For posterity's sake, I will be documenting the exercises here on my blog, similar to the JuJuCleanse diary I wrote a few months back. This is a personal test to see if I have the discipline to finish all 30 days, and to see if I will get physically stronger day by day.
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DAY 1: The Starter
See demo video from 360 Fitness Club.
This was basically a fitness test, to check our strength / endurance level before we started on the 30-day challenge. Will the results of this test still be the same after 30 days? It will be interesting to find out. :)
- 1-minute push-ups (do as many push-ups as you can in 1 minute)
- the 90 second plank (hold the plank position for as long as 90 seconds)
- 1-minute burpees (do as many FULL burpees as you can in 1 minute)
- the vertical jump test (jump as high as you can)
Result: I was able to do 18 modified push-ups (the ones with my knees touching the ground); I was able to complete the 90-second plank; and I was able to do 12 full burpees. I hate burpees. Just 12 of 'em was enough to make me sweat like a pig. It's an intense exercise, though, and according to an article in livestrong.com, if you are a person weighing 155 lbs, you can burn as much as 10 calories per minute. Hmm. So I guess I burned less? But still, I'll take what I can get! If I didn't burn as much, at least I was able to give my core and legs an intense work-out!
DAY 2: Building the Foundation
See demo video from 360 Fitness Club.
It's time to build the core! We were tasked to do some planking and then core integration exercises.
Part 1: Planks
- low plank for 30 seconds
- left and right side plank for 30 seconds each
- rest for 1 minute after each set; do 3 sets in total
Part 2: Core Integration
- 10 floor-touch squats
- 10 push-ups
- 10 pairs mountain climbers
- 10 pull-ups or 10 rows
- 10 burpees
DAY 3: Let the Music Move You
See demo video from 360 Fitness Club.
This one was pretty easy. All I had to do was go to the 360 Fitness Club Makati branch to join the Body Jam class at 7:30. I usually go to the gym on Mondays to attend the dance classes (Body Jam and Zumba back-to-back!), so this was nothing new to me. I'm not exactly the most graceful dancer, and I have problems with hand and feet coordination, but this has been an effective cardio work out for me (pawis kung pawis!), and the music makes me happy. :) AND they say you are able to burn an average of 500 to 600 calories in an hour of Body Jam / Zumba! Nice!
The studio was pretty full; it's normally full on regular days, but there were a lot of newcomers because of the challenge. I'm glad that this isn't my first time because at least I was familiar with some of the dance moves. Haha!
Really fun challenge, and convenient for me to go because I had a scheduled Personal Training session with Coach Mapi right after. The dancing provided me with the needed adrenaline rush to get me through the instense PT work out. Fight!
DAY 4: We're gonna burpees like it's the end of the world!
50 full burpees. If that statement doesn't scare you, I don't know what will.
I hate burpees. Full burpees are even worse. If you do not know what FULL burpees are, go back to the demo video of Day 1. Here are the basic steps:
1. Start in the standing position.
2. Drop down to the floor, using your hands as support, then kick your legs back into a low plank position.
3. From the plank position, lower your body down to do a full-push up.
4. Push your legs forward to jump into a squatting position.
5. Jump as high as you can from a squatting position.
It's a full body work-out that involves your legs, core and arms, so get ready to really sweat it out. I survived by resting after every 10 reps. It was pretty intense. I had trouble sitting down and walking the day after. Well, you know what they say: no pain, no gain!
DAY 5: Push it!
100 full push-ups. Man, these challenges are getting scarier and scarier everyday!
In yoga, there is this pose called chaturanga dandasana. In this pose, you don't push yourself up, but rather, lower yourself down from the plank position. I guess it's a bit similar to the full push-up, but there is no abrupt push of your body weight from a lowered position.
I thought that my weekly yoga practice would prepare me for this full push-up challenge; the step I find most difficulty in executing is the lowering of the body. I still need improvement, though, as I still cannot lower my body as low as I want to (chest should touch the floor, or else it doesn't count??). I am also having difficulty with my form: my legs go down before my chest does, when it should be in one straight line. :|
Anyway, the important thing is, I SURVIVED. I did 50 full push-ups (with a minute resting time every 10 reps), and 50 modified push-ups(with a minute resting time between the 15-15-10-10 reps).
DAY 6: Strengthen your minds today!
No exercises for today! Just 10 minutes of rest and quiet meditation. At this day and age, things get more stressful with our phones / computers / gadgets tied to our hands almost every minute of the day. For today's challenge, we just set aside 10 minutes of our day, detached ourselves from our gadgets, and focused on our breathing, while lying down (in shavasana pose), or while in a comfortable seated position (sukhasana).
We weren't required to take pictures for Day 6. Good, because it would have been weird (and an interruption to our concentration) if somebody snapped a photo of us while lying down. Haha!
DAY 7: Fit Family Day!
We were required to do something active with our families, may it be a quick work-out, walking, jogging, or Wii or Kinect. Since all of my siblings (all 4 of us, except for my sister haha) are work-out addicts, it wasn't very hard to convince at least one of them (my youngest brother), to work-out with me in our gym. I asked the non-working-out sibling (my sister) to take pictures. Haha!
We did core exercises similar to the exercises in Day 2 (planks), and then he taught me some abdominal exercises. We did 30 reps each of the following:
1. Straight-leg sit-ups
2. Legs-bent sit-ups
3. Leg raises
4. Russian twists
5. Side crunches
6. Superman (similar to the locust pose in yoga)
That was fun. :) Maybe next time we could all run in UP together. The challenge there is trying to get all of us to wake up early on a Sunday morning. Haha!
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Week 1 is done! So far, so good. I've been able to send in my pictures everyday. I'm already through 1/4 of the program, I can't back out anymore! Sayang naman, diba?
FYI: The prize for completing this challenge is a limited edition finisher's shirt. I know it's not much, but I'm really aiming for the pride of wearing it. Haha! And of course, I am aiming for the strength that I am sure to gain in doing this challenge. Eyes on the prize!
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