Day 1–Chest & Back + ARX

Hello All

Today was day 1 of the modified P90X and I will say I am sore, which is a good thing .

This is the routine I repeated twice:

• Push Ups – I wanted to keep some regular push ups, they do help out a lot and it’s a good way to warm up. I did these slow. It is better to go at a slower pace than to go fast, the inertia helps you and it’s more of a cardio workout than a muscle building workout. I didn’t do as many as I use to, since it’s been a while and I did them slow, I started out with 25 on the first round and 18 on the last round.
• Wide Front Pull Ups – As mentioned I kept the pull ups the same, they help a lot as I get to use my own body weight. I also did these the same way, nice and slow and all the way down. Using the pull up bar from the GYM the wide is pretty wide so it’s a lot harder, first round I did 8 and second round I did 6, keep in mind I am doing them slow, also the last rep I stayed up as much as I could.
• Bench Press – And so here begins the fun with the weights. I used an olympic bar, it weighs 45lbs and I added 2 plates of 25lbs each, making it 95lbs. I did a rep of 10 and the second time around I did 5 (I did another set further down.)
• Reverse Grip Chin Ups – These are easier for me, however at this point I was starting to feel the pumped muscles. I managed to do 15 the first round and 10 the second round. Again remember I am doing this slow, and I stopped at the top for the last one.
• Chest Dumbbells Flies– I used 17lb dumbbells in order to be able to go slow and steady with the flies. I did 10 reps and the second time around I went up to 22lbs and did 8 reps.
• Close Grip Over Hand Pull ups – Again nice and slow, managed 10 the first time and 8 the second time around.
• Inclined Dumbbell flies – I used 27lbs dumbbells, in the inclined I seem to have more strength. I was able to do 10 reps each set.
• Low Row – I set the machine to 95lbs, I did 10 reps each set.
• Diamond Push Ups – I kept these, they are pretty awesome and help out a lot, also did them slow, I managed 17 the first round and 13 the second time around.
• Lawnmowers – I used 27lbs and both sets were 10 reps each.
• Bench Press 2 – As mentioned before I decided to bench press 4 times, 2 set the first round and 2 the second round. I used the same weight, 95lbs. I managed 8 the first time and 5 the second time around.
• Back flies – I used a machine for this and I set it to 90lbs. I managed 10 reps on both sets.

I then did Ab Ripper X, and I used a 25lbs plate to help me, when I had to place my hands up, I held the plate, also I used it  to modify things like wide leg sit-ups, instead of using my hands to touch my toes, I held the plate and touched the floor with the plate between the legs. The mason twist is also amazing, instead of touching the floor on either side of you with your fists, use the plate, it really burns LOL. At the end I used the dual ab crunch machine, set it up for 120lbs and did 8 reps the first time and then went for it again and did another 8 reps.

Tomorrow I will do Plyo just as it was intended, we shall see how this goes as I have not done plyo in over 4 months I think LOL. I will let you know how it goes and if I can follow Dominique.

Thank you for your time:

Mike