12-19-17 (Tuesday) HY: TCF + Pickle-Ball + OCR Dead Hang + Ab EMS.

12-19-17 (Tuesday) HY: TCF + Pickle-Ball + OCR Dead Hang + Ab EMS.

Today was C-C-C-o-l-d.  The gym was colder, much like an ice box.  I got to the gym a little early and warmed up.  I also did a long Flow series.  It was a little disorienting doing the Flow in a wide open space.  None of my regular points of reference so I had to trust my motion and muscle memory.  I had a smooth and clean Flow.

We were both dressed for the cold, but even just moving was cold because our movement cause a breeze around our bodies of cold air.  We took a little longer to warm up, but it was well worth the effort.  I Started out ON FIRE!!!  My shot, angles, depth were spot on and played to perfection.  I leaped out to a 14-0 lead.  Then I cooled off a bit, but I was able to close out the game 15-4.  The second game was exactly like the first which I also took 15-4.  The third game was a little more competitive with more serve changes, but less points on serve.  I took that game 15-3.  Our final game, John was noticeably more aggressive.  He got his first lead at 2-3.  He kept the lead for a short time and I took it back and kept it from 6-5.  I ended up taking the game 15-8.  I was just firing on all cylinders.  John really had to work for most of his points.  I wasn't giving hardly and freebies.  It was a great way to close out the year, with a dominating sweep in harsh conditions.  Now, if I can translate this success to tennis, my tournament in January is going to be a piece of cake. LOL!

When I got home, my daughter was waiting for me.  She didn't go to school today because she was not feeling well.  So, when I got home, we played some games together.  It was a nice break for her from her homework.  When she went back to it, I got to my Dead Hang.  I had a Quad-split today: 60-60-30-30-60 seconds.  That is my official time, but I actually started the hang with my old Lifting Gloves.  I dug them out and put them on and tried on the bar with no padding.  It was okay at first, but the old leather was slippery and inside the gloves, the wrinkled and creased leather was cutting into my fingers where I was gripping the bar.  So I tapped out after about 20 seconds.  I took off the gloves reset, then went back to the new pads I used for the first time yesterday.  I was disappointed that I couldn't get more than a minute, but I was happy that I could do a minute twice in a row.  On my third hang, I tried no pads on the bare bar.  That was a disaster.  If felt okay at first, but about 10 seconds in, my hands started to sweat and it was all I could do to stay on the bar for 30 seconds.  The fourth hang, I tried the original pads, but that wasn't much better.  So, for the fifth and final hang, I went back to the new pads and I crushed the final minute. 

Later in the evening, I got in my Ab EMS. Both lower and upper abs.

In the end, I burned just over 800kcals.  This time, I'm sure the cold temperature in the gym had a huge influence on the calorie burn.  Playing that hard would have easily pushed me over 1000kcals.  Great fun today!  See you next year Pickle-Ball!!!

12-18-17 (Monday) HY: OCR Dead Hang, Day 18 + ChaLEAN Extreme - Burn Circuit 1 + TCF + Ab EMS.

12-18-17 (Monday) HY: OCR Dead Hang, Day 18 + ChaLEAN Extreme - Burn Circuit 1 + TCF + Ab EMS.

Today is normally Pickle-Ball day, but due to schedule changes because of teachers on leave, we had to pick up the slack and take some extra classes.  So Pickle-Ball has been moved to tomorrow.  So, I knew that I wanted today to be resistance day but what program?  I decided to go with ChaLEAN Extreme.  I was wavering as to which program I should do.  Going back to P90X and going from the beginning was an option, but for now, with the holidays coming up and my son coming home next week, I won't have a lot of time, so I will end the year with Chalene and then start P90X early next year, once I've gone through the resistance routines with Chalene.  I know that Chalene does the slower reps that burnout the grip, so I decided to go with the Dead Hang first.

With the new grips and I actually remembered to stretch and warm up my forearms today... for the first time, I thought that I would crush 90 seconds, maybe even go to 2 minutes.  But huge let down, I still had a quad-split: 80-50-30-30-30(+29) seconds.  My total was supposed to be 3:50 today, but I mis-calculated and I stopped at 30 seconds on what was supposed to be the last hang.  But when I rechecked, I was 10 seconds off, so instead of just doing the final 10 seconds, I went for as long as I could and ended up missing one more 30 by one second.  I just couldn't hang on one more second.  So, I did a little overtime today, but that was only the beginning.

