Quick point, I wouldn't train shoulders and chest back to back. A lot of the same muscles get worked in the various compound moves. Its also a lot of pushing versus pulling. It will effect your recovery and recovery is everything. Put back or legs between chest and shoulders.
I don't...Sunday was a rest day. The Body Beast schedule goes Chest, Legs, Arms, Cardio, Back, Shoulders, Rest
Push ups should be fine. I meant from a body building standpoint, where we are tearing down the muscle fibers and allowing time to recover. There's a lot of people doing push ups every day. If its working for you. Stick with it. Heck, there's a Young man at my gym...benches and does incline twice a week, does shoulder press and close grip bench other 2 days a week. Presses/benches 4 days a week. Kids a little beast and defies all "over training logic." So I think the problem is, we see and log activity and all of these studies are superior to doing nothing...so it all "works" and thus "is the way." I'm a strong advocate of keeping an open mind, but knowing yourself, like you.
Yeah it seems to work pretty well. This is my 2nd round with Body Beast. I feel like I'm learning something each time I go through these programs. Either trying to get my nutrition spot on, or lifting properly (form and tempo instead of ego), or actually resting when I'm supposed to rest. You'd think I'd have this down after doing this, P90X, P90X2, Insanity and Asylum for 2 years.
It depends what your goals are. There's not a power lifter or body builder alive doing p90X. At some point, those may not work for you as they are catered to more of the "blank canvas" type working out people. People looking to get "in" shape. I'm not sure what the Beast program is, but it sounds more like a lifters program. You just need to know what the scientific process is, what helps you achieve your goals best, and then get too it. Its great to take the ego out,and focus on form. But don't forget to get out of your comfortability zone too, and force some weight. Everything has its place.
Yeah at first my goals were basically just to get healthy and fit, and P90X, it's variants, and Insanity fit that bill. Body Beast is a program they released last summer that focuses on gaining mass at home. Lots of people scoff at that because they don't have really heavy weights at home, but the guy who developed it (Sagi Kalev) is big on muscle fatigue creating hypertrophy instead of just throwing around heavy weights at low reps. The different types of sets (super, progressive, force, giant) mixed with various rep ranges really creates a lot of time under tension and fatigue. So basically I'll do Beast as my winter, bulking up program, and I'll do P90X/Insanity/X2/Asylum as my spring, summer, and fall programs as they focus more on functional fitness and athleticism. I don't want to be one of those guys that just "lifts things up and puts them down"...I want to be able to do things with my new found fitness
Bulk: Legs done tonight. I focused on getting deep on my lunges and lower in my squat, while keeping my chest up and shoulders back. I also made sure to squeeze my thighs and hamstrings at the top of each move. Two times I almost puked, so yeah, I worked pretty friggin' hard tonight.
Bulk Arms done this afternoon. Kept the same weights as last week to keep up with the tempo and I felt really good. I'll probably be able to bump up on a few of the moves next week.
Bulk Chest done today. Felt great to get back on it after a rest day yesterday. Definitely worked to complete failure on the progressive sets. I weighed myself yesterday and I was 2 lbs down from the week before. My measurements were about the same, I didn't go up anywhere, so it looks like I'll be upping the calories a bit again.
Hour and half biking up and down the mtns today, even in Feb was dripping sweat when I got home. Also one of those days were I'm just not hungry, feels good really.
Bulk Arms done yesterday. Protip: Don't shave your head right after a grueling arm workouts. Razors are sharp.
Beast Cardio & Beast Abs done yesterday afternoon. My legs were still feeling it from Tuesday but I was able to push through and they felt great afterward.
Couldn't hit the gym because the "Cough from Hell" has plagued me and my family. Frustrating because my body feels fine but between my nose and throat, I'm miserable. Still trying to eat well. Could be worse I suppose. But annoyed none the less.
Did upper body yesterday and am really feeling it today, add in the weather has turned nasty so no bike commuting today and I''ll probably hit traps and abs today to get some work in.
Just ordered an Inzer 10mm Forver Belt. I got the single prong. I adjust a lot, and lay flat on several moves, so this seemed like the best option for me, rather than lever or double prong...despite aesthetics.
Hmm, SDaddy, I never used a belt, was always taught proper form was what was needed. You must lift real heavy?
I lift heavy, with the big compound moves. And form is super important. But perfect form on squats, dead lifts, gorilla presses, a belt still protects you. The way I train, form deteriorates by the end of my heaviest sets. On your last sets, If you can stand there and lift up the weight perfectly on your 12th rep like your first rep, you're not giving forth your best effort. That's my opinion anyway, and the difference I see between the gym goers who always look the same, and those who prosper. Cheating has its places for advanced people training. 20 years weight lifting, I have no back issues or "core strength" issues, and I always used a belt, different kinds. Bodybuilders actually use them to help keep their mid-line narrow, which is part of the reason I upgraded to this thing. I also wanted a better belt. There are bigger belts out there for the bags of meat who try to dead lift and squat 800 lbs. This is best for both worlds.
That push until failure with heavy weights is one of the reasons why I no longer body build. Not for lower back reasons, rather elbow and shoulder reasons, was doing seated military presses at 185 and literally felt my shoulder catch on fire, may have torn a rotator cuff, maybe strained it, either way that was enough for me.
I spend a lot of time warming up, prepping, getting a sweat and getting "hot", to avoid injury. I have some minor joint issues, but started on supps for that. I had to adjust my bench to a more narrow grip for small old chest injuries. A lot of it is living and learning and adapting. This is the only type of fitness I like though, and overall, the years have been kind to me injury wise. And also, some moves have no place for going too heavy. Exercises stressing the shoulders and knees need a modicum of precaution.
