Weight Loss

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Well, I have to use the leg attachment now, because I'm pulling down more than I weigh. If I tried doing the pull downs without it, I would be doing a pull up. But I didn't start using the leg supports until I started doing more than my body weight, and my wife doesn't use them because she doesn't pull her body weight. I do not recall the pull downs being significantly easier once I started using the leg attachment though.

As for measuring the weight used, most systems are pretty well calibrated - people who lift weights and keep track need to know how much they're lifting. I'll use the Nautalis system as an example here, as anyone who has ever been to a gym knows what they look like. If you go to the bench press machine, and set the pin at 100 lbs, the force you need is exactly the same as what you'd need to bench press 100 lbs using free weights. Technically, there is a lever used which should make the lift easier, but the machine is calibrated so that 100 lbs is 100 lbs.

The one caveat I would place on this is the Bowflex. While the Boxflex is an excellent piece of workout equipment (I own one) it is flawed in one aspect: The weight listed on the bows is the force need to continue bending the bow once you reach the midway point. The force required is less before that midpoint. If you don't adjust the bows so that they are already partially bent before you do your set, you won't be getting the full weight at the first part of each repitition.

 

I didn't realiz until recently how important it was for me to consume Whey protien. Since I started consuming 15-22g of whey protien after a workout I have noticed an increase in my energy level and I also feel a bit stronger each day.

To help me stay focus and motivated I am weighing myself each day. I know there can be a 1-2 pound increase/decrease daily but it will allow me to see how I am doing weekly and compare where I was a week ago instead of waiting every 30 days. I'm also going to start measuring myself weekly as well as I find myself more motivated after getting my body measurements. I know this might be over doing it but I need somethings to help me stay on track.

I have to say the biggest thing I noticed is that I'm not hungry after dinner thanks to the whey protien. I hope this really helps my weight loss.

Another 16 more days before I'm done my first 90 days.

 

I actually hadn't seen any Nautilus systems, so I checked their website . I agree that those systems can be set up very accurately, so that the resistance is the same compared to free weights. But as you said, the lift is slightly easier with the machine and I think there's the same thing with pulldowns compared to pull-ups.

The gym that I currently go to has two types of systems: classic weight-stack machines (very much like Nautilus) and machines, where the resistance comes from air pressure. The air pressure system are in a way very user-friendly, but I personally dislike them: the resistance seems to change throughout the movement and it's very hard to compare the pressure to weights.

 

I also weigh myself weekly (even though the P90X program recommend monthly weigh ins). Although I do not do so daily for the exact reason you mentioned - from one day to the next your weight can flucuate a couple of pounds. Over the course of a week though, those tend to even out. While it may be nice to see a bigger change over the course of the month, I like to get periodic updates to see how I'm progressing towards that goal. I have no inclination to take weekly measurements however.

 

The varying types of weight resistance offers the different resistance at certain points. It is recommend to rotate how you lift. If you lift with free weights for a while you should move onto another type of resistance like bands, machine, etc... By rotating the resistance type you use, you don't allow your body for fully adjust to that one specific resistance type.

I usually swap between bands and free weights every 2-3 weeks or so.

 

I agree that it's important to change exercise routines every now and then. I usually have done this with changing set lengths, trying different exercises or different programs. I'm not a huge fan of machines, so I stick to free weights whenever it's possible.

 

Machine vs. Free weight; I always try to go with free weights.

Free weights vs. Bands I like to rotate between the two.

It is just a matter of choice and prefence. I personally like free weights and bands. Both seem to provide a good strength training workout.

 

I love my free weights, and I prefer bar to dumbells. I agree with everything that dmc has said - you can do way more on the weight machine that you can with the bar, and my workouts seem very similar to his - my last set on the bench yesterday was 245lbs. I can do way more than that on a machine. However, dmc seems stronger than I am with dumbells. The only chest exercise I do even occasionally with dumbells are flys, but I use 60lb dumbells, not 75lbs.

I don't use bands per se, but I do own a bowflex that I like to use for pulldowns, flys (which is why I don't frequently do them with free weights), and tricep extensions. My wife also likes the bowflex because it allows a lot more flexibility in the weight you use. She doesn't like to use the free weights with the bar, because the bar alone is a decent amount of weight for her on a lot of exercises, and she doesn't like to balance the bar. Anyway, the bowflex is resistance training, which is the same as bands (including the part about the bands becoming more difficult the more you stretch them).

Had my weekly weigh-in today, and I'm down 5 lbs on the nose (192.7) after 6 weeks, so my weight loss has slowed, but I was never interested in losing a ton of weight anyway.

 

I wish I was done to 192lbs; that is about 2-3lbs lighter than my ideal weight.

 

You're probably taller than me - I know my ideal weight is probably right around 180lbs.

 

When I started working out about 18 months ago, the first gym I went to had lots of machines but very limited free weights. When I changed the gym to a better one about a year ago (smartest thing I did that summer) I almost felt like I had to start from zero: the strength I had gained working out in the machines didn't really transfer into free weights. Some machine exercises are useful - I still do pulldowns and seated rows as a part of my back routine.

As for bar vs. dumbells, I do both. Dumbells are much harder to balance and I remember reading that they usually are more effective is terms of activating the target muscle. I agree with dmc: doing flat (or incline) bench press with dumbells every now and then feels great. Weirdly enough, in some exercises I can do the dumbell version with exactly 50% of the bar versions weight. Still, in most cases doing things with one arm, or one leg for that matter, means using less than half of the "full" resistance.

 

Back is probably the most obvious example of workouts where a machine is helpful, but that's due to the unidirectional force of gravity. You can workout back without a machine, but you had better be prepared to do a lot of pullups.

 

I'm 5'11" and my ideal weight is 180-185 lbs, but my athletic weight is around 195-200 lbs.

I weighed in last night and I am now down to 270lbs. I am 4lbs lighter than I was last week. My goal is to be down to 265lbs by May 28th.

 

Which is one reason why I use machines; I can't do long pullup sets, about 6-7 reps. Today I actually did my whole back workout without machines: deadlift, bent-over row and pullups. Friday is a lighter day with machines and longer sets in pulldowns and seated rows.

Is May 28th the final day of the P90? When you're at 265lbs how much have you lost so far?

 

No. Day 90 is May 29th.

I have my annual physical on May 28th. I would like to be 10lbs lighter than the weight I was on 4/24 when I went into the doctor office for the sinus infection.

Also, being 265lbs would be the lightess I have been in years.

My goal is not 265lbs or even 250lbs. My goal is to get my weight down to 200lbs. I don't expect my weight to be down to 200lbs anytime soon. I hope by this time next year my weight will be close to 200lbs. That gives me one full year to workout and loose an additional 60+ lbs. That is about 5lbs a month or so.

 

8 more days to go. I still have 5lbs more to get to 265.

 

Friday May 28

It is hard to believe but tomorrow is day 89 and my annual physical with my doctor. I have lost 20-22lbs of total weight since 3/1/2010. My 90th day with P90 is 5/29, but I start round two 5/31. My goal is to loose another 10-15 pounds by the end of summer.

This has been a very good eye opener for me. I hope I can stay focus and committed to exercising and my goal over the next 90 days is to modify and improve upon my eating habbits.

 

Congrats Munchkin. My weight loss is not nearly as great as yours, but I have to say that I feel stronger than I did when I started - I'm not a little past the half way mark in the program, and the workouts are becoming easier.

 

Great work and dedication to the cause, Munchkin Blender. It's been inspirational.

As for me, I'd still much rather run than do lots of weight training, although I should probably do both.