Day 1 continued

Okay, so back to day one. After the legs sets I move on to lower back, the simple starting back version.

Back Raises;
I stole this excercise from yoga, then altered it. Lay face down on the floor or a mat with a 5 lb plate resting on your heels and lower calf. Hands are palms down on the mat for anchoring, arms are straight by your hips or thighs. Raise your straight legs off the ground while keeping your chest down, if you can't get the 5lbs to budge go lighter or with no weight at all, but feet together. Do at least 10 reps to the fullest range of motion your flexibility will allow, try to arch by just by raising your straight legs off the ground.
Alternate that set with a "set" of one rep, same motion with a static hold at the top of the movement trying to hold "static" for at least 10 seconds.

Repeat both 5 times with a yoga plow stretch or a seated pike stretch peppered in as you feel necessary.

This is similar to a yoga form in which the hands are together beneath the pelvis, you can actually get more range of motion this way.

Next comes a set of middle back shrugs that target the rhomboids (aka back cleavage).
Middle Back Shrugs:
Seated in a rowing machine with a chest pad try with close to your body weight. Grip the handles and with straight arms pull straight back, when you've moved the wieght to where you're slightly pinching between the shoulder blades slowly peel your chest away from the chest pad. Do the negative returning contact with the chest pad first then extending the arms. The actual joint that is moving (along with a few of your vertebrae of course) is the head of the collar bone. It's a joint, it moves. Do 6 sets of 10 or so reps alternating underhand and overhand grips if the handles on that particular machine permit.
This hits the rhomboids and when you peel away the chest your upper erectors are engaged. As a bonus you're also engaging your rear deltoids as you stablize. This seated row machine is designed for the lats to do most of the work but we'll hit those a little more thouroughly on another day, so keep your arms straight.
A yoga plow stretch is good to work in after this one.

Abdominals:
4 sets repeated 3 times moving to the 4 different stations.
Crunches;
Sit in the crunch machine pads to your chest with a modest weight, I use 35lbs. Crunch down and at the top of the motion before the plates touch count out each rep-to a tempo that's not going to kill you. 1, next rep hold 1,2 so that each successive rep holds one count longer at the top of the movement. I believe this will increase the difficulty logorythmically with each successive rep, like the Richter Scale increases logorythmically as it gets higher..... try for 20 reps.

Legs Raised Crunches;
With the curvy crunch bar on the floor, most gyms have something like 'em, no weight on the bar legs straight and 3 or 4 inches off the ground, I hold a 4 or 6 lb small medicine ball between my feet for my aductor part of my "core" or no weight is an easier option. 20 reps if you can.

Extended Push Up;
Lie face down of the floor or a mat again hands in front of (above if you were upright) your head, push up. If you've never done this just go elbows to knees and the waist is the first thing that leaves the floor. I go hands to toes with a 25lb plate on the small of my back. You have the option of either doing 10 to 15 reps as "push ups" or just hold the position off the floor (except your hands and feet of course) for 20 seconds or so.

Oblique Raises:
With a 25lb plate again held at your side in one hand with a stragiht arm( you could go lighter or heavier) bend to the side as far as your flexibility will comfortably allow, then straighten up. 20 reps each side. If you go heavy on this you might be building up the muscles that will take on the appearance of love handles if they get too big, thus I go light and do lots of reps.

If you want, doing a back bend or bridge is a good stretch to work into this part of the routine.

Next; Chest and Lats