Tue 12/2 – Nightly Workout 11: #4

I didn’t really feel like doing anything tonight.  I still have a 2000-word essay to write, which I REALLY don’t want to do.  But I have to.  Plus, the inside of my elbows were hurting again (due to chinups/pullups).  And I’m surprisingly tired.  I have to do one though.

I rolled a 4:

• 20s Pushups, 10s Rest
• 20s Burps, 10s Rest
• 8 sets
  

Last time I did this my toes started hurting.  Tonight I tried it in socks, to see if I could get a bit more support.  Didn’t work, my toes are still hurting.  Probably 10s exercise and 20s rest was more realistic near the end, but oh well, I’ve broken a sweat and my heart is thumping.

Until tomorrow!

Feb 11 – Nightly Workout 10: #6

As said in my last post, I rolled a 6.  I had to do something, so I chose the chinnies.

• 500 Chinnies

I wasn’t gonna go for time, just try and get full range of motion and do it fairly relaxed, whilst watching UFC 69 highlights.   It took me 4 minutes 45 seconds, 15 seconds slower than last time.  After about 300, much right quad started paining a bit, so I slowed down a bit and didn’t take it too hard.  It’s still a bit paining now, nothing too much though.

Anyway, until tomorrow!

Feb 11 – First REAL workout in ages! Fun!

Warning: This is gonna be long.  I actually did a REAL workout!!

The clock turned 7.  I was bored.  I could think of nothing to do except watch TV, or waste time on the internet doing, well, nothing.  What could I do, which would be worth doing, and fun?  Well, I could do some coursework – Some Religious Studies about a Catholic Church: “Explain the significance of those features and furnishings for the worshipper.”  Fun.  Actually, not at all.  I was NOT going to do that.

Then it struck me: Why not go and work out?  I mean, a proper workout, outside in my gym-barn hybrid.  So I did.  I had a drink of water, got changed, grabbed my iPod/speakers/hand wraps/Gymboss etc and out I went.  Like normal, it was pitch black outside, and cold.  But oh well, who cares?  Lights remove the darkness, and workout out and clothes stops the cold.  I was set.

Before going out I decided I wasn’t going to structure anything.  I don’t have to work out, and following specific rules and limitations removes much of the fun aspect of it.  And not-fun mixed with not-necessary normally ends in boredom, and then not doing anything.  I didn’t once use the Gymboos, I just did what I felt like doing.  And it was great!

I started with rope work.  In some ways I was dreading this, taking in mind my current… record.  Max of like 20 before catching, and getting annoyed.  Well, I turned on some music, did some jumping jacks to loosen off, then got my rope.  I started with simply bounce-steps (two feet), and to my absolute amazement I beat my previous record, which was around 50.  No, beat is the wrong word.  Thrashed.  First “set” I did 122.  Yes, one hundred and twenty two turns of the rope before catching.  I was stunned… and motivated to carry on.  I couldn’t believe it.  I thought it must just have been luck, as I hadn’t done a proper workout in ages, let alone touch the rope.  I do think my anti-fatigue matting helped though, and my new trainers.  I had a rest of a minute or two (didn’t count, which felt good – freedom), and next set, I beat my record again!!  134.  By now my legs, unused to such quantities of skipping, started to lag.  The next sets I only got 20 and then 46, which didn’t surprise me.  They were still pretty good compared to my previous ones though!  I also think I didn’t rest enough between sets (under a minute, probably more like half of one), I was just so  enthusiastic!  After that, I rested and went onto the alternate-foot-step.  At first, this went badly.  I always find starting this a bitch, as I can’t get everything going in time.  First couple attempts I got caught sub-10 turns.  And it hurts when you catch it, as the rope keeps going and slaps hard against my back (only covered by thin cotton tee) and bare hands.  Oh well.  I did get it going though, and managed 52, which I think was another new record.  After a couple more fails, I did 57.  More fails, then 48.  Amazed by my performance, I called it a day on the rope work.  To finish off, I tried some max-speed bounce-steps, just to see how long I could stay going as fast as I go.  I was really impressed, as I got 42.  Bloody fun stuff!

I rested for a bit, and decided to do a bit of strength work.  I didn’t care if I actually gained strength, I just wanted to test some stuff (back to my “do whatever I feel like” theory).  I did 5 negative pullups (going as slow as I could physically manage), which was surprisingly hard.  I really can’t do pullups – I need to train them more!  This pretty much killed my arms, and when I tried doing the same with chinups I only managed 3 before my hands refused to lower me slowly, or even hold on (the pipe was damn cold too).

