I’d spent a bit of time thinking about what I wanted to achieve by the end of the eight week program. I’m a big believer in setting challenging but smart goals. I like to have something to aim for. It helps me to focus and makes me work harder. Before I went for my testing and goals setting session, I had two main goals. To lose at least a stone in weight, have more defined arms, legs and stomach and to be able to do pull ups.
Lose weight
Basically I want to look amazing for the summer and have a great bikini body! After sitting and talking with Scooby it became apparent, I’ve got totally opposite goals, I want to lose weight and build strength at the same time. This is not going to happen! What I’ve learnt is it’s not about the weight on the scales, it about your measurements. You can lose fat and replace that fat with muscle. So you can still weigh the same but end up looking much fitter as you’ve got more muscle definition. You can even end up weighing more but still looking better, as you’re smaller overall.
Do pull ups (unassisted – 6?)
One of my ambitions is to do lots of pull up in a row. This is a challenging one, as you need to be able to lift all your body weight by just using your arms and back muscles. At the moment I have no upper body strength and even my push ups are poor. I can do one or two pull ups with a support band, but that’s it.
Scooby thinks it will take eight weeks before I’ll be able to do one unassisted pull up! It sounds like a long time, before I‘ll able to do one! But everyone needs to start somewhere, and once you’ve done one, there’s only one way to go.
So after having a realistic conversation about my goals they have changed. The main goals are to get fitter, stronger and to build more muscle tone and definition. If I need to put more weight on to do that, then so be it! My new pull up goal is to be able to do one unassisted pull up at the end of the eight weeks.
Testing
Scooby ran a testing session to find out what my strength, flexibility and power was like. This would help to give him a base line on which to start, and to enable us to monitor my progress.
Lifting – testing my strength was done by using the trap bar. More weight would be added each time; I would do one rep and then have a rest. I managed to lift 65 kg, not sure if this is good or not!
Power – was measured with the help of the computer, by doing jumping squads on a mat, it would tell you how much power you had when you landed. I stepped onto the map, squatted down (straight back, hands on hips) and when he said jump, I would jump!
Flexibility – lie down with your back on the mat. Keeping both legs straight, lift one leg as slowly as you can up in the air. We did this on both sides. To be honest I’m pretty flexible as I do yoga, so didn’t have any problems with this.
Push ups. I lay face down on the mat with my hands together by the bridge of my nose and then bringing them out parallel. I would then have to push myself off the floor. I was ok for the first one, but on the second one, I could hardly lift my body up. This was to test how parallel you can remain while lifting your own body. E.g. would you use more upper body strength or lower body strength to do the move? I don’t think I used any strength, I was useless!
Metabolic Training – 4 tests – each to be done for 40 seconds with a 30 second break
Squats with a 10 lbs sandbag
TRX Pulls – With your feet against the wall and using the TRX. I had to pull myself up to chest height. The reps only counted if you got your hands to your chest.
Box jumps - Jump on the top of the box with both feet and then step down with alternate legs.
Kettle Bell Lifts – 8 kg kettle bells in each hand. Hold them at shoulder height and then push them up into the air, as many reps as possible. I would squat down a little to use my leg strength to lift the kettle bells up.
My plan for the weeks going forward would be one personal training session, three strength sessions, one cardio session and two rest days per week.
I’m ready to go and get started on my program. I’ve got realistic goals, my timetable and I know what I need to do. Let’s do this!!