P90X/Running experience sought

I am starting week 12 of the lean program today and am currently on week 12 or 13 of Hal Higdon's intermediate marathon plan (to busy/lazy to write my own plan this time around). I've only changed two days in the P90X program, trading out cardio last week and kenpo x this week for the x-stretch. I didn't see the point in another cardio day when I had done an 18 miler on Sunday and was scheduled for either a cross training day or off day for running.

I've gone from 195 pounds to 178.8 pounds since I got on the program, though I haven't been religious about my diet. If I stick with the P90X plan, there aren't enough carbs for me to run well, so I've upped that part of the diet a bit. My muscle definition has gotten much better, but I haven't done any measurements since the first week as I don't care how many more inches my chest/biceps are.

The worst part is listening to Tony Horton. I lost the DVD remote, so I can't shut his mouth. One one DVD, he says "we're burning the gristle today. . . we don't want it!" and then on another he says, "this guy is fit. Pure gristle." Which is it, idiot? He also gives great insight like, "They're sweating like hell. What does that tell you?" Well, Tony, it tells me they are hot. Idiot. Other than him being the most annoying person ever, plugging his recovery drink every time he can, I like the program. My Yoga X day is also the day of my long run, so that will change the next time I plan to do this sort of thing. It's not incredibly difficult from a workload standpoint, but the challenge is just making yourself do it every day for three months straight.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the input.

I'm doing a modified P90X/Running program and have upped the carbs in the diet. Tony is Tony but it does seem like he knows his stuff.

I took a few years off from running after college and am starting to get back into it again. I'm using the P90X lean program in addition to my running. Not using the diet guide since I already eat healthy, just trying to regain my core strength and lose the 15 lbs I gained while working my office job. Only been doing it for a couple weeks and it has been helping a lot. I plan on continuing a few of the routines after the 90 days are up.

The search function is great!

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3457439&page=0

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=3014104&thread=3013902

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?board=1&id=3662027&thread=3660174

Thanks for replies.

Appreciate the feedback.

How many miles per week are you guys doing in conjunction with P90X? How are your racing times from 5k to marathon on P90X?

Do the Kenyans use P90X?

I'm doing around 45 miles a week with P90X--long run of 20 miles max and a 4 runs of 5-8 miles each, 8 miles usually being a tempo run. I haven't raced a 5K in years, but I run a marathon just under 3:30. Not stellar, I know, so don't bust my nuts too much.I don't think the Kenyans use P90X, but they don't use microwave ovens, deodorant, or shoes most of the time either--I'm not going to use/not use something because the Kenyans do/don't

Just Curiouss wrote:

How many miles per week are you guys doing in conjunction with P90X? How are your racing times from 5k to marathon on P90X?

Do the Kenyans use P90X?

well i guess if you want to break 3 hours run more, or if you just want all-around fitness, keep it up dude!

P90X is a great program to improve overall fitness. However, I would not recommend it to an athlete to improve their running. P90X will add muscle in places it is not needed. One of the DVDs focuses on the back. Having a strong upper back will not make you faster. Having that extra muscle mass will only slow you down. The upper body DVDs will also fatigue the legs since you are standing and lifting dumbbells. You could use the bands, but I don't think they are as effective at improving strength.

All that being said, I enjoy using the P90X program. I am not trying to become a fast runner.

What about insanity(the other beach body workout). I would think it'd be more advantageous for those wanting something different in a workout but also trying to improve running. The combo of cardio work with no weights would be more useful given that extra muscle would not be added. I've completed the 60 days once and are about 3 weeks into my second go round. I haven't run nearly as much as prior but did complete my first tri after round 1 with good results.

A few things.

1. No one doing any serious running will add any muscle doing P90X or Insanity. The weight, volume and diet needed to put on mass simply isn't going to be there.

2. Of any muscle group the "back" (latissimus dorsi, and teres major specifically, also posterior deltoid) are actually very important to the act of running.

3. Both programs use too much volume for an athlete already putting in a great amount of volume. If you're going to strength train then actually lift for STRENGTH.

Just about every other serious athlete on the planet uses strength training in a logical and progressive manner to primarily gain strength and power in their working muscles. Runners seem to have it backwards and want to gain more muscular endurance and cardio.

If you're just looking to get in shape than P90X/Insanity is an option. Other than that, do something more worth your time.

Alan

Some runners do gain mass...even off of >70 miles per week. I am one of those people (and I think Webb is as well)..so this is not entirely true. Although it might be standard for most distance runners that mass is not an issue...there are many who do. For that reason our routines are a bit different than others peoples.

Also, distance running is primarily a muscular endurance event. So I don't think runners have it backwards as most are intelligent enough to try more than one thing (for long enough to adapt to it) and then assess whether it is productive for them or not. Many times you post as if people are just shooting in the dark and not seeing if their programs add to their performance, when I think that runners tend to me way more analytical than you give them credit for.

With that being said, your advice from things you have done and found successful are appreciated as I am sure some find the tips useful in their training.

I did P90X during a injury lay off.

Yeah it's "fun" but not the most efficient method of resistance and cardio training (i.e you can get the same benefit from less work using gym modilities).

I tried to incorporate it with my running but in the end is just didn't make sense. When running is the goal and strength is obviously a secondary component you should use much less volume.

The gym 2x per week for a few heavy sets of compounds will get you far greater benefits the "X" for a fraction of the work.

Art can out prescribe a short 30 min program for me maybe 3-4 workouts a week with running 60-70 mpw?

Funny how people on here think running with p90x is legit, but running and crossfit are a joke of a fad.

How can doing push ups, pull ups, and core be "illegit"? It's all very basic stuff.

Sir Stewart Wallace wrote:

Funny how people on here think running with p90x is legit, but running and crossfit are a joke of a fad.

I think it is because there have been threads started on LR claiming that crossfit can make you run a lot faster. I think I even saw a video of one of the crossfit trainers claiming that the marathon WR would be under 2 hours if they did crossfit. Most people who do p90x, myself included, do it just for a great workout and are not trying to improve their times.