7-17-16 HY: Combat - Kick Start (Combat 30) + ChaLEAN Extreme - I've Got Abs + Splits + TCF.
Today was a nice relaxing day. Just at home in the morning, running errands with my wife in the early afternoon, watching news in mid-afternoon, and then working out in the late-afternoon. Nice day. The only thing that was sort of a downer was the extreme heat. When I got home, I was so hot and tired that I just sat. Didn't feel like doing anything. But I finally got my butt of the sofa and got to it.
I decided to go ahead and just do it, so I started Les Mills Combat. I decided to just go with the starter level schedule, "Combat Warrior". For now, it fits my daily schedule perfectly so I won't have to change anything up. It has been several years since I did a martial arts based program, but it slowly came back to me. Initially, it was pretty easy, and I was a little bored. But after the first few minutes, it got fun with all the combinations. I was actually surprised that I was getting a little winded and that I was sweating a lot. I was rather disappointed that my side kicks were so low, even when I tried to kick up higher. But that is an anatomical issue. HA! One thing that I wish they did more clearly on the DVD is to tell us which side a move or combo starts from. Often times, I started on the wrong side, and sort of got confused when they had some sort of left-right punch-kick combo. It was a lot different from TAEBO. The combinations are a lot more interesting than individual moves of TAEBO. But the later amalgamations of TAEBO started putting together more combinations, but still had a lot of individual moves. So as far as a martial arts program, I'm liking Combat.
I was intending to stick with the Combat program, but I was feeling pretty energetic so I wanted to do some extra abs so I while I was flipping through my DVDs, I saw I've Got Abs. So I started it up and I was very impressed at how much burn it put me through. I wonder why I haven't done that routine more. I'm sure I've done it at least once, and maybe only once, but I'm definitely doing it more as a supplemental part of my workouts. There were several of the same moves like Crunches, Crosses, Cat-Cow, etc., but some new moves and new styles that really brought on the burn. Plus more Plank stuff and Push Ups. Really good routine.
Splits and Flow were good. After an off day, I usually have a little trouble getting low, but today, I went right to the bottom and pushed lower. I'm also including those micro-movements to change the angle of my muscle so as to stretch the whole muscle and spectrum of the muscle bands. I'm working on the inner thigh especially for those Straddle Splits. I really feel the pull. Flow was really good as usual. Felt the Flow flowing through me.
In the end, I was very surprised to have torched a big 800+kcals. Happy to start off with a big burn!
Monday, July 18, 2016
Friday, July 15, 2016
7-15-16 HY: Body Beast - Bulk: Chest + Beast: Abs + Splits + TCF.
7-15-16 HY: Body Beast - Bulk: Chest + Beast: Abs + Splits + TCF.
Finishing off the week with some good resistance training. Because of my weird schedule this week, I only did two days of resistance. First time for that to happen since I don't even know when. I may go one more week with Body Beast before moving to Combat. I'm still thinking about that though. I'll make a decision by Sunday for sure.
I really wanted to do chest so this was the day. It is a short workout, but my arms and chest got a huge pump. So many Presses, I was afraid I wouldn't make it to the end without lowering my weights from the previous round which was in March. But I ended up not having to lower the weights. However, on the Incline Press Progressive set, I have a note that says 19.5kgs is light. But it definitely was NOT light I barely got the final light set up and had to take a mid-set break at 10 reps to ensure I made it to 15reps. I again, added the Band Uppercuts. I really flexed my chest on that one just to get that static tension directly over the entire chest. I felt good doing it. I love working the chest!
And since I haven't done it in a while, I stuck with Segi and did Beast: Abs. Nice little workout. I should have remembered it. I'm definitely going to put that into my ab rotation. Got a good burn. The only move I changed a bit was the Roman Twist. Segi has his feet on the floor, but I put my feet in the air. Burn BUrn BURN!!!
The Splits and Flow are feeling really good now and I think I am definitely moving in the right direction.
