Who’s on top?

Go figure, huh?

I finally get a day off on Monday, but until then, it’s full steam ahead. We’ll be heading out for a 15KM run tomorrow…I’m really looking forward to it! (honest)

Last night was an excellent club night at The Grange. Brilliant fun and I managed to play (at a pretty high intensity) for about two hours. That doesn’t sound like a lot. It is. I can really tell the difference in my fitness when I do nights like that. And yes, I won all three matches.

Today was boxing day. I’m not sure if it was the squash last night or the heat today, but it was a brutally tough session. It always is.

We did:

3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Squats
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Abs
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Pressups
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Squats
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Abs
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Pressups
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Squats
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Abs
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Pressups

That 1 minute of press-ups is a killer. (those are push-ups for my North American friends)

Off to dinner at Michael and Karin’s tonight. Will be brilliant to see them as always.

And tomorrow, we run . We’re going for a half marathon next month….and a marathon by the end of the year.

Hmmm…. triathalon anyone??

- j

I think it’s officially time to buy new trousers. It’s kind of moved past the ‘hey man, notch that belt up a bit more’ stage and slippery sloped its way down to the ‘who is the spaz wearing his dad’s hand-me-down suit’ stage. This is pleasing in every way but financially. I can’t really afford to buy a new wardrobe at the minute, but I’m going to have to splurge on some new jeans at least.

Which makes this a good point to stop and take a minute to assess how this whole project has gone so far.

It’s no secret to some people why I got on this kick. It’s still secret to others (although, as of this weekend, the parents are no longer in the dark). The why doesn’t really matter at the moment, but I started training in earnest about two months ago.

So I’ve had two months of working out 5 days a week. Two months of cutting out alcohol. Two months of healthy living.

And I feel great. I really do. I’ve caught the bug.

Numbers are good. Here are some of mine:

Starting Weight: 215 lbs (97.5KG/ 15.3 stone)
Current Weight: 188 lbs (85.2 KG / 13.4 stone)
Starting Waist: 38″
Current Waist: 34.5″

So not bad. Still a lot to do. I’m not really setting a target weight, but I’m aiming for somewhere around 170lbs. That’s pretty much my fighting weight.

Tonight was circuit night. We did super-set weight circuit (with exercises). It’s a tough workout, and we do it at quite a pace (so it gets the heart a-racing).

Sets: 15|14|13|12|11|10

Circuit:
Side Lats – Weights
Burpees – Body Exercise (military press-ups)
Curls – Weights
Abs – Body Exercise
Tricep Raise – Weights
Twists – Body Exercise
Bent-Over Rolls – Weights
Squat Thrust Alternate Leg
Calf Raise – Weights
Squats – Body Exercise
Shoulder Press – Weights
Dorsal Raise – Body Exercise
Front Raisers – Weights
Pluto Sniffs – Body Exercise (weird Manchester exercise)
Hammer Curls – Weights
Squat Thrusts (combined) – Body Exercise
Tricep Raise – Weights
Press-Ups – Body Exercise
side bends – Weights
Lunges – Body Exercise

It’s a good circuit. The first two sets are always pretty easy. The rest are hard. The last is brutal.

I guess I’m getting there, eh?

- j

I’ve been away in The Netherlands and Belgium for the past five days. Curiously for such fit and healthy countries, they are not places you want to go if you’re trying to be a good boy in your training.

The beer is excellent. The cheese is amazing. The chocolate is….well I don’t know, but it looked really good.

It was a great trip made even better by the fact that it was with my folks. Sadly Rach couldn’t join us as she had to work, but we had a great time.

But I digress. Five days later, and I was gagging for a workout tonight.

The Run:

Distance: 8.29KM
Pace: 5:54/KM
Time: 48:48

The Weights:

Reps: 12-11-10

Weight: 2 X6KG Dumbells

Side Lats
Curls
Tricep Push
Bent-Over Rolls
Calf Raise
Shoulder Press
Front Raisers
Hammer Curls
Tricep Raise
Side Bends

We’re going to hit 15KM this weekend again…so I’m hoping we can pick up the pace.

It’s good to be back.

-j

Well, I suppose that’s not really true, but I couldn’t think what else to call this update and I’ve been thinking about Sesame Street a lot. Don’t ask.

Took the last two days off to recover a bit. I’m not too fussed about that. As long as I’m eating well and exercising 5 days a week, I don’t mind if I can’t manage the 6th day. We’ve got a 10K run scheduled for tomorrow, so I’m really looking forward to that.

Today was, as you can guess, a boxing day. Been a while since we’ve done that, so it was nice to be back.

We did:

3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Squats
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Abs
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Pressups
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Squats
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Abs
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Pressups
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Squats
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Abs
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Pressups

The last 3-4 rounds are killers. Really tough to keep the intensity and speed up. Also boxing after a  minute of pressups is really hard.

- j

Lazy bastard because I haven’t bothered keeping my training journal up-to-date. Seriously, how hard is it to keep this fucking thing updated? Apparently it’s pretty difficult.

So anyway – my training update:

Sunday July 4:
10KM run – 60 minutes. Felt pretty good. Could have gone a bit longer, but ended up glad we stopped. It’s good to see that we can push it up to 10KM now….we’re going to try to keep that up every weekend.

Monday July 5:
First ever squash lesson with Mike (and first ever squash lesson in general). Excellent. It’s amazing how hard a lesson is on the body. I managed to work up quite a sweat! Worked a lot on my shitty-fucking-backhand(tm) but I think it will take a little time for some of the swing changes to take hold. Lesson length: 45 minutes.

