Really quick post

Had a pretty long day so I don't have a lot of time to make a post. I just wanted to say I played some frisbee today and hurt my hand, the frisbee repeatedly hit the same spot and now I have a swollen bruise. I hope it doesn't make gripping the resistance bands and push up bars hurt too much.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

I'll post more tomorrow

New Workout and Progress

So everybody without further ado here is my Week 3 (That's right Week 3!) workout. I'm gonna post the minimum-maximum (which isn't rally a max since we can work to failure) and after in parentheses  what I plan to be able to do, since some workout I cannot do to the max yet.

Workout 1

Jump-rope - 1500 (max)

Squats - 4x10-15 (max)

Incline Pull-up - 5x4-8 (8-8-8-8-5)

Push-up - 5x8-12 (12-12-12-10-10)

Curl - 4x10 (max)

Side Shoulder-fly - 4x10-15 (12-12-12-12)

Sit-up - 4x15-20 (max)

Workout 2

Lunge - 4x10-15 (max)

Lawnmower - 4x5-8 (don't know yet but I think max)

Chest-fly - 4x10-15  (max)

Ski Jumper - 3x8-10 (max)

Shoulder Press - 4x10-15 (don;t know yet probably in the middle my shoulders need work)

Leg-up - 4x10-15 (max, barely)

So I mentioned that I was gonna keep track of my measurements over the weeks. I wish I had the resources and time to also eep track of body fat percentage and measurements of muscles  when flexed but I have myself to measure myself so here are my updated measurements so far on Day 15!

Weight - 144lbs (down 4lbs)
Waist - 31.5" (down .5")
Stomach - 32.25" (down .75")

Chest - 36" (down .5")
Thighs - 20" (up 1")
Calves - 13.5" (same)
Biceps - 12.5" (same)
Forearms - 10.5" (same)

Results: It seems our intentional quad building has worked! Also places that had fat have shrunk! And my smaller muscles groups and always lean parts of my body (arms and claves) have not changed, understandably since we have only had one week to work on them and they should not shrink since I had very little fat there. My sister and I joke it's a Belle-Isle curse to put all fat on your stomach. It's true, trust me.

Alright I'm off to clean up after my workout. 

PCP advice of the day: Don't jump at night when it humid, reason = mosquitos 

Have a nice night world!

Just a quick post

Hey guys. Just wanted to say I am really feeling good and can't believe 2 weeks are now over! The mind is really funny, when we are busy time goes really fast in the moment, but in retrospect seems to have been forever. And when we have little to do in the moment time seems to drag but in retrospect went very fast. 

I look back on this week with pride at how much I have already accomplished. I am so grateful to be here and to have all of you sharing in this experience. Amy, Adrian, Emiko, Tim, and Patrick it's so great to have each other to make a fitness based community around here on our blogs. Thanks so much for the encouragement. That also goes for my family and friends who are reading this blog. Thank you.

So anyway my diet changes as of tomorrow. Our last week of "Stuff our face" diets were to get our metabolisms up to light-speed, and used to burning healthy amounts of healthy food. We are now trimming portions of our diets down so that our body can burn it's excess fat (which as Patrick said in his closing PCP post, even skinny people have, but it's in the muscle tissue). He also emphasized that we "eat our snacks" as naturally these will keep our metabolisms burning from dawn till dusk without stopping to "store" fat.

So here is the new diet

Breakfast  100g carb 100g veg 1egg 150ml yogurt (down 50g carb)

Morning snack  100g fruit

Lunch  150g carb 150g veg 150g meat

Afternoon tea 100g fruit

Dinner 100g meat 100g veg 100g fruit (down 50g veg & meat)

Night tea 1egg white 150ml milk (down 50ml milk & 1 banana)

There you have it!

Have a nice night everyone!

Some PCP Observations.

So I have been noticing some things and I thought to post them here in a little interesting list. So here goes!

1. Reflexes - I thought it was a coincidence at first but there are multiple times a day that I realize I have sharper reflexes than usual. I manage to catch something I drop or react to something out of the corner of my eye better than usual. I think it is definitely a PCP side-effect and I hope it improves more!

