Weekend Blur

Holy Grail of Workouts??

Day 20

Play Vinyasa

No surprise on Friday I'm too tired to meet the trainers @ 360 gym for a 07:00 beasting. Instead I sleep in and promise myself catch up time later that day. Saturday morning brings a familiar feeling of fatigue (there she goes again). Now that we all get the point, I still dig deep, scrapping the bottom of the barrel I decide I need to take my Polar to a 11:00 Vinyasa class. It's only an hour long but the intense routine involves plenty of muscular strength, long holding squats, variation lunges and I'm finding my head dangling upside down from my body testing my brain centre of gravity, if I can call it that, seeing flashing lights, my endurance, stamina and mental balance is challenged. This insanity that is power yoga in 35 degrees heat, has people, including myself coming back for more and more. It is an addiction and when Jax is instructing us to do narrow grip pushups into upward dogs into downward dogs, jumping our shins onto our forearms and back into pushups is where I think I've found my version of methamphetamine. They say yoga makes you look years younger, "exude youthfulness" and improves your sex life too, not to mention an incredible long list of all the other benefits of yoga, briefly mentioned before on previous posts. Who needs a facial and R500 face cream when you walk out of a yoga studio glowing like a million bucks? Well not me at least and I have been looking like a dogs dehydrated breakfast of late, due to lack of nutrition and sleep, imagine the skin once this beast of a lunatic is watered and fed?

Yoga Tree Pose

The Side Crow: Balance, Upper body, Core and Leg strength

MORE BENEFITS OF POWER YOGA:

Power yoga bolsters flexibility, stamina and strength.

Power yoga promotes improvement of one person's ability and capability to focus and concentrate.
 

Power yoga helps people release the distracting anxiety and overall tension.

Power yoga helps one person develop and maintain good and proper posture.
 

Power yoga tones the body in a way that is neither hard nor stressful.
 

Bodily toxins are removed from the physical or body system through the sweat the body excretes during power yoga session.
 

Power yoga also serves as a great warm up or training activity for all sorts and types of athletes. Seen on previous post @ 360
 

Warrior 2 Reverse

Warrior 2 Reverse

Warrior 3, stretching and strengthening the hip girdle like no other!

Warrior 3 on Bosu, need to drop left hip!

Bringing spine parallel to the floor, also flexing left leg and toes + pulling up on right quad

The Head stand, the Shoulder stand and the Wheel pose (not shown here), to name a few shoots my heart rate right up to my 170bpm, which is nearly 90% of my MHR! The 60min of practice torched 312kcal!

Its about equivalent to a 30 minute fast jog... Great cardiovascular exercise as it trains you to push harder and longer in your Aerobic Zone where the body's ability to transport oxygen to, and carbon dioxide away from, the working muscles can be developed and improved. Improving overall fitness! Yes please!

Play Run

Just because I'm nuts and still energized from Vinyasa, I feel like I can do more because I'm not entirely exhausted yet, I decide to do a quick 3km run. Still in my wet yoga tights, possibility of chaffing very high, I throw on a dry tee and get on with it.

This is awesome. So hungry I try not to do much for the rest of the Saturday until dinner time at 06:30.

Afraid of the scale I know the VA scales are accurate and have been monitoring the weight because of water retention, water weight loss and empty tummy.

I am pleased to report the subject weighs in at 46.5kg!!

I don't care if its water weight or the fact that my last real meal was last night.

Lets see if it shoots up in the next few days.

A more accurate measurement still needs to take place, along with photographs, next Sunday.

Day 20 Eat

Fruit salad to break my fast with:

dates, strawberries, 1 plum, 1/3 pear, 1/2 banana, almonds and fat free yoghurt + honey

Yumolla

Chef Pon's egg fried rice (ignore word "fried")

Sweet + sour calamari

Entire bag of Chuckles

1 Cappucino

Eat score

3/10 Pot Belly Pig

Thinking that the fruit would curb the sweet tooth, I insisted on the sweet and sour calamari at dinner, hoping that would satisfy my sweet tooth, I persisted on finishing off a bag of Chuckles, solo, around 12:00. Smart.

Day 21

Play Run

Off for a run on the promenade. Sunblock, summer running gear, ocean on the left, friend by my side and new running shoes we head off for a 30min 5km. This is what Summer in Spring is all about and its not even September yet. Last stretch we sprint and I push myself to 207bpm, not bad I tell myself, even if its for a couple of seconds...