As you know, I do extra pull-ups when I do ChaLEAN Extreme.  But this time around, since I'm doing the OCR Dead Hang with 5kgs, I am keeping the 5kgs as I do the Pull-Ups as well.  As far as the weight is concerned for this routine, I pretty much kept the same weight for each move as I did the last run through this routine which was about 8 months ago, back in April.  I upped the weight on only three moves, Moves #6, #7, and #9.  The back of the shoulder moves, I did with 6.25kgs.  I have a huge range-of-motion issue with the back of the shoulders, so I stayed a little lighter, but pushed the RoM.  Really tough on slow reps.  A few anomalies, Move #3, I did on the Stands, and kept the raised leg raised until each rep was completed.  On Move #7, I have a "6" with an "str' below it.  What happened there was my forearms gave out at the 5th rep, and I barely made it through the 6th rep carrying the 19.5kgs in head hand.  So, for the second set of 6, I had to use straps to hold the dumbbells.  On the 9th and final move, I did the same move for the Burnout.  I did the Push-Ups as a separate move after the last set of Pull-ups.  I got in 34 reps in the allotted time.  For the extra sets of Pull-Ups, their rep count is on the very right of the columns.  I did all four sets with the 5kg Med Ball between my legs.  But I was surprised by what I was able to do.  I was able to keep pace with mhy  "last time" self and even surpass it... albeit a small jump in rep count.  I was happy.  On the last set of Pull-Ups, my grip just totally gave out.  Then I hammered out 34 Push-Ups during the time of the final Burnout, a new record for me.  I got a huge pump and burn today.

I finished off with a nice Flow series and then just before going to bed, I did my Am EMS.

In the end, I burned 737kcals.  I thought it would be higher, but I guess with the temperatures plummeting, and the slow reps, I should have known. :-)

12-17-17 (Sunday) HY: Tennis + OCR Dead Hang Challenge, Day 17 + Ab EMS.

12-17-17 (Sunday) HY: Tennis + OCR Dead Hang Challenge, Day 17 + Ab EMS.

Today was the regular tennis day.  It was really cold, but at least the sun was out.  Below you can see one of the two the regular courts we play on.  I was a little worried that we couldn't play today because it was raining most of the day yesterday, so I was happy that it cleared up.  We did two drills today, Stroke and Volley, and Serve and Return.  Then, we went into matches.  We paired up and got in some match play.  Something we don't do every time especially when there are a lot of people, but today, we were able to get matches in.  I got a good warm up and thanks to that, I was firing on all cylinders through the drills.  Confidence is building.  When it is cold, I am a slow starter until I warm up.  So I need to improve my warm up time so I don't fall behind in a match after a long wait.  I'm going to have to do that in my up coming tournament.  It was a bit warm in the sun but there was also a lot of wind that brought on the wind chill.  But it was a fun day.

I could feel a sore point in my right forearm after the tennis, and I knew it would hinder my Dead Hang, so I waited for as long as I could so my muscle could rest and recover.  I eventually got the hang in at 9pm.  I also used the different grips that helped a lot.  I was able to get back to a quad-split:  80-60-40-25-15 seconds.  It was my right arm that let me down today, but I'm glad I didn't get a Penta-Split like yesterday.  I don't want to do THAT again!

Before going to bed, I got in a good 40 minutes of Ab EMS.  Missed it yesterday, so I wanted to be sure to get it in today.

In the end, I burned just under 1700kcals.  I was a little surprised since it was cold.  But I guess I was doing a lot of moving around.  Great way to start off my week.

12-16-17 (Saturday) HY: 12 Days of Fitmas Challenge, Day 12 + ORC Dead Hang Challenge, Day 16.

12-16-17 (Saturday) HY: 12 Days of Fitmas Challenge, Day 12 + ORC Dead Hang Challenge, Day 16.

Same as last week, today is an off day but I had a couple challenges to complete so I went ahead and did them.