In the end, I torched another solid 1000+kcal day. Great to finish the week on this high!
Finishing off the week with some good resistance training. Because of my weird schedule this week, I only did two days of resistance. First time for that to happen since I don't even know when. I may go one more week with Body Beast before moving to Combat. I'm still thinking about that though. I'll make a decision by Sunday for sure.
I really wanted to do chest so this was the day. It is a short workout, but my arms and chest got a huge pump. So many Presses, I was afraid I wouldn't make it to the end without lowering my weights from the previous round which was in March. But I ended up not having to lower the weights. However, on the Incline Press Progressive set, I have a note that says 19.5kgs is light. But it definitely was NOT light I barely got the final light set up and had to take a mid-set break at 10 reps to ensure I made it to 15reps. I again, added the Band Uppercuts. I really flexed my chest on that one just to get that static tension directly over the entire chest. I felt good doing it. I love working the chest!
And since I haven't done it in a while, I stuck with Segi and did Beast: Abs. Nice little workout. I should have remembered it. I'm definitely going to put that into my ab rotation. Got a good burn. The only move I changed a bit was the Roman Twist. Segi has his feet on the floor, but I put my feet in the air. Burn BUrn BURN!!!
The Splits and Flow are feeling really good now and I think I am definitely moving in the right direction.
In the end, I torched another solid 1000+kcal day. Great to finish the week on this high!
7-14-16 HY: Tennis + Splits + TCF.
7-14-16 HY: Tennis + Splits + TCF.
Test Day! and Tennis Day!
I have taken it easy on my Achilles for the past week or so and today was testing day. I was planning to just play as normal while keeping close tabs on the condition of my Achilles. To make a long story short, everything went well. Not a bit of pain, but there was a little stiffness, but I had expected that. That being said, I wasn't really able to play as "normally" as I had hoped. The reason was that since we've been having a lot of rain recently, the gym was extremely humid and there was a big puddle on the side of the court from some ceiling drippage. I tried to mop up the floor as best I could, but it wasn't going to totally dry. So I kept a mental note not to try to attempt a sudden stop in that area. To make matters worse, for some reason, right at the center of my baseline, there was a layer of condensation that stretched for about 1.5 meters either way of the center hash mark. I tried playing on the baseline, but I was just slipping around, and when I moved quickly for a shot, I slipped. So, I ended up having to play about a meter inside the baseline. Timing was way off for a while. Then to make matters even worse, I was sweating like I was in a sauna (actually, the gym was that humid), so with movement, I was dripping on the floor. There was a point that the moisture from condensation was less than the wetness from my sweat, so I moved back to the baseline. Then only a few minutes of play, that area was drip wet. And my shoes, MY NEW SHOES!!! were so wet inside due to the sweat running down my legs and into my shoes, the last 15-20 minutes, I was literally sloshing around the court. I had a few year spills and one big spill. It happened as I was hitting a shot and tried to change directions too quickly. BAM!!! Down to the ground. So most of the time, I had to really soft step around the court, and I had to give up on shots I could normally get because I couldn't change directions or get a good push off. Now, that being said, I scored regularly today, with standard scoring, and I took the match, 6-2, 6-2. It took a lot less time to get that score, but I didn't want to continue with that because of the potential danger of slipping, so I just practiced after those two sets. There were some really good shots and rallies, but we'll never know if some of those should could have been returned. But it was a fun session.
I did the splits after work in the evening and everything went well. I feel like I'm getting over a plateau so I'm pushing lower. Flow was on point as usual.
In the end, after the tennis, I torched a solid 1100+kcals. That is pretty much par for the course.
Test Day! and Tennis Day!
