P4MX is a metrics based training system that was built to qualify modes of training (what is best for you to do) and quantify doses of training (how much you should be doing).
It sounds more complilcated than it actually is, well it really is pretty complicated but Performax just makes it easy for you through P4MX Metrics.
You know how sometimes you really don't feel like exercising, but when you do you actually do way better than you expected?
Or how about when you feel like its going to be the best training session ever and by the time you reach the half way point of your program you wish you never started?
P4MX Metrics will make sure you don't miss out on the good days, let you know you should rest on the bad days and even give you the nod on days when it could be your best ever!
Sound Good To You? Then here's how you get started:
1. GET A HEART RATE MONITOR
Any heart rate monitor that will give you
TOTAL EXERCISE TIME
MAX HEART RATE
AVERAGE HEART RATE
is all you need.
But if you get to choose, get a POLAR H7 BLUETOOTH MONITOR and download the free POLAR BEAT APP on any smartphone. It doesnt come with a watch to wear on your wrist, but the bluetooth feature lets you use your smartphone instead. The range of use is pretty impressive and if you don't mind carrying your phone with you (since it's always with you anyway), it's a win-win.
Heart Rate Monitoring has been around for a while, but it wasn't until we here at Performax began collecting heart rate data regularly (like for the past 10 years) that we realized that the 'heart rate metrics' meant more than just one workout.
Accumulated heart rate metrics produce a 'trendline' of data that provides a pretty good picture of what your body is going to look like, the way it is going to feel and how it is going to perform. If you are not assessing your workout responses (metrics) over time, then your results are pretty much the flip of a coin.
If professional sports teams and athletes are finally getting over the novelty of heart rate monitoring and using it as a legitimate asssessment tool, then you should be excited about doing it too.
We've been doing it since we started and we think we've been right on the whole time.
2. DON'T LET THE SCALE SCARE YOU
Learn to use the scale as a measuring tool rather than a jugment tool.
Weight being up is not necessarily always bad in as much as weight going down isnt always good. Your weight will always fluctuate and once you 'get over it', the fluctiations are an easy way to gauge how your body is responding to the multitudes of sress on your body.
HYDRATION
NUTRITION
EXERTION
REGENERATION
are the major categories of stressors on the body that cause fluctuations in weight and should be considered when making decisions on what to do about it. These decisions will have a huge impact on health & fitness goals in building/maintaining muscle, burning/losing fat and improving/maximizing performance.
In other words, you should'nt panic and starve yourself when you 'gain weight' or get excited and keep drinking shakes because you're finally 'losing weight'. Your decisions should be based on information, not emotion.
Save up for a scale that reads body weight, body water and body fat like the TANITA SCALE. Any of these scales will do and will serve as key metrics to measuring your bodies response to your program.
Pick a time you will get on the scale, then do it the same time and in the same place at least 3 times a week. The more data points the better...don't obsess over it, just record it and get on with it.
3. REPORT EVERYTHING
SIGN UP FOR A FREE PERFORMAX LOCKER, to help keep track of all your metrics. Its a simple way for you to report everything:
Workout Details
Total Exercise Time
Max Heart Rate
Average Heart Rate
Total Sleep Time
Body Weight
Body Water Percentage
Body Fat Percentage
Time Of Day Body Metrics Taken (if different than normal)
Wellness Scale (I don't want to get out of bed) 0 - 10 (I'm ready to take over the world)
Illness or Injury
Information equals precision, so the more data you provide the more reliable the results you achieve. You get out of it what you put in to it.
GET YOURSELF SET UP ON A NUTRTION LOG too. There are a number of apps you can use that all work well. Find one that suits you best and STICK WITH IT!
Here's how we keep it simple, go online and find a basal metabolic rate (BMR) tool. The caloric goal it sets for you to maintain your BMR will be your goal for you nutrition log.
That's It!
However you choose to meet that daily calorie goal is up to you. You're smart enough to know the difference between good and bad choices. Sometimes we're not perfect.
If you eat over your caloric goal on one day, then make sure you cut back another day balance it out. The key is to make you daily caloric average for any given week to be as close to your BMR caloric goal without going under...that's right, don't fall under.
It's called nutrition, not starvation.
4. ASK QUESTIONS
This one shouldn't take much to explain.
If you don't know, ask.
The sooner you figure it out, the better it's going to be when you get there!