Supreme 90 - Chest and Back Review

Today was my third time doing Chest and Back. I've stopped doing the generic warmup and stretch provided by S90 and instead used the P90x Chest/back warm up and cooldown/stretch. It worked very well for me. Like I said in my initial review of S90, it's ridiculous to be stretching my calves after a chest/back workout.

Once you begin the workout in earnest, 3 ab/core exercises start you off. Repeat them a second time and then you dive into pushups and bent over rows. This is a tough combo. I'm able to kick out 15-20 pushups for the first set, but then I'm behind on the rows. You dive right back into pushups for a second and then third time. By the third time, I think I got a dozen push ups.

For the record, there are 3 people demoing the moves. The woman is in incredible shape. The man on the right, looks like a weight lifter and is always the first one done with every exercise. He looks like he's punching a time clock and doesn't want to be there. The guy on the left is the slowest, but also has the best form.

Next you drop to the floor for dumbbell chest press. I think this is a poor exercise as without a bench, the range of motion is very limited. I'll probably try doing it on the exercise ball next time. This the dives into a back exercise I've never done. Lie on your back, with light dumbbells in each hand. Lower one toward your head, keeping your arm straight. Then alternate. Do this routine 3 times.

Next up, decline push ups with your feet on the ball. So far, it's been more like my shins on the ball as there is very little rest in this routine and I'm feeling it pretty bad by now. This is followed up by another new back exercise. You take some light dumbbells, and place your core on the ball at a 45 degree angle. Then you press the weights up. You'll be panting in no time. Repeat 2 more times.

This is followed by a weird chest exercise that I do feel. Basically, take the dumbbells and alternate bringing them up to the opposite shoulder. Do not use your biceps. The second half of this is stiff legged deadlifts. I really appreciate the addition of a few lower back exercises. Once again, 3 times.

We're closing in on the end now. It's been a fast 20 minutes. This time, dumbbell flies on the ball. Drop the weights, roll over, and lower back curls...like a roman chair. Yup, you guessed it, 3 times.

The last exercise is a chest/back combo. Holding the dumbbells in your hands, you do a push up, then row on the right, left, and repeat the cycle. You only do this twice. I won't lie, by the time I got here, I was done. I'm not a big fan of push up bars as they tend to hurt my palms. On top of that, I was just cooked. I think I managed 4 and 3 or 5 and 4. I was disappointed here.

With my modified cooldown, I dropped S90 and picked up the end of P90x chest/back. Much more satisfactory.
Overall, a good workout a sweat for 25 or so minutes of working out. Tomorrow is Ultimate Ball. I don't think there is a P90x routine to compare it to.

Here is a link to my initial review in case you are getting here via a search engine.
http://joshcayerfitness.blogspot.com/2011/07/p90x-vs-supreme-90-day.html