7-31-15 HY: PiYo-Drench + Splits + TCF.

7-31-15 HY: PiYo-Drench + Splits + TCF.

Not 100% yet, but getting there.  Must be sort of a nasal thing because my nasal passages are producing too much stuff that need constant pneumatic removal.  It was planned from the beginning of the week that this particular routine would be my closer.  And perfect closer it was.

I was sore in my back and thighs.  Surprised that my chest wasn't more sore, but I'll take it.  I started the routine well, but stiff. The warm up got me loose quite quickly.  I was able to keep up with Chalene for basically the whole workout.  I say basically because I had to stop a few time in the first 10 minutes to cough and to clear my nasal passages. But once I got into the workout it all cleared up.  The first legs section was good, and I got a good burn, but it was the second leg section that almost took me out.  I got a major burn in my thigh that was just screaming for me to stop, but at that point I only had a few reps to finish so I stuck it out.  I couldn't do a full squat after that, but after a couple half-squats, I was back doing full ROM squats.  That happened on both sides.  The title lived up to its name today, I was DRENCHED and if there were more cardio type moves at the end instead of the flow, I would have done some major sprinkling all over my room.  It also didn't help things that I just got a hair cut so the sweat was literally pouring down my head and puddling on my mat.  Great routine to end my week with.

Splits felt good, and I think I was able to get a bit lower today, allowing me to edge off my plateau just a hair.  My Flow was also very solid.  Up until now, I have been Flowing at a natural pace. Next week, I'm going to push the pace and see how that affects things like my form and balance.  But for now, it is on to my off day.

In the end, I torched over 800kcals!  Big burn to finish off the week.

7-30-15 HY:ChaLEAN Extreme-Push Circuit 3 + P90X-Ab Ripper X + Splits + TCF.

7-30-15 HY:ChaLEAN Extreme-Push Circuit 3 + P90X-Ab Ripper X + Splits + TCF.

Feel better, but still not 100%.  The extreme heat isn't helping things either, but it is not as hot as it could be.  Odd schedule today, so no morning workout, but I still had my shake for breakfast. When I got home, I relaxed a bit and had a peanut-butter power ball and got to it.

Target muscles today were legs, back and chest.  with the legs, I went as heavy as possible.  Sumo squats were the heaviest I have at 50kgs.  But the next leg move, Bowler Lunges, I went down to 34kgs because my back could not handle the weight, but it was enough to get me to almost failure.  Went back to 50kgs for the single leg sumo squats.  The first set of rows was single arm, so I went with 25kgs on each arm.  But on the double are bent over rows, again, I went down to 17kgs in each hand because of my back.  I could go a bit heavier on the reverse grip rows at 19.5kgs.  Chest Flies were at 17kgs, but bench presses were at 25kgs.  I was also able to get the dumbbells up without help.  The final move, Long arm pull overs was at 22kgs.  I could really feel the flex in the chest and lats.  I had to go slow because I was almost cramping.  It was a great workout and I got a great pump and burn.  The plate shifts were quick today, so I only added a little less than 10 minutes to the routine.

I moved right into abs.  It has been a while since I did this one so I was looking forward to it.  This was on schedule the whole week.  As expected, I burned out.  I kept up all the way through to Mason Twist.  I finished the required 40 reps, but couldn't go on to the bonus.  I took a quick break then went back and did the bonus 10 reps.  burn Burn BURN!!!  Got a great ab pump and burn.  But here is the thing, the Ab Ripper X's 300+ rep pump and burn faded away within 10 minutes of finishing the routine.  As compared to Merciless Abs' 108 reps pump which lasted for almost an hour after the routine finished.  This shows me that slow reps do more than the fast reps which supports Chalene's method in ChaLEAN Extreme. Now, the big question is, what is the value of the pumped feeling and the burn?

Splits were still there.  I had a good push, but not as low as I would have liked.  My Flows were good.  I was trying to be aware of an old problem, my hips being tucked.  Since my lower back naturally has an exaggerated arch, I have to be very careful of my hips becoming untucked.

In the end, I torched over 800kcals.  Great workout. Got those endorphins going!

7-29-15 HY: P90X2-Mobility and Recovery + Splits + TCF.

