Ever tried doing sit ups with a dog?

Another Thursday rolled round, which means another all-over session. I'm feeling tired, but not sore. Bag packed, ready to roll.

Again I start with a short jog, about 800m with the dog, to warm up and get the lungs moving again. Previously when running a distance like that my shins start to get real sore, and anything over 1km expands the pain massively step by step. After this short run my legs are fine. I'm hoping that the hamstring, butt and calf exercises all all helping to work the magic on my long legs. With a small amount of luck, and plenty of work, I may well be able to tick off one of my goals - learn to run! When I can do 2km non-stop and non-pain then I'll be a happy chappie indeed!

So, warmed up, into the session we go. Today, it's arms and shoulders. Pull downs, ups, sideways and with my butt in the air, my arms are given a good working over. Not going to full exhaustion level, thankfully, that'll be next week I bet.

Once the arms are dead, it's onto the floor for some well needed abdominal work. Sit ups, crunchies and some back exercises and a bit of swissball work get them screaming and burning. Added difficulty due to the dog being very keen to assist and lying on me, or under me, or grabbing my arm in his mouth, or trying to burrow under my neck. Such a loverly, helpful assistant. If he wasn't so damn cute I might be tempted to tell him to go away!

Session over in record time (about 30mins maybe?) I'm on my bike and off to work. At least this time I have some power left in my legs and I partake in my usual commuting activity - racing roadies. Being on a 10 year old bike, with only one gear, and 100KG+ rider, I get a small bit of satisfaction in making the featherweight roadies in their lycra and carbon fiber bikes work for their place. Sometimes (ok, so usually) I take them out, or they blow out, and I can continue my journey. It's not always a roadie, but there's almost always a race every day. Good morning fun. 

Tomorrow is a quick ham & ab morning. I might even jump on the scales this weekend and see if there's any improvement there. I don't feel thinner yet. Or stronger. But it's only half way through week 3. Week 4 is when it all changes and the bar is lifted. No slacking, no excuses, no being a pussy. Also on the cards this weekend is another trek through the hills on Sunday, hopefully on a slightly harder slope than last weekend this time :) Bowenvale to Sugarloaf & return should do me nicely.

Productive Tuesdays?

Tuesday is supposed to be the most productive day of the week. Apparently. However my Tuesdays start with a frantic bag-packing and then what seems like hours of torture before heading to work.

Tuesday was a good workout. I know it must have been good because I could hardly maintain a decent speed on my bike afterwards. Not a lot of leg strength left... 

It started nicely enough, just a quick jog around the block (with the dog) then it was prancing in the driveway, then lunges with weights (urgh!) and then it gets fuzzy. I know there were more leg exercises and some upper body ones too, but like waking from a nightmare, it's all fuzzy and hard to pin down. I just remember searing pain (weakness leaving my body) and sweat and weights and uncomfortable positions and the next memory was me on my bike but without and strength in my legs to race the other people to work. 

I knew it had been a hard one when I also had no strength in my legs riding home again. No pain, just no strength. I thought these exercises were supposed to be making me stronger?

This morning was another rapid session, 15 mins of searing abdominal pain and hamstring wrenching. Ably assisted by the dog who loves it when I'm doing floor work, he's so damn helpful.

My diet hasn't changed a lot. I'm eating less junk between/ontop of my meals, but the meals themselves are basically the same. Reducing carbs where I can and no longer having a bottle of wine with dinner. Blood sugars are settling more (I'm pretty damn good at that anyhow) but still have the odd high mornings. Not having cravings tho, which means I'm getting enough food in I hope...

Likes?

Well, I like how each of my sessions is different so I never know what's going to happen. If I have a routine I'm probably not going to give it 100% so I can limp away unscathed. When it's all mixed up tho, you just give it your all constantly. I like that. Chaos Routine!

Hate?

Discovering how weak I am. Maybe it's just me, or a boy thing, but discovering I can't do as many or as much of some simple exercise as I mentally pictured I could is depressing. It drives me to try harder, but it is a little sad when you discover you really are a pathetic weakling. Just as well I'm sorting that out. I don't feel stronger yet, but there's plenty of weeks to go.

Romping, still stomping

Friday morning saw a quick session on the floor, making me hurt and then on my bike to work. I remember when I used to arrive at work tired, hot and sweaty. Now that's how I am before I get ON the bike!

Saturday was a quiet day, I took the dog for a romp at the dog park and in the river for a post-mud-wallow rinse. Otherwise, not a lot happened. It was the kind of day where you seem to have lots of things to do, but at the end of the day, the list is the same size!

Sunday dawned with another organised hill climb. Our group met at the bottom of the hill and planned to go up Valley Track to Summit Road, then up Mt Vernon Track, then down the Mt Vernon Farm Track to the carpark. The morning had started covered in fog, so it was with a small sense of relief that the hills were bathing in sunshine, but it wasn't oppressive heat. The four of us, plus dog, started the trek up the valley, emerging into the sunshine about ¼ of the way up, and pushing for the summit. 