Sea Point Promenade

Play Squash

50min of squash is entertaining as I'm being mocked around the court or poor focus and bad co-ordination :( I still manage to reach targets and scorch 361kcal.

Day 21 Eat

Fruit salad to break my fast with:

dates, strawberries, 1 plum, 1/3 pear, 1/2 banana, almonds and fat free yoghurt + honey

Roasted butternut, feta, beetroot, caramelized onions, pomegranate pips and rocket salad

1 X cappuccino

Eat Score

5/10

Briosso @ Col Cachios

At the Right Intensity for Optimum Performance

A Day of Nothingness

26 & 27 August 2010

Not as sore as I expected to be at breakfast time but definitely tired than I've ever felt, working long hard hours is terrible for my posture and tightening my hips. My body is dying to move, rotate, bend and stretch especially after yesterdays intense weight session. Physically tired I sleep through my 90min Bikram class. Delete effort here. I promise I will make it up to myself later. Dead keen for a run around the city the weather knocks the wind out my sails and turns me into a girl. One thing leads to another and I make it nowhere, but hunched like a monkey in a cage over a computer. GREAT. All I want to do is MOVE and BREATHE and SWEAT... Excited to play with my new toy, I'm dying to find out what my consistent heart rate is like in the yoga Sun Room heated at 35 deg + depending on Bikram or Power yoga. Turning down a Muay Thai class as well. Cranky because I am unable to get my fix I eat instead.

Day 19 Eat
 

Proud of my efforts the night before at Bacini's, famous for their pizzas and pasta's, I conservatively ordered the grilled chicken breast and veg, while everyone else enjoyed delicious pasta's in all caloric indulgent glory. Tucking in to my lean protein meal I thought I had broken boundaries and I was finally cured from my ridiculous obsession with complex carbs smothered in OTT rich sauces and creams. Not until this evening when I decided I would have Simply Asia wok chicken and broccoli, cauliflower and mushroom veg and a little bit of rice (Good choices) but then proceeded to eat more 3/4 of a box of vita snacks and salmon cream cheese: Epic Fail.

Protein Shake (Meal Replacement) half sachet + half banana and 10g peanut butter

Several dates

Chicken, mushrooms, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli and rice

3/4 Box of Vita Snacks

Salmon Cream cheese (Tbsp of which contains 55 calories) I nearly finished an entire tub. That's about

15 minutes of walking or walking for an hour!!! (4mph) burns the calories in 2 tablespoons of regular cream cheese. Insane.

50m low fat yoghurt + dates + half grated green apple and walnuts

Eat Score

3/10 Destructive eating, counter productive to the goals that have been set.

My Best

 Just right

The new gadget, just a day old, much to my trainers disapproval, on spotting it immediately stated that if I ever mention the amount of calories I needed to burn or have burnt I'm going to be in trouble. Polar Heart Rate monitors lead to obsession he says, a bit late don't you think? I NEVER count caloric expenditure, always just going with it and judging my efforts on the sweat puddles around me, awful hair and how wet my t-shirt is at the end of the session. I have no objection to passing out and getting dizzy, so being over and above "my zone" suits me just fine... Eventually I thought it won't be such a bad idea as I see several people using this fancy gadget. Measuring your height and weight the Polar HR Monitor calculates your "zone" which tells you what heart rate you should be operating in to see results training in the right intensity, doesn’t always mean working faster or harder. Showing you what your optimum heart rate performance zone is. The best way to improving your fitness and seeing results is to train at the right intensity. So with a heart rate monitor, you can make sure you’re not over or under training, and make each session count.

Fancy Mechanics @ its best!! FT4 available at Sportsman's Warehouse R1000.

A heart rate monitor gives you an accurate measurement of how hard your body is working. This allows you to adjust how hard you exercise and achieve your fitness goals, it can also let you know if you should not train as you may need more recovery time. A basic 'rev counter' indicating your current heart rate in beats per minute is displayed.It also displays how hard you are working as a percentage of your maximum rate or how long you've managed to maintain your heart rate inside pre-set target zones. This is a great feature for targeting specific training zones, these are often refereed to as the following: The Energy Efficient or Recovery Zone which is 60% to 70%, The Aerobic Zone - 70% to 80%, The Anaerobic Zone - 80% to 90%, The Anaerobic Zone - 80% to 90% of your maximum heart rate. To see Heart Rate Zones visit http://www.polar.fi/en/training_with_polar/new_to_polar/why_train_with_a_heart_rate_monitor Each zone has a specific benefit and a HRM will help you to stay within these zones and achieve those benefits.

