The Chairman's Fitness Challenge Blog

I had great cardio sessions on Saturday and Sunday, both spin classes with instructors who seemed to have something to prove.  I managed to keep up, and feel that my leg speed is definitely increasing (one of my objectives) even with a pretty healthy level of resistance.  I had one of those awkward moments yesterday, I'm out of the saddle and "climbing" with heavy resistance, and cranking it up every time the instructor exhorted us to give him more.  Then he had us sit down and hold resistance - without the leverage of standing, my legs ground to a complete halt and I could not for the life of me get the pedals moving again!  Needless to say, I lightened the load as discretely as possible.  It was amazing how hard I was pushing with the adrenalin pumping up to that point though...  I'd put each cardio session at about a 9 out of 10 in terms of hitting my objectives.

My RT's were a little weaker - I did an upper body on Saturday and a lower body on Sunday.  Both days, I was a bit rushed trying to get them in.  I did heavier loading but fewer sets of each exercise, managing to hit all the major body groups but with less than the three sets I usually do.  Felt like reasonably good workouts, but probably only 6 or 7 out of ten on the overall scale of achieving everything possible out of them.  Might try to hit upper body again on Monday.

I stopped stretching before my workouts a long time ago - my warm-up typically consists of a few minutes of light cardio.  Stretching is done kind of mid-work-out - I might stretch my back between sets of a seated row, or stretch out my shoulders after a set of presses.

I'm going through a serious motivational trough.  I pulled a couple of late nights this week working on a report, and between being squeezed for time, feeling tired, and trying to stay ahead of some family obligations, the gym has been a foreign place to me this week.  Waking up in the dark, driving home in the dark, and having to walk through freezing rain hasn't helped.  I can't seem to get fired up about the fitness thing right now.  I haven't even posted this week sine I've got nothing to really report.

Today feels pretty good when it comes to my fitness challenge.  It started off with a small, CE-friendly breakfast (Kashi Go Lean), then off of the gym with a plan to hit the 8:30am spin class.  Turns out the class was full, so I hit the weights instead.  My triceps and delts are still sore from my last upper body split, so I focused on lower body.  Front squats, split squats, lunges to start (only two sets each though) then hit the machines for leg extensions and leg curls.  I topped it off with some core stuff - back extensions and hanging leg raises (with twists).  Feeling pretty good, I grabbed a bike in the 9:30 spin class and got my cardio in too.

It has been quite a while since I did a full-blown double RT/CT session like that, and I can't remember the last time I did front squats.  They seem to help me keep proper form - I have a tendency to lean forward during squats and I seem to keep back better with the weight in the front.  This was probably my first time in six months on that evil haning leg raise contraption too - but it felt pretty good!  All in all, a good day so far!

Tuesday tends to be a day off from working out for me.  I've convinced my wife to take a pilates class on Tuesdays, so I'm on munchkin duty until 8pm and then usually on bedtime story duty after that, which can stretch as late as 9:30pm before things settle down.  It's not a problem at all - although there are nights like tonight where I could really use an opportunity to blow off some steam and energy at the gym.  But even without working out, there's still time to obsess about food.

I am on a gradual campaign to eliminate all the artificial and excessively-processed foods from our household.  OK, maybe not all of them, but the vast majority.  As a result, my collection of crazy kitchen equipment is growing - I now have a waffle iron (better to make fresh than buy frozen - oatmeal protein waffles anyone?), a rice cooker (for hassle-free brown rice) and a huge collection of free-range chicken carcasses, lovingly collected over the past few months, waiting to be made into stock.  I made a batch of whole-wheat pitas last weekend.  You can bet that I will be sneaking a pasta machine in soon as well.  And with all that, on Tuna Tuesday, I ended up buying a tuna sandwich on whole wheat at the company cafeteria.  Too lazy to even make my own sandwich.  Sheesh.

It's been kind of a good news/bad news weekend when it comes to the challenge.  I've booked three CT sessions, all spin classes, because the timing just worked out well for them and it's been a bit of a challenge synching up the schedules to get those classes in.  And honestly, I think it is a better workout in terms of cardio and weight loss than my fat-ass self huffing on a treadmill for 20 minutes or so.

