7-31-16 HY: Combat 60 Extreme Cardio Fighter + ChaLEAN Extreme - Extreme Core Circuit + Splits + TCF.

7-31-16 HY: Combat 60 Extreme Cardio Fighter + ChaLEAN Extreme - Extreme Core Circuit + Splits + TCF.

HOT HOT DAY!!!  The kind of hot that makes a full blast AC seem like it's making no headway.  I just felt dead and totally unmotivated for pretty much the whole morning.  Just felt so heavy and sluggish.  But I did get a ton of video editing done so that is one good thing.  My daughter was away at camp as was coming back in the afternoon so I had to pick myself up and go out and get her.  Also, it is "Indulgence Day"! The 31st of the month, so it is sort of tradition for my family to get some ice cream from Baskin Robbins.  So on my way to get my daughter, I picked up some ice cream.  As an aside, I got it, but I haven't eaten it yet.  I will probably eat it over the next few days, just little by little.  Around 6pm, I finally got the will to get up and get ready for my workout. 

Today starts Week 3 of Combat. So I did a new routine today.  It is said to be one of the toughest routines in the program so I was a bit stoked.  I decided not to use the hand weights today so I could learn the moves and combinations.  Good thing, because the combo's were pretty complicated and it took a bit of time for me to get used to them.  Weight distribution and right foot placement to bring out the most power in the kicks and punches.  But once I got a hand of the moves, I got it going.  The new kick/lower body interval made me feel really uncoordinated at first.  I just wasn't getting the rhythm of the combinations.  I was doing them with no power behind them.  But by the second round, I sort of got used to them and was doing them a little better, but still, I fell off balance several times.  Hopefully I'll do better the next time around.  One big negative is my right knee.  I started out my fitness journey with TAEBO and after a few years of doing it, my right knee started to feel a little gimpy, not on kicks or stuff like that, but on one particular move, the right jab.  I am careful to keep my knee square and behind my ankle so as to keep it stable, but still, I guess I'm still putting too much pressure on it.  It started to feel a little gimpy with the "shuffle" as well.  That lateral movement to the right is hitting an angle that is causing some discomfort.  I'm going to have to find a way to work around it or I won't last the full duration of the program without injury.  I ended up modifying a little to keep pressure off the knee and that seemed to help, but that modification prevented me from putting full power into my punches with that forward lunge and push off the back leg.  But the intervals were really good, and they are set up in a way that makes the hour just fly by.  Oh, also, not pull ups today, I wanted to focus on the new routine and get it down.  I like the core interval at the end.  Than circle with the hands and the two center pulses really hit the abs good.  Got a nice burn in the second round.  Fun all around routine.

I still wanted more Abs so I went to a good routine.  I really like this routine because it is directly attacking the core.  I continued the burn here, and I think I got better with my form.  I'm still using the 2kg dumbbells so that is a good challenge.

Splits were good.  Coming off an off day, it was a little slow getting to my mark, but I got there.  I'm finally able to straighten my right leg on the right side splits.  Before, there was always a slight bend, but now, I can straighten it out.  Now to go lower.  Flow was clean and smooth.

In the end, I torched just under 900kcals.  Nice way to start off the week.  I workout in the second floor of my house and today, it was like a Sauna from the morning, so about an hour before I started working out, I turned on the AC to cool it down.  By the time I started working out, it was a nice but not too cool temperature.  If I had left it warmer, I probably would have broken a thousand kcals, but I would have been dead.  So I'm happy with my decision.

7-29-16 HY: Combat- HIIT 2 Shock Plyo + P90X - Ab Ripper X + Splits + TCF.

7-29-16 HY: Combat- HIIT 2 Shock Plyo + P90X - Ab Ripper X + Splits + TCF.

Today was a good day.  Final day of classes and gearing up for summer vacation.  I still have some work, but just here and there.  I was able to get home at a good time so I could do a complete workout, so I was happy.

W2D6 of Combat, and like last week, finishing it out with the HIIT 2.  This is a great routine that get my heart going.  Today, the warm up fried my legs.  I was like, "WHAT???!!!" I couldn't hang with the first interval with the lunges, I ended up having to modify just to get through that first set.  But luckily, the lunges didn't return until the second interval so my legs had time to warm up more and get used to the grinding.  So by the second interval, I was more ready and killed the routine from there.  However, again, I modified the routine just a bit and added a set of Pull Ups between intervals for a total of 4 sets or 12 reps with different grips.  I didn't do a set after the warm up, but started after the Leg Interval.  Happy that I can still whip out 12 reps at least.  Somewhere in the middle of the first interval after the warm up, I caught a second wind and my legs felt rejuvenated.  I love is when that happens early in a routine.  One thing I wish this routine would do is have a set rep count.  At the beginning of the routine, the lady said that she would be using a lot of numbers, and counting.  But the rep counts for various moves seemed to be all over the place.  The Side Plank Push Ups (I forget their British name for it), went past 10 reps, then the Lunges were a double 4 count, etc.  In most of the other BeachBody programs, were looking at 8 or 12 reps.  Anything other than those counts, they are shown on the screen so you have a goal and one can push to that goal instead of the seeming endless set.  There is something to be said for that style, but I'm personally not a fan.  But despite that, I really liked this routine and got a huge burn from it.

