# P90x Vs normal routine?



## someguy1984 (May 15, 2009)

What is the difference between P90x and a normal workout routine? It's very hyped, but why? It just seems like turbulence training and something that's going to burn 500 calories a workout and they barely make you eat, so you lose a lot of fat/weight. But, it seems impossible to gain muscle doing this...Seems more like a cutting routine for someone trying to lean out...

Am i wrong, or is their something special about P90x? Anyone every try it?


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## DanK (May 15, 2009)

There is another thread about it. The focus of the program is on fitness first, weightloss second (dependant on the diet side of the workout) and then last is strength. Adding size isn't really on the menu, and likely wouldn't happen for someone who is already lifting heavy. This is probably an excellent program for anyone to do while cutting, or if you aren't interested in gaining size/raw power so much. There is a high variety of exercises and very different training methods (ie plyo, yoga, calisthenics, weight lifting, etc). The weight lifting used in the program as far as I have seen are all isolation movements, the only compound movements are body weight movements (pushups, pullups, etc... but there are a LOT of them). In terms of space and equipment there are fairly low requirements. The information and routines in the program are good, but for most of the people spending a lot of time here on these forums, it's not worth the price. For a typical consumer who is looking to make a life style change it's absolutely worth it and far cheaper than buying a treadmill, elliptical or whatever else is in a persons head as the way to kill their gut.


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## plums_jp (May 15, 2009)

im gonna puke if theres anymore P90X talk here lol... i would have to say for building muscle I give it a whole bunch of thumbs down


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## BLane (May 16, 2009)

P90X as well as CrossFit are not so much for body building as it is for say overall fitness. Although some of the guys I've seen that do these programs exclusively have been somewhat hug and ripped.

I'm old school and like to hit the free weights most of the time, but I've done both P90X and CrossFit and they're good for a change of pace.


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## emitecaps (May 16, 2009)

I tried it and could not maintain size or strength. Too high of a rep count for me. I didn't care for the cardio programs either as they were a bit ridiculous. I tried the program but quit after 6 weeks as I felt I was overtraining.


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## BLane (May 17, 2009)

emitecaps said:


> I tried it and could not maintain size or strength. Too high of a rep count for me. I didn't care for the cardio programs either as they were a bit ridiculous. I tried the program but quit after 6 weeks as I felt I was overtraining.



I did a P90X routine yesterday and it definitely does seem like a high rep count. It borderlines overtraining in some cases.


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## Merkaba (May 18, 2009)

plums_jp said:


> im gonna puke if theres anymore P90X talk here lol... i would have to say for building muscle I give it a whole bunch of thumbs down



Um thanks.



Gaining strength or mass on p90 or anything similar is a lost cause.  If you want to be able to increase your "air squat" count then yea p90 is great for that.  If you want to be able to increase you "kipping pullup" count then yea go at it.


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## keithbigblade (May 18, 2009)

I think P90x is great for extra routines to help burn calories and get cuts. For the diehard body builder, you still have to stick with your routine for muscle gains and strength because this is not for you. However, if you don???t get into contest??? and just enjoy getting into the best shape of your life, then a variety of exercise routines should be great for you.  If running is a big part of your routine, add P90x and your regular routine to get ripped.  After you get the results that you want, gradually change your routine for more muscle gains, if that???s your goal. The fun part is you control what you do, so try it and if it doesn???t work, toss it.


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## BLane (May 18, 2009)

keithbigblade said:


> I think P90x is great for extra routines to help burn calories and get cuts. For the diehard body builder, you still have to stick with your routine for muscle gains and strength because this is not for you. However, if you don???t get into contest??? and just enjoy getting into the best shape of your life, then a variety of exercise routines should be great for you.  If running is a big part of your routine, add P90x and your regular routine to get ripped.  After you get the results that you want, gradually change your routine for more muscle gains, if that???s your goal. The fun part is you control what you do, so try it and if it doesn???t work, toss it.




I agree. It's not going to help to much in the mass building process, but it does give you another option when it comes to cardio and burning calories; which will lead to getting shredded.

The P90X guy is pretty ripped and is in great shape.


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## Merkaba (May 19, 2009)

Anyone telling somebody to do this or that exercise to get ripped is full of shit.  How many times do we have to go over this shit!


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## CORUM (May 19, 2009)

Merkaba said:


> Anyone telling somebody to do this or that exercise to get ripped is full of shit.  How many times do we have to go over this shit!



i'm with you!! i work with all women and i am tired of hearing low weight high reps crap!!!i try to tell these women put down the damn bagels and you may start to loose weight. they all think they are going to get "bulky". but i worked with my mother in law (damn near killed the woman) with HEAVY weight, and she continued her cardio and lost 29 pounds in a few months. before she tried to low weight high reps with no success. too many myths out there!!!


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## kyoun1e (May 19, 2009)

My biggest issue with this program would be muscle loss. I don't see how you would maintain your muscle. Sure, you may get ripped, but you may have less muscle that's ripped by the end of the program.

Another reason why I love UD2...you can get ripped, but you will not lose muscle.