That said, I do have two reasons I should be getting the running in - my 100km objective, and finishing the C25K program that I'm well into.  In order to hit the 100km, I need to do about 21 runs in the remaining 47 days.  That math is getting kind of tight, unless I can start running outside in the cold evenings, or making some other change.

Today, I did a couple of km after my spin class, and I don't see that as a viable solution at all unless I want to be scraped off the treadmill and dumped in a heap outside the gym by their cleaning staff.  And that is not my goal.

Right now, the running thing is a secondary goal, and the focus will remain on the major goals of CT's, RT's, and clean eating.  The 5% weight loss is also a priority.

Since today is a day off from exercise (Tuesday and Thursday are typically off) I figured a mention of my eating habits might be warranted.  A few principles I'm following include ALWAYS eating breakfast (usually Kashi Go Lean Crunch w/milk, or a protein shake), eating small snacks mid-morning and mid-afternoon, and keeping portion size down.  I've really noticed a difference in how much I eat when I'm not going even hours between lunch and dinner!

Today I lucked into a chick pea salad as a side dish at lunch.  I had no idea how healthy chick peas (aka garbanzo beans) really are!  Lots of protein, some fiber, and a very reasonable amount of calories for an adult-sized serving.  Some onion, bell pepper, and vinaigrette, and I was good to go!!!  I'm going to try out this recipe next time - the humble garbanzo bean may become a staple during this challenge!

Wednesday marked the first day of the challenge and I marked it by eating clean and getting in another midnight run on the treadmill.  The stamina, once again, pretty much sucked during the running - I'm not sure that the late-night stuff is working all that well for me.  However, it's better than the alternative of going all week without darkening the door of the gym.  I think it's about time to move on to week eight on the C25K sched, although the 25 minutes is a real struggle without a minute or two of walking in the middle.  Maybe I'll do another week at the week 7 level before ratcheting it up to 28 minutes.  I really want to get to the 5k/3.1 mile mark over the next few runs - I've hit 2.9 miles and Wednesday was a 2.6 mile day before I bailed.  45 crunches on the swiss ball before hitting the showers was my punishment for wimping out...

I got in my run today - probably week six day three although with my wimpy performance lately it's tough to tell.  I did 2.9 miles (including warm-up and cool-down), and ran for about 25 minutes (actual run time) plus a 90-second break at about 16 minutes.  It actually is feeling good now to run for that duration - I've found a pace that I can keep up and my heart rate settles in right around 150bpm and stays there in steady-state.  Today, I did a few minutes faster, including a 30-second sprint at the end, and it all seemed to go well.  

The next 52-day challenge starts Wednesday, so I need to figure out what my resistance training schedule is going to look like (along with my clean eating menu).  I'm looking forward to it - my weight has kind of plateaued (although I's seeing continued progress in the way clothes are fitting) and I really want to jump-start some weight loss with the goal of losing about 13 lbs by the end of the year (a little more than 6% of by BW).  My last challenge, I dropped that much, so I know it's possible, as long as I stay away from beer and fast food.

Friday, I managed to get in a run right after work (and before leaving to see the Skydiggers, a "quintessential Canadian folk rock band" according to the promo materials.  The run was great - night-and-day difference from the last couple in terms of my ability to get into a "zone" and feel like I could run all day!  I got my 25 minutes in, interrupted only by the short break as I watched my Creative Zen MP3 player dislodge itself from the headphone cord, drop to the belt, bounce around a bit and go hurtling off the end of the belt at an indicated speed of 6.5 mph.  Thankfully, I was able to resist the urge to stop running and try to grab it from between my feet (preventing me from becoming the 6.5mph projectile) and paused the belt in a controlled manner instead!  I don't remember exactly what was playing at the time, but the Zen seems none the worse for wear.

Oh, and the 'Diggers show was outstanding!  Today was a Spin day, and Sunday may be another, then C25K again on Monday.  That's the plan...

