Friday's workout was good fun - the exercises were diverse and interesting. I particularly liked the Arnold presses, not that I could do them with particularly heavy weights but mastering the technique was good.
Look at me, trying to be positive! Honestly, this program sucks, as does the fact I've put on 3 lbs. I shan't blame the program, I will blame an amendment in medication. I am so ridiculously tired of working my bum off only to have my bum...expand.
Monday I didn't do anything. Tuesday I did 4 out of 5 sets of Cross Eyes, the 5th was abandoned because of the boxing class but I made up for it by doing 20 minutes of HIIT sprinting at the end of my session.
Wednesday I did 3 sets of 12 reps with 40kg narrow stance leg press, then the same with a wide stance. I did the DB squats with 12kg, but got confused about what to do with the weights as I squatted - I mean, I hung my arms at my sides but then they bumped into my knees on the way down so I ended up propping them up on my shoulders. Then I did 150 box jumps in 5 sets of 30, on a high step. After that I did 50 step ups (each leg) and then 50 reverse step ups. But, I can't tell the difference between normal step ups and reverse step ups. They feel the same to me.
Today is Thursday and I was meant to be doing Wednesday's workout because I'm a day behind myself. Well, now I'm two days behind myself as I didn't go. Life has well and truly gotten in the way this week, and whilst I was reluctant to skip the workout today, I felt it was for the best. So tomorrow I will try and get 45 HIIT running in plus 15 minutes of backwards walking (looking forward to that...), and then Saturday will be Thursday's arm workout as well as further HIIT. I won't pretend I'm going to do 30 minutes of HIIT rowing or cycling, because I'm absolutely not. I'll find an alternative, whether it's HIIT sprinting (I'll incorporate a little Total Warrior training and do it on a hill somewhere), or skipping. HIIT sitting activities kill me, I end up limping for days because my hips seize up. Blame the hypermobility again.
As I'm sure you can tell, I hate this program at the moment - I've lost momentum with it, and am consequently bored. I want to get back to muay thai and doing my own thing. But, I'm trying to finish it. Please don't think I've abandoned workouts easily - it takes a lot for me to skip one, but this week it really has been necessary. Hopefully next week I'll find my second (third?) wind, when I start the third and final stage.
Thursday 24 May 2012
Thursday 17 May 2012
Week 7
My 10k was uneventful, I started super slow to make sure I finished but finished quite fast. Unfortunately due to the slow start, I did it in an hour and 10 seconds. I reckon I've got sub 50 minutes in me. Somewhere.
So back to the program. Today I've had 2200 calories, mostly good calories but the pistachios sort of pushed me over the 2000 mark. Boo.
Monday
3 x 12 reps bent over rows with 15kg. Still doing the wretched TUT technique for the whole workout. It's really getting dull now, I can't lie.
3 x 12 reps with 12kg DB bench press
3 x 12 reps 8kg DB incline bench
3 x 10 reps with 4kg lat DB raises
3 x 8 reps with 6kg incline bicep curls. They're hard. But quite good.
3 x 10 reps with 4kg tricep kick backs (each arm)
3 x 10 reps with 31.6kg rope pushdown
started to do the upright barbell rows, but then something in my right wrist popped out of place and continued to pop out each time I did a lift...so I reluctantly called time on that one.
This was ultimately an incredibly tedious work out and took me hours. I came home in a stinking mood, and had a big ol' rant about this program. At this stage of the operation, I don't think it's worth the time and trouble. I'm sure there are more effective workouts that can be done in two hours. But I'm far too stubborn to toss the towel in at this late stage.
Tuesday
20 minutes HIIT cycling (:30/1:30), 30 minutes skipping (2 mins jump, 30 seconds rest). Then I did my boxing class to add a further 30 minutes to the cardio for the day. Got to burn those calories somehow!
Wednesday I had a gut ache the size of Russia so I swerved the gym, knowing I would force myself to do two days' worth of training on Thursday instead. Which is what I did today.
3 x 12 reps 50kg leg press
3 x 10 reps 40kg deadlifts
3 x 10 reps 40kg squats
I started to do the side barbell squats but couldn't get the technique quite right so I'm going to study that one a bit more before doing any. 3 x 8 reps with 30kg sumo squats.
And then I did the Black Diamond Challenge. Oh it looks like a nice, steady, low key workout.
It's not.
