs. then you'll at least get some sort of VO2 max increase out of your runs.

M: workout A
T: 3mi
W: intervals
Th:
F: workout B
S: 3mi

and imo, i'd probably stop doing this after 8 weeks max. drop the intervals and do more strength work after that.

yea. looks like a ton of work to do on a deficit. good luck.

Hey everyone. Didn't want to start a whole "blog" thread just for myself, so I figured I'd just chime in here now and then.

Just started P90X yesterday, and it's already kicking my ass. But I'm determined to follow through on this.

As of yesterday:
Height: 5'11" (just a smidge under actually)
Weight: 275 (Heaviest I ever got was 290 [end of college 3.5 years ago], was down to 265 about 6 months ago but hurt my knee and got back up to 275 during the recovery)
Age: 25

I honestly don't eat that unhealthily, but I eat too much, that's for sure. And I have an extremely unhealthy addiction to french fries. God damn do I love french fries. So I'm working on making better choices and trying to go for slightly smaller portions (it's a work in progress). I would hate life on some hardcore diet, so I'm working with reality as best I can to both lose weight, and enjoy what I'm eating. Luckily, I'm not at all picky, and I do generally like a lot of healthy foods, so I can find stuff I enjoy that isn't gonna keep killing me (I'll just really miss the french fries ).

As for the P90X, I'm doing the "Lean" variant, since obviously my need is weight loss much more than strength training. My best friend is also doing this with me (he's doing the standard variation), so it's nice to have another person to help keep me on track.

Observations so far: THIS **** IS HARD!

My first day (Monday) was Core Synergistics. I struggled through some of the excercises, mostly because you can only do so many push ups when you weigh 275. But whenever I ran into something I couldn't do, I'd try to modify it in some way that made it a bit easier for now. I expect after a few weeks I'll be able to do everything, but in the meantime, I'll just power through as best as I can.

Today was Cardio X. That was pretty intense for me. Best I usually do is a 25 minute walk/run, so a full 45 minute cardio workout kicked my ass pretty hard. Also, I was so damn sore from yesterday, that some of the things in todays workout were near impossible! Again, I powered through as best I could, always making sure to do SOMETHING even if I couldn't quite do it as well or as intensely as they did on the video.

All in all, I'm feeling great, although incredibly sore in places I didn't know I even had muscles. I'm enjoying the program though. I always struggled with motivation before I think because I find running/biking/treadmills/whatever to be very boring. In this, you're never doing any one thing longer than 2 minutes or so. I like that a lot.

I'll check in now and then and update my progress and what I think of the program overall. Mostly just wanted to make this post so I have one more thing I'm accountable for. Just that extra little bit of motivation to keep me going.

2 days down. 88 days to go. I'm even more determined than when I started!

OH! Also, as a follow up to my above post, is there anything to do to help alleviate sore muscles? Like are there any foods or supplements that are particularly good for keeping the soreness in check? That's the one big obstacle I'm feeling right now. It basically hurts to move and I'm only finished with day 2!

Making your own log would be better than logging in the beginner's questions thread. It sounds like you're very committed, but there are better ways to reach your goal than P90X and experienced posters in this forum would gladly offer advice if you're interested. In fact, everyone usually offers advice even when people aren't seeking it.

I just joined a gym a few weeks ago. I just checked out the FAQ. I understand that I'm supposed to have a lot of protein. The FAQ says to eat adequate protein (1-1.5g/lb lean body mass). I weigh about 290 lbs. Does this mean I should be taking in about 435 grams of protein a day? Or is it per pound of lean body mass? How would I even know what my lean body mass is? I'm about 6'5" with a large frame, I would guess an ideal weight for me would be about 220 lbs. So would I mulitply 220 by 1.5 and get 330 grams of protein a day or should I still be taking over 400 grams?

I've been eating a lot better and having 4 small meals a day with 2 protein shakes. I have my first one (about 50 g) when I get home from the gym and my second about 2 hours before I go to bed. I'm still pretty hungry when I go to bed though.

I was thinking of getting a personal trainer at the gym. The gym I go to is pretty cheap, $16 a month. I can get a trainer for $120 a month having 1 session per week/4 sessions per month. I'm thinking it's a good deal for me because it will keep me motivated, especially if I know I have a trainer watching me. I had a free session the other day and the guy made me work my ass off, which is good. He's also about my age and height. I don't have too many friends because I moved to Florida from NJ a year ago so I can't get a workout buddy like I could back in NJ. Ideas if getting a trainer is good or bad?

Yeah there might be better ways. But it's kind of fun, and since my buddy is doing it to, it's working out well. Honestly though I'm not all that interested in doing the all out speediest thing to get my weight down. I'm more interested in just doing SOMETHING and moving in the right direction (which would be a first for me). So jumping in on the P90X thing is what it's gonna be

nice: gogogo P90X transform your body and life!

mean: glad you needed an infomercial, money, and DVDs to tell your fat ass to work out hard and eat right for 90 days in order to get into shape

Well, I didn't pay for it...

