Tuesday 14 August 2007

Killer Abs Workout

We started off with a pretty good set of weights. The pec deck holds - literally just holding out a pec deck handle for as long as possible - were surprisingly hard.
ExerciseWarmupSet 1Set 2Set 3
15×-35kg
15×-35kg
12×0kg
12×-15kg
10×4kg
5×-10kg/5×-15kg
8×8kg
8×-10kg
Barbell Decline Triceps Extension15×10kg12×20kg5×22.5kg/5×20kg8×20kg
Pec Deck One Arm Hold30s×28kg30s×63kg30s×70kg30s×77kg

We finished off with Andy's killer abs workout, which consists of:
  • Plank, 30s.
  • Side plank, 30s each side.
  • 15 swiss ball crunches.
  • 15 reverse crunches.
  • High-to-low cable wood-choppers @ 64kg, 15 each side.
  • Low-to-high cable wood-choppers @ 64kg, 15 each side.

It doesn't sound like much, but the last set of wood-shoppers cane. Oh, and you do the whole thing twice.

Thursday 9 August 2007

Knackered

After the PBs of Monday, and the knee-tuck jumps, frog jumps, walking lunges and burpees of Boot Camp on Tuesday - with my right calf, left forearm, glutes, pecs, abs and especially quads aching - I felt far too knackered to attempt any big lifts. The warmup set of incline dumbbell presses hurt so much that I didn't even do any work sets.

Instead we did some boxing, which was surprisingly enjoyable - though it probably didn't help me recover any for today's Boot Camp.
After two mornings of having to slather myself in Tiger Balm just to leave the house (and no doubt annoying everyone on the tube), I was quite relieved when Andy cancelled it because only 5 people hadn't dropped out (2 of whom had missed Tuesday anyway). I feel better knowing he slaughtered everybody!

ExerciseWarmupSet 1Set 2Set 3
Dumbbell Incline Bench Press15×14kg-
Dumbbell Lying Rear Lateral Raise12×6kg12×10kg10×12kg8×16kg(+33.3%)
Dumbbell Hammer Curl15×6kg12×10kg10×12kg8×14kg(+16.7%)

Tuesday 7 August 2007

Smashing my Personal Bests

Very happy with this session; I smashed my PBs on both the dumbbell bench press and bent-over row.

Also, having checked my BF with calipers, I've lost 1.48%, which means a 1.22kg fat loss and 0.52kg FFM increase.

ExerciseWarmupSet 1Set 2Set 3
Dumbbell Bench Press15×12kg12×26kg10×28kg8×30kg(+25%)
Dumbbell Bent-over Row12×12kg12×24kg10×30kg8×36kg(+10.8%)
Medicine Ball Incline Crunch40×3kg40×3kg
Lying Straight Leg Raise30×0kg30×0kg
Medicine Ball One Hand Snatch10×7kg10×10kg
Stability Push-up1512158

†: Throwing the medicine ball and catching it between crunches.
‡: First set with feet on a Bosu ball, hands on a swiss ball. Second set with feet on a swiss ball, hands on the floor. Third set with hands on a Bosu ball, flat side up. Fourth set with hands on a Bosu ball, flat side down.

I even tried some one-arm push-ups towards the end. Unfortunately, I could only do one, with my right hand. Also, after the leg raises, manoeuvring my legs to give the required stability for a one-arm push-up caused a twinge around when I have a hernia.

We finished up with some boxing, where Andy repeatedly punished me for leaving my left chest open.

Some combination of the strain 36kg dumbbells put on my grip, bashing the back of my forearm while swinging a medicine ball overhead, and boxing has left my wrists feeling rather sore. Lets hope today's boot camp doesn't require using them.