12-12-17 (Tuesday) HY: OCR Dead Hang Day 12 + 12 Days of Fitmas Day 8 + TCF.

12-12-17 (Tuesday) HY: OCR Dead Hang Day 12 + 12 Days of Fitmas Day 8 + TCF.

Well today was an extremely busy day.  I had to leave early and I was in class or meetings all day.  I didn't have time to breathe until almost 6pm.  But then I had a Christmas Party with one of my night classes I teach.  I had a lot to eat, but it was mostly white chicken meat and some beef with a ton of veggies.  I was quite full and the end of the evening, but I wasn't heavy.  When I got home after my hour drive, I was feeling good enough to get in a little supplemental workout of just the challenges and my Flow.

I started off with the Dead Hang because I wanted to try it fresh.  It was a lot better than yesterday.  I had a triple split: 80-30-30-30 Seconds.  There was no hand skin pinching issue for some reason.  I was able to grip the bar cleanly and lasted the longest yet with the 5kgs.

Then I moved to the 12 Days of Fitmas Day 8.  The new move today was Alternating Lunges.  But I upped the intensity and did Alternating Jumping Lunges.  I made the mistake before of starting from Day 1 then climbing to the latest day.  But I'm supposed to do it like the song and start with the newest day and count down.  It is a huge difference ending with those longer timed moves, especially the 3 minutes of Plyo Lunge and 2 minutes of Skaters.  Legs and glutes were screaming.

I finished out with a good Flow series.  Missed it a bit there, but I was able to keep it smooth and clean.

In the end, since I didn't use my HRM, no calorie count, but I took an hour to get through everything.  But I would guess I burned in the 300kcal range.

12-11-17 (Monday) HY: Pickle-Ball + 12 Day of Fitmas Day 7 + TCF + OCR Dead Hang Day 11.

12-11-17 (Monday) HY: Pickle-Ball + 12 Day of Fitmas  Day 7 + TCF + OCR Dead Hang Day 11.

Today, we had to play in the afternoon.  But it was actually good because the gym had a chance to warm up a little.  Today, we used new balls that I thought were a little softer and had more give, however, they were just the opposite.  They played a lot like tennis balls.  We had gotten the range of the old balls, so with these new balls, our range was so off.  Shots the would normally be "in" flew way out.  So, we had to adjust our individual play style to fit the new balls.  I was able to adjust a lot quicker.  In the first game, I won 15-1.  Only a few serve exchanges.  It was total domination.  The second game was a little more competitive.  A lot of good shots and hustle.  Once I jumped out to the lead, I pretty much held it the whole time.  I took the second game 15-11.  In the third game, I hit a slump and John jumped out to a quick lead and I was playing catch up the whole game.  But I did catch him at the last moment and got to 13-13.  I really wanted to close it out, but I just couldn't so I lost that game 13-15.  The final game was extremely close.  We were trading serve over and over again.  The lead also changed hands several times.  And again we got to 13-13.  Then 14-14.  I was able to edge out in front and then finally close it out. 16-14.  We had a great time.

I was thinking to do the Dead Hang at the gym, but the bar was ice cold so I decided not to.  Plus, I didn't have the 5kgs to weight myself down, so I just waited to do it at home.  But I did do the 12 Days of Fitmas at the gym.  The new move was Plank Jacks so I was able to knock them out along with the other six moves.  I had to slow my pace down a bit because my lower body was dead tired.  I finished up with a Flow series... in the coldness of the gym.

When I got home, in the evening, I did the Dead Hang.  Today was one of those “One-step-back” days. The problem was so much my grip strength as the skin on my hands getting that severe pinched feeling. Started right from the first seconds, then I realized that I still had my wedding ring on. But even after I removed it, I got pinched at other places on my hands. six splits today: 20-20-20-40-30-30. Forearms got a great pump.

In the end, I burned 1003kcals during the Pickle-Ball and 12 Day of Fitmas Challenge.  Dead Hang not included.  But it was an awesome day.

12-10-17 (Sunday) HY: Tennis + 12 Day Day 6 + OCR DHC Day 10 + TCF + Ab EMS.

12-10-17 (Sunday) HY: Tennis + 12 Day Day 6 + OCR DHC Day 10 + TCF + Ab EMS.

Tennis day!  Unfortunately, the clouds were looming large and we had to change venues to an indoor court.  It was freezing cold at the court because it was way in the sticks.  I guess it's not really an indoor court, rather a court with a roof and support walls, but it offers no protection against the cold.  There were a lot of people for such a cold day.  I was actually surprised at the turn out.  But everyone was moving to stay warm.  My strokes were still feeling solid and even though I had some trouble tracking the ball at first, once I locked on, I was hitting the ball well.  My serve also was working well.  I'm a little surprised because my toss used to be out in front, but now, my better serves are hit with a more overhead toss.  The kind of toss used for a kick serve.   So, overall, I was happy with my performance today.  The only thing I was not happy with is that the club couldn't get more than two hours on the covered court so we had to end early.  This was a blessing in disguise so I could do my challenges at home.