My five-hour adventure putting the pool cover on for the winter kind of took over my day Monday, preventing me from getting in my run that day. Between the five hours on my knees on hard concrete (did I mention it took FIVE FREAKIN' HOURS?), two hours freezing at the Oktoberfest/Thanksgiving Parade, and shortened holiday hours at the gym, the 25-minute run wasn't going to happen.  Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be the midnight run after my M&A class - maybe with the full-body machine circuit as well.  (1 set per machine, as heavy as I can move for 8-10 reps, and you can get an approximation of a full-body workout in about a half hour!)

On a happier note, I did a "proper" upper-body workout using free weights and cables on Saturday.  My strength is increasing noticeably on the seated row and presses (chest and shoulder/military), and holy smokes, I think I see definition starting in my shoulders and pecs!  I felt that great, honest burn in the back and chest on Sunday, and I could feel it in my neck during my Sunday AM spin class (which was a little disconcerting - I could imagine my arms giving out, me falling off the bike and starting a thirty-bike chain reaction similar to dominoes falling!)

After my disaster on Wednesday, I snuck out for another run on Friday evening.  It went a little better - I made it about 22 minutes of running (plus a 2-minute recovery after the first 15) and covered about 4.1km including my warm-up and recovery walking.  At this point, the C25K schedule seems a little bit like nonsense - I'm just running as far as I can for as long as I can and then adding it all up at the end.  I won't consider week 7 over until I hit 25 minutes of running non-stop - this may take a while.

Tonight was W7D1, and it was a bust.  I did end up putting in about 2.6 miles (important in meeting my 200km goal for the fourth quarter of 2009) but from the first 30 seconds of the run I just wasn't feeling it.  REALLY wasn't feeling it  -my legs were sore, my breathing was way too heavy, and everything felt kind of leaden.  Last Wednesday was the same, maybe the late starts (after my night class) just aren't conducive to getting my C25K workouts in.  But it is IMPORTANT, so I will carry on!

I've finished week 6 of the C25K, although I came up short in my 25-minute run yesterday.  I got to 17 minutes, took a 2-minute recovery pause, then did eight more minutes (including the one-minute self-assessed penalty for wimping out!)  Ocverall, with warm-up and cool-down, I hit the 5k distance for the first time (3.1 miles on the treadmill). 

I was almost ready to pass on the whole thing - I'd done the W6D2 run (8 min run/3 min recovery/8 minutes run) on Saturday, then a killer spin class on Sunday; my shins were sore, my legs felt like jello, and I was overall just feeling drained.  The gym was busier than I'd ever seen before, just to top it off - I was ready to go home instead.  I'm glad I did stick it out; even with the unscheduled pause at the 2./3 mark, I felt it was a great run and another step forward!

I'm going to log my distance for the last three months of the year with a goal of hitting 200km, or 120 miles, over that period of time.  i'm at about 5.75 miles so far, with the next run on Wednesday night.

I tried to make the twenty-minute run at my normal pace - that was quite a stretch from the previous 8-minute maximum interval!  I only made it fifteen minutes, took a two-minute recovery, and then finished up the final 5 min.  Overall, I "travelled" about 2.6 miles on the 'mill - it's starting to feel like real running now!

This weekend, I'm going to try to get in two spin classes, then back running on Monday.  

I completed week 5, day two last night after my night class!  It was a challenge (I can't remember the last time I ran close to a mile non-stop for any reason) although I did shorten the planned 5-minute recovery time between the two 8-minute intervals since it felt like more than I needed.  The big test is next - a twenty-minute run non-stop.  Since I am trying to monitor real signs of progress, I've been checking heart rate at the end of each interval; I'm pretty much maxing out at about 85% of max at the end of an interval (and that drops quickly back to 60% or so within a minute or two).

I threw in a full-body circuit of what we used to call the "Nautilus machines" (not sure what they are called now) after the run.  I've been neglecting my weight training since starting C25K and I don't want to lose all the gains I've achieved, so a half-hour circuit can't hurt.  Once C25K is over, I'll be getting back into proper free weight training on an upper/lower body split.

