Day 36 - Smashing!

Smashing Times!

Day 36, a day I'll remember as the shoulder smash and astonishing abs!

I got up this morning, ready for my early workout preceding my Tuesday PT session. I headed to the gym after gulping down my pre-workout drink and some thermogenics.

I wanted to give my shoulders a good going over, not knowing that the PTI's had the same objective in mind! I incorporated front raises, lateral raises, shrugs, lifts and shoulder press - with machines, cable cross overs and free weights. I pushed hard, lifted additional weight than normal, progression is important, so I'm using week six as a platform to increase my workout intensity.

I intensified the workout also by reducing the time of rest between each set and between each exercise. I read that the occasional shocking of your muscle fibres makes them stronger...we shall see!

After I threw in a heap of abdominal work, farmers walks with a 27.5kg dumbbells, overhead holds with 35kg barbell (I'm holding for 2-3 minutes now...so progress), I did hanging leg raises (man they kill) and normal leg raises and knee raise crunches.

After came the hell fire workout...

15 to 1 Circuit

So this mornings PT sesh was a simple 4 exercise routine.... Bah ha ha ha ha! Simple? Let me explain, oh and if you're keen give this a whirl (Mr Fez I'm talking to you).

So 4 exercises: 

1. Abdominal Leg Raises - lie on back, hands in triangle under butt, raise legs together.
2. Push Ups
3. PFT Sit-ups (as performed in the RAN Fitness test)
4. Burpees - chest all the way to the floor, jump clap at end

Do 15 Ab leg raises, run about 25m (quickly as you can) then do 1 Push up and run back.

Repeat but do 14 raises, 2 push ups, then 13 & 3, 12 & 4.... you get the idea.... 15 down to 1, or 1 to 15.....

After finishing the first set (raises and push ups) take a sip of water and repeat but with sit ups and burpees.... 

Oh and yes its hard, if it was easy everyone would be doing it. JFDI.

If you find yourself slacking, cutting corners or cheating....Mr Dutchie caught me not performing my burpees correctly (as in my chest was not hitting the deck)... 

WHAT THE HELL!

 SNAP OUT OF IT.. 

You're only cheating yourself, and YES, You should feel guilty! 

Do as I did - for every rep you cheated, add in a good one....you'll soon stop cheating! I felt bad about the three reps I had cheated on (and got caught doing by my good team mate - thats moral courage at work people!) and subsequently added 3 extra good ones to my set (and that there is honesty and integrity). I told Mr Dutchie after - he just laughed at me...but thats why we train with other people sometimes...we all need a push at some point.

Love this, Love My Wife...Value my Life.

 So after two awesomely hard workouts all giving my similar muscle groups a good hard smashing, I left the gym. Not evening session today - I'm working two duties (1600-2000h and again 0400-0800h, in the MCR Simulator in the Marine Engineering Demo Block)....so time to sleep. But first.....

Feedback

I love you guys, I've recently received some awesome feedback from readers (via Facebook mostly) and all things point to (a) people actually reading my blog, (b) people finding it helpful and most importantly to me (c) people see what I'm trying to do. 

So, thank you all for the amazing support. That is truly an amazing feeling, that I WILL be attaching to my wake up call at 0300h tomorrow! I'll use your positive energy to drive me outta bed and into work... Plus, to know you're using this blog to motivate your training, really makes me bounce. Remember to bounce people! It's great for the soul.

Day 35 - A New Perspective?

So, As Michelle Bridges (#mishbridges) told me, consistency is key. Everyday I use her words as motivation; JFDI Gaffa...JFDI and get your butt out of bed! JFDI - you can and will make time, because you have time.

What Motivates Us?

Well, today I started off with that, and bounced out of bed. My bouncing was literal. It actually made me smile, so I did a couple more times to make sure...I started spontaneous laughter in my inner dialogue... which just seemed to motivate me further!

Not sure how that works, but for some reason I felt oddly attached to going to the gym today, as I bounced down the steps and out into the cold, dark of Monday morning. I arrived at the gym, with my mind reeling all over the place, thinking ahead about what I'd be writing in this blog. I wanted to start week 6 with something inspiring and motivational...

Which got me to thinking, as I pushed through my workout, about motivation. Its like a bus, when you need motivation its not there, its late or you just missed it...but you still need it, right? Well, what if we could self-motivate? Is that too hard? Well, looking at today, and some of my previous posts about what has motivated me out of my warm and cosy bed: Sunrises, Rain drops, Ocean sounds, Bouncing in my bedroom....the list is growing. What motivates me later in the day - Movies I'm emotionally bound to (Rocky, Never Back Down, Karate Kid, Man Of Steel...another huge list)... so is motivation about being pushed by others to inspire us, or is it us taking something we feel emotionally attached to and using it to push us?

I'm gonna roll with it here, stay with me. So, bouncing this morning made me chuckle, it made me feel good about myself - I'm here in my cabin, missing my amazing wife but still I conjure the spirit to get up and do stuff....Well here it is, I attached the "getting up and bouncing" and laughing at myself with going to the gym. I used that situation to motivate me. I use images and video of Rocky to make me train harder. But what am I really doing? It feels a lot like I'm attaching my emotions to something I love and that makes me feel good, and then I seem to attach that feeling to what I need to do, the thing I need inspiration for....and it works!

