Day 10: Speed HIT session

Whooaaa that was a tough one but based on my current fitness levels I am really pleased with my accomplishment today. I returned back to my speed HIT session which I used to do very regularly and had built up over time. I have not performed this session this year to date so was unsure of what the results would be.

I did reset this back to my baseline. It is speed increased at 1 minute intervals and it is run 5 times so for a total of 20 minutes:

1 minute at 6 kph
1 minute at 12 kph
1 minute at 14 kph
1 minute at 16 kph then return to start

I completed 3 of these as per planned and on the 4th and 5th cycles I had to drop the final speed of 16kph to 14 kph. I did complete all five cycles and just dropped those 2 speeds. Based on my Monday HIT session I was really pleased at what I achieved here. Again I may have been a bit ambitious jumping into this today but it gives me a solid baseline to move forward from and it is only going to improve my fitness levels more quickly and get me back in shape faster.

I was thinking of lowering the baseline set-up at the start but decided against this for the above reasons and am glad that I kept it as is despite almost collapsing at the end of the session.

My recovery was still relatively fast though which I was also pleased with. After this I went back to my still aching abs and did another abs session to completion. Still tough but I am pushing my training sessions each time.

I have not stepped on the scales since Day 1 yet, as I said I am not going to get too hung up with stats this time around but I will do a weigh in probably every 2 weeks to coincide with my pictures.

Until tomorrow...

Day 9: Still aching but still going

Still a few aches left from last week and my abs are aching again after yesterday's session but I am still putting 110% into my workouts and it all feels great which is the main thing.

Feeling great from eating clean also and am varying my diet, and eating more than I did the last time which is making things easier this time around.

To say the weather here today was awful would be an understatement so I abandoned the run outside, got back from the office, had tea and then headed to the gym around 45 minutes for a weight session. I can cope with weights when I have eaten recently but any cardio would turn into a mess!!

Chest, arms and back today and I am really enjoying lifting again. I have dropped the weight slightly in favour of getting perfect form. This has always been my problem trying to lift too heavy and sacrificing form. I am really pleased with the results also, I am finding that with much better form and slightly slower lifting that I am targeting the muscles much better and getting a much better workout.

Good luck to the SC 2.0 I am sure you will all be great ambassadors.

Until tomorrow...

Day 8: Return to HIT

Well I decided to bite the bullet and just jump in and go for it today, possibly a bit too early as I struggled with it today. that said though it should accelerate my return to fitness.

I opted to go for the incline HIT workout which is usually 20 minutes at a speed of 10 kph and 1 minute intervals switching between the following gradients: 1 %, 3%, 6% 9%. So you basically do this sequence 5 times. I managed it twice today before I needed to start adapting it. I managed the full 20 minutes but I tweaked the speed down to 6 kph on the 1% incline and then kept the 9% incline on 6% for the next 2 and then on the final 9% I ran this at 10 kph for about 25 seconds and then reduced to 5 kph. All in all I burned 301 calories in 20 minutes and I usually burn 350 ish.

I won't lie I was disappointed at not being able to complete the full 20 minutes but the lack of serious training and the recent sinusitis are paying their toll. Still it gives me a good starting point moving forward to aim at improving each session.

I will be going for a run outside tomorrow night weather permitting and then hitting the weights. Most of the aches have subsided now which is nice.

Until tomorrow...

Day 7: End of the First New Week

Well 7 days down and I am feeling much better than I did at the start. A combination of some serious exercise and some clean eating. Went swimming in the end today which was nice, I always find it clears the head going for a swim.

So tomorrow I will get to test out the new trainers and the treadmill and see how they go. I think I will see how I go tomorrow and then maybe give one of my old HIT routines a go. I will in due course get back to challenging Adam with the cardio routines as we did months ago, although I know he has upped them a bit since then also, but I like a challenge!!

Anyway I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Until tomorrow...

Day 6: Busy Busy Busy

Well, I was real busy today so got some general exercise and will go running tomorrow (Sunday). Went and got my feet professionally checked for would you believe it my first pair of "proper" running shoes.

So I will hopefully try them out later today. Will be back later today.

Until tomorrow...

Day 5: What a Week

Well that's 5 days of hard workouts which is great. Every muscle is aching but I am happy that I am already making progress and more importantly I feel fantastic.

