8-28-17 (Monday) HY: P80X3 - Complex Upper + Power 90 - Ab Ripper 200 + Splits + TCF.

8-28-17 (Monday) HY: P80X3 - Complex Upper + Power 90 - Ab Ripper 200 + Splits + TCF.

Well, I'm back into it.  I can't avoid the weights and Pull-Ups forever, so I decided to get back into it by finishing off my most recent round of X3 resistance.  I definitely modified on the Pull-Ups, and I went back down to 7.5kgs for the one weighted move.  But all was not well.  It started off well, I was fresh and I pumped out all the reps with not much pain, especially the Pull-Ups, but after finished the second round, my back suddenly started to feel a bit gimpy.  Like I had wrenched it again, but I didn't feel anything like I had wrenched it.  The pain and discomfort were just suddenly there.  So I slowed down my pace some and took more shorter breaks.  But my lower back just got more and more painful.  I gutted out the last two rounds, and I went a little lower on the Burnout, but I got on a great burn and my arms and upper body got a great pump.  Oh, as for modification, I used the green resistance bands for my Pull-Up assist or I wouldn't have been able to get even one, and I really didn't want to re-injure my side.  Arms got an incredible burn and a pretty good pump as well.  I think something happened to my back on the 4th move, Lunge Thrust Press.  I must have jammed my back more than it felt.  I'm feeling a lot of discomfort as I type this, but I'll get through it.  Here is the worksheet for the routine:

Even though I did abs yesterday, I went with the same light routine today and really slow up the pace and focus on the flex and contraction of the abs.  I got through all ten moves with a good burn.

The splits and Flow were fine, but the Flow was especially tough today because of the additional back pain.  Again, had to gut through the pain.

In the end, I torched a good 820+kcals.  I got the burn and the pump I was expecting.  But I wish I didn't pick up that extra back pain.  I hope it clears up tomorrow because I'm thinking of going to play tennis tomorrow with that new club since I don't have my night class.  We'll see.

8-27-17 (Sunday) HY: P90X3 - CVX + Power 90 - Ab Ripper 200 + Unlock your Hip Flexors + TCF.

8-27-17 (Sunday) HY: P90X3 - CVX + Power 90 - Ab Ripper 200 + Unlock your Hip Flexors + TCF.

I was feeling tired this morning when I got up.  We got back from Nagasaki late last night so I wanted to sleep in, but I had to get it going because today is the day my son goes back to Tokyo.  We were planning to bring him to the airport as a family, but my daughter had to go to an Open Campus event of a college she potentially wants to attend after she graduates.  So we did the parent split, I took my son to the airport and my wife took my daughter to the open campus.  When my task was all done, and I got home to an empty house, what was there to do?  I just vegged out.  I really didn't feel like doing anything.  I watched TV, played some games.  Almost took a nap, but I wasn't sleepy.  But come 5 o'clock, I started to get that itch again.  That itch to get moving and to get active.  I was still tired, and I wasn't feeling it for heavy weights, so...  I remember a friend posting something about CVX, so I figured I'd give that a try.  I keep saying I want more routines and even a program with routines that combine weights and cardio, so I figured this would be a good way to start and get back into the old working out routine.

This was a really good workout.  It didn't put a lot of pressure on my painful right side, but the cardio with the weight was tough.  Before starting, I thought to do the routine with my 5kg medicine ball, but just as the routine started, I wimped out and went for my 4kg dumbbell instead.  That was a good decision.  I think the 5kgs would have been too heavy, especially for my injury.  Three moves, two rounds back to back.  But, since I have lost some of my conditioning because of the off days, I took a few extra breaks all throughout the routine.  Legs again were getting a good burn.  Upper Body also was getting some high rep toning work as well.  Not too much burn, but good movement.  One minute cardio moves, especially the jumping ones were particularly breath-taking.  Great routine, DONE!

I wanted to get some abs in, but I was worried about my side, so I went light and slow.  It was tough, but compared to Tuesday, when I did the same routine for abs, there was a lot less pain, so I'm on the mend.  Got a nice burn on today as well.  Slow controlled reps does a whole lot more than just blasting a ton of reps really fast.  No momentum to help get up.

The stretch and the Flow were as usual, a good run.

In the end, I torched just over 700kcals.  I sweat a ton, but I had a good burn overall.

8-24-17 (Thursday) HY: Insanity - Cardio Recovery + TCF + Walking.

8-24-17 (Thursday) HY: Insanity - Cardio Recovery + TCF + Walking.

I was planning to do a workout yesterday (Wednesday) but I was just so exhausted for some reason that I took yesterday off and basically did nothing.  Today, my wife and I are leaving for Nagasaki for a few days because that is the site of the High School Field Hockey National Tournament that my daughter is playing in as a representative of the Kagoshima team.  We don't leave until noon, so I did a quick workout/recovery workout in the morning.

I chose Insanity - Cardio Recovery because it was a recovery routine, but I knew it wouldn't be easy.  I wanted something I could go through in a short amount of time and still get a burn.  This routine did just that.  I was Pulse Lunges and Squats, and all those different combos just burned out my legs.  Following the workout, my quads were shaking as I was going down the stairs.  I was able to get in a series of Flows at the end.  Another reason why I chose a recovery level routine is because I am nursing a minor injury I suffered on Tuesday.  I mentioned a pain in my right side while doing Pull-Ups, and that has stayed with me.  Wednesday night, I still couldn't raise up on my right side without a lot of pain, so I wanted a routine that would give that area a little relief.  There were some painful moments, but I modified when the pain came.

We left at noon by bullet train because we wanted to attend the opening ceremonies, but as it turns out, only the coach and captains had to go.  So, instead of going directly to the tournament site, we stopped off at an Outlet mall and did some shopping.  My wife wanted to get something there, but I was the one who ended up getting a few things.  We walked about 5km at the mall.  But I guess it was more like a plaza of 150+ shops.  We walked up and down the small streets looking into all the shops we wanted to look at.  All that walking on top of the workout in the morning, I was very tired by the time we got to the hotel early that evening.  Not too much pain, but a few times when stepping down from a high step on my right foot, there was a shooting pain in my right side when I landed.

In the end, I burned just over 300kcals in the morning.  No HRM during the walking, but I would guess it was close to 300kcals or more.  I was really tired so it was nice to get to sleep early.

8-22-17 (Tuesday) HY: Arm Shaper + Splits + TCF.

8-22-17 (Tuesday) HY: Arm Shaper + Splits + TCF.

I was still feeling tired today.  Not as tired as yesterday, but not quite back to full power yet.  So, I decided to revisit another Arm Shaper task routine that was sort of like the X3 Complex Upper Body routine.  Again, I added one move to the end.
Here are the numbers for today's routine:

Round One: 
1. Floor Presses (All rounds on a Swiss Ball for more range of motion) 15 reps/17kgs. 
2. Dumbbell Bent-Over Row, 15 reps/17kgs. 
3. Lying Overhead Triceps Extension (All rounds on Swiss Ball for more range of motion), 12 reps/8.75kgs. 
4. Bent-Over Reverse Fly, 12 reps/6.25kgs. 
5. Standing Dumbbell Biceps Curl, 12 reps/8.75kgs. 
6. Parallel Grip Pull-Up 10 reps. 

Round Two: 
1. Floor Presses 15 reps/17kgs.
2. Dumbbell Bent-Over Row 15 reps/17kgs.
3. Lying Overhead Triceps Extension 15 reps/8.75kgs.
4. Bent-Over Reverse Fly 15 reps/ 6.25kgs.
5. Standing Dumbbell Biceps Curl 15 reps/8.75kgs.
6. Chin-Up, 6-4 reps.