As soon as I got home, I started on the challenges.  The new move for today in the 12 Days of Fitmas challenge is 6 reps of Supermans (3 second hold).  This move combined with the weighted dead hang in the OCR challenge is GOLD!  Anyway, I crushed the 6 Days and went right to the Dead Hang.  It was 2:30 today, but with the addition of 5kgs, and my right hand a bit tired from tennis, I was thinking it was going to be tough... and it was.  I did a multi-split:  60-30-30-20-10.  I just couldn't hold on for that last 30 seconds and hand to tap out at 20.  Knocked off the last 10 with no problem.  But my right hand was noticeably tired, and my right forearm was more sore/painful than the previous days.  I really need that super grip strength.

In the evening, I finished off with my Flow series and the Ab EMS.  I can feel my abs hardening.  Hoping for some good results by the end of the month.

In the end, I burned just under 800kcals.  Again, the cold was a huge factor in the calorie burn.  But it was a good way to start my week.

12-09-17 (Saturday) HY: 12 Days of Fitmas Day 5 + OCR Dead Hang Day 9 + Ab EMS + TCF.

12-09-17 (Saturday) HY: 12 Days of Fitmas Day 5 + OCR Dead Hang Day 9 + Ab EMS + TCF.

Usually, Saturday is an off day, but since I'm all caught up in these challenges, it can't be a full off day.  I had to get my challenges done, SOOOO, I went through all my challenges and crushed them.

I did the Dead Hang first.  As I said yesterday, I wanted to up the ante and do something that would hopefully increase the improvement speed.  So this is it.  I am adding a 5kg med ball to the challenge.  I am going to use that ball for a week and see how it goes the day after without the ball, most likely next Saturday night.  My best straight time was 90 seconds one week into the challenge.  Now, I want to see how more stress will improve the training.  Day 9 is 2 minutes and 20 seconds.  I did it with three divisions: 60-40-30-10.  Those last 8 seconds in the 30 second block were torture!  The burn was majorly intense and painful.  I couldn't finish out with 40 seconds.  I had to tap out, then come back with a tiny 10 seconds which were no problem.

For the 12 Day of Fitmas, the Day 5 move is Burpees.  Thankfully NOT 5 miniutes, rather, only 5 reps.  We were given three options, Easy, Intermediate, and Advanced.  I added a fourth option, "Super Advanced"  The difference is that I did a Tuck Jump at the end, not just a high jump.  I crushed Day 5 and all the other four days.

I got my Ab EMS in and finished my day with my Flow series. 

In the end, it was just a filler for today, so no HRM.  But I was happy with especially the Dead Hang.

12-08-17 (Friday) HY: 12 Days of Fitmas Day 4 + OCR Dead Hang Day 8 + T25 - Alpha: Total Body Circuit + TCF + Ab EMS.

12-08-17 (Friday) HY: 12 Days of Fitmas Day 4 + OCR Dead Hang Day 8 + T25 - Alpha: Total Body Circuit + TCF + Ab EMS.

Had an early work day and an event at noon, so I was able to get home a little earlier than usual.  When I got home, I was all alone and free to get to my workout as quickly as I needed.  CONFESSION!!!  I have the Baskin Robbins app on my phone and my Birthday is in December, so I got a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream.  I was free today, so I went and redeemed the coupon.  I got a regular scoop of Cinnamon Roll Ice Cream.  It was delicious.  So when I got home, I wanted to work that baby off.

I was totally planning to do Cold Start so as I was getting ready, the idea of warming up with the 12 Days of Fitmas popped into my head.  So, to save time (I was under a little bit of a time crunch), I decided to try and warm up with the four moves in the 12 Days of Fitmas Challenge.  The four moves are Side Plank, Skaters, Lunge Jumps, and the new one High Knee Walk/Run for four minutes alternating every minute.  The middle two moves really warmed up my lower body and got my legs pumped.  It actually served as a pretty good warm up.  I was having some technical problems, so I did the Dead Hand also.  Today was 2 minutes and 10 seconds.  It was a good hang, and my record for long hang.  I did a single split: 90-40 seconds.  I was so happy that I decided to up the ante  from tomorrow.

I started Total Body Circuit with the goal of doing a straight 25, not rest.  As I started, I felt really good.  It was a going well with all the progressions.  I was thinking I was going to crush it when I hit the last progression in the regular routine.  The Push-Up progression ending with the Spider Push-Ups.  I was barely knocking those out when the time ended and the BURNOUT time came.  Unfortunately, I was burned out on Spider Push-Ups and the first move in the Burnout is the Shoulder Tap Push-Up.  I couldn't even get one done.  I had to tap out of it.  I was so very disappointed.  But I was able to finish the rest of the routine without taking a break, something I haven't done in a long time.

