WEEK OF 12/26/2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - ROUND 3 - WEEK 13

MONDAY - DECEMBER 26, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Cardio 24

This is the last week of the round. I've tried to create a bit of a recovery week. I'll be doing Cardio 24 three times, and each of the three yoga workouts one each. I spent a lot of today shoveling snow. I think this is the most snow I've ever received since I moved into my house 17 years ago. The snow was so high, the snowblower was pretty much worthless. I went through three separate shoveling seesions today, and still have a third of the driveway to go, which I'll tackle tomorrow. The workout went well. I think one of the reasons was because I'd done so much shoveling and my adrenaline was going.

Start Time: 7:35 pm; Workout Time: 26 minutes; Calories Burned: 185; Avg Heart Rate: 109.


TUESDAY - DECEMBER 27, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Don't Skip Yoga

I spent about 5 hours shoveling today, being smart, and spreading it out throughout the day. I did finish. I'm thinking there is no way I could have done that without my workouts. Today's yoga session was less than stellar. Again, the footwear and balance was an issue, plus I was a bit tired. I rushed some of the poses because I couldn't hold them. There were a lot of ugly moments, but not all. I did what I could.

Start Time: 6:35 pm; Workout Time: 67 minutes; Calories Burned: 485; Avg Heart Rate: 108.


WEDNESDAY - DECEMBER 28, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Cardio 24

Not much to say. It went well. I did the burpees at the end. Got five in.

Start Time: 9:25 pm; Workout Time: 26 minutes; Calories Burned: 177; Avg Heart Rate: 102.


THURSDAY - DECEMBER 29, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Power and Strength Yoga

I had Morning Yoga scheduled for today and Power and Strength scheduled for Saturday to finish out the 90 day round, but I did Power and Strength today, just to get it over with. I much prefer Morning Yoga and would prefer to finish off the round with that. Today, I tried putting my neuropathy socks on over my workout socks. The neuropathy socks have rubber nodules on the bottom of them to give me a better grip on the mat, without gripping too much, which is a problem with wearing workout shoes. Wearing these socks alone, or the workout socks alone causes them to twist and slip off, but putting one on top of the other prevented that from happening, so it seemed to work. The problem today was that me balance was off, and getting into all those poses, especially going from the floor up into Warrior One, was extremely difficult. I even sat through one move in the "ladder" section, which I also did last time,  

Start Time: 7:10 pm; Workout Time: 66 minutes; Calories Burned: 273; Avg Heart Rate: 97.


FRIDAY - DECEMBER 30, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Cardio 24

I felt pretty good today, and went at a pace better than usual. 

Start Time: 8:20 pm; Workout Time: 26 minutes; Calories Burned: 182; Avg Heart Rate: 105.


SATURDAY - DECEMBER 31, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Morning Yoga

Last workout of the round, and it went well. I was relaxed. When I started the round, I don't think I'd planned to finish on the last day of the year, but it was nice symbolically.
 
Start Time: 6:55 pm; Workout Time: 37 minutes; Calories Burned: 168; Avg Heart Rate: 94.


SUNDAY - JANUARY 1, 2023 - Rest


SUNDAY WEIGH IN

Weight: 153.4 (-1.4 lbs)
Body Fat: 11.7% (-0.9%)


THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

I hadn't been sure on how or when to schedule a "recovery week", but it seemed to work well. Using Cardio 24 three times wasn't an issue, and neither were the three yoga workouts.

THOUGHTS FOR THE ROUND

Overall, I gained 2.8 pounds and lost 0.1% body fat, so there wasn't any significant changes there. That's not the point anymore, as I had lost a ton of weight when I got sick, and needed to put some back on. For the calendar year, I added 15pounds and over 3% body fat. People tell me I look good, and not as sickly as a year and a half ago. I'm thinking the workouts helped with that too. I loved the way I had set up the schedule with the three week rotations. Nothing I'd really change there. I'm glad I added Body Scan Meditation as one of my Sunday workouts. I did wear down a bit at the end, but nothing major. It could have been mostly mental, and the same thin happened in recent rounds with other programs. Overall, I think I gained a bit of strength. I still can't do a regular pullup anymore, but I don't know what the cause is. It could be my medical condition, because my hands are weak. It could be just that I'm getting older, but I don't think that's it. It could just be that I haven't done them in a long time. There are still other things I can't do, mostly plyo related, because of my condition and balance, but I was able to modify a bit to get through things. In the end I was pleased with the round, and will do it again. I'm going to take a few weeks off and go again. 

WEEK OF 12/19/2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - ROUND 3 - WEEK 12

MONDAY - DECEMBER 19, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Chest and Back Round Robin

I went a bit faster than they did and finished about 6 exercises ahead of them. I did the same number of reps as last time. I'm still not going too deep on the pushups on the medicine balls, especially on the Military's. My elbows don't seem to want to go straight back and scrape my sides. During the rotation, I'm also doing a set of pushups on an upside down Bosu Ball with my feet elevated. I can't get too low on those either, because it's very unstable, but I think that is the point. It's supposed to be hard, and a challenge. Definitely something different. 

