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Beachbody Workouts |OT| Gaf Does P90/X/X2, Insanity/Asylum, T-25 and More!

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
Hey all, I'm about to start my 4th week of Insanity. Just trying to plan ahead a little bit, do I have to have a break after the full 2 months are over, or can i have a recover week and start fresh?

You can definitely start fresh after taking a few days to recover. Doesn't have to be a full week, but it won't hurt.
 

Kiriku

SWEDISH PERFECTION
Tried Isometrix in P90X3, I was prepared to sweat but it turned out to be a lot more focused on balance. Which is cool I guess, because my balance was bad at times. But not much of a workout to the point where I'm not sure I would even need a recovery drink afterwards.
 
I missed Saturday's workout so I decided to do The Warrior today instead of Total Syn. I just kinda want to try all the new workouts :)

Man, I thought CVX was intense, but The Warrior takes things to eleven. I am exhausted right now.
 

Barzul

Member
If you have the time I would definitely go with P90X. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love X3 but I feel you really need to know the moves to get the best out of it right from the get go and P90X takes more time to explain what to focus on properly (especially in Yoga). I know the tough moves back from P90X so that helps. I don't have the time like I used to that is the only reason I do P90X3 over P90X.

I am curious but I fear that I won't have the same results with X3 than I had with X but I might get positively surprised, who knows :p

On the other hand, damn time flies. I can't believe I am starting transition week tomorrow :)

I think I'll just do the original. I can spare an hour and half a day. Thanks for the advice.
 

Barzul

Member
Hey all, I'm about to start my 4th week of Insanity. Just trying to plan ahead a little bit, do I have to have a break after the full 2 months are over, or can i have a recover week and start fresh?

I'm doing Insanity and I'm just about to get into month 2, I plan on taking a 2 week break afterwards then doing P90x.
 

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
Yoga is so easy now. Except for standing splits. I don't want to snap my neck.

Here's hoping I'm not too sore to do Eccentric Lower. A bit sore from yesterday's Triometrics.

So far P90X3 has been way more leg focused. Most of the upper body stuff is pushups and pullups. Not a ton of traditional upper body weight stuff.
 

Ixian

Member
Yoga is so easy now. Except for standing splits. I don't want to snap my neck.
Standing splits are my enemy.

Did my first Eccentric Upper today; it was pretty fun but V Pullups were hard since my pullup bar has handles poking out of the side facing me too. Almost jabbed myself in the face a few times!
 

Tash

Member
For some reason Accelerator really is tough on me. Lower body strength for the loss..
It means though that I will get a lot out of it for trying my best, I guess :)
<3 Donkey Kicks. Obviously I totally sucked but boy I can't wait to nail that move. I think it's totally awesome :D Especially since I try to kick into handstand - just having problems landing on one foot and moving through from there.

Pilatus coming up for the first time. For some reason I am really dreading that :/
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
MMX is great. So much better than Kenpo. Key improvements: lots of elbow strikes (which forces you to use your torso more) and sprawls (like a burpee). There was much sweat!
 

Tash

Member
MMX is great. So much better than Kenpo. Key improvements: lots of elbow strikes (which forces you to use your torso more) and sprawls (like a burpee). There was much sweat!

One of the workouts I really look forward to. I loved KenpoX and I am sure I will love MMX. I already look through it to know what to expect :)
 

casperOne

Member
Yoga is so easy now. Except for standing splits. I don't want to snap my neck.

Standing splits are my enemy.

I've found that the key here is to relax the core. Our natural predilection is to contract the core, but you have to kind of open up the hip so that the pivot point is the hip joint and not the core. Once the focus isn't on the core, you'll find yourself being able to do them better.

That said, yes, make sure your hands are planted on the ground before trying.

Here's hoping I'm not too sore to do Eccentric Lower. A bit sore from yesterday's Triometrics.

I missed two days and I'm getting back on schedule, so I doubled up Triometrics (OHAI Plyometrics and Plyocide) and Yoga.

Not a bad move (but not the best), but Yoga was much more difficult because so much energy is put into the legs in the first 15 minutes and my legs are wiped after Triometrics
Triocide?
.

