5-04-17 Mountain, Garden, City Trekking.

5-04-17 Mountain Trekking.

The big thing for today was crossing over to the active volcano and exploring.  Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day and it was raining a bit along with ashing (yes, that means the volcano erupted a bit and ash came billowing out), but we walked all over that volcano. Then to a Japanese Garden, walked all over that, then to a Shinto Shrine and yes, walked all over that as well.  Finally, we went to an observation deck to see the great city of Kagoshima.  According to my Pedometer, we walked over 10km today.  No wonder I was so tired.  We went to a hot spring bath in the evening and it soothed our muscles and tired legs!  What a great day!

5-03-17 Sandbath and Walking.

5-03-17 Sandbath and Walking.

Wednesday is my regular mid-week recovery, plus, my nephew came to visit last night so today is all about giving him an interesting experience.  So, so sneak in a unique body detox, I brought him to a Sandbath.  It was amazing!  I've lived in this area for over 27 years and only did this once before, my first year back in 1990.  Then after the sandbath, we were so relaxed and loose.  My shoulder even felt a lot better.  I highly recommend it.  We did a lot of walking around for the rest of the day in malls and superstores.  It was a good day, and my nephew enjoyed the experience.

5-02-17 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme - Push Circuit 1 + Extreme Abs + Splits + TCF.

5-02-17 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme - Push Circuit 1 + Extreme Abs + Splits + TCF.

Today, my nephew is coming for a visit and will be staying with us for four days and three nights.  So, there is a chance that I will not have time to workout on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, so I'm getting in at least today's workout before he gets here.  So today's workout is happening in the morning.

I started Push Circuit today and I thought that it would be a little shorter because of the fewer reps, but it ended up actually being a little longer because of my extra recovery times.  For all the moves, I went down in weight from the last time I did this routine close to a year ago.  I went down a good 5+/-kgs as you can see below.  But I did go up in weight from the Burn Circuit.  I tried to keep breathing as much as possible, but a few quick holds helped me get the weights up.  I also stayed with the slow reps.  But the oddest thing is that I was so out of breath at the end of almost every move.  And my pump was incredible.  Arms, upper chest, shoulder, legs. WHEW!!  Major workout.  I followed the program to a "T", except for the addition of my inter-tri-set set of Pull-Ups.  Another odd thing as far as the construction of the routine goes is the last move, Push-Ups.  Throughout the routine, it was clear that the target muscles were arms and legs.  Why put a back and chest move right at the end?  So, instead of doing regular or wide push-ups, I did Diamond Push-Ups to help burn out my triceps one last time.  I was a little disappointed that I couldn't do more pull-ups, but I have to keep reminding myself that previously, my range of motions wasn't full and I kept an elbow bend instead of going all the way down.  I want full range of motion.  One big thing that affected me today was my grip strength.  Gripping the weights, doing Towel Pull-Ups, really activated my forearms.  I was trying not to over grip my weights, but I still got tired.  Again, though, I must sing the praises of the slow rep.  It enables me to really think about form and focus on the target muscles.  It is especially noticeable in the Push Circuit where we do one body part at a time instead of doing compound moves or synergistic moves.  Good old fashioned straight forward weight lifting. Old School!

I started the next level of ab/core routines with Extreme Abs.  It is fifty percent longer at over 15 minutes. So I was a little nervous about it, but I ended up feeling really good about it.  I got a good burn in the old abs as well.  More moves and more reps.  Definitely a step up.  Except for the lack of a weighted move.  But burned it up nonetheless.

Splits were fine as well as the Flow.  If I keep this up, staying flexible will be easy. I just need to keep on doing it.  No getting lazy.

In the end, I torched well over 1000kcals.  Nice morning workout, now I'm free all day to relax and pick up my nephew.

5-01-17 HY: T25 - Alpha: Cardio + Unlock your Hip Flexors + TCF.

5-01-17 HY: T25 - Alpha: Cardio + Unlock your Hip Flexors + TCF.

