Saturday, June 30, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge: Week 5 - Day 6 - Muscle Building

Original workout: Six Pack Factory

To be honest, I actually never really follow 6W/6P Day 6 Muscle building workout because:
- I am lazy
- 10 sets of 10 reps of 5 upper body weight lifting bores me quick
- Did I say I am lazy?

But since this will be my last muscle building workout, I might as well tackle this with some modification since I still want to give my wrists sometime to rest before I start going crazy doing anything that put pressure on my wrists

10 sets of 10 reps with 10 sec rest for each of this workout - Rest 1 minute in between one workout to another.

Dumbbell Shoulder Press (instead of push ups)
Dumbbell Bent Over Rows / Reverse Body Rows
Dumbbell Shoulder Fly (aka lateral raise)
Dumbbell Curls
Triceps Dumbbell Extension (instead of Triceps Dips)

I used a pair of 8lbs and 10lbs dumbbells.

Took me almost 40 minutes to complete all of above

Then I was inspired by ZWOW#24 and created my own 10 minute AMRAP.


10 minute AMRAP:
10 dynamic squats (from ZWOW#24)
10 Ab Splitters (from ZWOW#23)
10 Prisoner's Get Up and Jump Up (from ZWOW#24)

I completed 3 Rounds + 10 Ab Splitters in 10 minutes then finish off in 10:50 for a complete 4 Rounds.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge: Week 5 - Day 2, 4

Original workout: Six Pack Factory

Same workout sequence as Week 3 Day 2 and 4 workout.

I set up the interval timer to 5 sec rest // 20 sec active with the third 20 sec will be the rest interval for 15 rounds for 1 set. 5 sec is merely for transitioning from one workout to another.

I figured to make this more challenging, I set up to 60 rounds to complete 4 rounds all at once. Or if I'm feeling beastly, I might set up 90 rounds to complete 6 sets at once.

Elevated Push Ups // Jump Lunges // 20 sec rest
Narrow Grip Bent Over DB Rows // Jump Lunges // 20 sec rest
Seated DB Shoulder Press // Jump Lunges // 20 sec rest
Seated DB Hammer Curls // Jump Lunges // 20 sec rest
Elevated close grip push ups // Jump Lunges // 20 sec rest



Day 2: Since I don't want to put any pressure on my wrists just yet, I subbed the push up with extra Dumbbell Shoulder Press, did Reverse Body Rows instead of bent over rows and triceps DB kick back instead of narrow grip push ups.
Completed 60 rounds.

50 Burpees for DAY 50- THE DAY OF I COMPLETED THIS 50 DAYS OF 50 BURPEES CHALLENGE!

Day 4: I completed 6 sets (90 rounds) - first 3 sets I did reverse push ups and the last 3 sets I did DB bent over rows. Others were similar with what I did on Day 2.

Monday, June 25, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge: Week 5 - Day 1, 3, 5

Original workout: Six Pack Factory

One more week and I am DONE with this challenge! So this week routine is the same as Week 3 except for the Abs workout.

Part #1: Dumbbell Swing (15 sec off/15 sec on for 50 rounds)

Part #2: Abs
5 sets of each (13-16 reps)
Band Crunch
Band Side Twist
Band Pull Ins



Since I don't have the band, I had to get a little creative with the abs workout.

Day 1: Completed 50 rounds DBS and did partially StrongLifeFitness Abs workout:


Did 50 Burpees for a Day for 50 Day Challenge - DAY 49 - no push up version

Day 3:
Did 50 Rounds of Dumbbell Swing - altered with switching arm DB swing (using 8lb DB) and regular DB swing with 12lbs DB.

Then I did 5 sets of 10 reps for each of the Abs workout. Since I don't have a band, I just used my sandbag.
5 sets of 10 reps
- SB Crunch
- SB Side Bends (each side)
- Weighted Knee tucks (with 3 lbs ankle weights)

Day 5: TBA

Saturday, June 23, 2012

ZWOW #23 and 6 Week 6 Pack Summer Challenge Week 4: Day 6

So I'm being bad again not sticking to the actual 6w/6p Summer Challenge Week 4 Day 6 workout, which is muscle building.