400metre run, 30 box jumps (I used a box taller than a standard step - but I don't think it was 24 inches, that would have ended badly if I'd attempted that), then 30 wall ball shots with 7kg ball. Klick is a new gym, and they're rather protective of the fresh paintwork so they don't like people abusing the walls too much. With this in mind, I threw the medicine ball as high as I could, caught it and then went into a squat - 30 times.
This you're supposed to do 5 times. I got to the end of the first set and had serious doubts about making it to the second, let alone the fifth. But then this occurred to me...
The guys at Share It Fitness write that their challenges are 'very strenuous workouts, so don't feel bad if you can't make it all the way through.' But I did make it right through, in 29 minutes and 54 seconds. It was hard, especially straight after quite a tough leg workout. This is the price I have to pay for having a day off on Wednesday.
I didn't feel good in the gym today, I felt like I'd put weight on, and I felt self conscious, as though people would notice I'd put weight on...since Tuesday. I hope this is a temporary thing because although the results I have had from this program have not been dramatic, I would hate to actually go backwards.
Tomorrow I'm off to the beach for a training session, and then Saturday I'll have to do what I was meant to do Friday, so I'm not getting as much rest as I should be, but I feel ready for it.
So back to the program. Today I've had 2200 calories, mostly good calories but the pistachios sort of pushed me over the 2000 mark. Boo.
Monday
3 x 12 reps bent over rows with 15kg. Still doing the wretched TUT technique for the whole workout. It's really getting dull now, I can't lie.
3 x 12 reps with 12kg DB bench press
3 x 12 reps 8kg DB incline bench
3 x 10 reps with 4kg lat DB raises
3 x 8 reps with 6kg incline bicep curls. They're hard. But quite good.
3 x 10 reps with 4kg tricep kick backs (each arm)
3 x 10 reps with 31.6kg rope pushdown
started to do the upright barbell rows, but then something in my right wrist popped out of place and continued to pop out each time I did a lift...so I reluctantly called time on that one.
This was ultimately an incredibly tedious work out and took me hours. I came home in a stinking mood, and had a big ol' rant about this program. At this stage of the operation, I don't think it's worth the time and trouble. I'm sure there are more effective workouts that can be done in two hours. But I'm far too stubborn to toss the towel in at this late stage.
Tuesday
20 minutes HIIT cycling (:30/1:30), 30 minutes skipping (2 mins jump, 30 seconds rest). Then I did my boxing class to add a further 30 minutes to the cardio for the day. Got to burn those calories somehow!
Wednesday I had a gut ache the size of Russia so I swerved the gym, knowing I would force myself to do two days' worth of training on Thursday instead. Which is what I did today.
3 x 12 reps 50kg leg press
3 x 10 reps 40kg deadlifts
3 x 10 reps 40kg squats
I started to do the side barbell squats but couldn't get the technique quite right so I'm going to study that one a bit more before doing any. 3 x 8 reps with 30kg sumo squats.
And then I did the Black Diamond Challenge. Oh it looks like a nice, steady, low key workout.
It's not.
400metre run, 30 box jumps (I used a box taller than a standard step - but I don't think it was 24 inches, that would have ended badly if I'd attempted that), then 30 wall ball shots with 7kg ball. Klick is a new gym, and they're rather protective of the fresh paintwork so they don't like people abusing the walls too much. With this in mind, I threw the medicine ball as high as I could, caught it and then went into a squat - 30 times.
This you're supposed to do 5 times. I got to the end of the first set and had serious doubts about making it to the second, let alone the fifth. But then this occurred to me...
The guys at Share It Fitness write that their challenges are 'very strenuous workouts, so don't feel bad if you can't make it all the way through.' But I did make it right through, in 29 minutes and 54 seconds. It was hard, especially straight after quite a tough leg workout. This is the price I have to pay for having a day off on Wednesday.
I didn't feel good in the gym today, I felt like I'd put weight on, and I felt self conscious, as though people would notice I'd put weight on...since Tuesday. I hope this is a temporary thing because although the results I have had from this program have not been dramatic, I would hate to actually go backwards.
Tomorrow I'm off to the beach for a training session, and then Saturday I'll have to do what I was meant to do Friday, so I'm not getting as much rest as I should be, but I feel ready for it.
Saturday 12 May 2012
Week 'off'
Egads I had no idea it had been 10 days since my last blog! What neglect is this?!
My apologies, my non-existent readers.
This week has been a week off the programme in preparation for my first ever 10k race tomorrow. I don't have high expectations for myself, but I wanted to make sure I gave myself the fairest chance.
