8-28-16 HY: Body Beast - Build: Chest & Tris + Beast: Abs + Splits + TCF.

8-28-16 HY: Body Beast - Build: Chest & Tris + Beast: Abs + Splits + TCF.

T minus 2 Days and counting before I leave for the US on my business trip through my university.  I should be started Week 6 of Combat, but I won't be able to do that program while I'm state side, so I'm going to pick up when I get back.  So, for today and Monday, I'm going to do resistance and then I'll take a travel day, a lot of walking, sitting, pulling luggage, etc.  Bursts of running, dips in the waiting area, wall squats, etc.  Moves that work but don't bring on the sweat too quickly.  So today, I went with the above noted routine.

The worksheet didn't look too long, but with all the plate changes, and the extra breaks because I was at failure, added a lot of time to the routine time of 58 minutes.  I love Chest Presses, and I nailed the first Single Set.  The Super Set started to burn me up.  The Decline Fly and Press just really winded me.  I kept the same weights on the Fly, but on the Drop Set, I had to go down a touch.  The Giant Set was absolutely BRUTAL!!!The Close Grip Press followed by Partial Chest Fly followed by the Decline Push Up.  Death by chest workout.  I was feeling a MAJOR PUMP!  My shirt actually had to stretch around my shoulders and chest.  At this point, I was still able to do the Declines on my toes.  That information is significant for later.  The Single Set for the Triceps was even more brutal.  Although I did the same weights as before, my form on the Drop Set was... sad to say, not stellar.  I frigged and fragged to get the dumbbells up on the last 3-4 reps in both sets.  The Supper Set with the Single Arm Kickbacks followed by Tricep Push Ups, started off okay with the light weight, but it was impossible for me to do them on my toes.  I had to go onto my knees.  And even then, I just barely made it up.  On the 15 rep set, I ended up going only 2/3's down.  I couldn't even do a full rep on my knees my triceps were THAT fried.  But by the final set, I was able to go all the way down on the first 5 reps, then partially down on the last 3 reps.  Then the final Super Set, I had to push like crazy, and go a little over time to get the 50 reps.  But on the Dips, I went down only half way.  Any lower and I would have just collapsed.  In and Outs were good until rep 30, then the burn BURNED!  I had to stop at 40 reps and then barely made it within the 60 seconds to the 50th rep.  Two hours after the workout, I'm still feeling the burn, and the pump. I'm going to feel this for the next few days FOR SURE!!!

Beast: Abs is a good workout.  Abs is something I do regularly so today wasn't as tasking as the resistance was, but I still got a good burn.  Every time I do the Russian Twist with the weights, I crack my back.  Kind of creepy, but loosens me up, for sure.  Today, on the weighted Side Plank, I went with 7.5kgs.  Oh Man, that was tough!!! Took a little longer to get through it, but I didn't take any mid set break, fully continuous.  Great routine and awesome burn.

Splits went to a new low for ALL Splits.  I was so happy with my progress today.  I was really able to push it lower than ever before on all fronts.  I was also able to really feel the pull in my inner thigh muscle so I was able to stretch it out.  One thing about the Build: Chest & Tris routine today, I don't have a bench, so I do the moves on a Swiss Ball.  That adds a huge lower body workout that I didn't really realize until today.  The Static resistance I put on my lower body to stabilize myself during each rep is a really good workout.  It is sort of like that stretch Tony introduces in P90X2, the Neural something something stretch.  I think that that had a huge part to play in how much more flexible my legs were today.  Just a thought.  But I think I was within 4 centimeters on my Right Side Splits, within 10 centimeters on my Straddle Splits and Left Side Splits.  Getting there! Goal in sight!!!  The Flow was really clean today, and yes, Smooth!

In the end, I torched 1285kcals.  Today, I was the BOSS!!! But tomorrow I'm going to be the whimpering baby due to soreness. HA!

8-26-16 HY: Cycling + Combat 30 Kick Start + Splits + TCF.

8-26-16 HY: Cycling + Combat 30 Kick Start + Splits + TCF.

