Phew, that’s Day 2 done. And once again, I stuck to the food plan and did the proper workout. So far so good.
My working hours can be long, and worse, unpredictable, which I always knew was going to be one of the biggest challenges of this programme for me. Today, I finished a little after seven and got home about twenty to eight, by which point it was starting to feel a bit late to launch into an hour-long workout. Doing nothing was completely off the table, but I did toy with the idea of trading today’s out for one of the slightly shorter ones due later in the week. In the end though, I pushed through, and I’m so glad I did.
FOOD
Foodwise, I stuck almost exactly to yesterday’s meals. The timed nutrition aspect is complicated, there’s no denying it. So while I’m going to have to mix things up a bit so I don’t get bored, there’s something to be said with sticking with a plan once you’ve found one that works. The differences were dinner – where I had my chicken, rice noodles, coconut oil and mixed vegetables (plus tons of free spices) in stir fry format – and my afternoon snack, where I had houmous as my “healthy fat” which made a much better companion for my chopped peppers than yesterday’s pecans. The eating a proper meal (my pre-workout meal) before leaving work still feels weird and once again resulted in some confused comments from my team. But it’s amazing how much more energetic it left me feeling for my last hour of work, my walk home, and on into the workout.
WORKOUT
Today’s workout was called Booty, and it was really heavily focused on the one body part, in stark contrast to yesterday’s total body approach. It combined being relatively gentle (in the sense that I was never gasping for breath, dripping sweat or trembling under heavy weights) with being really quite intense (in the sense of burning out my glutes and quads).
There were no weights or sliders involved, but every single exercise involved the bands and really made the most of them.
The workout started on the floor, and remained there for some time – firstly, a round on your back, involving different variations on bridges, then a round on all fours based around leg lifts, then a particularly torturous round lying on your side. 3 moves of 15 reps each in each of those 3 sets.
After that, it was up to standing, for one round featuring small, focused moves, then a final round based around the more traditional squats, lunges and side squats (but with bands still, and with the muscles under constant tension).
Like yesterday, the whole thing was then repeated, but my endurance seemed a bit better today, and the hour went very fast. I’ll see whether or not it aches tomorrow, but the glutes and associated muscles clearly got a lot of work, and though rarely directly targeted, I suspect there was quite a bit of sneaky core work going on. On the whole, most other muscles (bar the legs at the end) didn’t see much action, but I quite enjoyed being so ruthlessly focused. My heart-rate was slightly raised throughout – round about the level I’d expect from a gentle but persistent walk. I didn’t feel like I was burning tons of calories, but actually, over the course of an hour of non-stop movement, I bet the calorie burn actually subtlety added up.
Overall, very different from yesterday and perhaps not the best if you’re looking to push yourself to your limits, set your heart pounding and burn hundreds and hundreds of calories, but a really innovative, enjoyable and brilliantly targeted workout, that made a nice contrast to yesterday’s exertion and variety.
| On your back:
· Glute bridge · Bridge to clam · First position bridge (ie. With heels touching and toes turned out) |
| On hands and knees:
· Straight leg lift · Toe taps across and side · Circles |
| On your side:
· Toe taps front and back · Clams · Press backs (ouch!) |
| Standing:
· Hinges · Leg press side · Bend over press back |
| Standing and moving:
· Squat side to side · Duck walk (ie. Walking lunges back and forth – lethal) · Side lunges |
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If you don’t currently have access to BOD, you can get a year’s subscription, a month’s supply of Shakeology, and all the accessories you need for 80 Day Obsession for just £180 here
If you’re already a Beachbody on Demand customer, you can get everything you need for 80 Day Obsession (workout calendar, resistance bands, strength sliders, portion fix containers) with Shakeology here, with performance supplements here, or with both here.
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Munday Morning Fitness 