I do have a confession though. I didn't complete last week's schedule. I missed out half an hour of skipping. I am ashamed.
In my defense, I got distracted decorating my staircase. That took a day and a half so I think that was probably equivalent of half an hour skipping. Maybe.
So this week I've been back to playing around in the gym. It's been quite nice in some ways, because I haven't had to rush around trying to get the workouts done before the gym closes, or go when I really haven't felt like it. Having said that though, I have done some sort of exercise most days. Tuedsday I did my boxing class, Wednesday I did some cardio and deadlifting. I haven't done any one rep max testing because I haven't been strength training, so I thought I'd give it a go. I managed 50kg, 60kg, 70kg, 80kg, 90kg. I expect I could have gone up to 95kg but I didn't bother. I tried to convince myself I didn't want to risk hurting my back ahead of the race but actually I just didn't want to look like a fool in the free weights area. Pride comes before a fall I know...
Thursday I did 40 minutes steady cardio. Friday I did a beach fitness class led by Dave. Now that was awesome. These silly boot camps in parks with 2kg dumbbells ain't got nothing on taking a sledgehammer to a tractor tyre, after having flipped it a couple of times on a windy beach.
I do like training on the beach, and I think I'll be doing it a bit more on the run up to the Total Warrior race, running up sand dunes and whatnot.
So tomorrow's my first race. As I said, I'm not planning on setting any personal targets other than finishing without losing my breakfast. Then next week, I'm back on my plan.
I'm particularly looking forward to the 'Black Diamond challenge'. But not really.
My apologies, my non-existent readers.
This week has been a week off the programme in preparation for my first ever 10k race tomorrow. I don't have high expectations for myself, but I wanted to make sure I gave myself the fairest chance.
I do have a confession though. I didn't complete last week's schedule. I missed out half an hour of skipping. I am ashamed.
In my defense, I got distracted decorating my staircase. That took a day and a half so I think that was probably equivalent of half an hour skipping. Maybe.
So this week I've been back to playing around in the gym. It's been quite nice in some ways, because I haven't had to rush around trying to get the workouts done before the gym closes, or go when I really haven't felt like it. Having said that though, I have done some sort of exercise most days. Tuedsday I did my boxing class, Wednesday I did some cardio and deadlifting. I haven't done any one rep max testing because I haven't been strength training, so I thought I'd give it a go. I managed 50kg, 60kg, 70kg, 80kg, 90kg. I expect I could have gone up to 95kg but I didn't bother. I tried to convince myself I didn't want to risk hurting my back ahead of the race but actually I just didn't want to look like a fool in the free weights area. Pride comes before a fall I know...
Thursday I did 40 minutes steady cardio. Friday I did a beach fitness class led by Dave. Now that was awesome. These silly boot camps in parks with 2kg dumbbells ain't got nothing on taking a sledgehammer to a tractor tyre, after having flipped it a couple of times on a windy beach.
I do like training on the beach, and I think I'll be doing it a bit more on the run up to the Total Warrior race, running up sand dunes and whatnot.
So tomorrow's my first race. As I said, I'm not planning on setting any personal targets other than finishing without losing my breakfast. Then next week, I'm back on my plan.
I'm particularly looking forward to the 'Black Diamond challenge'. But not really.
Wednesday 2 May 2012
Week 6 - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Calories yesterday - 2169
today - *blush* 2445 (and I wonder why I don't lose weight...idiot)
I detracted from the program to run up Moel Famau, but I assure you I did Friday's workout on Saturday morning. I can't remember what I did, but I did it in its entirety.
Monday this week I did 5 minutes of weighted speedskaters. I was foolish enough to start with a 10kg plate, and started getting tired very quickly so reduced it to a 5kg plate. I stopped 3 times to take a short breather within the 5 minutes. This was a pattern that emerged throughout the second and third sets of 5 minutes as well.
After the 5 minutes of skaters I did 5 minutes of high knees, and had to stop - regularly.
After that, I did 5 minutes of skipping.
I repeated 3 times.
This seems basic and when I looked at it I admit I scoffed, thinking it'd be easy. It was not. This was probably one of the most difficult workouts I have come across in this program so far. I had to stop many times, and to add insult to injury, I felt really stupid doing the exercises. One guy at the gym asked me if I was playing hopscotch.
