Feel the burn...

Handstand push - ups on a box. Good morning, shoulders. Ouchie. This CrossFit - thing is worse than I thought. And more fun. And it hurts more. And it's way more addictive. Having the time of my life right now with MMA, BJJ and CrossFit. I'm probably in way better shape at 30 than I've been at 20. :D

Life changes even the best of plans... I'm doing Gains, Lean Gains

and isn't that the truth. In June, I had decided for myself that I wanted to go down to Bantam-weight, to get a feeling for my body at 61,2kg (135lbs.). Little did I know. I am not entirely sure how I ended up doing what I did, but at some point I noticed that I was actually working out harder than ever and my muscles were sore as hell more often than they were not. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of sore muscles to some extend, but I also know that to actually build muscle, you have to eat more than your normal calorie intake, because your body needs energy to build and protein from which to build new muscle fibres. So, hanging around at a caloric deficit of 500kcal/day seemed like a terrible waste of workouts. 

The actual math is something like this: To actually build muscle mass you need a positive energy balance of at least 500-1000kcal a day. You also need to get about 1,2-2g protein per kilogram of body mass. For me at about 65kg that would be 78-130g of protein a day. Fuck a duck with a Christmas tree. You know how much more I have to eat to get to these figures? Especially with no sugar involved? Thank heavens, there's peanut butter, nuts and other healthy stuff high in calories. 

You also have to get a good amount of carbs, because they fuel your workouts and keep you powered. Also, recovery is easier and faster when your body is able to refill its glycogen stores (that's basically the tank that keeps the energy your muscles are burning while working) relatively fast. So, you should try to eat within 30 minutes after your workout. 

So, gains, yes? We are going to do gains, body? The treacherous thing with gains, however, is that I have a tendency to underestimate my caloric intake and I always want to be on the safe side: did I really eat enough to turn this pain into muscle? Or even worse: justify eating loads with "yeah, I'm doing gains right now"

I have tried a system last summer that actually worked pretty well for me: Lean Gains.

My biceps after a month of gains

Lean Gains is basically another form of intermittent fasting; meaning you don't fast for a longer amount of time, but for short bouts at a time. The most popular form of intermittent fasting these days may be the 5:2 diet (I tried that, too, for a while, but that's a whole chapter of its own), but lean gains don't quite work like 5:2. With 5:2 you eat 5 days of the week normally and on the two remaining days, you eat less than 600kcal (men) or 500kcal (women), with the fast days not being on consecutive days. 

Lean gains, however, make you eat enough food to build muscle, but - as the name already says - promise to keep you lean. You have to calculate your daily caloric intake via a formula based on your basic metabolic rate, your level of activity and whether it's a rest day or not. See the infographic at the bottom for more info. After that you need to know, when to eat. You got 8 hours a day within which you eat those calories. The rest of the day, that would be 16 hours on Planet Earth, you fast. You take BCAA supplements, but you don't eat. For me the schedule looked as follows: 

5:30 get up, drink a cup of tea (because I don't do black coffee)

6:30 go to work

10:00 breakfast break, biiiiig breakfast

13:00 lunch

15:00 dinner (because most of my workouts begin around 17-19 o'clock and I can't move on a full stomach)

17/18 (just before workout) small energy boosting snack

18-10 FAST

You'd think this is hard, but actually it isn't. Because of work, my mind is mostly kept off eating in the mornings anyways and 10am is the first chance I get to have a break and thus breakfast. The only clear disadvantage is, that you're feeling full for those 8 hours you are allowed to eat, but also you crave food like it's not even funny anymore. Once you get to eat, your metabolism starts revving up and it goes full speed baby. 

This does work. I did not gain any significant weight during my gain phase and I've been eating A LOT. I have gained water weight, though, because I usually don't eat that much carbs.

Still, there are some Downsides to this method:

1. Keep in mind that you are meddling with your metabolism. If something feels off, don't continue with this until you know it's safe (consult a doctor, personal trainer, dietitian, etc.).