Well, today was an odd day to say the least, as far as scheduling and my plan went.  I was planning to do a Body Beast routine today, and then Combat 30 tomorrow because of my US trip from Tuesday.  I have an early start on Tuesday so no time for a regular workout, so I am planning to not take my usual Saturday off day, rather, go straight through till Monday, then possibly have two non-regular workout days Tuesday, and a repeat Tuesday in the US (time lag thing).  But things suddenly changed.  The day before, my daughter was almost hit by a car while riding her bike.  She got a few bruises and scrapes, but was okay.  Her bike took a tumble, and a few things got thrown out of wack.  So, I was tasked with riding her bike to the shop where we purchased it to get it fixed.  I could have done it myself, but I don't have the appropriate tools, so I had to ride it into the city, which is about 25km round trip up hill both ways. LOL!  Her bike is also very different from mine, it is a high school prescribed bike so it looks like a woman's bike from the 80's.  So peddling it was a lot more resistance-intense than my recumbent.  Angles are all so different.  Center of gravity was also a lot higher so I had to get used to that.  I must have looked like a beginner cyclist.  Also, it only has 3 gears compared to my 21 gears.  A lot more work up hill and on long slopes.  So it was a matter of riding the bike to the shop, waiting for it to get fixed and tuned up, then riding it back home.  I figure I'd make it part of my workout.  Unfortunately I totally whiffed on wearing my HRM.  I could have kicked myself all the way to Jersey and back.  Anyway,  It was a nice ride, a lot less hot than I expected in the middle of the day with the sun a full strength and no cloud cover.  It had been a very long time since I rode last so it was nice to get out their despite the different ride.  There was a nice gusty wind from all directions so tough and easy sections.  I said it was a 25km round trip distance, but stupid me, I got lost on the way, and tacked on an extra 5km because I missed the turn off and went way past the shop, so had to turn around when I realized my mistake.  It was like I had showered the moment I stopped and got off the bike.  The wind was keeping me from realizing how much I was actually sweating, but it was a lot.  Luckily, I brought a change of clothes so I changed while I waited.  The trip back started off nicely, but then my inner thighs started to have that cramping pulling feeling about 10 minutes in.  I was afraid to push any harder or else if I had a full blown cramp, that would keep me from a lot of other stuff in the days to come, so I backed off.  I was started to push my pace, but quit.  The hills and slopes were tough, and it was right at the time when high school students were heading home, so I was zipping past a bunch of high school kids.  Felt cool! But I came back to earth when I remembered what bike I was riding.  If I had worn my HRM it probably would have shown a nice burn of close to 850-900kcals.

When I got home, I was feeling a lot more tired than I thought I should have.  May the heat affected me more than I thought.  But I got changed and got ready to do my workout.  By this time, I was in a time crunch and had to get my workout down within just over 2 hours.  C30 was perfect for this day.  I don't think I could have handled Body Beast after the ride.  But I figured that 30 minutes would be much easier.  It was... and it wasn't.  The first two tracks were fine, the upper and lower body separate. But once the combinations started, and the progressions started becoming longer, I started to slow down.  I just couldn't keep up with their pace.  The combination of "Upper-Upper-Jab-Round House Kick" I was just a half a second off, and by the end of the set, I was a full rep behind.  It was like that for most of the combinations.  I was really winded and needed an extra break before the last two tracks.  I was very glad, for the first time, that there wasn't any strength track in this routine.  I still used the 1kgs, and I was REALLY feeling it.  Couldn't keep my hands up in guard stance, and during the scissors, and the back and forth jacks, I just let my arms hang.  Just couldn't keep them up.  But I got through the routine in good fashion.

Splits felt really good after the cycling.  And I'm happy to announce that I hit all new lows in all splits today.  I didn't even really need to push that hard to get there, but I had to push hard to stay there.  Flows were right on point.

In the end, but measuring only from the regular workout not including the cycling, I torched a good 886kcals.  So I think I would have had close to 2000kcals toasted today.  Great way to finish off this week.  Happy Weekend, Everyone!

8-25-16 HY: Combat 60 Extreme Cardio Fighter + ChaLEAN Extreme - I've Got Abs + Splits + TCF.

8-25-16 HY: Combat 60 Extreme Cardio Fighter + ChaLEAN Extreme - I've Got Abs + Splits + TCF.