Instead I did ZWOW#23 for first part which took me 20:57. I modified the yoga burpee to elbow plank (sort of dolphin plank style) since I'm still tending my right wrist. Will not be doing anything that put pressure on my wrists.





Then I did the Lower Abs portion from 6w/6p to work on my weakest abs part - the lower abs.
I set the timer to 10 sec off/30 sec on for 5 rounds which is a total 1 Set.
I completed 4 Sets total.
- Seated Knee Tucks
- Ball Lift
- In and out Weighted Legs
- Ball Roll (subbed with jack knives)
- Flutter Kicks


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge: Week 4 - Day 2, 4

Original workout: Six Pack Factory

Another weight training and this time it's a new one. Looks like a killer!

Workout:
5 combos and each combo has 1 upper and 1 lower body exercise. Perform 20 reps of each exercise then 15,10,5. Rest 1 minute before move to the next combo with the same sequence. Sort of like a ladder type exercise.

Combo#1: (20/15/10/5)
Wide Grip Push Up
DB Front Lunges (each lunge counts as 1 rep)

Combo#2: (20/15/10/5)
DB Bent Over Rows
DB Reverse Lunges

Combo#3: (20/15/10/5)
DB Shoulder Press
DB Plie Squat (Sumo Squat)

Combo#4: (20/15/10/5)
Isometric Squat with DB Bicep Curls (hold squat position while doing curls)
Ball Curls (lie down in bridge and roll the ball underneath)

Combo#5: (20/15/10/5)
Close Grip Push Up (Diamond push ups)
DB Squat



Day 2 (Tuesday):
Finished in 38:47 - with a pair of 8lbs dumbbell and 12lbs dummbell. Very tough!
Plus 50 Burpees Day 43 as well (broke into 20 as warm up prior workout and 30 after I came back home)


Day 4 (Thursday):
Finished in 39:43 - used a pair of 8lbs and 12 lbs. Mostly I used 8lbs for upper body and 12 lbs for lower body. I'm still taking care my right wrist, so I replaced the first push up with 2 min/1.5min/1 min/ 50 sec elbow plank hold and second push ups with DB triceps kick back.

Will do 50 Burpees Day 45 after I came back home later. Can't wait to be done with this challenge!

Monday, June 18, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge: Week 4 - Day 1, 3, 5

Original workout: Six Pack Factory

Part #1: Cardio (same as Week 2)
4 Rounds:
10 sec rest/ 20 sec active for 10 Rounds
High Knees (2x)
Mountain Climbers (2x)
Burpees (2x)
Side to side Jump (2x)
Step Jumps (2x)



Part #2: Abs (new - excited for this!)
4- 6 rounds:
Floor Pike x 30 (Pike to plank)
Ball Tuck x 30 (In plank and roll the ball in and out)
Straight Leg Pendulum x 30 (Side to side leg raise)
Medicine Ball Reach Crunch x 30 (Hold MB up and crunch)
Knee Ups x 30 (Seated knee tucks)
Heel Touches x 30 (Lie down and do side to side heel touches)



Day 1 (Monday):
I was pressed in time and only had little time after came back from work.
Only did 2 Rounds of Cardio and 3 Rounds of Abs - changed Ball Tuck to Knee Raises on a dip station since I wasn't coordinated enough to roll the ball with my legs. Used 10 lbs mini sandbag for the crunch.

Did 50 Burpees Day 42 at work and practiced 4 pistols each leg.


Day 3 (Wednesday):
Completed 3 rounds of Cardio and 3 Rounds of Abs. Since I'm taking care my tender right wrist, I avoided doing any moves that involving putting pressure on my wrists. So no plank to pike nor ball rolling. I replaced them with either bicycle crunch or V Ups.

Did 50 Burpees Day 44 - without push up version. Will be doing this until the end of the challenge.