Round Three: 
1. Floor Presses 15 reps/19.5kgs.
2. Dumbbell Bent-Over Row 15 reps/17kgs.
3. Lying Overhead Triceps Extension 15 reps/8.75kgs.
4. Bent-Over Reverse Fly 15 reps/ 6.25kgs.
5. Standing Dumbbell Biceps Curl 15 reps/10kgs.
6. Standard Pull-Up, 6-4 reps.

Round Four: 
1. Floor Presses 15 reps/22kgs.
2. Dumbbell Bent-Over Row 15 reps/17kgs.
3. Lying Overhead Triceps Extension 15 reps/10kgs.
4. Bent-Over Reverse Fly 15 reps/6,25kgs.
5. Standing Dumbbell Biceps Curl 15 reps/12kgs.
6. Vaulter Pull-Ups, 5 reps switch 5 reps.

The weights were a little lower overall than the last time.  I didn't raise the weights at all on the Rows and Reverse Fly.  They were constant for all four rounds.  On the Triceps Extensions, I stayed constant until the last round where I went up a bit.  The biggest thing of the day was my Pull-Ups.  The first two rounds were fine, no problems, but in the third round, I sort of felt a little twinge on my right side around my ribs.  In the fourth round, the pain was clear and pronounced.  I think I may have strained my muscle in that area.  It is painful to try and raise my upper body from lying on my right side, while the other side seems fine.  Overall a good workout, but I hope the pain doesn't affect me too much.

Because of the pain, I opted not to do abs today, I figured I should give it a rest.  So I went straight into the splits.  I lost some distance since I didn't do much splits over the past week and a half or so.  So it is time to start pushing again.  The Flow series was fine.  I had a good workout today.

In the end, I torched just under 600kcals.  Why so low?  Actually, I forgot to turn on my HRM until just beginning the third round of the Arm Shaper routine, so there should be maybe another 200-300kcals on there.

8-21-17 (Monday) HY: Arm Shaper + Ab RIpper 200 + Unlock your Hip Flexors + TCF.

8-21-17 (Monday) HY: Arm Shaper + Power 90 - Ab Ripper 200 + Unlock your Hip Flexors + TCF.

I was feeling extremely tired today, so I got back to that old lazy schedule.  I didn't do anything pretty much all day.  Watched some TV, played some games, did some web surfing, etc. Come late afternoon, I started to feel like, "I need to do something active."  My body was saying "NO WEIGHTS!!!", but I wanted to stay on track with my Arm Shaper tasks.  Luckily there wasn't a new task listed so I decided to do that same one I did, I believe it was on Thursday, or Friday.  The ten moves, three sets.  But light weights, or so I thought.  Here is the graphic again:

This time around, it took a good 40-45 minutes.  I needed to take several more breaks than last time, and I also upped my dumbbell weight from 5kgs to 8.75kgs.  I kept thinking to lower the weight from the second set, then for the third, but something in my head just made me keep it at 8.75kgs.  A lot more heavy breathing with the heavier weights.  Also, this time, on the Clapping Push-Ups, on my knees all three rounds.  Still very tough!  The most brutal move this time ended up being the second move, Dumbbell Squat and Press.  That move absolutely killed me from the second round on.  I was actually pretty happy with the Standing Dumbbell Hammer Curls.  I was dying in the first round, but I must have caught a second wind, because I was able to get the whole 60 seconds with a growing number of reps each time, 20-21-25.  But the final move was the most intense.  Easiest to do physically, but stamina-wise, coming at the end of the round, this one just drained me each time.  Also, I realized that I was doing it wrong the first time around.  I failed to see the forward reach in Plank position, so I did a double set in the first round.  This was a really grueling routine, especially when done while tired.

I really didn't feel like doing abs but I knew I had to, so I went with the grinder routine from Power 90.  Oh BURN BURN BURN!!!  Plus, I still had that neck/shoulder kink, so the crunches were a bit painful there.  But I gutted through it and got the expected burn.

A good stretch to open and loosen my hip flexors, a short series of Flows, and my day was done.

In the end, I torched over 700kcals.  That was a surprise.  I was expecting around 500, but not 700.  The heavier weight must have really made me work.  I'm glad to be done.

8-20-17 (Sunday) HY: Tennis Tournament + Arm Shaper + TCF.

8-20-17 (Sunday) HY: Tennis Tournament + Arm Shaper + TCF.

Today is the day!  This is only the third tournament I'm playing in with my son.  The past two times we didn't make it into the regular draw from the group round, so our goal was to make it into the main draw, not just the consolation draw.

I was really feeling the nerves all morning.  Our first match was very competitive.  From the start, I was not feeling good.  Not "sick", but like I wasn't able to move like I wanted.  My body was so "not mine" if that makes any sense.  I felt uncoordinated and out of control.  I didn't feel comfortable setting up on my forehand.  Everything just felt off.  But, I played on.  My son, who is a veteran at playing tournaments helped me through and really carried us the whole match.  There were several good things about the match as well.  First of all, I was able to serve well, and keep all my service games.  I didn't double fault as much as I thought I would, but I did lay off my second serve just to get it in.  Something I really didn't want to do on principle.  But, I guess my nerves got the better of me in that situation.  There were a few moments of brilliance where I was able to keep the rally going and hit the winning shot.  But for the most part, since we were evenly matched, there were mistakes on both ends that kept the match close to the end.  But we finally won in a Tie-Breaker 7-6.

The next group round match was against a pair that have been playing together for years.  They were better all around and they didn't make many unforced errors.  So, in order to win, we would have to win points as opposed to waiting for them to give us points.  We actually did pretty well.  I lost my first service game and they went up 1-3.  My son won both of this service games to a score of 2-5.  If we were going to stay in the match I would have to win my next service game.  In my first service game, I went up quickly 30-Love, then things fell apart.  My serve in the second game was on fire. No double faults.  And we raced to a 40-15 lead.  Then I hit the best serve of the day.  I hard, fast, and wide serve for a clean ACE!  The receiver didn't even move for it.  Oh man! That felt good to win my game on an ace.  Well, we ended up losing by a score of 3-6, but the match was a lot of fun.

Good news! We made it into the main draw as the second seed from our group.  The bad news, we would have to play the first seed from another group.  The team we played was even better than the first seed of our group.  We had our chances for points and even an extra game or two, but my lack of experience and their level of play were just too much for us to overcome.  My son won his first service game for a 1-1 score.  But that was it.  They were just too strong and consistent for us to really compete.  They would return fast shots by my son with even more pace.  Serves that would have been aces or at least service winners were returned deep and with pace.  They were just too good.  By this time I was a little more warmed up so I was hitting the ball better, but it was no where near enough to put us in contention.  In the final game, the score was 1-5.  We were receiving the serve of the better server of the two.  My son was unable to return the first serve, 15-Love.  Me, being on the Ad side received a wide serve to my back hand which I returned down the line, but the ball fell wide by about a foot.  If I had made the shot, we would have gotten the point because the net player was moving to poach a cross court shot.  He looked at his partner with the expression, "WHEW!  That was close!".  30-Love.  There was short rally on the next point, but they got it to go to Match Point.  Back to me.  No time to hold back,  Fault on the first serve.  I moved closer to base line and hoped to catch the ball early.  Again, I got a wide serve to my backhand.  I banged it down the line and it landed well in for a return winner!  That was the shot of the day for me.  I guess the net played didn't think I'd try going down the line again, because again, he was moving to poach and got totally burned.  Either way, it felt great to hit such a great shot.  We live another point.  But they got the next point and that was the match, 1-6.  It was a big loss, but the match itself was a lot of fun because playing a team that is clearly better forced me to push myself all the harder to make shots I wouldn't try otherwise.  In sports, the old adage is true, "In order to be a winner, you have to lose." or something like that.  Even though we lost our last two match, they were against clearly better teams so I think I got a little better through those losses.  As for my son, if he had played with the friend who originally invited him to play, he could have gone all the way, possibly.  So I know I held him back.  But I think that playing with me, he learned a lot about leading a team.  His friend is the better player so it would have been a different roll for him.  But losing makes me want to practice harder to become a better player for next time.  I don't know when that will be, but I'll be ready.