Start Time: 8:20 pm; Workout Time: 57 minutes; Calories Burned: 356; Avg Heart Rate: 106.


TUESDAY - DECEMBER 20, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Plyo 30-15

As with last week, my feet were feeling swollen, and my balance was off. It especially got bad when I tried going too quickly. I did try and go a bit deeper on some of the moves during the 15 second part to compensate for not going faster. 

Start Time: 6:50 pm; Workout Time: 43 minutes; Calories Burned: 253; Avg Heart Rate: 98.


WEDNESDAY - DECEMBER 21, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Arms and Abs

I was feeling a bit weak going into it, so I decided to not push myself too hard. I've been doing the Bicep Curls (instead of Heavy Curls) during the warmup, because I'm too fried after the preceeding move in the middle of the workout. Last time I did 10 reps with 25 lbs. Today I did 6 reps with 30 lbs. If I hadn't been feeling tired I probably would have pushed to get a couple more in. I've done that many on the side, just to see where I was. On one of the bicep moves I even did less reps than usual, and on a lot of the other ones my form got bad. I did go faster than they did, finishing about 5 or 6 minutes before they did, but I'm not sure that was a good idea. Overall, the workout was a bit disjointed, but not an overall failure.

Start Time: 8:45 pm; Workout Time: 42 minutes; Calories Burned: 237; Avg Heart Rate: 104.


THURSDAY - DECEMBER 22, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Pure Stretch

I've been more flexible at times, but today was good. I feel a bit relaxed afterwards.

Start Time: 8:30 pm; Workout Time: 48 minutes; Calories Burned: 188; Avg Heart Rate: 87.


FRIDAY - DECEMBER 23, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Head To Toe

We are having a major blizzard with very cold temperatures. The cold was seeping into my bones, so I was a bit stiff going into this. It wasn't a great workout by any means, but I did it. The burpees at the end were ugly as usual.

Start Time: 7:00 pm; Workout Time: 56 minutes; Calories Burned: 340; Avg Heart Rate: 102.


SATURDAY - DECEMBER 24, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Kicking and Punching

I did the workout in thick socks put over my athletic socks. I'm not sure why I did that, but I did. As usual, my feet started tiring about a third of the way in. My balance wasn't too good, and my range of motion was poor because of that. In general, I like the workout, however,

Start Time: 8:20 pm; Workout Time: 69 minutes; Calories Burned: 399; Avg Heart Rate: 97.


SUNDAY - DECEMBER 25, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Body Scan Meditation

My favorite workout for Christmas. I'm a bit stressed because we are snowed in. Can't even plow out my driveway, so I can't visit my family. Christmas and Birthdays are big things for me, so to not be able to do it is a bit depressing. The workout helped a bit with that.

Start Time: 5:50 pm; Workout Time: 24 minutes; Calories Burned: 60; Avg Heart Rate: 81.


SUNDAY WEIGH IN

Weight: 154.8 (+0.4 lbs)
Body Fat: 12.6% (+0.3%)


THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

I wasn't feeling real strong this week. I'm twelve weeks into this thing and haven't missed a day, so maybe it's wearing on me a bit. One week to go.

WEEK OF 12/12/2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - ROUND 3 - WEEK 11

MONDAY - DECEMBER 12, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Push

I didn't really feel like doing it, but got it done. It's one of my favorites, anyways, and it's shorter than most of the other workouts. I did pretty good. I felt stronger than usual. I really felt that on the Hail Caesar's. I also did more reps than last time on a lot of the moves.

Start Time: 8:00 pm; Workout Time: 47 minutes; Calories Burned: 343; Avg Heart Rate: 118.


TUESDAY - DECEMBER 13, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Heart, Lungs, Legs

I normally don't like this one and don't do well at it. Today I took it head on, one move at a time, with a good attitude, and it wasn't that bad. Probably the best I've ever done with it, which seems to be a reoccurring theme lately.

Start Time: 7:40 pm; Workout Time: 58 minutes; Calories Burned: 246; Avg Heart Rate: 102.


WEDNESDAY - DECEMBER 14, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Who's Got Your Back

Once again, I didn't feel like doing it, but knew I would, so I got it done. I wasn't feeling my strongest, so I didn't increase my weights or reps until the last two moves, and those were a bit ugly. I was really struggling with the bent over heavier weighted moves. I was using 30's, but my hands were tiring a bit and they were hard to hold once I got to eight reps or so. As usual, I did Band Pulldowns (20 reps) instead of regular pullups, which seem to be a thing of the past for me now. It was just one of those days where you just show up and do what you can, and that's what I did.

Start Time: 8:20 pm; Workout Time: 55 minutes; Calories Burned: 318; Avg Heart Rate: 109.


THURSDAY - DECEMBER 15, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Morning Yoga

Not really great. My mind was racing with negative bullshit from work today, so the whole premise of this being relaxing was somewhat thrown out the window. Not sure what else to say.

Start Time: 6:25 pm; Workout Time: 37 minutes; Calories Burned: 151; Avg Heart Rate: 92.


