Day 205

Every part of my body is aching right now. This is usually how I feel after Body Attack. Some had weight training the day before that .. sigh. My arms totally ache and I constantly need to stretch my shoulders. My legs hurt so much that I can't walk properly. -___- Needless to say, although I left work early, I couldn't do my "Friday mini marathon" of Jam-Step-Combat. :( Only went for Body Jam - Jason's class.

As usual, he was very siao, so the class was super enjoyable, even though there were only 7-8 of us. :D Mix of old and new - we had a bit of the In the Ayer performance (still can't really get a hang of it, but I still like the songs loads), Ring the Alarm performance track (great chorey for this track... love it!), Baila Casanova for Latin (haven't done this in ages, quite confused, didn't make the best of the nice chorey)... that's about all I remember. Oh, I finally got the hang of that 3 step + heel thingy for Rihanna & Dreamer's Livin A Lie recovery track! Hehehhee. Super late, I know.

Okay, hope I can wake up early tomorrow for either :
Combat + Dance Mania (Meei's class... aww... no Danny!) + Attack + Step + Jam (CAN I SURVIVE?!) or

Combat + Combat (Taipan) + Jam (more realistic...)

Hahaha.. see how my body feels tomorrow!

Day 204

Was late @ work, only ended up going for Body Attack (Hazrin) when I planned to dance up a storm in Ronicia's class initially. :( Oh well... Body Attack was really cool. MAn, I got damn winded when we did this "old" track which just consists of ... running around. That track is damn boring man... but it really makes you run and run and run.... and although we're supposed to be doing high knees / heels to the back we just run like aunties rushing for deals in the pasar when Hazrin announce that the last GROUP would have to do push-ups. Hooray for me for being in the "last group"... but yay for no push ups in the end because I think he can see that we are all dying. :D

Mix of old and new tracks.. not familiar enough with Body Attack to comment on the songs, except that he did the "Dong Song" again. I'm cool with that cos that's one of my faves too. Kekeke.

Sigh.. but my shoulders are still achy from the chest press yesterday. Totally couldn't do the push up track and the plank.... *disappointed*

Day 203

Yay me! Managed to get off work prettyyyyy close to the dot, so I managed to make it back to Taipan in time for Julian's Body Combat class. Was expecting Lorraine, but at least it is Julian and not a certain BC instructor who cause me major trauma by ruining U R My Phantasy (kata-kata seorang yang dramatik).

Anyway, the tracks were same as the one last week, except that instead of doing the finale track from the latest BC release, she did Be Good To Me . And yes, Here I Come for the conditioning track again. This time I really forced myself to be steady to the end... *phew*

After that was weight training!
15 minutes on Cardio Wave (up to Level 11)
3 sets of adductor (30,25,20kg)
3 sets of abductor (as above)
3 sets chest press (15kg, 12.5kg, 10kg --- but suffering all the way. Maybe I should start lower...)
3 sets of MTS High Row (12.5kg, 10kg, 7.5kg)... saw Mani there... who gave me some tips! After that I set for him the starting weight as 35kg, hehehe... I'm sure that that's "sap sap sui" for him! :P
3 sets of calve extensions (22.5kg, 20kg, 17.5kg) --- this is really low for my mutant calves... but I must be careful not to over exert myself
3 sets of tricep extensions (12.5kg, 10kg, 7.5kg) --- really low too. :D
20x, 30x sit ups
20x, 30x butterfly sit ups

Pretty fast routine, but it was fun. I need to rotate between the abductor/adductor and the leg curls /extensions and the leg squats and the glute workout. And rotate between the chest press and the incline press. *reminder to self*

Day 202

Since it was going to be my "final" workout day before the CNY binge, forced myself to work out on the day before reunion dinner. Didn't go for Saturday marathons because of erm... aunty visits.

Started with Body Jam with Clarissa. There were only 2 participants (including me)... damn paiseh. It's like all your errors are totally exposed to the instructor. I also came in late.. in the middle of the Fergalicious performance track. After that, we did the Bring 'Em Up (or is it Bring Em Out?) "square dance" track, "Feedback"... erm... and the performance track which introduced the "Beyonce" arms. I forgot the name of the song... Ring the Alarm I think. Which ends with JT's What Comes Around Goes Around....