Today was the first day of my little vacation and the day before my nephew arrives.  So, I relaxed at home, played some games, got caught up on my workout reports, and got a few home chores done.  I got to my workout at about the same time as usual, but with it being a cardio day, it was a lot shorter than usual.

Today starts my new cardio day regime. I'm going to use Shaun T's programs as my cardio day base.  I'm going to start with T25, then go to MAX 30, then Insanity, then Asylum.  Then, I'll cherry pick the cardio routines from other trainer's programs like Tony, Chalene, Segi, etc.  So let's get this party started.

I was anxious to see how I would hold up on T25 after finishing MAX 30 about three weeks ago.  As the run progression started I felt good, but as the progression peeked, my arches started that familiar burning/aching feeling, but then the progression was finished and the lunge progression started.  I was able to dynamically stretch out my arches which gave me great relief.  There were a few points in the routine that I started to feel like maxing out, but that feeling never really lasted that long.  And mainly it wasn't because I was getting tired, it was because of the ache in my arches and lower calves. But it was a great routine to get back into intense cardio.  My arches still need to get stronger because I think they were a little too painful at times, but since I burned out my calves yesterday, I thinking that that had a little bit of an influence on the condition.  I felt good overall.

I moved right into the stretch for my hip flexors and pushed it to the limit.  Almost too far because I started to get nervous that my hip would pop out, so I backed off some.  But it was a good stretch.  The Flow was also smooth and clean.

In the end, I burned a nice round 540kcals.  Low calorie burn but felt good to get it done early.  Tomorrow morning, the weights await.

Oh, and before I forget, here is my calendar for April.  The two days at the top of the month are the days I took off to get some rehab for my shoulder.  Rehab is done, and now it's just me and my foam roller.  The orange days are irregular workouts like Pickle-Ball, tennis and recovery days.  I was glad to have my regular Saturday off day this month after March's crazy schedule.

4-30-17 HY: Yard Work + ChaLEAN Extreme - Burn Circuit 3 + Ab Burner + Splits + TCF.

4-30-17  HY: Yard Work + ChaLEAN Extreme - Burn Circuit 3 + Ab Burner + Splits + TCF.

For the past few weeks, I have been playing tennis with my wife on Sunday evenings and marking that up to my Sunday workout.  Today, my wife was a bit tired and busy so we weren't able to play tennis today.  So, I went to the schedule I had originally planned over a month ago.  It works out perfectly, too, because my nephew is coming for a visit on Tuesday evening so I'll be able to get my second resistance workout in before he comes and my final one in after he leaves on Friday morning.  But there is a chance that I will be traveling on Friday so I may miss it all together.  This week is the long holiday stretch Japan calls "Golden Week".  So we may be traveling to watch my daughter's Field Hockey game up north a few hours away.    Anyway, today's workout.

Today was a busy day.  In the morning I had to switch my winter and summer clothes.  Doesn't sound too tough, but the going up and down the stairs transporting piles of clothes is a nice little workout in itself.  I got it done in just under an hour.  Second, I had to cut the grass in our yard.  With my nephew coming, I wanted our yard to look its best, so it had to get done today.  It was a jungle in parts.  But I got it all done in just under two hours.  Cutting the grass/weeks with my weed-wacker, raking and bagging the cut portion, then going back over the yard to cut anything thing I missed the first time around, raking and bagging that stuff.  Then sweeping the walkway, and cleaning everything up.  I actually wore my HRM just to see how many calories I burn with this work.  When I tracked my calorie burning before in the summer, I think I burned close to 1000kcals.  The grass was a lot taller then and it took an extra hour, but the main thing is that it was a lot hotter then.  Today, I only burned just over 440kcals.  Not much for just under two hours.  But the good thing is that I didn't feel exhausted like I did last time.  I felt pretty good afterward.  So I felt good about doing my regular workout later in the day.