FRIDAY - DECEMBER 16, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Drop, Pulse, Hold

Got through it OK. Used a 15 lb weight on all the moves. I could probably go a bit lower on some of the moves, but my balance is bad and it throws me off.

Start Time: 8:40 pm; Workout Time: 72 minutes; Calories Burned: 417; Avg Heart Rate: 99.


SATURDAY - DECEMBER 17, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Flash Cardio

Not a good workout. My feet were feeling swollen, I was feeling sluggish, and my balance was bad. I did more than just going through the motions, but it wasn't pretty,

Start Time: 6:25 pm; Workout Time: 48 minutes; Calories Burned: 259; Avg Heart Rate: 95.


SUNDAY - DECEMBER 18, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Crunchtown

I wasn't concentrating too much on the moves, just kind of doing them. Could have been better.

Start Time: 10:00 pm; Workout Time: 21 minutes; Calories Burned: 64; Avg Heart Rate: 85.


SUNDAY WEIGH IN

Weigh: 154,6 (+1,8 lbs)
Body Fat: 12.3% (+0,2%)


THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

I didn't think I was doing exceptionally great, but I was increasing my weights or reps on a lot of the moves, so I guess it was OK. I'm starting to get burned out a bit. mostly because of work, so I'll try and overcome that. Only one more strength week to go in this round.

WEEK OF 12/05/2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - ROUND 3 - WEEK 10

MONDAY - DECEMBER 5, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Triple Trouble Challenge

I made a big change today. Instead of doing the 16 Band Pulldowns, which I'd always done, I did 8 Pullups with the pullup assist. I did tire a bit near the end. The Close Grips in the last round took me forever because I couldn't hold the bar. Taking my gloves off in the last set helped a bit. On the pushups, I stayed with the 32 per set, that I had been doing. A nice step for me today, because I went of of my comfort zone a bit.

Start Time: 6:50 pm; Workout Time: 70 minutes; Calories Burned: 467; Avg Heart Rate: 109.


TUESDAY - DECEMBER 6, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Flash Card Plyo

Not much to say. I got through it. I tried to get some jumping in, thinking it really can't be that hard, and only in my mind, but my feet ankles, and legs weren't cooperating.

Start Time: 8:00 pm; Workout Time: 42 minutes; Calories Burned: 257; Avg Heart Rate: 100.


WEDNESDAY - DECEMBER 7, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Shoulders and Arms Recharge

I really wasn't feeling it today, so I tried something a bit different. I've been seeing some YouTube videos recently about the use of resistance bands, so I decided to try them as something fresh. I started with a Beachbody Yellow Band, which I think is pretty tough, and I struggled a bit with the Bicep Curls. I then tried getting them over my head on Military Presses, but that wasn't going to happen. I eventually settled on the much easier Maroon bands for the shoulder exercises. They may have been too easy, but as usual when I use bands, I'm experimenting with which band to use, and how to actually use them. I gave up using them on tricep kickback moves and went back to weights. I still want to keep experimenting with them, because I'm intrigued as to what they can do, 

Start Time: 8:35 pm; Workout Time: 40 minutes; Calories Burned: 336; Avg Heart Rate: 112.


THURSDAY - DECEMBER 8, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Don't Skip Yoga

I'm still frustrated because of footwear. I used the think socks I used last time, because I think they're my best option, but I still slide around a bit, especially trying to get up into Warrior 1. I'm also still having problems swinging my leg through, especially on my left side. I'm wondering if it's a health thing, or if it's simply because I'm slipping with my back foot. Today's workout was so-so. I wanted to do good, but felt I didn't.

Start Time: 8:00 pm; Workout Time: 67 minutes; Calories Burned: 398; Avg Heart Rate: 100.

FRIDAY - DECEMBER 9, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Primal Flow

It seemed like I'd just done this one a few days ago, but it really had been three weeks. This is one of my best efforts on it. For some reason I was having problems getting into the reverse beast planks, but on all the other moves I was doing OK for what I was able to physically do. I did most of the burpees, and was even getting off my feet a slight bit near the end.

Start Time: 7:55 pm; Workout Time: 55 minutes; Calories Burned: 437; Avg Heart Rate: 110.


SATURDAY - DECEMBER 10, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - Attack and Defend

I got it done in the early afternoon. Used socks only, no shoes. It went pretty good. My balance was OK.

Start Time: 1:45 pm; Workout Time: 49 minutes; Calories Burned: 340; Avg Heart Rate: 102.

SUNDAY - DECEMBER 11, 2022 - THE POWER OF 4 - The Power of Core

This can be ridiculously hard for a core routine. Some of the moves have moving parts so they take forever. I don't get all the reps in on all of them.

Start Time: 9:40 pm; Workout Time: 23 minutes; Calories Burned: 85; Avg Heart Rate: 95.


SUNDAY WEIGH IN

Weight: 152.6 (no change)
Body Fat: 12.1% (no change)


THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

The workouts went OK. I seemed to be increasing reps / weights on a few moves, and doing pretty good on the non-resistance workouts. I feel pretty good considering my health issues.