After a small lunch at Old Town, continue with Body Attack with Jason. Hmmm.. long time didn't go for his classes! I'm starting to miss my instructors ah! ;p ;p Again, there were only 2 participants (myself included).... but as Jason says, "don't need a lot of people in the class in order to sweat". Really pushed myself to go all out, and indeed felt like I sweat buckets after the class. Really amazinggggg workout. :D

My weight after working out the entire month seems to have stagnated... sigh... I guess I should be happy that it didn't go up? But I was hoping to see like... 2kgs shed. :P Oh well, time to up the Body Attack, Body Step & weight training classes! *gambatte!!!*

Day 201

Didn't quite make it for Marathon Fridays (darn Compliance team!), so I only went for Body Step with Anthony, and then Body Combat with Julian (I think that's her name). Body Step was quite fun... had a mix of old and new. (Old = circa "Walk Like an Egyptian" so that's like reallllllyyyy old for me. ;P) We had "Do Somethin'" for the finale track, which is one of my favorites! :D

Julian claimed that it's only her 2nd class to date, but she was a total pro! Don't really remember the tracks, but it was all from the more recent ones... like Zombie, and the final track from the latest release. Oh yeah, she asked if we wanted to do old or new for conditioning, and I said OLD cos new = that PCD song with triceps and what not. I was hoping she'd do the Rocky Balboa track. Mana tahu she fished out Fergie's Here I Come.. zomg... one of my most hated tracks. If you're able to do the kicks on one leg, you'll die half way on the other leg. T___T

Oh, Adrian is back, but he didn't teach. He also doesn't look any fatter despite all the weight rantings on his blog....~

Day 200

Body Jam with Anthony... I remember staying back real late at the office and then rushing off to his class. Anyway, it's one week later since I'm writing this, so I forgot what tracks we did, just that I enjoyed myself a lot! I haven't been doing Jam in ages, and I'm just thankful when I don't mess up! (too much). :)

Only remember that the final performance track was the super cardio-oriented Green Light and that we had the Wall to Wall hip hop performance track as well. :d

Day 200

Body Jam with Anthony... I remember staying back real late at the office and then rushing off to his class. Anyway, it's one week later since I'm writing this, so I forgot what tracks we did, just that I enjoyed myself a lot! I haven't been doing Jam in ages, and I'm just thankful when I don't mess up! (too much). :)

Day 199

Body Combat with Terence! He's back! From honeymoon? Work? :D

I was late... because... my lock has rusted! I spent a good 10 minutes fiddling with it in the changing room before I decided to rush off and buy a new one from the frontdesk. As luck would have it, they were out of stock! But this really nice staff there (KUHEN!) lent me his lock! *tears of joy* As such, I think I *only* missed 3 of the first tracks!?

As I stood outside watching them do "Call My Name" (??) and thinking "YES! Back to the old releases!", I went in and Terence did mostly new releases after that. In fact, I think all of it were from the new release! Oh well, this is only my 3rd time doing the latest release, so I'm not sick of it or anything. Just not a fan. :P Maybe if I do it more often, I will get used to it. And I really do like the final cardio track in the latest release...

But that esquiva track...!! Meh!! Really think it's not an elegant track at all. Even the previous esquiva track is much nicer than this one! You should see how everyone looks like when they do the kicks after resetting from the esquiva. Their kicks are flailing out in every direction. :P So hard to maintain the balance when you're totally stressing out one leg.

All for now... Happy CNY! :D

Day 199

Weight training by myself, just to fulfil the "twice a week" regime I have going on now. Nothing much though!

20 minutes on the cardio wave.
3 sets of leg squats (starting around 35kg? Or the one above it)
3 sets of the gluten extension thingy for each leg. I can barely walk today because of this. I started pretty high.. around 20-30kg!!
3 sets of chest press (starting at 10kg!! Hhahaha. Ok, I found my "favorite" machine again, and I think I can start from 12.5 kg...)
3 sets of chest extensions
3 sets of vertical pulldown
1 half-hearted attempt at the oblique curl. I don't know how to use the machine...
1 plank for 30 seconds. Sigh... I used to be able to hold for one whole minute! (talking as if this is such a great achievement... zzz)
30 x 2 sit ups

That's all! :D

Day 198

The first time I was in a class when the instructor was also doing his video certification! Was in on James class last Friday, and he did the entire BC 37. Erm, the previous release before the latest one. He was extra enthusiastic for the camera, so have to "support" a bit by being enthusiastic in return, hahahaa.

I don't really remember much of the class because I'm not really a fan of 37. Well, scratch that, I'm not a fan of any BC classes that consist of esquivas.

I think he's going to do well for his video cert! All the best!

Day 197

Went back late from work again... argh!

Body Jam this time.. with Anthony! (He was replacing Jeremy). Was kinda nervous before class started because it was evident that Anthony was going to do all the new releases and I would be a total n00b! Evident in the warm up track, where I messed up the chorey a little, hehe. Some more he asked the newbies at the back to follow the ones in front. Shy! :D

Anyway...

I LOVE THE LATEST JAM RELEASE!!!!!

