P90X and LCHF diet --- Any success stories/suggestions/comments
Andresito
Posts: 9 Member
Hi there --
Just started P90X for the second time since buying the program. I was wondering if any of you have had any success building muscle with the strenuous workouts while reducing fat on an LCHF diet. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Andrés
Just started P90X for the second time since buying the program. I was wondering if any of you have had any success building muscle with the strenuous workouts while reducing fat on an LCHF diet. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Andrés
1
Replies
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I did it in the past while low carb. It was coincidental though as I was going for whole foods which naturally lowered my carbs. My guess is that I was at the higher end of low carb as I included things like steel cut oats and a fair bit of veggies.
I had great gains. The chin-ups and push-ups I could do as a middle aged mom was pretty impressive.
I was still trying to slowly lose at the time so I was pretty happy with it.
I did not quite hit 90 days as I had an injury and needed to stop all activity for a few months.
My guess is the key thing is getting enough protein and not eating at a deficit.0 -
I did manage to build muscle once in maintenance on LCHF (NOT reducing healthy fat by much - I still get 65% of my energy calories from fat every day). I didn't do PX90. I worked out 3 X / week at home using free weights and such. On the off days, I usually did cardio in the form of walking. I was very strict with myself and didn't miss a single workout in those first 6 months. I should have gotten a body fat test when I first started (I started weight/strength training 08/01/2016) but I didn't so presumably my body composition, weight, etc. was probably a bit different then. Results according to hydrostatic body fat tests:
Date of Test: 09/10/2016
Weight:139.6
Lean Pounds: 106.65
Fat Pounds: 32.95
Body Fat %: 23.6
Date of Test: 01/14/2017
Weight:133.4
Lean Pounds: 111.3
Fat Pounds: 22.1
Body Fat %: 16.6
I made sure to hit my protein goal of 25% every day but as you can not only did I successfully reduce my body fat percentage but I also managed to build about 5-6 pounds of lean body mass too. I did it eating no more than 40 carbs total per day. Current body fat % from my most recent BF Test on 04/23/2017 = 16.2%.
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I want to get a hydro test done so bad!0
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Thanks for the replies, y'all. I'm having a hard time eating enough food, despite the rather crazy amount of exercise I'm putting in daily (90-120 mins). I noticed that since starting the LCHF diet, I'm not as hungry as I used to be in the past. This seems to be good for weight loss but not that great for muscle gain. Any tips?2
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I did manage to build muscle once in maintenance on LCHF (NOT reducing healthy fat by much - I still get 65% of my energy calories from fat every day). I didn't do PX90. I worked out 3 X / week at home using free weights and such. On the off days, I usually did cardio in the form of walking. I was very strict with myself and didn't miss a single workout in those first 6 months. I should have gotten a body fat test when I first started (I started weight/strength training 08/01/2016) but I didn't so presumably my body composition, weight, etc. was probably a bit different then. Results according to hydrostatic body fat tests:
Date of Test: 09/10/2016
Weight:139.6
Lean Pounds: 106.65
Fat Pounds: 32.95
Body Fat %: 23.6
Date of Test: 01/14/2017
Weight:133.4
Lean Pounds: 111.3
Fat Pounds: 22.1
Body Fat %: 16.6
I made sure to hit my protein goal of 25% every day but as you can not only did I successfully reduce my body fat percentage but I also managed to build about 5-6 pounds of lean body mass too. I did it eating no more than 40 carbs total per day. Current body fat % from my most recent BF Test on 04/23/2017 = 16.2%.
In 4 months?!? I'm in awe! Nice going.0 -
Thanks @RalfLott. I was very consistent and kept to a workout pace that just about killed me. lol Although I do still work out more regularly than not, I find I absolutely cannot make myself keep to the same consistency now that I somehow managed to stick to for those first 6 months. Ah well.1
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Thanks for the replies, y'all. I'm having a hard time eating enough food, despite the rather crazy amount of exercise I'm putting in daily (90-120 mins). I noticed that since starting the LCHF diet, I'm not as hungry as I used to be in the past. This seems to be good for weight loss but not that great for muscle gain. Any tips?
If you're looking for ways to increase calories without really increasing food volume, maybe consider adding MCT oil or partaking in the "bulletproof" type beverages.
I think you have to decide if you're at a point of cutting bodyfat or gaining muscle though... you can maintain the muscle you have just fine while eating at deficit and cutting bodyfat as long as you get enough protein. Make it a priority.0 -
I am doing Leangains with P90X3 and after a bumpy start it has been kind of amazing.
It's calorie/carb cycling. You get more food/carbs on the strength days (chest/back, shoulders/arms, legs/back, back/biceps) and you get less food/carbs on the cardio/flex days (plyo, yoga, kenpo, core synergistics). For recovery week I stick to the rest day macros for the whole week.
I cut the carbs to about half of what was recommended by the LG calculators, so on my 'rest' days I get about 50, and on my 'train' days I get about 125. I find that the extra food/carbs definitely help me get through the workout with a higher intensity than I was able to perform with a consistent LCHF plan. My lifts are increasing, some of my measurements (like arms) are increasing, most others are dropping, my weight has been stable or slightly up depending on the day. My baby belly is finally almost gone - my youngest is 13, so even when I was 15 lbs thinner I still had that poochy belly thing, but now it's mostly gone. The rest days are hard, it's basically all protein to get in the required amount and not go over on calories.
I calculated my macros here, but cut the carbs in half - and I'm aiming for very small loss, not too steep a deficit since the workout is quite intense. I would love to hear about your results no matter what method you try!
https://rippedbody.com/how-to-calculate-leangains-macros/1 -
Thanks for the replies, y'all. I'm having a hard time eating enough food, despite the rather crazy amount of exercise I'm putting in daily (90-120 mins). I noticed that since starting the LCHF diet, I'm not as hungry as I used to be in the past. This seems to be good for weight loss but not that great for muscle gain. Any tips?
Being honest, you don't do P90X to gain muscle. It's a program designed to lose weight while increasing stamina, strength, flexibility (basically overall fitness) but not to build muscle. Yes if you're a relative newbie to weight training you may see minor muscle growth(different from getting stronger).
I've done P90X both lchf and hclf and the main difference I saw was that on low carb I lost more weight, used lighter weights and was a LOT more sore that first week. On higher carb I could use heavier weights but didn't lose as much weight.
It's a great program if you can stay engaged for 90 days with those long workouts and hearing Tony's jokes over an over but don't do it if you're trying to increase muscle mass IMO.0 -
Assuming you are increasing weights as you go through the program and keeping those last 3 reps super challenging - why wouldn't you be stimulating muscle growth?0