2. Food cravings, baby. And those ain't funny.

3. Food babies and inability to move because you just ate 6 hours straight and well... now it's time to train. I look like I weigh twice my weight most of the time because during the hours I do eat, I carry a heavy food baby with me. And sometimes, when I don't time my eating right or had something more difficult to digest, it actually does get in the way of effective work outs.

4. Hunger. Like, you're going from one extreme - the foodbaby - to the other, namely hunger. Your body in a fasted state wants food and it makes itself known. Those pangs are short and go by rather quickly, but if you have a tendency to get hangry (like I do), those can be very inconvenient. 

Upsides:

1. Lean gains. Need I say more?

2. feeling really satiated without the guilt. 

3. something you really did not want to know: incredibly regular bowel movements.

I found this on the interwebs when I was looking for info on this issue and I found it very helpful:

My upcoming week in workouts

So, I was talking about planning ahead when it comes to workouts to fit them into your schedule and also to give yourself something to do during rest days. This is what I have planned for the upcoming week:

Monday: Body Jam and Body Pump as a combo if my ear is still hurting. If my ear is okay I'm going with Body Jam and Grappling/10th Planet Jiu Jitsu training. 

Tuesday: MMA stand up training and Body Balance. 

Wednesday: I got an invitation by my stand up coach to come to the Muay Thai sparring session. It depends on my feeling that day. If I don't feel sharp enough, I'll be going to Body Combat and Grit Strength.

Thursday: getting a massage in the morning. Then maybe Body Combat in the evening, if my muscles are forgiving.

Friday: Grappling. Maybe Body Combat before.

Saturday: forced rest, because I'm working all day.

Sunday: Body Balance, CX, Grit Strength. Maybe Combat. 

What do You do on a rest day?

Mostly, when I know I have to have a rest day, I really don't know what to do with myself and I find myself at the gym. Again. I know, I should not do it, but it happens all the time. So, what can you do on a rest day to make it a success?

This is me, basically.

1) A rest day does not mean that you only sit around, watching tv, doing nothing. You can go to the gym. You just shouldn't do the weight-lifting, cardio -thing. I had my rest day today and I went to the gym. To go to a Body Balance class. Body Balance, as a mix of Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates, is a pretty great option on a rest day. I mostly half-ass the Pilates core workout on rest days, but otherwise it is great. The Tai Chi warm up gets your body to softly open up, it helps cramped up muscles to release tension, but it does not force them to work. The sun salutation track does the same thing, but it also starts adding in some dynamic stretches, which feel pretty great after training your body into a stiff, cramped up ball of pain. At least that's why I love it. The Warrior poses in the next track do engage your leg and core muscles and you can get a pretty intense workout if you go low enough and really challenge yourself, but on a rest day you can engage your muscle just as much as you need to to get your upper body relaxed. Also, at the same time as you are using your lower body's muscles, your stretching them, so in the end it does not challenge you in the same way squats do. And, what can I say, but the balance and stretching tracks are just perfect on a day like this. And the Savasana at the end lets you deeply relax all of your muscles and calm your mind.

Other options for "working out" on a rest day include Yoga and stretching. Maybe a walk around town or the woods, but nothing where you effectively get out of breath. Also, with Yoga, I am not talking about Yoga strength classes or Hot Yoga that effect your circulatory system, but rather about Yoga stretches and relaxation techniques.

2) Eat well. Because it is on your rest days that your body gets to replenish its energy reserves and re-build cracked up muscle fibers. Your body needs nutrition to repair these microscopical tears in your muscle fibres that help you get stronger and buffer.

My dinner today. Lots of protein. I had a load of carbs for lunch in the form of cereal, so dinner was a low-carb affair.

3) Meet friends. This is one thing I happen to neglect most of the time. If my friends don't go to the gym with me or ring me up, I mostly don't see them on training days. So, on rest days I make the best of the amount of spare time I have, and meet my friends.

4) Do stuff you don't have the time or energy to do on gym days. Like I went through all my closets and cupboards to discard and chuck a load of stuff I don't need. I also prepared my meals for the rest of the week so I don't have to think about cooking when I come from the gym in the evening. Plus, I cleaned the whole kitchen because I felt like it.