2. Contentment - I have been a lot more content. I think this is due to lack of boredom. I'm getting a lot of exercise, eating a lot of good food, and resting well. Nothing could be better. I wish I had a way to work at home so I could have even less stress and be more self-sufficient. I haven't watched TV or done something pointless on the computer since the project started and you know what? I don't miss it. My recreation is c=solely reading, studying,  having a good time with friends. I hope that after the project I will have more time for my art I barely get to pick up a brush once a month now it's terrible! But I will remedy that in time.

3. Creativity - The fact I am accomplishing what feels like a TON right now has given me so much creative inspiration. I can see why "lazy" Patrick has found the need to start more projects I already have been formulating some post-PCP projects in my head and I hope I really get to tackle at least a few of them.

So that's a couple things I have for now. More (many more) to come in the future.

Oh and one side-note. In our e-mail form Patrick today he said that if possible we should do or last sets to muscle failure. Crazy right!? The PCP1 group did not do this until their last month or so. I'm gonna do it and hope it for the best.

Mainly because I loathe the inch or so of fat left on  my stomach and want it to be gone! ASAP!

Thanks for reading everyone! Have a wonderful night's rest

A Couple Random Thoughts

So my Dad and I were driving around the other day and we noticed many more people running/biking/jogging/walking/hobbling along the road than usual. We came to the conclusion that they are "Olympians." Many people have been encouraged by the feats of athleticism at the recent Olympic events and are in turn motivated to give getting in shape another go. This of course is a great side-effect. I just wish more people stopped "forcing" themselves to be healthy and actually enjoyed it. The faces people make when they run border between hilarious and pitiful. But I can sympathize I have never been a runner, but now I'm a jumper!

Also on the topic of Olympians it really upsets me that any one of them would take any amount of money to be in an ad for McDonald's. All the good they do for the world by being a fitness example is shot down when they make people think they not only eat McDonald's but that they enjoy it and it is food of "Olympians." Gimme a break they should be ashamed.

And finally Usain Bolt is crazy. They man could chase down a gazelle, seriously.

He could.

So I tried the "official" boxing jump today, It's when you basically run in place and for every step of a foot the rope passes under. I tell you what, it is WAY easier to get winded like that. Your arms have to go twice as fast to keep up but once you get the rhythm it's much harder to trip over the rope and you can do many in a row no problem. The problem is I don't have the cardio skills to do sets of 100 I start to get winded around 50. It's a goal of mine to work up to that slowly though.

Anyway I'm off for my night tea. Have a good night everyone.

Seriously though, he could catch a Gazelle and kill it, with his teeth. 

Like a cheetah.

Bees!

So I was doing my jumps this morning outside and I had the great pleasure of snapping some shots of some bees (Honey Bees and Bumble-bees I think) I hope you enjoy the shots down at the bottom!

So anyway I am totally surprised at how fast my cardio-abilities are improving. I did all 1000 jumps today in sets of 200 and I didn't get winded in the least I think I hit the perfect pace all the way through. 

So a little update on how my workouts are doing. I am doing really good with most thing but cant hit the max range of the reps we were given on 4 exercises. I'm not to worried because I can hit any where in the range we are allowed OK so I'm not falling behind. But the 3 I am having the most difficulty with are the pull-ups (first time I did them I had my hand the wrong way and they were a lot easier that way) the curls I can get max reps on 2 sets, and both shoulder-flys (forward and side) I can only get max on the first set. So it seems my shoulders biceps and back need the most work right now.

Hopefully I will see just as much progress there as I have with my Jump-roping.

So Have a great day everyone enjoy these little creatures as much as I did!

David Belle

So as everyone know (or maybe you don't) my Hero for the PCP is David Belle. I thought I would take a little time to tell show you some things about him so you can respect the discipline he follows as much as I do. The work he does is incredible and I feel he is someone who has the PCP mindset and body. So enjoy a couple of these vids!

This one is some highlight's of his work. Gives me chills.

This is an interview with David. It's translated with subtitles but the fact he can talk at all while doing this stuff is . . . insane.

So enjoy the vids. Have a nice day everyone I hope the sun is shining where you are. If not make it shine!