As Promised: My Jillian/P90x Rotation :)

[sparrow13]

For those who asked, here it is. Again, sorry for the delay...it's been crazy! Plus, although my revisionist history memory had me doing this in a super organized fashion, when I went back to my notebooks there were all sorts of scratchings out and notes in the margins that I had to make sense of.

I did this rotation from May-July, changing it up each month. The purpose here was to get as lean and cut as I could for the summer, and I've been really happy with the results. I've gone from 125 to 110 (I'm 5 ft) and from about 19-20 percent body fat to 12. There was no real science to it, I just put the rotation together to see what would happen if I combined Jillian with Tony. Here it is!

MONTH ONE: I did two week rotations, focusing on Jillian and also added in extra cardio for a quick shred. One P90x workout per week. Did not do any extra abs because Jilian's stuff has so much plank work I didn't find it necessary.

WEEKS ONE and TWO
M: P90x Plus Total Body + kickboxing at gym
T: Banish Fat/Boost Metabolism
W: Yoga + elliptical
TR: No More Trouble Zones + spin at gym
F: 30 Day Shred
S: Spin
S: Rest

WEEKS THREE and FOUR
M: P90x Plus Upper Body + Kickboxing at gym
T: Yoga/treadmill HIIT at gym
W: 30 Day Shred
TR: 30 Day Shred
F:Banish Fat/ Boost Metabolism
S: Spin
S:Rest

MONTH TWO: Two week rotations. I added in more P90x and cut my cardio a bit. Also when I did P90x I lifted as heavily as possible, even if it meant only getting 4-6 reps. Added extra abs with my yoga workout. Two days off per week here.

WEEKS ONE and TWO
M: P90x Chest and Back + Kickboxing
T: Yoga (w/abs) and Jillian's interval sprints* at gym.
W: 30 Day Shred
TR: Banish Fat Boost Metabolism
F: P90x Shoulders and Arms
S:Rest
S:Rest

WEEKS THREE and FOUR
M: No More Trouble Zones + Kickboxing
T: Yoga (w/abs) and cardio HIIT mish-mosh at gym
W: Rest
TR: P90x Chest/Shoulders/Triceps
F: Banish Fat/Boost Metabolism
S90X Back and Biceps
S: Rest

MONTH THREE: I did one week rotations, one heavy on P90x and then the next Jillian-heavy. Didn't worry too much about cardio amounts here. Added in extra legs during the P90x weeks. Earlier in the rotation I didn't worry about legs; between the jump training in Jillian's stuff and my cardio work, my legs didn't need anything else.

WEEK ONE:
M90x Shoulders and Arms + kickboxing
T: Yoga (w/abs) + run at gym
W: Banish Fat/ Boost Metabolism
TR90x Chest and Back
F: Elliptical + 30 minute legs
S:Rest
S:Rest

WEEK TWO:
M: 30 Day Shred + kickboxing
T: Yoga (w/abs) + HIIT mish-mosh at gym
W: P90x Total body
TR: 30 Day Shred
F: Banish Fat/Boost Metabolism
S:Rest
S:Rest

WEEK THREE
M90x Chest, Shoulders and Triceps + kickboxing
T: Yoga (w/abs) + steady state run at gym
W: Rest
TR90x Back and Biceps
F: Banish Fat/Boost Metabolism
S:Elliptical + 30 minutes legs
S:Rest

WEEK FOUR
M: P90x Plus Upper Body
T: No More Trouble Zones
W: Yoga (w/abs) and Kickboxing at gym
TR: 30 Day Shred
F: Banish Fat/Boost Metabolism
S:Rest
S:Rest

* Jillian mentioned these on her (now gone) radio show. Basically, you sprint as fast as you can in 15 second intervals then rest (slow jog) for an equal amount of time, up to 90 seconds, then pyramid back down. So, sprint for 15, rest for 15, sprint for 30, rest for 30, so on a so forth.

CALORIES: When I first began this rotation I set my calories around 1400 but felt really draggy. I actually called Jillian's radio show and talked to her and she said with that amount of exercise/level of intensity she would put me at 2000. So for the first 6 weeks or so that's where I was. By the third month I felt like I was heading into maintenance mode so I went down to about 1500-1800. Right now I'm not formally counting calories, just continuing to keep things clean and natural.