Did my first Eccentric Upper today; it was pretty fun but V Pullups were hard since my pullup bar has handles poking out of the side facing me too. Almost jabbed myself in the face a few times!

Man, when I saw them, they make me cringe, especially with controlled negative motion. Those are hard.

MMX is great. So much better than Kenpo. Key improvements: lots of elbow strikes (which forces you to use your torso more) and sprawls (like a burpee). There was much sweat!

One of the workouts I really look forward to. I loved KenpoX and I am sure I will love MMX. I already look through it to know what to expect :)

I love Kenpo X as well and missed it tremendously in P90X2. I didn't get the same feels from doing The Warrior even though they're similar.

That said, I'm looking forward to doing MMX for the first time (I'm on the first week of phase two).
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
Check out what made #8 on this list.

While I'm not a Beachbody Coach for the money (my motivation is to help others define and achieve their own fitness goals), it's absolutely a business and you can make good money with it. I personally know people who have quit their regular jobs to do Coaching full-time. And while at a fundamental level it's about marketing, Coaching is much more than that because you actually DO get to help people, by holding challenge & accountability groups, providing motivation, information and advice, and being an example of what the programs offered can do for you. Beachbody gives coaches some pretty great tools to help you do this, too, including great training tools and support materials.

Of course, the 25% discount you get as a Coach is a pretty great deal, too. It's one of the main reasons I signed up to begin with. I buy a LOT of stuff from Beachbody!

If anyone has any questions about Coaching, sent me a message or click on the Coach button on my page.
 

Pyrokai

Member
Nice! Someday, maybe, I can become a coach :D (dreams....)

I'd honestly love to do that rather than the thing I'm doing now. Blaaahhh....

Also, I think I know what I've been doing wrong, everybody. It's my diet. I don't think I've been eating enough. I was so determined NOT to get caught up in the numbers, but I've had to learn the hard way. If I want to achieve my personal goals, I can't simply eat healthy (I absolutely do eat very well) and expect to get them. I have to make sure I'm eating in precision amounts and monitoring calories, fats, carbs, proteins, and all that jazz.

So, I guess, starting tonight, I'm going to suck it up and calculate my BMR, etc., and breakdown my daily fats/proteins/carbs needs in grams for the day.

And I'm also going to suck it up and start drinking recovery drinks instead of having recovery meals. Having the drink AND the meal will replenish calories I didn't realize I needed so desperately. I thought simply eating a shit ton of protein would be the way to go.

Life lessons, I guess. I sorta feel like I've wasted the past 2.4 months.

On the good side: I did my very last "Shoulders & Arms" routine. Sorta surreal, honestly. A couple of days ago I did my last "Chest & Back"...which is a bummer because it's my favorite :)
 

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
Eccentric lower was interesting in that it worked a ton of different muscles. Some of the moves I must have done incorrectly because I felt nothing, like Cat Dog. Really the only move that gave me trouble was ITT Plus. Logged the weights and will increase the ones I put in Excel as Good cell type.
 
You're replying to me, right? What I've been doing is that I *do* try to find the burn when doing some reps. If I'm using a 20lb weight for a move, early in the program it took me 8 or 9 reps before I hit a big burn/fatigued. Now that same exercise with the same weight takes me about 13-14 reps to get the same effect. However, if I use my next weight up (30lb), I can't even do 1 rep because it's just too heavy for me, and if I do get it up it ends up just being a cheat rep with some extra body movement or something. That's why I asked if I should by a 25lb. weight. You're saying this is the way to go, right?

My weights are all stand-alone dumb bells and I can't add 1 or 2 extra pounds to them. Did I make a huge mistake?

Not particularly. You can always make use of the dumbbells but it depends on the exercises you perform, the intensity you do them and ultimately... what your goals are.

If you want muscle mass then you have to get your body into a process of hypertrophy (muscle building) which means you'll have to perform exercises that stress your muscles to their limit. When you do that your muscle fibres tear and then over a short time your body rebuilds the tissue to have a greater muscular capacity (they're bigger and stronger).

In all honesty if you slowed down each rep and focused on good form then you'll probably need to use less weight to get your desired results.
 

