Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Any other people use P90X? I went through round one, but then stopped for several months and now I started round two and wish I never stopped. I am getting back in shape much quicker this time around. However, I still have problems with recovery. These guys go non-stop, and I often have to take long breaks so I can continue. And even then, I am really cheating. For example, the chest and back video has a lot of push-ups. After the third set or so, I am on my knees, and then some of them I can only do one or two on my knees.

So, should I push through and just keep going on with the video even though I can only do a few of them, or should I take a long break so I can maybe squeeze out 7 or 8? The military and diamon pushups are the ones that kill me.

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"Et Si Omnes Ego Non"

Http://www.NellieMcKay.com

"I don't eat rabbit food, I eat elephant food!"

Don't stop and take another long break as that didn't do it for you the first time. Do the first round again. Work on those foundations, then move into the second stage. I believe that program has a book on nutrition as well. Are you trying to match their recommendations by your vegan diet?

I don't follow their diet program, but rather came up with one with suggestions from this board and people I know. One problem is that I am trying to stay calorie deficient while increasing performance. I know this can be difficult.

I am wondering if there is a way I can push through, but still get in more reps. I guess if I found a workout partner, I could have them support me with a strap of something. Maybe I can tie one to the ceiling eh? LOL

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"Et Si Omnes Ego Non"

Http://www.NellieMcKay.com

"I don't eat rabbit food, I eat elephant food!"

If you're having a hard time with recovery just do what you can imo. It's counter productive to work out if you're hurting, since your progress happens during the recovery process.

Get plenty of sleep at night, and maybe try some green tea or creatine to help aid in the recovery.

Have you seen this vegan p90xer on youtube? Very inspiring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utd1gCEKPSc

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me: http://davidmanley.com
my vegan vid blog: http://myvegantribe.blogspot.com

Not doing P90X but looking into either that or the ChaLEAN Extreme when I'm done with the Slim in 6 program, plus mixing it up with the Slim series. My sole advice is to take it at your own pace but keep challenging yourself. Striking that balance can sometimes be tough, so just do your best and if you absolutely need to take a break even for a few seconds, do it.

So far have a very positive opinion of Beachbody's workout programs from the one I'm currently on! And I'm a coach over there, too--so if you need any help, holler!

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I am doing p90x and I could not keep up with it at first. What I did was just do a lot less than what they were doing. I would take breaks for the same period of time, but if I couldn't keep up I would just do less than what they were doing. If I took longer breaks like they recommended it would have taken me 2-3 hours to get through a workout and I just don't have that type of time on my hands. So my recommendation is to just do less than what they do if you can't keep up, and you will work your way on up.

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No Nonsense Muscle Building
Fat Burning Furnace

+1. Go back and do the first part of the program again, and concentrate on completing as much as you can, while still keeping the video going. If they are doing 20 reps at the end of a workout, and you can only do 4, then just do 4 and write that down. IMO trying to do P90X every day for more than the prescribed hour is going to be hard....

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Learning how to be compassionate, gain wisdom, and love life.

No one increases stamina by repeatedly taking breaks. If you want to be able to hang in there, you have to hang in there. That doesn't mean you have to go at their speed, but you do have to continue with it instead of taking breaks.

Some advice that the recruiters gave us was "to do the distance, so your body understands that you're going to be asking it to go that distance." This was for those of us that sucked at running and did the "build up to it" thing. The Marine Corps requires a 3 mile run in under 28 minutes, and if you suck at running that's a daunting task. The initial plan is to do 1 mile and keep at it until you get it done quickly, but as soon as you start to add distance you end up sucking all over again because your body is used to speeding through 1 mile instead of having to hang in there. The real way to build up to 3 miles is just to start out at 3 miles, and then to continue to do the 3 miles and eventually cut down the run time to be within standards.

In the same fashion, taking breaks during your P90X routine and somehow expecting your body to get the message that it needs to increase endurance (aka, learn to not take breaks) doesn't make any sense, and that's why you're still taking breaks instead of increasing endurance. I liken the body to the mind. Just like you won't learn Calculus if you just do everything up to Calculus and keep stopping at Calculus, your body won't learn to push through when you keep telling it, "It's okay, we're taking a break."

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"Society places too great a gap between its warriors and philosophers." -Unknown