That's not actually true. I did P90X to build some muscle mass over the course of 6 months (2 cycles of the program). I didn't eat the diet. I'm a life-long scrawny person (6'3 160lb was my max weight until P90X) so I just wanted to add a little mass and tone to my boney frame. I regularly took protien (60G's a day) and creatine.

The way P90X actually works is that you repeat the same workouts quite frequently (which is why I stopped after 6 months – it got boring).

The schedule is something like this:
Week1 day 1: Chest and back (pushups/pullups) and Ab Ripper X
Week1 day 2: Plymetrics (actually a very good workout DVD)
Week1 day 3: Shoulders and arms (weights) and Ab Ripper X
Week1 day 4: Yoga
Week1 day 5: Legs and Back (brutal for me – stick legs) and Ab Ripper X
Week1 day 6: Kenpo (Think Tae Bo)
Week1 day 7: Rest/Stretch
Repeat for 4 weeks

Week5 day 1: Chest, Shoulders, Tri's (Pushups and pullups) and Ab Ripper X
Week5 day 2: Plyometrics
Week5 day 3: Back and Bi's (Weights and pullups)
Week5 day 4: Core Synergistics (another great DVD)
Week5 day 5: Legs and Back
Week5 day 6: Yoga
Week5 day 7: Rest/Stretch
Repeat for 4 weeks

The last month you perform alternating weeks of Week1 and Week5 until you reach day 90. Repeat (if you want).

I gained almost 30lbs using P90X. Some of that was because the physical effort made me incredibly hungry at all times. I definately put on some muscle and I was "in the best shape of my life", so as far as that claim goes, I believe it. I could basically do 1 pullup when I started the program and I could do about 5-6 (depending on the day) when I completed the program.

There's definately a benefit to the program especially for people that want to do SOMETHING and want to give it 100%. P90X is not easy. You have to be dedicated to get through the workouts and see any benefit. You'd have to be REALLY dedicated to do the diet and the exercises.

I think P90X has it's place in the fitness world. For minimal equipment cost I thought it was a good program. My wife did it too and she was never hotter! …of course, now she's 7.5 months pregnant, so… Make of that what you will.

KW

I do my best to write eye catching and creative titles, to get people to stop and read these posts. I'm glad it worked! As far as questioning commonly held beliefs…a big portion of the blog is dedicated to that. The main things I questions are in regards to gaining muscle definition, getting stronger, eating frequency, and metabolism.

Adam,

I'm pumped you wrote an entire blog post around this question. It is a great one too! Hopefully people will head over, read, and comment on it!

John,

I like your clever articles and blog name. You have some good stuff happening on your site. Keep it up!

Rusty

Yavor

I've also been doing squats and dealifts and so far i'm up to squatting my body weight. i'm trying to gain a little weight since i think i'm a little scrawny, but i can't figure out why i can't gain an ounce. assuming the rest of me stays the same, i should at the very least put on some leg mass! [i've got scrawny legs. so i wouldn't mind it] help rusty! should i start eating raw butter and a fuilly grown cow each day??? [grass fed of course]

Really interesting reflection about wrist curls being potentially damaging. It got me to thinking and I ended up writing a quick blog post about it.

Were We Built For Wrist Curls?

Cheers,
Adam

I love the title of this post, it absolutely made me NEED to read it!! That being said, I'm half and half on this argument. First off, I agree with you completely with regards to lifting weights in leg workouts. I can't even wear a suit or jeans after a month of leg training with weights.

However, when I feel like my HIIT workouts are progressively getting harder on my legs, I'll throw in a day of heavy lifting on legs, a day or two of rest and then I'm back even stronger.

I find that a lot of the time, if you just listen to your body, you will find the answer. Of course, this applies to the seasoned veteran because it takes time to hear what your body has to say.

For the new comer, I would agree with you that you should by all means, stick to at the very least one (I would say maybe even 75% of your workout for each body part) exercise and get good at it, not necessarily to "perfect" the execution of the movement, but to derive the greatest gains from the exercise. The favorites being bench press for chest, bar curls for biceps, dips for triceps, yada yada yada!!

I definitely agree with what you have to say in the section 'Going from Beginner to an Intermediate is easy', except the level of consistency from stage one to two can be the hardest part of transitioning into a healthy, fit lifestyle.

I'm a big fan of taking so-called 'established principles' of health and fitness and questioning them in order to better understand the idea behind them. What other posts have you written that do that?

