This post will be updated for days 15 – 21 of this challenge.
Click here for week two’s updates of this challenge.
I’m very much going at my own pace for this challenge so my dates and days are not always going to align with the schedule. The current plan is to exercise every weekday and form a routine based off it. I’ve noticed increased motivation and improved productivity since I’ve started doing this this week (check out my week two’s updates for full details) so we’ll see how long I can continue with it.
Feel free to check this post for updates during the week! I was considering adding a new post per day because I had previously been updating so infrequently, but since I already have this format in place for the previous two weeks of the challenge I’ll just continue it for now.
It’s Friday but I’m starting Week 3 of the challenge. Let’s just say… it was not the best idea I’ve ever had in my life.
Week Three
2/11 – Day 15: Completed 12:08.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Full Body Burn, Flat Stomach Abs, 15min Cooldown.
You know… the one recurring thought that I had going through my mind for the entire duration of that full body burn video was, “It must have been far too long since I last did this video because I don’t remember doing anything this crazy at all.” Did I just completely block it out of my memory? What happened? When was it that level of intense?!
I mean… I wasn’t thrilled with it starting with breakdancing and floor work, but I dealt with it. Then when I saw the burpees I was immediately like, “Wait, this isn’t the video I thought it was. As far as I was aware, burpees involved jumping.” That’s when I realised… when I had been looking forward to this video yesterday, I had thought it was the Full Body No Jumping video. And then the real crazy exercises started coming in.
I was not ready for it.
180 Degree Burpees?! You think one set of burpees wasn’t enough already?? Squat kicks?? Single Leg Tucks? I mean, give it a cute name but you’re still asking us to start levitating, woman!
The most shocking part was where I found my own comment where I claimed to be “bopping so hard” at the 2020 Summer Shred song, as if I’d already done this workout, but I realised later that I just meant I was bopping to it while I was watching it when it first came out, because my follow up comment suggested that I hadn’t done it yet because I was working through the WLC at my own pace.
(Also, spoiler alert: I was not “bopping” when the song came up while I was actually doing the video. I was very much not bopping because I was more or less sprawled out on the floor, immobile in a pool of my own sweat. Delightful imagery, I know.)
It turns out that Day 15 was this video’s release date. This would have been the first time I ever attempted this video. Makes a lot more sense now. To be fair, it also makes sense that Chloe starts week 3 off a bit more intensely. It’s supposed to follow a rest day. That’s the intended way of doing the Challenge. I get it. But that’s not what I’m doing right now and, can I just say, “OWWWWW?!”
In a way, I am thankful (?) that I thought it was a different video and so I felt strong enough to tackle it, otherwise I might have just panicked and not bothered to exercise today. So there’s that.
I mean, I think I did okay overall. I was definitely getting drained in energy starting at the half way point, so I very much appreciated the restful jogs (never thought I’d hear those two words come out of my mouth alongside one another and mean it unironically).
I know I wasn’t able to do as well as I probably could have had I taken the intended breaks. Doing this video to end 4 straight days of workouts was really a bit much given that my body isn’t rested, but I was still happy with how I pushed through regardless.
Not gonna lie, getting through the abs video after already doing planks and having ended the full body burn with abs exercises was not fun. Bleh. I think I would have been able to do better if my abs weren’t this sore already, but no worries, I’ll continue to improve.
The weekends will be my rest days, so since it’s the end of an intense week of workouts, I decided to do Chloe’s longer cooldown. I enjoyed the stretches and am very much looking forward to resting my body over the next couple of days.
2/14 – Day 16: Completed 11:41.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, 10min Upper Body & Core, 10min Arms & Abs, 10min Abs, 5min Cooldown.
Sooo… I ate like a hog this weekend (thanks, Valentine’s Day! Ngl I totally forgot it was Valentine’s weekend when we went out for lunch on Saturday, then Jacky made us a delicious seared lamb dinner last night) and exercised not at all. I thoroughly enjoyed my rest, but I’m pretty sure I gained weight, unsurprisingly.
I mean, it’s to be expected. One can’t possibly expect to eat masses of junk and still lose weight just because one is doing a 30min workout a few times a week. If I’m still eating in a caloric surplus, I can expect to gain weight. Not as much weight as I would had I not exercised, but still gain nonetheless.
Plus I’m bloated as my time of the month is coming up very shortly. Speaking of which, I was feeling very weak today. I almost considered skipping the workout as I didn’t sleep well last night (woke up multiple times) and general period weakness, but discipline and new routine set in! I still did my workout, woo! Proud.
Even more proud for finishing all three videos, despite almost wanting to give up during the first video. Man, they felt difficult today! I’m sure if I did these again after my period I’d be fine because I was so weak I almost found the warm up too hard. I do love the variety though, I am not a fan of repeating videos too many times, and I think this is the first Challenge I’ve done where there is so much and such a great variety of videos every day.
Overall it wasn’t too bad in the end, though there were many, many moments of distress throughout. I figured instead of a single ending photo I’ll give you guys some screenshots from the video I took of my workout today. And yes, I did re-contemplate my life choices… many times throughout. Enjoy.
2/15 – Day 17: Completed 11:58.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Full Body No Jumping, 10min Fat Burn, 5min Cooldown.
