This post will be updated for days 15 – 21 of this challenge.
It has been a whole week and a half lol. I’m writing this intro on Thursday 7th April because I just haven’t had the time and energy to write it until now, despite writing up my day 15 update two days ago. As much as I’d have loved to keep up with the schedule perfectly this week, I’m not surprised it’s been like this so far.
Monday was my birthday (yay!) and also the day of my green card interview (…yay?) I might do another post about it but just knowing that the interview location was a 2.5hr drive — one way — is probably sufficient to understand why I absolutely did not have time or energy to workout that day. I could barely stay awake after we got home, let alone do a 41min+ workout.
The rest of this week has also just been… interesting, shall we say? Haha. I think I’m back on schedule now so hopefully you will see daily updates according to the schedule on this post from here on!
Week Three
4/5 – Day 15: Completed 15:23.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Full Body Tone, 11min Arms & Upper Body, Toned Abs, 5min Daily Stretch.
Ahhh, today was a struggle. I haven’t been fuelling my body well lately – I’ve been feasting a fair bit over the past few days and have just been insanely busy since Sunday, so my exhaustion is catching up to me again. I honestly did not feel like I was ready for today’s workout, but once again the team challenge saved the day!
I think it also felt harder because I’m getting to the tired-as-heck part of my monthly cycle. I didn’t really like the new full body video to be honest, but that was probably my fault for starting out with an 8lb dumbbell (which I quickly dropped down to 5lb and finally down to nothing).
My body hasn’t done a lot of these exercises before and I started feeling some joint pain, which probably meant my body was compensating in ways it shouldn’t have been. I also wasn’t a fan of combining fairly challenging arm and leg exercises at the same time (looking at you, deadlift rear delt fly…) – it was a struggle to keep everything / the right things engaged.
It was a pretty exhausting workout overall to be honest, I think I felt that two-rest-day fatigue again. That said, I did work hard to engage my core and I’m pleased with how I did overall. I took things very slowly and went at a pace that I felt worked for me where I was using the right muscles and being careful not to injure myself.
I’m glad to be getting back into workouts! I sort of missed working out yesterday but I was just way too exhausted anyway. It was a whole other beast of a day.
4/7 – Day 16: Completed 12:59.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Round Booty, 15min Legs & Booty, 5min Daily Stretch.
Oh man. Why did I not workout yesterday, you ask? Well… let’s just say, we went out to celebrate my birthday on Tuesday evening and I did not end the night very sober. I paid for it yesterday. Not terribly, but enough that I was unable to exercise. I really wanted to do the workout, but for the sake of giving my body what it needed, I took an extra rest day.
I have actually been very excited to do this workout because I feel like my legs have been getting stronger, especially with lunges on my left side that I used to not be able to do at all. I still have a long way to go, but I can now do 8 reps of curtsy lunges in good form on my left leg, whereas before I’d max out at 4, and not even in good form.
I decided to use no weights except for basic squats, to ensure that I was doing the exercises correctly and not compensating. Even for squats, I only used a single 8lb or 5lb dumbbell. I have been working really hard on my single leg deadlift form and I’m pleased to say they look more or less perfect on my right leg.
For hip abductions and glute bridges, I used Chloe Ting’s medium resistance band. Otherwise, I did not use any bands. I still feel there’s room for improvement for my left side when it comes to rainbows and leg lifts etc., so I’ll continue to do those using bodyweight only.
4/8 – Day 17: Completed 12:43.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Toned Arms (x2), 10min 6 Pack Abs.
This entry was written on 4/13. I used 5lb dumbbells for the toned arms workout. From what I remember (and based on my video footage), I worked hard to keep my core engaged while working my arms. 5lb dumbbells were also enough to help me work hard without compensating, for the most part.
I typically struggle with the tricep extensions so after the first set I decided to drop the dumbbell entirely and just do it without weights to focus on my form. I still don’t think I quite got it, but I’m confident I’ll keep improving until I eventually get it. I literally don’t think I have any tricep strength let alone muscle haha.
The video repeat was tough but much needed. My muscles were starting to fatigue and I can literally see myself slowing down and taking longer rests as I struggle.
For the ab workout, I was happy to do a video I hadn’t done for a while. I decided to not use weights and follow the low impact exercises because I still feel like I otherwise compensate too much. The plank hand-knee taps were… insane. I could not do those properly to save my life! I’m not sure if this video comes up again but I would like to get better at that particular exercise.
I think I was relatively successful at engaging my core for this workout. I felt it for most of the exercises, if not I kept going for a bit longer in case I didn’t have the right form. I did my own stretching after today’s workout. Overall it felt like a very doable workout, and I appreciated that it was quite short.
4/9 – Day 18: Completed 13:08.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Full Body Tone, Toned Legs.
This entry was written on 4/13. Oh man, I wasn’t really feeling like working out on this day. I’m not a huge fan of either of the videos in this lineup so I just wasn’t excited to do the workout. There are some exercises in both videos that I dislike and didn’t want to do (looking at you, side lunges). So instead I switched them out for more deadlifts.
My lunge form still needs a lot of work but at least now I am ensuring I push off the front foot rather than whichever is stronger. I didn’t bother using equipment again for the most part, and if I did, it was just my 5lb dumbbells again to focus on my form and trying to avoid compensating with other muscles.
Overall, it was an okay workout I think. Didn’t love it and was pretty tired to begin with, but glad I got through it. I did a little bit of stretching by myself again afterwards.
4/11 – Day 20: Completed 13:04.
Videos completed: 5min Warm Up, Round Booty (x2).
This entry was written on 4/13. Today was a much more successful workout I think! I felt more alert after my rest day and ready to exercise hard. I only used 5lb dumbbells for squats, and otherwise didn’t use any dumbbells so that I could focus on my form. My deadlift form has improved significantly for my left side. Surprisingly, I think my right side needs more work now.
And oh boy did I feel it in my legs and glutes. I tried to go for 8 reps for most of the exercises so went slower than Chloe. I also focused on pushing through the heel of my foot so that I was using the right muscles. I was able to keep my core engaged for the majority of the workout as well.
As before, I used my medium band for hip abductions and glute bridges, but stuck to no equipment for leg raises and rainbows. I wanted to make sure my hips weren’t twisting and shifting around too much and that I wasn’t using my back muscles. I think for the most part I felt it in my glutes and hamstrings, which is exactly what I was looking for. My right side is still much stronger but I’m seeing improvement on my left, and that’s enough for me right now.
Round 2 was killer – especially since I decided to challenge myself and use a 5lb dumbbell for most of the first set. I also am obsessed with deadlifts these days so did staggered deadlifts instead of side lunges. Plus, I hate side lunges. My legs were really getting to fatigue and basically shaking towards the end of the second set. I’m pretty sure I used my back to compensate towards the end, but it was a great leg day.
Again, I did my own stretches afterwards. It was just… a bit of a week haha. I didn’t have the energy to follow a cooldown video.
Day 21 was a rest day. I was originally planning to skip it and do day 22 since we’re already in a new week, but I just absolutely needed a day to do nothing. So I took the rest and am very, very glad I did. I’m still decently on schedule, and what’s life if you aren’t a little kinder to yourself sometimes?
Muchos love,