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.