Today is the final day of the 12 Days of Fitmas Challenge.  The final day of the challenge, so I had to get it done even on my off day.  And I had to raise the intensity a bit were I could.  The final move was Cross Crunches/Bicycle Crunches, followed by the other 11 moves.  Check out the pic below to see all the move.  Day 11's Push-Ups, I did Plyo Push Ups.  For Day 10 I did Double Scissor Jacks, a Shaun T move where we jump and cross and uncross in the air and land feet apart.  That is pretty much all I could do as far as changing the move itself, but all the other moves, I just went as hard as possible with range of motion.  It was a great little routine.  Oh, and in the picture below, the order got a little mixed up.  The Day 11 spot should be inserted into the Day 5 spot, Burpees.  The pic is the advanced position of lowering my chest to the ground.

I ended up with the OCR Dead Hang Challenge.  My hands were a big problem tonight.  They were warm and as a result, a little pudgy.  There was a lot of pinching pain and I let myself down.  I did a Penta-Split: 60-30-30-30-30-30 seconds.  After the initial minute, I just couldn't hang for more than 30 seconds, the pain was too much.  I suddenly realized that I have better pads that I will use from tomorrow.

No HRM today, so just the moves.  But it was nice to complete the Challenge!

12-15-17 (Friday) HY: 12 Days of Fitmas, Day 11 + OCR Dead Hang, Day 15 + ChaLEAN Extreme - Burn it Off + TCF.

12-15-17 (Friday) HY: 12 Days of Fitmas, Day 11 + OCR Dead Hang, Day 15 + ChaLEAN Extreme - Burn it Off + TCF.

This day did not go as planned at all.  I was planning to wake up, have a shake, do a morning workout, get to work, come home, do the Dead Hang, and relax.  First and Last things happened, but the middle was all messed up.  I woke up and was getting ready for my shake, as per my regular routine (Thanks to the flex-time schedule), when it struck me, I had to go into work to sub for a teacher who is on leave for medical reasons.  It was 8:15am and it takes an hour for me to get to work.  I, still in my pajamas, just changed my pants and put a pull-over sweater on and dashed out the door... with my shake.  I had my shake in the car.  I would have been starving otherwise.  Anyway, suffice it to say that everything worked out and everyone was happy.  But that sure was a shock to the system.

When I got home, the house was empty, so I was able to get right to my workout.  I only had about 2 hours to get the main workout done.  Again, I did the 12 Days of Fitmas Challenge to warm up.  Today's new move was just good ol' Push-Ups.  But this time, no leisurely pace, I did them BANG-BANG-BANG, one move right after another, no break, no slowing down.  All the eleven moves took just over 13 minutes.  About the same time as Cold Start, but I burned just about double the calories.

Since my arms and hand were fresh I went for the Dead Hang.  It was a good hang, but still a triple-split: 80-50-30-40 seconds.  I really want to get to at least 90 seconds on the initial hang with the 5kgs.  So, I might go for one more week with the 5kgs, and then blow it up on the last week.  We'll see.

My legs were already screaming that soft scream so I decided to go with a cardio routine that offered a little bit of a break between moves, unlike T25, so I went with Chalene's "Burn it Off".  Short, intense, and fun.  But what I forgot were the moves in this routine.  Several of the moves in Burn it Off are in the 12 Days of Fitmas.  Like the Plyo Lunge, Skaters, Side Plank, and Burpees.  That just burn my legs and glutes even more.  But it was a good routine.  I finished the workout with a good Flow series.

Later in the evening, I got in my Ab EMS.  Good to get those hardened abs stimulated.

In the end, I burned 758kcals.  That is way more than I had expected with the time I had, so I was very satisfied.  Nice way to finish off my workout week.  Happy Weekend, Everyone!

12-14-17 (Thursday) HY: 12 Days of Fitmas, Day 10 + Insanity - Upper Body Weight Training + TCF + OCR Dead Hang Challenge, Day 14 + Ab EMS.

12-14-17 (Thursday) HY: 12 Days of Fitmas, Day 10 + Insanity - Upper Body Weight Training + TCF + OCR Dead Hang Challenge, Day 14 + Ab EMS.

Today was a morning workout, starting with my shake.  I was sort of thinking of doing Cold Start to warm up, but then I figured to just go ahead and do the 12 Days of Fitmas Challenge as my warm up.  It worked like a charm!  Today's new move was Cross Jacks!  I did all the moves top to bottom and the Plyo Lunges is where it becomes real.  Followed by two minutes of Skaters, that's no joke!

