Grit Summer Games - To puke or not to puke that is the question

So, today our gym held a nice little event called Grit Summer Games. I've been talking about Grit before, Les Mills' own HIIT-series with focus on either basic strength, explosive strength or cardio. I was a little nervous beforehand, because we weren't told what exercises were awaiting us at the gym. All we knew was that there'd be 9 different exercises and we'd have 45sec per exercise during which we had to perform as many reps as possible. Then 15sec rest and on to the next exercise. 

The exercises were: 1. Clean-and-press (20kg for women, 30kg for men), 2. sumo jumps from a step-board, 3. burpees (of course there were burpees...), 4. bent over rows (again 20kg women, 30kg men), 5. lateral jumps across a step board, 6. c-crunches with a plate (5kg women, 10kg men), 7. squat to overhead press with a 5kg plate, 8. push-ups and finally 9. my least favourite exercise in the history of ever: the jumping lunge. I even prefer burpees to the jumping lunges, which is mostly because my legs are about to give out 3 reps in on a good day.

Today was not a good day, I might add. Firstly, I am still sore from all the stuff I've done all week, especially grappling on Friday and Pump+Combat on Saturday (yeah, I know, I should have rested, had I taken this seriously. But this was for fun). And secondly, well, just try doing jumping lunges after already being so far beyond your lactate threshold that all you want to do is hug your toilet bowl close and your triceps' have already failed you and your quads are burning. 

What I want to convey: it felt great, even more than great afterwards (as most HIITs), but during the thing, I wanted to quit, scream, puke, quit again, throw myself onto the ground and cry. I did nothing, but go on. I tried to think of nothing but the next rep. Clean-and-presses are one of my favourite exercises, and I got 17 of those, already feeling slightly winded, and there was a little burn already, because normally I half-ass them with 15kg (I never realised I half-assed them until today). The sumo jumps are usually not my kind of thing, I like them, but - as with the jump lunges - my legs don't really like 'em, meaning I start strong and after 15sec my legs are on fire. But the competitor across from me and I pushed each other through this and I got 39 of those, too. Severly winded it was burpee time. And cue the sickness. I'm quite good with exercising at a high intensity, but as soon as we take it to the ground, I get really sick and a little dizzy. Something about lactate acid, I was told. Halfway through the bent over rows, my left triceps failed, but I tried to do as much as possible with my back. Still, the last few reps where a bit lopsided. The lateral jumps were a whole other thing, because you need some kind of coordination to land on the step board and at that point, I was already so tired that this seemed a Mission Impossible. Again, my heart rate soared and it was down to the ground. Serious retching going on. But the crunches went fine. Not well, but okay. Then the squat jumps in itself were okay, but then again, almost none of us did them with the right technique or movement range in the beginning and that made them a loooot meaner. Thank goodness, my triceps recovered at least a little until it was time to do push-ups, but I still did those ten at a time, short stretch into child's pose. I actually got quite far with this technique. 39 push-ups in 45sec is not too bad. But yeah, the lunge jumps were horrific. I only did 29 of those and all the time I was afraid my legs would give out any second. 

Still, this was a fun and interesting experience and I know where I have to push a little more. Next time I'm doing something like this, I will get at least 45 push-ups in those 45 seconds. And I will work on my burpees. I got to have some goal now, because moving tomorrow (effectively the day after tomorrow), I have to switch gyms and one of the reasons I never had to think about going to the gym was that I knew certain instructors' classes would be fun and missing them would be a pity. Now I need some internal motivation again, until I know the who's who of my new gym. So, yeah. (I also have to lose about 8kg before the competition season for MMA starts...but that's a whole other story)

Anyhow, I believe the Grit Summer Games have been A) an incredible success, B) fun, C) a possibility to overcome oneself and get out of this comfort zone nobody likes these days and D) a great way to wrap up summer and effectively my membership at Gogo. I'll still be pretending that it doesn't end tomorrow, as I'm going to take one last class with one of my favourite instructors. After that I got about half an hour to get to my train to the airport, so that hopefully realisation only hits when I'm sitting on this train. 