I finished out the routine with my time tested Flow Series.  I had some extra time, which is very rare, so I stretched out my inner thighs in my Butterfly Stretch.  I was able to get my knees to the floor, just barely.

In the end, I burned a good 650+kcals.  I was very happy to finish on a positive note and crush all my routines.

In the evening, I did my usual Ab EMS session.  Abs feel strong so I'm feeling okay about it.

12-07-17 (Thursday) HY: P90X3 - Cold Start + 12 Days of Fitmas Challenge (12 DoFC) Day 3 + OCR Dead Hang Challenge (DHC) + TCF + P90X3 - Eccentric Upper + Ab EMS.

12-07-17 (Thursday) HY: P90X3 - Cold Start + 12 Days of Fitmas Challenge (12 DoFC) Day 3 + OCR Dead Hang Challenge (DHC) + TCF + P90X3 - Eccentric Upper + Ab EMS.

Quite an odd day today.  As you can see, the order of my workout is somewhat out of whack.  The reason is this; everything started out normally.  As I was getting ready to start my workout, I turned on my computer and got Cold Start running and I was following along.  Then a notification popped up on the monitor asking me if I wanted to update something.  Since I was moving, I couldn't see what it was really asking.  So, at the end of Cold Start, I just clicked "YES".  Then the process started.  I didn't think it would take too long, but then I realized that it was updating my whole OS, and it ended up taking almost half an hour.  During that time, I did the 3 moves (Side Plank, Skaters, and the new one, Plyo Lunges).  The new move, Plyo Lunges, really worked my glutes.  In the time, I got 40+ reps per side.  Good lower body work.  Balancing my upper body workout.  I got my Dead Hang in as well.  Went for 2 minutes today.  I tried to use towels to pad my hands, but it didn't work as I had envisioned it.  Even though the towels were on the existing padding, it was still too slippery, and I ended up ditching the towels after my first tap out.  My grip just gave out, especially on my right side, the side I thought was my stronger side.  But it turns out that I have more burn in the right forearm than the left.  Anyway, the split was as follows in seconds: 60-30-20-10.  Those last 5 seconds were the most brutal thus far.  The OS Update was still going on after all that so I decided to do my Flow series as well.  Everything was fine, but no computer.  I didn't have the time to mess around, so I just started the routine on my own.

Major changes from last time have to do with the Pull-Ups.  Last time I used a ladder to rest my feet on, but this time, I went with the green assistance band, and it was great.  Doing a workout in silence is not really fun at all.  I was able to remember all the moves, except move 3. Military Press.  I wasn't sure if that was on my back like a chest press, or something else.  So I just went with a Chest Press and I upped the weight to 14.5kgs.  Everything went as before, in straight sets that were reps of 10.  I was on move 10. Staggered Push-Ups when the upload finally finished.  So, I got the DVD running.  I did the Tony warm up at the beginning, then I jumped the DVD to the next move, move 11. Lateral/Anterior Raise.  On the worksheet, I changed the notation of some move reps.  On moves that were previously "10" and now "5-5", basically that means that it was a move where one leg/foot was in front of the other in a lunge stance.  I did 5 reps with the right leg forward, and then 5 reps with the left leg forward.  That worked out my lower body as well.  I was really feeling pumped after this workout.  I felt the 40% gains.  Huge pump and burn.  Felt good to start my day with an intense workout. 

In the evening, I got my Ab EMS in.  I was skeptical, but I'm slowly becoming a believer.

In the end, I burned 792kcals.  A little disappointed that I couldn't hit that 800 mark, but I know there are other more important things to consider. 

12-06-17 (Wednesday) HY: P90X3 - X3 Yoga + OCR Dead Hang Challenge + 12 Days of Fitness + TCF + Ab EMS.

12-06-17 (Wednesday) HY: P90X3 - X3 Yoga + OCR Dead Hang Challenge + 12 Days of Fitness + TCF + Ab EMS.

Well, since today and this week is somewhat back to a normal schedule, I was able to fit in a yoga routine.  But since I've got a lot of stuff going on, it had to be X3 Yoga.

To make a Not-so-long story shorter, today's yoga was a lot better than last time's session.  Half-Moon was way more stable, I didn't fall out of the Wrap, and I didn't tap out of any big moves.  My crow was still not as good as way before, but I am glad that there wasn't any hip flexor issues on any of the leg moves.  The room was cold so I didn't sweat that much.  But I was basically happy with my performance today.

I did the two challenges in succession so here are a couple shots of those activities.  I'm up to 1:50 minutes on the Dead Hang and Day 2 was two minutes of Skaters.  I needed only one split today,  1:10 and :40.  But the last five seconds were absolute torturous forearm burn.

Two minutes of skaters! I love the move when I do it with Chalene or Tony, but two straight minutes is a lot tougher than it sounds.  I closed out the routine with a good Flow series.  Then in the evening, an hour of Ab EMS.

In the end, I only burned 252 Kcals, but the unmeasured benefits are immeasurable!  Refreshing start for a long day.