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[SteveMeister]

P90X2 has arrived. Got the Ultimate set with DVDs. The power stands seem very robust, and much more stable than my old push-up stands although not as tall. Hopefully the 55cm stability ball will be ok for my height (5'11"). Rumble roller looks painful. Medicine balls seem very high quality.

I hope to get a second pair of medicine balls later.

Asylum is going well. This morning was Relief (shorter, less intense X-Stretch) and tomorrow is my first Game Day. I did not collapse in a heap this week like I did during Strength in the first week I'm struggling with doing some of the moves properly, they take a bit of coordination that I haven't reached just yet. Overall it's super tough but I can tell I'm getting a lot out of it. And the workouts are pretty short, usually around 40-45 minutes including stretches & cool down.

I'm on the mailing list for Asylum volume 2 which is coming out in October. I'll be doing that after P90X2. And I think I'm going to do Les Mills Combat as well. So many programs, so little time...

 

[Harry Potter]

From the short clips I've seen, Asylum 2 looks like a good sequel. Seems like they added more weight training elements which I felt were lacking in volume 1. Looking forward to it. Off to do Yoga. Second to last one before I start Body Beast. I think I'm going to try and work in Yoga to that schedule though. Wouldn't feel right not doing it.

 

[BeautifulMemory]

You're a better man than I! Congrats on knocking that one out. I knocked out some Chinese food, and will be very ready for Monday's Beautiful Memory 30-day eat right work hard challenge.

On that note, anyone else want to get in on that with me? 30 days with no cheat meals and following whatever exercise program you're currently working?

Just notices this post Lane, thought the challenge started already ;D

And if it helps when you get the cravings, for me personally I always pick eating one extra apple or a bag of peanuts than downing another burger or whatnots

Heck, drink another protein shake too!

 

[SteeloDMZ]

Just finished Balance and Power and with that the first phase of X2 round 2. Took pics: both are from today but with different lighting.

I'm thrilled with the results so far. I'm definitely seeing a lot of improvement on my back, which is surprising considering that phase 1 has only 4 sets of pull-ups/chin-ups during the whole week. I absolutely can't wait to see the changes during phase 2, which is loaded with those exercises.

However, as nice as the visual improvements are, what has impressed me the most is how my stamina and overall performance has sky-rocketed. I've spoken marvels about P90X2 in the past, but this program just doesn't cease to impress me. Workouts like Plyocide and Total Body used to destroy me, and even though they are still very challenging, I feel I can push myself even harder and my reps and form are consistently getting better compared to the previous week.

Now that I start phase 2 on Monday my goals are to keep pushing myself, do every rep with the best form possible, and more importantly, eat well. I think I started my second round of X2 eating well, but then there were days where I was really busy (and other times due to complete laziness from my part) where I just barely ate or ate something not so good. I gotta fix that and start eating more, and, eat more vegetables, which is still something that I'm not doing.

Guys, remind me to eat my veggies every day!

 

[BeautifulMemory]

go eat some veggies now! Very nice progress! Agreed 100% on X2. I love PAP lower

 

[tch]

Impressive stuff Steelo! Keep it up.

Finally admitted defeat and went in to the doctors today. It's been 5 days since my last workout. Really hope the drugs kick in and I can get it back into gear tonight or tomorrow. Worst part of it all is I've barely eaten anything over the past few days. Feels bad man.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

So Asylum is worth doing? Is it more like Insanity than P90X?

 

[Harry Potter]

So Asylum is worth doing? Is it more like Insanity than P90X?

I swear you ask this once a month.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

I swear you ask this once a month.

I have asked about Asylum before but don't remember ever getting a direct answer. Usually it's just like "Yeah, it's cool."

I'm doing the X/X2 hybrid now, just trying to decide if I do Asylum after, or jump into Asylum 2. Or if they are even worth doing.

 

[SteveMeister]

I have asked about Asylum before but don't remember ever getting a direct answer. Usually it's just like "Yeah, it's cool."

I'm doing the X/X2 hybrid now, just trying to decide if I do Asylum after, or jump into Asylum 2. Or if they are even worth doing.

Asylum is pretty different from Insanity. It's not about "Max Interval Training". If you've done Insanity and done the Max Interval Sports Training workout you'll have a better idea of what's in store.