I am finishing the Burn Circuit today.  So I wanted to end on a high note, while at the same time keeping the intensity and form stable.  It worked out nicely for the Pull-Ups because each set went up a bit, from just one extra rep over last time to plus 5 reps.  So I was feeling good about that.  Also, for several moves, I went up in weight 1.25kgs.  The first Lateral Raise move (third move of the first tri-set), however, I was a little nervous about my shoulder pain so I stayed at the 6.25kgs like last time.  And to be honest, I felt I could do more.  I had no problem going the 12 reps.  So the next Lateral Raise move (third move of the second tri-set), which is listed as "Sumo Squat with Delt Raise", I went up to 7.5kgs.  I still felt strong and was able to make it to the final rep.  But I did feel the extra weight, strain and burn.  On the final Lateral Raise move (second move of the last tri-set), the "Lunge with Lateral Raise" is done as six reps on the right and six on the left, plus the Extreme Set of just the Lateral Raise.  But wanting to keep the uniformity of the set, I did six with the right lunge, took the ten seconds, then did three Extreme reps.  Then the same with the left side.  So I ended up doing more of everything.  The Shoulder Press moves, I was worried about, again because of my left shoulder pain.  But I still did the first two moves (first move of the first two tri-sets) with the additional 1.25kgs.  But I felt that my shoulder was a bit tweaked as I entered the final tri-set so when I got to move seven, "Squat with Double Overhead Press", I went down to 12kgs.  It was a good thing I did that because I was maxing out by the tenth rep, but I gutted out the last two.  Finally, this routine tries to do some moves focusing on the Calves (move 2, 5, and 9).  But to be totally honest, I never felt like I was getting much resistance in my calves from those moves.  They were always really easy and I breezed through all the reps.  So, today, I finally added a move at the very end that always killed my calves.  I added a simple "Single Weighted Standing Calf Raise" to the routine.  While holding 12kgs in my right hand, I stood on my right foot and went up and down on my calf.  When I was doing Body Beast, I was able to pump out 50 reps in one sitting.  Today, I barely got to 40 reps.  The right side was definitely easier than my left.  Still more imbalance.  But the burn was intense.  All in all, it was a good routine to end on.  I'm looking forward to the Push Circuit this Tuesday morning.

I'm doing the Ab Burner Routine with the Burn Circuit, so this is the final go through of this routine.  So I was curious to see how I felt after I finished it.  Short story shorter, I felt really strong, and I raised the intensity of each move by flexing harder.  But I really felt like I have gotten better with this routine and that I have gotten back some of the core strength.  I did all the moves in the advanced mode, but I still felt strong.  So I was very pleased with my progress.  As I enter Push Circuit I am moving up to Extreme Abs.

After a few days off from the splits stretch, getting back to the splits was tough, but with my faster transitions, I'm getting to the lowest point quicker.  Now, I'm just concerned with staying flexible.  If I get the full splits in the process, I'm happy.  I'll still keep pushing hard though.  The Flow was on point so the calmness flowed through me.

In the end, I torched a bit over 1000kcals.  I'm happy anytime I can burn over a thousand calories.  But my total for today is close to 1500kcals GONE!!!

4-28-17 Pickle-Ball.

4-28-17 Pickle-Ball.

We were a little skeptical as to whether or not we'd be able to play today because of the same reason I couldn't play tennis the past couple Mondays, students were using the gym to practice for their sports day.  When I got to school, the gym was filled with students practicing different things, so I was thinking that second period would be the same.  Surprisingly enough, no one was in the gym.  So we set up and got to it. YEAH!!!