5) Get a massage. You're not supposed to do any great strength training efforts after that anyway and it helps get metabolic waste out of your system.

6) Take photos of your achievements. See how far you've come. Set new goals if necessary, do planning for your workouts. I planned my whole workout week today.

I'm pretty stoked that my biceps is starting to grow. 

So, basically, do all kinds of stuff that keep you busy and feel good. Eat. Have fun. Sleep in. Do whatever helps you to bounce back better after your rest day.

MMA and Grit Strength 13 - or: Hearteyes, baby

Yesterday, I had a more relaxed training day, after Monday had been kind of rough. And by relaxed I mean... only 2,5hrs training. MMA and Body Balance. After Monday MMA was hard; we did a lot of hooks and upper cuts and my shoulders were sore from Body Combat and Body Pump the day before. Now, our coach always likes to send us back into the world with a grueling last exercise, yesterday it was jab-cross-tabata. We did jab-cross-combos (either fast or heavy) for a minute and got 20sec rest. Then again combos and rest. We did five rounds of that. Our coach actually took a video from that last set. I'm back there in the white Bad Boy-shorts and my technique is way off, I'm so tired. I wasn't even able to raise my hands properly:

MMA training

But. Today. I finally got to try Grit Strength 13 and I loved it. I did a "light" Body Combat class before and was already pretty done with the world, but I had to prove a point. To myself. Best decision ever. 

I love the new choreo. There's a new move in there: 

New Move

And it's coming up in Track 2 already. As always, track 1 is warm-up. Track 2 is 3 sets of two different moves you do for 30sec first. 3sec break. 10sec reps. 3sec break and a last 10sec rep round. The first move is squat to push press with a bar bell, the second is this new move. 

Track 3 is fun, because you get a little movement into the otherwise static set up: you have two teams facing each other, one does high knees for 30sec, the other upright rows to shoulder press. Then the teams change moves. After two rounds, the teams get new moves. Team 1 does jumping lunges (if there's anything I hate more than burpees, it's jump lunges...*sighs*) and team 2 moving press ups. 

Track 4 was 45sec for each set, first set 7 upright rows and 7 rows, as many rounds as possible. Second set 7 burpees (aaand there they are) and 7 press ups. After you're through with both sets, you do the same, but the rep count goes down from 7 to 5. 

Track 5 was the one minute challenge, where you took your weight plate, did a squat and one squat jump. Then one squat, two squat jumps and so on for - as the name of the challenge says - one minute. As many rounds as possible. I got to 7,4 today. 

And then it's core. And let me tell you, after these last few days, my core was incredibly sore. Actually, I can feel the muscles moving beneath the skin these days, which feels a tad weird, to be honest. I have never been an athletic child, so being an athletic adult still feels strange to me. 

But that's it, that's the new Grit. And I love it, because you can really push yourself to your limits (especially after a Body Combat-class). Came close to barfing today. But that's also the fast level changes, when doing stuff in an upright position and then going down to do a press up or sth of the sort. Does anyone of you know the feeling? It's not even being exhausted, but the fast level changes. 

And tomorrow my best friend is coming to visit for my graduation ceremony and we'll have a blast. She'll be here all weekend, so you'll probably not hear from me in a few days. Have a nice one, guys! :)

New Les Mills releases and a great weekend

June is already almost half way done. But that means that the new Les Mills choreos, the ones that will be with us all summer, have been released at our gym last weekend. On Sunday, to be exact. 

Saturday, to me, was a forced rest day, because I was at work from 7-16, and afterwards I visited a friend for her belated b-day bash. And seeing that we are both that breed of couch potato that does not appreciate wild parties and even wilder outings in town, she decided to bake muffins and pizza for the two of us and make it a movie night. We haven't had movie night in a long time and I haven't had pizza in a long time. For good measure, I also brought a packet of biscotti, and the DVDs: "Man of the Year" with the late Robin Williams and "Johnny English 2", mostly because I've been missing London these last few weeks months.

Home-made pizza!!!