7-29-15 HY: P90X2-Mobility and Recovery + Splits + TCF.

I feel a little better, but not yet 100%.  I took the day off from work today in hopes of going out with my wife, but she also is not well, so I just stayed home today.  It was beautiful weather so I decided to cut the grass.  The sun was hot and I was out there for almost 3 hours.  But the big thing is that it zapped all my energy.  I was just exhausted after that. I took a shower, had lunch, then fell a sleep on the couch for a couple hours.  I could have slept longer but I needed to get my workout done.  Luckily, it was my mid-week recovery day so I was looking forward to the stretch.  I was planning on doing X2 Yoga, but the yard work made a bunch of lovely blisters on my hands.  I couldn't hold a long plank without a lot of blister pain, so I switched to today's routine.

It was great to roll out some of those hot spots in my legs and arms. The stretch was also really good.  It help a lot with the splits afterwards. 

The splits have hit another plateau.  I just can't seem to go down any lower than the mark I set a couple weeks ago.  When I try to push to go lower, I am afraid for my knees because my joints just aren't opening up.  Now, I'm getting frustrated, and the goal looks further away than it did at the beginning of the year.

The Flow was good.  Very happy with the Flow.

Even though this wasn't a cardio or resistance workout, I still wore my HRM just to see how I was doing.  In the end, I burned just about 240kcals.  I think it would have been over double that If I had worn the HRM while doing the yard work. Hehehe...

7-28-15 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme-Push Circuit 2 + RevAbs-Merciless Abs + Splits + TCF.

7-28-15 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme-Push Circuit 2 + RevAbs-Merciless Abs + Splits + TCF.

I have a cold. When I got home from work I was so sleepy and was relaxing and drifting off to sleep on the couch, but I had something to do later in the evening so I had to start my workout right away.  I can honestly say that I really didn't feel like doing my workout, but the thought of skipping never entered my mind.  I knew that I would feel a lot better after my workout.  I was right!

Resistance day with Chalene. Shoulder and Legs today, and I hit them from every angle possible.  I was keeping up with Chalene and crew until the Frontal Shoulder Press. I was using 17kgs and on the third rep, I barely got it up and on the way down, I felt my left shoulder just lose strength and I let it fall, but not to the ground.  Dropping a heavy dumbbell while on the second floor would not be good.  So I lowered the dumbbells by 1.25kgs.  I was able to get it up then, but just barely.  After that, I was just making it to 6 reps, added 2, then did the Extreme set of 3 reps. A lot of one-legged moves today.  They fried my legs.  I was feeling really pumped and feeling a lot better.

The ab routine I chose for today was really great. It KILLED my abs.  I am still getting a great after burn effect.  I was still feeling pumped for a while after the workout.  I hit failure several times.  It really tested my core strength like no other routine from move one.

The splits and Flow were really good today.  I had a great feeling all the way through. 

In the end, I torched a good 915kcals.  I felt a lot better after my workout, but not 100%. 

7-27-15 HY: PiYo-Strength Intervals + Splits + TCF.

7-27-15 HY: PiYo-Strength Intervals + Splits + TCF.
Morning regiment complete with shake. But I think I must have caught something the other day because I was not feeling at 100%. My throat is sore and I'm a little tired. But I figured my workout would burn out whatever is making me feel bad so I went with it.
I was half right. The routine was nice and intense and thankfully short. I worked up a good sweat and fried the target areas, namely my legs and triceps. Again, tha...nkfully, the hard strength parts were broken up with some fun cardio moves. The strength moves for the legs were really tough because of yesterdays workout with the heavy weights and Buns. This was just a follow up, "Did you get enough of leg day" sort of workout. The multiple sets of triceps push ups were good, and gave my tris a good pump.

The splits were good. I'm still working on pushing hard, but I also added effort to keep aligned. I started to notice that during the straddle splits, I am sort of twisting to the left instead of being straight forward. I think it's because my hip joint is tighter on the right side so I'm unconsciously babying that side.
The Flow was good, except for a little over shot on one move that threw my balance off a bit, but didn't throw the Flow off. I did, however, pause a bit to gather myself. The Flows that came afterwards were things of beauty.
I felt really good after starting my workout, and during the workout, and a little while following my workout. But I didn't feel that hot at work and after I came home. These are the times that I'm glad I didn't come home and have to workout. I'm hitting the hay early in hopes that my body takes care of whatever is in me.
In the end, I torched around 550kcals. A good number considering how I felt. Tomorrow is weights day, so we'll see how that goes.

