Day 1: Chest and Back, Ab Ripper X

I finished today's workout about two hours ago, and--wow. It was just as hard as I expected it to be. My arms are so tired right now, and I can already feel some soreness starting.

Several years ago, I went to a rock climbing wall. It was my first time going to one of those, so I didn't know the right climbing techniques. But I was determined to make it all the way up to the top every time, and I definitely overdid it. At one point, I was reaching for one of the handgrips, and my arms just gave out. I had never experienced anything like that before. Afterwards, I remember that my arms were so sore that it hurt to pick up the phone and wash my hair. I have a feeling that this is going to be about the same.

Basically, the workout was a series of pushups, pullups, and dumbbell exercises. There were 12 different moves, and then the whole thing repeated for the second half hour. It was ridiculously hard, but somehow it motivated me to push myself throughout the entire thing. I think I want Tony Horton to be my own personal trainer. I like the way the workout is set up so that you can modify the exercises that are more difficult for you. I had to modify many of them, but some I could do the way the people on the DVD were doing them (although not as many reps!). It's cool because I can actually see the possibility that I'll get better with time.

So I was doing pretty well, or so I thought, when there came a pushup called the divebomber. I was on my second one...and on my way down my arms suddenly turned to jelly, and I fell flat on my face! I took a quick break and then managed to do a couple more, but that was crazy.

But I made it all the way through the whole thing, and I actually felt really good afterwards.

Next was Ab Ripper X, which was only 16 minutes long or something like that. This was not quite as good as Chest and Back. I know that my abs are a huge problem area for me, and the muscles I have there are not strong at all. Some of the exercises were okay, but most of them were really hard for me, and there were a couple that I could hardly do at all. I tried my best, though, so I'm hoping I'll make some progress eventually.

I didn't follow the meal plan today. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow, so I'll be able to plan out my meals from now on. Right now, I have my computer on my lap, and just the effort of holding my arms up enough to type is making them tired. So I'll post my pictures and measurements tomorrow. Time for bed!