But that's just how I spent my one rest day of the week. Sunday came finally and brought with it the new Body Balance and Body Combat releases (for me, that is). 

The new Balance was different. I find it hard to really judge a choreo after the first time around and with Balance, I'm almost always like... "Meh" after the first try. This time I liked the moves alright, but I wasn't too much into the music. Especially the first track didn't really get me into that "Balance"-feel, you know? 

The sun salutations are nice and I really liked the balance track, but the pilates core training was a bit... I don't know, boring? Plus, it went more on my hip flexors than into my core, but that might also be because my hip flexors are pretty tense most of the time. If it doesn't change, I have to ask our instructors for advice. 

The savasana at the end is great, though. Great music, you can follow along the piano melody lines into relaxation and calmness. And it just sounds pretty. Today, I will be trying Balance for the second time, maybe my feelings toward it will change a little.

In the afternoon I went and tried the new Combat, in which they changed not only the music, but also the lay out/concept of the class. Combat Class feels much fiercer now than it did before and the music reflects that as well. Instead of just being an interval class, it is now a high-intensity interval class, you might also call it HIIT. The first track already differs from its predecessors, even though the first Combat track might remind you of some of the ones that have been done before. It feels incredibly short, though. The first power track is already taking you to a different intensity if you roll with it and the second Combat track, track number 4, is conditioning as it already has been in 63. Number 5, the second power track is reminiscent of GRIT Cardio, with short intervals of hard work and a few breaks for your heart rate to come down. Track 6 killed me, though. I don't know if I ever mentioned that I hate - HATE - lunges. And track 6 has a lot of them. My legs were burning after that and the thought that there were still 2 aerobic tracks to go, one of which Muay Thai, was not a nice one. :D But Muay Thai is great!!! There's power and there's pain in this track and I just love it. You can really play yourself tired in this one. And then there's your basic track 8. But after that choreo, the basic track 8 feels hardcore, too. Conditioning and stretching are fine, there are only so many core exercises you can do and if you've been to a few CX classes, there are few things that are new. 

But after that class, I was done for the day. Really and genuinely done. 

After Body Combat 64. Lower right corner 30 seconds afterward, upper left 30 minutes after, when the endorphins started kicking in. 

Yesterday I did Combat again and afterward (and after a short break) I tried the new Pump. Lots of tension being built up and a pain in the ass. Or should I say a gain in the ass? The squats are okay if you do them so-so, but really engage in the track and shoot, you get your legs to shake. 

Chest hurts like hell with the right weight, I guess, yesterday I took it a little easier because my chest was already done in from the Combat conditioning and I did not know what was coming up. I loved the back track, which was really efficient in building strength and raising heart rates. The triceps track was okay, it was pretty similar to the one in 93, only the dips were a little nastier. Same with the biceps track. That one maybe let me down a little because I had heard beforehand that this one was reeeeaaal tough and then it was... well, I liked the one in 93 better and I got a better burn from it, but let's see what happens, maybe I get to add some weight... And then, lunges. Again. I did them without additional weight because my form goes way off, when I'm tired and doing them with weights. Also, I did not want to and could not find it in me to convince myself as my legs were already close to giving out. And it was good, because it was a lot of bottom ones. The track name "We Make It Bounce" is not a joke, I tell ya. The shoulder track. was. sick. I loved it. It burned and hurt in all the right places! And then there was core and stretching and we were done with that class, too. I liked it. In hindsight, I think I liked it a lot. 

I also kept working on my spine flexibility and yoga over all, after attending a class on Friday, where we were shown a pose called "Bird of Paradise", I made it my mission to perfect that pose. It looked so impossible at first, but actually it's quite easy. And it's a great stretch for your shoulders and legs. 

Bird of Paradise

Also, my hair has been growing so much into an emo thing (with it falling into my eyes all the time), that I have to take it together into a small "pony tail" these days. It looks ridiculous at best, but it is damn practical.

gym "bunny tail"

And now I'll put my hair into the bunny tail (because pony tail is just an exaggeration) and leave for MMA. For the first time in ages. Happy!!!