So, right now, give it a try. Do something, watch something, say something that makes YOU feel good about yourself, then immediately attach that feeling to something you need to achieve. See if you jump onto your own motivation bus. JFDI and see what happens!

Consistency in Just Freaking Doing It..

As I said, I am getting really consistent and I do it. I'm loving being healthy and training 7 days a week. I love pushing my body and seeing little tweaks to it every week. I love the feeling of muscles burning from use, and not soreness from being idle. I'm feeling strong - inside and out. I'm standing taller, it feels like, with a new air of confidence... YAY!

Monday Morning Back

So my gym today was a normal workout, with crazy thought processes and inspired activity always means I add to my routine. Today was Back from 0600-0700h and I was really in the 'zone', so when I threw in additional abdominal work and then raced back to get ready 20minutes later than normal I realised I had missed the time flying!

Cardio Blitz

After a full day in class, and a later than normal finish time, I was faced with two options:

1. Go to the gym and face potentially missing dinner
2. Go to dinner and miss a training session

I opted to train, and risk dinner. I actually made it to dinner, for a measly meal...but still.

I headed back to the gym, cobbled together quite piece of gym floor space and warmup with grid sprints and stretches. I then did a little circuit that lasted 25 minutes and combined high intensity skipping, 2 different med-ball workouts, and abdominals on the Bosu ball. The med-ball workout were the arm blowout I've recently started doing, in 2 minute intervals, and the wall bounce drills I've been doing in the boxing room (low fast bounces, high over head bounces). The bosu was inverted and my core stability training (abs) was to do sets of 10 bicycle crunches, and 10 full knee in crunches...rest and repeat to failure... My abdomnals throbbing, I headed into the gym to add more abdominal work - farmers walks with 27.5kg dumbbells (in each hand), standing overhead barbell lift and holds (using 35kg bar), then hanging leg raise crunches, kneeling cable weight pull down crunches, abdominal burnouts on the inclined bench and some side crunches.... My 60 minute workout done, I headed to the pool to swim 500m. I did the swim in 14 minutes, but changed a few parameters... I swam 25m breast stroke (low intensity), then continued into fast, full power freestyle for the remaining 25m of the length, tumble turned and repeated. 10 laps of this new swim interval had me pooped!

Now, I'm ready for bed....

Day 34 - Pushing Thru Sore

Sore, Not Sorry!

I woke up a little stiff this morning, glad to have slept in, but eager to get out on my road bike for some leg loosening, blood pumping, exhilaration....

I got dressed, ate a banana and gulped down a couple thermogenics with a glass of water. Sunnies on, plan in my head - I was ready to go.

I grabbed my bike, checked my tyres and headed down the fire escape from my cabin (my usual route). I jumped on my bike, hit go on my Garmin 910 XT and saw my cadence sensor, and heart rate monitor buzz into action before my eyes - I love technology.

Freedom Joyrides

I cycled out of the main gate, and headed away from Crib, toward Somers. My plan was simple, ride to Somers, stop at the General Store Cafe for coffee and a bite (brunch) and cycle back. The round trip was 30km, so still a valiant effort considering my achy soreness in my hamstrings, glutes and quads!

The first 10-15km were a little bit of a struggle, but soon after my legs warmed up and I felt the spin get easier. I was averaging 70rpm and a heart rate of 130bpm which for me is not too shabby. I arrived at the cafe, hungry in need of some fuel.

Thankfully, 10am on a sunday is not peak hour (11am seemed to be) and I made my order, took a table outside in the sun looking at the ocean...all I needed to make my morning perfect was my wifey, Winnie...sadly not gonna happen, so, I indulged (ha ha ha) in a large cappuccino and a gluten free breakie - which was yummy. It had good crispy bacon, half an avocado, steamed spinach, grilled tomato and a yummy salsa with the gluten free toast and poached (to perfection) eggs.... (must've been using Miss Han-Wan's poacher!).

After eating this yummy brunch, I sat and let it go down, for 10-15 minutes, took a couple generous gulps of my electrolyte drink and set off on my return trip. This made the couple sitting in the shade happy, since they jumped at the chance to steal my table in the sun!

My ride consumed around 900 calories, and my legs were pretty sore after so I had a shower, drank a protein recovery shake, aminos and finished the electrolyte drink.

The rest of my sunday has been spend revising for yet another exam! Boredom Central.

Day 33 - Mega Session!

Saturday - Train Hard....

...You know the rest. Just be the best (you can be)...

So, after the long and exhaustive (and slightly alcohol fuelled) day of ANZAC 2014, I got up a little slower than normal. Still made it in time to get the first train outta Crib, bound for Melbourne.

My plan - Train Legs at Fitness First's new platinum gym on Flinders Street, collect my bike from Cycles Galleria and come back to base. I stuck to my plan and gained more than sore legs...

LEGS DAY!

Arrival at the gym at 1000h was nicely done. I had jumped off the train walked around the block (Swanston, Collins, Elizabeth, Flinders Streets) and smashed down my pre-work out drink - it was good warm up walk which was followed by some quick dynamic stretched as I changed into my gym gear. I have to say, the new gym on Flinders is wicked - great facilities, great people - check ito ut even as a guest its worth it.

