FOCUS T25 - WEEK 10 - Week of 12/23/2013

MONDAY - DECEMBER 23, 2013 - The Pyramid

This is my third time through on this one, and this was by far my best effort. The two moves that still kill me are the Pike Ups (11 progressions), and the Push Ups (9 progressions). On the Pike Ups, I did them all but 5 or 6 reps on the 10th progression. On the Push Ups I did all but the entire 9th progression. On the 8th set I wasn't going all the way down to the floor. I was just barely bending my elbows. I thought there were 10 progressions, so I rested on the 9th, figuring I'd regroup for the 10th, but it turned out there wasn't a 10th. Other than those two moves, I did all the other reps. I used 15 lb weights on all the weighted moves.

Time: 25 minutes; Calories Burned: 297; Avg Heart Rate: 134; Max Heart Rate: 150.


TUESDAY - DECEMBER 24, 2013 - Speed 3.0

This is one tough workout. All I can say is I did my best. I missed a lot of the burpee reps because of fatigue, but it's something to try and get better at.

Time: 25 minutes; Calories Burned: 319; Avg Heart Rate: 138; Max Heart Rate: 156.


WEDNESDAY - DECEMBER 25, 2013 - Extreme Circuit

Christmas Day! I ate a big piece of lasagna for dinner and was feeling sluggish and tired all throughout the workout. Admittedly it wasn't my best effort and I missed a bunch of reps, but I did get through it. My sister hadn't seen me in a few weeks and told me it looked like I lost some weight, so that felt good. I'll be back on the wagon tomorrow.

Time: 25 minutes; Calories Burned: 291; Avg Heart Rate: 133; Max Heart Rate:211.


THURSDAY - DECEMBER 26, 2013 - Stretch

Not much to say about the Stretch workout. It went OK as usual. I did balance a bit better on the Cradle, so I guess that's an improvement. I'm still not eating perfect, but I'm not overeating a bunch of crap, either, so I guess that's an improvement too, over a few weeks ago. I'm certainly feeling thinner and better.

Time: 25 minutes; Calories Burned: 143; Avg Heart Rate: 96; Max Heart Rate: 109.


FRIDAY - DECEMBER 27, 2013 - Core Speed

The workout went OK. One thing I noticed is that all three times I've done this workout I've burned 300+ calories. This one seems to be the easiest of the Speed workouts (less Burpees), but the calorie burn is still there. I like it. On the nutrition side, I'm starting to stress eat again. I haven't been taking my salads to work which makes me eat bad during the day, which makes me eat bad later in the day, which makes me feel bad, and stresses me out even more. I need to break the cycle, but this time I think I know how to do it. Prepare my lunches ahead of time, and everything else will fall into line.

Time: 25 minutes; Calories Burned: 304; Avg Heart Rate: 138; Max Heart Rate: 156.


SATURDAY - DECEMBER 28, 2013 - Rip't Up

This was my final workout of this Focus T25 round. I did good, using 15 lb weights for most moves, and 5 lbs for the two Superman moves. I even did OK on the downward dog / plank / pushup moves. I didn't match their reps, or get as low as they did on a few of the pushups, but I certainly did better than last time. Still eating leftover Christmas sweets. Not good, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it, either. I'm a bit disappointed in myself that I decided to cut this round from 13 weeks to 10 weeks, so I could start P90X3 for the new year. I'd lent out my Alpha and Beta discs a few weeks ago and don't have them back yet.. If I still had them, I think I might have reconsidered and extended the round to 13 weeks. I could do Gamma for another 3 weeks if I wanted to, but I think the plan over the final 3 weeks would have been to do one more week of Beta and Gamma (I'd already done 4 weeks of Alpha), then finish it up with a week of the 4 Speed workouts along with 2 Stretch days. I'll leave that for next time. I'm definitely doing another Round of this program. Also, they teased they were also coming out with a "Delta" phase, so I'll look forward to that.

Time: 25 minutes; Calories Burned: 253; Avg Heart Rate: 129; Max Heart Rate: 202.


SUNDAY - DECEMBER 29, 2013 - Rest


SUNDAY WEIGH IN

Weight: 195.2 (+1.6 lbs)
Body Fat: 21.2% (+0.1%)

As I said, I'm stress eating again, and these was a lot of Christmas sweets left over. That combination doesn't lead to a good result. I guess it could have been a lot worse.


THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

Christmas week. While I'm not happy about the weight gain, I understand it, and I'll move forward. But, I'll need to keep an eye on things. Christmas week is over. I'm done with Focus T25 for now, and will be starting P90X3 next week. I'm looking forward to it, but as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm kicking myself for abbreviating the Focus T25 round. At the time I'd decided to cut it short (a few weeks ago), I hadn't started the Gamma section yet. That was a whole new ballgame for me. I really enjoyed it, and would have liked to have finished off by revisiting Alpha and Beta for another week each. Next time.