Tag: 80 Day Obsession

80 Day Obsession, Uncategorized

80 Day Obsession Diary – Days 9 and 10

sophiemunday

Somehow – mostly due to finishing work late but still getting my workout done – I got timed out on yesterday’s entry, so I’m going for the double today.

There’s actually not tons to say. On both days, I’ve managed to get the relevant workouts in – Booty yesterday, Cardio Core today – and stick pretty neatly to the nutrition plan. I honestly didn’t think I’d make it through the first ten days without missing a workout or having any real food cheats, but somehow, I’ve managed it. There are still seventy days to go, obviously, but it’s a good strong start.

Booty changed this week in the same way that Total Body Core did on Monday – three rounds of ten reps instead of two rounds of fifteen. And proportionately heavier bands were used throughout. At the end of the first round, the thought that I was only a third of the way through horrified me, but from then on, it went smoothly. It’s interesting how much gentler Booty is than all the other workouts, in terms of not really getting your heartrate up or exhausting you, but it does do a great job of hitting the specific muscles its targeting.

Cardio Core was exactly the same as last week in its reps and structure, but the breaks between rounds were slightly shorter. I make no secret of the fact I struggle with intense cardio and generally enjoy it the least of all the types of exercise. Despite the fact I’d surprised myself with how much I enjoyed this specific workout last week, it took a lot of self-motivating to get me to start. For the first four rounds, I found it surprisingly easy (well okay, easy is perhaps too strong a word…) then it all crept up on my in round 5 and 6 and I was suddenly drenched in sweat. It went very fast though and was actually quite fun. I still really like the combination of cardio intervals with quick, slider-based ab blasts.

Now tomorrow, I’ve got an earlyish meeting and then an evening event, so I have a horrible feeling I might break my perfect streak, but we’ll see…

***

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. 

There are a variety of different combinations of BOD access, 80 Day Obsession accessories, Shakeology and performance supplements available. Do drop me a line if you’re not sure which is right for you or if you’d like more information about this programme or anything else.

80 Day Obsession, Uncategorized

80 Day Obsession Diary – Day 8

sophiemunday

One week over, and another begun. The programme dominated my life last week (in a good way) and I felt so proud yesterday of making it through the week, managing all the workouts, and more or less sticking to the nutrition. Subconsciously, I’d almost forgotten I’d have to do it all again this week!

Any worries that I wouldn’t keep it up quickly fell away. After a weekend where I basically kept to the nutrition plan but cut a few corners, it was nice to do it perfectly again. One week in, and I feel like I’ve got the hang of the timed nutrition a little more. I did a massive online shop over the weekend, so it was nice and easy to fill my containers perfectly. And people at work have just about got used to the concept of my Hobbit-like “second lunch.”

The workout was Total Body Core again. Like last Monday, I was relegated to Studio 2 (aka the tiny hallway) with fixed 5 pound weights for the first third while my husband did Body Beast Chest and used our adjustable weights. I came back for the next two rounds though, and was able to up my weights to 7.5 for round 2 and then 10 for the final round.

The moves were identical to last week, the difference being that instead of 15 reps repeated twice, it was 10 reps repeated three times. I’m in two minds about which pattern I prefer, but once again, I definitely felt that I got a good strength workout and a decent calories burn. and in happy news, my legs have finally just about stopped aching from Friday’s Legs coupled with Saturday’s Cardio Flow. Let’s see if anything aches tomorrow…

***

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. 

There are a variety of different combinations of BOD access, 80 Day Obsession accessories, Shakeology and performance supplements available. Do drop me a line if you’re not sure which is right for you or if you’d like more information about this programme or anything else.

80 Day Obsession, Uncategorized

80 Day Obsession Diary – Day 7 – Roll and Release

sophiemunday

Finally, we reached both a rest day, and the end of week one. And not a moment too soon. I had a much needed lie in this morning, but woke up with my legs in absolute agony. I tend to suffer quite badly from DOMS, but this week, while there have been some aches and soreness, it’s been the perversely pleasant kind, that lets you know you’ve worked hard without causing any real trouble or discomfort. This, on the other hand, while definitely not the work exercise-induced ache I’ve ever had, was the sort that makes it very difficult to sit down, stand up, or bend down. There’s clearly something about Autumn’s leg workouts, as I had the exact same reaction after ALO’s leg day. Ouch!

I turned, half in gratitude and half in trepidation, to today’s semi-official workout, Roll and Release. I say semi-official, because it contributes to the 80 day count, and today’s the only day it officially appears. But the idea is to do it whenever you feel the need. Going forward, both skipping it on rest days and adding it in during the week seem to be acceptable, in a programme that’s otherwise very prescriptive.

After 6 solid days of fairly intense workouts, the last thing many people would want to do is load up yet another routine. But the emphasis here –  unlike some supposedly active recovery videos, which seem unnecessarily active – really is on recovery.