Last day of night classes before my business trip to the US.  But the day was another lazy one, just doing some more organizing and stuff while watching Netflix.  I lost track of time and barely got to my workout just in time to finish the whole thing before I had to go to class.  Had to skip dinner though, but ended up having a shake when I got home.  Nice to have everything done all at once.

Second time around this week for Combat 60.  But the big difference is that I decided to use the 1kg weight during the workout.  Combat 45 went well, so I figure I'd give it a go.  Long story short, I made it through with the 1kgs, but I was really feeling it.  I tried to put as much power into the punches as I could, but I got a tingling sensation just off my thumb when I threw a power punch so I was afraid I might be pulling a nerve or something, so I backed off a bit until the buzz went away.  I was able to make it all the way through until there were only three track remaining.  By that time, my arms were really feeling the weight so I took an extra rest between those intervals.  Needless to say, they were the most cardio intensive tracks so I was pretty winded after each one.  I forget with track, but Rachel talks about "Shredding" the shoulder muscle on a particular variation of the jab, so I started trying to use more shoulder on those jabs, and back played a huge part as well.  I'm really wondering how I'm going to feel tomorrow.  In the last Track, the core and strength track, I made it all the way through with only two extra breaks, on between the first and second sets, and one after the first set of push ups in the second set, just before the circle push ups.  I was also able to get more range of motion on the crunches so I was happy about that.  Over all, had a good workout with a lot of sweat and heavy breathing.

I wanted to go intense on abs but I didn't have the time to do Insane Abs, so I went with Chalene's toughest ab routine (in my estimation).  I had a good warm up in Combat 60 at the end, so the initial moves were good, so I knew I had to push myself more to get the burn.  When the leg lifts started, that's when the burn started coming on.  Weighted obliques brought an intense burn and I bellowed out.  Luckily I was alone so no problem.  This is one of my favorite ab routines because it doesn't use momentum and the slow reps are brutal.  Oh, and the push ups really help to focus on the core.  Often times when I do push ups I only focus on back, chest and arms, but when doing push ups for the core, that is a whole different ball game.  I have to, with purpose of mind, focus on what my core is doing during each rep and make sure I'm activating the target muscles or I'm not doing the correct form.  Great workout!

Splits were especially satisfying today.  Mainly because I made huge strides on my right side splits.  Front leg was straight and I was able to push the lowest so far for that side. JAM ON!!!  The Flow was on point.

In the end, I torched over 1100kcals.  Big day, big burn!

8-24-16 HY: P90X2 - Recovery and Mobility + Splits + TCF.

8-24-16 HY: P90X2 - Recovery and Mobility + Splits + TCF.

Well, I was a little too relaxed today.  I pretty much just relaxed at home and did some organizing of my stuff, watched some baseball, played some games, etc.  When I looked at the clock, I had only two hours before I had to get to work, so I had to jump into action.  Luckily it is a mid-week recovery day so I went with Tony.

I just love this recovery routine because it actually makes me feel like I recovered.  The pain from rolling out the hot spots ends up being beneficial.  Again, today, I doubled the Foam Rolling sequence and again, there was a noticeable difference between the initial balance and mobility moves and the same moves after the foam rolling.  Huge loosening up of shoulder, lower back and legs.  I had a good improvement in stability and balance as well.  I really tried to push hard and deep on the stretch part of the routine.  Stretches like Pigeon, Frog, Figure 4 Hamstring stretch, etc. were awesome and painful.  Great round.

I did the Splits and Flow after my night class in the evening.  I love having a double stretch day.  I can really feel the difference in all angles of the splits.  I'm passing into a new low, and am again at another plateau.  So once I get used to this one, I'll push hard and go a step lower.  Left side splits are definitely the closest to getting all the way down.  If I do complete that, I will consider that a huge victory and mission one-third accomplished.  Flow was normal, no glitches.

In the end, I burned a modest 270+kcals in the afternoon part of my workout.

8-23-16 HY: Combat 45 Power Kata + Swiss Ball Core + Splits + TCF.

8-23-16 HY: Combat 45 Power Kata + Swiss Ball Core + Splits + TCF.