Next, one-legged squats.  I can barely do them, but I did 10 for each leg, going as low as I could without falling over.  I know I lack the strength, flexibility and balance to do full ones, but I believe all of these can be improved by simply trying, and doing as much as I could.  I don’t know how much I went down (it’s hard to see through my body, and from a different angle), but I went down a fair way.  Again, something to add to my strength workout.

Now, pushups.  I’m not great at pushups (my arms are pretty weak), but I tried doing them with hands under my shoulders (very hard for me), and going pretty low (so forehead is on ground, can’t quite go down to nose with head flat yet).  I managed 16, before I didn’t think I could do any more without failing.  Another area to improve!

That was the end of the “strength” section.  I saw my heavy bag starring and me, begging to be used.  I gave in.  On went the wraps, on went the gloves, and away I went.  I have no idea how long I went for, but I’m pretty sure it was 10-15 minutes.  I barely rested at all (no actual sit downs or standing away from the bag for more than 10 seconds), although i wasn’t going full out.  I was going pretty hard though, and like everything else, it felt great.  I was trying to do everything I remembered from boxing sessions: hand positions, fast movements, twisting body, moving etc; and it worked pretty well, as I remembered and implemented most of it.  I think what helped me was I visualised the bag as various things, such as teachers I didn’t like, people at school I didn’t like, the fat on my body, a wall stopping me reaching all the hot babes.  Lots of stuff, and it worked.  Definitely got my heart going, my chest heaving, and I was taking some of my pelt up aggression out (I also kicked the wooden door a couple of times, it made some very satisfying *slams* ).

I decided to call it a day now – I’d been out there for about 40 minutes.  I packed up and went inside, straight to the PC to write this!  As I came in I saw the sky was covered in stars and the moon was very bright, it was very beautiful actually.  Next time I think I’ll spend more time out there, just relaxing, watching.

One thing I did notice was how much a head sweat band helps.  During none of the workout had sweat from my hair/forehead reached my eyes or face, a common problem I’ve had.  The band was fairly sweaty by the end, but who cares?  It did it’s job, definitely worth the £2 or so it was.   Also, I normally roll my hand wraps up.  This time, I decided to hand them up, open out, like my rope, over a horizontal, raised wooden bar.  Hopefully they’ll dry out better that way.

I think that just about covers it actually.  Pretty fun, will no doubt do it again sometime (probably not tomorrow, I have my RS to do ).  BTW, I rolled a 6 tonight for my nightly workout, which means I can do any of them, or none.  I was planning on doing the burpees before I went out, although I don’t think I could manage it now without making lots of noise! I’ll probably do the chinnies, or possibly just do nothing (which, TBH, is unlikely).

Until tomorrow (or later tonight)!  As normal, please comment!

Feb 11 #1

• Rope jumping (bounce-step, alternate-foot-step)
• 5 pullup negatives
• 3 chinup negatives
• 10 pistol partials per leg
• 16 under-shoulder forehead-to-ground pushups
• 10-15 minutes heavy bag work

Feb 10 – Nightly Workout 9: #5

Again, I didn’t do any extra workouts today.  Again, I don’t know why.  Again, I just couldn’t be bothered. It’s really starting to annoy me – I have no motivation for anything at the moment.  Oh well, hopefully it will come back when my new PC FINALLY arrives (which I’ve been waiting for since about August, long story).

Anyway, #5:

• 8 Crunches
• 8 V-Ups
• 10 Sets

Last time it took me 6 minutes 25 seconds.  And, somehow, this took me 7 minutes 5 seconds, 30 seconds longer.  I have no idea where the extra 30 seconds went.  I mean, I didn’t rest at all, I was working full speed (with full RoM), yet somehow it took 30 seconds more.  I know last time I stopped for a bit, due to the jeans rubbing against me and causing pain.  Strange.

I think one of the problems with doing this routine for time is having to hold the crunches for 3 seconds each, which automatically takes up over 4 minutes, not including the crunching before and after the hold, and the v-ups.

Well, I’m sweating a bit and I can feel my abs, but nothing too bad.  And my necks not hurting much at all, unlike last time.  Quite a relaxing one, compared to the 50 burpee challenge or the pushups/squats of previous days!

Until tomorrow!

