14 RTP Group Shred Kick-Off
WoW what a day. I nearly forgot to blog with everything that has been going on!!
Firstly:
Adam, I am sure everyone will join me in saying thanks for bringing everyone together this is massive. Thanks for all the support past and present and the best of luck to you finishing your shred and completing your 1st year of daily accountability and fingers crossed another sixer!
I have had the day off today as my wife is working and it is half term so have been out and about with the kids but it is has also meant I have had some extra time to visit most peoples blogs who are participating in the group shred, sorry if I have missed you, let me know and I will come knocking. It looks like most other people have been doing the same.
Today I have been blown away with all the support and kind words from you all, Christy, Sammy, Debbie, Lynda. I wish you all the best and will continue to look in daily on your blogs, period!! I hope you find my blog useful and please, if there is anything I can help with or anything else you would like to see included just let me know.
Motivational HIT Cardio Incline Run
Well I managed to get to the gym when my wife was on her break and I made it count today, I was so stoked with all the support. I went back to the HIT incline with a vengeance, here is today's:
21 minutes on the treadmill, 10KPH at all times:
1 min at 1% incline
1 min at 3% incline
1 min at 6% incline
1 min at 10% incline (last time I did this is was 9%, but your support sent this to 10% for each cycle...thanks)
I repeated this 5 times, that makes 20 minutes. The final minute is always added to increase from the last time , this is the minute you wave goodbye to the pain barrier, grit your teeth and make it count. So today I pushed the incline for the whole 21st minute up to 12%. Boy I was pleased to see the incline reducing when the time ran out, but I felt energised.
20 Minutes Ab workout
Then it was a 20 minute ab workout, again normally it is more like 10 but today I took it to the max. Weighted fitball crunches and side obliques, forward plank, side plank, leg raises, and about 3 others which I have yet to find a name for. Well, by the end of that 20 minutes my abs were done
Tomorrow is supposed to be the rest day but I am really stuck as to whether to rest. Normally it is a really important day and much needed time for the body to mend and repair so that it can live to burn the fat more efficiently another week. BUT should the body be rested in the midst of a shred, not sure....Any ideas?
Well I will sleep on that one. Good luck again one and all and if your not joining in I hope this is giving you the inspiration to start your own fitness journey.
Until tomorrow....
14 comments:
Hi Andrew:
Don't you just love doing ab work:-(. It pays off eventually, so I keep working at it! Thanks for your kind words and as I work on my journey, I'll be thinking about all you folks who are doing the same. Keep moving and don't ever quit! Diane
wanted to comment on your question abut taking a rest day! Rests days are very important, but I can understand you not wanting to because of this challenge...if you are incline to workout, go for a medium workout of either lifting or cardio.
Diane
Hi Diane,
Funnily enough I do actually, the ones in the gym that is. They go by so quickly 20 minutes of high intensity pain and then it's done!!! I have a workout DVD just for abs at home which takes about 35 minutes. It is really good but I just find it hard to motivate myself to do it!
I agree in the normal course of a week they are as important as nutrition, weights and cardio but I am not sure about the next 14 days. I asked Adam, so will see what he is doing, otherwise I will do a bit of research.
Thanks for stopping by and keep going forwards.
Take care,
Andrew
One of my physical therapists from awhile back, told me it is okay to work ab muscles daily, but other muscle groups need a rest day or risk injury. I know I'm pre-disposed to being chicken in this arena for obvious reasons, but please be careful!
Zinging pain and/or numbness = bad.
Ice and elevate sore joints (like knees, ankles, wrists, elbows) immediately after workouts when you feel discomfort or pain to avoid being sidelined. :-)
Great start on Day One. Your lookin' way way lean in your photo, too. BTW, congrats on quitting smoking.
Hey Christy,
That's interesting as I have been told the opposite that this is overkill. Maybe you are physically able to but there is little benefit!! Thanks for the tips and your lovely comment, still can't stand seeing myself in photo's!! Guess we are all prone to this.
You have been digging back through the blogs, I think the quitting smoking was way back in the first or second ;-))
Coming to see you soon, take care.
Andrew
Hi Andrew, I'll talk about this in Day 2 vid. I recommend you still have at least 1 rest day per week synched up with one cheat meal. Its that extra 10% of discipline/intensity over 6 days that will get you the visible results.
Adam
Hey Adam,
Thanks for the reply. I will rest today but keep active. In preparation for the superets tomorrow.
Taking the kids swimming again soon, already hoovered the whole house, now having my mid morning snack / meal. Cottage cheese (yuck) but mixed with sweet chilli sauce is actually really good, and slice of toast with marmite.
Take Care,
Andrew
Hi Andrew! Wow, congrats on quitting smoking, even if it's way back before. I tried so hard to make me dad quit and, and he eventually did and I love him for having the courage to do it. So good on ya mate!
Hey Sammy,
Thanks man but like most things in life the hardest part was making the concious decision to give up, and for me, sounds harsh, but I had tried many times to give up for my kids, to save money etc, it doesn't work, sometimes you need to do things for yourself, like physique transformations!!
Thanks again Sammy,
Andrew
Andrew, what an intense cardio workout! You are on a roll. Keep up the awesome effort.
Debbie
hi, i checked out the vo2 max websites you mentioned a few days ago. very interesting. i would have to do a walking or biking test as i don't run...hurts my knees. will have to try this once things settle down a little bit around here. maybe after the 14 day shred. realistically should do now and at the end to see the progress over the next 14 days, but just don't have the extra time...
Hey Debbie,
Thanks so much it was an intense one but I felt great after!!
Hey Suzette,
I ended up doing a stationary bike test. Obviously you needed the bike but you also needed a heart rate monitor, which the gym supplied. Not sure whether 2 weeks would show a difference up or not but it's definetley worth setting a starting point when things are a bit quieter.
Take care, both of you,
Andrew
Ah. Yes, I realize, now, where the difference between what we both have learned. I can see now why my physical therapist-learned advice does not apply here. It was from my physical REHAB. I feel so silly. Yes, one can safely do ab workouts daily. But, you're right, if you're working them really hard, naturally, your muscles would need to recover to show the improvement. I guess my therapist never worried my abs would get too hard of a workout and need more than 24 hrs to recover, because of my back. :-) Plus, the benefits that I was seeking (and exercises) were a bit different, too.
Yes, I have been peeking through your blogs. (That sounds a little, well, sorta dirty, when I say it over in my mind). I was inspired by Adam's Day One video to see your shredder origins. Oh, okay, and I was peeking to see if there was a photo of you that you forgot to take down. I've been caught.
Hey Christy,
I am not sure about abs whether they would show improvement or not but they are the only muscle in the body that does not really grow. I believe you can tone them which is how you get the six pack once you have shred the fat but you could do 10000 sit ups a day and they would get now bigger!!!
I'm going to get some sleep, I have a pile of ironing to do to warm-up before I get to the gym tomorrow morning!!!
Take care,
Andrew
P.S. no need to blush ;-)
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