Pain and sports

Pain without love

Pain I can't get enough 
Pain I like it rough
Cause I'd rather feel pain than nothing at all
(Three Days Grace - Pain)

"An athlete doesn't see a healthy day" [urheilija ei tervettä päivää näe] - Finnish proverb.

"Push through the pain"

"Love the burn"

"Better sore than sorry"

"No pain, no gain"

We all know these fitspo-slogans coursing up and down the internet. We all want to be brave, we all want to push through the pain, gritting our teeth and be the person who does all this fitspo-superhero-romantic stuff. But how do you know when enough is enough? How do you know that your body can go no further?
Pain actually is a warning sign, it is supposed to tell you that you are not okay. That you should slow down a bit. We all know this, but still we grit our teeth and keep on doing what we're doing until we just physically cannot push any further.
Believe me, I know.

Just a few bruises, a taped-up joint capsule and toe and a swollen ankle...

I'm still trying to figure out what the right measure is. When to stop. I'm the worst when it comes to not giving in to reason because it feels like giving up.
In January I woke up one morning and started crying when I tried to get out of bed, but was so sore that I needed about two minutes to just sit up. Everything hurt. But the worst thing was: it had been that way for the last four and a half months. I woke up this one January morning and realised that I could not remember a day when nothing in my body ached within the last four and a half months. It had been enough. I took a week-long break. I had gone all this time doing sometimes up to 20 hours worth of workouts or stretching or anything at all related to sports a week, most weeks making do with one rest day. Sometimes none. I remember there being a streak where I had gone almost twenty days without rest. I was hanging at the end of my rope. And there I was, trying to sit up, crying. But why do we let it get so far?

For me it was pride, one of my main triggers, and the will to prove that I was just as good, just as strong, just as robust as the guys. No, I wanted to be better than the guys. As the only girl working out and training with a bunch of guys, you get this false sense of having to prove you're worth it. Having to prove that you can take a hit. You feel like you have to put in twice the work the guys do, show them you are indestructible, not realising that all you achieve is destruction.
And I wanted to compete in MMA. I had to improve, no matter what the cost, I could not simply skip training because something hurt. I broke my toe and kept on going. I couldn't walk right, but that didn't keep me from jumping, lifting, and sparring. I taped it, it hurt like hell every time I removed the tape. It didn't heal properly. But... everyone was doing it. Our trainer had all his toes taped. It was a running gag. Broken toes and training with them are an everyday thing.
I messed up the joint capsule of my right big toe a few weeks later. Hurt real bad. Still hurts and it's been almost four months. Again, I couldn't walk properly. Again, I taped it. Am still taping it before some training sessions.
I can't move my right thumb right, because I once hit a right hook a little off kilter and my thumb connected with the pad, there was a strange noise and pain. Didn't matter, I had a match coming up.
The knuckles in my boxing gloves were bruised and/or bloody a few times, but there was still three training eras to go. So I went the whole nine yards. Got a few pale scars on my knuckles these days.

no need to explain this, is there? 

And then there are the bruises. Lots and lots of bruises. Some hurt more, some less.

This one hurt a little more...ouchie

And last but not least, the soreness. The feeling that you just cannot get out of bed in the morning because your body just hurts.
And what for? Pride. A false sense of achievement when you swap war stories with your peers. And then you get to the point, where you're super girl. When your trainer tells the rest of the group: "Guys, just look at the lady. Now there's a good example for all of you!" or someone just says in passing: "Well, but no challenge for you, it's probably child's play to you." They don't see that you hurt. And how could they when you've become so good in just pushing harder whenever it hurt.
And at some point you start to believe your own press.


When I got the news that even my last match of the season - the fourth cancellation this spring - would not happen because there was no suitable opponent, I crashed totally. Only then, the excitement and anticipation leaving me, did I realise just how messed up my body was. And not because someone else told me to keep on going, but because I kept telling myself that I had to. I got an all-or-nothing kind of attitude that makes it hard for me to slow down once I've found something I like, I'm crazy ambitious/competitive and I have this slightly addictive nature. Sports tickles that the wrong way sometimes. I have to learn to do the moderation thing. I'm working on it.

