DAY 9 - May 29, 2009

Measurements:-

Weight: 11st 6lb

Shoulders: 43.5"

Chest: 37"

Arms: L: 12.25" R: 12.25"

Waist: 31"

Hips: 42"
Thighs: L: 25.25"/20" R: 25.25"/19.5"

Calfs: L: 15" / R: 15"

So, still no great changes. My weight is down by a MASSIVE half a pound! And I've lost an inch on my waist - I must admit, I do think my little pot belly looks a bit flatter. No matter, I'm not deterred changes WILL happen.....I'm just battling against a stubborn, 48-year-old, hormonal body. Well, nobody's perfect! ;o)

Well, after yesterday's horror Day 9 was a walk in the park, namely back and abs, culminating in 160 (yes, you DID read that right) Swiss Ball ab curls. I reckon that in the last set my ROM was about 1"!

Not surprisingly, I'm already feeling some discomfort when I cough or laugh so the next couple of days should be interesting......and from the Day 8 epic my hamstrings feel about 2" long and my grip is shot - oh, the joys of training!

Mind you, I LOVE IT!

DAY 8 - May 28, 2009

I have to admit to feeling rather pleased with myself. Why? Well, I almost didn't do the Day 8 workout yesterday. I'd had a bit of a maaaaaad day and, ideally, I like to train early morning or by lunch time at the latest, so when I'd finally done everything I needed to do (I left the house at 6am) and it was 7:30pm I really didn't think I could face it! However, after giving myself a damn good talking to and a swift slap in the chops off I plodded to Peak Fitness in Woking......

To be honest, it was truly HORRIBLE! The Mad Genius was really going for it and it seemed to go on F-O-R-E-V-E-R! Would it ever end! It was made up of 3 sections: chest and biceps (3 horrible combinations of exercises), shoulders and hamstrings (equally horrible) and finally more shoulders and triceps - I almost cried with anger and frustration!

But I DID IT!

I gritted my teeth, swore profusely (under my breath, of course), grunted, groaned and moaned my way through it.

And then it was over - BLISS! Now I was almost in tears again - but tears of joy this time.

Driving home was interesting as the steering wheel of my car felt the size and weight of the steering wheel of a galleon in full sail but I made it and once there, collapsed into the arms of my totally nonplussed husband who has no sympathy as I decided to put myself through "that torture"! I suppose he has a point....

So now you know why I'm feeling rather pleased with myself.

The other day I asked if anyone knew of where I could get a Voodoo doll - I'm still looking!

DAY 7 - May 27, 2009

OUCH! My triceps are SORE from Day 6! Mind you, I take that as a sign I worked good and hard!

Day 7, on paper at least, looked pretty harmless and, to be honest, it was over quite quickly - PHEW! It was all quads and core today. Do you remember I was telling how much I hated squat jumps - well that was confirmed in the Day 7 session! I think that as today progresses my quads will be joining my triceps on the soreness front.

Today - Day 8 - looks like a MEGA session! I will be back......

DAY 6 - May 26, 2009

So, here we are at day 6 of the Evil Genius' (a.k.a. Dax Moy) evil plan! Today, as well as adding more (hideous) pictures, I'm meant to add my new measurements, however, as nothing has changed - YET - I've just left it at the pictures.

You may be wondering what happened to May 25th well we were given a REST DAY! and, as I started the challenge a day late it just happened to fall on the Bank Holiday - good timing or what!

Unfortunately, the Day 6 workout fell on what I call a "Hokey Kokey" day - in, out, in, out.....so I had to do it in three parts. Part 1 was a delightful selection of back exercises in the usual rep ranges. Part 2 was all biceps and triceps (which rendered me almost incapable of driving as my arms felt like bits of wet tissue paper). Part 3 was a CV interval session of our choice - I chose to take a client out and do some hill reps! Well, why suffer alone if you don't have to and my client LOVED it!

I'm off to do Day 7 shortly - will report back later.

DAY 5 - May 24, 2009

Well, today's MIM Elite training session was "interesting". Why? Well my lovely husband (Simon) and I had a bbq with some friends in North London and fell into bed at 2:15 this morning!

I eventually dragged myself into Peak Fitness in Woking at about 2:30 this afternoon for what felt like HOURS! What did the Mad Genius have us doing today? Well, we started with a chest/core 4x Super Set at 4-6 reps per exercise. Then another chest/core 4x Super Set at 8-12 reps (this is when I started to feel rather faint). All we had to do next was 4 sets of 40 press ups - PAH! It's not over yet......next we moved onto the shoulders - don't ask.....OK then, 3x 3 exercises at yes, you've guessed it 4-6 reps, 8-12 reps and 40 reps followed by a final shoulder exercise which included an isometric hold. When that lot was over I looked as if I was holding onto an invisible pneumatic drill :oD At last, we're at the final exercise.....and, a bit like never wanting to do another Swiss Ball hamstring curl the other day, I can now add Swiss Ball ab curls to that list.

