Supplements?

[McDonald]

I've been doing p90x for 60 days.

 

I'm pretty fit. But since starting the program I have seen no real gains in muscle growth. Loss of fat yes. More defined abs yes. But the biceps are lacking.

 

Maybe I should be taking supplements?

Or protein shakes etc?

 

My problem is... Idk what is the best combination. Any thoughts? Anyone use supplemets or protein powders and know a good Schuedle to take them?

[USMCHokie]

You can take all the supplements you want, but it won't do a lick of good until you stop doing P90X and start a traditional weight training regime. Those guys you see on TV are NOT just doing P90X and looking like that. They are also doing traditional heavy weight training to gain the mass. P90X might be great for losing the fat, but it's at best only a supplement to picking up and putting down heavy objects. It isn't designed for significant gains in mass. Clever marketing, I must admit.

[McDonald]

Well I have been lifting for a while but alwasys on and off. Stopped olympic style lifting after Highshool 2 years ago.

 

Do u recommend a particular routine? I'm not trying to get "huge" but more athletic cut

[USMCHokie]

Well I have been lifting for a while but alwasys on and off. Stopped olympic style lifting after Highshool 2 years ago.

 

Do u recommend a particular routine? I'm not trying to get "huge" but more athletic cut

 

You're not going to get "hyuuuge" unless you're training consistently over the course of several years...you still need to build mass to fill out your body...I'll wait for Tman to come in to save this thread. I'm not too privy to the latest and greatest in training, but he is a great resource of knowledge and can point you in the right direction. Take a look at the "New Rules of Lifting" series...I think tman had recommended that to me years ago, and I have two of the volumes. I think it provides a pretty decent basis for the average person to gain some mass safely and effectively.

[tman666]

Hahaha, Hokie, you already saved the thread man.

 

McDonald, Hokie is right. P90X is not a program that will put on much muscle in all but mostly untrained individuals.

 

For both development of strength and mass, the body needs to be progressively loaded with increasing stimuli. This is known as "progressive overload", and in my experience, and the experience of most big/strong people, it is essential for long term progression.

 

The other important concept that I've found to be essential is the concept of specificity. Some people refer to it as "training modality". In layman's terms, specificity means that in order to improve at something, your training needs to specifically address the functions of that asset.

 

For example, P90X has probably increased your work capacity quite well when it comes to your ability to perform cardiovascular and muscle endurance work. That said, the amount of carryover you're going to get into the areas of developing peak strength and/or maximal hypertrophy (muscle growth) are going to be limited because those areas respond much more optimally to different training stimuli.

 

Decades of anecdotal evidence and more recently scientific studies have shown that lifting progressively heavier weights with progressively more volume (total reps performed) is essential to providing the necessary training stimulus for a person to keep growing/gaining strength over time.

 

There are other principles that come into play as well, including time under tension, rep speed, etc., but those tend to be less important than keeping with the overall theme of doing more work with heavier weight over time.

 

This blog post from powerlifter Greg Nuckols does a great job, in my opinion, of further explaining why increasing your work capacity is necessary to make long term progress: Increasing work capacity | Greg's Life

 

With regards to your training, I think now is probably a good time to take a step back and re-evaluate your goals. If you have plans to compete in bodybuilding, powerlifting, or Olympic weightlifting, you need to start tailoring your training to meet the highly specific demands of each respective sport.

 

If you're just trying to look better and put on some more mass, I would set up your training around a basic 5x5 program that incorporates all of the main compound lifts and reasonable, slow progressive overload.

 

Another program that I used in the past that I felt really helped spring me from a beginner level to the next step was called ABBH 1 by a guy named Chad Waterbury. In addition to size, I also gained substantial strength using that program.

 

Keep in mind too that your gains will only be as good as how you're fueling them. You will likely need to eat more in order to optimize muscle growth. Make sure to get in at least 1 gram of protein per lb of desired body mass per day. Eat plenty of carbs. It's very, very difficult to gain muscle while being a carb-o-phobe (not saying you are, just sayin').

 

With regards to your original question about supplements, I wouldn't really bother or spend money on them until your diet and training are in check. Supplemental whey can be handy for meeting your protein macro. Plain old creatine monohydrate is proven and cheap. Vitamin D and supplemental Calcium (if you don't eat much dairy) are good. Other than that, the effects of most supplements are so small that unless you already have everything else dialed in, you're mostly just wasting money, to be honest.

 

Best of luck to you!

[Esoteric Elf]

Well I have been lifting for a while but alwasys on and off. Stopped olympic style lifting after Highshool 2 years ago.

 

Do u recommend a particular routine? I'm not trying to get "huge" but more athletic cut

Do medium weights (60-75% of one-rep max) with medium repetitions (8-15) to gain a more jacked or cut look. I should also mention that when you do each of these sets, do them to failure. So many times I see guys at the gym go a weight, then place it back before they even seemed to have strained themselves. To failure is a key. If your muscles don't feel strain, they will not grow as much (I could go into the different levels of muscle, but no need to here unless you want me to). Lift until failure. If you can do a weight more repetitions without failure than what is prescribed, increase weight.