Tash

Member
Ugh, Pilates X. I hate it..I really do.
It's not fun and horribly difficult for me due to limited range of motion and confusion with breathing in some of the exercises. With that said, I guess it will be one of the most important ones for me to master but damn..I hate it..

Just happy I am doing classic and it's not on the schedule that often :p
 

Bollocks

Member
Installed the pull up bar and damn I can't do pull ups. That was to be expected but still.
Don't even want to think about The Challenge probably (1/15)
Will stick to the resistance bands ._.
 
Is it possible to do too many stretching and/or yoga routines? I feel like I'm really sore and stiff a lot, and I'm sure these negative 30 degree wind chills are part of it.

I'm doing the asylum 1 and 2 hybrid routine and playing pick up basketball once per week on Thursday. I'm thinking of adding these routines in the morning:

Monday: Ddpyoga, one of the 20 or 30 minute routines

Wednesday: P90x recovery and mobility with the foam roller

Friday: either double up on the stretch routine or do P90x2 yoga.

Thoughts? Suggestions?
 

Korosenai

Member
Is it possible to do too many stretching and/or yoga routines? I feel like I'm really sore and stiff a lot, and I'm sure these negative 30 degree wind chills are part of it.

I'm doing the asylum 1 and 2 hybrid routine and playing pick up basketball once per week on Thursday. I'm thinking of adding these routines in the morning:

Monday: Ddpyoga, one of the 20 or 30 minute routines

Wednesday: P90x recovery and mobility with the foam roller

Friday: either double up on the stretch routine or do P90x2 yoga.

Thoughts? Suggestions?
You can never have enough DDPYoga! I've been putting a DDPYoga DVD after every one of my insanity workouts and it's working great.
 

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
Now that I've gotten over the flu I have started P90X3 again finally. Feeling pretty good after the first two days even if I couldn't go the whole time on some of the moves. I'd really like to drop 10 pounds or so, so I need to watch my eating a bit and push myself in workouts.
 

casperOne

Member
Eccentric lower was interesting in that it worked a ton of different muscles. Some of the moves I must have done incorrectly because I felt nothing, like Cat Dog. Really the only move that gave me trouble was ITT Plus. Logged the weights and will increase the ones I put in Excel as Good cell type.

I'm doing Eccentric Lower today for the first time. Looking forward to it.

EDIT: Ok, did it. The chest routine in P90X phase 2 was "eccentric" in that it stressed the negative portion of the rep (I believe this is a core concept of high intensity training, but I could be mistaken).

That said, I was grateful this wasn't in the leg routines. And now I find myself wishing for Legs and Back from P90X, and I was never the biggest fan of that routine (the first half of the leg routine at least)

Also, if you're using an Excel sheet, you might want to check out the Google docs spreadsheet I made for P90X3:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/157NfvKpjn6io0Cn9dYbUTN5Vtv-nT5fZNOaKx7ba59w/edit?usp=sharing

Hope it will be of use to you. Feel free to distribute if you want as well.

Ugh, Pilates X. I hate it..I really do.
It's not fun and horribly difficult for me due to limited range of motion and confusion with breathing in some of the exercises. With that said, I guess it will be one of the most important ones for me to master but damn..I hate it..

The breathing is atypical and will take some getting used to, agreed. I'm looking forward to when I can nail it the first time.

Installed the pull up bar and damn I can't do pull ups. That was to be expected but still.
Don't even want to think about The Challenge probably (1/15)
Will stick to the resistance bands ._.

There was a time I couldn't do any pull-ups and I would always use an assist.

A friend then told me to not use any assist and to just keep trying, even if I can't do a single one.

So for every set, I'd struggle, but eventually, I was able to do one. Once you can do that, you'll get really hungry for more.

Hopefully, that approach might work for you if you're looking to lose the assist (there's nothing wrong with the assist though!)

Now that I've gotten over the flu I have started P90X3 again finally. Feeling pretty good after the first two days even if I couldn't go the whole time on some of the moves. I'd really like to drop 10 pounds or so, so I need to watch my eating a bit and push myself in workouts.