Asylum's intent is sports training -- so you do workouts that are meant to increase endurance, improve your jump height, increase your strength, and work on your core & back, leading up to "Gameday" workouts which are reminiscent of Max Interval Sports Training (but much tougher).

Exercise programs (around 45 minutes each)
- Speed & Agility: A lot of work with the Agility ladder & jump rope
- Strength: Dumbbells, push-ups, pull-ups
- Back to Core: Back exercises, lots of them. Plus core & legs. Jumping jacks in the warmup but no plyo.
- Vertical Plyo: Plyometric workout in conjunction with the agility ladder.
- Relief: Stretching, a bit of yoga (30 minutes)
- Game Day: Like Max Interval Sports Training on steroids, about 65 minutes
- Overtime: Done after the second & third Game Days, an extra 15 minutes of work

And of course it's only 30 days long. In general the warm-ups are tough and the stretching before & after is minimal.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Thanks Steve. So I'd need a ladder at least. Hmm. Is it a solid fat burner too?

 

[SteveMeister]

Thanks Steve. So I'd need a ladder at least. Hmm. Is it a solid fat burner too?

Yeah, the base kit includes a ladder & jump rope, you'll also need wide resistance bands, a chin up bar and dumbbells.

And it is absolutely a calorie burner. These workouts are TOUGH!

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Nice. I've been stuck at 204 or so for a few months. Hoping the X/X2 hybrid program can get me dropping again. Insanity got me into better shape, but it didn't make me drop weight.

 

[BeautifulMemory]

I swear you ask this once a month.

How's your shoulder?

 

[Hawkian]

Wow. Without a doubt, that is the most balanced whole-body workout I've ever done. Even though I've done all of those moves before, my body was not ready for that order of exercises. Brutal.

I took about 15 minutes to warm up, 10 of which was with the foam roller. The first round is a good, quick ramp-up and gets your heart pumping. I believe the "break" exercises are good in terms of slowing down the intensity, but still being engaged. The rest of the rounds are a good balance of Yoga, Abs, Shoulders, Arms and Cardio.

It was certainly refreshing to do moves I haven't done in a while like Steam Engine and Screamer Lunges, it just furthers the whole notion of muscle confusion.

Two thumbs up and highly recommended! I will probably use this as my Friday exercise (followed by Yoga X2 and Recovery & Mobility the next two days).

Thanks for outlining the workout SteeloDMZ!

I was doing these on Saturdays for a while, and really enjoyed it. Just crushes you whole-body. Some of the tougher moves near the end are incredibly brutal but it feels great afterwards.

Had a couple rough weeks sick and hurt my knee yesterday (doing something awesome- I banged it on my counter getting out of my desk chair) so I'm kind of sidelined at the end of my second cycle of P90X. A melancholy feeling- but, I'm really looking forward to a modified Classic phase next starting out as soon as I'm feeling 100% or close.

 

[SteveMeister]

I don't know why I didn't notice it before, but one cool thing about logging your workouts at the Super Gym on TeamBeachbody.com is that it keeps track of the number of workouts you've logged and tells you how many you've completed overall when you finish one.

So today, which is day #269 of 2011, I completed workout #211. That's a little over 78% or roughly 5.5 workouts per week on average.

Unfortunately I don't see a way to view that number after you "dismiss" the workout completed page, so you have to record it when you finish a workout. I also don't know if that number includes workouts marked as "Completed Offline", which sometimes occurred when using the P90X app instead of the Super Gym website.

 

[antti-la]

Day 32. So phase 2 started this week.

Still, not cheaten once with the diet and have done every workout including all stretches and I must admit it has been hard as fuck for a comfort-loving person like myself. Some days you feel you've made no change at all, miss your old lifestyle, but just keep pushing it, give it a couple days and you feel like a superman again.

Rest week was nice otherwise but... It seemed that many people seem to like Core synergistic, for me it was one of the most annoying workouts yet. I guess i have pretty weak core, also suspect that has to do why i can't do fifer scissors (just cant lift my legs up straight), also why my hamstrings are tight as fuuuuuuuck.

Took my Day30 photos which was a wee bit disappointing experience, but i guess you really start to see the most dramatic change near the end of the program.

Damn that Chest, Shoulders and Triceps destroyed me yesterday. I guess it's not a good sign when your chest and tris are burning to toast in first exercise, those slow motion push ups.. ugh.. But I did good, although i had to modify a couple push ups. Plyo push-ups... one hand push ups... yeah right.

