Wk 5, D5. T25-Alpha: Lower Focus + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + Raise Hand/Pulling Knee Combo.

Wk 5, D5. T25-Alpha: Lower Focus + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + Raise Hand/Pulling Knee Combo.

 

NAILED IT!!! Along with a Straight 25! I don't want to jinx anything, but near the end, I was actually thinking, "This is easy, I could do more!" But at the end, my legs were feeling it! Great workout and a sweaty workout.

 

This combo is my favorite of the Phase 2 Combos. The direction change, the sweeping movements of the arms and hands, the balanced leg raise. So characteristic of Chinese Martial Arts. LOVE IT!!! I can't wait to do the whole sequence next week. At the same time, a little nervous.

 

In addition to this, I did three sets of Chair dips: 100-100-50. Still working towards conquering a muscle up!

Wk 5, D4. T25-Alpha: Cardio + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + Push/Single Whip Combo.

Wk 5, D4. T25-Alpha: Cardio + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + Push/Single Whip Combo.

Got a lot of sleep, drank a lot of water, felt awesome. NAILED CARDIO!  Straight 25! No Doubt! Still had pain near the end of the run progression, but not like the first time. I think my foundation is strong. Feeling better about moving on to Beta next week. The real test comes tomorrow with the third installment of TBC.

Second time around for this combo. Felt good, but when my weight was on my right leg, my knee felt a bit gimpy. Cartilage doesn't regenerate so I better be careful.

Good overall workout today. Burned just over 600kcals.

Wk 5, D3. T25-Alpha: Total Body Circuit + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + Bear Comes out of Cave/White Crane Spreads Wings Combo + Tennis.

Wk 5, D3. T25-Alpha: Total Body Circuit + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + Bear Comes out of Cave/White Crane Spreads Wings Combo + Tennis.

I didn't look at the schedule until this morning and I was like WHAT? I just did Total Body Circuit on Sunday. Then I looked later and I have it one more time. That's THREE TIMES in one week! WOW!

I haven't fully recovered from my busy and active last few days, but I did get a lot of sleep so I felt good in the morning. I didn't get a Straight 25, but the number of breaks was down to only two and they were much shorter than in the past. It was a good sweaty workout!

This was a good combo, last of the phase before we go through the combos again. I really felt good and was able to do it a few additional times. It was so good! I'll have a good time going through the combos one more time this week. I am starting to keep my hips tucked naturally, but I have to keep low when I shift from foot to foot. I still raise up a bit instead of keeping the low flow. Still not even close to perfect, but am having a great time with Tai Cheng!

Tennis right after, I was feeling tired, but I really wanted to play so I got to it! For some reason, the tennis venue was extremely busy today, a lot of distractions and people. Took a little longer to get warmed up, but got into it. Ground strokes were solid. Timing was on and off. But took the match. Final score, 6-2, 6-0, 6-3.

In the end, I burned just over 1800kcals today. Good up-hump day!

Wk 5, D2. T25-Alpha: Ab Intervals + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + Raise Hand/Pulling Knee Combo.

Wk 5, D2. T25-Alpha: Ab Intervals + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + Raise Hand/Pulling Knee Combo.

Really needed this less intense workout today. Sort of a working out cool off time. The past two days were strenuous but awesome. I was interrupted a couple times, but not too much extra time was needed. Abs seem to be getting stronger, but still far from my goal.

Tai Cheng was good today, too. Love the combo. I sort of miss the application part. The reason for not doing it was that they showed the application in the static moves. Bummer. I really liked the application.

Good workout today!

Wk 5, D1. T25-Alpha: Total Body Circuit + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + Push/Single Whip Combo, + AM Tennis.

Wk 5, D1. T25-Alpha: Total Body Circuit + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + Push/Single Whip Combo, + AM Tennis.

In the morning, I woke up with my son in my face asking to play tennis. Two hours later I was on the court. Thankfully, I wasn't feeling too sore from the mountain climbing the previous day, except for my ankles. Plus, I wasn't moving as well as I expected at first. It took longer than usual to get my footing as well. We only had time to play one set after warming up but it was the closest he's ever been to beating me. I went down 0-3, then 2-5. I came back to win in a tie-breaker. I underestimated his game at first, but I'll have to play hard from the beginning next time, and there will be a next time, soon. Now that he has almost tasted victory over me, he wants to play again... soon.