It was at about ¾ of the way up that the valley track started to become a bit easy, and a group decision was made to split up. Two of us would follow the original route, the long way, and two of us (and a dog) were to take a short-cut, straight up the side of the mountain we had been walking beside. It was a tough ascent, but we made to the top in one piece and glad to be there. A fair struggle in parts, but overall more satisfying than taking the long way round.

It was only this morning that I discovered that we climbed 120m vertically in a distance of about 250m. That was a steep hillside.

We regathered at the farm gates and made our way back down the easy farm track, enjoying the day, the sun, the success and just feeling good.

And in closing, with reference to the title. I have always known I was a 'stomper' when riding. Even tho I'm clipped into my pedals, I still only push down, or stomp, which is not the most effective use of my legs or energy. I have been trying to change my style during my commutes and it has resulted in a sore arse. When I stomp, my arse is kept elevated slightly, however when employing push-pull my arse is pulled down into the seat more, and I have the same pains in my nether regions I used to have when I first started riding! So, I'm sticking at it, but old habits die hard. I haven't ridden up a hill in ages, so maybe I'll need to do that soon?

This ain't no strip poker!

Wednesday morning I awoke with reminders of the previous days exertions. Not enough to make me weep, but enough to remind me I'd recently done some activities my body had not done for some time, if ever. Foolishly I had asked Tracey for a quick ab-centric session to do on my 'off' mornings. Her eyes lit up and she began planning some quick exercises to do before heading off to work.

Now, one of my categories in the 20 Week Challenge is abdominals. I have one big floppy ab, and it needs to be reduced and then multiplied. I'm tall, so core strength is going to help my back as well. So Tracey had me do a short floor session, making my abs burn while she laughed at my inability to do more than a few sit-ups. It was over pretty quickly, and proved just how poor my abdominals really are. Very bad indeed. Scope for improvement - Huge!

And so Thursday morning rolls around. Another late night beforehand and high sugars in the morning was again the perfect preparation for doing some jerks. It was raining outside, so the silly-buggers up & down the driveway for a warm-up was replaced with leaping around inside instead. Once I was nice and toasty, slightly more hydrated, and ready to do some weights, Tracey pulled out a deck of cards. For a moment I thought strip poker!! However, the next words from her mouth were "whipped by marshmallows huh?" I knew I was in trouble now.

Each suit on the cards was a different activity (star jumps, sit ups, hamstring things and lunges) with a bonus for the joker (burpies) and after watching her inexpertly shuffle the cards, she started dealing. Lunges and star jumps featured quite often initially, and the real problem was getting 4 cards of the same suite one after the other (lunges!) and after a short time I was getting tired, and could not do sit ups any more (swapped for crunchies, yea, thanks) but managed to get through about half the deck, including the joker (you jingly bastard!)

Some stretches, more water, a change of shoes, then on the bike and to work. It was still pouring with rain, but the rain on my skin was cooling and refreshing. 

Am I feeling fitter yet? No. In fact, some of these exercises have proven to me just how badly out of shape I really am, and that there is a lot of improvement to be made. No rest for the wicked, and I have been very, very wicked.

Starting nice and gently

So, after I failed my fitness test on Thursday, it was time to start some real exercise sessions. Well, something more than the 6.5km each way ride I do pretty much every day.

So, it's Saturday morning and I'm doing a timed ride around McLeans Island. It's 15km of easy one-way singletrack through the forest. My best time for the old 10.5km track was about 26 minutes, so I was hoping to keep under 45mins for the longer stretch, especially as I had still not had any good sleep for over a week and was under pressure to finish on time to head out again for a massage with Tanya. So, with Sandy following close (very close!) behind, I set off at a pace which was fast but not racing. I managed to maintain it for about 11km before fatigue kicked in and I felt like I was crawling into the slight headwind. Once back into the trees and 2km from the end I got a second wind and put my head down and powered home along the last 500m to finish with a racing heart, burning lungs and a time for 39:55 for the lap. I was very happy with this time, it was right on track with my short-lap best time. Sandy popped out a couple of minutes later (impressive ride!) and I was off home and to a massage - my first ever. Mmm, lovely pain.

Saturday night see me taking Amanda to the rugby - her first ever game - and having a few beers while I was there. I kept looking up from the stadium at the hills and remembering that in the morning I was going to be walking up there.

Sunday morning, meeting in the valley between Rapaki and Mt Vernon and preparing to do a timed walk up a hill. Rapaki? Easy. Except we did  'warm up' up Rogers Track to get to Rapaki, and while it started off quite easy, it soon became steep and seemed to be going on forever. It also didn't help having a dog who was ecstatic to be out on this walk with us and was dragging me all over the hill side, but not up it!

We regrouped just before the top of Rogers, on a handy seat, and heart rates returned to normal. A final push to the track proper, then start your watches. My plan was brisk walking, occasional jogging, and dog control. Rapaki is a busy track, lots of walkers, runners and riders in both directions. Stupid dog was a hindrance all the way up, and I lost some time having to do some clean-up after him too. Bloody dog. At the half way point where it flattens off I was keeping good pace and my heart rate was telling me that jogging would be a bad idea, so I trudged onwards. My pace was only slightly slower than a couple of cyclists who passed me, and then only made a very small distance ahead of me. If they had stopped for a breather, I'd have overtaken them again in seconds. It reminded me of my speeds up this hill on a bike, then reminded me that I had never walked up the track - only ever ridden it.

