Jeff Russell

Interesting! I had never considered the 2nd Rite as a work up to plow posture, but I suppose that makes sense. I used to include a bit of a static stretching at the end of each rite, but with the dand for the 5th Rite, I get too tired out if I try to hold much, and I guess I transferred that habit to the rest of the rites. Might be worth rethinking.

For the slipping, are you wearing socks by chance? I take my socks off for the workout and do it on carpet (though I suppose a yoga mat would work too), and then put socks on before walking around on hardwood or tile to avoid the "chilling" recommended against in the book.

And yeah, if you're at 15 reps I would not try to jump right into doing 15 dands, especially if upper body strength is not your forte. I've done a lot of push ups in my time, but I was at I think 11 reps when I switched to the more intense 5th Rite, and I had to step down to 9 for awhile, as it wsa much more challenging. Also, as I mentioned above, going slowly for this one also significantly increases its challenge level.

Anyhow, thanks for sharing, and if you give any of this a try, I'd love to hear about it.

Cheers,
Jeff