12-13-16 HY: Body Beast - Beast: Total Body + Abs + Splits + TCF.

12-13-16 HY: Body Beast - Beast: Total Body + Abs + Splits + TCF.

Pretty normal day today. Had some work and meetings, but everything went as well as could be expected except for one thing, my iPad crashed.  I haven't backed it up either so I'm up the poop creek.  I'm going to try and get it fixed at the Apple Store tomorrow, but if not, at least get them to back up my data to the cloud.  Fingers crossed.

Today is the second to last round of my final round of Body Beast.  I'll finish up, then do other stuff until I can start Insanity - MAX: 30 from January 1, 2017.  That is the program I've been wanting to do since summer.  But as for today, I went up in weight on all the formerly 7.5kgs to 8.75kgs on the first rounds, then sometime went up and sometimes stayed with the previous weight.  As you can see, I needed to start a new column for today's workout on the worksheet.  Pull Up strength is still bottoming out in the second round.  Kept the 10/5 split.  Everything else in the first Circuit Set was fine.
In the second Circuit Set, I kept the first round weight, but went up in the second round on the Incline Press.  Almost failed on the last rep, I felt the wiggle.  Bent-Over Rows, still doing single arm, and I kept the weights the same. For the Reverse Alternating Lunge, I went up 1.25kgs for the first round, the up 2.5kgs in the second round to 14.5kgs.  I was dying! That was a lot of weight and a lot of reps.
For the third Circuit Set, 1,1,2 Military Press, went up to 8.75kgs and that was the limit.  I really felt it.  But that pushed me for the second round.  I stuck with 12kgs, but I was able to go to 11reps for an 11/4 split.  The Post Delt Raise, I went up to 5kgs from 4kgs on the first round, then went up only .5kgs in the second round.  This is one of the toughest moves for me.  Not a lot of stability with that muscle group.  Second round only added .5kgs, but I could feel the difference. Russian Twist with weight, and my legs up.  That was a tough move. 
For the final Circuit Set, as I said, all the 7.5kgs went up to 8.75kgs in the first round, but stayed at 12kgs for the second round.  On the Calf Raise, I up both weights, first and second rounds, by 1.25kgs.  Really felt it at the top of the rep.  Bi's and Tri's, Tought combo.  I sweat a lot this workout.  And I was winded more times than I wanted, but I'm trying to keep my water intake up, even in the winter.  I really felt the pump and burn today.  Maxed out a lot more.

Abs, gave me the necessary burn I was looking for, and the Splits and Flow were on it.  Still not ready for the third round, but I'm going to add it someday soon.


In the end, I torched well over 1100kcals.  That's a lot of calories.  But I'm still recovering from the big meal yesterday, and the bit of ice cream I had for my birthday celebration. with my girls. It was a good day.

12-12-16 HY: Pickleball + Splits + TCF.

12-12-16 HY: Pickleball + Splits + TCF.

Pickleball Day!

It started out the same way as last week.  I was on fire and virtually unstoppable in the first game.  I took it 15-4.  The second game was a lot tougher.  I was down 8-13, but I scrapped my way back and eventually took the game 16-14.  Unfortunately, I went down again 8-13, but I didn't have enough in the tank.  I almost came back, I got to 13-13, but then I lost it, 13-15.  But I got my second wind in the fourth game and took it 15-8.  Again, some incredible shots.  But it is so interesting how momentum works.  I was practically flawless in the first game, almost zero errors.  But the second game was riddled with errors.  But the end result was worth the fight.  We are very satisfied with our game.  We are clearly getting better because the number of games we play in our allotted time is decreasing.  The games are becoming more and more competitive.  We bring it every time.  The one negative thing that happened today was the fact that I tweaked my back a bit on a shot.  I shook it off, but it was very sore later with the same quality of pain I felt when I hurt it a few weeks ago.  But not as bad today.  I'll see how it goes from now.

Splits and Flow came later in the evening.  My family and I went out to eat for my birthday at a buffet restaurant.  I enjoyed our dinner, but I ate a little too much. So the next few days will have me in damage control mode with respect to my diet.  After we got home, I had to relax for a while, then I did my Splits and Flow.  Everything was on point, but the difference between the first and second rounds is huge.  I think I will have to add that third round I've been proposing soon.

In the end, of the Pickleball, I torched 1119kcals.  Good burn all around.

12-11-16 HY: Body Beast - Lucky 7 + Abs + Splits + TCF.

12-11-16 HY: Body Beast - Lucky 7 + Abs + Splits + TCF.