 

[SteeloDMZ]

Keep at it man. I remember I couldn't do a single plyo push up in the past. Now it's one of my favorite moves in X land.
---------

Also, PSA: Tony chat today at 4PM pacific. They will be talking about silly excercise gadgets among other things.

 

[SteveMeister]

Keep at it man. I remember I couldn't do a single plyo push up in the past. Now it's one of my favorite moves in X land.
---------

Also, PSA: Tony chat today at 4PM pacific. They will be talking about silly excercise gadgets among other things.

You mean "gidgets & gadgets and things that don't work!"

Watched the Les Mills Combat chat from yesterday. Preorders start on 10/1. I'm definitely going to do this. Just need to figure out when. Right now I'm thinking Asylum Volume 2 after P90X2 in January, and then Les Mills Combat instead of Body Beast.

 

[deadlast]

...
Watched the Les Mills Combat chat from yesterday. Preorders start on 10/1....

Excellent I was just getting ready to ask about this. Did they say when the Program will hit the streets? Also can I access the chat or highlights from the chat?

I'm very interested in this program.

 

[SteeloDMZ]

Les Mills Combat looks really cool. The promo video said that it will be out this fall. Very interested in doing this and Body Beast after I finish my current X2 round.

 

[ToxicAdam]

If I were a billionaire, I would make a museum to house all those incredibly terrible exercise machines that people have bought over the years. It would be a blast to be able to try them out and have a laugh.

I would dedicate an entire wing to Tony Little.

 

[Harry Potter]

How's your shoulder?

It's doing better, thanks. Lukily it was nothing serious.

 

[TOM f'N CRUISE]

just started Body Beast yesterday. i can see how you would get big on this one... the first day was brutal

 

[SteeloDMZ]

Tony chat in 30 minutes.

 

[LaneDS]

I am back. Didn't workout for the past seven days (ran 5k last Tuesday, then did nothing since). Ate shitty, felt shitty. Starting up again now. 30 days of clean eating (per Beautiful Memory's suggestion) starting as soon as I post this, or my GAF Diet Sherpa nekura will be pissed.

Since it's late, I am doing PAP upper to not upset the neighbors, but tomorrow I'm just jumping in with Insanity day three (or the Fit Test) and following that schedule from there.

Six more months on the clock for me.

 

[Ixian]

I am back. Didn't workout for the past seven days (ran 5k last Tuesday, then did nothing since). Ate shitty, felt shitty. Starting up again now. 30 days of clean eating (per Beautiful Memory's suggestion) starting as soon as I post this, or my GAF Diet Sherpa nekura will be pissed.

If it makes you feel any better, on Saturday I discovered peanut butter filled pretzels at Costco. Thankfully Saturdays are a workout day for me so I just skipped dinner after eating way too many, but god damn they were amazing. Costco is a dangerous place for a binge eater like me, had to trash those things after I realized what I had done.

But yes, beware my wrath. Off to go lift some heavy shit now in case I need to kick your ass later (just kidding, I'm still pretty weak ).

 

[LaneDS]

Oof, didn't even get through half of PAP Upper... what an incredible difference diet makes on these workouts. I have eaten like crap this week (and had stomach problems... wonder if there's a connection!) and it absolutely showed. I tried though! More importantly, 30 damn days without cheating.

I'm going to type up what I'm allowing myself and disallowing myself and will post it for both accountability and also feedback.

nekura, what kind of lifting are you doing? Why do you say you're still weak?

 

[Ixian]

Oof, didn't even get through half of PAP Upper... what an incredible difference diet makes on these workouts. I have eaten like crap this week (and had stomach problems... wonder if there's a connection!) and it absolutely showed. I tried though! More importantly, 30 damn days without cheating.

I'm going to type up what I'm allowing myself and disallowing myself and will post it for both accountability and also feedback.

nekura, what kind of lifting are you doing? Why do you say you're still weak?

Squats/benches/deadlifts, and because I enjoy self-deprecation! In all honesty though, I'm not that unhappy with my numbers considering I've only been seriously lifting for six weeks. and I know they'll continue to get better over the next year.

Looking forward to seeing your plan later. I know you said you drink a lot of diet soda, is that still true? If so, I'm curious how much water you drink per day. I drink waaay too much diet soda, but I drink 150+ ounces of water per day so I feel a bit less guilty about it.