I went up to the "big boys" area of the gym since it was quiet, and did some free-squats to get my legs in shape, then headed over to the new leg press machines. I was feeling really focused and very strong in the leg dept today. My confidence with legs has never been great, especially since recovering from my torn hamstring during NEOC last year!  After a quick 20kg warm up set of 15 reps I did 5 sets (12 reps, 10 reps, 8 reps, 10 reps, 12 reps). I reached a pretty good weight in set 3 (for a novice) - 140kg, and felt comfortable, then on the 4th and 5th sets I removed 20kg each set.

I returned to the squat rack, set up a 20kg barbell with 15kg on each end in preparation to do squats. At that moment a massive dude came in and jumped onto the rack next to me, my image in the mirror was lost to his huge size, so he offered to alternate his sets to allow me to use the mirror so I could work on my technique - he was called Ryan, a cool guy. The dude he was training with (well there were four dudes and pretty cool chick actually), Kieran, offered to coach me through a legs session and so I joined in with the group - learning heaps! Kieran continued to assist me with my lifting tech and showed me some new moves, which I'll be sure to include (since they really gave me a great workout today).

After squats, reaching around 90kg on the bar (45kg each side of the barbell), I moved to calves and really let rip! I wasn't going heavy, but I was really enjoying the larger pyramid sets. I returned to the barbell on the squat rack. I loaded up my barbell, and after some guidance from Ryan and Kieran, I did two types of dead lift. The first set of dead lifts was a glute strengthening dead lift devised by an American trainer from Winnepeg! Ainsley McSorley has an entire Glute exercise regimen, but I incorporated just a few of her routines today, to test the water. This dead lift was a barbell Romanian dead lift. The smaller movements in this exercise really tweaked the hamstring and really worked my core. I only lifted around 50kg all up, but I could really feel it work my legs. The second, given by Ryan, was a full dead lift - amazingly he was lifting 230kg, whilst I was lifting around 70kg! Still, I'm new to legs so I was enjoying the coaching and technique development!

After a quick set of Ainsley's Squats using a fit-ball against a wall, performed slowly in 3x15 rep sets (which burned so much in my quads), I grabbed a 25kg bar and performed a set of my own 'crazy lunge pyramid walks'... lol. 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 reps on each leg, stepping forwards on each set. After travelling around 20-30m and covering 43 reps per leg, I stopped, turned and returned to the start point. I did three sets of these, each time with about a minute or so rest between each. Kieran guided me on my posture during the lunges, and really assisted in pushing me through what ended up being a really intense leg burnout! I concluded my legs workout with  hamstring curls. I performed these on a machine, doing 8 reps each set. I started at 30kg, then 60, 90, 120, 150, 170kg. My legs were actually shaking as I stretched and hydrated!

Chest Builder

I was working hard, feeling really charged up. I enjoyed the workout and was going good guns. I decided to push my chest sets a little harder and longer. I started with the inclined chest press bench. I continued with pyramid sets. I lifted 50kg x 10 reps, then 70kg x8 reps (for 2 sets). I started feeling the struggle of lifting without a spotter, and (low and behold) Kieran appears to give me the encouragement I needed....I then reduced to 60kg for a fourth set of 10 reps. I finished with 50kg for a final 12 reps! As I moved from inclined to flat bench, with awesome energy and motivation, I repeated the same sets and weights - my chest was really surging and I felt like I had started to build on my normal chest workout. I concluded my bench workout with a slow, arduous declined chest press. I started with 50kg, then upped it to 60kg. I then added 2.5kg per set, until I was at 70kg, each set being 8 reps long. This really made me feel the burn!

I left the "big boys" area and headed to the cables and dumbbells for conclusion of chest. I did my normal pectoral flyes and added a set of dumbbell inclined flyes to finish. My chest was done for!

Final Burnout

I went down to the open area to do abdominals and my new burnout. I started with the burn. I picked up the 10kg tubie thing with handles, and did the arm burnout I mentioned on my recent arm workout blog.I did two sets of around 3 minutes, feeling stronger. I obtained two 32kg kettle bells to tweak my obliques before heading on a short walk (farmer's walks to strengthen my abs). After two laps of the gym, I remembered there was an actual device to do farmer walks using free weights. Utilising this, I walked 25kg per arm back and fourth in the astro turf area. On completion of the farmer walks I finished with some lower abdominal lifts and left for a needed shower. I left the gym at 1320h... lol :)

After replenishment of aminos and protein drinks, I headed to collect my bike. Shortly after I was eating a yummy steak and fries with a well earned coffee for lunch.

Another big, educational day with lots of energy spent. Time to sleep!

Day 32 - Rest

Anzac Day 2014

They shall not grow old
As we are left to grow old.

Age shall not weary them

Nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun

and in the morning

We shall remember them.

Lest We Forget

I'm a new Australian, this being my first official ANZAC day I was trying to understand and found this amazing tribute from 2013, put together by a high school. It moved me, considerably. For all my friends and family back in the UK, this is part of the heritage I belong to now and its very important to me.

I also found a ceremony that was pretty moving to watch, and to all my fellow Australians taking part   in (or attending) ceremonies, marches and services all over Australia, we shall remember them.

To all of my colleagues who have been doing ANZAC duties, I hope your day went well.

Being a serving member of the Australian Defence Force, with the Royal Australian Navy I am proud to have been involved in this, my first ever ANZAC Day. Today was truthfully a day of rest, and a chance to reflect on more than I could ever put into words. 