Today was an extremely off day.  Didn't get a good night's sleep. Felt so weird when I got up.  Had ZERO drive or motivation to do anything today.  So, I indulged that and did a little more binge watching.  Now I'm all caught up with one of my shows.  But around 4pm, I was feeling the need to get active and that is when I started to get ready for my workout.  By 4:30pm, I was hitting PLAY.

This is the third time through this routine this month, so I really wanted to up the weight a bit, so I went up 1.25kgs to 8.75kgs on all except Pyramid Five.  I'm not going to elaborate on each move, but I will say that I was feeling that extra 1.25kgs on every move, and every rep.  One thing I didn't want to do was sacrifice form.  I was paying special attention to form, and the use of momentum to get the weight up.  I didn't want to cheat with weights that were too heavy.  Luckily, I was able to keep good form all around.  But the only way I could do that was to go a little slower than Segi's pace.  So, on most of the moves, I took the rest period between moves, then rewound the DVD to Set 7 of the previous move then started when the break time began.  Usually, it was between a minute to 40 seconds.  And I would usually end at the same time, or close to it, as the Segi team did. The most taxing moves were Move 1 - EZ Push-Up + Clean + Squat, Move 3 - Skull Crusher + Press + Crunch.  This one, I did on the Swiss Ball again for range of motion.  And Move 4 - Curl + Military Press + EZ Squat.  These three moves just burned me out by round 5-6, and I was running on fumes by Round 7.  Honorable mention to Move 7 - Upright Row + Calf Raise.  The heavier weight really burned out my shoulders when I hit Round 5 and on.   But now that I know I can do this with the heavier weight, I think I'll be able to improve on the next two sessions.  Move 5 - Delt Raise + Reverse Lunge.  I kept the same weight as last time, 5kgs.  I was afraid of going up to 6.25kgs.   But it was actually easier than I thought it should have been, so I may go up next week.  This routine got me the severe burn and comfortable pump I was expecting.

I was really worn out today, so I decided not to do my bonus Pull Ups but instead, went right into Abs.  This routine is getting a lot better for me, so I think I'll go on to another routine next time.  But I always get a good burn on the last few reps of each move, forcing that required grunt on the last rep.  I tried to keep the range of motion big and really work the core.  It worked well.  I was feeling a lot better after abs, so I went for the Pull Up Lucky 7 set.  Felt a lot better than last time.  On the 7th round, I hung at 5 and hammered out the last two reps individually from straight arms. 

The Splits and Flow were right on with the required gains.

In the end, I torched 1110kcals.  Nice way to start my week.  I had a party planned today, but I canceled it because of my weird feeling.  I don't know if it will be rescheduled.

12-10-16 Make-Up Splits + TCF.

12-10-16 Make-Up Splits + TCF.

Saturday night and I have nothing to do but binge watch shows that I'm currently involved with.  Good night to do it because my wife and daughter are out so I have the house to myself.  So. while watching, I'm stretching and getting my splits on.  Everything followed the regular pattern, but I feel really good about the splits today because I felt my hip flexors open just a bit.  So, the pushing is working... I think.  Flow was on point.

12-09-16 HY: Combat HIIT 2 - Shock Plyo + ChaLEAN Extreme - Extreme Core Circuit.

12-09-16 HY: Combat HIIT 2 - Shock Plyo + ChaLEAN Extreme - Extreme Core Circuit.

I don't usually have time to workout on Friday when I have a morning class, which I did today.  But somehow, I managed to get home with just over an hour to spare, so I went right to my workout.  I wasn't sure which routine was up, but when I checked my Combat schedule, it just happened to be a HIIT routine, so I was like, "PERFECT!!".

I remembered that this was a tough routine, but it started out nice and easy.  The warm up track was great to start, then when those Jump Squats started and the Lunges, my thighs started to warm up and BURN real quickly.  In the warm up, my legs were dying!  I was like, "How am I going to finish this routine???"  But with the second track, I hit my second wind and I was able to hang on.  I actually like all the tracks in this routine, and they beautifully kill my legs.  But I guess that is the point.  I'm happy I could do a leg workout today, because this one, paired with Pickelball, my legs got an incredible body weight+ workout this week.  I was shaky on the stairs afterwards. Sign of a great workout.