It looks like the 20-minute run will take place Saturday- wish me luck!

I decided to skip the current 52-day challenge, since the combination of a new job, new classes and new support activities (driving the daughter to piano, etc.) made developing realistic goals a total crapshoot in terms of how often I would be able to work out, etc. For the first three weeks or so, I had a really hard time getting to the gym (but I pretty much maintained my weight etc.)

In my quest to find a cardio activity that wouldn't require a half-hour of round-trip driving to get to the gym, I got it into my head that running would be a great alternative! I jogged a bit way back when, running a two-mile circuit a few times a week, but this time around I decided running a 5k race would make a goal to shoot for, attainable but definitely not easy given my current weight and lack of recent running experience.

I found the couch-to-5k program (C25K - click here) and decided it would be my next challenge. Given the working out I've been doing, I decided to start with week 3, and do most of my initial running on a "random" setting on a treadmill at the gym (so much for eliminating the drive!). I'm at the end of week 4 on the program (my week 2) and so far it's going well. I added extra intervals onto the week 3 program to feel like I got a good workout, but really don't feel that need with week 4!

I haven't decided whether to jump into a forum like the MH running forum or one of the others out there - I might lurk on one or two for a while. And now, I'm obsessing about a proper pair of shoes (Stability? Comfort? Reebok, Nike or Asics?) for when I do start running outside. If all goes well, I'm about 5 weeks away from a 5k non-stop run!

Well, this challenge was a success for me. I met all my goals, including achieving a weight loss of thirteen pounds (versus a 5% challenge goal of 11 pounds!) It feels great, and now I am getting right into a new position with a new company on Monday, just as the challenge ends.

I do have a few thoughts on each goal:

Clean eating - 80/104 goal, 83/104 actual - I definitely made some changes to my diet and chose cleaner options at several meals, and this contributed greatly to achieving some of the other goals. I think that, with a little effort, I could have achieved 90 or more, but it is tough with social expectations (barbeques and dinner parties) and a family that is not really bought into the same type of clean eating that I try to accomplish. I picked up a lot of knowledge I'll take with me as the challenge ends.

Resistance training - 20 goal, 20 actual - having taken a week off due to sickness, this needed a big push at the end to complete. I am fairly happy with my progress in this area, but it's probably time for me to commit to a full program (such as the Hard-Body Plan) with a little more structure.

Cardio training - 25 goal, 26 actual - I am REALLY happy with the results here. I have seen an increase in my cardio capacity, and even a drop in blood pressure over the course of this challenge. I've noticed that a good cardio workout is pretty much an average half-pound drop for me as long as I eat reasonably in the day or two around it.

5% challenge - dropped from 221lbs to 208lbs. Very noticeable drop in stomach size as well - pretty close to three inches.

Spin classes - 20 goal, 21 actual - This has proven to be the best workout for me at my current level of fitness. I've gone from not being able to do standing climbs on the bike, to feeling like I am keeping up with the class and increasing my leg speed with every session. Having the encouragement (in all its forms) from the instructor has really let me get more from my cardio workouts than I otherwise might.

Crunches - 800 goal, 857 actual - This was a good goal to have because it encouraged me to do some ab exercises at times I might have not planned to. Looking back, I think the goal was a little low - I should have tried for 1000. I exceeded the target even with some lack of diligence during the middle part of the challenge.

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.

So, I gave in and had my "assessment" done by a personal trainer (PT) at my gym today. She was nice enough, went through the standard questionaire on goals, fitness habits, and medical history, then did a three-exercise "assessment" based on push-ups, body squats and the plank pos'n. Oh, and I weighed in about seven pounds higher on their scale (not too surprised) but it also measured my BF% at 27%, which I figure is at least 5% too low. Odd.

I have to wonder how valid the assessment was, given that I'd just busted a 1-hour fitness class and did an upper-body resistance training session before that. Honestly, I was pretty bored with the "plank" and pretty much just dropped after what I thought was a respectable time because of lack of interest. I'd probably be a fitness trainer's worst nightmare.