Play VA 

Exhausted, dead-tired, ready to drop, fried, enervated and every variation of the word is what seems to be a thrown around Missit's posts but Jeez this girl is knackered and there is no doubt why. Just two weeks of day dehydration and not being able to refeed myself every few hours and still trying to keep up some form of physical routine a s well as regular "life" activities has really been challenging. Finding a break in my day I shoot out to VA Gardens, wearing 2 x pairs of tights and 2 x t-shirts I have myself a 6.5km run, Posh definitely inspired me. If she can do it on empty I can. 

Then on to PP for some pushups, squat variations, lateral lunges with MD Balls, burpee pushups onto the PP, 1 legged burpee push ups, core work and bridges as well as some DB rows & chest presses until my point of deflection and I feel dizzy. The heart rate zone when performing these type of exercises, when doing the burpees especially, is perfect Aerobic Zone and the body benefits by increasing my aerobic capacity and staying in the fat burning zone for longer, but for a shorter workout time.

Play Rating

Run 6.5km 

+

PP

Sweaty t-shirt rating 8/10

630kcal total

Eat 

The Bombay Bicycle http://www.bombaybicycleclub.co.za/  serve the best chocolate chilli steak and it was exactly what my body was craving, with potatoe bake and crunchy broccoli. For bookings call  021 423 6805, I polished off 2 pieces of the white bread with sundried dip and after dinner snacked on half a bag of Woolies Chuckles... Much later that evening I also indulged in Giovanni's Bar-One Cheesecake, soooo yummm omword :)

Eat the chocolate chilli steak :)

Eat Rating

6/10 Subject should chose her chocolate more wisely, chees cake or Chuckles. Not both. And not at 22:00 either. FAIL.

As soon as the fats is over I'm having all my cake for breakfast.

GENETICS, FITNESS & The 1 Arm Pushup

Day 18

Looking FIT is Being FIT??

COMPLETELY oversleeping for breakfast, I still wake up feeling strong and fierce. Last night's dinner party was a treat with a healthy salad, I prepared containing chick peas, sun dried tomatoes, brocolli, avo, danish feta, mint and almonds. Wishful thinking I was getting out of the delicious butter chicken curry the host had prepared, with yellow rice and rotis, which I indulged in both... Plus malva pudding (minus custard) and 4 x Lindt Balls, which apparently are only 78 calories each. A little bit less than 1 medium sized banana (90 cal). So that's 48min of walking to scorch the lil Lindt Lovelies. Obsessed much? No. I try my very best NOT to count what I put in my mouth but if I continue to walk around with my head in the cloud and one hand in the biscuit cupboard in the pantry and the other in the fridge, this entire mission means NOTHING. That being said, it is about a lifestyle. A lifestyle that should be enjoyable and lived. Being a starved skinny miserable hellcat is no life. No thanks. So I stuff the balls down my pie hole and have some chocolate milk when I get home, also telling myself it's okay to not have trained at all today and that in a few hours I am expected on the squash court for a lesson and some fun. At least the organism is well fed for the activities ahead...

Lindor Balls weighing in @ 78 cal each

1 x Medium Banana weighing in @ 90cal

Play Run + Play Squash

Waiting on courts @ 06:30am at the VA Green Point, to get things going I manage a quick 3.5km.

Legs are strong, feeling light, life is good. Before the game my excellent and patient teacher and I do some warm ups with my favourite MB and stability work on the Bosu.

Squash is good. I am rubbish, apparently my footwork is up to nonsense as I dance around the court trying to figure out the "mental" side of the game. Not taking myself seriously at all, I decide I need to get better if I really want to play the game with boys points. Not girl points. Dehydrated like hell, I push through it all telling myself my human cells consist of 65–90% water, so I should be fine for my personal training session at 10:00, right?

Taking my "Point VA" after taste with me to 360, frustratingly I consult the trainers Mark http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=743104999&ref=ts, Gareth http://www.360training.co.za/and Tarryn http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=788511803&ref=ts about the ultimate aesthetic physique I see around me everyday, especially at the "The Point," what are those people eating? What are they not eating? I see regular cardio regimes, stretching, basic circuit followers and your typical body building strength training practices, no rocket science, no challenging weighted movement patterns, no plyometric training, no monkey bar swinging and definitely no KB training! So what the hell are they doing that I'm not? Somethings got to give. Give a girl a break for crying out loud.

