As I sit here racking my brains to try and remember what I did last week, I remember it being, well, not that memorable. Which in many ways is actually a good thing. The more boring a week, the more likely I will have stuck to my diet, and in turn completed even more exercises; this was exactly the case!
My diet was near on point last week, even if I had a half-chicken at Nandos –which is quite fatty, but incredibly high in protein- it was all factored in, so I wouldn’t stray too far from my targets.
I also don’t feel as bad when I eat these things because I know I need to put the weight back on, and eating lots of chicken and salad will ensure I do so in the right way. I think it’s safe to say that without the guys at MaxiNutrition this diet would be made to be a lot harder, the protein bars and flapjacks have proved a real life saver!
In terms of an update, I actually have abs for the first time in my life, they may not be very big and there may only be about four ‘barely’ visible ones, but it’s still better than anything I’ve had before.
Despite getting increasingly stronger, week on week, and being able to do things like more push ups and last longer in plank exercises, my arms don’t seem to necessarily be changing in size. I think I’m just getting leaner, then again, this may change as I put the weight back on, hopefully in the form of muscle.
But it’s not all about aesthetics, the reason for doing this challenge is to see what can change, and as much that has, that was only an added bonus.
On Saturday I wanted to test how far my running had come along, I wanted to be nice and prepared for my ‘after’ 5K run. So I ran what I thought was a quick 5K, and it turned out I was very pleased with the time. I won’t spoil the surprise by letting you know what it was, because I’m hoping to further improve by the end of the 10 weeks.
In terms of the exercises, see right.
I really noticed an improvement over the week. I could barely do one set of 20 v-ups, but after my fourth workout of the week on Saturday, I got to 20 by the end of set three. It was a bloody tough exercise, and burned my abs like hell; doing the scissor crunches straight after meant for an even tastier burn.
I’d say through different variations of the plank each week, that’s where you can really notice an improvement. The plank with alternate arm and leg raises is a real killer, but I couldn’t believe I lasted 60 seconds on each rep. Before this programme I think I could last about 1min 30secs on a normal plank, I have no idea what it would be now, but I’m very interested to find out. Maybe that’s another one I should measure at the end!
With three weeks left now, the home stretch is just in front of me and I know now I cannot waver. In fact, I think I’m now at a stage where I can make the most amount of difference. I’ve stripped the crap and now I’m coming through the other end, what I do now is pivotal to how the results look.