Good luck! Just keep at it and you'll find yourself doing less and less pauses.
 

casperOne

Member
Eccentric lower was interesting in that it worked a ton of different muscles. Some of the moves I must have done incorrectly because I felt nothing, like Cat Dog. Really the only move that gave me trouble was ITT Plus. Logged the weights and will increase the ones I put in Excel as Good cell type.

I did Eccentric Lower for the first time today as well. Some of the moves were familiar from doing P90X and P90X2.

That said, Calf Dog was one of the moves I did wrong initially. I thought I had to bend the knee of the foot that was on the ground and push up with glutes/thighs.

But really, it's a downward dog with one foot on top of the other, and you're really doing a single-leg calf raise. The key is really engaging the calf so the heel comes up (and make sure to maintain downward dog while doing it as well, so don't let the core sag or shoulders buckle in).
 

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
Incinerator was great! I was getting a bit concerned there wasn't enough traditional upper body weights, and this fits right in. I think Incinerator and Triometrics are tier 1 workouts for me for long term. Eccentric Upper/Lower secondary. I'll have to evaluate specifics once I finish all 3 modules.

Also, if you're using an Excel sheet, you might want to check out the Google docs spreadsheet I made for P90X3

Yup, I'm the one that recently posted about a spreadsheet and then found your earlier post. Saved me a lot of time.

I'm using it in a sense. I ported the routines where there's a lot of weight to Microsoft Excel, compacted the columns, duplicated them for a couple dozen iterations of each workouts (I'm going to use P90X3 for a while). In Excel I can quickly add weight/reps to a cell, then change the cell type:
1. Good: Was too easy, increase next time.
2. Neutral: Just right. Increase next time a bit to maintain resistance.
3. Bad: Too much weight. Had to adjust or change weights midway through.
 

casperOne

Member
Incinerator was great!

I hit Incinerator for the first time tomorrow. Good to know it's going to be intense going in (but with a name like Incinerator...)


Yup, I'm the one that recently posted about a spreadsheet and then found your earlier post. Saved me a lot of time.

Derp on my part, just glad the original work on the sheet paid off for you. Glad to have others build on it to get the most out of their fitness, that's the only reason I was promoting it.

1. Good: Was too easy, increase next time.
2. Neutral: Just right. Increase next time a bit to maintain resistance.
3. Bad: Too much weight. Had to adjust or change weights midway through.

I do something similar, in the weight column I'll do:

10
10+
10+?
10-
10-?

+ = Definitely increase weight next time I do this
+? = Judgement call on increasing weight next time I do this
- = Definitely decrease weight next time I do this
-? Judgement call on decreasing weight next time I do this
 

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
I hit Incinerator for the first time tomorrow. Good to know it's going to be intense going in (but with a name like Incinerator...)

Incinerator made me think that it was going to be a weighted cardio calorie burning focused thing. It refers that they're trying to go more towards failure with heavy weights (for P90X anyway).
 

casperOne

Member
Incinerator made me think that it was going to be a weighted cardio calorie burning focused thing. It refers that they're trying to go more towards failure with heavy weights (for P90X anyway).

I watched the video a few times already (I had to in order to name the exercises on the sheet). I'm ready for total chest and back failure!

I realize how much of a psycho this makes me sound.
 

Tash

Member
I did Eccentric Lower for the first time today as well. Some of the moves were familiar from doing P90X and P90X2.

That said, Calf Dog was one of the moves I did wrong initially. I thought I had to bend the knee of the foot that was on the ground and push up with glutes/thighs.

But really, it's a downward dog with one foot on top of the other, and you're really doing a single-leg calf raise. The key is really engaging the calf so the heel comes up (and make sure to maintain downward dog while doing it as well, so don't let the core sag or shoulders buckle in).

OH good. I like having a few cues. My only negative issue I have with x3 is the fact that they really don't take enough time to explain the movies. It takes a lost a month to properly realize what you have to look out for and do the movies right in some cases.