Is diet really 60% of every look? Do these people sacrifice Lindor Balls and butter chicken curries? Do they even know what Lindor Balls are? But damn they look hotttt in the changing rooms, flinging off their towels parading around in lil thongs, while I just wrap myself in my towel like a sausage rolled into a pastry. Don't get me wrong I love sausage rolls but not for my ultimate physique. Wondering why my parents and their parents and their parents wanted to sabotage my body fat percentage so badly by giving me a low Basal Metabolic Rate is beside me. 

Several associations between weight and hereditary genetic factors have been identified. For instance a lower-than-average BMR will lead to a tendency to gain weight. Intra-abdominal fat (fat around abdomen) appears to have a genetic link in the majority of cases and in mine too, thanks Dad. There are a few genetic factors that make a difference in how well we build muscle. The number of muscle cells, the length of muscle bellies, our muscle fibre arrangement and muscle cell types all combine to make up our overall genetic potential for building muscle. Not to mention the fat-muscle ratio I got given as well, then there is Thermogenesis too, the stakes are looking rather high for myself and way too much for me to process while fasting.

Science prevails and the simple fact is that some people have better genetic potential allowing them to gain muscle no matter what training program they follow. So for some, a walk every second day, maybe a hike, maybe a Zumba class will result in progress (we can all only always be better versions of ourselves than yesterday), maybe running works for you, maybe its yoga? One just has to decide how badly you want to reach the goals you desire, and how much are you willing to sacrifice? What if your goal is overall fitness?

What is overall fitness?

Physical fitness makes up the 5 components: body composition, cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. Because each of these components can be assessed, quantified and measured to give a general idea of a person's physical fitness level.

Some sources might discuss agility, balance, coordination, and speed along with the 5 components of fitness to help clarify the picture of establishing someones fitness level. In addition, you may also find that some sources include mental and emotional health as an important part of overall fitness.

Before my session I know I have most of the above covered and grazed across the ones I'll get to as I eat my elephant. So why can I not see the results I want? Do I sacrifice dinner parties and late night snacking? There is no way I'm cutting out carbs, choc chip peanut butter, dates, avo's and fruit... How would I manage to get through the day without being able to perform physically and mentally? Now you're lean and super fabulous in jeans with no personality because you haven't eaten chocolate since the 90's, can't remember what going to the movies was like because you're afraid of the popcorn and coke combo. I wonder if Posh did research on her genetic potential and hereditary BMR, because she snacks on ice cubes when she's feeling hungry.

"I run four miles (6.5km), seven days a week,” she explains. “I feel energized and healthy — there are really nice gyms here (in California) and I just enjoy it. I need that self-discipline to get up in the morning, drop the kids off at school then go to the gym. And yes, I am eating more. I think you do eat more when you’re working out. And you want to eat healthily, so it’s good all round

Even Posh claims exercise helps her "eat" more. Someone somewhere give Posh a protein shake!

Play 360

Inspired by Posh's discipline to perform her proclaimed running program, I know that no matter how much training, sweating is done and tears and cravings are had we cannot override our genetic predisposition we can only make the most of what we have. So I put on my brave face and bust out a session with Chris, who trains with me today. Loving every second I try keep up with the tempo he has set and try not to complain through the 1 arm push ups, that is just expected of me. We do dynamic stretching which includes different power yoga moves, stretching out the tight hip flexes, which is great for people who sit in front of their desks working on a computer. Plenty of MD Ball body work as well to  challenge the bodies stability, leg and core strength.

1 Arm Push Up, hand on hip

What Are the Benefits of One-Arm Pushups?

One-arm push-ups are a variation that takes great physical as well as mental strength. Regular push-ups come with a lot of benefits, but being that you are on one arm, those benefits are compounded.

Chest Strength

The chest is always working when doing one-arm push-ups. Both sides get worked independently, which causes more body weight to be used causing gains in strength.

Forearms
The forearms are used to stabilize the wrists when doing one-arm push-ups, so they get contracted, which can strengthen them.

Core Stability
The core really needs to hold the body in place during one-arm push-ups. This can lead to an increase in core stability.

