Okay, I have been working out for a couple months now. I am 5'8", weigh about 155 pounds. I have been doing p90x (workout videos, that are not easy, imo) to get more more muscle, and have been running around 15-20 miles a week. I know every body is different, But you all are some of the smartest people i know so I hope you can help.
1. Can I still efficiently gain muscle If i am eating not so good? I don't eat vegetables and fruit everyday.... I eat whats at my house, Sometimes okay stuff (a sandwich and milk) Sometimes not so good (chips, burritos, popsicle, etc.). I'm not so bad that I sit and eat junk food all day, and I do not really drink soda too much, but I definitely don't eat how I am supposed to be eating. I Consume, on average, 2000-3500 calories a day of food of this sort. How much would eating right help me look better and get stronger?
2. Protein, I know it is essential to growing muscles. I try to get a protein drink in every once in a while, but I do not have the money to keep buying it. How important is it? Is there a certain amount of grams I need to get a day to see improvement, with the workout plan I am already doing?
You can gain muscle eating anything, as long as you're working out. Gaining weight stems from over eating, and not being active. Veggies, and and fruit are good, but not very essential to gaining muscle on their own. Try to lower sugar intake, and shoot for a 2200 calorie a day diet. Be careful doing the P90X workout, it can over tax you if you're not careful.
For proper protein consumption, eat red meat, eggs, and other stuff that naturally gives you protein. Smoothies, and protein drink are good, but not great. Drink some gatorade or powerade during workouts, and as near all weight lifters, and dieters/health nuts eat four small meals a day, with light snacks in-between. It keeps your metabolism going strong. And if you feel like you're getting hungry, too much so that you want to binge, give your self a free day to eat stuff like cheeseburgers, chinese food, etc...
The rule to gettin in shape? Do what nature intended foe your body.
1. The only liquid that used to exist in ready abundance was water. Think about orange juice. If you were to make a glass you are squeezing 4-6 oranges to make one glass. How much sugar. Acid. Etc is that. Think nature meant or that?
Fried foods. Greasy foods. To make it you need vegetable oil. How much vegetables are you extracting to make the oil to cook your food... Think nature meant for that?
I'm kinda just talking from a common sense angle but as someone that used p90x I see the uses. If you do the program though... You should follow the diet in there. It's engineered to help you attain the body type you want...
And I agree that you should have a cheat day every once in a while... But that doesn't mean you ruin all the work you did that week!
Single best tip I can give you to stay in shape. Careful of friends and girflfriwnds. They will suggest you to go hang out. So u do. Bit what does everyone do but hit late night places for junk! Eat til you are no longer hungry. Do not eat until full!! Eat slower. If you eat too fast food is still traveling to your stomach and you'll engorge too much. By eating slower you allow your body time to recognize it's lkmits...
But to make up for the smaller portions you'll probably eat more times a day...
Btw a recent study showed that the Jenny Craig program worked better than doctor supervised programs. Personally I think it all has todo with self motivation versus someone forcing you to do something you don't want...
For me as I worked out more I wanted less grease. Less red meat... I was in pretty decent shape for a while...
Then I got a girlfriend... And gained most of it back! Careful of girlfriends. They always make you take them out to eat! And then you ear more than you want to. :/
__________________ Quotes from Hia8:
"I claimed that the science is sometimes faulty."
"You don't understand. This is fiction. That means none of this stuff really happened."
"There is no writer to purposely ignore a character's natural ability just because it suits the story."
"in some cases because the writer knows that Character A will dominate Character B easily and refuses to allow this to happen for the sake of the story."
Don't knock it dude. It's what works for him now. As he learns the exercises and his own rate of diet and exercise he'll find what works or him. Not everyone understands the fundamentals inherently. A lot of it is taught or passed on and you don't even realize who taught it to you.
__________________ Quotes from Hia8:
"I claimed that the science is sometimes faulty."
"You don't understand. This is fiction. That means none of this stuff really happened."
"There is no writer to purposely ignore a character's natural ability just because it suits the story."
"in some cases because the writer knows that Character A will dominate Character B easily and refuses to allow this to happen for the sake of the story."
You can't gain muscles if you don't eat protein. If you eat a pile of fruits and veggies, you won't gain muscles unless those veggies contain lots of protein (beans).
You should pull back the cardio, big time.
Only do a mile or 2 of cardio a day and only do it 4 days out of the week.
Amp your protein intake up to 150-200 grams a day.
Make sure you get in about 25-35 grams a of fiber a day, as well (you will want to work your way up to that much because your body takes a bit to adapt to that much fiber...trust me, you'll shit all over the place if you eat that much all of a sudden..increase it slowly).
At your weight, you really don't have to worry about eating cleanly. Just get enough protein and fiber in...and eat whatever the hell else you want.
I'm not joking. Take your weight and body fat measures once a month. If you start gaining too much fat, cut back about 50-100 grams of your carbs.
Don't worry about hitting 4000 calories in food a day. I'm between 3000-4000 calories a day and I'm actually losing fat (seriously...I can barely keep my pants up, these days).
I would not hesitate on doing the diet program the p90x system shows me, tbh I do not have the money to be buying food like that. Healthy food is expensive, and the drinks/protein bars they tell you to buy... It all adds up:/ I had to buy the p90x workout set burned from a friend for 15 dollars lmao.
Also, eating to much is not a problem for me. i have little fat on me, and if anything i need to eat more for how much i workout. Your right, I try to drink as much water as I can, and I do not let my girlfriend get in the way of that. She will have to tolerate my working out, as I have to do it.
This sounds like more of my body. With the money I have ill try and get as much protein and right amount of fiber as I can.
The only problem about not running so much is that I really have to run a LOT. I am going to USMC bootcamp in a little over a month and a half, and when im in bootcamp I dont have the option to not run. I have to workout a lot everyday, but not so much that I am overtraining. I looked up all the symptoms and signs of overtraining, and even though I am running and working out a lot everyday, I can tell I am fine.
So for my sake, assume I have to run a lot, like 20-25 miles a week, and do my p90x videos (which workout every part of the body using weights/calisthenics, usually about 45 minutes to a little over an hour for each p90x workout). Remember, I know what is pushing it when it comes to working out. Working out a lot for me is definitely something I have to do, its not an option, I am going to be pushed a lot during bootcamp and I have to be used to it before I go in, So knowing that should I eat a lot during the day because I am working out a lot and using up a lot of energy? I agree with you that I dont have to be so strict on my diet as I am not really big at all right now... I should focus on getting a lot of protein and fiber.
P90x is what i need right now. The workout you posted is great, but I need a mix of wieght training/calisthenics/strength endurance as I am going to be going to bootcamp. Doing workouts that focus strictly on getting me big are just going to weigh me down to much. I want to be strong, cut, but not huge.
If you're trying to get in shape for boot camp, just run 2 miles at a time. (I believe the Marines do a 2 mile run.) Some do a 3 mile run so that by the time bootcamp comes around, you're more than ready to "loop back around" and pick up the laggers (in the running routine, if you have some marines lagging behind, the "pack" loops back around to pick up the straggler/s. This is the help build the idea that you are "one" cohesive unit and no man is left behind.)
Work on your 2 mile run ever other day, not every day. You need to give your body rest to see marked improvement. And every 3 months, take 2 weeks off: no working out, not cardio, no nothing. I'm not joking.
Post up pictures of your progress as you go.
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Last edited by dadudemon on Sep 13th, 2011 at 03:09 PM
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