Denver Does Day 1: BACK (and Chest) to Reality!

Ouch.

I forgot to pace myself. Back and Chest is a killer, and I now remember why I hate Mondays. My arms are struggling to type this. I did pretty well, about 83 Pull-Ups, but it was easier the first time around. My push-ups were much better than the first time around, so I think doing it before has definitely helped me.

Ab Ripper X is just pure torture. I took a few breaks in the middle of it, but that will only be temporary. Don't worry, Dallas, you'll get up to the full reps in no time. It still will suck, but it won't feel impossible.

One of the other adjustments I had to make was in my diet. I haven't been eating breakfast lately, so forcing myself to eat when I wasn't hungry was tough. I had pizza last night as a kind of "going away" present to myself. I also had some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. And of course, Dr Pepper. This morning I made myself eat a rice Cake (45 Cals) with peanut butter and three slices of reduced sodium bacon (Only 60 cals for all three slices, so I figured I try this over the Turkey Bacon).

Here Is the Back and Chest Workout: (I'll do this for each new workout. Dallas might want to chime in on his thoughts about the exercises, I'll also try to review each video).

Standard Push-Ups
Wide Front Pull-Ups
Military Push-Ups
Reverse Grip Chin-Ups (My favorite. I do much better at these than other Pull-Ups)
Wide Fly Push-Ups
Closed Grip Overhand Pull-Ups
Decline Push-Ups (feet on a chair)
Heavy Pants
Diamond Push-Ups (Killer, I don't get all the way down, but I can do them a lot better now)
Lawnmowers (Just like it sounds, except the pull cord is a heavy weight. Love this!)
Dive Bomber Push-Ups (The directions are: wide legs, duck UNDER the fence, Head Up, Then back UNDER the fence. It looks goofy, but it's effective.)
Seated Back-Flys (These are tough. You have to be careful you aren't making it a shoulder exercise.)

Ab Ripper X: I'll talk about the specifics later. Someone I know thought the whole thing was over after the Chest and Back and didn't realize that Ab Ripper X comes on right after. They show the Ab Ripper Photo and it's like Death coming to visit. Oh, yeah, it's that scary. Consider yourself warned!

I'll be back tomorrow. As this goes on, I'll give my perspective on the equipment I've found most useful, and Dallas can do the same. Keep visiting us and holding us accountable!