I went right to my BONUS abs.  I usually don't do abs on cardio days, but I had about 20 minutes left, so I figured, "Why not?"  Here's why not, I burned out my abs and the pain was on.  I was wanting to ask this for a while, but I kept forgetting to write it down.  When I am doing the slow Crunches, and other slow ab moves, going up is smooth, but going back down, my movement is extremely jerky.  When I try to control going down slowly, it happens, when I go a little faster, and going down requires no engagement of the muscles, or allowing gravity to pull me down with not resistance, it is smooth, but the controlled descent, jerky jerky.  Does that just mean I'm THAT weak?  I wouldn't doubt it, but I don't feel that weak. 

In the end, I torched a nice 700+kcals.  Nice way to polish off my week.  But my "Party" schedule next week is crazy.  I've got 3 big parties I have to attend for three different groups.  Major shake time.  I'm going to have to control myself at those parties not to eat myself into a tizzy.  But in the festive atmosphere, I'm going to have to be strong.  In the past, they ordered stuff I don't eat so it was easy, we'll see what happens this year.  Parties are on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday.  I'll need extra good workouts this coming week.

Happy Weekend!

12-08-16 HY: Body Beast - Beast: Total Body + Abs + Splits + TCF.

12-08-16 HY: Body Beast - Beast: Total Body + Abs + Splits + TCF.

Today was a different day.  I had a school event that I had to attend on another campus which lasted for only an hour or so in the morning.  But after that, free!  So my wife and I went out for lunch and some errands.  I got home early enough to do a full workout before my night class! Very happy about that.

Second round of Total Body, so I am hoping for a little progress.
Circuit Set 1, Pull-Up/Push-Up/Squat/Crunch.  First round was the same as before.  The second round of Pull-Ups seemed a little tougher that before.  I maxed out at 11, hung for a couple breaths, then finish out the set, barely getting the 15th rep.  Push Ups felt a bit easier to finish.  On the Squat I increased the second set weight to 12kgs. Up from 7.5kgs.
Circuit Set 2, Incline Press/Bent-Over Row/Reverse Alternating Lunge/Plank Twist-Twist. This Circuit was the same all the way around.  I still did the Single Arm Row instead of double.  The PTT felt better. I didn't collapse at the end of the second set.
Circuit Set 3, 1, 1, 2 Military Press/Post Delt Raise/Stiff Leg Dead Lift/Russian Twist.  Everything on this circuit was all the the same as last time.  But on the first move, I felt like I lost some strength because I didn't have any reserve strength on the second round of the Presses.  I barely made it to 10reps.  And the very last rep was also most failure.
Circuit Set 4, Biceps Curl Up Hammer Down/Triceps Extension-Kickback/Calf Raise-Weight at Shoulders/ Side Forearm Plank with Hip Raise.  Everything was the same, except for the Calf Raise weight in the second round.  I went up to 17kgs from 14.5kgs.
I got a huge burn today, but the pump was negligible.  As for progress, there was a little here and there, but then there were a few places that felt like a step back.  So, overall, I don't feel like a lot of progress was made.  Just one of those days, I guess.  I'll do better next time.

The Abs were good today.  I tried to really flex and engage and the burn came a lot faster.  I'm going to have to do that more from now on.  I was able to keep up with Segi's pace for all the moves, except the Windshield Wiper.  Getting my legs up and over is really tough, and I go a lot slower than Segi does.  But the burn was real.

Moving quickly into the Splits, I really pushed it today, and at least on the Left Side Splits, I progressed, but on everything else, I was meeting the limit.  I may concentrate on the Left Side Splits so I can at least get one variation to the goal this year.  The Flow was on point.

In the end, I torched a beautiful 1150+kcals.  Burn, sweet BURN!!!

12-07-16 HY: P90X2 - X2 Recovery and Mobility + Splits + TCF.

12-07-16 HY: P90X2 - X2 Recovery and Mobility + Splits + TCF.

Mid-Week Recovery.  Good day to get it done, but I had a little time so I had to "speed" through the routine.  I didn't skip anything, but what I did do is skip the parts between moves.  For example, the Leg Swings, for sets of 10, Tony talks a lot between the sets.  So I went straight through them and cut about a minute. Then between the Single Leg Balance Toe Touches, cut another minute.  And between all the other moves before and after the Foam Rolling sequence.  I didn't lose anything, but I had a good roll.  I wish I could have had more time to at least double the lower body roll, but I think I'll just do that during my evenings.  I'm going to try and foam roll at least 3 times a week, more if possible.  For some reason, my right calf has become hot spot haven.  Then there is my left shin. Hot Spot Haven.  It was a good roll.

I did the Splits and Flow in the evening.  I had a good push on the splits and everything worked out.

In the end, I burned a light 300kcals.  Average for my recovery day.