A good start was my trainer, who at one point told me to remember to rest. When that did not help, he actually told me to keep my feet still the rest of the day and the next day. Rest. Whenever I'd look too tired, he'd ask me what kind of workouts I had done that week, how many rest days I'd had. If he didn't like the answer, he told me to slow down. If the answer was alright, he'd tell me to remember to eat. At one point he continuously told me to remember to eat well. I had probably lost too much weight/speed/strength at that point and didn't even notice myself. A good trainer with your best interests at heart is worth everything and more.
But what if you don't have that voice of reason?

A) Learn to distinguish different forms of pain. There is good pain (like the burning in your thighs after you did a hard squat set) and then there's bad pain (like the stinging pain in your knee after you've been doing deep squats on five days in a row without a rest day and maximum weights). Those are just extreme examples. If a certain movement hurts, don't do it or get someone to tell you if your technique/posture/etc. is right.
B) Good pain can become bad pain, too. Remember my soreness-story? Not good. You need to give your body some well earned rest if you want to see muscle/strength growth or any kind of development.
C) Listen to your body. This sounds easier than it actually is because there are all these other motivators screaming over the voice of your body. But if your body says it's not a good day to get in a Body Pump/Combat/Step/Attack-session, then don't go because the instructor's cute (been there, done that :P), don't go because you ate that cupcake and now have to train off the calories (it doesn't really work like that anyway), don't go because you always go (most stupid reason I ever had..."But I always go to this class") and don't go to prove a point to anyone. Not even yourself.

Now, keep in mind that I'm still struggling with these. I still believe there are things worth going through pain. That jacked up ankle in the picture? I didn't tap out in a tournament. And escaped and got my opponent sweeped afterwards. It wasn't pretty, but it gave me that small experience of success.
Hello, my name is Kitty and I am a sports addict. But it's been 8 days since my last incident.

This love - hate - relationship...

You say you can't handle it
But there's no way to stop this now [...]
 Kick, scream call it quits
 But your just so full of it
cause it's too late, to close your mouth [...]
(Orianthi - Shut Up And Kiss Me)

Story time: when I started with the Grit series, I hated it.

I started out with Grit Plyo, because for one, it was something new, training explosive strength and agility. I also like jumping around. I'm not joking, I'm jumping a lot. And Grit Plyo was jumping on the next level. Didn't hurt that I really liked the instructor who made us jump. But HIIT is not for the faint of heart and it's... defo another, totally out there kind of exhausting. So, I hated it from the get go. Like, full-on hated it. But you're supposed to give workouts three to five tries before you decide if you like them or not. I tried to not be too judgemental. Hate. Hate. Wait...  I went the fourth time. Fifth. Sixth. And eventually I found myself telling my friends that "You gotta try this! It's the best thing ever!!!" What had happened?

The beauty that is Grit: I noticed changes, progress. I noticed how I could get in more reps after only two weeks. I felt better and...then there's the definitely wrongly coined "runner's high" when the feeling you have to puke ceases and the endorphins hit. So, I gave Grit Strength a go, too. Oh, and how I loathed it! From the bottom of my heart hated it, swore to never do it ever again. Well. Four weeks ago - exactly two years after my first shot at Plyo - was one of the greatest moments concerning progress so far; during Strength we did last summer's choreo. And I did not think about the weight I'd put on my smart bar, it was the weight I had been using for the newest release for the last few weeks. Until I realised: I did the whole choreo with 5kg (plus 3kg smart bar) more than last summer and yes, it was hard, but manageable. "This is my benchmark now" I don't like using expletives, but Fuck yeah!

