Insurances.net

subject: P90X - For Weight-Loss Only? [print this page]

I was recently contacted by an old friend who had seen my results video and had been following my progress through my Facebook page. He posed to me the following scenario: "Hi Joel, will the P90X work for me? I weigh 133 pounds and don't want to LOSE weight, but rather, I'd like to GAIN muscle, up to about 150 pounds." This was an interesting question, because he's right, most people lose weight (like I did) while doing the P90X program (which is usually the impetus for most who start the program).

The P90X is NOT a weight loss program! Most people DO end up losing weight, because they start out overweight (like me). That being said, the exercises are difficult and are intended to provide extreme results. Your outcome, or yourvisible results, will be dependent upon your diet and nutrition. Can someone "bulk up" or add muscle by doing the P90X? Absolutely! In order to do something like that, in my opinion, you'd have to focus upon doing three things:

atlas_ad_2

1) Lifting heavy! Lift as much weight as possible, weight that puts you at failure by repetition number 6. When doing it this way, I often had extra time while the people in the video were still finishing. During this time I would do "ghost reps," or repetitions where I would simply do the motion of the exercise and just imagine resistance in my mind.

2) Running a Positive Calorie Balance. In an earlier Blog I talked about running a Negative Calorie Balance to lose weight. Logically, to gain weight you need to run it the other way around. Figure out what your daily, calorie burn is (including the workouts) and then ensure that your calorie balance is higher; how much higher can depend on many variables, including the genetics of the specific person involved. Obviously, the degree of your positive calorie balance can be adjusted up or down as necessary.

Also, shoot for between 1.0 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight and twice as many daily grams of carbohydrates. So, using my friend as an example, I'd like to see him shoot for between 133 199 grams of protein per day with 266 grams all the way up to 398 grams of carbohydrates per day. Yes, that seems like a lot, but keep in mind his objective.

3) Resting those muscles! Too often, people who want to build large, peaking biceps (or any muscle group) make the terrible mistake of working those muscles every day! On its face, this seems logical. But, in doing so they never provide their bodies an opportunity to recover and go "anabolic." There's a reason that the P90X program generally only works a muscle group once per week!

One other quick tip: minimize your cardio-type workouts while trying to gain weight and/or build muscle mass. Keep your cardio sessions to shorter, higher intensity, interval-type sessions rather than longer, lower intensity running or elliptical-type sessions. Have you ever seen a really muscular marathon runner? Probably not. Conversely, have you ever seen a sprinter that didn't look ripped and incredibly muscle-bound? Exactly!

Obviously, there can be many more things to consider as factors when trying to build muscle and add quality weight onto your frame. However, these are the things I would focus on closely if I were my friend and wanted to "build." There are great supplements available today that are geared specifically for this purpose. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Cheers!

More about the P90X.

Watch his amazing P90X Results.

P90X - For Weight-Loss Only?

By: Joel Sydanmaa

welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net)

(php7, mysql8 recode on 2018)