There was even a more valuable benefit that came from today's tournament.  The first match we played was against a team that was a member of a tennis club.  We got to talking and they were very nice people.  They invited us, my son, wife, and I, to join their club.  Thankfully, they play on Sundays, so we can go to their sessions.  They also play on Wednesdays, so when I'm free, I'll play then, too.  I really don't want to play on the gym floor if I can help it, so I'm glad that I now have the opportunity to play and learn.  But the big thing that I learned from my Thursday club is the game mentality.  Since being in Japan and getting back into tennis a few years ago, I was mostly teaching beginners and playing with beginners so I lost my stroke form for power and spin. But I mostly lost Match toughness and that Game Mentality.  Beating the nerves, overcoming the stress and nervousness.  I didn't learn much as far as skills, but I got back a lot of the mental toughness I lost through constantly playing matches with them.  So I am very indebted to them for allowing me to play with them.

Just as a trial, I used my HRM for all my matches, practices and warm-ups today.

When I got home, I was exhausted.  My legs were numb and from the second match there was a slight kink in my neck.  I checked with my Arm Shaper group to see what day 13 was, and thankfully, the admin decided to hold off on a day 13 task until other member caught up.  So, I did my 35 Push-Ups and I was done.  A short Flow series today as well.

In the end, I torched a big 2000+kcals.  Eight straight days of tennis.  I haven't played this much tennis since I last went to tennis camp when I was a high school student.  I wish I could keep it up, but that is just a dream.  My son goes back to Tokyo next week and I leave for Nagasaki to watch my daughter play in in the Japanese National Field Hockey Tournament as a member of the Kagoshima Team.  Busy week ahead.  But I'll see if I can play a few times more while my son is still here.

8-19-17 (Saturday) HY: Tennis + Arm Shaper + TCF.

8-19-17 (Saturday) HY: Tennis + Arm Shaper + TCF.

In light of the TERRIBLE session yesterday, I had to try and get my timing back, so after sunset, my son and I went to the court to practice.  It was a little better than yesterday, but I was still way off on my backhand.  It is extremely frustrating when I was hitting crisp shots two days before and now everything is hitting off the frame of my racket.  Again, very little good contact today.  I wanted to practice my volley and serve, but we took all the time on just ground strokes and trying to get back my timing.

For the Arm Shaper, I did my 35 Push-Ups at the tennis court, and then the routine part at home after the session, along with the Flow series.  It was the same routine as yesterday, so not much to say, but I was tired so I did the routine as shown.

In the end, I torched a nice 800+kcals.  Tomorrow is the day.  I'm not feeling very confident but what can I do but just do it?

8-18-17 (Friday) HY: Arm Shaper + Tennis + TCF.

8-18-17 (Friday) HY: Arm Shaper + Tennis + TCF.

Well, today was almost like the past few days, but my lazy time was about half of what it was the past few days.  And the tennis time was an hour earlier than other days this week.  Plus, we only have time for one hour.  But I am getting ahead of myself.

In the early afternoon, I wanted to get my Arm Shaper task done, so I did it.  It was a lot shorter than yesterday so it was easier in that sense.  But I still got a good burn.  Not necessarily from the moves, but from the extra flexing I did to activate the target muscles.  Since it was only a 5 minute routine with 6 moves with only 8-10 reps, I knew I had to put a little extra UMPHH!! into it.  I got my burn.  Also, on the negative Push-Ups, I didn't go all the way to the ground, but held it low before pushing up.  Also, it was supposed to be a weight-free routine, but I used 2kg dumbbells, and that was a burner addition.

I really regret playing tennis yesterday at the gym.  Not because of the club, but rather, because of the surface.  Moving from a slow surface to a super fast surface and then back to a slow surface just totally messed my timing up.  My timing was right on on Wednesday, and today, I just couldn't get that timing back.  Especially on my backhand.  We had only an hour to play, but for most of the time I was spraying balls out and into the net.  To be fair, there were a few shots in which I made good contact, but 90% of the session was full of frustration.  The Flow series at the end of the day didn't do much to calm me down, either.  Two days before the tournament and I am messed up.

In the end, I torched just under 900kcals.  I'm glad it is the weekend, but I am filled with several negative feelings.

8-17-17 (Thursday) HY: Tennis + Arm Shaper + TCF.

8-17-17 (Thursday) HY: Tennis + Arm Shaper + TCF.

Today was almost a carbon copy of yesterday.  This is turning into a really relaxing, do-nothing vacation.  The reason why I say "almost" is because I didn't play tennis with my son and wife today.  I played with my regular club today.  My son suddenly was invited to a small reunion of friends which he went to instead of playing tennis.  Any my wife was tired and a little busy busing my daughter around.  So, I was left at home pretty much all day.  I binged-watched a few shows that I am into and all the other stuff that kept me on the couch yesterday.

I had a lot of expectations for today since I was hitting the ball so well yesterday.  However, there was a big problem, and that was the surface of play.  On the Omni-Court at the park I play with my wife and son at is a lot more reactive to spin and is a much slower surface.  The hardwood gym floor is probably the fastest surface out there.  So my timing was way WAY OFF!  I sort of got my timing for my forehand, but my backhand never caught on.  The one good thing that I was really happy with was my serve.  It wasn't super great, but I was able to sort of square up my form on my serve.  I would probably give myself a 60% for tonight's performance.  I served five games - I won three and lost two.  I was playing net better, but I'm still not putting away shots I should be putting away.  The court in the gym looks so much smaller than the court at the park.  I'm afraid to hit out on the tight angles.  So hopefully I can find my range on Sunday at the tournament.  But it was a fun session none the less.  The gym was also still extremely hot and humid.  There was a breeze coming in through the open windows every once in a while, but not enough for me to say it felt good.  Just enough to notice, then it would die.  So I was sweating like crazy again, leaving puddles on the floor.  If I could find a group to play with on a hard court or omni court I could keep my timing constant, but until then, I'll play where I can.

When I got home, I had dried out a little, so I did my Arm Shaper task for the day. It was a fun Tabata-ish workout. I basically did each set straight with no break between moves. The most brutal move had to be the Clapping Push-Ups. The graphic has the person on her knees, but I did them Extreme-Tony style, feet off the ground as well as the clap. But for the third set, my pace was a lot slower so I got only like 15 reps. BURN!!! Also, I am not really going for size in my arms, I'm going for shape and cut, so instead of using heavy dumbbells, I went with lighter dumbbells and did the moves a lot faster to more reps in and keep the muscle under tension for the whole time of the move. It took a good 40 minutes. I took a 2 minute break between sets.  Below is the graphic for the workout.  It wasn't just for arms, but it worked almost the whole body.  I got a good workout on my core and legs as well.

Then, to end my day, I completed a Flow Series.  Again, to get me ready for bed.

