Day 1: Chest and Back

I got up at 5:15 this morning to experience my first workout. My middle daughter, aged 11, apparently set her own alarm clock and surprised me by appearing just before I hit the play button. She loves her Daddy. What a great showing of affection that she would want to particpate in this with me. She is always so eager and interested to help me do things. Last night while assembling the weight rack which will hold the dumbbells, she was the only person who wanted to help me put it together. I told her she could do this first workout with me, but after this, I didn't want her waking up and working out. Nor did I let her use any weights or resistance bands if they were called for. She's a trooper.

I've never spent time stretching or warming up before or after working out. That was new for me. But I'll be honest. I didn't mind it, as long as I saw the overall workout countdown clock in the corner keep ticking while I was simply stretching.

Today's routines were mainly push ups and pull ups. Needless to say I had to use the chair for pull ups and my knees for push ups. If I hadn't, then I wouldn't have done more than maybe 1 or 2 at any given time. My overall performance was ugly in terms of form and repetitions. But I'm taking Horton at his word that I'll only get better as the days go by.

My daughter says Horton is arrogant because he always has to do one more rep than the people he's got working out with him. I don't really mind or notice. I'm too busy trying to force myself through a single repetition. I can't do any of those "under the fence" push ups. Yet.

In the shower afterwards, I can't raise my arms very well, the muscles are so tight. Mental note to self: make sure to find a location or two during the day where I can hang by my arms for a minute and keep the lactic acid from building.