Well the week flew by! On to week 8

10: 10 a.m. - 20 MAS (HIIT) w/

Ab bootcamp:

CIRCUIT PROGRAM
Lower Ab Crunch 15 reps—no rest
Leg Raise/Hip Up 15 reps—no rest
Side Crunch 15 reps (each side)—no rest
Knee Up 15 reps—no rest
Decline Crunch 15 reps—no rest

ACTIVE REST (two to three minutes)
Basic Ab Stretch
Side Bends
Stomach Vacuums

all done x3

Finished up with 15 decline crunches w/ 10 lb plate

Have reworked the exercise for the next 3 weeks which will take me right up to Cuba. And I hear they have a nice weight room at the resort

Nat

9:40 a.m. LBWO - 35 minutes

Leg Ext.
12 x 85 lbs
10 x 95 lbs
8 x 105 lbs
6 x 115 lbs (8)
20 x 95 lbs (9)

Squats:
12 x 54 lbs (9)

Hamstring Curls:
12 x 50 lbs
10 x 55 lbs
8 x 60 lbs
6 x 70 lbs (8)
12 x 60 lbs (9)

Lunges:
13 x 30 lbs (10)

Single Calf Raises (bent leg)
12 x 10 lbs
10 x 15 lbs
8 x 20 lbs
6 x 29 lbs (7)
15 x 20 lbs (8)

Ang. Calf Raises (bent leg)
12 x 54 lbs (9)

Really felt the burn while doing the hamstring curls, and after the leg exts I could feel the squats like never before. Looking forward to the deltoid torture I have planned for New Years Day.

Nat

Hmmm ... you should be sporting some suitable attire for the occasion .. perhaps a push-up bra/thong ensemble in red leatherette.



Auntie Do

Alas, Santa did not bring me the outfit I had my heart set on, Do There's always next year - or Valentine's Day!!

Thanks for the chuckle,
Nat

8: 45 a.m. - 20 MAS (HIIT) w/

Ab bootcamp:

CIRCUIT PROGRAM
Lower Ab Crunch 15 reps—no rest
Leg Raise/Hip Up 15 reps—no rest
Side Crunch 15 reps (each side)—no rest
Knee Up 15 reps—no rest
Decline Crunch 15 reps—no rest

ACTIVE REST (two to three minutes)
Basic Ab Stretch
Side Bends
Stomach Vacuums

all done x2 and 20 decline sit ups added in for good measure

Sore back from the tanning - could not complete the 3rd round of floor crunches so I improvised.

Nat

New UBWO - felt great!

10:01 a.m.

Chest:
Decline Press
12 x 36 lbs
10 x 46 lbs
8 x 56 lbs
6 x 71 lbs (8)
12 x 61 lbs (8)

Incline Flyes
14 x 30 (8)

Shoulders:
DB Upright Rows
12 x 14 lbs
10 x 20 lbs
8 x 30 lbs
6 x 40 bls (8)
12 x 20 lbs (8)

Front to Side Raises
12 x 20 lbs (9)

Rear Lateral Raises
12 x 20 lbs (10)

Back:
DB Lying Row:
12 x 20 lbs
10 x 30 lbs
8 x 40 lbs
6 x 54 lbs (8)
15 x 40 lbs (9)

Shrug
16 x 54 lbs (10)

Triceps:
Bench dips
12x, 10x, 8x, 6x (8), 12x (9)

One Armed extensions
20 x 10 lbs (10)

Biceps:
Incline curls
12x 14 lbs
10 x 20 lbs
8 x 20 lbs
6 x 30 lbs (8)
16 x 20 lbs (9)

Standing Curls:
12 x 31 lbs (9)

Preacher Curls:
12 x 31 lbs (10)

either I am getting stronger or incline flyes are a lot easier to do than regular ones; 15 lb weights were not heavy enough! And boy they arent kidding when they say you can lift more on a decline press! Will be upping weights for next workout. Amazed that the bench dips were no where near as tough as I thought they would be.

All in all a great workout; adding the extra moves for the biceps and shoulders didnt increase time much either; took 61 minutes. Should be able to shave a good 15 minutes off the next workout.

Nat

I am going to start BFL on Jan. 6 -- any advice? Anything that has worked well or not worked? What is your food plan -- are you following PP, Atkins, or BFL? Do you take the 'day off' from BFL?

I would appreciate any suggestions.

