The Man Cave

The beauty of P90X and the other Beachbody products is that you really can do them at home, in the living room, and without much equipment. I did my entire first round in the living room, in front of the family TV. It was good, but a little inconvenient for my wife. With our son getting older, and just being busy in general, I had to find a place and time to work out. I relocated to the basement and the Man Cave (PlyoX is in the garage). I also began to workout at 4 am. Yes it is a little extreme, but I have 30-40 minute commute and needed time in the evenings for my family. It was a little difficult to get up in the beginning, but I now really look forward to it. I haven't missed the sleep at all. It also sets up my eating pretty well (starts my first meal at 5:30ish).

So what does your workout area look like? Is it a specialized room or temporally converted living room? Well here is my space!

The Man Cave - Main space...

I play the DVDs on my computer and pump some of my own tunes in place of the P90X stuff. Lots of junk.










Manly Yoga Mat - Let over carpet... pad attached!

And yes that is a rifle... I ran out of cases. I had taken one from my father and he needed it back. It is a little Marlin 336 in .35 Remington. Fun lever action!

Oh and the piano came with the house... :(
I had a friend look at it once and say, "when I was working for a moving company, we called those widow makers... we always charged extra to get those out."









Mirror, Weights, and Chuck

With the adjustable dumbbells and some odds and ends, I can do it all. I had another Olympic set of weight and use it for rows (lawnmowers). Tony is right about getting strong from pull-ups. I am now pulling 75 lbs for rows.













So what does your space look like? I would love to see it! Mine is nothing glamorous... but it works. Keep bringing it and God bless.

My Sample Diet

Nutrition is 80% of the P90x equation. I really get a kick out of people who say that they are doing P90x, just not following the diet... I mean what do you expect! Garbage in garbage out. Without proper nutrition, you will not come anywhere near the amazing results P90x can give. If you are truly investing an hour a day and really bringing it with each workout, why wouldn't you fuel you body properly. It is really sad to hear of people that are discouraged, even after really pushing, because they failed to see the need for great nutrition.

I gave an overview of how I approach my diet in an earlier post. Here is an actual sample day of what I ate for the first 30 days. Again, I started on Fat Shredder (50/30/20) percentages at roughly 1600 calories.

Wake-Up - Work out (On an empty stomach is fine. You body is required to pull on fat stores for energy. You just have to Bring IT and be in the right mind set.)

Post Workout (5:15)
P90x Recovery Formula
1.5 Scoop Whey

Snack (8:30)
Pure Protein Bar
Apple

Lunch (12:30)
Chicken Breast (6-8 oz)
V-8 Low Sodium (12 oz)
String Cheese
Baby Carrots

Snack (3:00)
Jack's Jerky
1 scoop whey

Dinner (5:30)
Chicken (6-8 oz)
Broccoli (1.5 cups)
Spinach Salad

Snack (8:00)
FF Cottage Cheese (0.5 - 1 cup) Cottage cheese is a casein protein. It is slow digesting. Great for the night and before bed. This lets your body keep working into the evening. 

Some things changed based on my needs. I have found that you need to be recording all of your food. Use myfitnesspal.com or fitday.com, but you must track. If I went high in an area, I would dial it in with changes to dinner. I found it easier to go high on protein. I avoid all added sugar (only fruit). Only water for a beverage, no juice, beer, wine, soda, etc. I have skim milk occasionally... it is just a lot of calories for a drink. I do use some water flavor packs (zero sugar and zero calorie). With moving to 1900 calories, my portions have increased and I have added more carbs to my early meals and snacks (i.e. extra English muffins, brown brice, etc.). I noticed a drop in energy around day 38.. my body was asking for more and I needed to give it what it needed!

Supplements
I am using a few supplements to fill in the gaps of my diet and to get the most from my work.Whey is needed for almost everyone. It is really hard to get enough protein from whole foods. Whey is a fast snack too. I use the P90x Recovery Formula (40 g carbs, 10 protein, creatine) only on cardio days. Otherwise my post workout has a banana added for fast carbs. I am using creatine in the form of Gaspari's SizeON. This is an intra-workout supplement with tons of amino acids and protein peptides. I also take 5 g of straight creatine with my afternoon shake. For a pick me up and nitric-oxide boost, I use Gaspari's SuperPumpMAX. This has helped a lot with my workouts... 4 am is early and this gets things started. Lastly, I am taking a multi-vitamin from GNC. This rounds out my vitamin and nutrient needs.