KY


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## Kimora (Dec 30, 2009)

*So...*



Merkaba said:


> Um thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> Gaining strength or mass on p90 or anything similar is a lost cause. If you want to be able to increase your "air squat" count then yea p90 is great for that. If you want to be able to increase you "kipping pullup" count then yea go at it.


 


Sure your not gonna gain any mass.But you do gain strength.Infact it's not the exact but alot of the stuff used in p90x are being used by alot of todays top MMA fighters,boxers for explosiveness and strength.If your idea of strength is staring at yourself in a mirror while you lift weight so heavy it looks like your taking a dump,then sure p90x isn't for you.But if you wanna be fit explosive and ripped and lean then give it a try.


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## Kimora (Dec 30, 2009)

*So...*



Merkaba said:


> Um thanks.
> 
> 
> 
> Gaining strength or mass on p90 or anything similar is a lost cause. If you want to be able to increase your "air squat" count then yea p90 is great for that. If you want to be able to increase you "kipping pullup" count then yea go at it.


 


Funny you joke about air squats and kipping bs also.George st. Pierre has stated most of his strength training comes from plyometrics which is focus alot in p90x,even more in workouts like insanity.He is ripped as heck,and i gurentee he could make you eat your words about it not making strength gains.Incase you don't know who he is ,he is the UFC welterweight champ,and would have no prob handling your bulked up self.But thats cool keep making poop faces in the mirror and thinking you know.


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## PushAndPull (Dec 30, 2009)

Sounds like P90x spam.


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## Gazhole (Dec 30, 2009)

What the fuck is IM's hard-on for P90x lately? Seems like every other day theres someone asking about it. I read a few things and frankly i don't see what all the fucking hoo-ha is about it.

It looks like a run of the mill high rep high volume training program geared towards fitness and GPP that has had the tremendous fortune of getting a fancy name with numbers and the letter X in it (which we all know makes things uber-authentic).

If you want to get cut up, stop eating so goddamn much. Its that simple, people. Do whatever the hell you like in the gym. Im with Merkaba on this.


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## Gazhole (Dec 30, 2009)

Kimora said:


> Funny you joke about air squats and kipping bs also.George st. Pierre has stated most of his strength training comes from plyometrics which is focus alot in p90x,even more in workouts like insanity.He is ripped as heck,and i gurentee he could make you eat your words about it not making strength gains.Incase you don't know who he is ,he is the UFC welterweight champ,and would have no prob handling your bulked up self.But thats cool keep making poop faces in the mirror and thinking you know.



So you think principles followed by the elite champions of a particular sport should be generalised to an entire population without the luxury of the time and resources they are able to devote to that training?

Im sure this stuff does work for GSP but unfortunately most other people aren't in the privileged situation of doing this as a job, having sponsors, and getting the best personalised training advice available 24/7.

ANY cookie-cutter program is a pile of smashed assholes because you can't apply something designed for person A to person B - they are two different people with totally different capabilities.

Theres a reason GSP is the champ - he is better than me. If i was able to do his training as well as him and survive you would be talking about me right now, but im not and you aren't so i'll stick with stuff that works for the other 99% of the population.


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## gtbmed (Dec 30, 2009)

Kimora said:


> Funny you joke about air squats and kipping bs also.George st. Pierre has stated most of his strength training comes from plyometrics which is focus alot in p90x,even more in workouts like insanity.He is ripped as heck,and i gurentee he could make you eat your words about it not making strength gains.Incase you don't know who he is ,he is the UFC welterweight champ,and would have no prob handling your bulked up self.But thats cool keep making poop faces in the mirror and thinking you know.



You do know that St. Pierre probably has a huge strength base that's been built over years and likely periodizes his training in order to first build strength and second use his strength gains to improve his explosive power, right?

Relying on a program simply because an athlete says he uses some of the same elements in the program is misguided.  That athlete has coaches who understand programming and how to lay out a training program that takes best advantage of things like plyos.

I am not a bodybuilder and have no care for getting huge, but I do hate programs that take people who are completely untrained and have them do a bunch of different things which seemingly don't relate to each other at all.  You can't take a group of untrained fat people and have them do a bunch of plyos.  It's not going to end well for many of them if you do.

In short, plyometrics are one type of exercise which, when used correctly, can build explosive power.  But they are worthless if you don't use them correctly as part of a training program.  If you want to build explosive power, you can't do it by doing a bunch of plyos.  Stop buying into canned marketing bullshit and start thinking about things like physics and its limitations.


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## Elson (Dec 30, 2009)

Spot on. Any plan that has a separate workout for abs is a waste of time, I think.


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## Merkaba (Dec 30, 2009)

But but but , but guys!  Kimora's buddies at the MMA gym all do it and they are totally awesome and kewl and better than him so he should do it too!!!

Don't worry.  Kimora just probably googled in like alot of other folks.  He came in on another p90x thread talking smack and he's seeing that he's not gonna have a leg to stand on so he reverts to childish name calling and banter.  A waste of bandwidth!


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