30.04.2020 - Healthy Performer - Mr Lemon

DAY 4

Today, I focused on legs and glutes.  The exercises I did were lateral lunges, squats, lateral leg raises, fire hydrants, single leg hip thrusts and Bulgarian split squats.  This was very difficult for me as my legs and glutes have hardly any strength at all. They all got my heart beating super fast and I was sweating.  I don't think I could say that there were any exercises that I felt worked more than others for me as they all felt challenging.  I felt as if they progressively got harder but that was only because I was getting more tired.  I also tried to keep my core engaged throughout the workout.  I tried to make sure my body was in line whist doing all the exercises and to not let my knee go over my ankle.  After the workout, I made sure to stretch my calves, hamstrings and quadriceps. 

29.04.2020 - Healthy Performer - Mr Lemon

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28.04.2020 - Healthy Performer - Mr Lemon

DAY 2

Today I focused on chest and shoulders.  The exercises I did were pushups, dumbbell lateral raises, renegade row, overhead dumbbell press, reverse fly and Arnold press.  I had these paired in groups of 2, one which was focused on the chest and the other one focused on the shoulders.  I did 10 reps of each exercises, then moved on to the other exercise in the pair, did 10 reps of those and then did 3 sets of each of the groups.  I used a 3lb dumbbell for all exercises besides the renegade row where I used a 5lb dumbbell, purely because the smaller dumbbell was more painful to have on the ground.  The hardest exercise for me was probably the renegade row, not because of the actual exercise but because of having my hands resting on dumbbells, and putting a lot of weight on them.  In regards to the most challenging exercise for my muscles, I think it was the pushups.  I started off doing them properly but then eventually had to drop down to my knees.  I'm excited to work on that and become as strong as I can.  I think the most effective exercise for me was the reverse fly.  I really felt my shoulders working and it got progressively more tough the more I did it.  After the exercise, I did some shoulder rolls, arm rolls, neck/head rolls, across the body arm stretches, and behind the head arm stretches.  I think this really helped my muscles relax a little bit. 

27.04.2020 - Healthy Performer - Mr Lemon

DAY 1 

So today was my first day of my 2 week training plan:

Today I had a mini day which was to do a HIIT, meaning high intensity interval training, video.  The one I chose to do was for beginners as I'm not the fittest right now and I wanted to start where I felt comfortable but also challenged and then build up.  I also needed to make sure that I was careful with my back as I had an injury recently so I needed to be really listening to my body to make sure I wasn't in pain.

This video consisted of 15 different exercises which I did for 45seconds with as much force and power as I could and then I would rest for 15 minutes.  This way of training is great for fat burning. 

The 15 exercises were:

• Windmill
• Squat Punch
• Slow Crunch
• Ballet Half Kick
• Inch Worm
• Legs Only Ab Bike
• High Plank to Down Dog
• Front Lunge
• Plank
• Standing Ab Bike
• Leg Drop
• Arm and Leg Raise
• Walking Burpees
• Legs Flutter
• Shoulder Tap and Thigh Tap

These exercises seemed pretty easy to begin with but I definitely felt the effects of it after a short while.  My heart was beating faster and I was sweating.  I think the most challenging exercises were the plank, standing ab bike and ballet half kicks.  First of all, the plank really tested my core strength and it was very hard to hold it whilst engaging my core and not letting my back drop for 45 seconds but I pushed through and managed it.  The standing ab bike wasn't hard in a strength way but more because it left me feeling out of breath.  Finally, I found the ballet half kicks difficult due to my lack of flexibility.  The exercises I found the most effective were the front lunge and the high plank to down dog.  I felt the front lunge really burn my hamstrings but I didn't warm up before so they ended up cramping.  I made sure that I stretched afterwards to relax my muscles as much as possible.  I really liked the high plank to down dog as I felt it really work my deltoids and traps as well as my abdominals and laterals.  Next time I think I would warm up before to avoid my legs cramping and also get more sleep and drink more water to have the most effective workout.  

22.04.2020 - Healthy Performer - Mr Lemon

EXERCISE

Today I decided to focus on the abdominals.  The exercises I did were:

• 30 second plank
• 30 second plank twists
• 30 second Russian twists
• 15 pull ins
• 10 alternative pull ins
• 15 toe touches
• 10 alternative leg crunches

I did 2 sets of these.  I would ideally do more than that but I wanted to be cautious because of my back injury.  I was especially cautious on the plank twists and Russian twists as I didn't want to strain it.  I got out of breath quite quickly and I think that may be because I wasn't as hydrated as I should have been.  To cool down, I did some back stretches as well as the cobra to child's pose yoga positions.  

21.04.2020 - Healthy Performer - Mr Lemon

LESSON NOTES

Calorific Deficit

• When you burn calories than you take in
• 1200-1400 calories a day for women (16-18)
• 1800-2000 calories a day for men (16-18)
• Men have more because their hormones burn it faster
• 150 calories in a Coca Cola can
• Body struggles to break down sugar more than anything else

Metabolism

• How fast your body breaks down food
• Thyroid determines how fast your metabolism is.

Aerobic VS Anaerobic Exercises

• Aerobic - long, sustainable exercises
• E.g. cycling, walking
• Anaerobic - short bursts, intensive
• E.g. sprints, weightlifting
• Tempo needed to keep body moving
• Lower (2), Pause (0), Raise (1), Pause (0)
• Have to do both

Heart Rate

• Max heart rate
• 220 - your age
• 220 - 17 = 203

Dehydration

• More hydration (H2O) - oxygen goes to blood and carries around body - don't have to gasp for air

Fasting and Burning

• Body will target fat stores instead of food that has just been put into the body

Muscle Groups

• Biceps
• Front of upper arm
• Triceps
• Back of upper arm
• Deltoids
• Uppermost part of the arm and top of shoulders
• Trapezius 
• Back of neck and shoulders
• Abdominals
• Between ribs and pelvis
• Abductor and Adductor
• Between lower abs and groin
• Pectorals
• Upper ches
• Quadriceps
• Front of thigh
• Hamstrings
• Back of thigh
• Laterals
• Sides of the ribs

MY EXERCISE

About a week ago, I injured my back doing the arch hold exercise (Superman exercise).  My physiotherapist suggested for me to stay in bed for a couple days which I did.  It was still quite painful after that so I held back on doing any exercise in case I strained it more.  I went back to physio today and she said that I can do exercise as long as it doesn't hurt when I'm doing it.  To get back in the swing of things, I decided to do a brisk walk as I also wanted to build up cardiovascular endurance.  I made a route that spelled out my name.  It ended up being 3.4 miles long and I completed it in just under an hour.  This may not be the best timing but I had to face a lot of hills which took longer.  If i were to do this exercise again, I would probably incorporate a bit of jogging with some breaks as I don't have a lot of stamina but that is what I'm working up to build.  If I were to do that, I may also half the length I did for the walk to make it easier for me.  For a cool down i made sure to do some back stretches that my physiotherapist showed me and some stretches for my legs.