Triceps
The triceps have to do a lot more work because they are carrying more of a load, so this can lead to strength gains.
  

Shoulders
One more muscle group that can benefit is the shoulders. They are being maximally recruited when you are lowering and rising, so they, too, will become stronger.

Concentration
One-arm push-ups can also help your brain function. When you do them, you need to concentrate, which can enhance your ability to focus.

MD Pushup, strengthen my very weak triceps and the chest

Push up rotate

The value of the medicine ball is that it targets your core strength – or the area that includes your back and your abs. Strengthening your core will directly fortify the joints in your elbows, shoulders, and knees, thus providing more raw power for your arms and legs.

Warrior 2, Increases the strength and stamina, stretches and strengthens the legs, shoulders and arms. Opens the chest, thus improving your deep breathing capacity

Warrior 3, stretches the muscles of the thighs and hamstrings, strengthens legs, back muscles, shoulders and arms while expanding the lungs, chest and shoulders.

An attempt at a weak Pigeon Pose, If done correctly, not seen here, the pigeon pose can elongate the back, open the hips, groin, hamstrings, and relieves pressure on the lower back and sciatica. Your hips are a keystone to your body and its proper functioning.

Rolly

Pollys

The Wheel Pose throws open the chest and lungs, strengthens the legs and hands and abdominal muscles, it stimulates the pituitary and thyroid glands, it helps keep illnesses at bay and helps boost up physical energy!!!

After the warm up I'm energized for the rest of my core and upper body strength program... planks and plank rotations etc etc etc. KNACKERED.

Day 18 Play Rating

Run

Sweaty t-shirt rating: 7/10

+

Squash

Sweaty t-shirt rating: 4/10

@ 594cal

+ 

360 PT

Sweaty t-shirt rating: 4/10

 400cal

TOTAL CALORIES BURNT:

994cal

Day 18 Eat

6 dates

handful of almonds

homemade cocktail sausage roll

grilled chicken breast + grilled veg + fried chips

2 x skinny cappucinos

Day 18 Eat Rating

4/10 Poor choices with the pastry + FRIED CHIPSSSS. 

Pull yourself together. Fighting genetics is hard enough

Only 2 Weeks

Day 14

Squat down, Leap up & Land soft

Intense second week and my little body is feeling it. Exasperated, I try so hard to listen to my body, because apparently, "it has a right over me", I also cannot progress in terms of muscle growth (hypertrophy) which will work against my goal to increase my lean muscle mass and get the ripped look I so fervently desire, also if I train before the muscle is fully recovered, I can retard my muscle growth. Rest needs vary for each individual. Dietary guidelines, stress, genetics, sleeping habits, age, and supplements all are contributing factors to recovery. So what may work for someone else, may likely not work for me and you. When your muscles repair themselves after training they are slightly stronger than before. I can self detest that this true, just this morning I was doing a 50kg dead lift. Something I wasn't able to do last week...  The body is magnificent and with weight training my body is able to be a metabolic furnace that will burn calories 24 hours a day. Other factors that affect recovery are adequate sleep, proper nutrition, and supplementation.

 Dead Lifting 40 kg, last week @ 360WW

Because of the sporadic and intense change in my nutrition and sleep bio-rhythm, due to the month of Ramadan, my adequate 8 hours of sleep (optimum for muscle growth) and my failing to re feed my body as an organism needing 5 smaller meals throughout the day, focusing on quality protein (natural or supplemented), will have a negative effect on my goal. All this being said, I continue to sabotage myself by eating haphazardly over the weekend. What do I expect, I'm fasting throughout the day, going on 9km runs around the city, attending Bikram yoga classes and flinging myself forward and up onto a bench, all without water... Keeping a level head I make sure I use L'Glutamine in the mornings at breakfast and in the evenings at dinner. Ideally it should be taken 3 x daily. But every little counts. Glutamine is an amino acid. It is the single most prevalent amino in muscle tissue and is lost in very high levels during intense exercise. It is beneficial in reducing muscle tissue breakdown and plays an important role in boosting the immune system. It can be added to any drink, or taken alone in water.

Reflex Glutamine, Ideal for periods of hard training, dieting, mass building or when run down. R160 available at Wellness Warehouse stores.

Trying not to fool myself to much over here, I understand this body needs to be sufficiently fueled in order to perform, its no surprise come Sunday I find myself over eating...