Also, heureka moment: CVX = Cardio Vascular Extreme (hah!)
Also as amazing as Alice is, I also really like Trace a lot. Love how she moves and she is just totally positive and cute. The guys seem all so generic for x3. Except the two trucks from The Warrior :D
 

Ixian

Member
OH good. I like having a few cues. My only negative issue I have with x3 is the fact that they really don't take enough time to explain the movies. It takes a lost a month to properly realize what you have to look out for and do the movies right in some cases.

Also, heureka moment: CVX = Cardio Vascular Extreme (hah!)
Also as amazing as Alice is, I also really like Trace a lot. Love how she moves and she is just totally positive and cute. The guys seem all so generic for x3. Except the two trucks from The Warrior :D
I'm a big fan of Bobby Stephenson, was glad to see him return in The Challenge. Wish Joe Bovino was back too. :( Man, it's funny looking back on some of the P90X cast. CORN COB PULLUPS.

Does anyone use the PowerStands for pushups? I bought a cheapish set of pushup stands but the PowerStands look like they would distribute weight better.
 

Tash

Member
I'm a big fan of Bobby Stephenson, was glad to see him return in The Challenge. Wish Joe Bovino was back too. :( Man, it's funny looking back on some of the P90X cast. CORN COB PULLUPS.

Does anyone use the PowerStands for pushups? I bought a cheapish set of pushup stands but the PowerStands look like they would distribute weight better.

Yeah I agree, it was nice seeing Bobby. I really could do without Dreya, though. Not sure why she seems so annoying to me..

I have Nike Push-up Stands. They work fine imo :)
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
I have the power stands. A couple nice things about them -- the grips are very thick and nicely padded, and they're also not parallel to the ground. You use them with your thumb toward the low side. This is extremely comfortable and if you have wrist issues I think it'll help.
 

casperOne

Member
OH good. I like having a few cues. My only negative issue I have with x3 is the fact that they really don't take enough time to explain the movies. It takes a lost a month to properly realize what you have to look out for and do the movies right in some cases.

Yeah, definitely more time with P90X and P90X2. However, you can always pause in X3. There's generally a resistance to doing that, given the emphasis on getting it done in 30 minutes, but form over reps/weight.

Also, heureka moment: CVX = Cardio Vascular Extreme (hah!)

Bingo! Took me a week.

Also as amazing as Alice is, I also really like Trace a lot. Love how she moves and she is just totally positive and cute. The guys seem all so generic for x3. Except the two trucks from The Warrior :D

She was in Plyocide in P90X2. She had the same energy. Was really great. Also, Tracy got more ripped for X3. In X2 Tony introduces her as "having 4579 kids and lives in a house the size of Kansas".

She has six kids (Tony mentions that in X3).

Great energy from her.

I'm a big fan of Bobby Stephenson, was glad to see him return in The Challenge. Wish Joe Bovino was back too. :( Man, it's funny looking back on some of the P90X cast. CORN COB PULLUPS.

I like how Tony makes fun of Bobby, but he also knows he puts in work, and has the body to show for it.

Does anyone use the PowerStands for pushups? I bought a cheapish set of pushup stands but the PowerStands look like they would distribute weight better.

No. I keep thinking I'd like a set.

There's a balance move on top of them in Eccentric Lower in X3 that is really difficult on the ground.

Otherwise, I think I pass on it mostly for the same reason I wear Vibram Five Fingers on non-plyo workouts; you're more connected with the ground and you get lots more secondary muscle firings.

You can also use a pair of dumbells if you have them.
 

Tash

Member
Dumbbells are a bit dangerous though (unless you get angled ones). I remember doing Asylum with round dumbbells, quite a few moves on them, it went somewhat ok.

The main reason I got power stands was because I had issues with my wrists. I did however work on improving wrist strength (don't remember concretly but I adjusted finger and knuckle position during push-ups until my wrists didn't hurt anymore).

I can do proper push-ups without any issues now but I think stands help a great deal with reliefing pressure on your wrists. Now I love them because I can go deeper and have a wider range of motion.

And ups, I meant, of course, Tracy - not Trace. I type too fast and my brain can't keep up :p
I absolutely adore her and Alice's body composition. Elegant but strong and still very feminine.