The format is simple. It’s 19 minutes long. A quick warmup – the same one as for the rest of the week, which caught me slightly by surprise. A few extended stretches at the end. And inbetween, forming the bulk of the session, lots and lots of foam rolling. I’ve you’ve ever tried foam rolling before, there’ll be nothing here that comes as a particular surprise, but it was well-structured, well-explained and very efficient and effective.

If you haven’t tried it before, I wholeheartedly recommend it. But a word of warning. Don’t expect something akin to a gentle stretching session or a relaxing massage. First, the need to support yourself on the roller puts a surprising demand on your arms and core, particularly if they are already tired. But secondly, and more importantly, rolling sore, tight muscles is at best intense and uncomfortable, at worst, genuinely painful. And on my quads in particular, it definitely fell into the second camp for me today. I was literally whimpering. And also sweating to a strange degree, which I once read is a notable side effect of foam rolling that shows you really need it and you’re doing it right. So that was good, I suppose.

As soon as roll and release was over, I sneakily went straight into Stretch and Release, which is nominally next Sunday’s “workout” but which is similarly designed to be done whenever you think it might be helpful. And I knew I had to deploy every weapon in my arsenal if my legs were going to be in any condition to do Total Body Core again on Monday. I’ll talk more about that one next week, in the proper time and place, but it’s basically straightforward and very welcome stretching, as opposed to the complex yoga that sometimes makes its way into rest day workouts.

Once they were both over, I had a long, long soak in a bath full of epsom salts, as per Autumn’s recommendation. Something about the combination worked. My legs are still achy, and I’d be amazed if they are 100% fine by tomorrow, but they feel a lot better. Time is at a premium for me, but I’m going to try to make time for one or both of the recovery workouts over the course of the week if I possibly can.

On the nutrition side, things went relatively well, though unlike yesterday, when the workout, my driving lesson, and dinner out gave some structure to the day, most of today involved lazing round the house, alternated with chores, which, combined with getting up late, left me unsure what to eat when. I didn’t eat anything I shouldn’t, but I didn’t have all my boxes either. Probably fine as I was consuming far fewer calories than on a normal day (where there’d be a workout, a walk to work, and some activity during the working day) but something to watch on future weekends. I did make an amazing and healthy omelette for breakfast though (spinach, peppers, chilli, black beans and a blue box of Parmesan) so I was happy with that.

And that’s week one over and done with. I’m really pleased with how well I’ve stuck to it and how much I’ve enjoyed it. No astonishing changes yet – I wouldn’t expect them after a week – but I’d say I’m already, at the margins, looking a little less bloated and a little more toned. I really, really hope I can keep this up.

***

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. 

There are a variety of different combinations of BOD access, 80 Day Obsession accessories, Shakeology and performance supplements available. Do drop me a line if you’re not sure which is right for you or if you’d like more information about this programme or anything else.

80 Day Obsession, Uncategorized

80 Day Obsession Diary – Day 6 – Cardio Flow

sophiemunday

Whatever other challenges this week has thrown up to far, at least I’ve broadly known what to expect from the workouts, as each of them is similar to their equivalent in A Little Obsessed, albeit longer and with some different moves. But today brought Cardio Flow, which doesn’t have an ALO equivalent, so I had no idea what to expect. “Cardio” made me nervous, while “flow” made me think it might be relatively gentle and perhaps incorporate elements from yoga.

It turned out that it was a really unique and really challenging workout. There were ten moves, most of which were named after an animal, which added a strangely cute touch. Some were serious cardio/plyo moves, others were gentler. But the real impact of this workout came from the way it built.

You do the first move – inchworm – four times. then you do it four more times, but this time, add the second move – spider push-ups – on the end, and do that four times. Then four more inchworms, four more spider push-ups, and this time, four reps of move three. This goes on until all ten moves have been brought into the sequence. It’s a bit like singing the Twelve Days of Christmas, only with more sweat. Once you’ve completed the full sequence, you repeat the ten move version twice. By this time, you’ve repeated the first few moves an inordinate amount of times and if you’re anything like me, are exhausted.

As I touched on below, the moves varied in difficulty and intensity. Some, such as crab, where you do a tricep dip then kick onto leg in the air and touch it with the opposite hand really challenge balance and strength. Others, like mule to frog, where you kick your legs right up in the air then land and jump, are pretty high-impact and really set your heart pounding. Others, like the inchworms that start the whole thing off, are relatively gentle at first, but build in intensity.

Where the other workouts are at least 40 minutes long and most are closer to an hour, this is 30 minutes, which is more the sort of length I’m used to. After a week of acclimatising myself to longer sessions, it felt good to get it over and done with so quickly. But it was also a timely reminder that shorter does not equal easier. The longer workouts haven’t had many breaks or recovery exercises, but they’ve had some. This was pretty relentless, with little to no time to catch your breath.

Overall, this was a good, challenging cardio blast.

