The Chairman's Fitness Challenge Blog

I haven't posted in a few days, since I've finally had some activity on the job search front and it's crunch time with the classes I'm taking. A few quick thoughts...

1) Thanks to strepthroat, I've achieved my 5% weight loss challenge goal! My weight's been holding steady for a week or so, here's hoping that this weight loss is "real" and won't come back now that I'm eating more than arrowroot cookies and soup.

2) Timing issues (spin class schedule) is really jeopardizing my new-and-improved, bumped-up goal of 20 spin classes! I might need to find clubs elsewhere within driving distance who offer mid-day or Tues/Thurs classes to get up to 20 for the challenge.

3) I'm not sure if it's part of my pec or my anterior shoulder, but there is some weird muscle that is really developing on both sides. Never knew it was there until this challenge!

I'm down to the wire on all the exercise goals, so I need to really prioritize them to get them done. The way the numbers are, I'm in real danger of missing all of them by one or two, and getting a big "0-fer" at the end of the challenge. Can't let that happen!

I have strep throat, which has gotten in the way of my workouts for the past couple of days. On the other hand, not being able to swallow certainly has helped on the 5% weight loss challenge - I've dropped five pounds in two days and am now at my target weight, three weeks early! I'm not going to chalk that up yet; I'm sure that once I start eating and drinking real food again I'll gain back most of that mass. (Likely all water loss anyways...)

Last week, I posted about my trunk full of donuts, the metaphorical symbol of my challenge. I ended up with an estimated 15 pounds of donuts in the trunk of my car, leftovers from a soccer tourney I helped out with. I can now provide some photographic evidence of it... I had no idea they had donut boxes this big! For reference, the box took up fully half of the trunk of my car (where the photo was taken).

I'm on pace for all my goals. I've actually upped the "spin class" one - the Goodlife RPM classes are really kicking my ass, and I like it! The Question of the Day asked what celeb you'd like to resemble, and I said Matt Dunigan, ex-quarterback, Hall of Famer, and current commentator for the CBC. Matt looks great in a suit, and when he takes the jacket off the upper body pops...

I thought it might be appropriate to post a progress update (similar to the daily updates on the 52DC forum). Halfway through, all my goals are well within reach if I keep at it.

Clean Eating -pretty good results, with 38 CE's to date (out of a total of 46 possible). Some of the blown opportunities were minor (an extra glass of wine one night) and some were pretty major (hitting the dessert table at a buffet restaurant with the family). Overall, I'm thinking that 85 is possible, a few above my overall goal of 80.

Cardio - Ahead of the game here, with fourteen sessions under my belt out of a target of 25. I can feel a difference in my workouts over the last three weeks as well - the intensity level has been raised. My thought process - no ue spending all this time in the gym if I'm not going to give it everything I've got while there!

Resistance training - 8 sessions out of a goal of 20; still within reach though I'm one or two behind pace to date. Still not looking forward to lower body sessions; not sure if its the hard work, or intimidation from using the heavier weights (though not as heavy as most!). I'm really feeling that my flexibility is not where it should be; keeping form during squats is a bit tough and my lunges are still a bit wobbly.

On the personal goals, I'm down officially six pounds out a target of 11, and have blown away the spin class objective of 8 (1/week) over the challenge. My "crunches" are on track too; I'm almost half way to my goal of 800 crunches over the 52-day period.

Overall, I'm going to give myself a "B" with the need to get more RT's in before I get up to "A" level. Pretty satisfied overall though.

It's Wednesday, and I feel like I'm hitting a bit of a rut after a great start to the challenge. I missed out on CE's two evenings in a row, after dragging the family to a buffet restaurant on Monday and having a couple pints of beer after class last night. Still ahead of my CE target, but trying to tell myself that isn't helping.

My legs were absolutely leaden during cardio this morning - I almost bailed even before class started since I could feel the inertia. I did power through the 45 minutes, though, and hopefully I'll get a little more spring in my step for tomorrow.

I added a link today to Alex Hutchinson's blog, Sweat Science. It has some great discussion of the scientific research behind fitness and exercise. I'm not all that familiar with the site yet, but will definitely be spending some time digging through it.

Less than three weeks into the challenge, and I'm down 6 pounds as of today! Whoo-hooo!

Alex Hutchinson had an article in the Globe & Mail this week comparing indoor "spin" class to outdoor cycling. An interesting conclusion - "the ingredients of a typical indoor cycling class somehow combine to lift workouts to heights that most participants wouldn't achieve on their own." Research shows that the group dynamics of a spin class can push participants to achieve a better workout - so much so that some participants exceeded their measured VOmax capacity. (This, by the way, indicates an error in VOmax measurement, not people reaching superhuman output.)

I have become a convert to the "RPM" version of spin class - for me, it achieves many of the objectives of HIIT and interval training in terms of varying intensity, and I tend to work harder than if I'm on my own. YMMV, of course.