10-15-15 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme-Push Circuit 2 + RevAbs-Merciless Abs + Splits + TCF.

10-15-15 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme-Push Circuit 2 + RevAbs-Merciless Abs + Splits + TCF.
Back to the grind today with the weights. Kept the weights at 17kgs for the Press Shoulder work and 10kgs for the Fly/Raise Shoulder work. And then 17kgs and 19.5 kgs for the lower body work. Those were the same weights as the last time I did Push 2, but I improved in that on the Frontal Shoulder Press, I was able to get all 8 reps at once. Last time, I could only do 3 reps at 17kgs, then h...ad to lower to 15kgs to finish it out. Just about hit failure on rep 8 today. Got a great pump. Still added the pull/chin ups at 10 reps each, but 20 reps with the 5-grip switch grip. BURN BURN BURN!!!

Went right into Merciless Abs and again, BURN BURN BURN!!! Brett's pace and pushing for range of motion just brings on the pain really quickly! SUPER BURN with this workout! So easy to do, simple moves, but majorly intense with the burn!
I had an awesome Splits session today as well. I was Lower than the last time, so I was happy. Flow was smooth as well!
In the end, I was shocked to see that I torched 1000+kcals!!! Actually, I cheated, in that just as I was going to take off my HRM, I was 50kcals short of 1000, so I did 80 Deep squats to quickly get to 1000kcals. Happy to hit a grand!

10-14-15 HY: Insanity- Cardio Recovery + Splits + TCF.

10-14-15 HY: Insanity- Cardio Recovery + Splits + TCF.
So thankful for my mid-week recovery day. Instead of doing a Yoga or stretch routine, I tried this routine and boy did that quite scream come creeping up on me. Leg raises seem so innocent until you have to do them at a slow and continuous pace. Then, your just praying for them to finish. But that flex tension really allows the muscles to loosen up. They feel like that stretch Tony does in P90X3 where you flex as muc...h as you can then relax. I forget the name he used, but it sounded really technical.

Comment below if you know the name and what I'm talking about.
I had time, so I went ahead and did my splits and Flow. It was a good intense recovery workout today. Thankful for it.
In the end, I burned a respectable 300+kcals.

10-13-15 HY: Tennis + Weight Machines + Splits + TCF.

10-13-15 HY: Tennis + Weight Machines + Splits + TCF.

Two days in a row of tennis! I can't remember the last time I did that. However, there was one HUGE drawback, I assume from yesterdays extra run.  Yesterday evening, my left outer shin muscle started to involuntarily twitch, then suddenly it just contracted like nobody's business.  MAJOR CRAMPING!  That happened twice, just hours apart!  After it happened the second time I was thinking to just cancel the tennis because I wouldn't be able to run.  But in the morning, my shin felt a lot better with just a little soreness, so I kept the plan and pushed on with the tennis.

Good thing, too, because today, I played some of the best tennis I've played in a long time. I was able to reduce my mishits and frame shots by a bit, but I was able to direct my shots much better, and my concentration stayed steady for longer periods of time.  I was also able to buckle down and focus when I needed to coming back from LOVE-0.  I never should have been in that position, but getting out of a hole is good mental practice as well.  Finally got what I wanted, that elusive bagel.  Final score, 6-0, 6-0, 6-1.

Went right into the weight room after the match and started moving the weights.  I sort of wanted to baby my shin, so I decided not to do any of the really heavy squat moves today.  Instead, I worked on the chest, quads, hamstrings, and shoulders.  The previous evening, my family was saying that I was getting too big and too muscly. I agreed to change my workout regime from building to sculpting.  I guess, when I do weights, I keep trying to go heavier and heavier.  For now, I guess I'll try a little lighter weights and more reps.  I still want that strength and lean definition. So, I did just that. I went about 10kgs lower than I normally would and did three sets of 10-12 reps.  Still got a good burn and pump.  I, myself, don't want to get big, but rather lean and defined.  Much like Bruce Lee was.  That is my goal anyway.

Had to wait to do my splits and Flow until I got home, so I was able to Flow really nicely.  I did feel some remnants of a muscle twitch in my left shin however, so I tried to be careful especially when the left foot was down.  I had to pick it up several times to prevent a cramp from coming on in my left arch.  I guess they're all connected there and it's sensitive at the moment.

In the end, after the weights, I had torched another 1000+kcals.  Tearing it up recently.  So it will be nice to turn it down tomorrow! Mid-Week Recovery DAY!

10-12-15 HY: Tennis + Running + Pull Ups + Splits + TCF.

10-12-15 HY: Tennis + Running + Pull Ups + Splits + TCF.

Today was a national holiday in Japan called "Sports Day" so all the sports facilities, which one must usually pay for, were all free today. So I went to play tennis with my son in the morning.  We only could play for an hour because he reserved 2 hours to play with "his friends" so I started of fast and furious. Sped up the warm up and started powering everything I could.  In the hour of play, I was only able to burn about 750kcals which was under my desired goal of 800kcals so while my son went to play with his friends, I went for a quick run around the park on a lovely rubberized running path.  I did 2km in exactly 10 minutes.  Oh, Did I mention that I hate running?  I only do it in the most dire circumstances.  I figured I only had about 50kcals to go, so a quick run would take care of that.  I got on the track and saw that it was only 700m so I thought I would just go an extra 300m to go a whole kilometer.  Once I got started, it actually wasn't that bad and I was able to keep an okay pace.  I ended up running straight for 2km.  I would have gone 400m more if I had known that 2400m was a mile-and-a-half.  In high school, I never achieved that Presidential Fitness Award because of two things, the 1.5 mile run and Pull ups.  Now, I'm sure I could hit that test out of the park. Oh, to be then what I am now.

