I find my customers fit into one of two categories. Those that want to lose weight and those that want to gain muscle mass. An alternative on the second would be that they have lost the weight, and then want to add some lean muscle mass back on. You can read articles all over the internet on how to accomplish these two tasks. Simply google: How to gain muscle mass, or how to lose weight. Well, in my opinion, Beachbody has already proven that losing weight with their programs is easy. Well, that’s not entirely correct. Beachbody programs provide you with easy to follow fitness and nutrition plans.
You still have to be prepared to do the workouts and eat properly. But I want to focus on the question I get asked quite often. And if Beachbody is capable of giving you the tools to lose weight, then I believe they can help you gain muscle mass with P90X. Read the article below by Beachbody advisor Steve Edwards, and then get big. If you have success, we want to hear about it too. Email us your success story!
Can I gain weight with P90X?
Guys have a thing for mass. It’s hard to explain, really, but boys seem to grow up wanting nothing more than to be big. Guys want speedboats and trucks, and they want to look like The Hulk, regardless of what their wives may think of green skin. If this sounds like you, here’s the article you’ve been looking for: customizing P90X for mass.
Even if mass is your only goal, make sure to read the subsequent articles in the series on customizing the X. Subscribe to our blog to catch these articles as they come out. The principles discussed in subsequent articles will be put to use here. To look like The Hulk, you don’t need to have a mad scientist father, but you do need to consider science as we know it. What is mass?
What is mass?
Because many of our Success Stories, not to mention Tony, aren’t exactly skinny, we must begin by defining mass—most of you are looking for more. Mass simply means size. As part of the word massive, we assume it means above average in size. It doesn’t, but that’s beside the point. A program targeting mass is concerned with one thing: muscle growth (from here on in referred to as hypertrophy), and a lot of it.
In a training cycle for mass, we should target hypertrophy even at the expense of other fitness goals. P90X is not a system designed for mass. It’s designed for overall fitness, which means that ultimate gains in targeted areas, like speed, strength, flexibility, and muscle growth, are compromised to provide a program that improves all of your body’s physical energy systems during one 90-day effort. We feel as though this is the preferred training system because it addresses the big picture. But if your picture is quite literally being bigger, then you’ll need to read on.
Foundation
You’ve read about the capacity for improvement throughout this series, so here’s where I tell you to do a round of P90X as it’s designed before embarking on a mass-specific program. It’s healthier, sure, but it’s more than that. Training all of your body’s energy systems until they’re running efficiently increases your body’s ability to do, well, anything. Part of anything includes looking like Lou Ferrigno. Once you’ve done a round of the X and aced your fit test, the foundation has been laid. You’re ready to start gettin’ big.
Resistance
Tony loves the word specificity. He often uses it when referring to exercise movements, but we’re going to use it to refer to the equipment you’ll need. With mass as your goal, you’d better acquire specific resistance equipment. The simplest form is weights; however, mass can also be created by using other forms of tension, like resistance bands. The bottom line is that if mass is your goal, you’ll need to have more weight available than you’ve been using. Body weight and plyometric movements can be used effectively for strength training, but strength and hypertrophy are not synonymous. To make hypertrophic gains, you’re going to need to find ways to make your body fail at a given number of repetitions. You’ll want an array of weights and bands, and some extra devices like ankle and wrist weights, or a weight vest, to add resistance to all the movements you’re doing.
The difference between size and strength
As we touched on last time, hypertrophy training simply increases the size of the muscle. Strength training increases the efficiency of the muscle. Large muscles have a greater capacity for strength. Absolute strength is the ability of the muscle to use all of its muscle cells for movement. People in sports dependent on strength-to-weight ratios target high muscular efficiency in their training, whereas those in sheer size-dependent sports will focus more on hypertrophy. Most sports are somewhat dependent on both size and strength, which are ideally improved during different cycles of training.
Periodization
The periodizational concepts that have been discussed in prior issues need to be explained here before a mass schedule is created. Remember that a standard schedule would look similar to this:
Foundation phase (Power 90® or what you did pre-X) + block 1 + transition/recovery + block 2 + transition/recovery + block 3 + recovery = peak (final fit test)
The difference here is that we’re going to structure an entire training cycle based only on hypertrophy. This means we won’t be setting up a peak phase. Over a long period of time, you would want to teach your muscles how to function more efficiently. We’ll get to this at the end.