I was going to pickup my old Beachbody blog again but I upgraded to the latest Wordpress version and the theme I used wasn't compatible obviously. Totally broke my new website :/
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
FYI, I know some of you have switched coaches to me, and I've also provided instructions how to do it. However, the e-mail method doesn't seem to work anymore, so the preferred way to do it is to call Coach Relations at (800) 240-0913 and tell them that you want to switch to me. They'll ask for my name (Steve Meister) my e-mail address (spmeister AT gmail.com) and my ID number (212459).

As always, you should only switch if you're not actively working with your current coach.
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
I was just about to post that :)

7ueM5Qk.png
 

teh_pwn

"Saturated fat causes heart disease as much as Brawndo is what plants crave."
MMX isn't bad. Improved flexibility from everything else makes this a bit easy for me, as I did a lot of martial arts in grade school. Yeah, I know it's nothing serious but you remember how to do basic kicks and stuff, whereas I could see a lot of people flailing or at best kicking with the focal point on the wrong place.

So what I'm saying is that it's good cardio, but don't try to kick somebody with your toes.
 

SystemBug

Member
hmm I just started p90x two days ago!

I am having a bit of an issue though - which is how do you guys control your diet?

I just feel super hungry now, and I was wondering if there is a replacement for protein shakes?
 

Ixian

Member
hmm I just started p90x two days ago!

I am having a bit of an issue though - which is how do you guys control your diet?

I just feel super hungry now, and I was wondering if there is a replacement for protein shakes?
How were you eating before you started P90X? If you are used to eating a lot of food, it will take a bit for your body to adjust to eating less. Personally I'm pretty satisfied at around 1500 calories a day, but my meals include quite a bit of protein which helps me feel full for longer!

Did my first Eccentric Lower today but didn't get all that I could out of it. :\ I don't have a regular chair so I had a problem with some of the moves, and my network connection between my TV and my computer died for a bit, after the pistol squats, killing my momentum. Not sure if I want to get a regular chair just for one video so I need to find a good replacement.
 

SystemBug

Member
How were you eating before you started P90X? If you are used to eating a lot of food, it will take a bit for your body to adjust to eating less. Personally I'm pretty satisfied at around 1500 calories a day, but my meals include quite a bit of protein which helps me feel full for longer!
I ate less but I also ate crap. 2 days in and I can't even force myself to eat anymore junk.
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
I keep procrastinating on starting P90X because I feel I'm going to fail miserably.

You will! But that's ok -- exercise is supposed to be hard. But if you push play every day, and stick with it, even though you'll struggle, you'll make progress. Treat every extra rep as a victory, every successful new move as a triumph. If you only do 5 push-ups today, at least it's not zero! And maybe you'll hit 6 or 7 tomorrow.

It's like the saying goes -- even though you're struggling, you're still lapping everyone who's sitting on the couch!

Also, post about your workouts! Talk about what went right & what went wrong, how you progressed or plateaued or even fell back a bit. We'll cheer you on & try to help keep you motivated!
 

casperOne

Member
I keep procrastinating on starting P90X because I feel I'm going to fail miserably.

This is where I think Tony really shines. As advanced as people are in the videos, I never got the feeling I was inadequate. His phrase "do your best and forget the rest" really resonated with me and allowed me to get the most that I could out of the workout. He stresses this point in a number of different ways as well. The motivation to focus on doing your best is one of the things that sets P90X apart from other workout programs, IMO.

Combine that with the tracking sheets (track everything, form, level of effort, weight, reps) and you'll find that it's not the people you're trying to beat, but yourself, always trying to get better.
 

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
FYI, today's the last day of Beachbody's sale on the Focus T25 Challenge Pack and the P90X3 Challenge Pack.

$180 each through the end of the day, afterwards they go back to $205 each. Includes the base workout program plus Shakeology.

Next week they're launching the 21 Day Fix, which is a 21 day program of 30 minute workouts coupled with a comprehensive nutrition plan. The key difference with 21 Day Fix is that you are provided with specially sized, color-coded plastic containers that you put different types of food in (carbs, proteins, fruits, vegetables, etc) and that's how you build up portions for your meals. Takes all the guesswork out of it. The meal plan also includes guidelines for how to eat at restaurants.
 
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