Feb 9 – Nightly Workout 8: #3

Firstly, I would like to thank Paladin for his comment. I always appreciate comments.

Today… wasn’t great.  As I wrote in my reply to Paladin, I didn’t work out extra today.  I had planned to, just never did.  To be completely honest, I just couldn’t be honest.   The weather wasn’t too bad or anything either, I had no excuses.  Just… didn’t want to work out.

Anyway, tonight I rolled a 3.

• 8 Pushups
• 16 Squats
• 10 Sets

Last time it took me 7 minutes 40 seconds.  I managed to shave off 13 seconds this time, ending with 7 minutes 27 seconds.  I was very sweaty and breathing fairly hard, but it felt good.  I felt like if I had to I could’ve gone on.  By the last set, the pushups especially were hard, especially the last 3, but before then they were all relatively easy.  Plus, I went without much rest at all, my guess is below 15 seconds, possibly less than 10.

Now, I’m off the get a drink, then go to bed to watch Transformers (which I still haven’t seen!).

Until tomorrow!

Feb 8th – Nightly Workout 7: #4

The first week of workouts has been completed!  Hoorah!

I rolled a 4: Tabata pushups/burps

• 20 seconds pushups, 10 seconds rest
• 20 seconds burps, 10 seconds rest
• 8 sets

This time I tried to do fuller burps, knees-to-chest style.  I just about managed it too.  By the end, I was getting about 5 pushups and 5 (full) burps.

One observation I did make, though, was that burps are best done with shoes on – NOT barefoot!  I kept catching my toes on the landings, so now my toes, especially the big toes, are sorta aching.  Next time I think I’ll wear trainers.

Currently I’m planning on changing the routine this Friday, as that is when I start holidays.  I will change it up, so that I can do workouts without requiring any training equipment, e.g. shoes.  Find some stuff I can do in just my boxers, like pushups, squats, lunges, jumps, core workouts etc.  I’ll add others, like burpees/burps etc, at another time of the day, when I get home from school first.

Until tomorrow!

Feb 7 – Nightly Workout 6: #6

I rolled a 6.  That means I can do any of the workouts I want!… or none of them.  But, of course, I had to do something.  So, even though I didn’t want to, I chose the only one I haven’t done.  The one I’ve been dreading, yet deep down really want to do.

The 50 burpee challenge.

Now, I’m crap at burpees.  I’ve VERY rarely done them before, and I find it hard to include the pushup.  But I decided I would include it, even if it made me take twice as long.  I was hoping that even if I started off crap, but the end my technique would’ve improved.

Well… fuck.  There, I’ve said it.  That was the most demanding workout I’ve EVER done.  And it was only 50 burpees!!  Just goes to show how out of shape I am.  It took me 5 minutes, 30 seconds, so a pretty crap time, but good for me (I was expecting over 6 minutes).  By the end I was literally dead: my throat was aching and dry, my heart pounding, sweat dripping off my body as a whole.  But I’d done it!  I’d completed the 50 burpee challenge, and it felt great!  I’d tried as hard as I could to do each pushup, and make the jump an actual jump.  Often, especially near the end, I had to slow down so that I could jump up from the pushup position, but each time I managed it.  Half way through my mum shouted through the door to stop making so much noise, but I ignored her .  And now, I feel amazing.  I’ve done it!!  And now I have a target to beat.  I really understand what people say about the burpee love/hate relationship now.  They’re horrible, they’re tiring and painful and difficult, but they really make you feel like you’ve achieved something, and they’ll no doubt get me in shape.

I know I’ve started rambling a bit, but I’m currently feeling the most… alive I’ve felt in quite a while.  In some ways I’m looking forward to my next 1, yet in some ways I’m dreading it.

Until tomorrow!

Feb 6 – Nightly Workout 5: #2

I was surprised when I rolled another 2. That’s the way of the dice gods I suppose!

For those who missed yesterday, a roll of 2 is:

• 500 chinnies

Today, I was ready for it. And I had a time to beat, a target.

I thrashed yesterdays time: 4 minutes, 30 seconds. Beat it by nearly 2 minutes. It was mainly because I had less rest, doing he first 200 in one go, then the last 300 in sets of 100. By the end, like last time, my range of motion wasn’t as great as when I started – my elbows were barely, if at all, touching (the insides of) my knees. But TBH I don’t think that matters too much, as I can feel it was a pretty good 4.5 minute workout. Looks like soon I’ll have to extend them!