In the end, I torched just over 1200kcals.  This week of Tennis conditioning is going to be a huge calorie burn week.  One more day!

8-16-17 (Wednesday) HY: Tennis + Arm Shaper + TCF + Med-Ball Toss.

8-16-17 (Wednesday) HY: Tennis + Arm Shaper + TCF + Med-Ball Toss.

Today was an EXTREMELY LAZY day!!!  It was just sort of an organic type of lazy.  I got up, had breakfast, did some things around the house, but once I sat on the couch to relax, I pretty much stayed there for most of the day.  Of course getting up for a drink or for other things, but doing video editing, playing some games, watching some TV, etc. I was planted on the couch until it was time to start getting ready for tennis.

Today was hot, but by the time our reservation rolled around, it had started to get... warm and even a little cool with a breeze (that later turned into an all out thunder storm past midnight.)  But tonight's tennis turned into a great session.  After shaking off my initial stiffness from the day's inactivity, I was moving well, seeing the ball well, and stroking the ball extremely well.  We had several good rallies.  We didn't drill anything like last night because we were having such a good time pounding the ball back and forth.  It turned into another "Knock-Down Drag Out Slug Fest!"  Then, at the two hour point, I started playing with my wife.  The cooler temperatures really did wonders for her energy and power.  We too, were able to maintain some really good rallies and she was also stroking the ball very well.   It was another great day of tennis.  Looking forward to tomorrow's tennis.

When I got home, I check to see if the next task for the Arm Shaper group was up, and it wasn't.  But I wanted to do something today, so I did Weighted Arm Circles, 50 reps both ways, 50 Push-Ups, and then as a topper, two sets of 30 reps of Triceps Dips.  Man! Did that ever burn.  And I was happy because I could feel the pump and the intense burn.

As I started to write this, my daughter wanted to play catch... with my 5kg Medicine Ball.  So I stopped writing after the first sentence and played catch with my daughter for about 20 minutes before a late dinner.  That game also pumped me up a bit because I was trying to catch her throws with one hand and throw with one hand, then we did different styles of catching and throwing.  Fun and a good workout.

Then, after all was said and done for the day, I did a nice series of Flows to prepare me for sleep.

In the end, I torched another 1500+kcals.  Only a couple more days for Tennis conditioning.  And then the tournament.  We hope to get at least second in our Round-Robin group to move on to the main draw.  Fingers Crossed!!!

8-15-17 (Tuesday) HY: Tennis + Arm Shaper + TCF.

8-15-17 (Tuesday) HY: Tennis + Arm Shaper + TCF.

Today was a busy day... once I got up.  Or at least, once we all got up.  I had to stay up late last night to pick my son up from the bus station in the city.  He came in after midnight, and we were talking about his trip until almost 2am.  So we all slept in till close to 9:30am.  Once we got up, it was a quick breakfast and then getting ready to go out for a family day, shopping and lunch.  We went to our favorite restaurant, a buffet restaurant.  The last time I ate till my stomach hurt and I couldn't move for several minutes.  Today, I stayed in control... sort of.  I ate till I was full, and that was it.  I could get up and walk out no problem.  I didn't have the usual 15 slices of pizza and carbs galore, but I did have a lot of the super delicious grilled fish and chicken.  Gassing up for the evening.  Shopping was fun. I got a new pair of casual shoes.  The ones I'm using now have been tight for several months but I couldn't find a good pair in my price range.  Got a pair tonight.

I had another tennis session with my son, and my wife later.  It wasn't too hot, but the humidity was rather high.  I sweat like crazy.  Rain was forecast, so we almost canceled, but we decided to play as long as we could until the predicted rain drives us off the court.  Since we were both full, we decided that tonight we would be more controlled and place our strokes back to each other.  We played a little more of a wise game.  We also practiced volleying and overheads.  It was a great session.  I got in a little serve practice, then, as predicted, the rain came and drove us off the court.  But luckily, we got in most of our two hours.  I was able to change clothes and dry off well before going home, so once I got home, I got to my Arm Shaper task.

Today was a little shorter, but brought the burn.  On four moves, the first three consisted of 40 reps each, and the last move was 5 sets of 8 reps on both sides.  The moves were as follows:  B-Ball Palm Rotation, Back-Hand Press, Back Hand, and Twisted Front Punch.  The moves were simple, but brutal with the high reps.  The Back-Hand Press is similar to the Side-Plank Dumbbell Raise, but on the knees.  I was thinking to raise the bar a bit and do the Side-Plank Dumbbell Raise, but decided I should try the move as is.  It was a lot tougher than I thought.  It hit my shoulders, triceps, and core.  I couldn't do the 40 reps straight, so I did a 20-10-10 split 40 on each side for a total of 80 reps.  OUCH!!!  Great little routine.

Then, I finished off my day with a series of Flows that got me ready for bed.

In the end, I torched a nice 1700+kcals.  Tennis conditioning week continues.  More tennis to come!

8-14-17 (Monday) HY: Arm Shaper Day 7 & Day 8 + ChaLEAN Extreme - Extreme Core Circuit + Unlock Your Hip Flexors + TCF.

8-14-17 (Monday) HY: Arm Shaper Day 7 & Day 8 + ChaLEAN Extreme - Extreme Core Circuit + Unlock Your Hip Flexors + TCF.

Both kids were out today, so my wife and I went out on a little lunch date.  Tomorrow is a family lunch date so I was careful not to eat too much for breakfast, and I had a shake for dinner.  But we had fun.  Then we had some time to do a little shopping and other stuff.  When we got home I wanted to start my workout to get it done, but my wife took a nap.  So since today was resistance day, I knew all the moving around of dumbbells and plates was going to be noisy so I waited until she woke up to start.  I was ready, though.  Once I heard her stirring downstairs, I got started.

My plan was to do the double Arm Shaper tasks from yesterday (Day 7) and today (day 8), and then do the P90X3 - Complex Upper.  But when I saw what the what Day 7 was, I figured I would just ditch the X3 routine because the Arm Shaper for Day 7 was essentially a Complex Upper Body workout in itself.  It was Four rounds of 5 dumbbell moves.  Then I added a 6th move, a variation of Pull-Up just to keep up my Pull-Up strength.  That was Day 7, Day 8 is another round of those Arm Circles and 50 Push-Ups.  There is no worksheet for the Arm Shaper, so I will just write out what I did.

In the beginning, I did the warm up from X3 The Challenge.  It was just about three minutes long, then I did the Day 8 Arm Circles as an additional warm up. I did an extra 20 reps both ways for a total of 70 reps each way.   Since I used this task as a warm up, I didn't do it with a weight.  I'm saving the Push-Ups for the end. Here are my stats: 

Round One: 
1. Floor Presses (All rounds on a Swiss Ball for more range of motion) 12 reps/17kgs. 
2. Dumbbell Bent-Over Row, 12 reps/17kgs. 
3. Lying Overhead Triceps Extension (All rounds on Swiss Ball for more range of motion), 12 reps/10kgs. 
4. Bent-Over Reverse Fly, 12 reps/6.25kgs. 
5. Standing Dumbbell Biceps Curl, 12 reps/10kgs. 
6. Standard Pull-Up 10 reps. 

Round Two: 
1. Floor Presses 12 reps/18.25kgs.
2. Dumbbell Bent-Over Row 12 reps/18.25kgs.
3. Lying Overhead Triceps Extension 12 reps/10kgs.
4. Bent-Over Reverse Fly 12 reps/ 7.5kgs.
5. Standing Dumbbell Biceps Curl 12 reps/10kgs.
6. Parallel Grip Pull-Up, 5-5 reps. 