  • inchworms
  • spider push up
  • flamingo (this is the same as the “good morning” from leg day, despite the cute animal name)
  • diamond squat jumps (not sure why these didn’t get an animal name!)
  • duck walk (another reappearance from earlier in the week)
  • gorilla
  • bear
  • kick throughs (in plank, kick one leg to the opposite side and twist to meet it – again, no animal name for this one, oddly)
  • crabs
  • mule to frog

So that’s the workout. With today being Saturday, I was worried about sticking to the nutrition plan, partly because I work to quite a different schedule on the weekends, partly because weekends mean treats.

Somehow though (other than the wine that I’ve explicitly allowed myself at the weekend) I stuck to it. I decided to work out first thing (well, if you can call 10am first thing – I do like a bit of a lie in) so I started with shakeology, battled through cardio flow, then made an amazing scrambled eggs, spinach, and black beans combo. I had a driving lesson in the afternoon, and was very good about taking a little blue box of pecans along to keep me going. And in the evening, I went out for dinner with my husband, and with a steak salad and a bit of rice, managed to more or less stick to my one red, one green, one yellow, one spoon evening meal plan. If I’m 100% honest, there was probably a little more meat than would strictly fit inside a red box, but I’m not yet quite obsessed enough to take a box to a restaurant with me to check, and it definitely wasn’t excessive. I’m annoyed I didn’t take a photo, because it looked amazing. Unlike last night, having had my wine ration, I really wanted more – or perhaps one of the restaurants delicious looking cocktails – but I resisted.

So a good day all round, with a nice balance of sticking to the programme and maintaining my lifestyle. My legs were very sore by the end of the day though (yesterday’s leg day plus today’s jumpy cardio is a killer combination) so looking forward to tomorrow’s rest and recovery day.

***

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. 

There are a variety of different combinations of BOD access, 80 Day Obsession accessories, Shakeology and performance supplements available. Do drop me a line if you’re not sure which is right for you or if you’d like more information about this programme or anything else.

80 Day Obsession, Uncategorized

80 Day Obsession Diary – Day 5 – Legs

sophiemunday

So, it’s Friday, and it’s leg day.

I was obviously looking forward to the former, because who doesn’t love Fridays? But at the same time, I was worried about keeping my nutrition under control, because generally, the weekend means treats. ]

And inevitably, I was nervous about the latter, because Autumn’s leg workouts are always challenging. 21 Day Fix Legs was tricky, 21 Day Extreme Legs is probably one of the most exhausting workouts I can think of, and when I did A Little Obsessed’s legs workout, I could barely walk for several days.

On the nutrition side of things, everything went smoothly. My husband, who must not have been paying attention, suggested pizza for dinner, but I swiftly rejected that idea and made a chicken and vegetable curry (with a yellow box of rice on the side) from scratch. Otherwise, my diet was mostly as it’s been all week. I totally ran out of food yesterday, and had to do an emergency chicken, vegetables and fruit stop on the way into work.

There was the thorny issue of wine. Clearly, if you’re following the programme to the letter, it’s an absolute no no. And I’ve been so dedicated all week. But at the same time I promised myself I was allowed a 250ml glass on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (I promise this is not me backsliding – check the Day Zero blog!). The weird thing was, I thought I’d be desperate for a drink, but I really wasn’t. As a result, I was massively in two minds about whether to have one or not, but decided to. I want to simultaneously give this programme my all, and fit it into my life in a way that’s sustainable for 80 days, and hand on heart, I can’t imagine a world in which I don’t have a single glass of wine for three months. Brownies, muffins, ice cream, yes, just about. Wine, no. And I stuck to my 250ml ration. Purists might freak out, but a victory for moderation.

And that brings me to the workout, which was basically everything I’d hoped and feared. Definitely the most challenging workout of the week, even though I’d deliberately gone relatively light on weights (10 pounds on each side throughout – Autumn alternated between 12s and 15s). It was a little less relentless than the ALO equivalent, as the longer running time, despite meaning more reps overall, allowed for slightly longer breaks between moves. But I really had to force myself through the second half.

The format is 9 moves of 15 reps each (some are done on both side), then the whole thing is repeated. There are no bands or sliders involved for once, just weights. The focus is very much on squats and lunges, though there are some interesting variations. One involving lunging on a diagonal angle really threw me. The main exceptions were “single leg good mornings” which I prefer to think of as “Warrior 3: Special Forces Edition” and some hip hinges. Nothing wildly innovative here, but a good, solid, challenging leg workout, that really blasted my lower body and kept my heart rate high throughout.

  • reverse lunges
  • squats
  • curtsey lunges (which you’re never allowed to stand up straight in – ouch!)
  • sumo squats
  • diagonal lunges – forward
  • diagonal lunges – backwards
  • one-legged good mornings
  • high hinges
  • buddha squats (basically kneeling down with one leg, keeping the knee next to the opposite ankle – very strange)

***

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. 

There are a variety of different combinations of BOD access, 80 Day Obsession accessories, Shakeology and performance supplements available. Do drop me a line if you’re not sure which is right for you or if you’d like more information about this programme or anything else.