Grit Strength, or: I challenge you to focus on your technique

Ugh, please remind me to never half-ass technique during a Grit-class again. Today I decided to concentrate on technique rather than rep count and I got myself so much more exhausted, it's not even funny anymore. Normally, I just do everything as fast as possible and as many reps as possible, sacrificing the right technique and weight. I could easily up the weight on my bar a little if my pride didn't take a hit when I have to take a break or get in less reps than the person next to me. 

But today, I always started out with clean technique and the burn was a whole other. For example: I hate nothing more than burpees, except for jump lunges. I hate those from the bottom of my heart, mostly because whereas my upper body has been responding really well to training and gains and stuff, my lower body just stays as chicken-y as ever. I got chicken-y legs and all the same how much I squat and eat, I don't gain any muscle (or fat) below my knees and even on my thighs, it's mostly fat. So, my legs are my weakness. And I hate regular lunges, because they mostly burn in my quads, not my bum or the back of my thighs, where you supposedly feel them. Most people have a muscle and strength imbalance between the front and the back of their thighs, which is why they tend to push up with their quads rather than their behind, which is why in turn instructors always keep telling you to push through your front heel and pinch your butt cheeks together while pushing up. In my case... both sides are equally weak. But, I noticed already before my short vacation in Germany, that I have much more power and strength and don't tire as fast (on a muscular level) if I actually go deeper and sit into the lunge and go down to that infamous 90° angle. The cardial fitness is another thing all together, because engaging my butt, I get out of breath rather quickly (larger muscle, and the gluteus maximus is one if not the biggest muscle in your body, higher oxygen consumption), but as I said, on a muscular level I don't tire as quickly, because my butt cheeks take much longer getting sore than my quads.

Do it the right way. Also, remember to eat well. My day in four pictures.

The point I meant to make: the cardio part of the workout was driven home much harder (muscles use up oxygen while working, so you don't need to run to get winded) and now my butt hurts. And the rest of my body hurts in exciting new ways or with a new intensity. So, for your health's and your fitness' sake, listen to your instructor even if going down to a 90 degree angle sounds impossible. It's actually easier. Or well, maybe it just hurts differently and in my case less. But yeah, listen to what advice they have to offer. Look at their posture and movement radius. Yes, you can do 20 squats in the time they do 10, but those 20 actually are as useful as 0 if you only quickly pulse between a 0 and 45° angle. So, if you do it, do it right, even if that means you have to swallow your pride when the small chick next to you does 20 more reps than you do. In the end, it's your workout. And while your pride might benefit from keeping up with her half-assing your technique, your body doesn't. 

No Sugar Challenge

I got a problem with sugar; I'm either off it or on it. Being off it means, I get all my carbs from fruit and veggies. Being on sugar means that I'm eating enormous amounts of chocolate, ice cream and cookies. And when I'm talking about enormous, I am talking about a whole tub of ice cream or a whole chocolate bar (the 100-200g kind, not 30-40g). During my graduation weekend I've eaten so much junk food that of course all my eating habits went out of whack and my body is craving fatty and sugary foods again.

This was the first helping at the kebab and pizza buffet where we went for my graduation. The first helping still contained salad. :D

This weekend is Midsummer in Finland, which means tomorrow the stores are open for a limited amount of time and on Saturday all the stores are closed. I got no chocolate or ice cream here at home. So, I'm going cold turkey, because no matter how hard I'll be craving sweets, there's no getting them. And - at least to me - the first two days are always the hardest. 

Now, this has nothing to do with losing weight or anything, but consuming sugary sweets makes me feel a bit off. Plus, I get acid reflux pretty easily. And I don't get the energy I get from "real" food. Actually it is quite paradox, how I love to eat chocolate and ice cream when I know that they make me feel bad. In the end, I've decided to stay off sugar and fatty food until August. Which is going to be a challenge because summer is ice cream time. On the other hand, I've probably eaten enough ice cream for two life times. ;)
My aunt is coming to visit me next weekend, so this is going to be a real challenge, but on the other hand, nothing like a challenge to make it more interesting.