Round Three: 
1. Floor Presses 12 reps/19.5kgs.
2. Dumbbell Bent-Over Row 12 reps/19.5kgs.
3. Lying Overhead Triceps Extension 12 reps/11.25kgs.
4. Bent-Over Reverse Fly 12 reps/ 7.5kgs.
5. Standing Dumbbell Biceps Curl 12 reps/12kgs.
6. Vaulter Pull-Ups, 5 reps switch 5 reps. 

Round Four: 
1. Floor Presses 12 reps/22kgs.
2. Dumbbell Bent-Over Row 12 reps/22kgs.
3. Lying Overhead Triceps Extension 12 reps/12kgs.
4. Bent-Over Reverse Fly 12 reps/ 8.75kgs.
5. Standing Dumbbell Biceps Curl 12 reps/ 13.25kgs.
6. Chin-Up, 6-4 reps. 

Finally, as I said earlier, I saved the Push-Ups (on stands) for the end. I did 30-20-20 reps, for a total of 70 reps. I was so Pumped and Fried.  This routine took a lot longer than I had expected because I had to do a lot of switching of plates on my dumbbells, but that wasn't a rest, because I was constantly moving around.  All the reps, I did at a medium pace and I tried to focus on getting positive and negative flex.  I also tried to focus on my range of motion.  But I will say that in the fourth round, my form suffered a bit on the Bent-Over Rows.  I couldn't have as much Range of motion as I did with the lighter weight.  My pace also got a little faster as I dropped the weight down instead of lowering the weight to get the negative flex.  So I probably should stay at a lower weight for that move.  There was a slight twinge in my right elbow on the Lying Overhead Triceps Extension, so I was careful not to push too hard and possibly separate something there.  I'm thinking it was because of the tennis also.  I am still keep full extension down on my Pull/Chin-Ups so good positive and negative there.

I wanted some abs, but I wasn't feeling like Ab Ripping today, so I went with Chalene and more Swiss Ball abs.  I tried to focus on really contracting and flexing my core, so I got a great burn.  I needed that stretch every time she gave it to us. 

My legs were feeling a little tender from yesterday's tennis, so I went with the Unlock your Hip Flexors routine.  Still painful, but opening slowly.  And of course, the closer was my series of Flows.  It felt really nice to end in a calm place.  

In the end, I torched 840kcals.  Not bad for a make-shift Complex workout.  But my arms were FEELING IT!!!

8-13-17 (Sunday) Yard Work + Tennis.

8-13-17 (Sunday) Yard Work + Tennis.

Well, today was an unusual day.  It was a beautiful day so I knew this would be my only chance to get the yard done.  It was after the rainy season so there was a jungle in my yard.  Long story short, it took me three hours in the hot HOT sun to get everything done.  I tried to stay hydrated but I got a little dehydrated.  No burn this time.  But being in the heat for that long pretty much zapped the energy right out of me.  I wasn't sleepy, but I was just exhausted.  I was planning to do just my Arm Shaper task for the day later in the evening, then call it a day.  But then my son asked, "Dad, do you want to play tennis?"  How could I say no?  So I tried to rest so I could have the energy to play in the evening.  Then my wife said, "Me, too! I want to play, too!" So, we struck up the plan, I would play with my son for 2 hours, then my wife would come and then I'd play with her for an hour or so.
Great plan!  But when the time came to leave, I wasn't feeling it.  I was still feeling pretty tired and zero motivation to play.  But I was going to play none the less.  Well, once we got to the court, we started hitting around and just moments later, the energy came flowing into me.  Only with my son can I really hit out as hard as I can and expect the ball to come back.  It was a Knock-Down, Drag-Out, Slug Fest.  We were killing the ball as hard as we could and the rallies were just crushing.  There was no way I was going to keep this level of energetic play up for two hours, I thought.  But then we started serving and playing points.  That slowed the pace down.  But the Slug Fest continued.  I hit some good serves, then the adrenaline got the better of me and I sort of lost control of my serve because I was going for too much.  Then, I just couldn't get anything in anymore.

When the time came, my wife arrived at the court and the switch was on.  Now, I had to play a much more controlled game.  No more hitting out, and more running to get everything back and at a hitable pace.  We had a good time.

In the end, I did over three hours of yard work.  My hands were tingling a large part of the day because of the vibrations from holding the weed-whacker for so long.  And then three hours of tennis in the evening.  No HRM during the yard work but for the tennis, I torched 1500+kcals.  When I got home, I was too dead to think about anything or do anything.  So no Arm Shaper for me today.  I'll pull a double shift tomorrow.  But my arms got a good workout today with the variety of activities that I did.  I slept like a baby.

8-12-17 (Saturday) Arm Shaper.

8-12-17 (Saturday) Arm Shaper.

Today is usually my off day, but for the 21-Day Arm Shaper group, apparently there are no off days.  So, to keep up with the program I had to get in this little workout.  We were given a set of 11 moves and we were supposed to chose five of the moves and do each one to failure, or burnout, or max out, whatever you like to call it.  Here are the five moves I chose and the rep counts:

1. Push-Ups - 52 reps
2. Triceps Dips - 55 reps
3. Plank Taps - 120 reps
4. Diamond Push-Ups - 35 reps
5. Plank Jacks - 60 reps

My arms were majorly pumped UP after these moves!!! My arms or shoulders burned out on the first four moves, but on the last move, my arches started to cramp up so I had to stop. My arms and shoulders could have gone more.  I'm writing this a few hours after doing the moves, and I still feel the PUMP!  BRUTAL STUFF!!!

No HRM, but I got on a nice sweat.  This coming week is, again, conditioning training for my tennis tournament next Sunday.  So, no heavy heavy lifting, rather endurance muscle training.  But I think I will still do a few sets of Pull-Ups and Chin-Ups just to maintain strength, not to build.

8-11-17 (Friday) HY: T25 - Alpha: Speed 1.0 + Power 90 - Ab Ripper 200 + Arm Shaper + TCF.

8-11-17 (Friday) HY: T25 - Alpha: Speed 1.0 + Power 90 - Ab Ripper 200 + Arm Shaper + TCF.

I was supposed to play tennis today, but couldn't because of rain.  So, I was able to do a Shaun T routine and get some good cardio in.  Speed 1.0 is the least intense of the three Speed routines in the T25 disk set (I hear there is a new Speed routine On-Demand) because there are stretch moves embedded through out the first 15 minutes.  The first move progression in which we squat hop looking to the left then the middle then the right starts off easy enough, then we have to add the Hook, then add the squat, I usually have trouble keeping pace with the squat added in, but today, I was doing a pretty good job of keeping up.  The other killer move is the Jacks move.  Starting with just the feet going in and out, then progressing to a double in and out and eventually to a full Jumping Jack.  This is the move that really racks my arches.  But I was able to make it all the way through with no modification.  Most of the other moves are easy enough to do, but keeping the intensity high and keeping pace with Shaun T and the team is the challenge.  But my nemesis move in Speed 1.0 is the Low Cross Jacks.  It's a fast move and that progress marker looks like it is moving at a snail's pace.  The move feels much longer than all the other moves.  It also kills my ankles, arches, and calves.  I had to do it twice, in the regular part and then in the Burnout.  But I was happy to make it through both times with no modification.

