WOW, k, very sore. Arms, back, chest, abs, quads. Worked out this morning, a couple of hours has passed and I am thoroughly sore. I can't even straighten my arms out tall the way because my biceps hurt. Definitely underestimated the plyometrics from yesterday because my quads are sore. I'm not nearly as sore as I was when I started doing Insanity (here I go comparing again), but when I did Insanity I was more out of shape. Issue is I thought that I was way more in shape now so I wasn't expecting to be sore at all. I guess a two-week hiatus (even if interrupted by 3 days of boarding) really does contribute to muscle loss huh!?
Anyway, back to this morning. Shoulders & Arms has no pull-ups; only uses weights/resistance bands. I have resistance bands just to try them out (...and because they're cheaper than weights). Problems with resistance bands include:
- chafing on my forearms and wrists during most moves
- smaller range of motion
- inconsistency because I can't always remember how big I made my loop
- Indian skin burns under my bare foot as the resistance bands contract
- the feeling that resistance bands aren't as good as weights because on the way down I have to do very little work as the bands retract on their own
Since this was my first time doing Shoulders & Arms and first time using resistance bands ever this was kind of a trial. You want to cap out at 8-10 reps of heavier weights if you wanna build size or 12-15 reps of lighter weights if you wanna get lean. I didn't know exactly what my strength is on all the different exercises so I found myself switching bands a lot. It was annoying but necessary, and I didn't really see any other way around it. I made sure to record all my progress and take notes on the bands.
The only pros of resistance bands are that they are great for travel, take up very little room, and are cheap. The cons listed above outweigh the pros for me. Now I want weights, but they are so darn expensive. I have chafe marks on my arms which is not cool... and will eventually start to get raw and hurt. Guess I gotta save up huh?
Ab Ripper X was good. I was able to do more of the exercises despite how sore I was. Haha, I guess Ab Ripper X isn't MUCH worse than Insanity if I was still sore yeah? haha.
