Oh dear, it's Plyometrics

Hello everybody...

I just finished today's round of training and I had to jump right onto the laptop as I fear that I will not be able to move later on.

Plyometrics aka the mother of P90. Or as I like to call it, Death!
I'm not kidding, this was awful, tiring, sweaty...nasty and I loved every second of it. Its hard to describe, almost like aerobics on steroids. There was a lot of jumping and definitely the most bad ass cardio workout possible whilst in one room.

Each exercise lasted only 30 seconds with the fourth lasting 1 min. This is then all repeated.  The whole circuit lasted one hour. Here's a great link to a number of exercised. This wont be exactly the same but will give you a great idea of what's involved. I recommend that you try get at least 10-12 exercises and then perform them in the 30 second bursts as described above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp-ldXBE1XA&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SPBDADCC47E415A878

Today my brother called me and pointed out something about yesterdays posts that I would like to clear up.
Please do not attempt all the exercises in a row, Its not about the number you do, its about how you do them.
Each exercise was conducted in one minute intervals, where I did as many as I can do. After 4 exercises, I would take a minute break. Once going through all 12 exercises, its all repeated!

So take exercise 1 for example, I did not perform 53 in one go. I first did 30 and moved on to exercise two. After the 12, I came back and did another 23. So my dear brother, instead of burning your self out, remember this:

Today I bid superwoman farewell for a short time, she is going to the land of America and I just wanted to add,  bonvoyage :)

Sonny

A quick explanation

For those of you joining me on my p90x journey. It has been pointed out to me that due to the staccato nature of my posts, I should explain exactly what I'm trying to do.

This blog started because I was going to tackle the event of a life time..the Men's Health Survival of the fittest.
A 10 km race with about 16 crazy obstacles to overcome.
I finished the race in 56 minutes and had the time of my life.

As I trained for the event, I felt my life improve. I was more disciplined with my job applications, going to bed early and watching less TV. No energy can also be attributed to not having a gym buddy any more to motivate and support.
Then I got ill and all this went back to zero. For the last month, I have reversed my progress so much and missing an important deadline gave me the kick in the bum that I badly needed.

So I decided I needed to get my discipline back on lock with another challenge...I chose to find out what all the hype was about p90x. This is going to be especially hard because I am going back to the motherland on Monday, a nation filled with awesome nights out and too much drinking. On top of this, it will be December and we all know what xmas brings...cake, and relaxation..So I decided that I will try and make the magic happen.

I hope that this blog proves entertaining for you and would love to hear your comments. I hope that you can use the information here to design your own work outs and also get fighting fit. As a fitness junke, I have learned a lot in the world of health and would love to share my knowledge with you as I learn more from this challenge!

As with any challenge, we need a before and after picture. I can do one better. I will provide a before-before (whilst at my prime), a before, and at the end an after.

1) A picture from a year ago:

2) A current picture:

3)After? well that's for us to find out..please get involved, send in you pics and lets try get in the best shape of our lives together!

D-Day (P90X)

Wow! Just completed day 1 of the programme and it hurts so bad! Literally by the end of the warm up I was already breathing heavy. In the middle of the workout, all I could think about was when will this end.

Then it did. Big smile on my face...Instructor says, lets do that all again...smile turns to anguish!

However after finishing day1, I feel great!! only 89 more days to go, this should be interesting. To be honest, during my hour of punishment, I came to understand body extremes a little more. It is so easy to say "Im tired of this one exercise, I'll skip on to the next one." However, setting a target of repetitions per exercise is a great way to motivate you. I don't know why, but when the finish line is in sight, it makes it easier to push harder. At this point I felt so good that I continued doing repetitions to the point that my muscles couldn't take it any more and I collapsed.

So today's exercises and results were as follows:
Chest and Back.
01 Standard Push-Ups 54
 02 Wide Front Pull-Ups 33
 03 Military Push-Ups 33
 04 Reverse Grip Chin-Ups 40  
 05 Wide Fly Push-Ups 36
 06 Closed Grip Overhand Pull-Ups 33
 07 Decline Push-Ups 26
 08 Heavy Pants 28
 09 Diamond Push-Ups 29
 10 Lawnmovers 23
 11 Dive-Bomber Push-Ups 25
 12 Back Flys 25

Yes and this beast of a work out was only Day1. After this we had to do half of ab ripper which involved 150 stomach moves (ill explain this in detail on the dedicated stomach day!)