Day 45 - Half way!

Day 45

This is a really cool point in my program. I am feeling amazing and I couldn't be happier with what I am seeing. I feel so fortunate to have the ability and time to physically train like this. It hasn't been easy, but it has been worth it. 


Discipline is the one character trait I have placed at the top of my goals for this round. My first round was good (followed the original portion guide), but this time it is serious. My men's group studied a book by Bill Heybels about character – who are you when no one is looking. The trait of discipline jumped right out at me, and equating it to delayed gratification drove the point home. As a society, we do a horrible job putting off even acceptable, good pleasure and we want everything to be here and now. I have found such peace and satisfaction in disciplining myself. It has poured over into all areas of my life. My walk with the Lord, my relationship with my wife, my career, and of course my physical training. If you are in the mood for a good read, it was really convicting. 


Keep bringing it and let your determination for your workouts and diet enter all other areas of your  life. It is also not my adaptation of a great P90x quote by a TeamRipped member, but remember, "Do your best, and don't forget the rest!" Your life is so much more than one thing. Working out is only beneficial if your priorities are straight. Serve the Lord first and foremost and do all thing as unto him. My determination and self-discipline may have got a kick start from P90x, but now it is my determination to do all for the glory of God that allows me to BRING IT!


Share the Gospel!
Here is the God that I serve. The Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is what he has done. We have all fallen short of the high calling of God. There is nothing we can do on our own to put us back into a perfect relationship with him. We are all sinners, fully depraved. God loves us so much that he sent his son, the Lord Jesus, to Earth. Christ was perfect. Never sinning... the only one worthy of his Father's calling. Christ gave up his life, submitting to death on a cross. His death has paid your debt to God. He was raised from the grave on the third day. He offers forgiveness and atonement if you only accept him as your Lord and Savior. 


Many Blessings!
David 

Crazy SelectTech Sale - BowFlex!!!

From www.teamripped.com and the wonderful Coach Wayne:


"It’s Back!!  Hurry!  3 days only, for those of you who have been waiting for the next Bowflex sale!!!

I know there was a big response last time Bowflex had a sale on the Selectech dumbbells, and one of our loyal teamRIPPED members (Jonathan B.) just alerted me they are back on sale today (the same deal as last time), where the 552 dumbbells are 40% off (which makes the set $239 plus tax).  FREE SHIPPING!!

If you missed it last time and want them, go for it!  I got some when they were on sale and I’m loving them.

Promotion code at checkout = D4PFSE2

Keep bringing it gang!"

That's right, go to bowflex.com and go to the store-front... you really can't beat this price! FREE SHIPPING! Act now and get some great P90x gear!!!

My Coach!

New blog = lots of posts. I figure I have been sitting on these thoughts for over a month now... I have mentioned my coach a couple times now, and I thought I should share his story with you. He is the reason I am so pumped about this program. Wait until you see his transformation, you will know what I mean. I knew if he could do it, I could copy him! Again, his name is Wayne and he is awesome. He is a believer and is very open about his faith in Jesus. I love that about him. Wayne is the father of five and an orthodontist. Here he is!

As always, you can find his work at www.teamripped.com!

Nutrition Overview

I am amazed at what difference I am seeing with my change in nutrition. I completed the first round of P90x using their nutrition guide. They calculated me as needing Level II, or 2400 calories daily. This was great! I ate a lot of good food... but it was too much food to really drop my body fat. Here is a quick overview of what I am doing this time around.

P90x Calculations
RMR = Weight x 10               (So, 160 x 10 = 1600)
Add
Daily Burn of 20% of RMR    (1600 x 0.2 = 320) Total now, 1920.
Add
600 calories for the approximate P90x workout.  TOTAL 2520!  That put me square in the level II range.