Definitely start a log. No one has finished P90x in this forum. We'd like to see before/after pictures, and measure your 1RM squat or bench press or whatever it is they do in P90x to see if you gained any strength. Maybe max chin-ups?

Well, maybe I'll start a log since everyone thinks I should. Not getting pics though. I'm just not that comfortable with posting pics of myself. Sorry, just the "grew up as the fat kid" part of me I can't get over.

Just take before pics and don't post them until after the log is done.

i dunno, he is pretty huge, so im not sure that the whole "get strong, then cut" would be the best approach.

Being fat is an asset when strength training and eating at maintenance. See also... me.

And for everyone else: I am intested in seeing the outcome so please PLEASE let him do it unhindered (no one point him in the direction of the FAQ) unless he asks.

wrt pics: Im kind of in the same boat as you Kreellkeiser. I have before and ongoing after pics. I don't mind showing everyone that I WAS a fatass as long as I'm a f*cking predator in the last after pic.

I actually agree with you very much. In fact, I'm not that much smaller than him (~255 or so now at 6'1") and I'm going to be doing remnants of SS while cutting. I'll take pics every couple of weeks and we can compare after 90 days.

Had a quick google and came to these assumptions:
- bodybuilding belts are crap.
- single prong belts are slightly better than double prong because it is easier to get them worked in.

So here are my noob questions (couldnt find a definite answer after 10 min googling):

- Are there any other reasons why a single prong belt is better than a double prong?
- 10mm or 13mm. Why?
- What is the correlation between the S,M,L & XL and my waist measurements? An example would be helpful.

Hope I'm not asking for too much.

http://www.inzernet.com/detail_belt....RBELT_BUCKLE13
or
http://www.inzernet.com/detail_belt....LTS_BUCKLE10MM ?

To be fair though, as long as you can stick to your diet you are going to look far better than him because your starting off with far more LBM than he is.

Although I guess when people compare the two after pics they may start to understand why SS/strength training + cutting > p90X + wing and a prayer

True. It is unfair. But as you said, it may shed light on the total package. My journey will be a 12 month one with a 9 month "bulk" (maintenance) and 3 months of "cutting" (sport-specific training and GPP work at a deficit). I suspect I'll end up "cutting" for a few more months in-season, but we'll see how it shakes out. If I end up as a starting pitcher and logging upwards of 120 innings this year, I will definitely be "cutting" as strength training massively interferes with pitching. If I end up as a position player, I might switch sooner than expected (September is the current target date for re-training strength on a slight surplus).

I do just want to clarify something. I have no specific goal in mind right now in terms of weight loss. My ONLY goal is to get with something and prove to myself that I can stick with it. While P90X is a)kicking my ass already and b) not necessarily the #1 way to drop weight fast, it's just kind of the thing I fell into and I feel like it's a good fit at the moment. As I said, my buddy is doing it with me (he introduced it to me), and that's a huge extra motivational boost for me.

At the end of the 90 days, I'll be happy with any improvement in my body. I'll also reevaluate my plans. Maybe I'll like it and decide to repeat it, or maybe I'll try something else. Not at all concerning myself with that right now though. Simply starting this thing, and following through for 90 days is a HUGE (and I cannot stress that enough) step for me.

Again, pics aren't gonna happen. I know everyone loves before/after pics (hell, I love them too, they are great motivation), I just am never ever going to post pics of myself. Sorry, but that's just how it is.

EDIT: Also, as I mentioned above I'm doing the "Lean P90X" variant. So while there are some weight training days in it, that really takes a back seat to the cardio stuff. Basically 2 weight days a week, 3 cardio-type days, a yoga day, and a rest/stretch day. I'm not really expecting any drastic results in my weight lifting abilities, although I'm sure there will be SOME sort of improvement.

ya i almost added something like that to my post. actually learning how to stick with something is important and something a lot of the guys in this forum gloss over bc it is so ingrained in them.

I don't think this is an accurate assessment of my situation. I've been very honest about where I'm at and what my expectations are. My efforts are very simply to a) prove to myself I can stick with something and b) start moving my eating habits in a healthier direction.

Also, I think kyleb will undoubtedly have better results if he's both taking on a strict weight loss exercise program and a diet to match it.

I'm just going to prove to myself that I can get my lazy ass up and exercising EVERY DAY for 90 days straight.

After 90 days, we'll see what's what, and where I should go from there.

Exactly. My previous (failed) attempts haven't lasted long. I had a fairly successful endeavor last summer/fall where I dropped about 20 pounds by going "running" every other day and trying to get out and play basketball with a my brother and a couple friends 2 or 3 times a week for an hour or two(full court, 2 on 2).

In that few month period I went from being able to jog (VERY SLOWLY) for about 2 minutes before I had to stop, to being able to run a mile, or even a bit farther. I jacked up my knee playing basketball though and that sidelined my efforts through the winter.

But that attempt last year was BY FAR the most successful thing I've ever done in terms of my health and fitness. So that kind of tells you where I'm coming from. I am quite serious about this though. I've got 6 months basically until I start law school where my only time commitment is my 30 hour a week job. I figure now is the perfect time to start getting myself into some better habits with regard to my health.