I got the lecture on RT cranking up the metabolism and how, if we did three sessions a week (at a cost of approximately $600/month based on my in-my-head calculations) I'd get great results. I don't doubt that, I've seen the trainers working around the gym and they seem to do some good stuff with certain clientele, who I've figured out to be either people just getting into the routine with limited knowledge, or advanced fitness buffs looking to get to the next level. Odd, though, that there was nothing in the way of specifics, no mention of how my workouts would change, or even of any nutritional component to the program. She was horrified, though, at the thought that I had a "program" I was following that in all actuality sounds identical to what she was describing - focused on large and core muscles, free weights, and 3-4 cardio sessions a week. I didn't have the heart to tell her it worked once before, and was based on Men's Health routines ripped out of a magazine (and not dissimilar to the HardBody plan published a few years ago).

With someone like me, a subject who has read voraciously on nutrition and exercise, with the short-term objective of maintaining muscle through a prolonged weight-loss phase, I'm not sure the value is there for more than a session or two to check form and solicit pointers once in a while. And given that I'm currently focused on studies/unemployed/looking for the next opportunity, the asking price is a little out of reach. I am considering it as an option for "the next phase", after I get out of the reduction mode 45 pounds from now and start focusing on building strength.

Got to the gym about noon today (Sunday) after taking the weekend off. I wanted to hit the spin class at 9:15am but making breakfast and doing various other stuff for my sick daughter came first.

It actually worked out great, though - I got a lower body session in, then hit the cardio for about 25 minutes of of hard interval work. I think this was the hardest intensity I've hit outside the classes, so the spin sessions seem to be paying off already! Tomorrow I hope to do upper body and spin for 45 minutes, to get all my numbers right to the pace they need to be at for the challenge.

I'm looking at my old copy of the "Hard-Body Fitness Plan" - it advocates a three-way split with one workout day dedicated to arms, one to chest/back/abs and one to legs. I'm still of the opinion that I'm hitting the arms sufficiently during my back/shoulder/chest work, so I'll probably stay the course for a while before considering that change.

Wow, the workout yesterday really hit my shoulders hard. I think that must be the weakest link right now in terms of upper body muscles. Pretty much every exercise I do on upper body day hits one of the three deltoids, naturally, and I was feeling all three of them yesterday and today. Actually, I am not upset about that at all - since I'm in full-fledged weight loss mode, one of my objectives is to do compound exercises that draw in the maximum number of muscles, rather than isolation moves. Feeling the shoulders during moves like the bench press or dumbbell row says to me that using free weights is hitting the stabilizing muscles more than some of the machines were before.

At this point in the challenge, I am "green" on CT's and CE's, as well as my personal goals. A "yellow" caution light is indicating on the RT side; I am maybe one behind. Next week I am planning three RT sessions in to stay on track.

I'm adding in barbells and dumbbells to my upper body routine again. I was using cables and machines a little more, but I'm hoping to push the muscles more by moving to the free weights.

My routine is:

A) Bench press 3 x 10
B) Bent-over dumbbell row 3 x 10

A) Cable lat pulldown 3 x 10
B) Incline DB press 3 x 10

A) Shoulder press 3 x 10 (been shifting between machine and dumbbells)
B) delt machine or bent-over lateral flye 3 x 10

As before, I do these in supersets with no rest between A and B components, and about 1 min rest between supersets. Sometimes I'll add assisted pullups and/or dips depending on how things are going.

I managed to get in my resistance training yesterday (lower body and abs) and I'm pretty happy with how it went. The barbell lunge/squat superset does not involve a ton of weight, but by the end of each set I'm feeling pretty wasted in terms of my legs. I added in a heavier V-squat right afterward, using a Hammer Strength machine, to push my quads a bit more.

Today, I jumped into a spin class led by a more soft-spoken instructor - she is actually the one who led my first class too. (Was that only three or four weeks ago? Seems like a lot longer!) I really get a lot out of her approach, and work at at least as high an intensity as with the higher-volume instructors!

