Day 3: Shoulders and Arms, Ab Ripper X

Did I forget to mention how sore I was? Yesterday my chest, back, abs and triceps killed from Day 1. Today, lower body hurts from the cardio yesterday. So, why not destroy the only things that still feels good? Biceps and shoulders.

This morning's focus were shoulders and "arms", followed by abs. The workout was good considering how much pain I'm currently in.

The program requires you to either purchase an expensive set of multi-weight dumbbells, or a 14 dollar resistance band. I chose the latter.

3 of the people in the video use the free weights while one guy does every move with a resistance band. This was my first time using one, so needless to say it was a bit shaky. What's great is that each move (15 of them in total), is repeated. They were grouped in sets of three: shoulder move, bicep move, tricep move. Repeat the set, then learn 3 new moves. The repetition enabled me to perfect the band and figure out how tight I needed it to be (step on a bigger loop for a heavier feel).

Definitely felt the tricep and shoulder moves more than I did the bicep ones. Might invest in a second, shorter band for biceps in order to get a greater range of weight.

The one thing I noticed today that was annoying, outside of Tony's banter, is the time allotted for each move. They give you about 45 seconds to a minute for each, but tell you to set goals for a number of reps. My 12 reps are done a lot quicker than a minute. Feels like a lot of moving around, ballistic stretching, while I wait. I've read in other blogs that people just fast forward through it.

Also a bit annoying when Tony counts his reps out loud. He's on five when I'm on eight. I know, just hit mute. But some of the stuff he says makes sense. There are versions I can watch where it just gives you cues as to what's next and when to switch, might try that out next time I do shoulders and arms.

My first go at Ab Ripper X on Day 1 was less than a success. Today I was set on burning through it, and I'd say I was pretty successful. I couldn't do all the moves for 25 reps each, but definitely worked a lot harder today. I'm really curious as to what won't hurt when I wake up in for Day 4.

Tomorrow: Yoga.