I was feeling good, but didn't have a lot of time, so I went to my old faithful ab routine to get a quick burn.  Yes, I got my burn.  But it actually came a lot later than it usually does in this routine.  The first 5 moves were relatively fine.  In the past, the burn hits around move three or four.  Today, the burn didn't come until move 6.  But when it came, it came fast and hard.  I had to tap out again around move 8, and then again on move 10.  Major BURN!!!

The Arm Shaper today was a series of 5 moves: Standing Shoulder Flys, Reverse Curl and Side Press, Triceps Kickbacks, Biceps Curl and Front Press, and 90 Degree Raise.  I did three rounds of 10 reps each.  I started out with 4kgs, but went down to 2kgs in the second round, but back up to 3kgs for the third round.  Those straight arm moves are really tough.  I hope I can get stronger so I can do them better soon.

I didn't have much time and I couldn't do my stretch, so I went straight to my Flow series and finished off my workout there.

In the end, I torched around 550kcals.  Not bad for about 90 minutes of work.  But I'm happy that the weekend is now here. Off day, here I come!  Happy Weekend, Everybody!

8-10-17 (Thursday) HY: P90X3 - Complex Lower + P90X2 - X2 Ab Ripper + Arm Shaper + TCF.

8-10-17 (Thursday) HY: P90X3 - Complex Lower + P90X2 - X2 Ab Ripper + Arm Shaper + TCF.

Well, I got home a little earlier than planned so I figured I could get a full workout in, but I kind of poopooed around and ended up not being able to get in my Splits training, but I got everything else.

With all the Tennis and Pickle-Ball I was playing in the last month or so, I haven't really done much resistance work on my legs, so I thought that on my final resistance day of the week, I would take a whack at it.  This routine, like the Incinerator yesterday, hasn't been done for a month, so I was happy to dust it off and do it today.  My legs didn't feel as strong as I would like them to be, so I didn't change anything from last time.  Weights stayed the same, and since the reps are pre-determined my Tony, they were all the same in each complex.  They just got harder and I got more and more tired.  I was able to crush the first two rounds, but when the third round came around, I was feeling it in my legs.  That "almost-going-to-cramp" feeling started to raise its ugly head.  But I powered through but went at slightly a slower pace.  So, to keep up with Tony, I cut my rest time a bit.  I was sweating like a pig by the final rep on The Stabilizer rolled around, and as usual, my glutes were SCREAMING!!!

I was glad to get in some arm work.  Only three moves today, but lots or reps.  50 Push-Ups then forward and Reverse Arm Circles.  I really wanted to do the Push-Ups in one set, so I went hard and I barely made it to 50 reps.  My arms were on FIRE!!!  Just regular Arm circles would have been to easy, so to amp it up some, I grabbed a couple 1kg hand weights and held on to them.  I got to 50 reps Forward fine, but I only got to 30 reps on the Reverse before the burn too intense so I had to tap out.  I had to tap out one more time after that.  Talk about being ON FIRE!!!

I needed a Flow after that!  So the Flow series ended my workout in perfect fashion.

In the end, I torched a nice 850+kcals.  A lot for such a short time.  Almost done the week!!!

8-09-17 (Wednesday) HY: P90X2 - Recovery & Mobility + Arm Shaper + TCF.

8-09-17 (Wednesday) HY:  P90X2 - Recovery & Mobility + Arm Shaper + TCF.

Mid-Week Recovery Day!

After two brutal resistance days and a grueling cardio day, this is a very delicious treat.  My arms were feeling pretty spent along with everything else, so I figured a nice roll would do me good.  I had a lot of time today, so I did all the prelim stuff, then I doubled the foam rolling time.  I really tried to roll out all the hot spots I could find.  Even then, I couldn't get everything to release, but I had a good deal of them release.  I was happy to especially roll out my calves after the T25 with Shaun T.  I knew there was a big knot in my right calf.  My triceps were especially tender.  I never can get them to release, but they get a good roll out none the less.  My shoulders also were taken care of.  Especially my left shoulder, still not at 100%.  There was a point where I was falling asleep because it felt so good.  But I kept awake.  I felt really loose when I was finished.

I still had the Arm Shaper to do, but it was introduced as "Three easier moves".  So I figured I could bang out 3 quick rounds.  Famous last words.  EASIER??? It was BRUTAL!!!  I did 2 rounds of the Advanced three moves. I wanted to go three rounds, but my arms and shoulders were on FIRE!!!  The three moves are Back Touch, Overhead Bend, and Straight-Arm Shrug, all weighted.  I tried Back Touch with 4kgs, but quickly discovered that that was too heavy so I went to 3kgs.  Then, I started the Overhead Bend with 3kgs, but moved up to 4kgs for the second round. Finally, the Straight-Arm Shrug otherwise known as the shoulder killer (because they killed mine), I used 2kgs for both rounds. Barely made it to the final rep. OUCH!!!  Oh, and I almost forget my push-ups. But I knocked out 30 reps instead of 20. Since today is my mid-week recovery, I was wanting a little extra pump.

I finished with a lovely series of Flows so I could center myself at the beginning of my day.

In the end, I burned just under 400kcals.  But I benefited in so many other ways so I am satisfied with today.  I'm glad I can relax tonight.

Only people who have done the X2 Recovery & Mobility routine will understand this picture.

Caption:  "FOAM ROLLERS UNITE!!!"

8-08-17 (Tuesday) HY: P90X3 - Incinerator + P90X2 - X2 Ab Ripper + Arm Shaper + Splits + TCF.

8-08-17 (Tuesday) HY: P90X3 - Incinerator + P90X2 - X2 Ab Ripper + Arm Shaper + Splits + TCF.

Today was a good day.  Finished work early, got home and relaxed.  Started my workout at the regular time, or even a little earlier.

Since it is resistance day today, I went with Incinerator, a routine I hadn't done in a month, so I figured it was time to get to it.  I really like the style of this routine, blasting one body part at a time.  I didn't change the weights any from last time, but I was happy that I was able to increase my rep count on several of the Max-Rep moves.  "Increase" may be a little exaggerated, because most of the increases were by just one or two reps.  The first Max-Rep move was #2. Pull-Ups.  I increased one rep to 11 reps.  Next, #4. Push-Ups. Up two reps to 29.  #6. Chin-Ups.  Up one rep to 11 reps.  But this one surprised me the most, #8. Military Push-Ups.  Up three reps to 28 reps.  #10 & #12. Pike Press & Flipper. Up one rep to 20 on both.  That was a nice progression over the past three runs through this routine.  Steady improvement.  Next, #16. Skyfers.  Up two reps to 22 reps.   On #17. Arm and Hammer (10 reps).  It is actually 20 reps because it is a two-move move, a regular curl then a hammer curl for one rep.  I almost made it straight through, but I burned out at 16 reps.  That is up 4 reps from last time.  Plus, only two sets instead of three.  Finally, in the Burnout, I was able to speed to 4 extra Push-up reps to 20 Reps.  A lot of little step ups there, so I was happy.  Oh, I said I kept the same weights all the way through, but I just realized that there were three moves that I increased the weights juuust a bit on.  #11. Pterodactyl Flys. #13. Popeye Hammer Curls. and #14. Kneeler Curls.  On all three of them, I went up 1.25kgs.  Not much, but it went from easy to tough really quickly with that little increase.  The final big change was on #15. Hail to the Chief. I did that move on my Swiss Ball.  I was able to get better range of motion and  didn't have to worry about hitting the floor with my weights.  My arms were fried again after this one.  Burns so good!

I went straight to the Abs routine and again, fried my abs on those control moves.  I felt just a touch better than it did on Sunday.  But I still got a good burn.  This was still tough, needing to tap out early on the Balance Biker, by rep 16. Almost made it.