Today starts the 3rd and last phase of Body Beast. So far my results are: weight up 10 lbs both arms up 3/8" chest up 1 5/8" waist is the same hips are the same thighs are up 1/4" calves are up 1/2" I must say I'm very happy with those results through the first 2 phases. Especially when you consider that I was down for a whole week (no exercise, barely eating) due to the flu, and I also had an awful stomach bug last weekend that kept me from eating. I'm going to stay on the Bulk eating plan to see how much muscle I can pack on these last 4 weeks. Wish me luck!
Funny you mention calves, went on a midnight bike ride Saturday night and had put sweats under pants b/c it was 22 degrees and blowing light snow w/a 15 mph gusting wind..and I've biked for so long my jeans would not fit over my calves with the sweats on.
Dang you must have some tree trunks down there My calves are still quite skinny, but I'm really happy the size is going up on them. From what I understand it's really difficult to gain mass there.
The local watering hole staff's nickname for me is "legs" Bicycling is no joke, some guys get lanky, I just muscled up like a fullback Following a 30 grams of protein in the morning approach now and have lost 5 pds in 10 days, that and biking in the cold could be the equivalent to an ice bath as fellas no matter how much you wear when it is cold, you will freeze unless you buy that high dollar goretex type stuff.
Man I hate the cold. In about 2 weeks when I start Insanity:Asylum I'll be running on my "rest" days. I hope it warms up here (PA) by then. I have some decent Under Armor cold gear stuff, but I'd rather not have to use it. Next week is my last week of Body Beast. I'm up 13 pounds from where I started, and the abs are still showing quite nicely. I'm really happy with the progress!
Alrighty then, my results from Body Beast: Weight - up 13.8 lbs R.Arm - up 9/16" L.Arm - up 9/16" Chest - up 1 & 7/8 " <-biggest change Waist - same Hips- same R.Thigh - up 13/16" L.Thigh - up 3/4" R.Calf- up 1/16" L.Calf - up 5/16" I did the Lean Schedule, and stayed on the Build/Bulk diet for the duration of the program.
I started Insanity: Asylum Vol.2 yesterday. Holy Agility Ladder drills... I was able to get through them fairly well, but not as fast as I would've liked. I know that will get better during the next 4 weeks though. Also the jump rope sections of the routine are always difficult for me.
Well, I think it is key to put in the work, and to have fun, occasionally you have to challenge yourself. This week, think a 6 mile hike, at 3am ending with a mtn climb in 40 degree weather..I was crushed.. THAT was tough
Whew man climbing at night at 40 degrees? That's rough man. I bet it felt great though. Stuff like that is good for the soul I finished Insanity:Asylum Vol.2. Each week my foot speed and coordination got better, it was an awesome feeling. I added running to my "off" days and go for about 4 miles on Fridays on the streets and 5 miles on Sundays on the horse trails near my house. I also went ahead and bought a mountain bike. My daughter has been loving life on her bike, and I figured this is something we can do together and I can occasionally take it out and challenge myself on some trails. Started P90X2 yesterday. I have my programs mapped out until June 2014 I also had a small physical done yesterday for a new life insurance policy I'm getting. Blood pressure was 102/60, and resting heart rate was at 56 bpm. Really good considering I had just finished working out about an hour before. I should know my blood test results in a week or so.
It was raining as well, just brutal, halfway home there is digital clock at a LDS church and it said "38 degrees, 3:30 am" and I knew I had 20 minutes more of hike..just to get to the bottom of the mtn at a 15% grade for a mile or so. Anyway though, the 30 grams of protein for breakfast stuff really works well
It's awesome seeing progress each week. Seeing how we can change our bodies but pushing them; and seeing how much our bodies can adapt. The quest to health is challenging, but it can be oh so rewarding too.
That reminds me of Remember the Titans where they wake up all the players a night and have them go for a run in the wilderness. Do you mind me asking how your progress has been? I know we were both trying to lose weight around this time last summer, just curious about your total accomplishments so far (how you feel, how much weight you lost, any differences you notice, etc). Congrats again on all your success. It seems like you have really made "lifestyle" changes as opposed to having a "diet" view.
Trend over the last yr has been to gain 7 pds over the winter, then plateau around 200 for a week or so, then resume losing weight to the mid 190's by Fall This yr I'm changing some things (less beer, more protein etc) to see if I can get below 190.
Nice, cutting down the beer has been one of the hardest things for me to do lol. I am going to try to get down to 180-165, I am more going for a specific look compared to a certain weight.
Overworked my legs on the bike and had to take a week off of the bike. Calf strain, knees aching, hammies tight, when your body sends you those signals you should listen. -added additional protein -cut out beer Maintained my weight overall but the downward trend will be stunted for awhile.
Interesting time, moms was in a bad way which meant: Little food, as in no food of consequence, lots and lots of booze Lost 6 pds in a week..but was quite weak when it came to lifting weights..but found stamina in walking around 6 miles a day up and down the hillsides in sweat shirts and thermals in early summer..that was uhm....fun. Things settled down now..so worked out today and yesterday and am sore as one can imagine. Decided my goals for the summer are to learn Arabic and to get down to 190 pds.
Learning a language is a very ambitious goal. I've hardly mastered English and its my primary (and only) language. Good luck though Also I've read that it's infinitely harder to pick up a language after you are like 5 years old or something like that. I plan on having my child learn at least 1 other language as a child in order to help him/her out in the future.
