So the workout entails lots of pull ups and curls within a 50 minute workout so make sure your chair is handy.  When I started P90X I couldn’t even do one and the majority that are thinking of starting P90X will not be able to do one either.  Sometimes I wish I would have started RevAbs first to break myself in but my results were awesome so no complaints.  By the time you start Back & Biceps you will be in week 5 so you should be used to the motion of it.  With that being said the first workout is wide front pull ups.

Wide front pull ups are one of the most difficult because your arms are spread out and you can’t keep control.  For the majority of the workout try and stick with lighter weights because you are doing 24 different exercises and half are curls.  I think 15 to 20 pound weights are safe but you can always bump up if you’re not hurting by the 7^th or 8^th rep.  Pull ups are done every 4^th workout and the other P90X exercises consist of switch grip, corn cob, towel pull ups, chin ups and a max rep pull up.  Does this sound like fun or what!

Of course in between these pull ups are curls and Tony Horton gives you 9 different moves of curls so no repetitiveness here.  They consist of 1 arm body curls, 1 arm concentration, static arm, crouching curls, corkscrew’s, hammer and in and out’s.  OUCH!  If you want huge biceps then this workout is a mans dream but for women its good for the extra arm fat.  Remember that if you do more reps (12-15) then you will lose fat but if you do less reps (8-10) with heavy weights then you will build muscle.  There are a couple other exercises that I left out but are still challenging.  You get to do lots of lawnmowers, back flies and my favorite superman.

When you think you’re all done you still get to do Ab Ripper X for another 15 minutes.  That’s why I recommend that you stick with a lighter weight even though as a guy you can probably lift more.  I think the workouts that get you prepared the most for Back & Biceps is Yoga X and Shoulders & Arms.  This is the reason why they are incorporated at the beginning of the P90X program.  If you would like more details on gaining more muscle and eating healthy meals then click here.  Remember that working out is half the battle but to look fit you have to stay true to a healthy meal plan.

Most people that I know always target there upper body and forget to workout the most important part.  Yes the legs and back!  Try and notice yourself picking something up next time and you will realize that you bend over Like a hinge)to pick something up and not bend your legs and grab the item.  We as adults get lazy and try to find the quickest way possible of doing something.  This routine will help you with your core muscles in your back as well as your legs.

Your workout will consist of using weights, a wall, pull up bar and a chair.  That is the nice thing with P90x is that there is no need to buy several pieces of equipment to workout.  So balanced lunges are first and all they are is lunges with one foot laying on the chair and the other on the floor with your knee over your ankle.  A total of 50 and your ready to move to the next p90 exercise.  The next are calf raise squats and with a set of weights in your hand you bend down and touch the weights to the floor and go back up on your toes.  So by now your thinking that it seems pretty easy or maybe you don’t but I promise you it gets harder.  Reverse grip chin ups are next and when I started P90x on 4/20/09 I couldn’t even do one chin up and now on my second time through I can do 13 in a row without any assistance. 

Super skaters are  next and just picture yourself skating on ice with the whole hand movement thing but doing a lunge as well.  The fun really begins when you still haven’t had a break and you have to do wall squats for 90 seconds.  Talk about a burn.  Every 10 seconds your allowed to come out of the 90 degree hold but then right back in it.  After a fun 90 seconds you give your legs a break and move back to the bar for some wide front pull ups.  I wanted to mention that beachbody has a patented pull up bar as well if your interested.  My biggest weakness on the bar is definately wide front but I am getting better at it.   The next few are lunges and with the third one being closed grip pull ups.  My biggest strength on the bar by far.  I started with doing zero to now doing almost 15.  The next two exercises are squats with the second most hardest one.  Single leg wall squats.  These are not fun nor easy but the longer you do this workout the better your legs will be.  If you want to be a better football, soccer or baseball player then keep this up.  Your doing wall squats and lifting one leg in the air parallel to the ground.  OUCH! 

Now the hardest pull up is next and its called switch grip which entails 2 front pull ups and then 2 reverse pull ups.  I have been doing p90x for almost 6 months and still can’t figure this one out.  There are a series of lunges which are by far a good break but always a killer on the legs.  After another round of chin ups comes chair salutations.  Try this.  Picture yourself sitting in a chair with your feet touching the ground.  Then put your hands up as high as you can.  Now do all this without using the chair and doing it twice with a 10 second break in between.  Not hard anymore but lots of bad words came out of my mouth for the first several months of doing legs and back.  Good thing I have lots of practice with Yoga X because that move happens a lot there too. 