I have taken it easy on my Achilles for the past week or so and today was testing day. I was planning to just play as normal while keeping close tabs on the condition of my Achilles. To make a long story short, everything went well. Not a bit of pain, but there was a little stiffness, but I had expected that. That being said, I wasn't really able to play as "normally" as I had hoped. The reason was that since we've been having a lot of rain recently, the gym was extremely humid and there was a big puddle on the side of the court from some ceiling drippage. I tried to mop up the floor as best I could, but it wasn't going to totally dry. So I kept a mental note not to try to attempt a sudden stop in that area. To make matters worse, for some reason, right at the center of my baseline, there was a layer of condensation that stretched for about 1.5 meters either way of the center hash mark. I tried playing on the baseline, but I was just slipping around, and when I moved quickly for a shot, I slipped. So, I ended up having to play about a meter inside the baseline. Timing was way off for a while. Then to make matters even worse, I was sweating like I was in a sauna (actually, the gym was that humid), so with movement, I was dripping on the floor. There was a point that the moisture from condensation was less than the wetness from my sweat, so I moved back to the baseline. Then only a few minutes of play, that area was drip wet. And my shoes, MY NEW SHOES!!! were so wet inside due to the sweat running down my legs and into my shoes, the last 15-20 minutes, I was literally sloshing around the court. I had a few year spills and one big spill. It happened as I was hitting a shot and tried to change directions too quickly. BAM!!! Down to the ground. So most of the time, I had to really soft step around the court, and I had to give up on shots I could normally get because I couldn't change directions or get a good push off. Now, that being said, I scored regularly today, with standard scoring, and I took the match, 6-2, 6-2. It took a lot less time to get that score, but I didn't want to continue with that because of the potential danger of slipping, so I just practiced after those two sets. There were some really good shots and rallies, but we'll never know if some of those should could have been returned. But it was a fun session.
I did the splits after work in the evening and everything went well. I feel like I'm getting over a plateau so I'm pushing lower. Flow was on point as usual.
In the end, after the tennis, I torched a solid 1100+kcals. That is pretty much par for the course.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
7-13-16 HY: P90X3 - X3 Yoga + Splits + TCF.
7-13-16 HY: P90X3 - X3 Yoga + Splits + TCF.
Sure needed this mid-week recovery today. Due to my schedule quirk, I ended up doing to resistance days in a row on Monday and Tuesday. My arms were doing some major barking today and I really needed a good stretch and recovery. There was just a little tweak in my Achilles today, but I felt it was good and fine in general.
Started off my day with a lovely Shake and then went into my morning session. Love this routine! I was sweating from the start. I really wanted to keep good and steady form throughout so I extended all the stretches to get the max benefit. I feel that it was a good round and that my form stayed stable. Balance wise it was good also. My half moon was okay, only tapped out a couple time on my left. Toe Bind move was still a struggle. My leg cannot straighten out and my toe was in pain. The Wrap was good, feeling a lot more range of motion. I didn't need to struggle to find my fingers on either side. Crane was good, only tapped out once, but that was because my triceps were being crushed by my knees and that was painful. Felt good by the end and much looser.
I had to do my Splits and Flow in the evening after work so it was like getting a double stretch today. YES!!! Love it when that happens. Everything went well.
In the end (of the morning), I only burned a modest 200+kcals, but the small burn was worth the other intangible or felt benefits.
Sure needed this mid-week recovery today. Due to my schedule quirk, I ended up doing to resistance days in a row on Monday and Tuesday. My arms were doing some major barking today and I really needed a good stretch and recovery. There was just a little tweak in my Achilles today, but I felt it was good and fine in general.
Started off my day with a lovely Shake and then went into my morning session. Love this routine! I was sweating from the start. I really wanted to keep good and steady form throughout so I extended all the stretches to get the max benefit. I feel that it was a good round and that my form stayed stable. Balance wise it was good also. My half moon was okay, only tapped out a couple time on my left. Toe Bind move was still a struggle. My leg cannot straighten out and my toe was in pain. The Wrap was good, feeling a lot more range of motion. I didn't need to struggle to find my fingers on either side. Crane was good, only tapped out once, but that was because my triceps were being crushed by my knees and that was painful. Felt good by the end and much looser.