I concentrated on my back today as that is about the only part of my body that does not ache currently. I want to try and build my back up so that I do not look quite so skinny this time when I lose the fat. I find it hard doing my back though but I spent 30 minutes on 6 different exercises today 4 sets 10 reps of each. So hopefully doing this once per week and varying the types will help produce some results.

The first pic is below which shows just how much I have gone backwards since the end of last year but through hard work and perseverance I will get back to previous form and indeed surpass it.

Abs session tomorrow before my day off on Sunday.

Until tomorrow...

Day 4: As Expected the DOMS

Well I was not surprised to wake up this morning to a very achy upper body. It has gotten worse over the course of the day but I can still bend my arms currently but I have concerns about tomorrow and I will be going for another upper body workout tomorrow, this time really concentrating on my back.

Today however was my legs and shoulders and I know that they are going to be really sore as I hobbled out of the gym after it today. I did full barbel squats, standing rows, leg extensions and shoulder press. All of these were performed with very limited rest periods so it really gets the pulse racing.

Had another good day nutrition wise as well and am felling stronger and fitter with each day.

Really looking forward to the routine tomorrow. Found it on bodybuilding.com which is a complete workout for your back. Not sure what will I will do Saturday but there will be something, as Sunday's will be my day off from now on.

Anyway I have more work to do so

Until tomorrow...

Day 3: First Weights Session in 3 Months

Well it still hurts when I cough and it feels great!! I know that the abs workout really got things going.

So it was an upper body weights session today, concentrating on back, chest and arms. It was a really good workout and the burn felt great. I was not far off the weight I was lifting 3 months ago either. So the muscle has remained in the most part it looks like, it's just the fitness that has really dropped off.

With that said I know that tomorrow is going to be a sore day and going on past experiences I will expect Friday to be even worse and after my lower body tomorrow I think the weekend will be very interesting. However, I was expecting all of this and I have to admit it is a great feeling to be back into a much more structured routine and that coupled with eating much more healthily is doing me a world of good already.

Well time to sleep and regain some energy for tomorrow's lower body and shoulders session.

Take care everyone.

Until tomorrow...

Day 2: The Great Outdoors

Well my abs are killing me today but then that's no real surprise after the workout yesterday and the lack of for the last few months. But it's good to feel the aches of progress again.

I was due to go the gym again this evening but too many family clashes so I opted for a nice run along the beach instead. All in it's around about 3.5 miles. I wear a HR monitor so I know I burnt 580 calories which I was pleased with but the time of 28 minutes 58 seconds was very poor compared to previous times I have put in. But it was a lovely evening and actually very warm so it was really nice running outdoors. I will get my some upper body weights in tomorrow and then lower body on Thursday so there is no loss.

This is one of the biggest impacts I have found with not having a structured routine for a few months and that is a great drop in my fitness levels. I will be moving back into the HIT routines that I did previously but I have some work to do for a few weeks before I think I will be ready for those.

Already starting to feel better with the increased exercise and the eating clean. I think it will take a week or so to get rid of a lot of the toxins, just need to get back into the routine of drinking lots of water. I find this one of the hardest habits to get into and also maintain. I was interested to read Debbie's comment on Adam's blog about it taking 21 days to get into a habit!!

Anyway, another day down.

Until tomorrow...

A New Begining...

Yes, I have arisen after all this time and for all those still wondering I never did get my full English breakfast as we had to order room service as we were leaving early and the kitchen was not open at that time!!!

Too many family problems to go into in the last 4 months and a few personal issues to deal with but I'm not making excuses. I have been running during this time but I have done very little work in the gym and so my fitness and weight has suffered.

Time to reverse it now but this time I have all the knowledge from the previous 20 weeks that I was shredding. I can't promise to be posting daily updates and they probably won't be as articulate or as long as the other blogs.

First trip back to the gym in several months today so I took it easy today, despite having done quite a bit of running outside. I did a steady 20 minutes on the treadmill starting at 11kph and then increasing by 0.1 kph every minute from 5 minutes onwards with the last minute at 16kph. Felt good but was hard work.

Then into a 10 minute abs workout which was really nasty as I have not touched my abs in about 3 months!! Weights tomorrow so I will be expecting some serious DOMS for the rest of the week as I have not performed any weights for over 3 months either.

I will not be quite a rigid on the stats as last time but for comparison, here are my starting stats today:

21% Bodyfat
84kg (13.2 stone / 184lbs)

Congratulations to all the shredders thus far and for the great finish you all had, especially Adam for completing M4.

Take care all.

Until tomorrow...