All I can say is that everyday I am both amazed and humbled by the people with whom I serve. This is the motivation and the inspiration that drives me. I am a part of something special, something bigger than myself. It something that contributes to the development and sustainment of the country I call home. The people of Australia are a very special and unique people, and I have grown to love them, and their tradition. Today I realised that to the great responsibility that all serving members of the ADF carry is sacred and worth protecting. I belong to a wonderful community of people who share the same values and traditions. Today we should also remember that there are many ADF members serving on operations and we should spare a few moments thought for them as they carry out their duties.

I hope this post, comes across as I intended it to. 

Positively and Respectfully, I say good night.

Day 31 - Double Day

Double Day?

Well, in order to account for tomorrow being ANZAC day, Lest We Forget, I decided to blend two days' worth of gym workouts into one! Crazy - No I'm just really enjoying my training!

After falling asleep last night around 2230h I woke with an insanely large amount of energy. Not needing my early pre-workout, or my lemon water I headed to the gym. I gave myself a great workout, really getting into it I was almost late for class!

First Milestone is My Honeymoon - I'll train hard for that....

Super Shoulders!

As each day of my regimen gets easier, I find myself pushing harder and harder. Today, I really got into my shoulder workout like never before! I squeezed more exercises, more reps and more variations into it.

I felt so much energy this morning - I guess the power of a good night's sleep?

Big Arms :)

After a shortish day in class, and some private study I found myself in the gym for the second time. This time to push through an arms workout. I researched a few new arm exercises, and focussed on muscle groups - Biceps, then Triceps then whole arm.

I added sets of Zuttman Dumbbell Curls, Barbell Drag Curls,  Twisted Wrist Curls, Prone Incline Curls, and Inclined Squat Curls to my bicep workout. I upped the ante with my tricep cable dips (maxing out at 42kg! - a new PB), narrow tricep dips.

I then threw in some core strengtheners to work my arms - Farmer's walks with heavy dumbbells, Standing Lift Holds, and Farmer's Oblique squeezes.

Finally to blow out and burn my arms into oblivion.... I did a multi-step med-ball routine - 3 minutes, I lasted - repeating in sequence with a 4kg ball:

1 - bicep curl

2 - chest press

3 - shoulder press

4 - behind the head tricep dip

5 - lower to chest

6 - chest press

7 - bicep curl

and on and on and on...

My body is officially having a rest day tomorrow!

I'll go for Sore?

Day 30 - Mixing It Up

Challenging Start

I rose this morning, earlier than usual. It was dark, colder than normal and I was not feeling it at all. So, needless to say, I found it challenging to get myself out of bed after my 0430h alarm buzz. I got dressed, sitting at the end of my bed - looking like and feeling a bit unusually sorry for myself - must be the uber early start? It took a while but I reluctantly walked out of my cabin and into the cold pre-sunrise day (or is it night)....

 

I ran, flashing red run light on my right arm, iPhone on my right arm (map my running the activity), chest strap and heart rate monitor connected up, run kit including a beanie.....feeling a bit  christmas tree-like I set off on my planned run. 2 laps of the Cerberus perimeter, approximately 6.66km with a few twists and turns thrown in!! It took me 37:39, running at an average of 10.6kph, burning around 800 kCal at a pace of 5:39 per km. A nice run, albeit with stiffer, legs that took a while to warm up!

Building Back 

After running around in the pre-sunrise, enjoying a fairly brisk run, I ended up going straight into the gym. Today is Back day! I worked pretty hard too. I did the normal seat rows with the machines to start, then using the cable row I work narrow rows, then a seated dead lift (it was a good addition last week). I then added a seated trapezius shrug, followed by a rope row to tweak the back muscles. All with the one machine! I'm getting pretty good at utilising the machines to my advantage now. After I did a wide pulldown, followed by a narrow chin up pulldown with around 60kg - which is really helping me develop my chin up technique! I did a free weight inclined row using a hammer  strength machine, and upped the ante by lifting 50kg in my final set.

I moved to the cable cross-overs to work isolated single arm rows. I started with mid level, low then high increasing the weight from 10kg to 17.5kg between the entire set. Like last week, I worked sets of 10 reps on each side, swapping over without a rest.

Using the chin up bar I did abdominal leg raises, but I incorporated a body roll, lift to allow me to lift my feet and legs from pointing at the floor to facing the ceiling. This was a good upper body strength and abdominal core burnout!

To complete my back workout I concluded with some lower abdominals and back raises. I'm definitely feeling stronger and seeing improvements each time I train. Very happy about that.

Feeling accomplished I headed back to my cabin to get ready for the day ahead.

Day 29 - Back to Business!

Another Fresh New Day!

Tuesday Morning Chest

Bish, Bash, Bosh! Up and at 'em folks! That was how I approached today, and its been a pretty positive and invigorating day for me.

I could hear the storm flurry outside my window at 0500h, the rain tickling my window pane and the howling wind rustling the nearby trees - do you think that stopped me? Say What! Heck No! I have grown up with this, dark and stormy is my thing! 

I got to the gym early, after smashing down a warm lemon water and my usual morning thermogenic. My routine is getting more concrete as each week passes, but my training is ever changing and evolving! I decided to try a variation on chest today. I started with my usual warm up sets on the chest press and incline chest press machines, then headed over to the free weights to knock out a few sets of combined chest press and pectoral flyes. This was hard but achievable, so next session I'll chuck a few extra kilos into the mix!