I had to do my Splits and Flow in the evening after work so it was like getting a double stretch today. YES!!! Love it when that happens. Everything went well.
In the end (of the morning), I only burned a modest 200+kcals, but the small burn was worth the other intangible or felt benefits.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
7-12-16 HY: P90X3 - Total Synergistics + Splits + TCF.
7-12-16 HY: P90X3 - Total Synergistics + Splits + TCF.
My Achilles felt pretty good today. No pain going up and down stairs. No pain on slightly supported calf raises. So I decided to test my Achilles a bit and do a workout with some lower body stuff. I decided on the first X3 routine. I was a little nervous because my biceps and triceps were REALLY feeling it all day. They felt flexed for most of the day and quickly got pumped when activated for use. This routine has a pretty wide variety of upper body moves so I didn't know how I would perform. But, I was actually surprised that I was able to keep up and do all the reps with Tony and Crew. I didn't push for speed, but I did try and keep the slower-than-usual-for-Tony pace. It was a good slow pace so I could focus on target muscle activation. This routine had a little of everything which was perfect. I had to print out a new set of worksheets so I'm working from scratch with the weights. But using the weight range from yesterday's Body Beast, I think I got good weights. I took a little longer than the 30 minutes because I had to relearn a lot of the moves so after watching some, I went back and started from the beginning of the time. I was glad that there were some Pull Ups and Chin Ups, but I'm also glad that there were only two sets. A lot of balance work as well. The few bicep curls burned out my biceps even though I only used 7.5kgs. I was feeling it. There was a good amount of Core work as well. Which was good because I was thinking to do an ab routine afterwards, but I really didn't want to do three days in a row. There were a couple Sumo-ish Squats that I felt my inner thighs very much, along with Calf raises. No Achilles pain! I didn't go very heavy, but the intensity was there due to the slower pace or the reps. Great workout routine!
I went right into the Splits and I felt really good. I was able to push lower on both the Straddle and Left and Right Side Splits today and pushed more on the time as well. It's coming along. I'm within 4 inches of the ground. Excited about that! Still need to work on loosening those front hip flexors so I can be more upright in the Side Splits.
The Flow was on par with everything today so just rght.
In the end, I torched a pleasant 600+kcals. Less burn but less time. Still a great pump and burn.
My Achilles felt pretty good today. No pain going up and down stairs. No pain on slightly supported calf raises. So I decided to test my Achilles a bit and do a workout with some lower body stuff. I decided on the first X3 routine. I was a little nervous because my biceps and triceps were REALLY feeling it all day. They felt flexed for most of the day and quickly got pumped when activated for use. This routine has a pretty wide variety of upper body moves so I didn't know how I would perform. But, I was actually surprised that I was able to keep up and do all the reps with Tony and Crew. I didn't push for speed, but I did try and keep the slower-than-usual-for-Tony pace. It was a good slow pace so I could focus on target muscle activation. This routine had a little of everything which was perfect. I had to print out a new set of worksheets so I'm working from scratch with the weights. But using the weight range from yesterday's Body Beast, I think I got good weights. I took a little longer than the 30 minutes because I had to relearn a lot of the moves so after watching some, I went back and started from the beginning of the time. I was glad that there were some Pull Ups and Chin Ups, but I'm also glad that there were only two sets. A lot of balance work as well. The few bicep curls burned out my biceps even though I only used 7.5kgs. I was feeling it. There was a good amount of Core work as well. Which was good because I was thinking to do an ab routine afterwards, but I really didn't want to do three days in a row. There were a couple Sumo-ish Squats that I felt my inner thighs very much, along with Calf raises. No Achilles pain! I didn't go very heavy, but the intensity was there due to the slower pace or the reps. Great workout routine!
I went right into the Splits and I felt really good. I was able to push lower on both the Straddle and Left and Right Side Splits today and pushed more on the time as well. It's coming along. I'm within 4 inches of the ground. Excited about that! Still need to work on loosening those front hip flexors so I can be more upright in the Side Splits.
