Nov 30, My 1st Day
These guys make it look easy. I started out strong… 15 pull ups, 20 push ups. Not bad. What kills is the progression and the short rest interval between sets. I didn’t sweat as much since half way through, I was suffering from extreme muscle fatigue and showering with lactic acid. I believe the push-ups are better at muscle isolation than the pull-ups for the back. Pull-ups are good, but there is a fair amount of bicep involved. Maybe that why the routine has three sets that require dumbbells doing rows and fly.
Monthly Summary
You do this workout one a week the 1st month and then again on your 3rd month. Subsequent weeks in the 1st month went as expected. Incremental progress in all fronts. The cumulative fatigue from quick change and continuous variation through each exercise makes this a very effective muscle and strength builder. Great workout. Women will have some trouble here if your upper body is not ready. Even if your rep count per exercise is under 6 or 8, you should still expect to see results. Anchoring your upper body with a strong chest and back is very important for posture and overall strength foundation.
Chest and Back score: A
Ab Ripper X Summary
This one has 11 different movements and you need to do 25 reps each, again non-stop. It’s a very good routine, but again, you won’t find isolated ab movements but rather a fair amount of isometric core tension due to balancing and core strength combined with leg extensions. I managed to squeeze 15 reps throughout my first time. I was feeling my hips and my upper thighs were cramping doing crunchy frogs (3rd exercise).
Over the weeks, I was able to complete some and average 20 count in most others. Most workout programs encourage ab workout daily, not P90X. This is not an ab routine but rather a core area burner. This routine is not for daily consumption and they impress this on the video. I tend to agree.
When I compare a typical upper body workout at the gym with this, so far my gym workout wipes me out relatively more. In all fairness, it could be that I did not push the rep count needed throughout. We’ll see.
I’m off to play vball with friends tonight after my 1st workout day. I have a feeling that my game will suffer. But who cares… I’m in training and ready to hit play tomorrow.
Ab Ripper X score: A