18 Aug 10

Day 9, Wednesday

The goal today is to make it through the day ALIVE. 

After dinner I'm hoping to attend a Muay Thai class... This doesn't mean I don't show up at 360 Gym @ 08:30 for my 1 on 1 session with Chris http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=507561899&ref=ts. Something tells me its going to be a difficult session, so I make sure I prepare myself a killer chocolate protein shake (meal replacement sachet) with half a banana and 25gm of low fat yoghurt, some prunes and 1/ 3 of Lindt Hazelnut chocolate (a gift from Dad, trying to encourage me to "let my waist band down"), obviously the moments of Lindt indulgence occurs between 04:00 - 05:00. Definitely not regretting the Lindt when Chris makes me do variations of push ups, touching my foot, extending my leg and arm and then into a 1 arm push up. Hello. Madness, and it's only the warm up.

Watching me like a hawk, I make it through the session, I even manage to get 2 sets of box jumps done! The exercise, shown below, seems deceptively simple, yet it extends the muscles of the quads, hamstrings, and glutes–then explosively contracts them to create upward momentum. The result of this effective and efficient movement is the development of highly volatile muscle fibers and the ability to jump higher. The box jump requires coordination, agility, accuracy, and balance. Proper technique often demands practice at lower heights until you achieve mastery. We make it through a circuit program designed for myself and he is a lot more forgiving with my rep drop-age, but never my form.

Missfit doing a Box Jump, developing her highly volatile muscle fibers and her ability to jump higher.

Play Cycle

Energized and buzzing, I know I will regret it later I hop onto the spin bike and have a 20min cycle.

I want to see sweat puddles all around me before I get off.

For dinner I have my fantasy brocolli date salad and some beans.

Play Run + Sauna + Steam

Muay

Day 9 Play Rating
The rating is based on the physical activities I have set out for the particular day and whether or not I complete them!!

1/1 360 PT Session
+
Cycle
Sweaty t-shirt rating: 8/10
 
1/1 5km Run
Sweaty t-shirt rating: 9/10

Day 9 Eat

Lindt Chocolate

Protein shake, half banana + 25gm low fat yoghurt

3 x prunes

Brocolli, date, feta, almond, avo salad

chicken pieces 

30gm of beans


Eat Rating

8/10 Feeling strong




19 Aug 10

Day 10, Thursday
Yoga Breathing & Timing Traffic lights

Play Yoga

Sy & Jax @ Jai Yoga CT

Oversleeping prevents me from having a proper breakfast, I swallow 2 dates and quickly get it down with some yoghurt. I make sure I have a serving of L'Glutamine. Off I go to a Bikram class. Stunningly and not surprisingly I leave yoga feeling energized, not tired. If you feel tired after yoga, it means you spent the time "fighting" yourself, trying to force yourself into poses. In yoga, you "surrender" to the pose by letting go of the tension. I find myself using yoga breathing throughout my day and during different situations. Yoga can become a part of your mental life too. When you are taught to focus breathe in the poses
you are holding, The attention to your breathe is calm and you are taught to dissolve stress and anxiety and can be used in traffic too. 

What yoga can do for you

The physical benefits
Creates a toned, flexible, and strong body. Improves respiration, energy, and vitality. Helps to maintain a balanced metabolism. Promotes cardio and circulatory health. Relieves pain. Helps you look and feel younger than your age. Improves your athletic performance.

The mental benefits:
Helps you relax and handle stressful situations more easily. Teaches you how to quiet the mind so you can focus your energy where you want it to go - into a difficult yoga pose, on the squash court or golf course, or in the office. Encourages positive thoughts and self-acceptance.

The spiritual benefits: 
Builds awareness of your body, your feelings, the world around you, the needs of others. Promotes an interdependence between mind, body, and spirit. Helps you live the concept of "oneness."  