7-26-15 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme-Push Circuit 1 + PiYo-Buns + ChaLEAN Extreme-Extreme Abs + Splits + TCF.

7-26-15 HY: ChaLEAN Extreme-Push Circuit 1 + PiYo-Buns + ChaLEAN Extreme-Extreme Abs + Splits + TCF.
Here is another big day. Original plan was to play tennis but the passing typhoon prevented that from coming to fruition. So, I went to Plan B. I played a lot of ping pong and then got to my workout. Had a lot of time today, so I was raring to go.
New week, new circuit. I went heavy today. I mostly chose the right weight because I was just on the verge of failure on most... moves. I felt the burn and pump. Today was Arms and Legs. Lots of Curl variations, Heavy squats, tricep extensions, etc.The one thing I don't understand about this routine is the final move is just regular push ups. The previous two tri-sets was biceps/legs/Triceps. But on the last tri-set, she ended with regular push ups. So, instead of doing those, I did triangle push ups to nail my triceps hard. Also, I didn't go for the rep count, but for SLOW Form. I really like the Push Circuit because the moves are isolated as opposed to the compound moves in the other two circuits. But I added a lot of time because of changing the weight plates on my dumbbells. One thing I tried to do was increase my range of motions and keep the moves on the slow pace with Chalene. That is where my deep burn came from. One issue I have with working out, and maybe someone can help me with this, but on most of the other muscles I isolate, the pump and burn last a long time, like close to 20-30 minutes after the workout, but even though I do a lot of bicep work, the pump and burn all but disappears within minutes. It has always been that way for me. Any ideas as to why this is would be helpful.

With all the heavy weighted leg work, I was a bit nervous about Buns. But I really wanted to get it in today. I lasted pretty much all the way through. I didn't tap out more than 3 times today. I was very happy about that. I felt a lot better with the second and third series.
Then I went back to CE for my abs, but I wanted to step it up a bit this week, so my ab routines will be the more intense routines. In combination with trying to increase power and range of motion, I got an excellent pump and burn today in my core.
The splits and Flow were very satisfying. Pushing to the pain.
In the end, I torched over 1100kcals. That is due to a lot of leg work today. Great way to start the week!

7-24-15 HY: PiYo-Core + Splits + TCF.

7-24-15 HY: PiYo-Core + Splits + TCF.
Final morning workout of the week... Final workout of the week!
Finally got to do some abs work today, and boy was it work. Since it is a short routine, I really wanted to push the intensity, so I held all the poses I could, and flexed the core as tightly as I could. It was really intense and several times, I almost over-flexed to the point of cramping so I quickly backed off. Thank goodness for the Child Pose breaks Chalene puts into ...the routine. The most killer move today was the lateral leg sweep in elbow plank. For some reason, that just killed me. I was groaning and grunting all through that move. And yes, I almost cramped. And that move just before the sweep series where one knee is down. I want to do that move off my knee, but I keep forgetting to do it from the beginning because Steve, a part of Chalene's crew does it first on his knee, then goes off the knee on the other side. I'm a huge balance advocate so I won't do one side and not the other, or not one side then do the other. So I need to remember to get off my knee from the beginning. Next time. Abs maintained a good tight flex for a while after the routine ended. YEAH!

Again, splits and Flow were on point. I'm very happy with my production. But I still need to push harder on the splits to keep the progress going lower.
Very happy to make it to the weekend. With all the weird weather and high and low pressure systems moving in and out of the area, my body is feeling off. My concentration and focus is also a bit off. I just feel off for the past few days. The headache I had a few days ago was just part of it. I'm not the only one either. Several of my colleagues are feeling it as well. I hope to do some major foam rolling this weekend.
On a positive note, my shoulder is feeling a lot better! Range of motion is better, but there are still some angles that cause a bit of a mild discomfort, but not the sharp pain as before. Almost there!