After, I jumped onto the bench press, working in a different order (to fatigue on each) flat bench, inclined then declined. I found finishing with declined bench I fatigued much faster, but luckily Mr Nate was on hand to give me a generous spot!

I moved to the cable cross-overs, to deepen my pectoral work. I adjusted the height today to really tweak it - mid chest height, then low followed by high sets - to work the full range of motion. I used pretty low weights, (5kg on each side) but I was really focussing on slow movements and enhanced technique to feel the squeeze! I finished with a set of isolated, single arm chest press push outs using the cables, working on my standing core, posture and again squeezing the chest as I push out each rep!

A quick lower abdominal burnout and I was done, 60 minutes and my workout felt good!

Indoor Football

Tonight after an hour of good study, I got my butt down to the gym for my second session of the day; this time was indoor football (round ball) with the boys from the EOAC! All up I played for over 90 minutes, scored 5 goals, let a heap of goals in (as keeper) and got a really good cardio workout, and a whopping lump on my left shin to prove we play for keeps! A really good game, and sadly Mr Alexi from Timor will be leaving us, and taking his silky smooth ball skills with him. I shall miss his skilful plays, tricks and general love for the game.

A good victory and a well deserved dinner later, I'm getting ready to curl up and get some shut-eye!

Oh but before I do, I wanted you to feel as inspired as I do, so.....

Rain Drops & Motivation

I love the sound of water, the ocean, drips dripping, rainfall and sprinklers! So, this morning I woke to my favourite sound, which set my mood and got me to thinking about all things wet, moist and fresh!

And sing the song in your heart!

So, with that in mind I will see you all on the other side of rejuvenating sleep! Good night, and remember:

"Look Up. Get Up. Don't EVER Give Up!"

Days 24-28 Easter Burnies!

Easter Burnies

Well, what a weekend - spent with my amazing wife! We did heaps of fun fitness activities, and had lots of quality time together. I love my wife, she's my One in a "Minion"... lol :)

My Awesome-ly NERDY Wife!

Climbing

So, Good Friday, was really good. Winnie and I woke up, went for an early run, nothing crazy just a nice easy 5km run. I t was good to get a nice leg blast first thing in the morning. Took us just over half an hour (31:03) and we were running at a fairly comfy pace of 6:03 per km (9.9kph).

Nice Wake Up? Cool Running Pants!

After a nice breakfast (huevos rancheros) that I prepared for my awesome wife, we headed over to St Peters to the  Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym, for some climbing fun. We decided this would be an ideal way to catch up with Mr Hon and and his bro, so we met them there and got straight into climbing and catching up with whats been going on for us over the past few months.

I wanted to upload a video, but blogger seems to be struggling post easter...I will add to Facebook / you tube at some stage... or if I can Blogger - I may need to edit it to be a smaller movie.... sad face :(

Just so you know....The video I had put together was edited, but I'm not great at that, and was pretty shaky due to the Go Pro being on my hand (goodman handle) whilst climbing or belaying. 

Climbing Video Link

Between this climbing session and the last (pre NEOC) I have increased strength considerably, last time I struggled to do some of the climbs, and especially hauling my fat ass up the overhangs! This time, I made light work of most, but some tested me still. Winnie and Mr Hon made all the climbs look easy!

It was good to catch up and do something active at the same time. Good upper body workout, lots of sweat and a few slips due to sweaty hands.... fun fun fun!

Ocean Swimming

Saturday morning, Winnie and I met up with our Bruv - Ironman - and  went for a little ocean swim. Initially, we were due to swim at Malabar, but weird swells and rips made it look like a washing machine...interesting for my first proper ocean swim! So we headed over to La Perouse for a gander there... the bay, inside of Botany Bay, near to the cafe on the beach (the boat shed) was ripply but calm enough to have a go.

Of course, Ironman was in his triathlon swim wetsuit, whilst Winnie and I were in out bathers - oh yea I hit the ocean in my speedos! I swam, rather struggled to swim 1km, which was 4 lengths of the bay, in pretty chilly water (reminiscent of ocean temperatures in summertime in the UK) in 36:58 which wasn't too shabby - but way slower than my normal Cerberus pool lap speed!

It was good to get our training done early, so we could enjoy the new Captain America movie at IMAX in Darling Harbour. A great afternoon wind down!

Killer Arms

Sunday morning, well most of sunday was spend doing fitness and fun fitness. In the morning, Winnie took me to Maroubra Junction Fitness First (on a guest pass). In return, I pushed her and I through a long arm workout, using the cables and free weights. We worked triceps and biceps to death!

A short while after returning from the gym, we picked up Winnie's  dad to take him with us to Centennial Park. He set off on a walk around the perimeter whilst we went for a run. We did 8km (just over two laps) in 47:20 at an average pace of 5:51 per km (10.2kph). It was good to get the extra kilometres on my legs, and practice my slightly slower than normal pace for long runs... although Winnie thinks its slow due to running with her, but I disagree! I'm trying to get my pace and heart rate to be consistent on long runs - My heart rate didn't exceed 145bpm and my pace was slower, so next run I want to see if I can push my heart rate up a touch without going too much faster....I know what I'm trying to achieve.... I think!

Crank It Suspension Fun

After a light snack with the Fong-Girls (and Archie), I set up and started trying out our new Crank It Suspension training kit. Its basically a slightly improved TRX set up and so we did the usual stuff then Ms Pole and Winnie were doing some Pole moves using the kit, then Ironman was demonstrating some fancy strength moves... We were having quite a lot of fun, whilst getting an all over workout.

