DAY 10 - 23rd JUNE 2015
TRAINING - ABS & TANNING!
WEIGHTS DURATION: 40mins CARDIO DURATION: 0mins
To be fair, abs are a fairly important part of the body. Especially when someone tries to gage how ripped you are, so at least 40 minutes of abs is waaaay better than not going to the gym at all which was the first thing that went through my head when the alarm went off this morning. Anyway, time to man up and deal with it. The workout itself was thorough and a decent tempo and I looked to concentrate more on the upper abs as last week I looked more at developing the lower ab muscles.
ABS CIRCUIT TRAINING - 3 SETS
A good exercise to do when concentrating on the upper-abs like I was today. Generally speaking, whilst doing all abs exercises, look to try and squeeze/tighten your abs as your doing your rep; it'll work them even more.
Can you tell I'm in a creative mood today? Second, we have the classic sit-up. Self explanatory; up and down. When going down, don't go the whole way so that the whole back is on the ground. Try to come back up before that point to work them harder.
An exercise recommended to me by my training partner and it's really good! Theres two ways you can concentrate on it; the first is to make sure you keep the legs straight the whole way to shift the emphasis of the exercise to the lower abs. The way I was doing it was when bringing the legs and arms together in the middle, look to try and touch your toes in an explosive action - it really gets those very upper abs!
I had to do at least 1 exercise on my lower abs and having done leg dips in the last abs session, today I did this exercise. Try and hold the legs for 2 seconds when up, concentrating on keeping your legs as straight as they can be at all points.
You can do these just sitting on the floor but I find being able to hold on to the bench helps me to balance so I can do more on the abs. Look to replicate the same motion as a rower. Straight legs when stretched out and then crunch your whole body in to get the exercise done.
Please excuse me using the pictures from last week - I forgot to take them for todays session! Last week I did 25 reps on this machine, so today I decided to go much heavier and do 12 reps. Reason for that being that I want the abs to gain some size so they're easier to define in this cutting period. A really good exercise for the upper abs which I highly recommend - people are so quick to turn their noses up at the abs machines.
Zzzzzzzz. Thats all I want; sleep, sleep and more sleep. The good thing about living in Doha; the high rise apartment buildings offer a luxury lifestyle that most wouldn't complain about. The (one of many) bad things about living in Doha; in high rise apartment buildings, the wind howls like a mo'fo when you're 19 floors up which is unfortunate when you're a light sleeper. Subsequently, I am once again suffering with lack of sleep. Today marks the 10th day of training and therefore, just-shy-of-a-third-of-the-way-through stage and unfortunately, my 17th day in a row at work without a day off. For the first time, I'm starting to think;
Have I bitten off more than I can chew?
The answer? Maybe. But, I am by no means a quitter so on we go. Even if it is just for 40 mins worth of abs.
THE WORKOUT
ABS CIRCUIT TRAINING - 3 SETS
In the same way that last week when doing my abs session, I use the circuit training format in order to give the abs a workout.
Complete circuit A, B, C, D, E then F to complete one set.
CIRCUIT A
CABLE CRUNCHES - 30 REPS
A good exercise to do when concentrating on the upper-abs like I was today. Generally speaking, whilst doing all abs exercises, look to try and squeeze/tighten your abs as your doing your rep; it'll work them even more.
CIRCUIT B
SIT-UPS - 25 REPS
Can you tell I'm in a creative mood today? Second, we have the classic sit-up. Self explanatory; up and down. When going down, don't go the whole way so that the whole back is on the ground. Try to come back up before that point to work them harder.
CIRCUIT C
HAND-TO-TOE RAISES - 15 REPS
An exercise recommended to me by my training partner and it's really good! Theres two ways you can concentrate on it; the first is to make sure you keep the legs straight the whole way to shift the emphasis of the exercise to the lower abs. The way I was doing it was when bringing the legs and arms together in the middle, look to try and touch your toes in an explosive action - it really gets those very upper abs!
CIRCUIT D
SUSPENDED LEG RAISES - 15 REPS
I had to do at least 1 exercise on my lower abs and having done leg dips in the last abs session, today I did this exercise. Try and hold the legs for 2 seconds when up, concentrating on keeping your legs as straight as they can be at all points.
CIRCUIT E
BENCH CRUNCHES - 30 REPS
You can do these just sitting on the floor but I find being able to hold on to the bench helps me to balance so I can do more on the abs. Look to replicate the same motion as a rower. Straight legs when stretched out and then crunch your whole body in to get the exercise done.
CIRCUIT F
WEIGHTED SITUP MACHINE - 12 REPS
Please excuse me using the pictures from last week - I forgot to take them for todays session! Last week I did 25 reps on this machine, so today I decided to go much heavier and do 12 reps. Reason for that being that I want the abs to gain some size so they're easier to define in this cutting period. A really good exercise for the upper abs which I highly recommend - people are so quick to turn their noses up at the abs machines.
THE CARDIO TANNING
I literally don't think I would have been able to do any cardio today; I simply didn't have the energy. It sounds like a doss, because it is to be fair, but tanning is also important! A tan will help define the body by adding a bit of colour to my extremely pale complexion. For those who don't believe me; ask yourself why body builders put that ridiculous tanning paint on before competing. Exactly!
THE DIET
I crumbled a bit last night having a couple of Oreos, but then again I didn't have a big dinner like most nights. Not the most nutritious, I know. But theres still plenty worse I could have done!
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| A really nice new cereal for breakfast from love crunch |
Meal 1
- 1 Small Bowl of Love Crunch
- 4 Egg Whites - Scrambled
- 1 Rice Cake
Meal 2
- 1 Apple
- 1 Tin Tuna
- 2 Rice Cakes
- 15 Almonds
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| Not the most appetising , but a good protein hit |
Meal 3
- 6 Chicken Skewers
- 2 Beef Skewers
- 50g Hummus
- 50 g Bice
- 100g Broccoli
- 2 Chicken Thighs
- Small Caesar Salad
Meal 4
- Half a tub of Hagen Dazs
- 4 Oreos
FINAL THOUGHTS
As much as I'm keen for this challenge, I do genuinely think its important to have a rest when it's needed. Now, I'm sure it would have been good for me to have taken an off day today, but I'm still happy I went and hopefully I'll only benefit from doing so. I think the most important thing is that I recognised I was tired and had to alter my workout plan accordingly as today I was initially planning on doing shoulders. If I had done a massive shoulders session, it surely couldn't have been as beneficial doing it when feeling like this compared to when I do it fully rested and raring to go, right?
How many off days do you take a week? Was I right to do abs or should I have stuck to the plan and done shoulders?
How many off days do you take a week? Was I right to do abs or should I have stuck to the plan and done shoulders?
À bientôt!
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| WEEK 2 - DAY 3. DAY 10 OVERALL |
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| WEEK 1 - DAY 3. DAY 3 OVERALL |
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