For now, we’ll just say that there is still a periodizational approach to consider. You will still adapt, gain, and plateau over time, so we’ll need a structure to keep this happening. But the structure will be dependent simply on rep schemes (the number of repetitions that you target to bring you to failure) and progressive overload. The blocks of our 90-day schedule will each target a different number of repetitions, which you’ll want to aim for to induce failure. But because we’re not changing the schedule much, and thus creating less Muscle Confusion™, we won’t need such frequent recovery phases.
Progressive overload
Hypertrophy is all about creating progressive overload. To create muscle growth, you must keep stimulating the muscles during each workout. This requires that you add weight as necessary to create failure at the desired number of reps.
Recovery
The more we can focus on hypertrophy, the more muscle we’ll gain. Since we only have so much energy to expend, this means we should spend less time working on other areas. This is where you’ll see the biggest differences from the traditional P90X schedules. When you’re not training for hypertrophy, your entire focus should be on preparing your body to create more hypertrophy. Therefore, the P90X mass schedule will have a lot of active recovery and flexibility work and very little intense cardio. This means we’ll spend more time recovering during each training block and taking fewer periods focused solely on recovery.
Putting it all together
Before we get to the schedule, here are some general things to consider. The first is pacing. Instead of following the kids in the videos, target your rep scheme (and push pause when necessary). Do each set to failure (if you can add enough resistance; if not, get as close as you can), and don’t exceed your targeted number of reps. Do not, however, use the pause button simply to increase the time between exercises.
A good way to choose the resistance for each movement is to use enough so that you can only do the lower number of your targeted rep scheme. Once you can do the higher number, it’s time to increase the resistance.
Do your repetitions slowly and with control. Speed is for power, not size. Focus on perfect form and only add weight when you can do each rep with great form.
When you’re done, you’re done. You don’t need to finish an entire workout if you’re struggling. Once you lose the ability to move the weight or do the move in strict form, stop the workout. Any further training would only create more breakdown than you could recover from and increase your risk of injury.
Your diet
You won’t be burning as many calories as you would during the classic schedule of the X. If you eat the same amount, you may gain more mass, but you’ll also gain more body fat. This might or might not be acceptable, so pay attention and adjust your diet as necessary. If you want mass, then you need to eat enough for your body to put on weight. For more tips on diet and nutrition, while trying to gain muscle mass, read this article.
Block 1, phase 1
Weeks 1 through 3
* Day 1: Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps
* Day 2: Cardio X, Ab Ripper X
* Day 3: Legs & Back
* Day 4: X Stretch; Ab Ripper X or Abs/Core Plus (from P90X Plus)
* Day 5: Back & Biceps
* Day 6: Yoga X
* Day 7: Off
Targeted number of reps: 8 to 12 (focus on 10 to 12)
Block 1, phase 2
Weeks 4 through 6
* Day 1: Chest & Back
* Day 2: Cardio X, Ab Ripper X
* Day 3: Shoulders & Arms
* Day 4: X Stretch; Ab Ripper X or Abs/Core Plus
* Day 5: Legs & Back
* Day 6: Yoga X
* Day 7: Off
Targeted number of reps: 8 to 12 (focus on 8 to 10)
Recovery Block
Week 7
* Day 1: X Stretch
* Day 2: Yoga X
* Day 3: Core Synergistics
* Day 4: Kenpo X
* Day 5: Yoga X
* Day 6: X Stretch
* Day 7: Off
Block 2, phase 1
Weeks 8 and 9
* Day 1: Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps
* Day 2: Cardio X, Ab Ripper X
* Day 3: Legs & Back
* Day 4: X Stretch; Ab Ripper X or Abs/Core Plus
* Day 5: Back & Biceps
* Day 6: Yoga X
* Day 7: Off
* Day 8: Chest & Back
* Day 9: Cardio X, Ab Riper X
* Day 10: Shoulders & Arms
* Day 11: X Stretch; Ab Ripper X or Abs/Core Plus
* Day 12: Legs & Back
* Day 13: Yoga X
* Day 14: Off
Targeted number of reps: 6 to 10
Block 2, phase 2
Weeks 10 and 11
Same schedule as weeks 8 and 9
Targeted number of reps: 4 to 8
Block 2, phase 3
Week 12 and 13
Same schedule as weeks 8 and 9
Targeted number of reps: 4 to 6
Final note: This is an entire cycle of training based only on hypertrophy. To have an athletically efficient physique, you should do other training cycles that target different goals. Even if your only goal is hypertrophy, training these other systems properly will improve your body’s physical systems and increase your capacity for muscle growth, as well as the speed at which you can add or shed muscle and fat. So while you can tweak and reuse this basic structure over and over, it will also benefit you to get back to basics and do P90X classic from time to time.