Ironman being Ironman

Me trying to be

Me doing a weird chest press..

When I got home my arms were throbbing, and I was feeling a pretty good ache to let me know I'd given myself enough. I dosed up on BCAAs and some aminos and ate some yummy food (sushi) with Winnie and her dad.  A great way to finish our easter holidays!

I like this, its got depth.

Day 23 - Progress & Belief

Progress

Progression is something we should always monitor. It shows us that we're on the right track and that we're achieving and moving forwards. Without monitoring progress, we can never truly see how far we've come. Over the past 23 days I've seen small changes, felt big changes and visualised huge changes. I've seen my mindset and inner-balance return stronger than ever. It has been a massive journey, and its not even a full month yet. I'm really enjoying sharing this with you, but if I'm being honest, I'm enjoying writing this for my own proof of progress. I read back through the old posts and see when I've had good days, bad days, tough sessions or lazy thoughts. I see how I've progressed and I'm loving it. This is the best training diary ever!

Once More for the Record...

Well, I'm gonna put it out there, proof or evidence of how I'm going. Real measurements, my real data. So to point out, since my first recorded data, I have had my weight, height and fat measurements done professionally, so if you notice a few minor number changes, thats why!

Day 1: 

Weight: 97kg

Height: 176cm

Belly: 110.5cm

BMI: 31.31

Before - This is Why I blog...

'InBody' Body Composition Analysis - Day 13:

Height: 175.1cm - Dang, I'm shorter than I thought!

Composition:
Total Body Water: 53.3 L (Average = 37.9 - 46.3 L)

Protein: 14.5 kg (Avg = 10.2 - 12.4 kg) 

Minerals: 4.96 kg (Avg = 3.51 - 4.29 kg)

Body Fat Mass: 25.3 kg (Avg = 8.1 - 16.2 kg) - OMG!
Soft Lean Mass: 68.7 kg (Avg = 48.7 - 59.5 kg)
Fat Free Mass: 72.8 kg (Avg = 51.6 - 63.1 kg)

Muscle-Fat Analysis:

Weight: 98.1 kg (Avg = 57.4 - 77.6 kg)

Skeletal Muscle Mass: 41.9 kg
Body Fat Mass: 25.3 kg

Obesity Analysis:
BMI: 32.0
Percentage Body Fat: 25.8 % - EEEEP!
This analysis yields an over the limit BMI and PBF! Lucky I ignore this….

Segmental Lean Analysis:
Right Arm: 4.35 kg / 120.9 %
Left Arm: 4.44 kg / 123.3 %
Trunk: 32.4 kg / 113.2 %
Right Leg: 10.54 kg / 105.3 %
Right Leg: 10.50 kg / 104.9 %
This analysis suggests that my upper body (arms) and lower body (legs) are balanced in terms of muscular density and weight,  whilst my upper to lower body is slightly out of whack (due to my trunk). The percentage number is good, if you are 100% or higher, it suggests a healthy soft lean mass.

Segmental Fat Analysis:
Right Arm: 1.6 kg / 262.7 %
Left Arm: 1.6 kg / 264.6 %
Trunk: 14.2 kg / 331.0 %
Right Leg: 3.2 kg / 186.4 %
Right Leg: 3.2 kg / 183.7 %

Body Water Analysis:
ECW Ratio: 0.369 = Normal (0.36 - 0.39)
ECW ratio is the ratio between extra cellular water and total body water. This indicates that body water is in balance, therefore in a healthy state.

Additional Data:
Intracellular Water: 33.7 L (Avg = 23.5 - 28.7 L)
Extracellular Water: 19.6 L (Avg = 14.4 - 17.6 L)
Basal Metabolic Rate: 1943 kcal
Waist - Hip Ratio: 0.95 (Avg = 0.80 - 0.90)
Visceral Fat: 10 (Avg = 1 -9)
Bone Mineral Content: 4.11 kg (Avg = 2.9 - 3.5 kg)
Body Cell Mass: 48.2 kg (Avg = 33.7 - 41.4 kg)
Arm Circumference: 37.9 cm
Arm Muscle Circumference: 33.1cm

Weight Control:
Target Weight: 85.7 kg
Suggested Weight Loss: -12.4 kg (doesn't assume weight gain as muscles build)
Realistic Weight Loss: -6.2 kg (assumes gain muscles increases weight)
Fat Control: -6.2 kg (assuming muscle gain)

End Week 2

Day 23:

Height: 175.1 cm
Weight: 97.2 kg

BMI: 31.67
Belly: 106.0 cm
Right Arm Circumference: 39.6 cm 

Left Arm Circumference: 39.8 cm

Chest: 115.0 cm

Start Week 4

I have to say I'm mildly surprised that I'm doing so well, I've really felt so uncomfortable, tired, achy and fat whilst working on this regimen. I'm seeing results three weeks in and that is pretty cool. So, now I'll just keep going and I will endeavour to "Strive for progress, not perfection."

Moving on….

Tuesday typically means an early weights room session, mandatory navy physical training, and a hardcore cardio in the evening. Today I decided to mix things up a little. 

