With so many terms and takes on healthy living in the diet and fitness industry it can be overwhelming for those who exclaim, I need to lose weight and fast! From fad diets where you only eat one kind of food (such as the Grapefruit Diet) or diets that eliminate entire food groups (such as carbs), the sheer number of diets out there can be daunting. Perhaps most confusing of all when it comes to healthy weight loss is determining whether you need to lose weight or build muscle.
The question may seem simple, but the answer is one and the same. You need to do both simultaneously; for building more muscle will increase your metabolism and help you shed pounds faster. It is such a conflicted topic and there are so many “roads” that claim to lead to this end result, but many people end up losing weight while sacrificing their lean muscle mass, or building muscle without being able to shed unwanted fat. For those people who want to slim down and tone up, but don’t want to look bulky your diet will be the missing link in the process if it is to be successful.
There is a common misconception that cardiovascular exercise will slim you down and that strength training will bulk you up. If you are serious about losing weight, you need to get serious about building lean muscle mass which can only be done through the right combination of protein and carbohydrates and from a regular strength training and cardiovascular routine.
Maintaining Muscle Mass: The Best Diet Results Remain Muscle Bound
In order to “lose weight,” which is to burn unwanted fat while you maintain lean muscle mass you have to get adequate protein. Many diets will offer clients a restrictive eating plan, limiting calorie intake without encouraging consistent exercise. This method of weight loss is only a temporary fix, and while it will help you lean down in the interim, it will also be eating away at your muscle and causing fatigue without burning any of the fat that causes ill-fitting clothes and a slew of heart-health complications.
The Diet Solution program is carefully designed to help those who want to lose weight to do so effectively while maintain muscle mass. Try eating a sweet potato and an organic free range chicken breast with a healthy serving of quinoa or brown rice- protein is a meal staple on the DSP, and the best way to burn fat while still losing weight and not muscle.
If you are looking to put on muscle, simply increasing your protein intake by 1-2 servings a day will help aid in muscle reconstruction after a work out, and will eliminate the unwelcome break down of your muscle fibers without repairing them before the next workout.
Crash Diet Dilemma: Why Balance is the Key to Healthy Meal Plans
Crash dieting can wreck havoc on your lean muscle mass, so the key is a consistent diet plan. The eating principles in the DSP are a foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating, not simply a few months of strict caloric cutting, in order to fit into your skinny jeans.
If you are extremely active and are worried you may lose lean muscle mass then you may need to tweak your baseline calorie consumption. For those who want to burn fat while maintaining lean muscle mass, multiply your current weight by 15 and then divide by 20%. Add this number to your calorie intake and consider cutting out grains for your diet altogether. Limiting the amount of grains tends to create faster fat loss results than diets that are heavier in grain consumption.
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Aristotle helped define the standards of fitness 2,500 years ago when he taught that a thing that suits its purpose well is fit. Fortunately for us, the cardiovascular system, lungs, skeleton, muscles, endocrine system and all the other amazing components of the body function for our purpose: to live well.
Exercising aids fitness in numerous ways, each involving one or more of those systems.
Increased physical activity causes the heart to work harder than at rest. That increases blood flow, floods tissues with fresh oxygen and removes cellular waste products.
Exercise causes the lungs to draw in extra oxygen to bathe the tissues and help power the heart. Exhalation removes carbon dioxide, a waste product of certain biochemical reactions.
Regular, moderate exercise helps raise HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein) cholesterol (the ‘good’ type). It helps regulate blood sugar levels and converts stored fat into sugars that are used to provide energy. That process also prevents obesity.
The other benefits of a regular fitness program are more obvious and usually among the more direct goals of most people who make the effort: increased muscle mass, toned legs, buttocks, arms, stomach and healthier looking skin. Along the way, the individual receives the added value of greater strength, improved balance, higher endurance and (often) a better frame of mind.
Different types of routines will emphasize one area more than another. Aerobic routines help the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems, weight lifting focuses on building muscle tone and mass; yoga and Pilates helps balance, flexibility and muscular control. But each of these, and several more, help more than just the intended focus group. The body is an integrated system and improving one area almost always has beneficial consequences for others.