Anyone know where I can get a Voodoo doll.......?

DAY 4 - May 23, 2009

Another day of MIM Elite under my belt!

Actually, I quite enjoyed it today.......I know, I must be losing it.

We started with a delightful biceps/triceps Super Set (you guessed it, 8 times!) 9 reps per exercise and I was rather pleased with my performance.

Then - I didn't enjoy this bit - hamstrings. You know the score but now: 4 sets of 3 exercises at the 4-6, 8-12 and 40 rep ranges. All I can say is: if I NEVER do another ball hamstring curl again it will be too soon! But I just KNOW there will be so many more of these before the 28 days is over...... :'o(

It was all washed down with an interval session comprising of 30 seconds each for 3 exercises then a 60 second rest - 6 times.

I must admit I finished on a high - albeit a hot and sweaty one!

I must be getting into the MIM groove now as I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow's session AND I already know what it is!

DAY 3 - May 22, 2009

Day 3 - Measurement Day - no changes at all so I won't bother typing them all again, however, there are photos today.....not pretty! Definitely room for improvement and, hopefully, improvement will be made.

I'm feeling rather battered and bruised.....I've never actually been thrown down a flight of stairs but I'm pretty sure I know how it feels!

Today's session beat the stuffing out of my quads* with 3 exercises of 4 sets at the rep ranges as used before - the last exercise was squat jumps! I used to really like Dax but you know how you can go off some people...... ;o)

Then there was a quite agreeable chest and back Super Set pairing of 4 sets of exercises each repeated 4 times the chest exercise being bench presses all the way through with various back exercises. I just felt numb by the end.

We finished off with a refreshing core workout which has left me unable to take a deep breath, sneeze, cough or laugh.

As you can probably gather I am moving rather slowly and carefully at the moment and I'm really looking forward to a soak in a lovely bubble bath the downer being that I will probably have to be winched out!

Oh the JOY of MIM Elite!

*Oh yes, I just wanted to explain that the gym I use (Peak Fitness in Woking) is on the first floor so entering is never a problem but after today's MIM Elite I had to come down the stairs backwards! OUCH!

DAY 2 - May 21, 2009

So, day 2 started with a biceps/triceps Super Set (yes, 8 times), then onto the shoulders with 4 sets each of 3 exercises using the same 4-6, 8-12 and 40 rep ranges. I can tell you that after 4 sets of 40 lat raises I just wanted to cry - and the final 30 reps were done with 1kg AND I nearly didn't make it!

Then we moved onto the CV work - Tabatas today! Now usually I like Tabata training, however, when one of the exercises you're doing is squat jumps........

I know I just have to grit my teeth and get on with it - I remember from my first MIM challenge that the first few days are the worst and then you just kind of get into the flow....

Photos and measurements tomorrow - EEEK!

DAY 1 - May 20, 2009

Hi! So here we are again with another Muscle In a Month challenge - this time an "elite" version - EEEK!

Once again it has been devised by the Mad Genius (a.k.a. Dax Moy).

What makes it elite? Well, this time Dax has added some H.I.I.T. (High Intensity Interval Training) YIPPEE!! as well as following Dax's Elimination Diet which he's tweaked with regard to our carb intake.

Dax has asked us to blog daily - I'm a bit late with this - and we'll be posting our stats and photos every 3 days.

So, my starting measurements are as follows:-

Weight: 11st 6.5lb
Shoulders: 43"
Chest: 37"
Arms: L: 12" R: 12"
Waist: 32"
Hips: 42"
Thighs: L: 25.25" / 20" R: 25.25" / 19.5"
Calfs: L: 15" R: 15"

Sorry but I don't have any starting pictures (actually, if you've seen my other pictures it's quite a relief that there aren't any photos!).

Today's session concentrated on chest and back - a delightful Super Set repeated 8 - yes 8 - times! Followed by an equally lovely combination of 3 hamstring exercises (4 sets of 4-6 reps, 8-12 reps and 40 reps) then the same structure of sets/reps for the core and that was polished off with some H.I.I.T. which consisted of 8 rounds of skipping and shadow boxing.

Pooped or what!

DOMS had set in before I'd even left the gym!

BRING IT ON!