Okay, well… we are switching up the schedule this week. I know I had originally said I’d day day 1 on Tuesday, but Caroline just released a new hamstring workout, and I’m here for hamstrings. My hamstrings are non-existent, and I’d like for them to please start existing. Caroline does say to make these our own, so that’s exactly what I’m doing.
So this week, my schedule will look like this:
| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | SAT | SUN |
| Day 5 | Day 16 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Rest | Day 9 | Rest |
I don’t plan to change the schedule for next week just yet, but it’s just as well that she released a new hamstring workout because I felt a lot less excited to do this series coming into this week. Maybe it’s my potential ADHD, maybe I’m just feeling mega-weak this week… either way, day 5 just did not jive well with me.
I’m now feeling a little more excited to do tomorrow’s hamstring workout, but had it not been pure discipline for today, I probably would not have bothered to do day 5 at all. I’m not particularly keen on then changes I’m starting to see on my arms (feels like my biceps are getting a bit big while my tricep area is still muscle-less flab).
We’ll see how it goes for the rest of this week. If I’m finding myself just not excited to do the rest of this series then I’ll probably switch to Caroline’s Beginner EPIC or do another Chloe Ting Challenge with my team. Just having that team challenge element was so motivating for me that it absolutely pushed me past any hurdles with motivation.
The best workout is the one that you actually do, so I’ll definitely be prioritising a challenge I know I’ll do over one that might seem “better”, but I don’t actually complete.
Week Two
4/25 – Day 5: Completed 15:32.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, IRON Series Day 5.
Ugh, what was today’s workout? I must be starting my period soon because I was so weak, and I didn’t really enjoy any of the exercises today. Perhaps I had the wrong form for most of it. I also really struggled because both my arms were clicking like crazy. I am probably in desperate need of a massage to fix my back and shoulders.
Needless to say, it wasn’t particularly great for me. I initially wanted to do this video because I liked the idea of doing arms and abs, but when it came to actually doing the workout, I just didn’t enjoy it. It’s a shame. The only moves that really got me working harder were the tricep dips and the finisher. My triceps are super weak haha.
I was also reluctant to do many of the bicep moves because I feel like my biceps are growing too large already, and don’t want to make them any larger than they already are. Anyways, I could feel some of my nerve endings or whatever pinching on my bone and it felt like something was pinching on my elbow on the inside of my arm. The unpleasant feeling made it difficult for me to focus on the exercise.
I didn’t love but didn’t mind the ab section. My abs definitely need work, and it was good to keep repeating similar exercises one after the other to really get my abs to fatigue. I felt like it was effective. Ultimately, though, I wasn’t a fan of today’s workout, and it’s making me question if I want to continue in this format. We’ll see how it goes for the rest of this week.
4/26 – Day 16: Completed 13:15.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, IRON Series Day 16, 5min Stretch & Cooldown.
This post was written on 4/27. This day was a lot more fun! Wow, my hamstrings were feeling it. There were so many new exercises that felt incredibly effective and targeted at my hamstrings, which is exactly what I was hoping for.
I used 5lb dumbbells for the RDLs but was careful to not overcompensate with my calves. For the hamstring thrusts, I didn’t use any weights and was already next level shaking! The single leg hamstring thrusts were insane, man, I could barely do 3-4 without collapsing on the floor for a break.
I definitely felt it a lot, and absolutely enjoyed it. I’d totally want to do this one again, just from how effective it felt in isolating my hamstrings. It definitely got me more excited to do more.
4/27 – Day 7: Completed 12:52.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, IRON Series Day 7.
Wow, after not liking Monday’s workout, it seems like the past couple of days (and also tomorrow) have just been tailored to me. I wanted to focus on my shoulders and triceps and what was today? Shoulders and triceps! Was it effective? I’m not sure… I felt some of it, and then stopped feeling some of it.
I think I probably should have dropped my weights entirely but I tried to keep going with my 5lb dumbbells for the shoulder exercises. I imagine I was compensating with multiple muscles because I didn’t always feel it in my shoulders, and on occasion my elbow hurt as well.
It’s also possible that I wasn’t concentrating properly because I was also watching the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial on another device… whoops, but no regrets :p The trial is absolute comedy gold these days, as awful as the subject matter is, but I digress.
I was really impressed by some of the floor exercises today – I’d never done them before and they felt fairly effective. That said, it took me a while to get the correct form so I don’t know if it was as effective as it could have been. I’m just glad to have a workout targeting the areas I need to improve and strengthen!
4/28 – Day 8: Completed 21:13.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, IRON Series Day 8.
Oh man. Today was… I almost didn’t do the workout, as you can probably tell based on the time I completed it. There wasn’t really much going on today, I was just distracted by the Depp v Heard trial and also just needed some time to rest. Plus, my cat was sleeping on me so I couldn’t exactly push her off, could I?
I enjoyed today’s workout as well, though I didn’t really feel it in my glutes. I focused more on my hamstrings, and already could see an improvement from a couple of days ago with the hamstring thrusts! I also could feel my hamstrings working during the RDLs, whereas in the past I’ve just compensated with my calves.
I used my 5lb dumbbell and medium resistance band where I could, and I reckon I’ve become stronger too. For the first time, I was able to do the staggered RDLs feeling it almost completely in my hamstrings and glutes – even with a 5lb dumbbell.
As such, I guess that even if I didn’t feel like I did well a couple of days ago, my strength certainly improved. That’s a win in my book!
4/30 – Day 9: Completed 17:04.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, IRON Series Day 9, 12min Daily Stretch.
Wooohooo! Another week of workouts complete! I must have been feeling better today because I feel like I had a lot more energy today, my workout was far more focused and I was able to feel the right muscles working. That said, I wasn’t distracted during my workout by the JD v AH trial today.
I was, however, a little distracted by Mr. Bob, who joined me in today’s workout and cried out in pain more than once haha. I mostly used 5lb dumbbells as he wanted to use the 8/10lb dumbbells. I did use the 8lb dumbbells for the squats at the very beginning, and I feel like I could have gone with the 8lb dumbbells for more of the moves, but I’m glad I stuck with the 5lb dumbbells to ensure I wasn’t going to be accidentally compensating.
I dropped the dumbbells entirely for all of the lunges because I know that my left leg is still weak, and that was definitely the right move for me – I struggled plenty haha. We all know how much I hate side lunges but I actually decided to do the side lunges for this workout.
Overall I really enjoyed this video. I didn’t love the full body one last week, but this one contained exercises that worked for me. Just the overall combination of exercises made me work harder and gave me a good workout. Perhaps the rest day also helped a lot, but I didn’t feel injured or like I’d pinched a nerve somewhere today, which always helps when trying to do a workout ;p
I’m now done with the workout videos for this week! For tomorrow’s rest day, we are planning to go swimming, which I haven’t done in ages so we’ll see how that goes. I’m not excited about the videos for next week so I might ditch next week’s videos and skip straight to day 15, but we’ll see. I’ll review them again and then decide later.
For this week though, overall it was pretty good! The hamstring workout and the shoulder/tricep workout was definitely the highlight of the week. Today’s full body was fairly fun, and I definitely enjoy exercising with Mr. Bob. He finished up swimming in sweat, and that’s always very entertaining.
Muchos love,
Love this in depth review. Thank you so much