That is what I stayed at for the entire first round. On the advice of my coach, I decided to run a deficit. I landed on a 900 calorie deficit for the first 30 days. I wanted to hit roughly 1600 calories. You won't drop fat quickly without a healthy deficit... don't worry about going too low, males above 1200 is still safe and females 800... after that you will lose muscle.

P90x is broken into 3 phases for workouts and nutrition. Phase I of nutrition is called the fat shredder phase. It has your calories coming 50% from protein, 30% from carbs, and 20% from fats. You can stay in this as long as you want. Moving to the next phases will slow fat loss. In order to know if I have hit these percentages, I have tracked everything that eat (I mean everything!). I use a free online program called fitday.com. Other programs exist and there are apps as well for you tech people.

I have now bumped to 1800 to 1900 calories as I have lost a fair bit of fat and need the extra calories to sustain my energy levels during my workouts and day (with less fat to pull on for energy you will slow muscle growth if you stay too low). I am about to move to the second phase of the nutrition program as well. My percentages will change to 40/40/20 (P/C/F). Phase III is 20/60/20.... crazy carbs, but your body is a million dollar sports car by then and burns everything you put in it!

Lastly, I eat every 2.5 - 3 hours. This keeps your metabolism rocking all day long. I am also not cheating. I only eat items from the P90x nutrition plan. I use whey to hit my protein needs and eat extremely clean! No beer, no cookies, no sweet, no soda... (a little diet as a treat once and while). You really need to decide, commit, and then you can succeed with this program.

I know this is a little rushed and brief... but it gives a good overview of what goes into the nutrition aspect of P90x.

Day 1 - Day 30

Here are the photos from Day 1 and Day 30. All from eating clean and working hard...

Here is just this morning... I want that 6-pack badly!

Day 42 - Almost halfway home...

So I decided to start this blog a little later into the program than I would have liked. I do however feel much more informed on the topic of P90x and what goes into making it a success. Posted here will be updates and encouragement for those wishing to complete P90x or those just wanting to following along with my progress.

Last fall, Aug 2010 - Nov 2010, I completed one round of P90x. I committed to the program fully and used the portion plan that was included with the nutrition guide. I ended up getting stronger and losing 21 lbs. (186 to 165), but I never got ripped like the infomercials. I can hear a lot of people saying... well those are the infomercials... you can't expect those results. But I didn't buy it... did I really go hard enough? So I took some time off and returned to some of my less than desirable eating habits.

After the New Year, my wife got started working out and frankly I was jealous. I looked for a way that I could work out as well. P90x is a large commitment. The DVDs are all about one hour in length, and with a 6 month old... an hour in the evening was not an option for long. Planning what to eat takes time as well. Erin made it possible for me to work out in the evening after John went to bed, but it was getting old. I decided to move to morning workouts, and I can tell you it was the best decision yet. I feel great before work and love knowing that I have it already accomplished for the day. It is never hanging over my head.

I attribute my success and progress so far with my coach. Beachbody uses free coaching and coaches as a way to sell their products. It is MLM, but the guy I found is truly just passionate about fitness and the BB products (he even told me not to buy something because of the price... he is truly a great guy). His name is Wayne Wyatt. He might just have the most amazing transformation I have ever seen. I looked at what he did in 90 days and said, "I must know what he did... I could copy him exactly!" His site, www.teamripped.com, has been a HUGE resource. Wayne directed me on a deficit diet. Back to my first round, I was eating 2400-2600 calories a day. Fine for my weight, and I still lost some, but way too much to really drop fat. I settled on a 1600 calorie plan for the first 30 days at P90x's Fat Shredder percentages (50 pro/ 30 carb/ 20 fat).  I have stayed at those percentages but bumped my calories to roughly 1800-1900. Man has it worked! I started this round at 168 lbs. and by day 30, I was down to 159 while still growing muscle.

I currently am hovering at 158 lbs. I have gone as low as 156, but I seem to be staying put as I lose body fat and gain muscle. I am hoping to put back on some weight in the form of lean muscle through the last 30 days. I will have to adjust my intake and percentages to achieve it.

So, that is a quick overview! Stick around and check in. I will do my best to post frequently and with posts that go into more detail about the actual program and things that I have found helpful.

God Bless,
David