Get The Party Started!

Alrighty! I am now recovering from my first P90X workout! And trust that "recovering" is an accurate word! I have had my recovery drink and now mustering up the strength to type. So let's see what we've got here:

Day 01: Chest & Back / Ab Ripper X
First let me say, that I have never been a fan of push-ups because hefting up my heavy upper body has always been too much of a challenge. And this workout has SIX (!) different kinds of push-ups! [What branch of hell decided this was a good idea?] But I went for it! No surprise, I was not able to keep up with Tony & Friends, but I did my best and forgot the rest. I used the Red 35# band for my pull-ups and weight resistance exercises. I did better on those than the pushups. So let's take a look at the numbers. Since 2 rounds of each exercise was done, I will list the completed rep numbers by: "Exercise: Round 1# / Round 2 #". Band use will be indicated by (B).

Standard Push-Ups: 24 / 15
Wide Front Pull-Ups (B): 26 / 19
Military Push-Ups: 14 / 14
Reverse Grip Chin-Ups (B): 16 / 24
Wide Fly Push-Ups: 18 / 17
Closed Grip Overhead Pull-Ups (B): 18 / 17
Decline Push-Ups: 9 / 12
Heavy Pants (B): 15 / 8
Diamond Push-Ups: 9 / 10
Lawnmowers (B): 15 left/17 right / 15 left/16 right
Dive-Bomber Push-Ups: 6 / 7
Back Flys (B): 3 / 16

Now, as far as Ab Ripper X? I hate it . . . . and I hate it. Nowhere near close to loving that, yet. After doing everything listed above, ABX was quite difficult, but I stuck it out til the end and did the best I could, sometimes with some major modifications, but I did not give up. I was only able to get thru about half (or less in some cases) of each part of ABX, but quitting was NOT an option.

In & Outs: 15
Seated Bicycle: 10 forward / 5 backward
Seated Crunchy Frog: 5
Wide Leg Sit-Ups: 10
Fifer Scissor: 8
Hip Rock N Raise: 5
Pulse-Ups: 5
Roll-Up: 6
Oblique V-Up: 8 right / 6 left
Leg Climb: 5 right / 4 left
Mason Twist: 15

A few notes:
I did all versions of the push-ups on my knees, except for the Dive Bombers, which can't be done on the knees (trust me, I tried to find a way, there isn't). I did end up on my belly with the Dive Bombers on some of them, but I got more of them done than I expected. It was still a struggle to complete what i did on my knees, so there's no shame in going "Granny-Style" with those. The bands will take some getting used to. I found myself watching the video to get the proper form down with them. The only time it was a real issue was with the Back Flys. My girth made it hard for me to get in the proper position to do them right. The second round was better than the first round. My favorite exercise from this set would have to be the Lawnmowers. Probably, because they were the easiest ones to do, yet they were still challenging. Heavy Pants was fun, as well.

With Ab Ripper X, I found I had to do quite a bit of modifications with most of the exercises. The Wide Leg Sit-up turned into a glorified crunch for me, although I did maintain the arm position and got my back off the floor. On the Fifer Scissor, I could only get my legs about 3/4 of the way up. Same with Hip Rock N Raise and Pulse-Ups. The Roll-Up Combo, was again a glorified crunch, even though I was able to get my legs about halway up and my back off the floor as well. With the Oblique V-Ups, it was hard for me to keep my legs together when going up, but I still squeezed out more than I expected. On the Leg Climb, again legs could only get about 3/4 up, and I just managed to climb up to my knees on both legs. Mason Twists were done with my feet on the floor. By this time I was quite spent, and glad to see the time was coming to an end.

So, 1 workout under my belt and I feel pretty good about it! I sweated quite a bit, as you can see by the pics. I will definitely need to get a mat because the carpet was soaked with my back sweat (probably something you didn't need to know, but there it is . . .). And there were several times when I felt like I was about to puke (also TMI, I'm sure). I have quite a ways to go, but I feel like I am off to a good start.

Until next time, in honor of my first day of this round of P90X, here's a little ditty for you to enjoy. "Get The Party Started", not P!nk's original version, but the incomparable Dame Shirley Bassey's wonderful rendition! Please to enjoy! Press Play and Bring it!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqNcyFNMfLM


:^D