Tuesday July 6:
What a dumb-ass I am. Mark and I decided to get up early this morning (I had some meetings) and go for a run. I really need to take care of my legs better as I fucking struggled through that run. I managed it, but I had to slow down big time. My legs were really struggling.

Distance: 7.28KM
Time: 45 Minutes

I also did a quick weight workout when I got home.

Reps: 3X10
Weight: 6KG Dumbells
Side Lats
Curls
Tricep Push
Bent-Over Rolls
Calf Raise
Shoulder Press
Front Raisers
Hammer Curls
Tricep Raise
Side Bends

Wednesday July 7:
Ohhh baby it’s squash again. I finally get to rest my aching legs tomorrow. I really need it. For tonight, I played MP again. I felt good. Strong and pretty quick. And I won.

First Match: 3-0 for Me
Second Match: 3-0 for me

hoo-fucking-wah

I think that’s enough eh?

- j

Got home last night in a lazy lazy mood. Pathetic really. Wasn’t sure I could be arsed cooking or doing a workout and spent a good 30 minutes talking myself out of pushing myself in a run.

Needless to say that pissed me off, so I went and did our new route. Felt excellent for it. I felt good, physically. The legs are a bit sore right now, but I felt in good shape to keep going. Mark and I are going for a 10K this weekend.

I’ve got to get motivated again.

-j

Feeling a bit better today and had a good 70 minute squash session with Walshy. I won 3-1. Excellent. Had a good warm-up/warm-down walk to and from The Grange (about 5 miles in total) and then did a small session of weights:

Reps: 12-11-10-11-12

Weights:
Side Lats
Curls
Tricep Push
Bent-Over Rolls
Calf Raise
Shoulder Press
Front Raisers
Hammer Curls
Tricep Raise
Side Bends

Feeling pretty good…and just finished watching the F1 (Alonso is a whinging c*ck). Now it’s over to the World Cup – C’mon England!

- j

Tough two days. For some reason the day of rest always takes it out of me. I guess my body is inherently lazy and doesn’t like getting back to training.

Yesterday Mark and I went for a run. I was struggling with my legs (once one thing hits you, you just seem to dwell on it) and we kept a fairly moderate pace. Mark had a lot more in the engine than I did, but I decided that, if I couldn’t make up with speed, I’d punish myself with adding some extra distance. We did the new route – 5.2 miles – in 47.5 minutes. Not too bad, but I had to struggle most of the way. It was an exercise in not quitting.

This morning we went for a good session of boxing. It was tough. We were feeling it but we pushed through. Happily I managed 60 push-ups in my first 60 second set, although that fell to 40 in the second and third sets. I felt pretty good. The weights have helped the boxing a lot, and it’s just a case of keeping your energy up so you can really lay into the bag.

our session:

3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Squats
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Abs
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Pressups
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Squats
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Abs
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Pressups
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Squats
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Abs
3 Mins Boxing (30 Second Constant)
1 Min Pressups

Now it’s on for a day of watching sport. I haven’t felt very good the last few days, so I’m trying to take it easy (whilst still training). I felt terrible on Friday, which probably led to the shitty form on our run.

- j

Tuesday night was squash night (and I lost). Shite.

Last night was weights.

We did the same circuit, with no breaks.

Reps: 10,9,8,7,6,5,5,6,7,8,9,10

Side Lats – Weights
Burpees – Body Exercise
Curls – Weights
Abs – Body Exercise
Tricep Raise – Weights
Twists – Body Exercise
Bent-Over Rolls – Weights
Squat Thrust Alternate Leg
Calf Raise – Weights
Squats – Body Exercise
Shoulder Press – Weights
Dorsal Raise – Body Exercise
Front Raisers – Weights
Pluto Sniffs – Body Exercise (weird Manchester exercise)
Hammer Curls – Weights
Squat Thrusts (combined) – Body Exercise
Tricep Raise – Weights
Press-Ups – Body Exercise
Wrist Curls – Weights
Lunges – Body Exercise

It was tough. And I’m aching this morning.

-j

Epic weekend up north (which included hiking, rock scrambling, diving and beer) and now back in the saddle again.

Tonight was a running/weights night. We’re going to do a full night of weights on Wednesday which should be tough. We have definitely discovered how hard it is to do the run and then a full set of weights!

Run:
4.3 Miles (uphill route) in 42.5 minutes – lots of bloody wind!

Weights:
2 Sets of Weights, 2 Sets of Body Exercise. No breaks – straight through
Dumbbells – 3 KG + Bar

Set:
10 X Side Lats – Weights
10 X Burpees – Body Exercise
10 X Curls – Weights
10 X Abs – Body Exercise
10 X Tricep Raise – Weights
10 X Twists – Body Exercise
10 X Bent-Over Rolls – Weights
10 X Squat Thrust Alternate Leg
10 X Calf Raise – Weights
10 X Squats – Body Exercise
10 X Shoulder Press – Weights
10 X Dorsal Raise – Body Exercise
10 X Front Raisers – Weights
10 X Pluto Sniffs – Body Exercise (weird Manchester exercise)
10 X Hammer Curls – Weights
10 X Squat Thrusts (combined) – Body Exercise
10 X Tricep Raise – Weights
10 X Press-Ups – Body Exercise
10 X Wrist Curls – Weights
10 X Lunges – Body Exercise

I’m suitably tired and sore. Squash tonight.

-j