After the run, I was feeling actually pretty good so I went and hammered out 10-5-5 pull-chin-pull ups.  After the second set, I had a little scare when I jumped off the bar and the top of my left foot felt like it started to cramp up. But thankfully, it cleared up in a few minutes and actually felt really loose afterwards.

When I got home, I did the splits and Flow.  It was a good session!

In the end, I torch over 1600kcals.  Good Sports Day!

10-11-15 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme- Push Circuit 1 + P90X2-X2 Ab Ripper + Splits + TCF.

10-11-15 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme- Push Circuit 1 + P90X2-X2 Ab Ripper + Splits + TCF.

Went to the next circuit today.  This circuit as a lot more focused that the Burn Circuit in that the moves are isolating individual muscles.  Circuit 1 is Biceps, Triceps and Squat muscles.  I added Back with the pull ups.  I didn't... I couldn't go up in weight with the bicep moves. I had to stay at 14.5kgs for Curls, went down to 13.25kgs for the second move V-press Bicep, then back to 14.5kgs for the Hammer curls  (8, 8-3, 6-2-3reps).  Pretty straight forward moves. All the squat moves were pretty straight forward, again showing the need for heavier weights.  But the problem is not my legs, it's my forearms.  I can't hold the heavy weights, even just hanging there for that long. 8 reps is right at my limit depending on how fast I go. With Chalene's slow pace, I couldn't hold on for much longer. Everything was 25kgsx2.  Triceps were good, I was able to up the weights a bit, upped the weight by 1.25kgs from 10kgs to 11.25kgs for Bent Over Tricep Extension. Next, I went up from 22kgs to 25kgs on the Overhead Tricep Extension.  I was really nervous about that weight because I think it was the first time to go up to 25kgs on that move. Man the burn was on on the last two reps. The shake out and then the Extreme set just about set me into failure.  Technically, there were only two tricep moves in this routine, but the final move, I changed from regular push ups to Tony's Triangle Push Up to really hit my triceps.  In P90X's Core Synergistics, Tony says to someone to "Touch your chest to your hands."  I have never been able to do that.  I had always been about 3-4 inches away from my hands on that move... UNTIL TODAY!!! Today is the first time that I was able to touch my chest to my hands in the Triangle Push Ups.  The first 5 reps were relatively easy, but with those last three reps, the tricep burn came on REALLY fast.  The extreme set was easy, and I was doing them a lot slower than Chalene was so I was happy.  As for the pull ups, I did 10-5 Parallel Grip Pull ups, 5 sets of 2 Towel Pull ups (I wanted to do more in a row, but my hands hurt too much, I had to come off the towels and shake out my hands.) I did 10-5 Chin Ups, and then to finish off the workout, 2 rounds of 5 position Switch Grip 2rep Pull ups. Definitely hit failure at the end. Couldn't any more if my life depended on it.  Burn Burn BURN!!!

First workout after a day off, so I wanted to go hard instead of easing into ab work as I usually do, so I went with that routine. MAN! The burn started right from the first move, and accompanied almost every move after that. The only move that didn't bring on the pain was that Roll to Boat.  But I was in pain... In a good way!  I hurt so good!

It was good to get into the Splits and Flow.  Had a refreshing time with that stretch and the Flow always brings my heart rate back into control.

In the end, I torched a solid 1000+kcals!  I'd say that was a good start to the week!

10-9-15 HY: Insanity-Cardio Power & Resistance + Splits + TCF.

10-9-15 HY: Insanity-Cardio Power & Resistance + Splits + TCF.

Cardio day! As per my plan, I went with Insanity.  Lots of leg work, jumping and what not. Jumping from the bottom is a lot harder when going for as much range of motion as possible. Exploding up when you are squatting lower than 90degrees really requires a lot of power from the lower body, and if you don't have it, doing this routine a few times will develop it.  I was able to push through all three rounds of the first circuit without any extra breaks except for one extra break at the tricep dips.  I couldn't take the leg up rounds, needed a break.  I had to take a few extra breaks in the second circuit.  Lots of tricep work all the way through.  Again, got a great burn AND pump with Shaun T.

I was thinking to do an Ab routine, but, 1. I got a lot of core work with Shaun T, 2. I was sort of in a time crunch, and 3. I was dead tired.  So I kept with my regular schedule, (no Ab work) and went straight into Splits and Flow.  Both went as usual, low and smooth.  Loved the glide into the weekend and my off day.

In the end, I was surprised to see that I torched over 1000kcals. Great way to end the week.

10-8-15 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme-Burn Circuit 3 + RevAbs-Mercy Abs + Splits + TCF.

10-8-15 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme-Burn Circuit 3 + RevAbs-Mercy Abs + Splits + TCF.

Closing out the first round of the Burn Phase and today was a good one. A lot of shoulders and lower body.  Today also, I went for the slightly higher weights the the previous run through, went up 2.5kgs on each dumbbell.  I was pretty confident with the shoulder presses, but I was a little more hesitant on the shoulder flies.  That deltoid has always been a bit gimpy at 10kgs.  I nailed it today though, but I felt the failure coming one fast in the later move reps.  The most grueling move, Squat with Double Overhead Press, I had to split the reps up in a 7-3-5 count.  But everything else I peaked at 12 reps.  Lower Body moves were all good,  This just tells me that I need to get more plates to heavy up on lower body moves.  At the moment, I only have 50kg set (2-25kgs) so this Xmas, a present to myself might be another 30-40kg set... plus a barbell.  We'll see.  But I got a huge pump and burn today.

Went right into the ab work and as always, I got a great burn on the abs with Brett.  I've said it before, but his ab routines are just as tough if not tougher than some of the more popular trainers routines.  Great stuff.

The Splits and Flow were just the perfect ending to a rough and tumble workout.

In the end, I torched over 1000kcals!