All those benefits, at least to a moderate degree, can be had for minimal daily effort. Moderate intensity activity for 30 minutes per day, at least five days per week, will go a long way toward optimizing fitness.
A brisk walk, taking the stairs up one or two flights, a short daily jog, jumping rope and many other simple activities can be carried out with no special equipment or training.
More intense activity, done properly, can raise that level even further. A vigorous tennis game, a few laps in the swimming pool, an hour on the treadmill or exercise bike, or any of a dozen others, can raise your fitness to a peak with only a moderate investment of time and money.
For the truly committed there are, of course, a thousand and one classes at the gym, and every conceivable kind of home fitness equipment to fit a variety of budgets. A daily routine using free weights, followed by a good jog around the park will keep all systems functioning well.
And, as Aristotle taught all those centuries ago, to function well is to live well.
The P90X Workout Schedule is comprised of three separate routines. You choose where you want to start based on your physical conditioning and then just push play. The three options are broken down into Classic, Lean, and Doubles. I will give you a breakdown of each P90X Workout Schedule for those that don’t understand.
P90X Workout Schedule Options:
“Classic”
This is where most people seem to start, including myself – The Classic Workout Schedule is straight forward and offers the best combination or those ready to build muscle and burn fat as they go.
The classic workout schedule requires no more than 1 hour and a half in any one day – The longest workout of the entire schedule is Yoga X.
I chose to do classic in my first round of P90X and seemed to get very good results by sticking almost 100% to the workouts. My diet was nothing organized and didn’t follow the P90X Meal Plan. However, I did eat healthy and clean, i.e. no soda, candy, ice cream, red meats, sugars, etc. I still consume sugar but on a highly reduced level, pretty much only in my coffee – that is my one diet evil.
The Classic p90x Workout Schedule will work you out 6 days a week just as Lean and Doubles will do except you tend to focus on a mix of Cardio and Resistance training, nearly 50 / 50. It looks something like this:
Monday: Resistance + Abs Tuesday: Cardio Wednesday: Resistance + Abs Thursday: Stretch / Balance (Yoga) Friday: Resistance + Abs Saturday: Cardio Sunday: Off
The Classic p90x workout Schedule is ideal for those ready to get started from ground 0 and not looking to lose a ton of fat up front before building muscle. The above example stays true through each phase with a few resistance videos switching up to add Muscle Confusion. Let’s look at Lean now.
“Lean”
The Lean Workout Schedule will have you focusing on Cardio a lot more than resistance. This is a great place to start for those that want to focus on weight loss first and then maybe work into muscle building later on. With Lean you will be doing a lot more cardio options which in turn will burn more calories and help you drop fat faster.
I have not tried the lean P90X Workout Schedule option myself but I think it would be ideal if you wanted to condition and didn’t think you were quite ready to jump into Classic. You will need to set aside up to 1 hour and 30 minutes for your Lean Workout Schedule; the longest workout is Yoga X.
A Lean P90X Workout Schedule would look something like this:
Monday: Core / Cardio Tuesday: Cardio Wednesday: Resistance + Abs Thursday: Stretch / Balance (Yoga) Friday: Resistance + Abs Saturday: Cardio Sunday: Off
Notice how Monday differs from the Classic P90X Workout Schedule – You add an additional cardio / core exercise to maximize fat burning and core strengthening.
Now what’s interesting is at phase 3 of the Lean workout schedule you actually do workouts similar to Phase 1 of the Classic workout schedule. With that said you can see how Lean is designed as a lead up into Classic and then Classic builds into what we will look at next.
“Doubles”
Alright, this is the ultimate P90X Workout Schedule and for those already in shape or already doing Classic but ready for more. You will see why in a moment. Now with Doubles you will need a lot more dedication and time, you will need to set aside up to 2 hours and 20 minutes on some days. In most cases you will wake up and do cardio, then a couple hours later or in the evening you will do resistance + Abs.
Let’s take a look at what the Doubles P90X Workout Schedule looks like. ( Now keep in mind in Phase 1 Doubles appear to be the exact same as Classic – In phase 2 this changes by adding 3 cardio workouts each week and in phase 3 there is a significant change by adding 4 cardio workouts)
The following example is based off the Doubles P90X Workout Schedule – Phase 3. I want you to see how serious this really gets!