I wanted to close out the week with an intense round of abs, so I went old school and chose Ab Ripper X!  I felt the burn, but I was able to keep up and nail all the moves.  But my nemesis move was the closer so I really wanted to nail that also and go all the way to the end... NAILED IT!!!, but I cramped up and died as I hit the final rep.  Once I hit around 35, I couldn't keep my legs out, so I had to bend my knees a bit, but I didn't touch the ground, just a slight bend.  Then as I neared 50, I started to open up, but I kept it under control to the end, then fell over in pain.  "I HATE IT! But I LOVE IT!!!"

Splits and Flow were awesome.  Felt really open today and pushed really low.  I've hit another plateau so I have to push more and harder to get passed this one as I've done with all the past plateaus. 

In the end, I torched a round 1030kcals.  Nice way to close out the week.  Ready for my off day! Happy Weekend!

7-28-16 HY: Tennis + Splits + TCF.

7-28-16 HY: Tennis + Splits + TCF.

Tennis Day!

Actually I was planning to play twice, once in the morning and then in the evening, but I wasn't able to make it to the evening session because of a weird reason: My shoes were wet.  The gym today was extremely hot and humid.  I started dripping sweat just by putting up the net.  I decided to go totally with standard scoring today just to see how things were going.  I started out strong, but went through a lull in the middle, then blasted back at the end.  The score was 6-2, 7-5, 6-0.  In the beginning, I was fresh and hitting the ball well, but still couldn't iron out the unforced errors.  But in the second set, My partner raised his level just as I was losing my concentration and had to play catch up the whole time.  The one good thing is that I was able to fight my way back from 15-40 down and had ad a few time before losing.  I never lost a game with anything less than 30.  I would fight my way back, then putter out.  But I definitely caught a second wind for the third, and I think he was getting a bit tired and I was hitting and placing shots at will. But by the third set, the sweat was flowing and I had to stop several times to wipe myself down and the floor. Where are the Ball Boys when you need them!  This brings me to the reason why I didn't go to the evening tennis.  When I sweat, I sweat a lot.  And as usual, I sweat so much, it filled my shoes and they were water-logged.  Those are my only pair of tennis shoes, so no go for the evening.  It was a great match, and I had a great time.

Splits and Flow came in the evening so I really enjoyed just relaxing and stretching out.  Everything was choice!

At the end of the tennis, I torched a big but not totally unexpected 1200+kcals.  Only one more time this semester, then it's off time until we can figure out a new time for second semester.

7-27-16 HY: P90X3 - X3 Yoga + Splits + TCF.

7-27-16 HY: P90X3 - X3 Yoga + Splits + TCF.

Mid-Week Recovery Day!

According to the Combat schedule, Day 4 is a Rest day, but I like to do a little something just to help my body recover.  Today's Yoga was great to keep me loose and start my day.  I was able to keep go full range of motion and do all the advanced moves.  Balance all around was a lot better, but still, left was more stable than the right.  I didn't go for the move to the side this time with the Toe Bind keeping my leg in front this time.  I was able to hold it a little better, but still no where near straightening in leg.  Wrap, Triangle, Half Moon, were all good.  Felt energized at the end.  I had to drive an hour to work right after so it was nice to be loose.

Splits and Flow came after work in the evening, so happy to get a double stretch.  I'm hoping that that will help me make a speedier move to my goal of full splits.  Flow was as expected.

In the end, I burned a nice little 220+kcals.  Very thankful for this day in my schedule.

7-26-16 HY: Combat 45 Power Kata + RevAbs - Merciless Abs + Splits + TCF.

7-26-16 HY: Combat 45 Power Kata + RevAbs - Merciless Abs + Splits + TCF.

Got to my workout right after getting home from work.  It's weird coming home to a virtually empty house.  No kids activity or anything.  It's nice to be able to do my own thing when I want to do it, but I miss the days when the kids would meet me at the door with open arms and ask to play, which would push my workout to a lot later than I wanted.  Those days are just a memory now...

W2D3 of Combat.  Second time for this routine.  It was a really good cardio workout, and I remembered being able to handle most of the routine with little extra break time, so I wanted to amp up the routine a little bit.  I don't have those gloves, but I do have small hand weights.  I knew 1kg weights would be too heavy for all the punches and such, but I have these little half-pound weights from TAEBO that I haven't used in a long time because they are too light for anything, or so I thought.  I thought that they would add just a little weight to my punches so I put them on.  They were light, but I could feel the difference.  I was told that too heavy weights could hurt my joints, so going with the tiny weights was the right choice to see how it would go.  It was Awesome.  Just the right resistance to make a difference.  I started off strong, and pretty much kept up for the first two intervals, but I started to fade on the third Interval, and then I caught my second wind in the fourth interval.  Again, that Muay Thai flying kick is so AWESOMELY FUN!!!  I guess it's more of a Flying Knee than a kick.  That Jumping Low Kick is also TONS of FUN!  It really brings back the days when I was learning Tae Kwon Do.  My kicks were a little better, but still had that hip flexor issue when I would rock back on the base leg.  But I found a better angle at which to kick.  So next time, I'll see what I can do and if I can improve the range of the kicks.  The final Interval with all those punches, the sweat started flying off me all over the room, so I had to keep wiping on the pulse to minimize the splatter.  Great routine!