I LOVE YOGA
Contact Jai Yoga on +27 (0)21 418 0974 or email on info@jaiyoga.co.za or visit http://www.jaiyoga.co.za/

Play Run

Meeting the boys at the VA Foreshore at 16:45, dehydrated as hell we march off up Loop street. Again I can't figure out how I thought I would be able to keep up with these two runners, legs like beasts and up to the heavens and calves built to climb hills. Chewing on my words about breaking body barriers in order to reach new heights, I try to look brave as they are keen as Springbok to tear up this run Mohsin mapped out for us on http://www.mapmyrun.com/create_new , a brilliant website that can map your run for, showing you the distance of the route you wish to run along. Traffic hour, I summon up that yogi breathe of fire and then other breath too to calm myself as we "time robots" and make our way up the hill that is hi- level road. I can't believe I'm following them up and I refuse to stop. Because that's what I'm made of. Non-stop determination, no, you can't buy it in a bottle. Anyway they wait for me and we enjoy the next 9km along the beach side, V&A Waterfront and back to the Foreshore. 

www.mapmyrun.com

I feel like I'm in a body war and my hammys are letting me have it like its nobodies business. I'm an exhausted hott mess of a self proclaimed fitness nerd. I cover myself in head to toe with Ice Man, cry myself to sleep because I know Friday morning at 07:00 I have a 360 Beasting session with a few other clients, Chris & Mark from 360 Gym.


Eat
The rest of the Lindt
Dates and yoghurt
1/2 Sterie Stumpie
Protein shake, meal replacement, with half banana, 6 x raw almonds, peanut butter and strawberries


Day 10, Eat Rating

7/10 Dehydrated


20 Aug 10
Day 11, Friday


All I want to do is sleep. I'm told to check my RHR and I seem fine and healthy to head down to the gym for a 07:00 beasting, Chris is setting up and I am in pain and fear just standing there looking at the kettlebells. Mark is energetic, shouting "BAAAAAAAAAAH'S!!!!!!!!!" and other motivational sayings, like, "All day baby, we can do this alllll dayyy" as the sun comes through the windows as we all sweat away and I cry, wondering how I managed to sign myself up for this type of torture. 

Mark & Shaun doing KB Front Squats + Presses, A Kettlebell is a traditional Russian cast iron weight that looks like a cannon ball with a handle.

The Front Squat, as seen above is an outstanding leg strength and flexibility developer. It also teaches abdominal pressurization. We are separated into 2 groups of 3 and perform the KB Front Squats, KB Swings http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=353698193697&v=photos&ref=ts#!/photo.php?pid=5108357&fbid=409149266775&op=3&o=global&view=global&subj=353698193697&id=539436775, Presses, Snatches, Rotation Presses and all different variations of this. 


Of course there are also sets of varied push ups, along with shoulder exercises concentrating on the three “headed” structure, that makes up a shoulder. These heads are the anterior, posterior and lateral or medial deltoid. The anterior deltoid (front of the shoulder) assists the pecs in pushing exercises like the push ups. It is also important to incorporate compound movements like a Military Press as it involves all 3 facets of the shoulder.

3 Heads that make up the Shoulder

My trainer believes that kettlebells are at the top of the food chain, that the quality and finish is high, smooth, and sexy. It looks durable, but more importantly the kettlebells are good to handle and the balance can’t be faulted. I believe in them because I can feel it addressng my entire body as a unit simultaneously. One can get the most effective, short and intense, cardiovascular and strength workout, whether I'm ready for it or not, within twenty minutes with one of these beauties. At 360 KB's are used to vaporize fat, scorch lungs, demand new strength, rehabilitate weak areas and improve our overall level of conditioning.

KB Military Press, on 1 Leg, involves all facets of the shoulder!

Pre Summer Special 3 Personal Training Sessions for R300* http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=353698193697&ref=ts#!/event.php?eid=112020455519763#wall

Eat


By the time I was ready to eat all I could muster to my mouth was rubbish and I polished off an entire box of Vita snacks (sweet pepper flavour) with red pepper hummus, Lindt chocolate, dates, peanut butter and cadbury eclair toffees. Massive fail.

There was no way my body good make itself to the squash court that night for my scheduled game :(


Day 11 Eat Score

0/10 Delete

21 Aug 10
Day 12, Saturday

VINYASA YOGA, 60min
and I feel repaired :D

R E S T

Eat


1/2 apple
dates
tuna salad with potatoes and egg
fruit and yoghurt
cadbury eclair toffees


r e s t is what I need.

I take Sunday off, but by the time I reach Sunday evening my feet are itching so I bang out a quick 3km, just so I can get my heart rate up, my metabolism kicking in and my body exhausted for bed :)

Day 13
Play Run


1/1 Run 3km
 

Keeping Track

Tabs on the Flab

The extreme state of exhaustion I am feeling right now is not because of the disagreeing family and friend battle over my fitness regime, I was just subjected to, while suffering an intense full body phase 1 of the miracle cream, that is now my life, Ice Man. Visiting my realm of supreme tiredness seems to be a routine, I actually enjoy. Sworn to post the recorded physical effects of the body every week exactly seven days from the 1st set of measurements, weigh in and photographs have been neglected because I've been to busy running amok this town trying to see just how far I can actually push this body. And those closest around me...