For the Arm Shaper, today was a series of Vinyasa's but with an added Side Plank.  This was meant to focus on the arms so I held the poses for about 5 breaths each.  I did a series of 6 runs, but for the Side Planks, three on each side.  My Triceps especially felt it today with this one.  When I started Yoga years ago, Down-Dawg was extremely tough on my triceps.  But recently, it is taking a lot more for that burn to come.  Step by step.

I took time to do my Splits training and I was really pushing the Hip Flexor stretches so I could open them more.  Finished up with a good series of Flows.

In the end, I torched 900+kcals.  I was totally fried out in my arms today.  But a good kind of fry!

8-07-17 (Monday) HY: T25 - Alpha: Cardio + Arm Shaper + Power 90 - Ab Ripper 200 + Unlock Your Hip Flexors + TCF.

8-07-17 (Monday) HY: T25 - Alpha: Cardio + Arm Shaper + Power 90 - Ab Ripper 200 + Unlock Your Hip Flexors + TCF.

Half-day at work today so I was thinking to get my workout done early.  However, when I got home, the house was empty and I was presented with a rare opportunity.  So, I watched a movie on that I had been wanting to see for a while on our big TV.  So I had a good relaxing afternoon, and started my workout at the regular time.

Today is Cardio day.  I would normally have Tennis today, but as I said last week.  Monday Tennis is finished until next April.  So, Monday's have reverted back to Cardio Day.  I don't even remember the last time I did a Shaun T routine so I decided to start back with T25 Alpha.  Cardio is the first on the program so I went with it.  I was a little worried about my arches and my right ankle (it started to hurt the last time I did some jumping around in a ChaLEAN Extreme routine).  This was a good routine for today because it started out light and progressed to intense with each move.  First the Running Progression, then the Lunge Progression, then a few more progressions with a couple Burnout periods in the middle and near the end.  I remember that first progression really testing my arches and calves, but today, it felt good.  I mean I could feel the strain, but it never got to the point of unbearable.  But I was grateful for the lighter beginning of the next progression.  I remember having to tap out just before the first Burnout before, but today, I felt strong and powered through the Burnout without a break.  I made it all the way through the next few progressions without a break or modification.  The final Progression before the second Burnout was the Speed & Agility Progression.  I had to modify for 2 reps on the Out-Out step.  But then I made it all the way through to the end of the progression and on into the Burnout.  I did have to modify during the Burnout for a couple of reps before the Speed & Agility move, but I kept it going.  I was sweating like crazy and it was spraying all over my room.  I tried to limit the fly-zone, but I'm sure I'll be wiping sweat from odd places for a while.  I felt really energized from this routine.

I moved into my group Arm Shaper.  Today, I was feeling sore still but I was able to do a lot more.  I did the 20 Push-ups first.  Then I did the Rock Star Arm workout. I went up a little in weight.  I was thinking to do three rounds, but honestly, I almost decided just to do one as I was doing the fourth move.  Here are the 5 moves again as a reminder.  1. Over Head Press 2. Triceps Chop (Over head Triceps Extensions) 3. Inverted Curl to Front Press 4. Rear Fly to Press Back 5. Diamond-Leg Push-Ups.  By the end of the first round, I felt that I couldn't just leave it at one round, so I did one more with a little adjustment in the weights in the 4th move.  I had to go down to 3kgs.  I just lost form with 4kgs.  Then I really wanted to get a third round in so I lowered the weights again where necessary and finished a third round.  Arms were feeling pumped.  Oh, and on the Diamond Push-Ups,  I made the Diamond with my hands, but I stayed on my toes this time instead of going on my knees like yesterday.  I was glad I was able to do them on my toes today.  Triceps were on FIRE!!!

I was still feeling good but like something was missing.  I worked my lower body with the Cardio and upper body with the Arm Shaper.  CORE!  I needed to keep the balance and do an ab workout.  So I did the quickie, Ab Ripper 200.  Abs were a-BURNING!!!  But I felt my body come back into balance.  Much better.

Ending with a deep stretch to open my Hip Flexors is really nice and then top everything off with a nice series of Flows.  It was a good day!

In the end, I torched a good 854kcals.  I was a little surprised that the burn was that high since the main routine was only 25 minutes.  But I guess with all the other extra stuff...  Good day!

8-06-17 (Sunday) HY: P90X3 - The Challenge + P90X2 - X2 Ab Ripper + Arm Shaper + Splits + TCF.

8-06-17 (Sunday) HY: P90X3 - The Challenge + P90X2 - X2 Ab Ripper + Arm Shaper + Splits + TCF.

Today was supposed to be the tennis tournament my son and I were entered into, but because of the typhoon, it was postponed until August 20, two weeks from this Sunday.  So, my Tournament Conditioning will happen again in a week.  But since I lost some strength, I decided to give it a boost and do The Challenge.  I would go up in my numbers, but since I don't feel up to it, strength wise, and since I joined a 21-Day Arm Shaper group through my Beachbody Coach, I adjusted my numbers a bit.

My numbers for this round of The Challenge are 10 Pull-Ups and 25 Push-Ups.  I kept the progression of Pull-Ups constant and went up one rep, but I went down on my Push-Ups by five from the last time.  I was thinking about going down to 7 Pull-ups and then stick with 30 Push-Ups, but I wanted to make the Pull-Ups the priority because... I like Pull-Ups.  The first circuit with the Wide Pull-Ups and Standard Push-Ups was fine, but I started to feel the pump in the second round. The second circuit with the Chin-Ups and Military Push-Ups was tough.  I had to split the second round of Chin-ups 8-2 reps.  I almost tapped out on the Push-Ups, but I gutted through them.  The third circuit of Close Grip Pull-Ups and Wide Push-Ups was brutally hard.  I made it through the Push-Ups, but the Pull-Ups were Killer.  I needed a triple split. 5-3-2 on the first round then 4-3-3 in the second round.  My arms were becoming rubber at this point.  The final circuit, Vaulter Pull-Ups and Staggered Push-Ups, required a split on the Pull-Ups and on the second round of Push-Ups.  The first round of Vaulters was 8-2 reps and then 6.5-3.5-2 reps in the second.  The .5 means that I only got half a Pull-Up then failed and I came off the bar.  So I did an extra rep to failure on the last go.  Then, on the last round of Push-Ups, the split was 16-9.  I was dying.  Arms were pumped and burning.

I moved right into Abs and went with a different routine this time.  A routine I haven't done for a while, so I was a bit curious as to how it would go.  It was definitely a step up over Ab Ripper X in that I was feeling the burn and the intensity right from the start.  That very first move, I don't remember the move name, but I remember the burn and the pain from it.  Every move brought on some new form of pain except for one, the Scissor Clapper.  That is the only move that was done at a quick pace and I knocked out the 30 reps with ease.  Other moves had a few as 10 reps, but I felt the burn.  This routine went straight to the core.

I thought the 15+ minutes of rest for my arms would have made the Arm Shaper task a little easier, but it wasn't.  For this group, basically I have to do a specific arm routine every day for 21-days.  Today it was 20 Push-Ups (Which were very tough and slow) followed by a short focused Arm routine that consisted of five moves: 1. Over Head Press  2. Triceps Chop (Over head Triceps Extensions)  3. Inverted Curl to Front Press  4. Rear Fly to Press Back  5. Diamond-Leg Push-Ups.  The requirement was to do 20 reps for each move and to do between 1-3 rounds.  I wanted to do three rounds, but after The Challenge, my arms were fried already.  I wanted to use a heavy weight for the moves, but I ended up using what would normally be a light weight for that move: 6.25kgs.  Today, now, THAT was heavy.  I changed weights with different moves.  On #2. I used one 8.75kg dumbbell, and THAT was also heavy.  #3-4. Saw me use only 4kgs.  And for #5. I couldn't even barely hold myself up.  I had to really push for it. I didn't want to do the Diamond Push-Ups on my knees, but I had to or I wouldn't be able to get back up.  When I finished the first round, I said, "That's it!  No more."  My arms were rubber.