Very tired, I took a rest and started my regular workout a few hours later.

Fortunately, today was Total Body Circuit. I say "fortunately" because I don't think I could have handled any of the lower body stuff today. When I started, my ankles were really sore and feeling a bit weak. With TBC, there isn't a lot of continuous run progressions or lower body progressions, rather it is broken up with upper body progressions so my legs could take a short break. I wasn't expecting to do a Straight 25 either, I was already too tired to expect that, but surprisingly, I went all the way to the burn out then had to take a quick 20 second breather and got a drink. then I completed the whole burn out, but had to take another break just before starting the Plank Runs. Then, after the 25 minutes, I took a couple of minutes longer before starting the cool down. Over all, felt good. I was sort of planning in my head to modify, but once Shaun T starts yelling at me, I can't modify. I guess adrenalin took over and I was pushing as hard a usual.

The first Combo in Phase two was really complicated. I had to really pay attention to the moves and the footwork. This is the first time that Dr. Cheng has taught footwork alone first before adding the upper body movements. A lot of intricate moves and new moves that I had to really watch. I went over the combo a few times on both sides after the class finished. I'm looking forward to doing this one again on Wednesday. Today's foam rolling really hit the spot and ironed out some of my leg issues. Love that thing!

In all, I burned close to 2100kcals today. Great way to start the week. Then I had Greenberry Shakeology for dinner! Apples are in season here now, so I added some apples to the mix and boy did it taste even better than usual. Two big changes in my Shakeology recently is 1. I don't use Soy Milk anymore. and 2. I don't use bananas anymore. I think the change has had a good effect on me. Can't wait for more!

Hope everyone has had a good weekend! The week starts... NOW!

Wk 4, D7. Off Day.

Wk 4, D7. Off Day.

Normally, I wouldn't write anything for a day off, but it wasn't a regular day off. I climbed a mountain with my family. It was a 6km round trip up and down. I was also carrying all the food and water (voluntarily) up the mountain.

The great thing is that I could really feel the benefits of T25, especially on the climb. My legs felt strong and I was able to keep a steady pace helping those who needed help as well.

On the way down, I really felt it in my quads, but not so much as to kill me. My right knee did feel a bit gimpy and my back started to stiffen up. Coming down put a lot of pressure on my joints.

Then, there was a park at the bottom of the climb that had like 18 obstacles, sort of like American Ninja Warrior. Some of the obstacles were very similar like the rope swing to the cargo net climb at the end of stage one. I always thought that those obstacles were easy, but once I actually tried it, WOW! A lot harder than it looks! But had an awesome time! Gotta go again!

Wk 4, D6. T25-Alpha: Speed 1.0 + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + White Crane Spreads Wings.

Wk 4, D6. T25-Alpha: Speed 1.0 + Tai Cheng: Neural Reboot P2 + White Crane Spreads Wings.

Good day with a STRAIGHT 25! I had forgotten how fast I had to move my feet on this one. I had to really push it to keep up with the crew. I felt really light on my feet today at the beginning for a good 15 minutes plus. But I also forgot that the Burn Out was close to 8 minutes long with no Stretch relief. During the burn out my arches started to really feel it. but the pain was no where near the pain of four week prior. I can honestly say... NAILED IT!!!

In Tai Cheng, this is the move I have been waiting for. Something with "Crane" in it. I really got my Bruce Lee on today. Felt like Bruce Lee in Chinese Connection when his hand were getting all tracky on that Russian's butt! Love IT!!!

Also, to finish off my week, I did 5 sets of 50 chair tricep dips and weighed in.  At the end of week 4, I have lost 3.3kgs, or 7.27pounds! So I'm averaging 1.8pounds per week. I think that is a good pace.  If I keep this up, I'll hit my goal and then some by the end of the year. To reach my goal, I need to lose 6 more kilograms, or a little over 13 pounds. Gotta do it! That cheese cake is waiting for me at New Year's! LOL! Just kidding!

Great way to finish off the week. Got a surprise planned for tomorrow! Can't wait!  AHHHH, the weekend's here! Come to Papa!