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P90X can be used in conjunction with about any workout program, in my opinion. I often go to a gym for change of scenery and do the routines in the gym.
Sean, If you are not wanting to lose weight per say, then you would probably be best suited in either phase 2 or phase 3 of the diet. Then make sure you are eating at your maintenance level of calories. I would monitor your weight, so that you eat enough to maintain but not necessarily lose any. The classic rotation would probably be better, or you could try this rotation as well, whichever you prefer. Everyone is different, so modify to fit you!
Unfortunately, if you don’t want to lose weight, you have to eat more food. Clean food. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. The P90X Nutrition guide has a portion plan that shows you the foods to eat. See if your parents would put some on the list. If you are burning more calories than you eat, you WILL lose weight. This rotation might be better for you, because the cardio portions are reduced, which should remove some extra calories burned.
I completed P90x about a year ago. Excellent program, but ideally I would like to gain more mass, as I’ve always been on the skinny side. Now I am getting back into P90x.
My question: Do you recommend that I do another 90 days of regular P90X and THEN doing this program, or do you recommend doing mass FIRST?
Thanks in advance.
I think that depends on you, and your preferences. Personally, I’d do a classic round of P90X first, and try to get to my ideal body fat percentage, and then try to add some lean muscle from that point forwards.
I am just about to start this customized X program but I am a little confused. For day 2 it says “cardio x, ab ripper x”.. Does his mean to choose from one of those exercises or to do both??.
You’ll do both. Usually ab workouts are added to another workout. So if you see something like “X Stretch; Ab Ripper X or Abs/Core Plus” that means you’ll do X-Stretch first, then choose either Ab Ripper X or the Abs/Core Plus.
I just finished my second round of the P90x classic and I recently dicovered this customized version. Would you recommend doing two rounds of the classic then donig two rounds of this customized version?
My personal opinion would be to try and reach your desired body fat percentage first, then do the mass routine. Not sure if that will take 1, 2, or more rounds. Once you get to that body fat percentage, switch and try to add lean muscle with very little extra fat.
Why isn’t there more Core Synergistics days in this program? I’m a big fan of doing those workouts.
TSW, I would guess that it’s not as good at adding mass as the other workouts. Just speculation, this is not a rotation I created, but I trust that Steve Edwards at Beachbody had a reason for making the schedule as is.
Robert,
I play professional baseball for the past 6 years and want to try something new than just being in the weightroom every day. Several other of my teammates have said they did P90X in the off season and liked it. I’m 6’1 and 195lbs. I’m somewhat lean and very big and strong in my legs. My upper body is what needs the strength and SIZE. Never done P90X but because of what I do I’m in pretty good shape I would like to think and that is why I want to jump into your above Mass program because I don’t really need to lean up. Just wanted to give you a little background on myself so it might be easier for you to answer my questions. If I’m wanting to put on size I should follow the above program outlined correct? I see you have 12 to 8 reps per set, how many sets are we suppose to do or do we follow to amount of the sets in the video? So if there are three sets should we go 12 reps first set, 10 reps second set, and 8 reps third set? Will this program help me to have strength gains as well because I need strength gains also? I have several other questions for you if you don’t mind but I’ll wait till you have time to answer these questions which are the more important questions for me first. Thanks so much for the info and I tried reading most of the older post to get answers first!
Hey Chris, thanks for writing in. The weight workouts run in 2 rounds. First round and second round. As far as reps are concerned, lets look at Block 1, Phase 1 (weeks 1-3), targeted number of reps: 8 to 12 (focus on 10 to 12). So you’ll pick a weight and go for 10, if you get 12, you need to add more weight next round. On Block 1, phase 2, (weeks 4-6), it states 8-12 (focus on 8 to 10 this time). That means your new target is 8 reps, but if you get to 10, you need to add weight. You’ll continue this approach throughout the workout. If the target is 6-10, aim for 6, but when you get to 8, I’d add weight. Hope this helps! Let me know how you do!