Results

1 Week, Day 7

Sunday 15 August Subject weighs in on 48kg (as per gym scale as well, see 360 assessment)

Tricep 27cm (- 0.5cm)

Bicep 26cm (same as last week)

Waist, thinnest part 59cm (- 5cm)!!!!!!!

Tum, below belly button 72cm (-3cm)

Bum 85cm (-3cm)

Thigh 48cm (-3cm)

What's with the obsession of the s c a l e ? 

The focus should be on the ratio of body fat to muscle, and calculating from the results on the poll of Best Bikini Beach Bod, a healthy muscular toned look is most admired. My aim is to gain some muscle, and lose most of the fat. So how do I go about doing this? It's not easy to lose fat and gain muscle simultaneously. Most attempts to lose some weight are accompanied by a calorie reduction, but a calorie reduction is counter-productive to muscle gain. Infuriating. Building quality lean muscle to just run and starve it off? So how does one Missfit achieve the impossible?

Shameless Shot 2_ Full Frontal

As you can see the subject lost cm all round, except on arm. Chris says its because the subject has been focusing on shoulder stability to increase lean muscle mass. The subject is not concerned about this because the arm is visibly more toned, surprisingly, but is still coated in a healthy layer of adipose.

This has to drop drastically. How can she do it??? Cardio? What do I start running in thermal underwear? Do I cling wrap my guns to get the tricep fat percentage down under my tee?

The overall body appearance is very similar to the previous week. The only one noticeably change, if one tries really hard is probably the waistline. The scientific proof is in the measurements. Those hips don't lie.

Shameless Shot 2_ Side Shot

I could be absolutely mental, but it actually seems that the face fat has come down too??

Never Before Seen Footage, 9 Aug 10

Shameless Shot 2_ Rear 15 Aug 10

The math says - 5cm on waist, this is clearly visible from behind. It does however exaggerate the gluteaus maximus even though that too came down by 3cm... :(

The Female Body

Play Bikram
 

Making sure I hydrated myself all through the evening as well as the morning, urinating like a racehorse, I try to conserve as much liquid to help myself function throughout the day. 06:30 Bikram class is just what I need. Even though Bikram yoga is widely regarded as the most intense type of yoga. It involves 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises in 90 minutes, all performed in a room heated to 38-40 degrees, my body appreciates the 90min and seeks solace from the beating it got given the day before. The heavy sweating helps detoxify my body, as the blood thins, the circulatory system is cleared, the output of cells that fight infection is increased, my heart rate is through the roof and weight loss is made easier because my muscles are warmed and can burn fat more easily.

Bikram Yoga class in Midtown Manhattan, NYC

Increased willpower and mental strength that comes from the challenge of practicing yoga in a heated environment will help you maintain your resolve and resist temptation when trying to lose weight. Post class the thought of a sip of water seems unsatisfying after completing my practice with Sy. Contact Jai Yoga on +27 (0)21 418 0974 or email on info@jaiyoga.co.za or visit http://www.jaiyoga.co.za/

 
Play VA Solo + Squash


Testing out the leg I just can't help myself and bust out a quick 2km before attempting to tackle the Power Plate at the VA Active in Long Street. Leg fine, running fine, running fast. Next up PP, doing some intense core work and balancing sequences to scorch fat on my most stubborn area I work up a lil sweat awaiting The Coach for my Squash lesson.


Squash was awesome!

Loving every second of the explosive sport.

Its amazing how ones body adapts so quickly to certain movement patterns... Loving 360.



Absolutely knackered I cannot even keep an eye open.


Play Rating


1/1 Bikram

Sweaty t-shirt rating 13/10


+


Run

+

PP sess

+

Squash

Sweaty t-shirt rating 10/10


:D


Eat

Protein shake with 1/2 banana + 15gm peanut butter yummm + 50gm low fat yoghurt

Dates + raw almonds

Steamed fish and 1 cup wilted veggies

Caramel skinny macchiatto XL

Eat score

8/10

Plenty protein, enough good fruit, great fat, fibre and dairy :D