The Flow was on par with everything today so just rght.
In the end, I torched a pleasant 600+kcals. Less burn but less time. Still a great pump and burn.
Monday, July 11, 2016
7-11-16 HY: Body Beast - Bulk: Arms + Fit Ball Core Strength + Splits + TCF.
7-11-16 HY: Body Beast - Bulk: Arms + Fit Ball Core Strength + Splits + TCF.
Today, was supposed to be a double workout day, but as I said before, I injured my left Achilles and am not actively trying to not aggravate it so I can play tennis on Thursday. I was supposed to play this afternoon, but I decided not to play because of that very reason. So, only one workout today.
I was a little troubled trying to find an upper body routine that wouldn't put any pressure on my Achilles. I was looking at some X3 routines, but they mostly had some lower body stuff except for The Challenge, and I was not feeling in the mood to go that intense. Finally I hit on Bulk: Arms. It has been a few months since I did this routine, and when I got the worksheet out, I was thinking the weights were a bit light. Famous last words! I basically did the same weights as the last time with a couple of changes. On the first set, the Progressive Set of Standing Curls, I went up a small plate (1.25kgs) on the light and medium weight and then up a medium plate (2kgs) on the heavy. In hind sight, that was a mistake. I was dying by the end, and I needed to take a break between sets and a few mid-set breaks on the last two sets as well. Biceps were BURNING!!! On all the sets, the target muscles, either biceps or triceps were left burning like crazy! On the last move, the Weighted Crunches, instead of using plates of 7.5kgs, I used two dumbbells for 8kgs. a little heavier. It felt good to get those different style of sets done again with different levels of weight. There were some slow reps, not as slow as ChaLEAN Extreme, but slow enough to get that semi-static pump and burn. I was glad to also keep the pressure off my Achilles.
Even though I did abs yesterday, I wanted to do something Core today, so I thought to do something totally different that I wanted to try but never had the chance or never got a round to it to do. So I went to my online subscriptions and chose a Core Swiss Ball workout. I liked Chalene's a lot so I wanted to see what else was out there. I chose the Fit Ball, Core Strength ab workout. It was lead by an Australian, which was new. There were a lot of moves I knew, but a couple new ones that were pretty tough. But it wasn't only core, it was almost full body. That hamstring pull in almost cramped my hammys. I could really feel how weak my hamstrings were. It was nice to do something different. It was a good 15 minutes ab routine.
Splits were good! I feel like I'm primed to go on past the present plateau so I'm getting ready for another concerted push to go to that next level. Flow was also clean and smooth.
In the end, I torched a nice 700+kcals. No lower body in play so that was pretty much what I was expecting. But the Pump and Burn was Awesome!
Today, was supposed to be a double workout day, but as I said before, I injured my left Achilles and am not actively trying to not aggravate it so I can play tennis on Thursday. I was supposed to play this afternoon, but I decided not to play because of that very reason. So, only one workout today.
I was a little troubled trying to find an upper body routine that wouldn't put any pressure on my Achilles. I was looking at some X3 routines, but they mostly had some lower body stuff except for The Challenge, and I was not feeling in the mood to go that intense. Finally I hit on Bulk: Arms. It has been a few months since I did this routine, and when I got the worksheet out, I was thinking the weights were a bit light. Famous last words! I basically did the same weights as the last time with a couple of changes. On the first set, the Progressive Set of Standing Curls, I went up a small plate (1.25kgs) on the light and medium weight and then up a medium plate (2kgs) on the heavy. In hind sight, that was a mistake. I was dying by the end, and I needed to take a break between sets and a few mid-set breaks on the last two sets as well. Biceps were BURNING!!! On all the sets, the target muscles, either biceps or triceps were left burning like crazy! On the last move, the Weighted Crunches, instead of using plates of 7.5kgs, I used two dumbbells for 8kgs. a little heavier. It felt good to get those different style of sets done again with different levels of weight. There were some slow reps, not as slow as ChaLEAN Extreme, but slow enough to get that semi-static pump and burn. I was glad to also keep the pressure off my Achilles.
