W12D4, SPS P4: Legs + Yoga Shred Challenge, Day 12+ Splits + Tai Cheng Flow.

W12D4, SPS P4: Legs + Yoga Shred Challenge, Day 12+ Splits + Tai Cheng Flow.

Was just relaxing at home when suddenly my schedule changed and I had to truck my kids around the city later in the day so I had to rush to get my workout in.  I wasn't sure if I could get it in so I mixed up my order so as to get my main program in and then added the extra programs in as time permitted.

Today was the final day of the regular weights routines. Tomorrow is the very last routine, but it is just cardio, no weights.  So I really wanted to go for it.  I did the recommended warm up today which was 100 body weight squats. That burned out my legs right off the bat. Range of motion was getting a bit shallow around the 70 mark so I took a two breath break then went full ROM for the last 30.  The first move was 5 sets of weighted (34kgs) Side to Side Squats. The first 2 sets were okay, but I was starting to really feel it from set 3.  The last 5 reps or so were a real struggle to get up.  During my 60 sec. rest period, I could feel my legs starting to cramp up so I carefully stretched and flexed. Next move was weighted (50kgs to 25kgs) Dropset Squats.  It is supposed to be Leg Extensions, but I have no way to do that move, so instead, I slightly modified the squat to really focus on my quads even more.  Basically, I did a more upright stance and did about a half squat, going down until I felt the flex in my quad. Then from that point, I pulsed 16-20 reps.  OUCH!!! I had to be careful not to go to far forward or that would have been hard on my knees. After every set, I dropped 5kgs and increased the rep count a bit. No rest between sets except for the time it took to adjust the weights.  Talk about pain... but in a good sense. The next move was supposed to be 5 sets of Dumbbell Leg Curls but I don't have a bench from with to work.  I considered doing it off the floor, but with the dumbbells that I have, that would have really not given me a good ROM.  So I ended up doing weighted (25kgs) Bridge Lifts.  Since the target was hamstrings, I remembered doing this move with Chalene in PiYo so I adapted it for this routine.  Laying on the ground with my feet up high on a step ladder, dumbbell on my stomach.  I tried to engage my hamstrings as I raised my butt as high as possible off the ground.  During the 5 sets, I played with distance from the ladder to see what distance would really hit the hammys.  Close and far both were tough, so I didn't hit on a definitive distance. I guess I'll have to do a little more research on that.  But the goal of hitting my hamstrings was definitely achieved.  That move was supersetted with One Leg Balance Toe Touch.  Again, I went around the circuit with the lifted foot, back middle, out and forward, then back again for the final set.  That really killed my legs, too.  My legs were feeling like rubber by the end, but I still had one move left.  Thankfully, it was the Functional Cardio/Core Duoset. 6 sets of 20 sec. of In and Outs into 20 sec. of Crunches, then 20 sec. rest.  A lot harder and more painful than I had anticipated. The final set was killer, but I pushed to increase my rep count.  AWESOME WORKOUT!!!

I figured I had the time so I jumped right back into the Yoga Shred Challenge.  To my chagrin, it was full body with a lot of legs.  GREAT!  This would have been a great warm up had I done it at the beginning. Now it was just testing my legs even more. I got through it with many decibels.

I am really seeing gains on my splits since I started the 30 second hold time limit on each move.  I don't fully understand the science of why that is, I'm just glad my friend introduced me to it, I'm doing it and it is working. Today I got to my lowest point thus far in my splits 1 year challenge.  Although I'm measuring in millimeters, 1-2 millimeters a day is a huge distance.

My flow was a bit of a let down in the sense that since my legs were fried, my balance was way off.  I was tipping and falling over on several of the back stances because I just couldn't stabilize myself.  Especially on the slow flow.  Once I sped up, it got a little better, but it wasn't up to my usual standards. But under the circumstances, I gave myself a break and didn't flog myself too much about it. But the good thing was that each move was in place and clean, no misses there.

Great workout today, and I finished everything with literally 8 minutes to spare before I had to start my taxi service.  I a bit scared about how my legs are going to feel in the morning. BRING ON THE PAIN!!!