The Splits and Flow were awesome.

In the end, I torched a nice 931kcals.  It was the toughest workout in a week and I was feeling it.  My arms already hurt so I hope I can hack this challenge.  Great beginning to a new week.

8-04-17 (Friday) HY: PIYO - Strength Intervals + ChaLEAN Extreme - Extreme Core Circuit + Splits + TCF.

8-04-17 (Friday) HY: PIYO - Strength Intervals + ChaLEAN Extreme - Extreme Core Circuit + Splits + TCF.

Final Tennis Tournament Conditioning Day.  The tennis tournament is on Sunday, so I wanted to have a workout that was of medium intensity that wouldn't cause me to be sore or tight.  But I wanted something that would keep within the range of my Strength/Cardio patterned Hybrid workout program.  So, I went to this gem of a routine.

Strength Intervals is a routine that I haven't done in a pretty long time, but it was perfect for my purposes for today.  But as it started out, I became a little worried that it might be too intense, because the beginning lower body section was brutal.  My quads were screaming out, along with my glutes.  It was a short routine, but pretty intense.  I actually really liked the progression style of moves Chalene was using, not a killer move right from the start, but an easier move, then progressing through to a tough move.  The upper body section was tough, but I was able to handle it.  It actually got a little easier as it progressed.  I guess I just needed to warm up those muscles.  But I felt great at the end.

I went right into abs.  I still used the 2kg hand weights and it still gave me a good burn.  Controlling on the Swiss Ball not to bounce is a good challenge.  Another good ab session.  Move quickly to the Splits and Flow.  I finished everything without rushing before sunset, so I was happy.

In the end, I torched just under 700kcals.  Pretty much what I was expecting from a moderate overall workout.  But all in prep for Sunday's tennis tournament.  It is a little in question whether or not the tournament will go on because of a typhoon that is bearing down on my location.  But all the news reports are saying it will skirt by and not hit us directly.  So here is hoping.  My son is coming in from Tokyo tomorrow so I'm looking forward to having him home.

Happy Weekend, Everyone!

8-03-17 (Thursday) Tennis.

8-03-17 (Thursday) Tennis.

I planned way in advance for this day to be a tennis day.  I was told on Monday that it was moved to Wednesday.  I was thinking about trying to change my schedule again to accommodate a Wednesday Tennis Day, but yesterday got the call that it was back on Thursday, so here we are, a regular Tennis Day!

I wanted to get to the gym earlier, but things got busy and I was late.  But when I got there, there were seven members present.  Four were playing a match and three were just drilling.  I guess they don't want to play Cut throat, or two against one tennis.  So they were happy that I arrived.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a good warm up, so I was forced to warm up during the match, and that showed.  As for my serve, I was at about 40% and I lost all my service games in that first set.  I just couldn't get it going.  I hit some good serves and then some double faults.  But I was just not stroking the ball well either.  But despite that, it was a pretty close set.  We lost 4-6.  In the second set, I was thoroughly warmed up and I was striking the ball much better, and my serve just clicked.  But I lost it in my third service game which I lost.  But we ended up winning the set 6-5.  That is with no ad scoring.  I usually complain about the temperature in the gym.  It was hot, but not as has as the past few sessions.  Today, all the windows were open and we were feeling the affects of another typhoon approaching.  There was a lovely breeze blowing through the gym intermittently but that brought down the overall temperature in the gym to a bearable level.  Around the high 80's.  I was sweating, but not puddling or dripping.  I also didn't feel totally dead while playing.  It was nice to have a little more energy during play.

In the end, I torched over 1100kcals in just over two hours.  It was a good session.  Not great, but I think I was able to workout some rust from my game.  Oh, I also wanted to try out my new Kick Serve and it was every effective.  A new serve for my arsenal.  I feel ready for Sunday's tournament.

8-02-17 (Wednesday) HY: P90X3 - X3 Yoga + TCF.

8-02-17 (Wednesday) HY: P90X3 - X3 Yoga + TCF.

Mid-Week Recovery Day!

I said yesterday that my legs were fried.  Well, I felt it today.  My legs were feeling the soreness.  It was intense, but bearable.  But usually the most intense soreness comes two days afterward, so I'm wondering how tomorrow will be.

I only had time for the short yoga routine today, so I went for it. Everything went well.  No AC today, so I was sweating pretty a lot right from the start.  It wasn't too hot, but the humidity was high.  The soreness work itself out, but I was worried about Half-Moon and The Wrap.  Half-Moon was actually pretty good today.  I was able to keep my balance pretty well on both sides, but not perfect.  A lot better than past sessions, though.  The Wrap was also pretty good.  Extended Leg with Toe Bind, fine.  Crow was also very good.  A lot more stable than in the past.  Today, there were a lot of shakes and jiggles, but no big problems.  So, I was happy with my performance.  The Flow was also on the money.

In the end, I burned a nice little 230+kcals.  Now, I am ready for the day.

Oh, I almost forgot.  Here is my Calendar for July.  Busy week with a lot of tennis and Pickle-Ball... in Orange.

8-01-17 (Tuesday) HY: ChaLEAN Extreme - Fat-Burn Challenge + I've Got Abs + Splits + TCF.

8-01-17 (Tuesday) HY: ChaLEAN Extreme - Fat-Burn Challenge + I've Got Abs + Splits + TCF.

Day 4 of my tournament conditioning.  Normally today would be a resistance day, but instead, I'm keeping it fresh and cardio based to help with endurance.  This is practically a new routine for me because I have only done this routine once to my recollection.  So I really didn't really remember what kind of routine it was, but I knew it wasn't a resistance routine so whatever it ended up being, it would fit my parameters for today.  But I was still curious.  So, I did a little search and found one of the BB Coaches sites and had a full run-through of the routine.  It seemed simple enough.  Three circuits, 3-3-6 moves.  I was thinking only 12 moves for 30+ minutes.  No problem.  AGAIN, Famous Last Words.

As I got into the routine, I thought that the warm up was unusually long so I figured that the rest would be okay.  I understand now why the warm up was so long: I would need it to get through the routine.  WOW!!! This was a really tough routine.  Simple and basic moves, but still, with Chalene, it seemed fresh and fun... AND KILLER!!!  I was thinking to do another short routine afterward, but by the middle of this routine, that idea had been nixed.  The Lunge variations aren't anything new, but today, they were killer moves.  The Squat variations, the same... KILLER!  The Cardio moves, again, nothing new, but I was really pushing and I my legs were burning at the end of each move.  That one move with the thigh toner, KILLER.  My outer thighs and glutes were absolutely on FIRE!!!  My legs were fried by the end of this routine.

I moved right into abs on the same disk and I think I did a lot better this time around.  I kept pretty close pace with Chalene and the crew.  I got the burn I was expecting.  I like the way I get to decide the intensity depending on how much I flex my core.  I really went for it today so the burn came quickly.  Breathing really helped a lot.  The Splits and Flow were back to normal.

In the end, I torched a modest 640+kcals.  Lower than I had hoped, but the burn was good.