Massive training comes with a good and strict diet. First you need to look at your lifestyle and decide how many calories you burn in a normal day. In university I was very active however since graduation this has decreased massively. So I am aiming to hit about 1900 -2000 Calories.

Calories are the body's energy currency. Food brings them into your body as you digest and activity burns them. What is not burned is converted into fat and stored in your body. This is why big late dinners are such a bad idea. The trick is to eat little, often!
I am not a fan of dieting, I believe that this is torture and without militant discipline, you will never achieve lasting results. I think its best eat wisely, allowing your self a treat once in a while and timing your meals so that you do not crave anything and your body can perform like a machine. In the end its a simple question. Yes fatty food tastes so good, but will the world end if you slow down on the doughnuts? Start slow, remove 1/4 of your daily intake for a week...go up to half. Before you know it you will only think about them when they are in front of you.

So today's meal:
Breakfast: 09.00 - Oatmeal porridge, sunflower seeds, honey, protein powder
Snack: 11.00 - Banana
Lunch: Spaghetti with corn and noodles
Snack: Apple
Dinner: well I don't know yet, but I'm seeing Superwoman tonight and she has promised me a Lentil stew (Delicious!).

All the best and I'll talk to you tomorrow!

Been quiet again haven't I!

My last few months have been extremely lethargic. Wake up at 12. Work on an application. Watch Tv. sleep and repeat. I have slowly felt the wonder that is life seep out of me...

With all this slipping, I realised that my problem has been a lack of commitment to train for a goal...after watching Ryan Reynolds with his shirt off, superwoman went 'Hello'...Thank you Ryan! I now have a goal in mind!

So the challenge as it is will be to test P90X and see if it is truly as bad as the world claims it to be.
http://www.beachbody.com/product/p90x.do?t=w231c2
I'm a reasonably active person and as every gym goer will know, once you are on holiday or don't have gym access, it is easy to loose it all. I will be travelling to Kenya next week and I know that gym access will be complicated, so I will combine my drive to get Reynolds fit with the opportunity that is p90x. Wish me luck! 90 days is a massive commitment, especially on the diet side!

I have everything I need to get started so for the next 90 days, please join me on this journey.
Tomorrow it all begins. Spread the blog, join in on the work outs, and feel free to ask anything about the diet....

by the way superwoman, when you realise this, please be aware that in 90 days you will need commissioned to start a Beyonce challenge.

Apology, RESULT, fresh start!

Hello there everybody,

I firstly want to say sorry that I have been quite the useless blogger. Writing articles is new to me and I have found it difficult to maintain the discipline to regularly update the page with new posts. The reason my discipline was so bad is because right after training I would have to go to work, get home at midnight and knock out. I AM SORRY and thank every single person that has viewed the page and provided me with some input. Especially SuperWoman.

The race was fantastic, hard, exhilarating, torture...but in general an amazing experience. I will definitely be at the next one and I hope that you all decide to join me. As I was ill, I was aiming for 1 hour 30 mins. I managed the race in 58 minutes! Obviously I am proud. So bodyrock really paid off!

Check out some of the pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.307145499303136.79970.125943110756710&type=3

As soon as a few pop up of me, I will be sure to show you them!

This experience was amazing and I have got the bug. I have been buzzing ever since and already registered for another charity fun run in Ealing on the 4th of December...more details to come in tomorrows post (which I promise will come).

I have decided that I will continue to blog about training and keeping fit. I am obsessed with a health lifestyle and want to hear from all of you about your goals and targets. I really appreciated all the advice I received as I trained and I would love to return the favour. So please feel free to send in any thing that comes to mind, I want to hear from you!

Whether your goal is to take part in a crazy assault course, lose weight, look better or just enjoy being active more. I am right there with you. During my exam period I sat around all day and ate pizza as I revised. Getting back into shape has left me feeling amazing and when you feel good, I believe that you project this positivity outwards. People really do pick up on it. Confidence increases, happiness increases...So I say, yes to exercise, yes to hitting your goals and yes to all of becoming the best we can be.

Remember, we are all in it together!