Our match started off as it has for the past few weeks.  I jump out to a big lead in the first game, today it was 8-1.  Then as the game progresses, I lose gas and end up losing the game, which I did, 12-15.  The second game followed suit with me winning big 15-8.  But the third game was the most surprising. The way the court is situated in the gym, one player has his back to the wall while the other player has the open gym behind him.  So if a ball gets by him, he has to run almost half the length of the gym and back.  I'm guessing that is why I keep losing the first game.  I have to run a lot and I get tired quickly, but by the next game, I have hit my second wind and I can push it harder and longer.  Well, either way, for the third game I had the running side.  But then the dream game, the game every player fantasizes about happened, or I should say, I played.  I don't know what it was, perhaps my serves were just hitting the right spots, perhaps my opponent was tired, perhaps the stars at that moment aligned just right.  But I finally did it, I won a BAGEL GAME!!!  I had come close before only losing two points, but never a bagel.  But today that all ended.  15-0.  I tried my best to stay calm throughout the 3-4 minute game.  Yes, that is how long it took.  I lost serve only twice, and from the second to the fourth game, I was on a 25 point run.  It was amazing if I do say so myself.  When I finally snagged that last point, I couldn't help but smile.  But he was gracious in defeat and congratulated me on a good game.  The final game was a little more competitive, but I was still on my high and ended up taking the game 15-4.  It was a good day.  I just got to get over that first game lull and go for the sweep.

In the end, I torched well over 1000kcals.  Nice way to end my week.

4-27-17 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme - Burn Circuit 2 + Ab Burner.

4-27-17 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme - Burn Circuit 2 + Ab Burner.

I had a bit of a time crunch today so I could only fit in my main workout.  If I rushed, I could have done everything, but at this time, my priority is to regain my strength so I wanted to do it right.

Again, I didn't do much adjustment from the last time, but I did raise the weight a little on a few of the moves.  Burn Circuit 2 is probably the routine that burns me out the most.  One of the target muscles is the biceps so I start off with Chin-Ups.  Felt good, but couldn't increase the reps.  Then, getting into the first tri-set (group of three moves), everything was fine, except for the 1.25kg increase on move three.

Switch Grip Pull-Ups was okay, but again, only did two rounds on the five variations.  I felt the strain and had to stop. The first move of the second Tri-set was the BURNINGEST of the BURNS!!!  Last time, I only made it to 10 reps, so I was determined to get to  12 reps.  I got there, but the burn in my triceps was tremendous.  I kept the same weight as before, but those two extra reps just burned like the dickens.  There was also incredible temptation to speed up the move to finish quicker, but I'm sticking with the program.  The next two moves also saw a 1.25kg increase in weight.  The Bowler's Lunge move showed me a big difference in my left and right side.  My right side lunge caused my left lower back to burn badly.  Before moving on, I had to stretch it out.  But the Left side lunge was better, not as much burn.

The final part started off with the 1-Arm Pull-Up.  I'm still getting the form down, but I was able to do it so that I am activating practically the whole side from my arm to shoulder to upper back to lats.  My right side is still stronger, but the left is slowly closing the gap.  The first two moves also saw a 1.25kg increase in weight.  Despite that, I was able to keep my full range of motion.  Oh, and all of these slow reps I do with a static hold at the top of each move flexing the target muscle as much as possible.  The first two moves have an Extreme set, but I do it a little differently.  Chalene does a more focused rep and takes the original move apart.  I do the original move only twice (as opposed to 3x) but I do it on both sides.  So, I'm actually doing a total of 4 reps.  But I go a little slower and try to concentrate on the flex and pump of the target muscles more.  The finisher is Parallel Grip Pull-Ups.  Stuck with 8 reps.  All in all, a good routine.

Moving right into abs, everything was pretty much the same, but it was a little easier than the last few times.  One thing I wanted to say the past few times I did this routine I have been doing something I wasn't able to do before.  On the Oblique Leg Lifts, I usually am on my elbow and I pump out 12 reps instead of 8 reps, but these past few times, I've been trying it on my finger tips like Chalene does it for the advanced people.  Oh man, does that ever change up the game.  Much more of a burn in the Obliques.  When things get easier in this routine, it is easy to make each move more intense so it never gets too easy.  Still getting that good burn by the end of each move.

In the end, I torched a good 800+kcals.  Had a good pump and burn all the way through.  Now, off to class.