Let's Talk Workouts

In the spirit of catching up, let’s talk workouts.

Last you heard, I was in the beginning weeks of T25. Since that was forever ago, I’m happy to announce that I “successfully” completed the Alpha cycle of the program. I say “successfully” because this five week series is designed to completely and totally annihilate you. And it did. Every. Damn. Day. By the end of the training schedule, I still felt like I couldn’t do all of the moves either at the speed of the people in the video or without modification.

For that reason, I considered repeating the Alpha videos in order to master all of the moves. I didn’t feel right moving forward without being an expert at the “foundation” videos. On the other hand, I did have some hesitation about what would be ten weeks of doing the same exercises—albeit in different order. I didn’t want my body to adapt too much, and despite the difficulty of the moves, I wanted to avoid plateauing in some weird, super sweaty but stagnant sort of way.

So, after some consultation with my T25 support group (yes, we exist), and for the sake of muscle confusion, I decided to move on to the Beta phase. And I’m now wrapping up my third week!  Woot.

But back to Alpha.

Many of you have seen the infomercials, and therefore, you’ve seen the crazy body transformations of some of the participants. Well, I’ll be the first to tell you—that’s, unfortunately, not been the case for me thus far. Not for lack of the intensity of the program or applied effort on my part. Just because my body is as determined not to change as my mind is determined to force it to. It’s seriously World War III up in here.

So while I don’t look all skinny minny and jacked (yet), I can still say that my fitness has progressed immensely since starting this program. Alpha is designed to be your “foundation,” from which you build strength, increase coordination, and gain stability and flexibility. I think it’s safe to say that it’s mission accomplished on these fronts. Here’s what I think were my greatest challenges and victories pre-and-post Alpha:

Challenges: Early Alpha

·        Modifying half of each video due to exercises being too fast or too demanding of strength to keep up.

·        Jumping! There is lots of jumping in these videos, which would physically hurt my body (read: knees and feet) by the end of each workout.

·        Damnit, stop asking me to keep my knees above my waist on all these moves. It. Sucks.

·        Flailing around like an idiot. As the exercises in Alpha are designed to work multiple muscle groups simultaneously, these moves require a relatively high degree of coordination, and thus mental focus. For the first few weeks, I felt like a puppy trying to learn how to run—my hind limbs crossing over my front limbs…tipping over instead of landing gracefully…just a hot mess.

Fail.  Source.

 

Victories: End of Alpha

·        Modifying only some parts of some moves. Probably no than 15% of each video. Pace still slower at times, but clear increase in strength. Particularly chest and core.

·        Jump endurance! Still rough toward the end of each workout, but my body developed an ability to sustain high impact movements.

·        Whuddup, hip flexor flexibility?!?!

·        Some degree of coordination. Mainly because I became super familiar with each video’s moves, so I was able to predict and prepare for whatever exercise was coming up next. I’d like to think that I now look like a T25 gazelle. But I actually probably look like an adolescent puppy, who figured my sh*t out enough to actually get from point A to B. Even if you look like a bull in a china shop doing it.

·        SURVIVAL. The ultimate victory.

All said and done, Alpha was, and still probably is, a complete ass whooping. While I suffered through most of it, it’s pretty cool to look back and see how my body gained ability super-sneakily. I have a tendency to focus on what I didn’t do, rather than what I accomplished—especially because set backs are immediate and progress is gradual. And hey, it’s hard to see the forest through all these damn trees! GET OUTTA MY WAY, TREES!!!!

So now, I’m now bushwhacking my way through Beta. I’ve got another two weeks to go, and it’s full-on beast mode up in here.

Speaking of, it’s off to the gym for me! Cheers to the weekend, and here’s your cat photo du jour.

Come hither and pet my tummy. You might also get your hand chewed.