And now for a word from our alien overlords

This must come as a surprise to some people: two blog posts in one month.  Gadzooks!  Whatever next?  Well that's a fair call.  I've been pretty slack I'll admit.  But, at the same time, I have my reasons.  It's because I was rationing my Internet time (being on pre-paid wireless sucks), partly it's because I sit at a computer all day and can't be bothered turning on my laptop when I get home, and partly because I'm getting home late and just want to chillax in front of the TV or with a book.  So they're my excuses.  Some are a bit flimsy, but it is what it is.  I think I even mentioned at the beginning of this endeavour that my posts would probably be sporadic; if not, I'm mentioning it now.  :D

So Monday was my most recent weigh in, and the figure was 107.8kg.  My last official weight was 109.8kg about two weeks ago.  So it looks like I'm still losing about 1kg/week roughly, though that can waver.

I thought that just for a change, today I would give a more in-dept look at my training routine.  Now keep in mind that I don't work from a set program, so I can't just summarise with weights (legs), pushups, etc.  What I do have is a set of different exercises which I group differently depending on how I feel at the time, and what machines are available at the gym.

Warmup
All my sessions begin with a 10min warm up on the treadmill.  I walk at 6.5km/hr, 3.5% incline.  As a side note, this started much slower I think (around 4km/hr or something I think).  Once the current settings stop making me sweat, I increase it.

Monday
Monday is my personal training day with Phil.  His main technique at the moment is what he calls German Composition Training.  What that seems to mean is two lots of supersetting 2-3 different exercises, each consisting of 3 sets of 12-15 reps at (what appear to be) fairly high weights.  So in a single 30min session, I will usually end up doing 6 different exercises.  In each set of exercises, there's usually an upper body, a lower body, and a core or composite focus.  The reps are usually slower paced more so than high weights; it's usually fast up, 3-4secs down, to maximise the time the muscles are under maximum strain.

The range of exercises he selects from is quite long, but he still keeps finding new ones.  Most of them are focused around what he calls the five Primal Movement Patterns: Push, Pull, Lunge, Squat, and Deadlift.  So to give you an idea of what I might do on a typical Monday:
1 - Upright row (pull, back and shoulders) - 30-40kg per arm (note - I'm not 100% certain what weights he has on there, as I try not to think about it).  12-15reps.
2 - Forward lunges, with 8-10kg in each hand.  12 per leg, alternating left-right.
3 - "Half-Burpies" - if you've never heard of these, they consist of starting in a basic stand, and going into a crouch with both hands on the ground.  From there, you throw your feet out behind you until you're in essentially a push-up postion.  You then pull your legs back into a crouch, and back into a stand.  12-15 reps.
Three sets of each of the above, with 10-20sec max rest between exercises, and usually <1min rest between sets.
4 - Bench press - 40kg (I tried 50kg yesterday, but couldn't manage the full 3 sets/12 reps, so I dropped it to 40kg on the last one).  12 reps.
5 - Hack squats (squats with heels raised 2-3inches) with 25kg weight.  12 reps.
6 - Deadlifts - 30kg, 12 reps.
Again, three sets of each of the above.

This is not an exhaustive list of the exercises he gets me to do.

Finish/Warm down
By this time, I'm usually pretty wrecked, but it's not over.  After a (too-brief) rest, I have to do a sprint to finish off.  This is usually a "tabata" exercise.  This is basically 5 minutes (originally 4, but he just upped it) of 20sec @ 100% intensity cardio, then 10sec @ 50% intensity.  Repeat until time is up, or you pass out, whichever comes soonest (so far I haven't passed out, though I've often wanted to).   This is usually done on something like the cross-trainier, the exercise bike, or some other cardio method.  Once it consisted of bouncing a medicine ball as hard as I could for the 100% periods.

Another sprint option is to do 500m on the rowing machine in under 2mins.  After 1 minute, I have to do another 500m, but beat my original time.

Wednesday/Saturday
These days are usually similar to Mondays, but nowhere as painful.  I'm the first to admit that without Phil there to spur me on, I don't/can't lift the same weights, and I probably rest longer than I should.  But I still try to do the same number of exercises/sets/reps as I would with Phil.  On Saturdays I might go a little easy, as it is the weekend.

Thursday
Thursday is cardio day.  No weights, just plain fat burning.  I do 40 mins on the treadmill, starting with my usual 10min warm up (this is included in the 40mins).  Afther the warmup, the next 30mins consists of 3min intervals.  For 2min I have the incline at 11% (speed usually 6.3-6.5km/hr), then back to 3.5% for 1min.  Rinse, repeat until time is up.  After the treadmill, I'll try to do one or two sprints, either on the bike, the rower or the elliptical.  Then I stumble to the shower and try to breathe again.

Once again, I freely admit that I can't push myself as hard with the sprints without someone to spur me on, but I think I'm getting to abou 85% capacity most of the time.

Conclusions
So there you have it.  That's a basic outline of my weekly training routine.  It may not have a lot of consistency in terms of knowing what I am going to do each day at the gym, but I have a range of exercises I can choose from to suit my current mood or to work around any injuries etc, so that no two days are exactly the same (except maybe Thursdays).

Going back to the weigh-ins for a moment.  It's been a bit up and down (literally) with my weight for the last few weeks.  For a long time there I was losing over a kilo a week.  More recently, it seems to be less certain if I'll make that drop each weigh-in.  I don't know if it's because I've reached a natural plateau, or if my body has adjusted to its current routine and I have to push it even further (god I hope not, at least not yet!).  Or maybe I need to make adjustments to my diet.  I don't know.  I personally think I've got my food under reasonable control.  Not perfect by any stretch, but enough that I'm still running a calorie deficit.  I want to see how things go over the next few weeks and then make any required changes.

As a curiosity, I plotted my weightloss for the last 3-4 months based on the data I've recorded since April, and it's quite interesting.  There are a couple of noticeable bumps where I've gone backwards, but overall it's been a fairly steady trend.  And based on the trendline (a very rough approximation), I should be able to reach my 100kg target ahead of my October 26 deadline.  But I'm not going to get complacent.  If anything, I'm going to have to work harder I think.

Anyway, this has been a bit of a bumper post this time round, so I'm gonna sign off for now. 

"And as my old uncle used to say when he was too drunk to fall down, "May the road rise up to meet you!".  Cya dudes!