Oh man, today I was so hyped! Okay so, to be fair, I started off kind of not wanting to do my workout. I slept in until 9:30am today so my entire morning routine was delayed by an hour, which kind of made me want to skip the workout. BUT! Discipline kicked in so I checked out the videos for today… gosh am I glad I did!
As soon as I saw it was the full body no jumping video I was so excited I ran to get changed into my fitness clothes. Haha, who knew that video would be so motivating to me? I just remember it being really doable while challenging and enjoyable all at the same time, and I am a huge fan of not having to click on too many videos a day.
We only had 2 videos today, and the workout just flew by. I enjoyed the no jumping video as usual, but what really surprised me was how much I loved the fat burn video after! I’m surprised by how much energy I had today, or just how motivated I was throughout the second video. Who knew that a 20sec timer would make such a huge difference?
I went as hard as I could for every single exercise and even hit a new maximum HR – 177bpm – without falling on the floor panting! I took a few extra seconds for water breaks and to get a breather after the end of each set, but even still my average HR for the video was 165bpm!
If you’ve been following my journey you probably know that anything over 165bpm is typically unsustainable for me, and 172bpm means I need at least a good minute or so to catch my breath in order to not feel light-headed because my heart just can’t. But not for this video. I mean, seriously, I went hard today and the fact that my body was able to keep up felt incredible.
My form was good throughout (actually there is even improvement in my form for multiple exercises) and the fact that there is measurable progress is so exciting. I couldn’t be happier with today’s workout. 10/10 would recommend and would re-do.
2/16 – Day 19: Completed 11:35.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Full Body Burn, Legs & Booty, 8min Flowing Stretch.
Honestly today was carried through discipline and my newfound routine. I 100% did not want to do my workout today, especially not the intense full body burn, but after our morning reading I just got my butt into gear and did it.
I went back to Chloe’s old 5min warm up today with some amended stretches. I didn’t really feel very warm afterwards, but it was fine to get me started. I did not have much energy during the first video but still pushed through. I made some of my own adjustments to the moves when I felt like I just did not have enough energy to copy Chloe but didn’t want to just sit and do nothing.
Not gonna lie, there were multiple times where I wanted to give up, but magically each time something happened; either Chloe said something, or the music hyped me up so much I just had to keep going. Somehow I finished it. Despite previously saying it’s hard for me to do more than 30min of exercise, coupled with not wanting to workout today, I even finished the booty video in its entirety.
I dunno, something about it just made me want to continue and I am very grateful for Chloe’s well put-together videos with words of encouragement at the perfect time.
I started off the booty video with 5lb dumbbells and a light resistance band, eventually dropping the equipment when it got to floor work. I did not want to strain my body by going too hard when I was already tired, nor did I want my body to have to keep compensating for my weak ass, literally.
I decided I needed a slightly longer stretch video today and found Pamela Reif’s 8min stretch video. It was very relaxing and good for a full body stretch. I am not sure if I’d do it again, but it did help stretch me out well for today’s workout. Unlike other 5min cool downs that sometimes require more energy exertion, my HR did actually drop by the end of this, so I appreciated that.
I’m excited for tomorrow’s videos! I haven’t tried the morning workout before but it looked like fun when I watched it, and anything titled “no jumping” has my heart already haha. I need something a little less intense after today anyway.
2/17 – Day 20: Completed 11:20.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, 15min Morning Workout, Arms & Core, Abs in 2 Weeks, 6min Stretch.
I don’t know if I can be any more excited that we’re almost at the end of another week of consistent exercise! Today is the final day of Week 3 and tomorrow we start Week 4 of the Challenge! Day 21 is a rest day, and as before I’ll be taking both my rest days at the weekend, so today’s entry is the final one for this post.
My period started and I didn’t sleep well because of it, so you can be absolutely certain that I was hella weak/tired/bloated and did plenty of low impact movements while taking extra breaks today. It worked out perfectly that today’s videos were all non-jumping because I was not about to jump at all anyway. Starting the workout with abs (and plank hip dips, at that) was very non-ideal for me but I still pushed through.
Despite physically not having much energy, I could still feel that I was stronger in the sense that I was able to feel actual muscles working in my left arm and, when the move required holding oneself up with their left arm only, I was able to remain stable. Same for my left leg. My entire left side is just w-e-a-k but it’s getting stronger. I’d certainly count that as a win.
Not much else to say, I think. I struggled, of course, but I am very proud of myself for still exercising on my first day of period, which typically I spend cocooned in bed with a hot water bottle for the entire day.
That’s it! End of Week 3! It’s not the end of my workout week yet, and I’m not even a little ashamed for finishing off the challenge week ‘weakly’. The fact that I was able to exercise at all on my period is something I’m very proud of. I didn’t make excuses, and discipline pushed me past my mild wanting-to-give-up hump.
In my recordings, I can hear myself working so darn hard and encouraging myself to keep going and push harder. I exerted as much strength as I could muster and didn’t give up (well, okay, maybe I took one of the plank with hip dips in the 2 weeks ab video to just not move but I hate that exercise and was out of breath from the previous one :p).
And with that, I’ll see you guys in the next post for Week 4!
Muchos love,