Down to 160 this week. Fighting for every pound these days considering I'm doing a cut/recomp, and still so much to go! Where's my time machine...

PS: Stay the fuck away from the Pizza OT. I read all 19 pages yesterday and only barely made it through without rushing to the grocery store and snapping up a bunch of frozen pizzas to devour. So much goodness in that thread.

 

[SteeloDMZ]

Holy cow, Plyocide smoked me out today. It got considerably harder than last week, which I assume is because yesterday workout (Chest/Back/Balance) is much more demanding than X2 Core.

Thank God tomorrow is a rest day.

Also, these past two days I've been sticking to my goal of eating more veggies. I had a tomatoe, yellow pepper, lettuce and carrot today. Tomorrow I'm gonna eat broccoli, more peppers and probably some red cabbage.

 

[Ixian]

Holy cow, Plyocide smoked me out today. It got considerably harder than last week, which I assume is because yesterday workout (Chest/Back/Balance) is much more demanding than X2 Core.

Thank God tomorrow is a rest day.

Also, these past two days I've been sticking to my goal of eating more veggies. I had a tomatoe, yellow pepper, lettuce and carrot today. Tomorrow I'm gonna eat broccoli, more peppers and probably some red cabbage.

I love peppers so much; bell peppers and jalapenos with every meal I eat. Broccoli on the other hand...

 

[Harry Potter]

I love peppers so much; bell peppers and jalapenos with every meal I eat. Broccoli on the other hand...

Give broccolini a try. I like the stems more than the florets when it comes to broccoli and broccolini is pretty much all stems. Satue it with some olive oil and garlic. Delicious.

 

[SteeloDMZ]

I actually love broccoli. That + red peppers, tuna and a tea spoon of light mayo..... Yum!

 

[Ixian]

Give broccolini a try. I like the stems more than the florets when it comes to broccoli and broccolini is pretty much all stems. Satue it with some olive oil and garlic. Delicious.

Olive oil has too much fat for me but I'll give it a go. If nothing else some zero cal sauces will fix the taste issues. :b

 

[LaneDS]

188.4 lbs to start the month of no cheating (still going to post a list of what I'm allowing myself, when I have a moment). I am hopeful to be under 180 by the time 60 days passes (the idea is to do Insanity so long as my knees allow for it, otherwise I'll switch back into P90X/X2). I'm 5'8", for reference, and think I can lose the first 3-4 pounds really quickly since I just ate terribly for a week.

As usual, posting for accountability and tracking's sake.

 

[KingGondo]

188.4 lbs to start the month of no cheating (still going to post a list of what I'm allowing myself, when I have a moment). I am hopeful to be under 180 by the time 60 days passes (the idea is to do Insanity so long as my knees allow for it, otherwise I'll switch back into P90X/X2). I'm 5'8", for reference, and think I can lose the first 3-4 pounds really quickly since I just ate terribly for a week.

As usual, posting for accountability and tracking's sake.

I know it's corny, but when you're tempted to cheat you should post here instead to get your good habits reinforced.

 

[LaneDS]

I know it's corny, but when you're tempted to cheat you should post here instead to get your good habits reinforced.

Sounds like a good suggestion to me!

 

[mehdi_san]

Asylum is pretty different from Insanity. It's not about "Max Interval Training". If you've done Insanity and done the Max Interval Sports Training workout you'll have a better idea of what's in store.

Asylum's intent is sports training -- so you do workouts that are meant to increase endurance, improve your jump height, increase your strength, and work on your core & back, leading up to "Gameday" workouts which are reminiscent of Max Interval Sports Training (but much tougher).

Exercise programs (around 45 minutes each)
- Speed & Agility: A lot of work with the Agility ladder & jump rope
- Strength: Dumbbells, push-ups, pull-ups
- Back to Core: Back exercises, lots of them. Plus core & legs. Jumping jacks in the warmup but no plyo.
- Vertical Plyo: Plyometric workout in conjunction with the agility ladder.
- Relief: Stretching, a bit of yoga (30 minutes)
- Game Day: Like Max Interval Sports Training on steroids, about 65 minutes
- Overtime: Done after the second & third Game Days, an extra 15 minutes of work

And of course it's only 30 days long. In general the warm-ups are tough and the stretching before & after is minimal.

This sounds really interesting and challenging. Would you think I could skip Insanity and start with Asylum right away, since they're so different?