Thanks for the above info Robert. Couple other quick simple questions for you. I thought that during hypertrophy you should be doing 3 to 4 sets. I’m not saying your wrong by doing only two sets, I’d just like to know the reason for only doing two sets instead of the traditional 3 or 4 sets that way I can understand it and explain it to several other players that are doing it with me? Last thing is that I read in some other post where people substituted other exercises in for another exercise. Example one person said they asked if they could put bench press in instead of push ups and you said yes. With what I’m trying to do gain mass and strength would you recommend the same or any other substitutions for me? Thanks for the help Robert!
Chris, This rotation was created or provided by Steve Edwards, Beachbody advisor. I think the idea is how to best modify P90X to obtain added lean muscle mass. The way P90X was designed was not initially intended as a mass building program. So this rotation works within the workouts provided in the program. When someone asked if bench press could be added, the answer I advised was yes, only because I believe people should modify as they see what works best for them. My usual advise is to try it “as is” first, and then modify to suit you personally second. Without at least doing the “original” how would you know it doesn’t work. I think that question was also asked because its hard to reach failure on a low rep pushup, so if a bench is available and that’s what you decide, go for it. I personally like adding a weighted vest to pushups. I feel it engages my core strength more than a bench. Again, personal preference. They also make resistance bands that work specifically for pushups as well. I’d recommend trying the rotation first, and then modify as you go.
I might add for everyone that has commented or is reading comments. A new program called Body Beast will be coming out soon by Beachbody. Look at the information top right of this page. Sign up for the newsletter to catch more information as its available. This program is going to be designed specifically for adding mass!
Hey Robert what do you mean by round one and round two? I watched the first video Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps just to see how it was set up. I only saw one set for each exercise and I don’t believe he ever came back to it. Did I miss where he came back to each exercise or are we suppose to pause the video and do a second set after the first set? I hope this makes sense how I explained it. Thanks again for taking the time out to help!
Chris,
Chest & Back is repeated twice.
Shoulders & Arms is repeated twice. (Although its slightly different, you don’t go 1-12 moves, and repeat. You do the first 3 moves, repeat those, next 3 moves repeat. But you do them all twice, just like Chest & Back).
Legs & Back you repeat twice.
Chest, Shoulders, & Tris is a straight 24 moves, no repeat.
Back & Biceps is a straight 24.
I just assumed you were starting with Chest & Back, because that is how the regular P90X round starts. The hybrid starts with Chest, Shoulders, & Tris. Hope this helps!
Robert,
We are going to do it exactly how you have it set up above which from my understanding of what you are saying above is the Hybrid program. I checked out the Body Beast website and it sounds like pretty much what we are trying to do. We’ll go ahead and knock this program out and wait for the other one to come out. There has been a small percentage of baseball players that are shying away from the traditional weight room routine and getting into programs like this. I’ll keep ya updated Robert. Last quick question. Is it okay to take in more carbs in the morning and less carbs in my lunch meal or dinner meal? Or should it be like that anyway?
Robert,
So I’m 19, my height is 6’2 and weight 160. I’m also a soccer player so that means a least two to three times a day i need to run to keep my cardio up. Should i run then do abs instead of doing X stretch and cardio X? Also would you recommend i take pre workout supps and/or protein, etc? If so which ones should i take?
Hey Robert,
A bit if a background I’m 6’1″ AND 130 LBS so I’m tall and skinny I’m already at my target body fat percentage and would like to gain some weight as well as muscle mass where would you suggest I start on this I’ve never done the p90x program but am.about to start
Hi Terry, I think you can go either the classic rotation or this mass rotation. Gaining mass will probably be easier with the mass rotation, but I think the overall conditioning of the classic rotation would be beneficial as well. In either case, you need to make sure you are eating more calories per day than what you burn. So use the P90X guide, figure your calories, and then add a couple hundred. Take measurements and body fat percentage, and then carefully monitor your progress. If you start losing weight, you need to make another small bump on your daily calories. I would aim for a slow weight gain, maybe a lb or so per week. Keep me posted! You might also be interested in signing up for this newsletter here. http://bit.ly/AzuVo5
UruMike, It’s really up to you on how you want to work your rotation for exercise. Just make sure you don’t overtrain. I like E&E for preworkout, http://www.extremely-fit.com/energy-endurance-preworkout.html
Protein I like Optimum Nutrition, Syntha 6, MyoFusion, etc. Good luck!