I wanted to get a resistance workout in and wasn't sure what next routine was in P90X3.  And since my schedule sort of mess up my "Two resistance day a week" deal, I wanted to do something that would burn my upper body.  So, I finally decided on Insanity: Upper Body Weight Training.  I haven't done this routine in about six months, so I was happy to do it one more time this year.  I basically kept the same weight range as the last time, with a few minor changes in the middle set.  Last time, the first two sets were relatively light with only a slight increase in the second set, then a big increase in the third set.  This time, I evened out the increase so the 1st to 2nd, and 2nd to 3rd had almost the same increase.  You can see what I did on the Worksheet below.  I really like this routine because of the Cardio/Resistance combo.  I pushed it hard, and I got some good pump and burn.  But the next time I do this routine, and if I am at the same strength level, I have to go up in weight on the weighted moves.  The cardio really winded me, though.  Especially the Power Jumps, but by the time I got to the final circuit, I must have hit a second wind because the Ski Abs were no problem, even the last set.

I finished out the morning session with a good Flow series.  I felt good and smooth with my Flow.

There was still a little pain in my right forearm so I wanted it to get a few hours more of rest, so I left the Dead Hang for the evening.  When I got to it, I felt good, but I still had a triple split: 70-60-30-30 seconds.  My initial hang is getting longer, but I really want to hit at least 90 with the 5kgs.  One thing I forgot to mention last night is that I noticed that my tennis game was a lot more solid all around and I think it can be directly attributed to a stronger grip.  Volleys were crisp, strokes were powerful, and I just felt more stable with my racket handling.  Great benefits already making themselves apparent.

I also was able to get in an Ab EMS session before going to bed.  I had missed two days in a row and I really didn't want to make it three.

In the end, I burned 913kcals in the morning session and burned out my forearms in the evening.  All in all, a good day.

12-13-17 (Wednesday) HY: Tennis + OCR Dead Hang Day 13 + 12 Days of Fitmas Day 9 + TCF + Ab EMS.

12-13-17 (Wednesday) HY: Tennis + OCR Dead Hang Day 13 + 12 Days of Fitmas Day 9 + TCF + Ab EMS.

Today was the first time in a couple weeks that the weather actually wasn't rainy so Tennis was on as scheduled in the scheduled venue.  The bad thing is that temperatures were hovering around freezing.  There is a reason why the pro tennis circuit ends its season in October.  It was absolutely freezing at the courts.  I prepared for the cold by wearing 4 layers on top and two thick layers on the bottom.  I also was planning to do the Dead Hang before tennis because my right forearm would be tired, but that didn't work out.  So I ended up doing the challenges at home after tennis.

I wore a knit hat, and I quickly started to sweat, but I couldn't take it off because my head would get too cold.  So, I ended up just keeping the hat on, but folding up the rim so I could keep the cold and warmth in balance.  But I kept on sweating.  I had to keep that in check so I wouldn't catch cold.  Despite the cold, my strokes were comfortable.  I was doing some great volley rallies, and my overall level of comfortableness on court was high.  I was moving well, and striking the ball well.   Unfortunately, there was no server drills tonight, but I'll need to get that in soon.  By the end of the session, it was getting too cold, so when we stopped, I kept moving.  The moment I stopped, I would start to get cold.  This type of practice is also conditioning for the January tournament.  I was wondering how I would play in the cold, and this gave me a good indication of that.  I need to keep getting used to playing in these conditions.

When I got home, I was cold, but I needed to get my challenges done, so I went through them as quickly as possible.  I started with the Dead Hang still in my tennis gear, and there was no pinching pain at all.  So all the pain was concentrated on my forearms.  Had a triple split again: 70-50-30-30 seconds for a total of 3 minutes.  It felt good to break one minute especially with my 5kgs. 

I went through the 12 Days of Fitness as well.  The new move today was Mountain Climbers.  After crushing them, we did all the other moves.  But I was tired, so my pace was way off my previous days.  I think I still crushed it, though.

I got in my Flow series, then took a shower.  After relaxing a while, I went for the Ab EMS.  I had missed two days because of my weird schedule, but I'm back today.  Getting those abs hard.

In the end, I burned just over 1600kcals.  That number kind of surprised me because of the cold.  I thought it would be much lower.