It’s the morning of my Day 5 Personal Fitness Challenge and I thought now would be a good time to give a recap of the previous four days.
The Bodyweight Exercise Revolution (aff) breaks the exercise routine down to four different workouts over four days. Then you repeat the sequence seven times so I’ve now finished my first sequence. They call in 4X7 and I am now complete with phase 1.
The original post on Wednesday had it as a 31 Day Personal Fitness Challenge, but since I have a Triathlon on the 32nd day, I’ve since read that it’s best to really scale the intensity back the last several days before a race. So, I’d expect that those last few days I’ll just be doing some simple stretching and Yoga to clean out the lactic acid build-up in the limbs.
Here’s a quick recap of Days 1 – 4.
Day 1 – July 7th (Picture in prior post)
As this was the first day of the challenge I was just beginning to learn the ropes. I started the day at 189.5 lbs.
The Workout
The Bodyweight Exercise Revolution has you doing what is called a “No Intensity” workout, which is essentially, starting with neck rotations and working your way slowly rotating or moving every section of your body from head to toe. 17 different exercises are involved.
I worked from home on Day One so I did a 1.75 mile run during my lunch hour. I would like to have run longer but I had meetings staggered around my lunch time.
The Diet
Yes, I’m a vegetarian. No, that doesn’t mean I eat healthy. My “Diet” is terrible. I always grab what is convenient. My first goal has always been to stop the hunger with whatever is near by. This is one of the things I really hope to work on through this challenge.
Breakfast
- 2 Cups coffee with cream
- 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with butter and cinnamon
Lunch
- 1 Cup of coffee (yeah, I drink a lot of coffee)
- 8 oz watermelon
- 16 oz Macaroni Salad
- Small black tea (cream and sugar)
Dinner and Beyond
- Egg and Cheese on an english muffin
- Veggie Pot Pie
- 3 Brownies (freshly made…doh…)
- A slice of Key Lime Pie with whip cream
_______________________________
Day 2 July 8th
I’m used to the swim and the bike since I was training for a few weeks prior to my July 3rd triathlon. But still, every morning my legs are sore and tight. Not surprisingly, after what I ate yesterday, I started the day at 190.5 lbs. I also think my scale is about as accurate as the local weather man but I’m not buying a new scale for this.
The Workout
The second day of the The Bodyweight Exercise Revolution four day cycle is a low intensity day. It involves about 19 poses of Prasara Yoga, each held for five breaths, then repeating the cycle for a total of five times.
I again rode my bike to work as it was a beautiful day and I caught a swim on launch. Same as day 1…11 miles bike, 400 meters swim. I noticed that I actually felt more powerful taking the three hills on the bike that are part of my commute. I think this is simply from doing the bike repeatedly over the last four weeks.
The Diet
Breakfast
- 2 Cups of coffee (then I took off for work on my bike)
- Banana, one slice breakfast pizza with egg and cheddar, cup of coffee (did I mention I drink a lot of coffee?)
Lunch
- Egg Salad sandwich on whole wheat (swiss, lettuce, tomato)
- Single serving bag of ruffles potato chips
- Apple
Dinner
- 2 bowls of Strawberry Yogurt Cheerios w/whole milk
- 2 brownies (stoopit brownies) with a small glass of milk
_______________________________
Day 3 July 9th
Thunderstorms all day, so the bike was out of the picture. I’m not equipped to protect my work clothing and work laptop on the ride. Also, no swim today because we had a going away lunch for a coworker. This actually bummed me out, but it’s a reality of life. I started the day at 190lbs.
The Workout
The third day of the The Bodyweight Exercise Revolution four day cycle is a medium intensity day. It involves five rounds of three compound bodyweight exercises with a one minute rest between each round.
I learned that my body hates doing weight-type workouts in the morning. I couldn’t even come close to the minimum workout. The chart below shows what I should have been doing in column one, versus what I was able to do.
| Exercise | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 |
| Trinity Squat (30x) | 25 | 25 | 20 | 10 | 10 |
| Spinal Rock 10x | 10 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 2 |
| Screwing Arm Press 10x | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
The Spinal Rock I was not even able to do a single rep appropriately. I don’t have the core body strength yet to keep me legs flat on the ground while raising my torso from a lying position. I assume this will get a little easier with repeated practice but right now, I suck.
The Diet
Breakfast
- 2 Cups of coffee
- Biscuit with egg and cheese & a hashborwn
Lunch
- More coffee anyone? I’m not so addicted to the caffeine as I am the taste.
- Spaghetti Parmesan with no sauce since the sauce that was ordered had meat in it.
- 2 pieces of italian bread with butter.
Dinner
- 1 Guinness beer
- Pint of Veggie Lo Mein
- 1 Veggie Egg Roll
- Izze Grapefruit Juice (Carbonated)
- One brownie (will this pan ever be empty?)
_______________________________
Day 4 July 10th
Being a non-work day, I spent several hours of the morning doing yard work as evidenced by the painful sun burn that I am now sporting. I started the day at 191 lbs. I’m fully aware that my diet needs a lot of work. Can we simply say that I know what I should be eating but am too lazy to do it?
The Workout
The fourth day of the The Bodyweight Exercise Revolution four day cycle is a high intensity day. It involves about four exercises, repeated for eight rounds. Ten seconds rest between each exercise and twenty seconds between each round.
I swam 400 meters earlier in the day, and then tried to do my High Intensity exercises out in the sun because the second exercise involves jumping and my house isn’t set up for me to do that. So…I so utterly f*cked up this workout that I may as well have NOT tried. But I did try, so hopefully it will set me up to improve for the next time I do this workout.
| Exercise | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8 |
| Mountain Climbers for 20 sec. | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reactive Jumps for 20 sec. | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leg Swoops for 20 sec. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Quad Hop | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The Diet
Breakfast
- 2 Cups of coffee (then I took off for work on my bike)
- 2 Bowls of Cheerios
Lunch
- Veggie Rice pint
- 2 pieces of toast with cinnamon butter
- IZZE Grapefruit Drink
Dinner
- 2 small bowls of homemade Minestrone Soup
- 2 handfuls of Cheddar Chex mix
- 1 Brownie (THE LAST BROWNIE!)
- Ice Cream Sandwich
Final Notes
The first four days have proven that I have the body strength of an 18 month old girl. The bike rides, runs, and swims I am used to and am fine with, though I will continue to increase the intensity with each work out but I am WEAK.
The The Bodyweight Exercise Revolution comes with several variations of workouts, some for Hypertrophy, Longevity, Fat Loss, and the one that I am working with, General Athleticism. I could probably get better results by reigning in my “diet” and doing the fat loss videos but my reason for doing this is to improve my fitness for the next triathlon, August 7th.
I hope this inside view helps out some people. I’ll report again mid-week with the next cycle and hopefully sandwich another article in between. For those of you accustomed to reading the Tao Project updates each Sunday, I will return with those next week.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Hey Charlie,
Kudos for the fitness challenge!
I’m worried about the food intake. You’re starving yourself. Is this what that book recommends?
The problem with starving yourself to lose weight is that not only is it not sustainable, but when you go off the diet you’ll go crazy eating lots of junk to make up for all the junk you “missed.”
I guarantee that if you ate all the fruits/veggies/beans/rice/salads/oatmeal you could possibly eat you’d still lose weight. Add in working out and you’re golden. Bonus benefit: eating these whole foods will cut out cravings for junk. It’s impossible to explain unless you do it.
Cheers,
Karol
{ 2 trackbacks }