P90X Shoulders and Arms

aseay

Cathlete
it finally arrived today. i haven't tried it yet but it looks awesome and really hard. for those who have done it, do you use less weight than normal? for example, i use 12 pd for bicepts. should i drop down to a 10 or 8? Also, which DVD/s should i get next?

laura
 
Hi Laura,

Funny...I just did Shoulders & Arms this morning. :)

I found that I started out fine with my normal weights for most exercises. The only one that I think I dropped down in was the "Static Bicep Curls". Every body is different, so you'll have to guage it for yourself.

Do you have any other P90X DVD's? My favorites from the set are Chest & Back and Plyometrics, but I have the whole set and wouldn't want to part with any of them. :)

HTH
 
I'd stick with your regular weight, and just do whatever reps you can. Some moves that are new to you (the "scarecrow" shoulder moves, for example), I'd suggest going a bit light on first time out, so you can judge what weights are best for them.

If you are picking up P90X workouts piece by piece, definitely get Plyo X (a very effective plyo workout, IMO, that is different from Cathe's high-jumping type of plyo), chest/shoulders/triceps, Core Synergistics (a great functional fitness workout using light weights and focusing on the entire core).
 
This workout is in my current rotation and is my favorite of all the P90X workouts. I'm going for strength, so I try to keep within the 8-10 rep range. Because each muscle group gets a break between rounds and more rests are built into the workouts, I can usually go heavier than I do with most Cathe workouts. I also find that I increase my weight loads more frequently.
 
I guess this depends on your goals. For myself, I want to BUILD MUSCLE and I go REALLY heavy. I shoot for 8 reps, but will settle for 6 if I can get good solid reps in with excellent form. Many times I start with a super heavy weight. For biceps, I start with 25 pound weights and can only do 6-8 and then I grab 20 pounders and do a few more. I love when the guy in back does his clean up sets. I love to add these on with dropped weight. The only reason that I can think that you would drop your weight is if you are going for higher reps, but even then I'd try to go as heavy as you can manage within that set.

I did drop weights in my shoulder area. Interestingly I was beginning to develop very big traps and I was shooting for building shoulder muscle. I found that I was holding all the tension in my neck and squeezing the trap muscle to lift the heavy weight. I dropped down to a lower weight and had to completely relearn to squeeze my delts and try to relax my traps at the same time....this was SOOOOO hard...like relearning to lift. I'm finally developing my shoulders now. So keep this in mind if you are going heavy. Make sure you are "squeezing" the correct muscle!

Have fun...this is my favorite P90X as well. Chest and back is a close second.

Briee
 
>HI
>
>what are scarecrow shoulder moves?
>
>Thanks


Kind of hard to describe. You can see them in P90X.

Hold your arms out to the side, with forearms down, it a "scarecrow" position. Then rotate the forearms so they are in a "goalpost" position. Works primarily the rotator cuff.
 
hi

can you tell me more about plyo x? i have already ordered chest and back and from there try out the other dvds you suggested.

laura
 
Hi Laura,

Plyometrics (aka Plyo X) uses very athletic cardio movements. The workout itself is broken down into "Rounds" like Shoulders & Arms is. For example:

A Round might consist of:
Squat Jumps for 30 seconds
Mary Catherine's for 30 seconds (similar to Cathe power lunge)
Truck Tires for 30 seconds
One legged hops for 1 minute
-Repeat all of the above

I think there are 5 or 6 rounds and then a "bonus" round of moves that you do for 1 minute.

You don't really do the moves to the beat of the music, Tony will often set a pace, so it's possible to modify your pace to increase or decrease the intensity. It also offers some lower impact options.

Even though some of the moves are the same as those that Cathe uses, tuck jumps for instance, I find that being able to more easily modify the pace makes them less jarring on my knees.

This workout is definitely a keeper! :)
 

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