Day 5 (Friday): -
Completed 4 Rounds of Cardio and 4 Rounds of Abs (Interval style: 5 sec off/30 sec on for 24 rounds). Did 50 Burpees Day 46 - 20 without push ups and 30 competition style.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Active Rest Day

But by no means I neglecting my 50 Burpees Day 41 - Wow I'm getting closer to the finish line! :)

30 minute walk in the morning under sunshine and another 30 minute walk in the late afternoon to get more sunlight! Gotta convert those beta carotene that I had for breakfast from red palm oil and garnet yams! :)

Saturday, June 16, 2012

ZWOW #22

It's supposed to be 6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge Week 3 Day 6 - Muscle building workout but I couldn't resist doing ZWOW#22 after it came out! Besides 10 sets of 10 reps weight lifting doesn't really appeal me much.

Original workout: Zuzana Light

Workout goes like this:
30 reps chair Jumps (side pike jump with hands on the chair)- 2jumps = 1 rep
30 reps chair push ups (push ups with hands on the chair)
30 reps triceps dips
30 reps sumo squat & jump up and clap
30 reps RDL Squat Twist

In addition to those, there'll be on the minute 4 burpees (everytime the timer hits 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 etc, had to do 4 burpees before resuming the move).

Since I don't have anyone to let me know when the timer hits the minute, I used 2 timers. First, I used my Garmin Heartrate monitor to track the overall time and I used my iPhone interval app to keep track on the minute burpee by setting it up to 1 min/1 min for 99 rounds -obviously I should've be done before it hits 99 rounds!



And since there were burpees in this workout, I'd say I've fulfilled my 50 Burpees Day 40..heck I even did more than 50 since it took me 15:37 to complete this whole thing! Not to mention, I did extra 18 burpees afterward! Enough WO for the day!

Friday, June 15, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge: Week 3 - Day 5

Back to Cardio and Abs Day workout again.

I know I just *love* Dumbbell Swing..well not...so I was inspired by one of the reader (tee_w) and I added free style skipping in between plus some burpees. Apparently I only could do 3 burpees within 15 seconds.

For a warm up I did 20 burpees and the rest I sneaked them in as part of the cardio.
So for the cardio part instead of doing 15/15 50 rounds of all Dumbbell swing, I altered between burpees and freestyle skipping. It surely made time flies by very fast!

After took a short break, I set my timer to 20 minutes countdown and I promised myself that I'll finish 3 rounds of abs workout before the time went off, and I did! When I paused the time, it was 1:20. Yay me!

#2 6W/6P Week 3 Day 5 Abs Workout
3 Rounds:
20 Standing Elbow to knee tucks (each side)
20 elbow plank with side knee tucks (each side)
20 side plank hold with knee tucks (each side)

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge: Week 3 - Day 3

Ok this time I actually stick to the original Challenge so I committed myself to do the Dumbbell Swing for the first part of the Workout.

Warm up was 50 Burpees Day 37

Part #1
15 sec off/15 sec on for 50 Rounds - altering between 12lbs dumbbell and 35 lbs sandbag
(Total 25 minutes)

Part #2 6W/6P Week 3 Day 3 Abs Workout
3 Rounds:
20 Standing Elbow to knee tucks (each side)
20 elbow plank with side knee tucks (each side)
20 side plank hold with knee tucks (each side)

The elbow plank with side knee tucks was the hardest to keep myself in balance and I tried my hardest not to keep falling on the side.
R1: 6:38 // R2: 7:58 // R3: 6:59

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge: Week 3 - Day 2 & Day 4

Original workout: Six Pack Factory

Another weight training which doesn't have a clear direction on how many rounds I should set my interval timer. Last time I did it from pure luck, not sure about this time!

In the end I figured I set it as:
5 sec rest/ 20 sec active for 15 rounds for 1 set. 5 sec rest is actually to give me sometime to prepare from one move to another and every 3rd 20 sec interval, it'll be the complete rest as prescribed.

So the sequence will be:
Elevated Push Ups // Jump Lunges // 20 sec rest
Narrow Grip Bent Over DB Rows // Jump Lunges // 20 sec rest
Seated DB Shoulder Press // Jump Lunges // 20 sec rest
Seated DB Hammer Curls // Jump Lunges // 20 sec rest
Elevated close grip push ups // Jump Lunges // 20 sec rest

I used a pair of 12lbs dumbbell.