Back (with a vengeance)

A good back workout in the gym this morning - I'm really putting myself through my paces these days, feeling stronger physically and emotionally, especially since I've started seeing some minor changes and results for my efforts. I started the usual way, utilising the seated row machine and the lat pulldown. On the pulldown I've started throwing in an extra 3 sets, allowing me to do a wide set and a very narrow set to target some of those core muscles. After pulldown, I moved to the high row followed by the newest addition to my training - the safer way to conduct a dead lift - seated on the cable row. I picked this one up from Michelle Lewin (follow her on Instagram) and its really helping to strengthen my back, without the strain of doing it using a barbell. I also threw in a set of rows, this time using the rope handle to tweak those smaller muscles in my middle back, this needs far less weight, but you can really feel it! I finished with a cable burnout, isolating separate arms, doing three sets of three types of single arm row - inclined / diagonal pull up (from the lowest cable setting), waist height pull (middle setting), inclined / diagonal pull down (from the highest). I did this simultaneously, 8 reps left side, then right, then left, then right…you get the picture… until I had done 3 sets on each side. I then changed the height. So thats 9 sets of 8 reps on each side of my back, giving my arms a bit of a go over too! Oh Yeah! I'm gonna look so good for my honeymoon if I keep up the hard work!

Belief

Belief is powerful. I'd actually go on to say belief is power. I'm not expecting the fat to just leave my body in search of another host, I'm working hard at getting rid of it myself. I believe I can do it, and I believe I can achieve my goal of trimming up the fat, building a little muscle and improve my general physique. I'm feeling healthier every day, and I'm really believing that my body is starting to respond. I'm not just praying for a miracle, I'm becoming the miracle. Deep? Well, if I don't believe that its possible, who will? Exactly, today I'm sharing my thoughts, but really what I'm saying is that I'm Clark Kent, but I wanna show you the Superman behind the disguise.

My Inner Superhero is Lego!

Cardio Fun

So, tonight I decided not to go to yoga, in preference for a full game of indoor football (with a round ball) and a swim. Footy lasted well over the usual time we have allocated (plus I'm not normally there until the end) and was SO MUCH fun. I scored 2 goals tonight, and played hard. Really enjoy having a good kick about. Mr Dutchie organises this every week and should really be playing at such a higher level, but its good to see him, Mr P and our resident East Timor transfer Alex-skills! They all play so well…oh and Hand - A, he scored 3 goals tonight, even when Mr P put him under pressure. Good job buddy! The swim was another 500m blast, to finish my day off. I did it again in around 14 minutes and focused on my TTs. I'm getting better…each time I swim I see a touch more progress!

So, thanks for reading. Speak soon peeps!

Day 22 - Week Four Commences...

Love this.

As week 4 begins I find myself all a-tingle with the excitement that making new habits brings. I find that although it is hard being away from my beautiful Winnie, I am getting better at dealing with being away from the person who actually gets me best. It's still hard, but training is my coping mechanism.

Six O'Clock Shoulders

This morning was a toughie. A bit down after such a weekend of awesomeness, I got out of my bed and got on with my normal routine. I trudged to the gym in the rather 'fresh' cool air, which hit like knives after my cosy bed, and got into my first muscle group of the week. Shoulders were the pick of the day. I found myself starting slow, but warming up pretty quickly. It was good to see Mr Q at the gym - he's not so much of an early bird, but kudos to him for getting down there! Shoulders today, I focussed on the pushing my existing limits (carefully) and really training the muscles connecting my shoulders with some little tweaky exercises. I used a few tricks I've been learning lately to find the sweet spot in my training, and it feels like its starting to come together. I just hope I can sustain it, over easter! I incorporated more free weights into the core workout, then utilised the machines to 'finish' me off.

The workout this morning concluded with some light weight burn out sets to failure on the cable cross-overs, doing isolated single arm work - front raises and flyes to the side. I can definitely feel like I gave my shoulders a pretty good go over. Boom!

Pumped Cardio 

So, iPhone pre-loaded with new upbeat tracks I headed to the gym for the second time today. I feel its also important to point out that I try to include cardio into my routine, it seems to calm my mind and flush me with memories of the bad-old days of hardcore kickboxing, squash and gym training with Mr Mouldie. I miss that dude! Perhaps one day he'll bring Miss Kimbers to Australia to visit?….

I spent 60 minutes doing another fairly hardcore cardio burnout: Bag work (mostly upper body), shadow boxing, side lunges using the half-ball thingo, med-ball wall bounces with lunging calf-raises (I progressed from 5 sets of low, medium and high using the 4kg ball to the same with a 5kg ball), speed bag / reaction boxing and kwon board uppercuts and jabs. I spent a couple of tracks just rotating between skipping and burning up my shoulders using a big rope and a kinda drumming action (insert imagination here - think of me sweaty and jacked into the music drumming with huge ropes, making sinusoidal patterns with it!). I followed this up with around 15 minutes of abdominal work.

Swim-Chillax

Swimming is my cool down at the moment, so I jumped in and smashed out a 500m swim in 14 minutes. A little slower than usual, I was working on technique. I was focusing on the tumble turn and kick off to conserve some energy. I'm finding knocking out 500m-1km quite comfortable these days - which is my aim! After my swim, I was reluctant to jump out of the 28 degree bathtub in the fresh cool evening air…and relaxed, leaning against my arms on the pool edge, with body in the water in the shallow end…I drifted off. I was initially meditating, my usual relaxing internal chant and breathing with relaxed deep inhalations and exhalations….I was dreaming, and very cosy until I heard one of my instructors talking to his young daughter (about how hard a day I'd had…lol) which roused me and brought me back into the now! I think I could've stayed there heaps longer otherwise!