Thanks,

Hi Peg. You can see the menu I follow in detail in my regular journal - I post every day with the calorie/protein/carb breakdown. I am following the BFL workouts and eating PP at about 50-60g of carbs a day. I do take a 'day off' (Saturday for me) but I don't use it to eat anything I want - rather it's more of a "don't have to eat 6 meals today' kind of day, consequently I tend to eat less on free days.

Have you checked out the following links? www.leanandstrong.com (good workout advice) www.bodychangers.com (good motivation) and go peak in at Jon's Daily Punishment - He was the first to start BFL on this forum and was my inspiration; I asked him a lot of questions and his advice will help you as well.

Best of luck,
Nat

5: 45 a.m. - 20 MAS (HIIT) w/

Ab bootcamp:

CIRCUIT PROGRAM
Lower Ab Crunch 15 reps—no rest w/ 7 lbs
Leg Raise/Hip Up 15 reps—no rest
Side Crunch 15 reps (each side)—no rest
Knee Up 15 reps—no rest
Floor Crunch 15 reps—no rest

ACTIVE REST (two to three minutes)
Basic Ab Stretch
Side Bends
Stomach Vacuums

All done 3x

Feeling good, body temp up again this morning 98.3.

Nat

5:45 a.m. LBWO - 45 minutes

Leg Ext.
12 x 90 lbs
10 x 100 lbs
8 x 110 lbs
6 x 120 lbs (8)
12 x 110 lbs (8)

Squats:
20 x 54 lbs (10)

Hamstring Curls:
12 x 55 lbs
10 x 65 lbs
8 x 75 lbs
6 x 80 lbs (9)
12 x 65 lbs (9)

Lunges:
12 x 30 lbs (10)

Single Calf Raises (bent leg)
12 x 15 lbs
10 x 20 lbs
8 x 27 lbs
6 x 27 lbs (8)
20 x 20 lbs (9)

Ang. Calf Raises (bent leg)
24 x 54 lbs (9)

Well the lunges are definitely getting easier. Time to move on to 40 lbs? or maybe 36? Hamstring curls are great... I love these.

Nat

5: 50 a.m. - 20 MAS (HIIT) w/

Ab bootcamp:

CIRCUIT PROGRAM
Lower Ab Crunch 15 reps—no rest w/ 5 lbs
Leg Raise/Hip Up 15 reps—no rest
Side Crunch 15 reps (each side)—no rest
Floor Crunch 15 reps—no rest

ACTIVE REST (two to three minutes)
Basic Ab Stretch
Side Bends
Stomach Vacuums

All done 3x

And thus ends Week 8!!! Will weigh and measure over the weekend - but I can tell there has been some change from the past two weeks - these jeans fit better and are baggier around the legs.


Nat

P.S. there you go Lisa!

AAAaarrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggg It's free day and all I want to do is workout!!! I will have to settle for some Max Weight tests later when John is home to spot me (if we have time) and I'm going to see how many regular push ups I can do today. I am going to measure and weigh tomorrow - but I can see a difference - it's just in weird places this week! I gotta say though, there's nothing like running your hands down the front of your thighs and feeling muscle - w/o flexing!!!!

My plan for the next few weeks is to continue on with this 12 week challenge and based on how I do in Cuba (they have a weight room and I am an early riser even on holidays) I'll either finish this 12 weeks or start a new challenge the first week in February. Pics and all!

Nat

After finding it tough keeping two journals I stopped with the gym log last week. This week there wouldnt be much to update had I continued on - the flu has taken over. On the best advice I will be taking a few days off to recouperate - Week 11 will be spent in Cuba. I do plan on finishing this 12 week challenge (I have actually only missed one workout - todays 20 MAS) and I'll probably update a few workouts when I am back at the end of January.

For now though, this is it.

Best of luck everyone.

Nat

Just to keep track, the results of Challenge 1.

Inches Lost:
Waist 4.75
Hips 4.55
Thigh .25
Arm Left .25
Arm Right .5
Neck .5
Wrist .2
Calves . 75
Under bust .1.5
Total lost: 13.2 inches

Week 1 - 12:
Muscle Gained: 2lbs
Fat Lost: 19 lbs
weight difference: 17 lbs (195lbs to 178lbs)
% of BF lost: 7.60%

Tomorrow begins C2W1D1.
Nat

Yay Nat!!! Are you going to keep up with your log? Can't wait to see what's coming up for you next!

Lisa