I realised today that next Friday my half term starts. My current plan is keep going as I am until then, but after that do more (like during the day), and change up my evening workouts. Unlike previously, I’m not going to jump in at the deep end, I am going to take it slowly (famous last words). I can feel inside me that the fire is slowly starting to burn again, I can feel the sparks. This weekend I’m thinking about seeing my max pushups and max squats (to set some more realistic goals), as well as do some pullup/chinup work (static holds, negatives, assisted), and no doubt some bag work.

Until tomorrow!

As always, please leave me comments! I’m starting to feel lonely

Feb 5 – Nightly Workout 4: #2

As I said yesterday, I went climbing today, and caving.  It was actually much more fun than I thought!  It was in North East Somerset (SW England) for those who’re interested.  We did climbing first, and abseiling, which was pretty fun, and next we did caving, which was very fun.  I wasn’t at all clostrophobic in the caves, which I feared I would be.  However, it was really hard work, and fairly warm compared to outside, so by the end I was hot and sweaty, and my body felt as though it was covered in bruises.  I’ve just looked now, and my knees are pretty red, and the area underneath is red, bumpy and painful (What do you want, sympathy!? – My mum).  But I would definitely do it again, they’ll heal up soon enough.

Anyway, onto the workout.  Because of the days events, I was a bit achy, so didn’t feel like doing much.  But I knew I would have to.  I was praying for a roll of 2, the chinnies, as I felt like doing them, plus it shoudln’t be hindered by my aching arms and legs.  And, to my complete surprise, I rolled a 2!!  I really couldn’t believe it.  The only problem is now I’ve done them all but the dreaded 1 – the dreaded burpees!  No doubts that will be tomorrow.

For those who don’t know, on a roll of 2 I have to:

• 500 Chinnies

Not that much, although it normally kills my core.

And it did.   Lots.  It took me 6 minutes 20 seconds in total.  My abs were already aching a bit after the first 50.  I ended up doing 50, 50, 100, 100, 50, 50, 50, 50, equalling 500 in total, with rests between each “set”.  Not a great time, but as normal, by the end I was hot, sweaty and thirsty, which told me at least the workout had been effective, to an extent at least!  I’m also starting to like working out too – not enough that I want to constantly work out, but enough so that I do it and think, mainly positively, about it.  In some ways I can’t wait until I have the 50 burpee challenge – at least then I’ll prove to myself that I can do it, it’s not impossible, and give myself a target to beat.

Until tomorrow!

Monday 04-02-08 – Nightly Workout 3: #3

Another new one!

• 8 Pushups
• 16 Squats

• 10 sets, rest as required

Didn’t sound too bad. I predicted by the end I would be slow, and it would take ages, and I would probably be fairly tired. None of the movements were too difficult though. I knew the pushups would be the hardest part, so I would use the squats as “active rest”.

Well, it wasn’t as I expected. I completed it all in 7 minutes 40 seconds, which definitely could be better, although ATM I don’t think I could improve on it. Surprisinly, the squats seemed harder than the pushups, as early on my knees starting hurting. I fought on, and by the end the pain had pretty much gone, making the squats much easier. However, by the last set, the pushups were a lot more difficult, and I had to exhale hard to get the last rep. But as I said, I finished it with minimal rest.

I don’t, however, think I have my squat technique right. I try to go as low as possible, so my thighs are parallel to the floor or below. I know I bend my back though, making it nearer parallel, and I think it sometimes rounds as well. I guess this is down the lack of flexibility, but can anyone tell me where the lack of flexibility is? My back? I know your back should be straight, and near vertical, which mine nearly certainly isn’t. In fact, the sides of my back, about half way down, have just started aching quite a lot. Damn. It feels as though it’s somehow connected to my lats too. Anyone? I was going to do something else, but I dont want to hurt my back any more.

Completely off-topic, but I’m spending all of tomorrow rock climbing and caving. Fun!

PS: I would like to mention that what I was doing yesterday, I’ve just realised, weren’t full burps. Burps are from the pushup position (top part) to the knees-to-chin position. I’ve just been jumping my feet forward, not bending my knees much. Bringing my feet as far forward as I can, making the angle between my legs and body less. This way allows me to work much faster though, so I’m keeping it.

EDIT: Just a quick update.  My back has already stopped hurting completely, so it obviously wasn’t much.  However, I’m going to bed VERY soon, because of the early morning tomorrow, so I won’t do another workout tonight.  Until tomorrow!