Thanks bud,

Andrew R

Thanks for the compliment. Powerlifters talk about mastering the "groove". Repetition of a movement is how this happens. Digging your blog, buddy. I need to spend some more time reading your posts. Great stuff.

Adam,

I just spent about 20 minutes on your site! I really want to give Club-bells a try to build forearm strength. I have always felt that wrist curls didn't do the trick. I do like one arm "suticase lift" with a barbell for grip strength, but I would love to find an alternative to the wrist curls for direct forearm work. I'll probably just go over to your blog and comment. I've been searching for an effective forearm movement that felt healthy on the wrists…wrist curls feel a little damaging to me. Does that make sense?

Ty,

Most of the readers of this blog know I'm not a big fan of squats or deadlifts, becasue I think they are TOO efective at building mass. That being said, you can certainly do them until you notice that your legs hips and butt are looking too large…then it is time to drop them. To limit the growth, stick to lower volume low rep sets. My waist went down an inch two years after dropping them from my routine at the same body fat level. Give them a shot, but just monitor how they affect you. I think most people will do better without these lifts, but I'm in the minority here.

Helder,

Good point…I agree with changing it up as long as you come back to track your progress with a movement that you are trying to master…and spend some quality time with that lift.

John Fit,

Before there was Magic Johnson, before Steve Nash, there was Pistol Pete! He was the originator of "Showtime"! Dr J is still my all-time favorite…he was super-smooth.

Yavor,

You can't go wrong with the basics…or slight variations…good call.

Morgenster,

Good call, there is certainly a benefit to switch up cardio. I'm the master of the treadmill, but put me in a spinning class and I'm toast. That reminds me…I need to switch up my cardio!

Son of Grok,

Yep…I think it works best to master one exercise per muscle group and switch around the other exercises so you don't get bored to death.

Mike OD,

You are bad! (Mike is being very sarcastic here. Neither of us likes the P90X system…it is based on never repeating the same workout over 90 days…actually you don't do anything resembling the previous workouts over 90 days). I'm jealous of their marketing campaign…that has to covert extremely well. Yes they are making a killing, just like the Thigh Master (which to this day is one of the most successful infomercials of all-time).

caleb,

I love it that all the guys with the fitness blogs are chiming in! Now I need to come on over and read what you are up to. It has been a little while since I visited your site. Thanks for the comment buddy.

Tom,

I know you plan on lifting the rest of your life. You are a young guy still…I actually love getting older. You will begin to lift impressive weight and get ultra defined after doing this a couple of decades.

nelrock,

I don't recommend direct leg lifts. I am definitely in the minority here. Take soccer players for example. Very little if any leg lifting at all, but muscular legs that are perfectly propotioned to their bodies. I think that intense interval training followed by a bit of steady state cardio builds the best looking most functional legs…plus it will help you get ultra-lean if you keep your diet in order.

Yavor,

Thanks for the perfect repsonse. He will certainly get all the muscle back…and he doesn't need to worry too much about cardio. Maybe just 10 minutes of HIIT to keep the legs defined…but not so much that he is burning a ton of calories.

eric,

Gain strength in the 5 rep range. Keep it simple…do 5 sets of 5…start with a weight you know you can do 5 times without that much struggle. You will probably be able to do 5 reps on your first 3 sets, but maybe 4 on set number 4, and then 3 reps on your last set. If that is the case stick with that same weight your next workout. Only increase the weight, when you can do 5 sets of 5 (5 reps on all 5 sets). Increase the weight by a 'tiny' bit. Jumping too high of an increment is a mistake I see a ton of begginners make (you just gave me a great idea for a post)…go up a little bit, so you don't reach a sticking point.

If you are already lean…do HIIT for maybe 10-15 minutes, but probably no need for you to add in the 20-30 minutes of steady state cardio right after. You will do fine with getting brief workouts based upon performance. I wouldn't imagine it taking more than 6 months to see a dramtic improvement in your physique. Hope that helps.

Thanks everyone!

Rusty

1. you will gain the weight you lost due to the illness within 2-3 months. just focus on improving your major lifts

2. Rusty does not recommend training the legs with weights, hence no direct leg training. He however stresses that cardio should be priority to get extra lean.

Your first goal should be to get back to your original weight. If I were you, I wouldn't worry much about cardio at this point.

Yavor

Great post. Strength is most definitely a skill. The more you practice it the better you get…

I like your advice about picking a couple lifts and mastering those, hardly every changing them. This is a definite, even if you wanted to mix it up a bit with the rest of your routine.

Later!
Caleb