You get into a rhythm of lunge and then back to the pull up bar for pretty much the entire video so it gives you a quick break between the two.  You end up finishing with what they call groucho walk.  This is a squat while walking forward 4 steps and then back.  Another set of calf raises but three different angles with weights.  25 per position totalling 75 raises.  My favorite pull is next and that is close grip.  Its just good old pull up with your hands close together.  I lifting my body weight of 168lbs and can do 12 but at this point 6 is plenty.  My results with p90x have been tremendous and I encourage you to try this program out. 

You close out the series with 80-20 Seibers speed squats and my not so favorite switch grip pull ups.  80-20 squats are deadly at this point because your putting all your weight on one leg and doing a squat as fast as possible.  Then at 15 Tony Horton wants you to jump in the air another ten times.  Oh wait then while that leg is on fire your have to give the other leg the same love.  Lastly, is switch grip pull ups and by this point your beat up but getting 6 done is magnificent.  Don’t forget to do Ab Ripper X after and then when completed take your recovery drink.  I hope this gives you a better idea of another exercise in the P90x program. 

If your interested or have any questions feel free to contact me at Gianni@phattyfit.com or check out the free membership and see what others are doing.  If you have been doing P90x and are not benefiting from the coach opportunity then read more about it here.  If you become a coach now you will get a hefty discount on all products but please contact me first before you sign up.

If you have ever wanted a great beach body then this workout will give it to you.  It is not stop push ups and pull ups with a few weights as well.  I enjoy this workout so much because you walk away so exhausted after 50 minutes.  The majority of the time you are switching back from a push up and then to a pull up so the video starts out with a standard push up.

Everyone can do these but how many can you do in 30 seconds.  Don’t forget that every workout is done twice before you end the Chest and Back DVD.  Wide front pull ups are next and are my least favorite.  Have you ever had those wings under your arm pits when you flex.  Well after doing P90x for a second time through I now can say I have those muscles and it’s because of this exercise.  Military push ups are difficult as well and all you have to do is keep your arms close to you and your elbows tucked in every time you come in and out of one.  I can now do about 18-20 of them in a row but at first  I couldn’t do 5.

The next three set of workouts are Reverse chin ups, Wide Fly push ups and Close grip pull ups.  Reverse chin ups are my favorite just because I can do these the best and can do 10 of them in a row.  I was pretty impressed with my results because I couldn’t even do 1 of these at day 1.  For some reason wide fly push ups are easier for me than standard push ups and I think it’s because when I worked out on the bench press I always had a wider grip on the bar.  Close grip is next and I think the hardest part of this pull up is lifting up your legs in a constant motion.  They always seem to flap in the air after every pull up I do. Either way I love these workouts next to each other cause there easiest for me. 

Decline push ups, Heavy pants and Diamond push up are next and you need to keep a good balance with these.  Decline is a standard push up but with your feet on a chair.  They are fun and when you get some confidence you can raise a leg in the air as well while doing a push up.  Try it when you get used of doing the regular ones first of course.  Heavy pants is the same thing as putting a pair of pants on except using weights of course.  I usually use 25lbs on each arm and get through about 12 reps.  I always have a hard time with this one because I focus on my arms rather than my back.  One of the most challenging workout on the chest and back exercise is diamond push ups.  The name says it all.  Make a diamond out of your hands and then do push ups!  Yes easier said then done Tony Horton.  The trick here is doing them while your legs are separated like a V.  After almost 180 days I now can do two sets of 12.  The other positive about getting through P90x almost twice is the benefits of becoming a Coach.  Its great to see your progress when you chart everything on paper and when I look back at the first time I did this workout I did 1.

You finish with 3 more workouts and they are lawnmowers, Dive bomber, and Back flys.  I use a 25lb weight for lawnmowers and I can do about 12.  Don’t forget that your arms are on fire from the previous exercises and plus to gain mass you want to keep it to 8-12 reps.   These are pretty much like starting a lawnmower but bent over.  Hence the word Lawnmower.  Dive bomber push ups are not my favorite and that’s because there hard as hell!  Picture a 2 foot high fence and going under it without your chest touching the ground.  Better yet!  It’s like the limbo but its your back that can’t touch the bottom of the fence.  Well back flys are simple and self explanatory so no detail on that but the best thing about this workout is that you have one more time through.  Yes once you finish these you go back and do them all over again.  Remember most of these exercises are 30 seconds to a minute so you have plenty of time to go at it one more time.  Usually my second time through my reps go down do to the fact that I’m extremely exhausted.

My chest and back are strong because of things like Yoga X and Ab ripper and several other workouts like shoulder and triceps.  Overall I think if you put your mind to it and focus on each and every workout the results will come with this system.   If you truly want to start and believe that P90X is a little too much for you then try RevAbs. 

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at Gianni@phattyfit.com.  You can also get a FREE beach body account and check out the tools they give you to succeed.