Tuesday I did the following, using the TUT format:
Bulgarian squats with 20kg, 2 sets of 12 reps on each leg, then the last set 10 reps
I started doing normal squats (which should have been my first exercise but there were no frames available in the free weights area) but then got roped into doing a boxing class. After the boxing class I carried on with the squats, with 40kg, 3 sets of 12 reps
Reverse DB lunges, 12 reps (6 each leg) with 8kg DBs for 2 sets then 10kg DBs for the last set
I skipped the calf raises. I hate them. They don't do anything except butcher my ankles. I'm all for doing exercises you hate, but when you know you're constantly doing them wrong because they cause you to hurt in places that shouldn't be hurting, I don't see the point in going through the motions.
Quad extensions, 20kg, 3 sets of 8 reps. I might have been able to bump the weight up but I know from my powerlifting days that quad extensions make my thighs look huge for days. And they ain't small to begin with.
Hamstring curls, 32kg, 3 sets of 8 reps
Finally, 100 box jumps, split into 60 and then 40.
Today is Wednesday, so I did 20 minutes HIIT rowing and 20 minutes HIIT running, 0.1mile jog at 5mph and then 0.1mile sprint at 8.5mph.
Now then. Below further demonstrates my reasoning for hating rowing.
My hands are not the most feminine due to my tendency to use toilet cleaner to wash when the soap runs out. I also have callouses from a few years of lifting with Olympic bars. But the rowing took these callouses to a whole new level today.
"Owch."
In terms of progress, the pound I put on last week has gone again, and my fat percentage is back down too. But that does not mean there has been an improvement from when I started.
The photos below are the most recent. I have to say I feel as though I look better, but these photos don't really demonstrate that, although I do quite like the little bit of definition in my legs these days. Still a far cry from that beautiful body on the front page of the program, but I'm only 6 weeks in. Fingers crossed for a miracle within the next 6 weeks. And maybe a few less calories as well.
today - *blush* 2445 (and I wonder why I don't lose weight...idiot)
I detracted from the program to run up Moel Famau, but I assure you I did Friday's workout on Saturday morning. I can't remember what I did, but I did it in its entirety.
Monday this week I did 5 minutes of weighted speedskaters. I was foolish enough to start with a 10kg plate, and started getting tired very quickly so reduced it to a 5kg plate. I stopped 3 times to take a short breather within the 5 minutes. This was a pattern that emerged throughout the second and third sets of 5 minutes as well.
After the 5 minutes of skaters I did 5 minutes of high knees, and had to stop - regularly.
After that, I did 5 minutes of skipping.
I repeated 3 times.
This seems basic and when I looked at it I admit I scoffed, thinking it'd be easy. It was not. This was probably one of the most difficult workouts I have come across in this program so far. I had to stop many times, and to add insult to injury, I felt really stupid doing the exercises. One guy at the gym asked me if I was playing hopscotch.
Tuesday I did the following, using the TUT format:
Bulgarian squats with 20kg, 2 sets of 12 reps on each leg, then the last set 10 reps
I started doing normal squats (which should have been my first exercise but there were no frames available in the free weights area) but then got roped into doing a boxing class. After the boxing class I carried on with the squats, with 40kg, 3 sets of 12 reps
Reverse DB lunges, 12 reps (6 each leg) with 8kg DBs for 2 sets then 10kg DBs for the last set
I skipped the calf raises. I hate them. They don't do anything except butcher my ankles. I'm all for doing exercises you hate, but when you know you're constantly doing them wrong because they cause you to hurt in places that shouldn't be hurting, I don't see the point in going through the motions.
Quad extensions, 20kg, 3 sets of 8 reps. I might have been able to bump the weight up but I know from my powerlifting days that quad extensions make my thighs look huge for days. And they ain't small to begin with.
Hamstring curls, 32kg, 3 sets of 8 reps
Finally, 100 box jumps, split into 60 and then 40.
Today is Wednesday, so I did 20 minutes HIIT rowing and 20 minutes HIIT running, 0.1mile jog at 5mph and then 0.1mile sprint at 8.5mph.
Now then. Below further demonstrates my reasoning for hating rowing.
"Owch."
In terms of progress, the pound I put on last week has gone again, and my fat percentage is back down too. But that does not mean there has been an improvement from when I started.
The photos below are the most recent. I have to say I feel as though I look better, but these photos don't really demonstrate that, although I do quite like the little bit of definition in my legs these days. Still a far cry from that beautiful body on the front page of the program, but I'm only 6 weeks in. Fingers crossed for a miracle within the next 6 weeks. And maybe a few less calories as well.
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