Im Back

Hello all,

So I have been very ill for the last few weeks. It was horrible! So many symptoms, so many meds, so little time. I am happy to say I have regained full health but it is looking like it will be difficult to finish the race in the time I initially planned to do so.

However, I will still be attending and trying my best. The only way I see forward now is to train hard, train smart,  rest well. In other words embody the bodyrock way of life. What is bodyrock? Well to those that do not know, bodyrock is the reason I graduated Uni!

Two inspiring individuals Freddie and Zuzana work hard to provide the world with training advice, nutritional advice, inspiration and a whole lot more. All their work is free and once you start to follow them, you cannot stop. It doesnt matter if you are a beginner or seasoned athlete. The bodyrock movement will have something for you.

I have been following them for ten months and in that time I have reached fitness goals that I have never seen before.  You can catch them on:
http://www.bodyrock.tv/

Right now, I plan to bodyrock every morning and hit the gym with bodyrock inspired workouts. Lighter weights mixed in with intense cardiovascular activity. Basically get as fit as I can in the short time I have!

On that not, I need to go off to the gym now actually, I am pressed for time today, I will post up another entry about the specific workout tonight when I get back from work. I guarantee it will make you sweat!

Have a great day,
Sonny

Day two: Go Hard or Go Home

I just got back from work and I am really feeling the burn. They do say Go hard or Go home, don't they? So before I hit the hay, let me tell you about my SPARTAN GYM REGIMEN! 

Aside from my weak knee (and possible high blood pressure), I am rather a healthy kind of guy. Running the 10 km's should not be a problem. I won't be able to manage in 30 minutes like some of the elite athletes, but I think I could do it in under an hour. The hard part will be the obstacles. With each one taking a massive toll on your strength, it will be hard to keep on going when the body just wants to sit down and have a glass of water.


I had a chat with my kick boxing instructor who is the fittest person I know (next to Superwoman [mentioned above] and Alicia keys, but that's a different kind of fit!). We have agreed on compound exercises, work outs that target as many muscles as possible in one movement. The reason for this is that it is simple to get lost in isolating the popular muscles, these are easy to train but when this happens you are not doing yourself any favours.


Real strength comes when your body works together as a whole. Have you ever had do drag around an unconscious friend? Maybe they drank too much, maybe you knocked them out. Either way, they are heavy! This is because most of their muscles are not working. When you normally carry somebody (if there is such a thing), it is easier because the-not-too obvious muscles are still active. When the person is unconscious, you are basically lifting all their mass without any help. Now think of this in reverse, if it is normally easy to do a certain movement, take for example, climbing a rope or jumping over a puddle. Would it not be easier if even the little muscles in your body are working hard?


Going from this idea, I added a little Kombo tweak to the recipe, by deciding to superset the exercises. What? Yeah... I said, SUPERSET! So, I take the first two and do them back to back, the same goes for the next two, and the two after that. This brilliant idea was to ensure that the workouts have a cardio fitness aspect to them (just in in case running 10 km is harder than I thought!). I was basically moving as much as possible, as fast as possible and as often as possible.


Thanks to my big dreams, I'm exhausted! I may have underestimated the effect of sitting in front of the t.v and eating junk for the last three months. Tomorrow is going to hurt, I can tell already. In the end, it will pay off. Because... THIS IS SPARTA!


My focus is also to have the strength to pull my body over walls and swing across monkey bars with ease. To accomplish that, I did some back exercises (my fav!). 


The exact exercises were as follows:

Back and shoulders

Exercises
Overhand pull-ups - 4 Sets of 12 Repetitions
Clean and jerk with a front squat - 4S/10R    
Weighted twisting back extensions - 4S/12R    
Seated rows - 4S/8R                
Upright rows - 4S/8R            
Reverse flys    - 4S/8R            
Dumb-bell deadlifts - 4S/12R    
    
Core workout - 4S/12R
Weighted sit-ups - 4S/12R        
Reverse crunches - 4S/8R        
Hanging leg raises - 4S/8R


Here is a little video I found to show how useful a strong back is:

Ok, I admit that doing clap pull ups is not exactly useful, however you HAVE to admit that it's pretty damn cool! Well, that's all for today folks, tomorrow I'll cover diet tips... Yum Yum!