As I started up the second half of the hill, my heart rate had dropped, so I put in some more effort, adding some more pace and longer strides. Now the dog was an anchor tho. He was getting tired and falling behind and being a pain. So, striding quickly, I dragged the dog up to the top of the hill, hitting the top gate in exactly 30mins. 

After a sit down and a drink for me and the dog, we were joined by the rest of the group, all of which put in very good times. Then, before we cooled too much, the descent. Much easier going down the hill, and the puppy was now back to his pully excited self. Before we hit the midway, he told me he wanted to get off Rapaki and go down via the Valley Track, mostly because he could see sheep and there were less bikes. So we did, and various attempts at jogging were ended when he dragged me over gnarly sections he'd cleared already. We had many discussions about the need to stay close to me, not at the full extend of the flexi-lead, as he was going to send me down a bank. He didn't learn. We discussed it a lot. Due to the ease of the downhill, and the bursts of jogging, we left the rest well behind us and made it to the shelter for a rest and to enjoy the scenery. Then, through the gate and a frantic, silly run down the last couple of hundred meters to the carpark. Great fun, I enjoy being in the hills, I hardly ever walk anywhere and it's so nice being outside!

So, Monday was a rest day and today was my first 'session' with Tracey. I had a good 6 hours sleep and awoke with high blood sugars and dehydration, so was in perfect shape for some physical jerks. I packed my lunch, packed my breakfast, got changed and ready for the ride to work. Then I had the session.

Tracey is so sweet and loving. Throughout the session it was like being whipped with marshmallows. She wasn't asking for much, or many, but man did it hurt. I was gasping like an old man after the 'warm up' and then we did some weights, crazy lunges, abdominal work and more, all of it seemingly easy, but after a dozen or so, were bloody hard! My legs were hurting in places they haven't hurt before, and other bits of my body were awakened to the fact they were not dormant, just sleeping. Eventually the session was over and I could jump on my bike and trundle to work.

So, I now sit at my desk, and if I tense any part of my body, I am reminded of the exercises that are causing the pain that ripples through me. I have a rest day tomorrow and another session Thursday morning. If I can keep this pace up, I'll be a happy man, and well on my way to my 20 week goals.

Weighed and measured

And so it comes to fruition

This morning, as the sun struggled through the overcast skies, I stepped onto the scales. It had been a hellish and stressful week before this moment, so my hopes were not high for my starting point. However, stress and lack of movement seems to have done me some benefits in the weight department!

Weight: 107.1KG
Fat: 25.9%
Muscle: 44.5%

So, scales done, time for the tape measure. My gut was the obvious weak spot, as those of you who have seen it can attest to, and the ruler would not lie here.

Chest: 104.5cm
Waist: 93cm
Abs (gut): 104.5cm
Hip: 114cm

Hmmm... room for improvement for sure.

OK, so onto some strength tests, stuff we can re-run and compare at the end of the challenge. We started with some warm up exercises, checked I wasn't going to die from a heart attack, then got into the embarrassingly unbalanced tasks

Pushups (1min) : 7 (yes, seven, not seventeen or seventy)
Squats (1min): 31
Prone hold (plank): 34sec
Crunchies (not sit-ups) (1min): 22
Wall sit: 33sec

So, not very impressive. Need to add some chin-ups (predicting 3 max) and dead lifts to these to complete the set, but, well, lets just assume they will be equally crap. There were a bunch of other tests done too, all of which were similarly unimpressive.

OK. Baseline set, timetable in place, goals well defined, diet mildly improved and motivation semi-high. Next activity planned (apart from commuting in the drizzle) is a romp in the hills on Sunday and maybe a timed ride around McLeans Island on Saturday. Time to start improving!

Day Two - Double Damn!

Yep, far too much time working, at the office and at home, and exercise and diet took a backseat to sleep.

So, still fat, only now a bit fatter, lazy, only more sedentary than before, and we're 2 days in! Gulp.

So, now that CheckOutMyFriend has been launched, I can get some sleep and get some exercise! Honest, Wednesday will be a busy one again, but Thursday AM - weigh-in and fit-test time!

What a week.

Day One (damn!)

Well, I had organised a test, weigh-in and PT session for early Monday morning. All systems were going well and enthusiasm was high! We had a 20week meeting on Sunday evening and keenness was mustard flavoured.

However...

On that Sunday I was working hard on a project and before I knew it, the sun was rising on Monday morning and I was very unprepared for any physical activity. This continued onwards for the rest of the day. I snuck in an hour or so of sleep around 3pm, then carried on slaving away till well after midnight.

So. Day One. I spent almost all of it awake, consuming high-calorie, high fat, high-GI, hi carb foods, drinking coffee and (diet) lemonade, did no exercise whatsoever and didn't even get myself weighed or measured. Seeing as how this project is going to consume all of my spare time (including sleep time) for at least the rest of the week, I'm not sure how well my first few days will go.

So, start as you intend to go on? Gawd, I hope not.