HTH and hope this makes sense!! I'm somewhat of a space shot so let me know if I've skipped a week or something. As I said before there was no real science behind what I put together, I just wanted to see what would happen.

 

[Pcramer]

Sparrow, thanks so much for sharing this!!

I am 5 ft and at about 22% BF right now. I am currently working my way through CLX, but I do believe I will be doing this next ( I love Jillian too)!! I have never done P90x, so this will make it interesting

Would you mind sharing what your ratios were as far as protein and carbs (please).

 

[Stacy]

I'd love to hear some more detail about diet as well. I'm 5'2", 130, goal weight is about 115, bf probably about 25%. Seems like I eat super clean yet still cant get my weight below 125! It's frustrating. And, thanks for posting your rotation. It looks great!

 

[jimmie48]

hey sparrow! forgive if this sounds like a dumb ques. but in month 1 wks 1-4 you have p90x plus total body and p90x plus upper. Did you do one of cathe's workouts?

 

[mlmccauley]

hey sparrow! forgive if this sounds like a dumb ques. but in month 1 wks 1-4 you have p90x plus total body and p90x plus upper. Did you do one of cathe's workouts?

Not sparrow, but I think she is referring to the P90X+ workouts that came out after the original P90X. I could be wrong though.

Maria

 

[Tan]

Thanks!
Copied and pasted to my rotations file - I may do this once I get through P90x!

 

[sparrow13]

Glad you guys like it!

Maria - P90x Plus is exactly what I am talking about. If people don't have that - or even P90x - I think substituting any Cathe heavy lifting DVD would work.

As for diet, I've never counted percentages of carbs/proteins/fats. I just made it a point to have one of each with every meal and keep my diet clean. It was pretty clean to begin with (I eat mostly organic, fresh foods whole foods, foods that either came from the ground or had a mother as they say. ) but I did fine tune some things along the way:

- At the very start I detoxed myself from sugar. I got rid of the refined sugar I used in my coffee and switched to agave. I also stopped buying my Newman's Own peanut butter cups, which I love (I've since added them back in, life's too short! )

- I started to pay attention to sodium. I honestly didn't realize how many things are loaded with it.

- I cut back on the mindless grazing. Even though I was grazing on "healthier" stuff like whole wheat organic crackers etc. it was still adding calories I didn't need. For this I followed Jillian's advice in her latest book "Master Your Metabolism" and ate every four hours: breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. I also followed her advice to either not eat carbs at dinner if you are eating late OR to make sure to put 3-4 hours between a dinner with carbs and bedtime. The reason for this has to do with carbs manipulating a specific hormone which in turn interferes with the release of human growth hormone while sleeping, which in turn impacts metabolism for the negative. A friend has my book right now so I can't remember exactly!

- DH and I both cut back on caffeine. We went 1/2 calf and then full decaf. We both feel better for it in general.

- I began to avoid foods with soy protein isolates, soy oil etc. I'm still working on this as soy is in everything, under a lot of different names!

- We cut back on dairy and adopted a mostly vegetarian eating style, though we were eating fish for the first couple of months. We eat cheese and eggs and yogurt but stopped milk and butter for the most part. Not because we think these things are bad but because with the milk we found an option we enjoyed more (almond milk) and the butter because I adore butter and slathered it on everything that would stand still long enough for me to get a knife. I do use butter now but am much more moderate.

HTH! The smaller things have made a huge difference for us. DH says he feels a lot less sluggish than he used to and his cravings for sweets and coffee are gone. Most importantly, we felt good doing it! We didn't feel deprived or like we were punishing ourselves for the sake of fitness and looking good. The changes felt right and healthy.

 

[Fit_mommy]

Thanks for posting this Sparrow!

Now with this rotation plus what I already have planned for myself, I have enough to keep me busy through year's end!

I am hoping to "disappear" by January 1!

 

[jimmie48]

Thanks Maria and sparrow...I get it. At first I was thinking wow that's a lot of weight training in one day!

 

[Pcramer]

Thanks Sparrow for expanding on you nutrition, I really need to get Jillian's lastest book.

I have taken your rotation and have adapted it with CLX, which I am doing now, I think it is going to workout just great!!

Oh, one last question. When you have Shred in your rotation are you doing the full DVD or just part?

Many thanks again.

 

[sparrow13]

I do the whole Shred.

 

[Pcramer]

Hmmm... I figured as much, just had to double check

Thanks so much again.