 

[SteveMeister]

This sounds really interesting and challenging. Would you think I could skip Insanity and start with Asylum right away, since they're so different?

Hmm, I think it'd be best to do Insanity first. It'll help to build your endurance & give you some skills & coordination you'll need for Asylum. Unless you're already pretty fit.

Here is a video of someone doing the Asylum Fit Test. How do you think you would do with this?

 

[mehdi_san]

Hmm, I think it'd be best to do Insanity first. It'll help to build your endurance & give you some skills & coordination you'll need for Asylum. Unless you're already pretty fit.

Here is a video of someone doing the Asylum Fit Test. How do you think you would do with this?

I was gonna say that doesn't look THAT hard, then I saw he did 22 unassisted pull-ups... lol...
But still, from what I've heard in this thread, Insanity sounds like an almost boring program with not a lot of variety, and Asylum sounds like the total opposite!

 

[LaneDS]

Cardio Power & Resistance in the bank, along with one day of clean eating.

It's funny how I can feel decent at P90X or P90X2 and how much Insanity destroys me.

 

[obijkenobi]

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting weigh in day for me because I missed a few work outs due to fatigue and had a couple of cheat days food wise. I don't think it'll matter too much in the long run, but my body was definitely in need of an extra rest day or two.

 

[KingGondo]

Tomorrow is going to be an interesting weigh in day for me because I missed a few work outs due to fatigue and had a couple of cheat days food wise. I don't think it'll matter too much in the long run, but my body was definitely in need of an extra rest day or two.

You might be surprised at your weight--I didn't work out for a week due to illness/travel and got to my lowest weight yet.

Prepare for the soreness though. Even a few days off will make recovery harder, from my experience.

 

[obijkenobi]

[/QUOTE]

You might be surprised at your weight--I didn't work out for a week due to illness/travel and got to my lowest weight yet.

Prepare for the soreness though. Even a few days off will make recovery harder, from my experience.

It ended up being pretty similar and I lost a .1 of body fat percentage. The thing is, I knew my body needed the rest so I wasn't just being lazy.

Week 1 151.2 LB 12.5%
Week 2 149.4 LB 12.3%
Week 3 146.4 LB 11.6%
Week 4 146.6 LB 11.5%

 

[KingGondo]

It ended up being pretty similar and I lost a .1 of body fat percentage. The thing is, I knew my body needed the rest so I wasn't just being lazy.

Week 1 151.2 LB 12.5%
Week 2 149.4 LB 12.3%
Week 3 146.4 LB 11.6%
Week 4 146.6 LB 11.5%

I wasn't implying you were lazy, don't get the wrong impression.

It's definitely best to listen to your body. I have two rest days/week now that I'm doing doubles 3 days a week.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Hey, I have a bunch to do tonight and am not sure I can get in 1:10 of yoga. What were the X or X2 workouts that were shorter (like 40 min?) but combined some yoga stuff? Or what should I sub in?

 

[BeautifulMemory]

Hey, I have a bunch to do tonight and am not sure I can get in 1:10 of yoga. What were the X or X2 workouts that were shorter (like 40 min?) but combined some yoga stuff? Or what should I sub in?

Can you do yoga X for the first 45 minutes and just skip to abs (if you wanted to do it)?

Or X2 do the sequences (warrior 1-3-2), do abs, and jump straight to shavasana

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Can you do yoga X for the first 45 minutes and just skip to abs (if you wanted to do it)?

That could work I guess, Yoga X2 goes from standing to more stretch moves around 40 minutes. I could end there.

 

[KingGondo]

I've done Yoga X before (the main first section) plus a few of the stretch/balance moves that I find useful (frog, etc.) and it ends up being close to an hour.

 

[LaneDS]

Can you do yoga X for the first 45 minutes and just skip to abs (if you wanted to do it)?

Or X2 do the sequences (warrior 1-3-2), do abs, and jump straight to shavasana

Those are good suggestions I think... both workouts are so front loaded on difficulty (and the shoulder stand stuff kind of worries me).

So having done maybe five different Insanity workouts, I think P90X/X2 will be the clear winner for me in terms of what I prefer. I understand the moving fast and not letting up is key to the program, but it means form sort of sucks on a lot of moves the first few times. P90_ seems much better at letting you work through it at your own pace. Maybe after completing the whole 60 days I'll feel differently.