Hi everyone,

My build is stocky. I'm 5"5 and I used to weigh 245lbs because all I did was lift heavy weights and no cardio for a few years. So far I'm 2months and 2 weeks in P90X. I think I weigh 220 now and I should weigh around 210 when I'm completely done P90X(3 weeks left!).

In October I plan on doing either P90X again or form my own routine.
My question is should I do 2 days of weightlifting and 4 days of cardio to burn more fat and lose more weight?

I'm trying to get back to my old weight of 160lbs. I feel strongest in this weight and I want to get back into brazilian jujitsu and boxing (thanks to yogaX my flexibility came back and I can do some jujitsu moves now that I couldn't do when I weighed 245).

I just think I'm doing too much weight training. I think 2 days (maybe even just one day) of full body weightlifting and 4 or 5 days of cardio would make me lose more weight in 3 months. I think my muscles won't decrese as much since I'll be keeping my protein intake high and I am still hitting all my major muscles hard with weightlifting at least once a week.

Am I wrong in thinking this way?

Before P90X I use to lift heavy too. I started P90X last January and I ended up doing 2 rounds. During my second round I incorporated lifting in lieu of some of the routines. For instance, I did dumbell bench instead of pushups because I just wasn't getting the sort of intensity that my chest required from pushups alone. Of course, this is because I had lifted so heavy before. I, however, like moving through the workouts fast so the circuit training style of P90X appealed to me. I also did doubles, by the way.

I know the P90X purists may not agree, but I think the routine needs to morph into something that fits you. I am an advocate that one should do P90X as structure for round 1, but after that you goals should dictate where you want it to take you. You sound like you have a lot of activities that you would like to do and I can see where many of the routines in P90X can enhance those things.

During my second round I had to sub out some of the cardio to train for my first triathlon that I did just before the end of my second round. I found that P90X raised my base fitness to a point where I was able to begin training for triathlons.

I did my second tri last month.

Right now I am training for a marathon and lifting for my strength days. I still swim during my triathlon "off season". I miss doing P90X, however, my current training schedule has taken priority for now. I do a lot of core training since P90X has shown me how important that is for me.

When I started P90X I was at 24% body fat. After round 1 I got down to 11%. At the end of round 2 I went to 8%.

I guess what I am saying is that one can continue doing more rounds of P90X or other types of structured workouts. I think that P90X gives people a good launching point to do other things. I would have never, ever thought of doing triathlons or marathons if I never did P90X.

At age 52 I am having a great time with my new level of fitness.

Boomer,

Congrats on your two triathlons and the dramatic decrease in body fat%. I don't know how to measure my own body fat, I only judge myself through the mirror.

Thanks for the advice. It's hard to tailor my own exercise after I'm done P90X cause it would be trial and error to see what will work best for me.

I'm probably gonna end up doing a 2nd round of P90X (this time the lean version) but I'll be doing a full body weightlifting routine once or twice a week at the gym of the university I'm attending.

I hope this will work in shredding more fat and pounds compared to how much I have already lost in the 1st round. I know I will lose muscle too but I'm ok with that as long as I can keep it to a minimum.

By the way, I got the same pump doing push-ups as I did doing bench presses at the gym before. When I couldn't do anymore regular push-ups, I do girl push ups to get that extra pump. Or I would do super sets with push ups (wide, regular, military).

Hey boomer,
I just checked out your youtube channel and I think I will try your diet for the 2nd round. First phase was 1200 cals, 2nd was 1500, and phase 3 was 2000.

What I did was I kept my calorie intake at 2,000 calories the whole time even now.

I must admit that 1200 calories is really tough for phase 1. I will definitely need a supplement like noXplode for an energy boost cause 1200 calories is just too low.

rye_shooto wrote:


I think you have a pretty good plan. Keep up your cardio base to help with you fat loss. It sounds like you have doing well so far.

Btw, speaking of push ups... this is a video of how to add resistance to pushups without using weights... www.weightloss-hq.biz/weight-loss-forum/...t-weights.html#23510

rye_shooto wrote:


I hope the nutrition will work as well for you as it did for me. I will admit that 1200 is tough at first. You may have to adjust for your own body and metabolism. Since I am 52 my metabolism is slower than you younger folks.

Btw, a 40%/20%/40% (protein/fat/carbs) ratio worked extremely well. My number secret weapon in reducing my body fat was keep a food log. You can do that at sites like www.fitday.com and www.sparkpeople.com. There are many others too.

At any rate, good luck with your workouts.