It's important to properly cool down and relax after a big workout, so after the relax part I jumped out and walked briskly back to my cabin - in my damp gym gear (after dark)….brrrr! Slightly fresher than this morning! A nice hot shower and pre-warmed PJs (thanks to my radiators) saw me warm up nicely!

Days 17-21 - End of Week 3

Another crazy week…

Hey there F2F readers! It’s been a very busy few days for me, incorporating lots of things, especially work! Now, in the interest of my own health, and to keep some organisation with my blog posts, I needed to spend some time doing some catch up workouts.

Wednesday & Thursday

I took a rest day on Wednesday to rest after a particularly gruelling tuesday Yoga, then returned with a vengeance on Thursday morning to do a 60 minute back training session. Friday morning, exam day, I stuck to last week's routine - up early to study and ready myself for the exam and train later. The exam was headache worthy and lasted almost 4 hours! I then travelled to Melbourne to meet my lovely wifey to celebrate her birthday weekend. We had planned to use the city Fitness Firsts to continue our training - the hotel we had booked allowed some guest passes for me and Winnie could go to any with her Platinum FF Membership. We did end up getting a lot of gym time, plus the use of two different gyms and a whole variety of equipment. 

Friday – The Birthday Workout

Yes, you can and should do a workout on your birthday! It will raise your endorphins and as a bonus, you can go out and feel less guilty about it! It had been decided before Friday, we were both prepared for at least an hour of gym. I arrived to the city to meet Winnie, and after some light lunch, we got ready for a good Back, Shoulders and Abdominals workout. I was very impressed by the new standard Fitness First are setting. The re-brand to Red is awesome, but the gyms were really modern. Friday's workout was conducted at the FF on the corner of Lonsdale and Russell and was a smaller gym, with everything you needed to to a fairly functional workout; cable machines, the main resistance machines, ample free weights (lots really) and a good selection of kettle bells and weigh disks for doing some 'cross-fit' style training. I was impressed also with the birthday girl's training, she pushes hard and stays focussed. Hopefully she will have some new tricks up her sleeve after training with me! The back equipment was excellent, different row machines, for tweaking different muscles in your back, a variety of pulldowns to work strength and keep a variety of work. The gym was really spacious for a smaller city gym, lots of space to do abdominals too (in a dedicated area). Whilst doing shoulders we were able to throw in some use of the cable machines, free weights an kettle bells. I even got a a chance to use a couple weight disks to enhance my shoulder routine. Awesome.

Saturday - The "I will get this workout in" session.

So, after a long day of shopping, and gradually feeling more and more tired from doing so, Winnie and I were determined to get a workout in. We went up to the top deck of our hotel to use their 'lap pool'; which was so small I could have just tumble turned at each end and kept going until I either got dizzy or passed out from shallow water blackout! Needless to say we decided to go and get stuck into our workout. We returned to the same Fitness First as Friday evening, to find that the gym was closing (at 1700h? Really?) and were redirected to the Melbourne Central club that was closing in 60 minutes…..OR we could walk all the way down to Flinders and Elizabeth to train there (until 2300h if we wanted)…Well, we decided to power on and head to Flinders Street! I actually commented at how the universe was testing us! Well, we got to the gym, figured out it was built on 2 levels, with various stuff for training on each level.

We started with arms, specifically Biceps, then worked Triceps prior to finishing with Chest and Abdominals. We utilised a cable machine and a variety of hand grips / bars to accomplish most exercises, then moved to free weights and barbells to conclude arms. We repeated with cables then free weights for chest. After about 90 minutes we headed to the open space on the first level, to do abdominals. I thought it would be a good time to utilise more cross-fit gear to help finish us off - kettle bells, weighted tubes with handles on, medicine balls. We grabbed some mats and worked through lots oblique and lower abdominal strengthening exercises. I was really enjoying training and then stretching with my wife. I look forward to the next time.

Sunday…. Raw Me Up, Baby!

Today, is normally my rest day, so we decided to chill and go to a movie to reward ourselves for training over the weekend. The Lego Movie was so much fun "everything is awesome"…. After making our farewells I headed to Crib Point (via Frankston) and Winnie to the Sydney (via Melbourne)….I later found she had been delayed and our 'early' night became a late night…. Oh well. A weekend well spent. 

Where's Winnie!

I utilised my free evening to make some raw and tasty hummus (and chopped my carrot sticks to munch it with), then my second batch of Raw and tasty Chia Pudding - which I know will be just as tasty as last week, topped with blueberries and strawberries I'm onto a winner!

My final exercise in raw food that CAN be prepared with just a bullet blender and some creativity was to make some yummy protein balls. I used almond meal, desiccated coconut, natural peanut spread, ground roasted almonds, vanilla sun warrior rice protein, and coconut water to bind it. yummy. I made about 16 and ate two 'testers' which were good for a brain storm! Next time I might grind up some Cacao nibs and add to the balls to give some choco-flavours! Still it was cool to make some more healthy snacks to keep me going...

Protein Balls

Inspiration for Monday

So, I was thinking of how to inspire myself into the next week, to be strong on the build up of easter and not eat badly. Stage 1 was the raw food preparations, Stage 2 is to just get on with it - JFDI as we mentioned last week! Stage 3 is just to provoke thought….