Dan:

I just want to give you moral support by saying that your story
mirrors mine quite a bit. I too am not getting any results, though
not for lack of trying extremely hard. I am using the My Strength
Coach to time the days between workouts. Except for the one workout
where I was physically out of town, I've never missed a day no matter
what else I had going on. So, my lack of progress can not be blamed
on the timing. Also, unlike you, I religously do a warm-up before
each XF work-out.

I have been doing the static contraction method for a long time now.
I believe on an intuitive level that I gained a lot of muscle at
first, but then they say that you can gain a lot of muscle on just
about any system at first, especially if you started out in as poor a
shape as I started out. But I don't have any specific proof on any
muscle gains or lack-there-of in the begainning, because I didn't get
the Omron machine (which I love) until I got the XF7000. Now that I
am actually measuring my lean and fat changes over time, I'm seeing
that nothing is happening.

I don't know what the answer is, but I wanted you to know that you are
not alone.

On another topic: If anyone is interested in this Omron thing:
I had wanted to post something about it anyway and here is a good
opprotunity: From what I have read, there appears to be three basic
techniques to calculating ones percentage of fat. (Once you have a
starting weight and percentage of fat, you have starting pounds of fat
and non-fat/lean. Any change in the non-fat number over time shows
you how much muscle gain/loss/static you have had. So, being able to
calculate percentage of fat is key to being able to measure progress
on muscle growth.)
1) using tape measurements
2) using calipers
3) using the Omron machine
The first two did not appeal to me because they either seemed to take
too much time or were not accurate enough. The Omron machine costs
more money (cost me $50), but it is easy and accurate every time. I
take my measurements every morning just after waking up so that I can
get consistent numbers. The company I ordered from was wonderful, did
not charge shipping at the time and even included a fancy free tape
measure in case doing certain body measurements is important to you in
addition to getting the fat percentage information.
I'd be curious to hear what method people use when trying to
calculate their percentage fat.

- JJ

--- In Explosive_Fitness@yahoogroups.com, "Daniel Tourigny"
<danthescorpio@y...> wrote:
>
> Hi Dave,
>
> It's good to see you're getting good results through XF. I wish I
> could say the same for myself, but it's been a big struggle. Seems to
> be, two steps forward & two steps back.
>
> I assume my problems have to do with the timing between days. I am not
> on MSC so I calculate it based on how many "skips" per week. Often
> times though, I won't get to the workout till two or three days after
> the "correct" day.
>
> I emailed Tony Reno a while back and he was nice enough to try and
> help. He pointed out that whenever I went too long between A & B, for
> example, I would then go "short" between B & A to make up for it,
> which he said resulted in a cycle of overtraining/undertraining. He
> advised I reset my workouts to 9 days between A&B.
>
> I tell you it's frustrating to rarely if ever beat my previous numbers
> and *very rarely* setting records. That's in over two years I've been
> doing (or struggling with) XF. Biceps have been the worst , but most
> consistent, performers by far (they always stay between ~85-95 lbs).
> But a lot of my other muscles, I sometimes take six months or more
> before I even approach my last record. It's insane how much they can
> vary from one workout to the next. Oh, and I have a Omron Bodyfat
> reader and it hasn't given me much faith in XF's muscle-gaining
abilities.
>
> If you or anyone cares to offer advice, I'll give a little more
> details about my regimen:
> - I eat lots of fruits & veggies, & chicken & salmon every day. ~110g
> of protein, sometimes up to 150g (I'd say that's more than enough
> considering XF is the primary muscle-exerting workout I do.) My
> caloric intake *was* ~2700 cal/d, but lately I've reduced it closer to
> ~2200 cal/d (to help with losing a bit of fat!) Note though, that my
> XF problems have persisted regardless of what diet regimen I was on.
>
> - I do yoga daily ~20 minutes, cardio daily on an eliptical ~20
> minutes at moderate intensity.
>
> - I often do NOT warm up very much before an XF workout. (e.g., I get
> out of bed, drive to my buddy's who has the machines, and start.) I
> wonder *how much* that affects the results (or am I just risking
> injury). What is a good warm-up, anyways?
>
> - My buddy, who's been doing XF & working out for much less time than
> I have, has gotten somewhat better results with some muscles, but is
> similar in terms of a *major* variation in his results from
> workout-to-workout. His diet is not nearly as *clean* as mine.
>
> - I don't have weights or belong to a gym, so I can't say how much my
> full-range strength has changed, but I suspect not much.
>
> Arrgghh! I would love to hear anyone's thoughts.
>
> Thanks, Dan
>
> --- In Explosive_Fitness@yahoogroups.com, "erikdavid43"
> <erikdavid43@y...> wrote:
> >
> > Happy New Year
> > Is this the year that people using this type of training will
> > see it for what it is. After almost a year using the XF7000 machine
> > these are the results I have achieved. Starting weight 160lbs 17%
body
> > fat. After 11 months 165lbs and 13% bodyfat. This to me equates to
> > ruffly 10lb loss of fat and 15lbs of muscle gained. I am 49 years
old
> > and am a part time personal trainer. I have been training
religiously
> > for 30 yrs. This is the best yearly gain I have had in a long
time. I
> > hope this will continue to increase. I have gain 3/4 of an inch
on my
> > arms to 15.5 inches flexed. 2 inch on my chest to 43 and inch on my
> > thighs to 23inches and 1/2 inch on my calfs to 14and 3/4. I am at 20
> > days rest between work outs no help from my strength coach I might
add.
> > It does not change days when pounds go down. My clients have had
> > results all over the board. None have decreased in full range
strength
> > and 3/4 have giained in full rep lbs. I big part of this training is
> > proper nutrition and the correct amount of cardio. Good luck to
all in
> > the New year and keep training.
> > Dave k
> >
>