Day 2 – Strength

Strength is done. It doesn’t look like there will be enough time to let my lats fully recover. Today’s workout was challenging. I did my best to keep up. I did my workout using 2 12kg kettlebells instead of using dumbbells. Shaun T was going a bit too fast for me since using kettlebells requires a different form while performing the dumbbell series. I also had a bit of difficulty while doing the hip flys.

Also I’m practicing intermittent fasting. I don’t eat until I finish my workout and finally eat an hour after my workout as a way to burn more fat off of my frame. Time will tell.

I’ve been experimenting drinking my protein shakes with homemade almond milk. Taste delish. I made hemp seed milk today and it slightly irritates my throat but it’s better than drinking dairy. I would recommend drinking nut milk. Easy to make and good for you.

Enter the Asylum

Hello, I’ve always wanted to try the Asylum workout ever since I finished my first round of Insanity 2 years ago. Over Thanksgiving I picked up Asylum on sale and was holding out until I got a free standing pull up station but right now it’s not in the budget. Well I can’t wait any longer and my first day is tomorrow having completed the fit test today.

The most weight I’ve lost while on Insanity was 8 pounds (I’ve done 2 rounds) because I wasn’t on top of my diet. I would do great during the week but horrible on the weekends. This time I know the deal. I’ve got a lot of winter weight to get rid of and can’t wait to see how much comes off.

Current Stats:
Age: 36
Height: 5’6″
Weight: 190.2 lb
Body Fat: 22.4%
BMI: 30.7
Chest: 42″
Navel: 43″
Waist: 40.5″

Fit Test 3/16/14

1) Agility Heisman: 8
2) In & Out Ab Progression: 23
3) Lat Push ups: 17
4) Mountain Climber Switch Kicks: 65
5) Agility Shoulder Taps: 4
6) X Jumps: 25
8) Moving Push ups: 3
9) Agility Lateral Shuffle: 12
10) Agility Bear Crawl: 6

Om Shanti Om!

For the last 6 weeks I’ve been exploring the Simple and Sinister Kettlebell workout. Each week I’ve seen improvements in my overall cardio taking less and less time to reach 15 Turkish Get Up and 50 Double Kettlebell Swings. Including this last week, I brought that time to my lowest, 12 minutes and 15 seconds with a 16kg bell for the TGU and 2x16kg bells for the swings. I broke up the program into 5 sets, with 3 TGU per side and 10 swings as a set. I would compare each set as doing a sprint while wearing a 40 pound fat suit for 800 meters or 2 laps around a track. There’s no better way to purify the lungs than to do this program. Guarantee you’ll finally be exhaling 2 year old air that was hiding in the lower depths of your lungs!

6 weeks has felt like 3 months doing this program 4 times a week, 2 days on 1 day off. It was a good challenge and now the time has come to challenge my body and mind to new stimuli. I took advantage over Thanksgiving and bought Insanity the Asylum Vol.1 when is was on sale. This is a program I’ve been wanting to do for a while, ever since I finished my first round of Insanity 2 years ago. When I bought the program, I was holding off until was able to buy a freestanding pull up station. Times are tough and I can not affording the pull up station now. I’m going to have to substitute pull ups for lat push up when it’s time. I’m starting the fit test tomorrow and taking measurements. It’s a 30 day program and I’m going all in keeping an extra eye on my diet.

The only things that keeps me sane nowadays is my meditation and yoga practice. I feel I’m starting to branch out and learn about the subject as much as I can. Today I attended a yoga nidra workshop at the local Ashram. Yoga nidra is meditating while lying down. You are not fully sleeping because you are still aware of your breath, mind and body. Lately I’ve been having trouble sleeping because my mind is restless bouncing from thought to thought. The first part of the workshop was lecture and the second part we got to practice guided yoga nidra. We practice for about 25 minutes due to time restraints but I felt refreshed as I drew my attention to 61 points around my body. Looking forward to practicing yoga nidra a couple times a week and eventually work my way up to 60 minutes.