Round 6 - Week 11

This is a Classic Phase 2 Week

MONDAY - August 9, 2010 - Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
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Today was a good, but not great workout. For some reason, I did a few less reps on some of the tricep exercises, but it was because I ran out of time, and not because of fatigue. I wasn't looking at my worksheets to see what I'd done the previous time, so maybe that had something to do with it. I only increased the weight on one move (Front to Back Tricep Extensions - from 15 to 20 lbs.) On all the exercises, I'm doing at least as many reps as they're doing on the video, except for the Clap Pushups and One Armed Pushups. I got through all 25 reps of the Two Twitch Speed Pushups without stopping, and I did 10 Clap Pushups from my feet, as opposed to the 6 from last time, so that's a step in the right direction. I burned 593 calories for the workout, which is more than I burned either of the previous two times this round.

TUESDAY - August 10, 2010 - Plyometrics
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An average, non-eventful Plyo session. I started out a bit sluggish, but picked it up a bit. Burned 617 calories, which is about mid-range for my Plyo workouts.

WEDNESDAY - August 11, 2010 - Back & Biceps
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I took a lot of small breaks today, turning a 51 minute workout into a 65 minute workout, but sometimes I need the breaks to get myself ready for the next exercise, whether it's changing weights, or just giving my arms a few extra seconds to recover. I started the Strip Set at 40 lbs, which I'd never done before. On the first set I was able to do 7 clean curls, but my left arm couldn't handle the 8th rep, so I put the weight down for a second, then finished the 8th rep. The other three sets were fine. I'm finding my hands are getting real sweaty near the end, on both the curls and pullups, so I'm thinking I might have been able to do a few more reps of each if I'd worn my gloves. I burned 633 calories, while my previous high for this workout was 596.

THURSDAY - August 12, 2010 - Yoga X
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Things were a bit hectic at work because we were a bit shorthanded, so the last thing I was looking forward to was a 90 minute workout when I got home. On the drive home, I was thinking about how tedious it was going to be, when I came to the conclusion that perhaps the point of it all was to strengthen the mind instead of the body by controlling my thoughts through all that tedium. I went into the workout with that mindset, and it worked a bit. I tried concentrating less on the physical movement, and more on the clearing of the mind. The problem is when you're constantly telling yourself to clear your mind, the constant telling isn't clearing it. It's cluttering it up. I found myself almost going through the motions on the actual physical motions because they were secondary today. I need to concentrate on the breath and the moves. There were a few moments when the mind cleared, and I thought I had "it", but those moments were few and far between. However, they were there. I did find myself much more relaxed than during other Yoga X sessions. My Warrior 3 and Half Moons were almost flawless. My balance postures were a mess on the left leg, but perfect on the right leg. I held Crane for what seemed to about 30 - 40 seconds straight. I only burned 471 calories which is my all-time low. Thst's not a surprise because my average heart rate was only 92, where it's usually at 99 or so for this routine. I'm guessing it's because I was more relaxed. Not a perfect workout, but this is definitely something to build on.

FRIDAY - August 13, 2010 - Legs and Back
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It's amazing what the mind is capable of. At the beginning of the workout, I wasn't looking forward to the pain of pushing myself through the pullups. Not surprisingly, it was a crap workout. I did 14 less pullups than last time. No excuses, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. Calorie burn was 536, which is a bit on the lowside for Legs and Back.

SATURDAY - August 14, 2010 - Kenpo X
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This was a good Kenpo workout. I noticed my heart rate was in the 130s much of the time, and I was sweating like crazy. As with most Kenpo sessions, I'm trying to concentrate on turning into my punches a bit more, but for some reason it seemed to pay off today. I burned 546 calories, whereas I'm usually in the 490s with Kenpo, and my previous high was 517.

SUNDAY - August 15, 2010 - Weigh In and Ab Ripper X
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WEIGH IN: Weight = 175.3; Body Fat = 22.3%

A .7 lb increase, which is what I'd lost last week. I had some Twizzlers and Taffy at the office earlier in the week. Maybe I din't work them off. Or it could have been other factors. Water weight, Atmospheric Pressure, etc. I'm going with Atmospheric Pressure. Otherwise, I ate pretty good for the week, and I feel good, so the small increase isn't a concern.

AB RIPPER X: A good Ab Ripper workout. My abs started to burn on the Pulse-Ups. I was hitting elbow to thigh on all my Oblique V-Ups, and I did 88 Mason Twists. Time = 16:22. Total moves = 409. Burned 135 calories. My high for the round.