It was predetermined by me to do Merciless Abs today so no delay in starting up.  I hit failure several times in the third round.  Just couldn't keep my legs up in the static hold. Nor could I get my legs straight in the V-Ups. Work in Progress!

Splits and Flow were right on point.  Very satisfied.

In the end, I torched a bigger 920+kcals.  Really burned it up today.

7-25-16 HY: Combat HIIT 1 Power + Splits + TCF.

7-25-16 HY: Combat HIIT 1 Power + Splits + TCF.

It was a good relaxing morning. Shake for breakfast and got my regular morning workout in.  I was hoping to play tennis, but some family stuff came up so I had to cancel.  Bummer because this was my last chance for a Monday Tennis Day.  Oh well.

I reduced the dumbbell weight by 2.5kgs and went down to 7.5kgs from 10kgs.  Still tough but this time, I was able to complete the weighted sets.  Still killed my shoulders though, especially on those presses.  5 sets of the triple press and squats was very tough.  I was able to make it through the Weighted Interval,  but when it came to the Lower Body Interval, OH MY!!! I had to take breaks.  My legs were dying!  There is one progression that moved from Squats to Jumping Lunges.  I could not hang,  I had to take a breather between the Squats and Lunges.  Quads were BURNING!!!  I was also really dying on the Burpee Interval.  I did pretty well last week, but today, I was just so spent by the middle set that I had to stick with Option 1 and do the single squat.  But for some reason, the last set, the Double-8 set, I caught a second wind, and I did the single high jump, Option 3 for the last 6 reps.  I desperately needed a break after that one.  This was an incredibly intense routine and I needed a little bit of a longer break to allow my heart rate to drop a little before getting on with the next Interval.  Great but brutal routine.

I needed some water and coconut water before going on to the stretch. But it felt really good to to stretch out my burnt legs.  Having stretched just a few hours earlier I was able to open the hips rather well and get low.  I was also able to do a clean and smooth Flow.

In the end, I torched just under 800kcals.  A little more than last week.

7-24-16 HY: Combat 30 - HIIT Kick Start + RevAbs - Mercy Abs + Splits + TCF.

7-24-16 HY: Combat 30 - HIIT Kick Start + RevAbs - Mercy Abs + Splits + TCF.

Busy morning.  I wasn't planning on it, but when I woke up and saw that it was cloudy, I decided to do the long overdue lawn work, mainly cutting the grass.  So, I had a shake and got to it.  I usually go over the lawn twice, first cutting the long and thick grass, rake it up and bag it, then go back over and cut all the patches I might have missed and then clear the lawn.  But, I ran out of nylon string for the week wacker so I was only able to do one pass.  It took only a couple hours this time, but half way through, the sun came out and I started to cook.  So maybe it was a good thing that I ran out of nylon.  I was soaked! So I showered and cooled off.  I ran some errands with my wife in the afternoon and then hit the workout in the early evening.

Week 2 Day 1 of Combat is just a repeat of Week 1.  So, I did a little bit of tweaking to today's routine.  Being able to keep my Pull Up reps up is important to me.  In Combat, I haven't seen much strength training, but only one week in, I'm staying hopeful.  So today, I added a little Pull Up training to the mix.  Between the different Intervals, I inserted one set of Pull Ups.  It was only 12 reps each, but it was good to get some Pull Ups done. I ended up doing only 4 sets each a different position on the bar just for variety.  Anyway, the main routine was a lot better this time around.  I still can't be sure if the sets are time based of rep based, because I still feel that the right side is doing more reps than the left for some reason.  But I was a lot better on sticking with the left and right side this time.  Got a great sweat rolling and raised my heart rate a level.  I didn't feel my upper back this time, just like last Sunday, but I'm interested to see if I'm going to be sore in my upper back like I was last Monday. But I definitely did a lot better today.  More efficient on my Kata and was able to control my breathing better when applying power to the punches, especially the knock out punch.  Still having problems with my balance on some of the kicks, especially the Back Kicks.  The Jumping Kick starts out wobbly but get better once I find the groove.  Good routine today.

I'm feeling a bit soft in my core today, so I went with Mercy Abs.  Perfect to Burn it up. The static contractions and the slow reps are really good.  However, I got a little impatient and didn't give myself any rest between the sets, especially on the last circuit.  It was brutal, but in a good way.  I need to work on keeping my legs straight on the V-Ups.  Still very tough for me.

The Splits were a little more painful than usual today, but that was expected because of the off day yesterday.  But I got to my mark quicker than before and got  past it as well.  I added a few stretches and raised the time in some stretches.  The Flow was good, smooth and clean.

In the end, I torched a solid 820kcals.  About the same number as last week.  Nice to stay consistent.