Monday: AM – Cardio / PM – Resistance + Abs Tuesday: AM – Cardio / PM – Cardio Wednesday: Resistance + Abs Thursday: AM – Cardio / PM – Stretch and Balance (Yoga) Friday: AM – Cardio / PM – Resistance + Abs Saturday: Cardio Sunday: Off
Notice how extreme is gets? The biggest difference between Classic and Doubles is the addition of all the Cardio. The best way to compare is this – In Doubles phase 3 you’re basically doing Classic with 4 additional Cardio workouts a week. Pretty intense eh – Believe me, it is!
Well that was a quick look at the P90X Workout Schedule and the variations that occur. This is a generalized overview but was hopefully informative. Keep in mind that with P90X and Muscle Confusion your resistance days will switch up to continuously bring intensity and challenge so you never fully adapt. This is the power of the P90X Workout Schedule – Choose Yours.
If your new and want to lose weight fast – Do Lean. If you’re seasoned and want a challenge plus muscle gain – Do Classic If you’re a pro and classic is not a challenge, get extreme – Do Doubles
The choose is yours and the P90X Workout Schedule allows so many variations there is no reason why you should not be pushing play today – Take responsibility for yourself and your health, take action today!
P90X reviews are one of the best ways you can use to learn important information about this workout program. This particular review is going to tell you how the p90x program differs from other programs.
Once you have this information, you will be able to decide for yourself if this is the program that will finally help you achieve the results that you want so you can get into much better shape than you are now.
One of the first ways that this program differs from others is that it is a comprehensive and complete fitness program. Included in this program is a nutrition plan, a support system and a state of the art home workout plan.
You will also receive 12 videos that will show you how to easily do the exercise routines so you can transform your body from where it is now to ripped in 90 days. Each of the videos will let you see the varying exercises so you will be able to target different areas of the body.
One reason this program is unique is that it uses muscle confusion so it is effective. This means that each day you will be working out a different part of your body, so your muscles will not become used to doing exercises and this will prevent them from becoming ineffective.
By working out the different areas of your body with this program, you will ensure that each exercise you do is always going to be effective and provide you with the results that you want.
Each of the workouts will be lead by Tony Horton, the founder of this amazing and effective program, and that is one thing that makes this program unique. He is going to become your personal trainer/motivator so you can get the maximum results out of every session.
You will also have the help of a coach that will work to keep you motivated so you can achieve the results that you want. No other program offers all of this and help like p90x does.
This program is not just about building muscle or cardiovascular training. With this program you will be able to increase your cardiovascular capacity, increase flexibility, tighten up your core muscles and you will be able to move more freely in your everyday life.
Now that you are aware of how p90x differs from other programs, you have to decide if this is the best program specific for you. Use the information in this review and other p90x reviews to help you make your decision, just remember that it is up to you to make this program work effectively for you because no one else can do this for you.
If you’re a skinny guy and you want to know does p90x work, then keep reading this article.
Skinny guys always have a tough time building muscle. They are already skinny, so it’s not unusual that they can’t put on any weight.
However, when you come acros a program like P90x, where you see many people completely transform there bodies, it really makes you wonder does p90x work for skinny guys.
In a short plain simple, yes, skinny guys can build muscle using the P90x program. It’s a very intense program, which if followed completely and correctly, can give you stunning results.
However, the P90x program isn’t the only program nor is it the best program out there.
P90x has been proven to work, but it isn’t the most efficent way to build muscle. The P90x workout program has you performing exercise nearly every day of the week. The 7th day is an optional rest day if you need it or you can perform more exercises.
The problem with working out everyday of the week is for one, many people do not have the time in their busy life and schedules to workout everyday and the second is that this isn’t the best way to build muscle. Working out everyday can be too much for your muscles and you run a risk of injurying yourself even though P90x focuses much on stretching.
If you think working out every day is going to be tough, each workout is anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes each. Each week you will have to spend anywhere from 6 (minimum) to 10 1/2 (max.) hours a week working out.
An hour and a half each day is a lot of time to dedicate to your workouts in today’s world.
P90x does work well, even for skinny guys as long as you follow the schedule exactly, along with the diet plan.