Day 2 (Tuesday): I completed 5 Sets (warm up 50 Burpees Day 36)

Day 4 (Thursday): Completed 4 sets (warm up 50 Burpees Day 38)

Monday, June 11, 2012

Loving Fit Chic Chick Workout and 6 Week 6 Pack Summer Challenge: Week 3 - Day 1 Mash Up

Not another dumbbell swing again! Ugh! This time in order to shake off my boredom with 20 minute straight dumbbell swing, I decided to mix it up a bit my incorporating Loving Fit Chic Chick Workout.

Warm up was 50 Burpees Day 35

So the workout goes like this:
#1 Loving Fit Chic Chick Workout
Each interval is 15 off/ 40 on for 8 rounds. Do 20 knee raises after each interval.

I used:
35 lbs sandbag and a pair of 8lbs dumbbell.

Interval #1
Sandbag Mini Jump Squats 20-14-14-15
Vertical Leap 14-17-16-15

20 Knee Raises


Interval #2
Sandbag Swing (wider feet apart) 25-20-20-20
Dumbbell Swing (a pair of dumbbell -feet shoulder width apart) 28-24-24-20

20 Knee Raises

Interval #3
One Leg Jump Up (Right) 16-16-15-14
One Leg Jump Up (Left) 17-15-15-15

20 Knee Raises



In between each part of the lower body workout, I did one round of 6W/6P Week 3 Day 1 Abs Workout so in the end, I completed 3 rounds of them.

#2 6W/6P Week 3 Day 1 Abs Workout
3 Rounds:
20 Standing Elbow to knee tucks (each side)
20 elbow plank with side knee tucks (each side)
20 side plank hold with knee tucks (each side)

One tip that Peter Carvell mentioned here is to contract the abs while doing the knee tucks.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Rest Day

But I didn't neglect my 50 Burpees - light version aka no push ups - varied with reptile, super girl plank and mule kick.

Plus I was practicing handstand and wall walk as well.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge: Week 2 - Day 6

Originally Week 2 Day 6 would be the same as Week 1 Day 6 last week but I wasn't in the mood of it and I wanted to have some lower body training as well.

So I came up with these:

4 Rounds:
25 push ups (5 sets of 5 reps)
5 pistols (each leg)
25 reverse body rows (5 sets of 5 reps)
25 back lunge and knee up (each leg)
25 triceps dips on chair with 10lbs mini sandbag on my lap

All moves were done in slow and controlled, especially the negative moves. So for push ups, I went down fast but moved up slowly. For reverse body rows on the dip station, I pulled myself fast and slowly lowered myself down.

Overall the total workout took me around 40 minutes. I paused the timer after each round.
R1: 13:11 // R2: 12:03 // R3: 11:46 // R4: 11:56

I was so bored with bunch of crunches from the 6W/6P so I came up with my own:

Abs WO:
50 Knee raises on the dip station
3 minute plank hold (elbow)
25 side bent (each side) holding 10 lbs mini sandbag
3 minute plank hold (hands)



After my 4 rounds of strength training I was interrupted with a 20 minute phone call. Seriously, next time I would just ignore it and continued until I was done completely.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge: Week 2 - Day 2, 4

Original workout: Six Pack Factory

The interval timer set up is a bit weird but at least I got it all figured out! I wish the creator was a bit more clear regarding this.

Part #1: Weight Training
Set interval timer to 30 sec off/30 sec on for 14 Rounds
Do 30 sec exercise follow by another 30 sec of 2nd exercise and followed by 30 sec rest. This counts as 1 superset.
Super Set 1 ( Plyometric Push Up / Squat Jumps / Rest ) x 3
Super Set 2 (Plyometric Inverted Row on body press / Bulgarian Squat Jumps / Rest) X 3
Super Set 3 ( DB Push Press / Lunge Jumps / Rest ) X 3

5 Minute HIIT Cardio - I did my 50 Burpees for this part. Took around 5 mins to complete.

Part #2: Weight Training
Set interval timer to 30 sec off/30 sec on for 14 Rounds
Do 30 sec exercise follow by another 30 sec of 2nd exercise and followed by 30 sec rest. This counts as 1 superset.
Super Set 4 ( DB Step Up with Bicep Curls / DB Reverse Lunge off Step / Rest) X 3
Super Set 5 ( Plyometric Close Grip Push Up / 1-leg hip lifts on step / Rest ) X 3
Super Set 6 ( DB Snatch / Side Squats / Rest ) X 3