Hi Robert,
I am a 33 year old female at 5’2″ & 95 lbs (obviously trying to gain weight & mass). I have rotator cuff impingement so I can not do pushups, fly’s, presses & dips; but I do replace all of those with rotator cuff strengthening exercises. Is there anything else you can recommend in place of the exercises I can’t do? Also, I’m on phase 1, week 3 of the mass rotation & feel extremely tight even after X Stretch. I usually take my rest day after X Stretch/ab ripper x. I have replace yoga with Tai Chi because of my shoulder as well, but still feel really tight like I need to stretch more. Is this normal?
Hey I just started this program about 2 weeks ago I I’ve seen some good results..I am just curious to know if I can swap out push ups and put in benchpress on Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Chest and Back? Let me know!
Neil, While you can modify the program to best suit your personal goals and preferences, I usually recommend everyone do a complete round of P90X “as written” so they can see their results from the program. Then after the first 90 days, modify and tweak the rotation to their personal preferences. Let me know how you do!
Marjorie, I’m afraid I dont have much advise on shoulder injuries. I would suspect that you have to be very careful not to cause further problems. Wish I could help more. The workouts affect everyone differently and to different degrees. I’m sore often, and I recently started using a foam roller, in combination of adding the Recovery Formula post workout. http://www.extremely-fit.com/p90x-peak-recovery-formula.html
Good luck!
Mike,
I recently lost a lot of weight and want to put on muscle now. I am confused on the workouts. You say for example chest, arms, triceps, but is the specific workout explained in the video? I haven’t bought the videos yet but i was wondering about this.
Sorry not mike, Robert.
Mike, The workout is demonstrated from start to finish on the DVDs. http://www.extremely-fit.com/p90x-extreme-training-workout.html
I just recently purchased a 40lb weighted vest to wear during Legs & Back and Chest & Back. I feel that it makes the push-ups resemble a bench press a little more by adding so resistance. Clearly, the number of reps I can do drops dramatically with an additional 40 lbs but I think it will help in building muscle mass more than doing 40 pushups with no added weight.
I agree Benjamin, I have a weighted vest as well!
Hi Robert,
Great article and thanks for taking the time to respond to our questions. It’s very helpful. I’m starting the above workout, but just a quick question. Figured I’d buy just your basic whey protein to supplement my diet, but when is the ideal time to have this in relation to the workout? Before, after, or just in the morning or night regardless of when the workout is done?? Thanks a lot, Robert!
I try to drink a 4 part carb to 1 part protein recovery formula after my workout. Check in our store for All P90X products. In general you want to eat protein at every meal of the day with about 5 to 6 meals per day. I also researched your question at livestrong.com which stated the following: The best time for consuming whey protein shakes is before and after you work out. An article on Stay Fit Central explains the reason for this is that “whey is digested and absorbed very quickly after you drink it.” The rapid rate of digestion and absorption enables protein and nutrients to assist the body in activating the recovery process. Consistent nutrient and protein delivery before and after workouts will ensure muscular gains.
Good luck!
Wondering if any hybrid workout similar to this is in the making for p90x2?
I don’t know if the workouts in X2 would be as good as P90X for gaining mass. The workouts are more for explosive power, athletic performance, and speed than adding mass. While I think you will be able to add muscle, just not sure its a good MASS type program for a hybrid. What you really need to look for is Body Beast when it comes out. Here’s a link for more info. http://bit.ly/body-beast-info
Appreciate the extremely fast response. I’m 5 weeks away from finishing a round of x2 and I’ll be sure to follow it up with this p90x hybrid after a small vacation in June. Body Beast looks amazing, I’m sure your hybrid will be a great build up for it.
No problem! Keep me posted on your progress.
When you have Chest and Back listed, does that include doing Ab ripper x? I’m pretty sure that what is meant, but I’m asking since on the next day it directs us to use Ab ripper x.
David, You will NOT do ABX on Chest & Back day. You’ll do it the following day. ABX is on the Chest & Back DVD only because in the classic rotation (the original P90X rotation) you do ABX on Chest & Back days. But with this rotation, it’s done as marked. Hope that helps!
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