Even though I did abs yesterday, I wanted to do something Core today, so I thought to do something totally different that I wanted to try but never had the chance or never got a round to it to do. So I went to my online subscriptions and chose a Core Swiss Ball workout. I liked Chalene's a lot so I wanted to see what else was out there. I chose the Fit Ball, Core Strength ab workout. It was lead by an Australian, which was new. There were a lot of moves I knew, but a couple new ones that were pretty tough. But it wasn't only core, it was almost full body. That hamstring pull in almost cramped my hammys. I could really feel how weak my hamstrings were. It was nice to do something different. It was a good 15 minutes ab routine.
Splits were good! I feel like I'm primed to go on past the present plateau so I'm getting ready for another concerted push to go to that next level. Flow was also clean and smooth.
In the end, I torched a nice 700+kcals. No lower body in play so that was pretty much what I was expecting. But the Pump and Burn was Awesome!
7-10-16 HY: PiYo- Define: Lower Body ChaLEAN Extreme - Ab Burner + Splits + TCF.
7-10-16 HY: PiYo- Define: Lower Body ChaLEAN Extreme - Ab Burner + Splits + TCF.
Very weird schedule today. Had some contract work from 8am to 4:30pm, and my wife and daughter wanted to go out shopping at a distant shopping center right when I got home. Literally less than a minute in the house just to grab something and it was out again. Did a lot of walking while shopping. Didn't get home until close to 10pm and wasn't able to get started on my workout until about 10:30pm. Put on top of that, my Achilles injury and the first time in almost two years that I went two days in a row without doing my Splits stretching, I couldn't NOT workout today. So, to take it easy on my Achilles, I went with a very low impact high intensity workout.
PiYo was a good routine, to rest my Achilles and get a nice little sweat going without waking up the neighbors. Then, quickly moving on to Abs with a nice short and intense routine. Achilles was safe and not a bit of strain on it.
I was a little worried about the Splits, but no problem. Flow was also no problem. I'm really worried about aggravating the injury and making it worse. So, I'm probably going to take it easy this week. Call it a forced recovery week. I may not even do tennis tomorrow. I will test my Achilles in the morning to see how it feels. If there is any pain in the slightest, I'm calling off the tennis. I want to be ready for Tennis on Thursday.
I put on an HRM anyway, and in the end, I burned a modest 300+kcals. Pretty much as expected. But I think I'm going to do some heavy stuff for upper body this week. But shorter routines like X3 stuff. I'll hold off on Insanity and T25 for now.
Very weird schedule today. Had some contract work from 8am to 4:30pm, and my wife and daughter wanted to go out shopping at a distant shopping center right when I got home. Literally less than a minute in the house just to grab something and it was out again. Did a lot of walking while shopping. Didn't get home until close to 10pm and wasn't able to get started on my workout until about 10:30pm. Put on top of that, my Achilles injury and the first time in almost two years that I went two days in a row without doing my Splits stretching, I couldn't NOT workout today. So, to take it easy on my Achilles, I went with a very low impact high intensity workout.
PiYo was a good routine, to rest my Achilles and get a nice little sweat going without waking up the neighbors. Then, quickly moving on to Abs with a nice short and intense routine. Achilles was safe and not a bit of strain on it.
I was a little worried about the Splits, but no problem. Flow was also no problem. I'm really worried about aggravating the injury and making it worse. So, I'm probably going to take it easy this week. Call it a forced recovery week. I may not even do tennis tomorrow. I will test my Achilles in the morning to see how it feels. If there is any pain in the slightest, I'm calling off the tennis. I want to be ready for Tennis on Thursday.
I put on an HRM anyway, and in the end, I burned a modest 300+kcals. Pretty much as expected. But I think I'm going to do some heavy stuff for upper body this week. But shorter routines like X3 stuff. I'll hold off on Insanity and T25 for now.
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