Don't just make up your own routine. It'll certainly be ineffective and could lead to muscle imbalances and injuries.
Crossfit hits all the major groups, but not every day. You might hit squats one day, then the next be doing running and pullups--one group recovers while you work others.
I'm not claiming that Crossfit is perfect for everyone. If you're training for specific sports or for general bulk or for a model's physique with a lot of non-functional muscle, then maybe Crossfit isn't ideal for you. I just haven't seen any better all-around program for a sound athletic base.
Also, any approach that turns exercise into some near daily chore is a bad idea. You will burn out on it. Ideally, exercise should be somewhat spontaneous.
Do you have any references for that?
I'd have thought barbells aren't necessary for beginners. Barbell deadlifting seems a bit dangerous for someone untrained.
I have been using dumbbells myself. I gained quite a bit of muscle in 3 months, and perhaps I could lift a barbell now, but certainly not 3 months ago.
Barbells are only 45 pounds. I can't imagine that anyone would start off deadlifting or squatting less than that. The only exercise that you might need to start with dumbbells with is the press, maybe also bench if you're really out of shape or female. Doing the dumbbell variations of the major exercises is ok, but the reason I didn't mention them is because most people can do 45 pound lifts.
But you're right, you need to be careful to do the lifts right. The SS book is several hundred pages only devoted to the exercises in the program (squats, bench, power clean, press, and deadlift) and is an excellent guide to make sure you're doing every exercise correctly.
The only downside is the price of the DVDs.
If you think an hour a day is too much time to spend on working out, P90x may not be for you.
there's no such thing as targeted weight loss
crunches (alone) will not give you abs
resting on the equipment makes you a jerk
you do not need weight lifting gloves (ever)
you don't need a weight lifting belt for upper body or most lower body exercises
leave the sleeveless t-shirt at home
also the short shorts
establish a routine and stick to it; don't skip workouts and don't skip breaks (you'll use it to justify slacking later)
Grunting isn't OK unless you're dealing with more than your body weight
It's a pretty good all-round fitness 'program' of sorts, or perhaps more of a collection of exercises, and much less prescriptive than the above. Emphasis is on bodyweight exercises, but not at the expenses of weights training.
Makes a lot more sense than the somewhat randomness of crossfit to me.
It's basically a super intense 15-30 minute workout, preceded by a standard 10-15 minute warmup. For example yesterday was 12 "sumo style" deadlifts, 6 burpees (squat thrusts), 12 pullups, and 6 more burpees, repeated as many times as possible in 15 minutes.
My only complaint is that it's a bit pricey given the level of facilities, but since all of the sessions are small groups with a coach, it's not unreasonable.
Of course if you have a reasonable level of self-discipline (I don't) and room and money for the equipment (I don't) there's no reason you can't do the workouts at home by yourself or with a group of friends.
The reason I thought this might be interesting for hackers is because it is high-intensity but fairly low time-commitment, it is effective (results/time), and it isn't boring (lots of different movements to learn).
Also, desk-bound people like programmers tend to suffer from weak posterior-chain muscles, which are emphasized in Crossfit.
If you do want to consider doing it, take your time ramping up -- it is very intense.
Be sure to follow the site's advice (and brianm's), however, about starting slowly. It helps to scale back some of the workouts to even a fraction of the time/intensity, and only working 1 or 2 of the workout sets (it is normally 3 days on, 1 day off).
My advice: start small, build up, don't give up!
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/can-you-get-fit-in-...
That said, there is a somewhat off-putting Crossfitter ethos of overdoing it and injuring yourself, and some of the folks give off a cultish vibe. But if you're smart about learning the movements and knowing your body, I really think it's worth trying. I was skeptical and now I'm hooked.
Sustainably working out hard three or more times a week and benefiting from it requires somewhat rare genetics or growth hormone and steroid injections.
You have to listen to your body of course. When I first started, sometimes I would take extra days off when I knew I needed recovery time. As with any activity, you have to be smart about what you're doing.
Actually the main reason I'm doing dumbbells-only is because I can do it at home and for "free" (apart from the $100 initial investment).