Today was a good relaxing day.  My wife went out with her friends, so I went out on my own to see a movie.  When I got home, no one was home so I relaxed a little more, then got to my workout.

Today's Combat routine is the final routine in a Triple Combat run, Combat 30, 60, and now 45.  Right off, let me say that I thing that C45 is even more difficult than C60.  There are a lot more high impact jumps and what not  than C60.  C60 only has that Jumping Front Kick, but there the Jumping Side Kick, the Muay Thai Flying Knee, and one other that I can't remember at the moment.  There are also more reps than C60.  I had a good start to the routine, getting through the first two intervals, upper and lower body warm ups, relatively easily, the next two intervals were also fine, but after the fourth interval, I started to feel gassed, so I took a little extra time on the break. When I started the 5th interval, I was totally feeling gassed and my feet felt so sluggish and my movement was extremely muddled.  But I knew if I stopped, I wouldn't finish so I kept on pushing through, and by half way through that interval, I started to catch my second wind.  If I'm correct, that was the Muay Thai interval, and the first set of Flying Knees are what led me to get back into it.  The second set was a lot stronger and I was putting some power into it.  Also, this is the first time for me to do C45 with the 1kg weights.  With the weights, I had to be careful not to over-extend on my punches, but at the same time, get enough range of motion to flex my arms, shoulders and back muscles, especially on those power punches.  So today, form was paramount for me to keep right.  Great routine today!

I will be doing three ab/core days in a row today, so I wanted to do something intense with a lot of reps.  I also wanted to stay on the Swiss Ball so I went with an Indie Trainer and did a YouTube Core Swiss Ball routine.  It was a good routine, that reminded me how brutal plank is on the ball.  But there were also some good strength moves that included core work like Decline Push Ups.  Another great routine!

Splits were good. I added more time to the positions to get deeper and to push harder.  The Flow was smooth and clean.

In the end, I torched 850+kcals.  Completed the trifecta of Combat routines.  Rocked it!

8-22-16 HY: Combat 60 Extreme Cardio Fighter + ChaLEAN Extreme - Extreme Core Circuit + Splits + TCF.

8-22-16 HY: Combat 60 Extreme Cardio Fighter + ChaLEAN Extreme - Extreme Core Circuit + Splits + TCF.

Kind of a regular vacation day. Got up late, relaxed in the morning, went out with my wife to do some shopping, went out to eat together, came home and relaxed some, then got to my workout in the late afternoon.  Lots of time so I could lean into everything.  I added a lot of time for the stretching and splits.  Also had to roll out some gimpy areas.

Combat 60 is a fun routine that mixes fighting styles which makes it much more interesting.  I was keeping up with the team and their pace, not adding any extra breaks until the 20 minute mark.  At that point, I wasn't too tired, but my throat was getting really parched and I had to take a drink.  Then I had to take a break after the last cardio interval which had a lot of fast moves upper and lower body.  But again, during the last half of the last interval, I needed a few mid-set breaks because I was dying.  Two variations of Push Ups, and two variations of crunches.  In the first set, the Push Ups were done on the knees, but in the second set, on the toes, and my arms were shaking like branches in the wind by that last time around.  But I rewound the DVD and did all the reps.  Even though I take a break, I still rewind and do all the reps, sometimes more.  The Ab moves, also two variations a regular crunch, then a round the knees move with two crunch pulses.  I never get the range of motion in the second set that I get in the first set.  It was a good routine.  Also, instead of using the 1kg weights, I went to the .5kg weights.  I couldn't handle the 1kgs for 60 minutes.  But the weight was just enough to make me fell the flex with every punch and jab.  One day I may go for the 1kgs, but not today.

That last ab move sort of primed me up to do more abs, so I decided to go ahead and do a bonus ab routine just because.  I hadn't done Extreme Core Circuit in a while, so I chose that one.  Plus, I really like that routine.  But today, I tried to stay in the difficult position, and Owwww!  I felt it burn.  Moving on the ball really helps me focus on the whole core all the way around.  Adding more range of motion today just made it burn all the better.