Sounds sappy, but two years after I started doing Grit and completely hated it, it is now hard to imagine life without Grit. I've seen muscle definition and strength, rep count and agility increase and it's addictive. What I once thought to be the worst thing I had ever gone through, is now one of the highlights of my week. They should write a Hollywood romance about this hate-relationship turned love. ;)

So, if you ever get the chance to visit a Grit class, do it and don't judge it on the first go. :)

Busy as a bee, Body Pump 90 and new goals

The Past - busy body at work

It's been three months since I last posted here. But I have achieved quite a lot in the real world in this time. First of all, I had to write, rewrite, edit and defend my BA-thesis and write the last exams and fill in application forms etc. to get my degree before everyone at my uni leaves for their summer vacation. Now I'm officially a Bachelor of Arts in German language and culture, literary studies to be exact.
I also trained and prepared for my first wrestling match, making weight (dropped my weight from 68 to 60kg to get into the lower weight class), learning new techniques and getting into the right mindset. Just to hear - a week before the competition - that I am not allowed to take part in the tournament, because it was the Finnish Championships and even though I've been living in Finland for the past 6 years and got the citizenship application process going, I was not granted permission to compete. I get it, because where do you draw the line if you allow exceptions to the rule, but... I was a little disappointed and demotivated by the whole thing, so I kept a low profile in MMA during the last few months. and well, yeah, thanks to the stress on the university side, my time was a little limited and I got two bad colds as soon as the stress started to fade away.

The Present - Body Pump 90 and its after effects

I just returned from my vacation trip to Germany last night (literally, I arrived back home at 3:45am), took a nap and then I was off to my gym. I had missed it. Had a great Body Pump class with a budy from my MMA Team, as I had promised her before, and holy moly my muscles are already sore. Even though Body Pump 90 was scheduled to be started on Monday, she already put us through the whole shebang, and whoa, I like this release. The warm-up is a little meh, but leg track number one aka "squat till you drop" was not fun, fun would definitely be the wrong word to describe it, but after the first set, I already felt my quads and the backs of my thighs...and my bum getting sore. The chest track was kind of nice, until we were introduced to the nasty little surprise of dropping your barbell halfway down, hold, drop all the way down, hold, push halfway up, hold, slowly push up the rest of the way. It hurt. It hurt bad, but what do they always say? Pain is where progress happens? The back track was pretty basic, pretty similar to the one in the last release. And then triceps. French bench presses and lying triceps press. It was not that it was bad, it's just that are few things I hate more than french bench presses. And as a surprise at the end, there were dips. I like dips. They are hard, they hurt and they bring progress. Oh, talking about things I hate more than french bench presses: biceps curls. And the biceps track this time was... surprisingly fun. I overestimated my strength and had to change my weights 3/4 through the track, but now my arms are comfortably weak. Then lunges, pretty basic. But the shoulder track, even though basic, was hard. I loved it. It hooks in with one of my goals, so, I really loved it. Abs and Cool Down were sit ups and the basic Les Mills stretching routine, so yeah, a nice release they got there. Enjoyed it, recommend it.

The Future - new goals ahead

It's June already. So, not much I can do about that summer body any more, but I have to admit, thanks to dropping my weight to 60kg, I realised that I don't really like myself in 60kg, so I tried to gain 2-3kg back. With the result that I'm super confident with my body. Sure, there are areas, I'd like to improve, but all in all I like my body. Actually, I love it for what kind of stuff I am able to throw at it and it just performs. And rather nicely at that. So, what do I want to do? Well, when I was in Berlin, we went to see "X-Men: Days of Future Past" and I could not help myself, but admire Wolverine's (Hugh Jackman's) chiseled and defined shoulders. I want shoulders like that. Not that massive, but the female version of it; defined shoulder muscles where you can actually see the different muscles work whilst working. So, a little "bulking" up in that department. My arms in general could be more defined. So, that's what I'll be doing for the next 11 weeks.
I'll also get back to MMA as often as possible, because I'd love to compete in an MMA competition in autumn.
Oh, and I want to write into this blog more often. Maybe about other stuff than just workout and lifestyle and eating, even though I have a few subjects I could write about in those fields, too (I've been dropping serious weight with the 5:2-diet, I've been dabbling with vegan nutrition and I've revised a training program for my roommate, so, lots to tell on this side of life, too). But for now, I have to go to bed. Got an early wake-up call tomorrow. Good night!