So far, this challenge seems to be off to a promising start. Last night, a friend I haven't seen in a while noticed the weight loss, even in a dark parking lot (I'm down probably 15 pounds from my peak in February). I have noticed a reduction in some measurements already, and my reported 2lb weight loss in the Summer 52DC is sandbagged a bit. My old spring scale bounces around when I weigh myself, and I've changed from the "minimum" reading to the maximum reading so that I'm not understating my weight. Bottom line - I think I may have lost a bit more but I'm not going to report it unless the scale holds solid at that number. Oh, and if I hit my target, I'll be getting a fancy new health scale (w/BF measurement ) to take things to the next level!

Did a spin class instead of the planned RT session. This isn't the first time I've ditched the weights for some sort of cardio - I need to step up the RT's if I'm going to hit my goals this time around. (Last time, I came up short on the RT goal at 15/20).

On another topic, the Globe and Mail has a series on salt consumption running this week. Link here... I have been trying to cut down on my sodium intake for a while now, and it is absolutely crazy the amount of salt that is in virtually every packaged food out there. Try finding a canned soup with a reasonable amount of salt, or even a mass-market pasta sauce. It is criminal that 13-year-old athletes are being diagnosed with high blood pressure because food manufacturers have pumped their products full of (highly addictive) sodium at crazily unhealthy levels.

I did manage to sneak away for a CT (spin class) on Sunday, before blowing the clean eating program all to bits over a family dinner that evening. I need to hit the weights today, so I figured it was time to give some specifics - here's my plan today:

Lower Body Workout (twice/week)
(A and B done as superset, no rest between. 1 minute recovery between sets)

7 minute warm-up - elliptical

A Squats 3 x 12
B Barbell Lunges 3 x 12

A Leg curl (machine) 3 x 12
B Leg extension (machine) 3 x 12

A Back extension 3 x 15
B Swiss ball crunch 3 x 15

(30 minutes interval cardio (various machines) optional depending on energy level)

So far so good on all aspects of the challenge - got in an RT session yesterday (chest/back/arms) and got my butt kicked in a spin class this morning. I ran out of gas at about the 30 minute mark (middle of a long climb) and had a tough time keeping up for the last third of the session. Looked like a drowned rat by the end - kind of like Blaze here. I might have to invest in some dry-fit workout clothes!
The different styles of the class leaders really make a difference on how the sessions go - today's instructor comes across as a bit of a drill sergeant (in a good way) and you feel like you're letting the whole room down if you don't get up, dig, or sprint when she says so.

For me, the toughest part of the challenges are the weekends. Sneaking away from the family for 90 minutes or so to get in a workout seems wrong on the few days we get to spend together, and wine and beer seem to call my name a lot louder on Saturday and Sunday. Taking full advantage of the few cheat meals available, and paying close attention to portion control (including recorking the wine bottle after one glass) are skills I'm still learning here at the beginning of my second challenge.

It's going to be a slow start on the workout front, but that doesn't mean that clean eating is out of the question! I need to stock up again on the CE-friendly ingredients that will help me stay within my macronutrient boundaries - oatmeal, whole-wheat tortillas (small), and some seafood from Caudle's Catch should make their way into my meals over the course of this week.

I'd be interested to hear to what extent others prepare meal plans during the challenges - do most just wing it, or are people pulling together detailed menus for each day? I'm more of a "wing-it" type myself...

I decided to sign up for my second 52 day challenge (52DC), starting on June 17th. After achieving "gold" in the spring challenge, despite a significant performance drop in the middle, I decided to bump up my cardio and eating goals and really target the 5% body weight objective this time around.

Here is what I came up with for this time around...

CE: 85 (max. 2400 cal/day, 30/30/40 protein/fat/carbs
(over two servings of alcohol in a day disqualifies it)
RT: 20
CT: 25

PG1: 5% body weight (11 lbs)
PG2: 8 spin classes - one per week
PG3: 800 crunches - either Swiss Ball, floor or m/c (approx. 100/week)

Wednesday is a tough day for me, with meetings all day, so I'll be starting from the back foot on this challenge. However, I'm pretty focused now on the program, so I have high expectations going in.