Today, I had the time, and my legs were feeling good, so I added time to several of the positions and I pushed low.  It was a really good session.  I think I hit a new low as well on the straddle and the left side splits.  The right side still needs a lot of work.  But it is getting there.  The Flow also, I added some runs and tried different speeds.  I LOVE VACATION!!!

In the end, after close to 3 hours, I torched a solid 950+ kcals.  Keeping the vacation alive!

8-21-16 HY: Yard Work + Combat 30 Kick Start + Insanity - Cardio Abs + Splits + TCF.

8-21-16 HY: Yard Work + Combat 30 Kick Start + Insanity - Cardio Abs + Splits + TCF.

Today was a moving day/resting day.  In that I was either moving or resting, no in between.  Once I got up in the morning, I was going.  I wanted to sleep in because I was up late the night before.  My wife had to bring my daughter to her club but the last thing she said to me was, "If you want to do the yard, you should get up soon."  I had wanted to do the yard last week, but it was just too hot, in the 100's.  But in the earlier morning, it is not as hot.  I didn't tell my wife that I was going to do the yard today, but her words rang in my head, and I couldn't get back to sleep.  So I dragged myself out of bed, had breakfast then got ready for the yard.  By the way, my biceps and triceps were quite sore since yesterday.  A little better today, but still sore.  So using the weed-wacker wasn't particularly appealing.  I did an extra round of cutting today to get everything extra short.  So basically, I cut the grass, raked everything up, bagged it, then went back over the whole lawn cutting grass that escaped the first go around.  The whole thing took a little over 2 hours.  I had always been curious as to how many calories I burned doing the yard, so today, I wore my HRM while working.  I was expecting about 400-500kcals in the two hours, but I was extremely surprised that I actually burned just under 900kcals.  But even though I'm not doing a lot of heavy intense lifting and such, I was constantly moving, and my whole body was pretty much flexed to hold and control the weed-wacker and the other tools.  The heat that came on for the last 90 minutes or so probably played a part as well.

After taking a shower and all that, I was just exhausted.  Again, I think the heat had a big part to play in zapping my energy.  I pretty much just vegged on the couch and eventually fell asleep, ending up taking a 2 hour nap.  When I woke up, I had lunch, yes, a very late lunch, close to 5pm then got started getting ready for my workout. 

I originally thought to just continue on with Combat Week 5, but I just was not feeling up to doing Combat 60 today.  I was still pretty tired, and still a little dehydrated. So I decided to just start up Week 5 again which begins with Combat 30.  I was also thinking to not use the weights, but when it came right down to it, I couldn't NOT use the 1kgs.  So I got them out and used them.  I immediately felt their resistance, and my biceps especially, were aching on the extension.  I was a little out of wack during the second interval, the kick interval with balance, but I reeled it in and got it under control by the end.  I also felt as though I hit my second wind really early because I felt a lot more energetic than I though I would.  I had to take a little extra long break between the 4th and 5th intervals, and the 5th and last intervals.  Aside from that, I got through pretty straight.  I felt pretty good at the end.

I was thinking of a trainer whose Ab routines I could do this week, and I almost went back to Chalene, but then, I figured I'd give Shaun T a try.  I don't remember too many "only ab" routines he has, but I knew about Cardio Abs.  So I figure I'd do that one today, then find what other ones he has.  There is one Shaun T Ab routine that I have not done yet.  It is the one in his deluxe pack, the one I just picked up the beginning of this summer from the Beachbody Summer Sale, the one called "Insane Abs".  I will get that one in this week.  The cardio moves at the beginning of Cardio Abs were fun and different, but I knew they were coming.  For me, the way Cardio Abs is set up, the burn doesn't hit until the very end.  Then it hits you like a ton of bricks.  The final move is those two level hip thrusts.  On that last set, I was absolutely dying!!! Collapsing after the final rep. Talk about BURN!!!  There are little burns at the end of the little progressions, but the big burn is at the end.  Definitely hit me hard... But in a good way.

Added some time to the Splits today, and was able to get low quickly.  The Flow was also good, but had to adjust because of my gimpy right knee.

In the end, today turned out to be a big calorie burn day.  I torched a nice 1650+kcal in my two sessions with over four hours of work.  Big start to my week!