Chest and Back

This is a review of the Chest and Back workout, part of the P90X program. To learn more about the program and see reviews of the other workouts in the program, click here.

Chest and Back is the very first workout you are introduced to in the P90X program. As the name implies, the workout involves moves that target your chest and back (sorry, I had to point out the obvious). This essentially boils down to a lot of push-ups, pull-ups, and a few other, back-fly type exercises.

Getting started

As with all other workouts in the program, you begin by getting warmed up and stretched out. Tony Horton has his usual lame jokes (which, when you spend enough time with him, are actually quite funny, especially as you get more and more exhausted) and starts you off with a nice max rep push-up set. I’ll be honest, I was in pretty good push-up shape before I began the program, but I didn’t make it all the way through the first round of this workout doing push-ups on my feet; I had to go to my knees towards the end.

Oh, the pull-up…

In this workout, you do three different types of pull-ups, two times each. They are all for maximum reps and pretty much do a great job of wearing you out. Even at the end of the program, the pull-ups in this workout are pretty hard. I personally started out doing about 7-8 pull-ups per round (my numbers were always a little lower in this workout than they were in the other pull-up intensive workouts) and worked my way up to 14-20 pull-ups per round. In other words, if you work hard, you will improve!

Push and Pull

Throughout the entire workout, you will consistently alternate between a chest exercise (like push-ups) and a back workout (pull-ups and back fly’s). For push-ups, you’ll do anything from the regular variety to diamonds, wide fly’s, and declines.

For the back workouts, you’ll need to have weights or bands in order to do all the non-pull-up related exercises. To be honest, these exercises seem a bit easier, probably because they don’t involve grabbing a bar and pulling yourself up!

To sum it all up

This workout should definitely make you ask the question: “What on earth did I get myself into?” You will certainly be worn out and wake up sore the following day, which I consider a sign of a good workout. The best news is that you get the next day off of upper body movements as you prep yourself for the Plyo X workout! Good luck!

Don’t forget to take a look at other workouts in the program.

Photo by Army.mil.