Tuesday (Day 2): I just did regular push ups and regular diamond push ups. used 35lbs sandbag in place for the dumbbells)

Thursday (Day 4): Ditto as Day 2


Monday, June 4, 2012

6 Week 6 Packs Summer Challenge Week 2 - Day 1, 3, 5

Original workout: Six Pack Factory

Typically this will be workout for Day 1, 3, 5 so I might just combine the post into this one. (Cardio and Abs)

Part #1: Cardio
4 Rounds:
(10 sec off/20 sec on for 10 rounds)- do each exercise twice before moving to the next one.
High Knees
Mountain Climbers
Burpees
Side to Side Jump
Step Jumps



Part #2: Abs
4 Rounds:

(10 sec off/ 30 sec on for 6 rounds) - I set it as interval to keep it easy for me to keep track the time.
Knee Ups (on chair or floor)
Side to Side Reach Crunch
Jack Knives
Straight Leg Raises
Cross Crunch
One Leg Jack Knives



Monday (Day 1): Only had time to do 2 rounds cardio and 4 rounds of Abs
Wednesday (Day 3): Did as RX - 4 Rounds for both cardio and Abs
Friday (Day 5): Skipped the cardio part because of my right shin splint, did 50 Burpees instead and did the Abs portion

And I'm still doing my 50 Burpees per day for 50 Days Challenge. Still haven't missed a day and not planning to unless I feel like I need to.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

6 Week - 6 Pack Summer Challenge: Week 1 - Day 6

Original workout Six Pack Factory

You might think Day 6 would be the same as Day 2 and 4? Hmm..nope! Today it focuses on muscle building workout.

Since this will be focusing on strength training, I didn't want to do in empty stomach. But I still squeezed in 50 Burpees Day 26 prior my breakfast. Then off to run a bunch of errands I finally got sometime to do Day 6 Summer Challenge prior my lunch.

For the weight training, I was supposed to do 10 sets of 10 reps for each with 10 sec rest in between sets of the workout below but I was like HELL don't think I could do 100 push ups yet so I just did them interval style.

So it goes like this:
10 sec off/ 10 sec on for 10 Rounds for each workout - rest 1 minute in between exercises.
Push up
Dumbbell Bent Over Row (I did reverse push ups with my dip station - or you call it body rows)
Dumbbell Shoulder Fly (Dumbbell Lateral Raise)
Dumbbell Wall Incline Leaning Curls
Triceps Dips with weight on the lap



I used a pair of 8lbs dumbbell for everything and I only kept the dumbbell for first 3 sets of triceps dips. The dips alone were hard enough to manage.

Granted I didn't do 10 reps for each exercise but i still got good sweat.

Then for the abs, I pick Lower Abs workout since I wanna work that part more!

Lower Abs Workout:
3 Rounds (I did interval style 10 off/30 on for 5 rounds):
Knee tucks on the floor
Balance Ball Lift
Weighted Knee Tucks aka Jack Knives - I didn't use any weight - it was hard enough with bodyweight already
Balance Ball Roll In
Flutter Kicks

Friday, June 1, 2012

6 Week - 6 Pack Summer Challenge: Week 1 - Day 5

Original workout: Six Pack Factory

Same as Day 1 and those Dumbbell Swings are BORING!!

I'll be out for the rest of the day the Universal Studios so I squeezed in this Day 5 Training WITH 50 Burpees Day 25 as my warm up

Part #1: Cardio
15sec off/15 sec on - I did 30 rounds only




Part #2: Abs workout
3 Rounds:
20 medicine ball reach
20 mb sit ups
20 elevated leg crunch
20 mb drop (like the elevated leg crunch but you put the weight on the legs)
20 weighted single leg crunch (keep feet off the ground the entire time)
20 weighted jack knives (similar to single leg crunch - keep feet off the ground and do both knee tucks instead altering)
20 mb twists (just like P90X mason twist but not dropping the weight on the sides)

I used a mini 10lbs sandbag and 8lbs dumbbell for some of the abs. Those jack knives are tough for my neck using the sandbag. And I just realized I did the medicine ball drop incorrectly on Day 1.