Just to clarify, the above is me washing my hands in a Berlin hotel after a workout, that got your attention, didn’t it?
If week 1 had a few flaws, week two had some major faults.
As always, these weekly updates start on a Monday, which means we start with a bank holiday day off.
This, in all honesty, actually meant the week kicked off pretty well, I started the new week’s set of exercises and was eating good food. My diet also stayed relatively strong…until Saturday.
Three packs of salmon for £10 really helped my lunches, all with different variations of cous cous. Dinners varied from steak with broccoli to chicken Caesar salads.
Then on Wednesday I received some quite unexpected, yet spectacular news. My girlfriend had booked me a surprise birthday trip to Berlin for three nights, flying out Friday night. An exceptional present, for which I was entirely grateful!
It did, however, harbor me with some concerns about my diet: how could I go to Berlin and not drink local craft beer and not eat any German pork? The answer is, you can’t, unless you’re happy not to embrace the culture and enjoy your experience.
It was at this point I asked the MaxiNutrition nutritionist, realistically, what I could consume without undoing all my hard work and potentially upsetting the next eight weeks. His reply surprised me: he said to go away and have a good time, “You need breaks every now and then, just don’t go mad.” Then I think back to my original concept; it was to lead as normal life as possible – going to Germany and not drinking a beer would be anything but not normal for me.
So I did have a few beers, but I didn’t go mad, partly because we were so busy sightseeing, and I did eat a large amount of fries. But man it felt good to eat those bad boys again!
I had already done the exercises twice that week and managed to squeeze in one more session in the hotel room. Another beauty of this program: it’s portable.
Take a look at last week’s lot (right).
I don’t know if you’ve ever done a ‘vertical leg crunch’ before, but let me tell you, it hurts like hell. With your back on the floor you have to raise your legs up straight, then with a crunch type motion try and touch your toes. The first time I attempted this I couldn’t even get to 10, and the next day my upper abs were in serious pain.
Everything else was OK and the Norwegian leg curls seemed to work in a strange way – you’ll know what I mean when you try them.
After two weeks, I can notice a slight difference, my belly seems flatter (we’ll see after Berlin now) and my arms feel slightly bigger. I’d probably put that down to the planks and the press ups I’ve been adding.
This week is all about regaining my focus and getting back into a rhythm with it all.
