Posts by khlynn

I am no exercise expert, so I hope others who are will reply. I really do not know about the impact increasing amounts of weight have on joints. I assume weights could cause problems as one of my knees hurt regularly until I dropped a lot of weight. Not exactly the same thing as I was carrying that weight around all the time as opposed to only when weight lifting.

I do not know that you really need have that much weight for your legs anyway. I guess it depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

For almost a year now I have been doing Power 90 and P90X. Tony Horton's (the trainer who developed the programs) legs look very muscular. Not like a body builders, but very well defined and powerful looking.

In all the various leg exercises in these programs, few use any weights at all. My legs are in their best shape ever.

In the P90X program is a Plyometric routine for your legs as well as Legs & Back. Put all that together and I assume you would be able to jump higher and run faster. I know I can. Although I do not know if it is the main purpose of doing squats. In Horton's world variety is key. You do a variety of different squats and lunges and other things like mimicking speed skating. And obviously, the Plyo routine involves a lot of jumping from side to side, up and down, jumping up and doing a 180 turn from a squat position, it really works my legs like nothing else.

So, if you are concerned about the effects of heavy weights on your knees, it is possible to get your legs in great shape with little weight involved. However, if you want to build mass, then I assume you would need to lift lots of heavy weights.

~Karen

Original Post by qmwillcand:

Original Post by khlynn:

The plyo was fun, so maybe I will continue to do some of it.

 

???!!!

Glad I wasn't eating when I read this! I might've choked. Or thrown up. Or thrown up and choked on it! :D

Glad to hear that the modifications are working for you, it's a neat program that way- there's more than one way to nearly kill your body skin a cat!

Well, yes it was fun, but it was also killer. It's just such a different workout that I find it fun even though my legs felt like mush afterwards.

Yep, modifying is the way to go. Even if you can't do all of the workouts, especially just starting out, you do what you can and build on it. P90X is really extreme and it is hard, but I find myself enjoying it and actually looking forward to the workouts. I can't say the same about anything else I have tried.

I just finished the first round of P90X Lean. I really want more weight lifting, so I am jumping into Classic starting with round 2.

I find that I am having to increasingly modify what I do due to a bad shoulder. I can do most of the shoulder exercises okay. Except I never do upright rows or the lateral raise with a pour. Those are exercises, according to my 7 Minute Rotator Cuff Solution book, I should never do. Instead of upright rows I do shrugs and I can do lateral raises without the pour.

I also, through a process of elimination, discovered that what was hurting my shoulder was push ups. I tried modifying by not going low and going back to doing them from my knees, but my shoulder still hurt. The yoga is causing problems also. Just being in plank position puts too much strain on my shoulder. The last time I did yoga, I had a hard time holding my arm up because of the pain. I am considering doing the yoga without any planks or chaturangas.

I'll also have to modify the core synergistics and am unsure of just how I will do that. I will obviously eliminate anything that has me supporting my weight with my arms, but I am not sure what I will do in place of all the push ups in the routine. Maybe for now I'll just watch.

All that being said, I love this program. I find myself actually looking forward to my workouts. I really do not care for the yoga, but am getting a little better at it. I still have to hit pause during any cardio routine. But I do make it through all the routines.

The weight lifting routines are my favorites. I cannot do pull ups so I use my band wrapped around my pull up bar for now. I am replacing chest presses for push ups until my shoulder gets better. I am seeing muscles I have either never seen before or it has been so long since I have seen them I have forgotten what they looked like. At age 52 I am getting in the best shape of my life.

Hello, and good luck with the new baby. I have lost 60 pounds in a little over a year. I did it by counting calories and exercising. I started out at 1500 calories a day. I am 5'8" and wieghed 224 pounds April 2007. I now weigh 163 pounds. I joined a support group at work of co-workers who were tryingn to lose weight. A nutritionist leads the group.

I find the group very helpful. It works for me.

I am trying to get off the last few pounds. I am trying to get to 150. Now, I have hit a plateau, and cannot seem to get below 163 and stay there. My weight keeps bouncing up and down. This is where the nutritionist has been helpful. She told me the smaller one gets, the harder and slower it becomes to get the weight off. I now try to keep my calories at 1400 per day and have tried to get in more exercise.

I think what worked best for me initially was to make small incremental changes to my diet and activity. I just tried to get my calories under control without regard for what I was eating, just how much. Now I am more aware of eating foods that are good for me rather than trying to accommodate chips and dips into my daily calories. I had cheat days and even cheat weeks (during Christmas) yet I still managed to keep on losing weight. I don't do that so much now, as I do not feel the need.

I am now so accustomed to weighing and measuring my food that it is as much a part of eating as getting out a plate and silverware.

I started my exercise by walking. Slowly at first then getting faster and taking longer walks. Then, last summer, I added weight lifting to my exercise. I started out very slowly as my main goal at that time was simply not to hurt myself. I lifted very light. Now I am lifting heavier and am in the process of going through the Power 90 boot camp with the goal of finishing that by the beginning of September.

I am much leaner, much stronger, have so much more energy, and feel better than I have in years.

Good luck in your efforts. You can succeed. Make a plan and stick to it. There are a lot of great resources at Calorie Count that can help you whether it be with meals or exercise. I have learned a lot since joining the first of this year and wish I had know about it when I started on my journey last year.

~Karen

Both.

My employer provides a fitness center and I signed up for the personal trainer program there the first of the year. At the fitness center I work out three days a week. I do cardio (treadmill and stationary bike) and some weight lifting. We are concentrating on my arms and chest.

I still work out at home as well. At home I use my Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells and work out the rest of my body.