Peace out, 


Sonny

Day one: Our Journey Begins

Wow, my first blog entry. I don’t mean my first for the Men’s Health Assault course...I mean my first blog entry EVER. I feel that this is a moment to remember...Quick, pop the Champagne. Ok, Ok, not just yet...

Growing up, I always thought that the exercise in military movies looked so cool. I mean who wouldn't want to say "yeah I'm as bad as Samuel L Jackson, Sylvester Stallone and Jean Claude Van Damme all rolled up into one!"

When I found out about the Men's Health Survival of the Fittest challenge in 3 weeks time I found myself thinking "I really want to do it..." It seems I had already decided before actually thinking about it.

Now I have always thought that playing a sport is the best thing in the world. I am happiest when I play any sport. It doesn't even matter if I'm good or bad, new to it or a seasoned pro... It’s the competition that I crave, it is getting stuck in with a team of like minded individuals and giving it you’re all. Sports literally helped me survive High School. There was always a game to look forward to when studying was mind-numbing. It was an avenue to vent my extra energy and keep me out of trouble. I literally made lifelong friends through my football, athletic and hockey teams. This carried on to university, where I initially felt overwhelmed with the sheer number of new faces; Warwick has something like 17000 students. Showing up to taster sessions for clubs led me to make new friends and try out sports I had never done before such as American Football or Muay Thai (Thai Boxing).

So I couldn't help but fall in love with the work done by Right to Play! RTP is a childrens charity that believes in giving all kids an equal opportunity to get involved in sport and games. It doesn't matter what background they are from, everyone enjoys a game. They work with 15,000 coaches, teachers and leaders from around the world to give 688,000 children activities to get involved in.
They basically use sports to give children what I was lucky enough to have...Fantastic!

I have been fighting a knee injury for a while and as I thought of chickening out of the race, I managed to convince myself that this was because of my knee. I admit, not very Spartan of me but even Spartacus had a few doubts (Yes I know those are two different T.V shows, but, they are really good shows!). The laws of the universe intervened, as I browsed the Right to Play website, I read a fantastic article about how children in Uganda would step up to a leadership role when a coach was late. This was a trend noticed, studied and rewarded. The children would mobilise themselves and get the games going all on their own. RTP coaches are now travelling and identifying these junior leaders and teaching them valuable leadership skills that will not only be useful in sports, but will really become a way of thinking and a part of their lives. This took me back to July 2010, I was in Uganda working on an Engineering project and a small kick about with my fellow volunteers grew into a daily football game with the local community. The children from the local area quickly got involved.  We had teams, refereeing and even half time refreshments! A simple kick about grew into something huge, I can't quite explain the feeling but it was clear that everyone was having a blast.

You can check the article out here:
http://www.righttoplay.com/uk/news-and-media/Pages/NewsBlog.aspx?ID=59

How could I not go for gold now? I immediately got in contact with my age old friend and football Nemesis Leo Matlock (he now works for Right to Play as the Educations Partnership Manager) and he introduced me to Megan Prosser (who is the Marketing and Events Manager for RTP) and the rest. as they say, is history.

I have now committed to the run and I am doing it in the name of none other than Right to Play. More importantly, I cannot wait!

So what is the race? Well it's a 10 KM race with 16 crazy obstacles. These range from crawling, jumping, rolling and sprinting. All require strength of both body and mind. After you are battered, bruised and exhausted...Well then comes the Men's Health Wall of Fame...a massive 8ft wall to climb over. Here are a few snaps of what is to be expected...

A full view of the course is available here:
http://www.mhsurvival.co.uk/page64.asp?utm_source=LONDON+MH+Survival+2011&utm_campaign=63b66d00c1-Mh_Survival_News_21_10_2011&utm_medium=email

Over the next few weeks I will be writing up about my excruciating training to become more Spartan! I will log work outs, dietary information and much more, as I attempt to become fighting fit in just three weeks. Keep an eye out for regular updates (Twitter and Tacebook should be involved very soon) and don't hesitate to get in contact with me...
Any questions? I want to hear them!
Any advice? I want to hear it!
Any comments? Give me a shout!
Running the race too...Let me know!

Your involvement will really help me keep motivation on a high! So let's do this!!!