So awesome, from head to toe! Maybe it's because all the songs are songs that are very current, and although some parts are tricky, it's rather repetitive, so you have lots of opportunity to catch up. Warm up track was so-so to me, but not bad. The Hip Hop track is AWESOME, super full of energy! Samba De Janeiro gives you plenty of opportunity to be ~DRAMA~ especially when you do that little jump into the air. HEhehe, vain me LOVES looking at myself in the mirror when I do that. :P Freakin' Fakin' House is a great performance track... with all the jumps, this is one release that REALLY helps if you have great stamina. I can see a lot of people dying halfway in this class, hahahaha.

The cooldown track was nice, but looking at the Les Mills track listing... I don't think it's the one that Anthony did... *blur*suspicious*

Can't wait to do the performance track again!

Day 196

Weight training!
I left work quite late, so I wasn't able to go for Group X classes... don't think any of my favorites were on at that time anyway. Thought it would be ~perfect~ for weight training since it was late, therefore less people hogging machines? How wrong I was! Should remember that in January, the gym is ALWAYS packed (people all still burning with FIRE from their new year resolutions). Sigh...

Anyway, due to lack of time, I didn't train as much as I ought to. Only did :
a. 20 minutes on Cardio Wave
b. 3 sets of abductor (20, 15, 10 kg)
c. 3 sets of adductor (as above)
d. 3 sets of leg curl (as above)
e. 3 sets of leg extension (as above)
f. 3 sets of incline press (the chest press machine was taken up! Anyway, it's much easier than chest press, which I struggled with on this OTHER chest press machine - not the regular one I have. With incline press, more of a pushing motion which works your chest & triceps. Perfecto! I started with 20kg I think. The next level was 35kg... couldn't even move the damn weights! Heh!)
g. 3 sets of back row... struggled @ 19kg... so I slowly dropped til 12kg. Still couldn't... I didn't really do 3 sets TBH.

Totally missed out the biceps & abs! :O

Day 195

Body Combat with Lorraine ... a mix of the old and new! Started with the latest warm-up - Man in Motion, followed by Bad (Fall Out Boy version), and some other songs which I've totally forgotten about. Hehehehe.

Good workout regardless...! I think I'm really starting to like the final cardio track from the last release. There's so many punches and upper cuts that'll threaten to throw your shoulder out, but it's a total adrenaline rush while doing this track! Love it! :D Have a feeling that I won't be able to move my arms tomorrow. ;)

Promising myself to go for yoga / weight training tomorrow. Need to tone up! :O

Day 194

Finally got to try SOME of the new tracks in release #38. Read that it is an "old school" theme... not sure if it is something TF did or if it's something Les Mills wrote about (lazy to double check). Honestly, can't really find what is so "old school" about it.

James mixed up the tracks between the old and new, so we got a really stressful upper body workout and a lot of back kicks and the side kicks which go something like knee+knee+knee+sidekick+knee. Super balancing technique required! :D He also did the entire class without any air-conditioning, which is really torturous for a slob like me who has been out of action for the past 3 weeks! :(

Don't really remember the tracks (the new ones). Started with Man in Motion originally done by John Parr. You people who listen to Light / Mix will be familiar with the original. :) I find it quite cute and coincidental how the new warm up tracks are always some oldies that I really like. I love Marc Cohn's Walking in Memphis and I really like Man in Motion too. Hmm... my next favorite oldie probably won't appear in BC... it's You're The Inspiration.. kekekeke.

Erm... Avril Lavigne's Best Damn Thing was a fun track, but oh my God was it repetitive. I think it's 3 reps on each side? What with all the jabs and then more jabs and upper cuts and then jabs again and ... gahh!! For some reason, You Can't Stop The Beat is also repetitive, but at least it alternate between sides. This one stress the hells out of one side before you finally hear the sweet sweet words from the instructor asking us to run because then you know it's time to switch sides! :D

Cold as Ice was one of the lower body workout tracks... another Scooter song. Did Scooter sell the royalty to all their songs to Les Mills for all of USD$5?? Cos it seems like EVERY release has a Scooter song...

When I Grow Up .... I never want to do tricep push ups again!

I think the latest jump-kick track has esquivas again. Way to alienate BC members. There's no one I know who likes this movement. Except those masochistic people. And I personally believe that the instructors just act all perky and happy about doing esquivas, but they don't really REALLY like it either, kekekke! They just act happy to motivate the rest of us mortals, but inside they're all going, "I can't wait til we've done the new release for a month... then we're going to go back to the really fun stuff like Bagpipes / Jigga Jigga, etc. "

Boo to esquivas!

Lastly - super sad news (for me)... they won't have BC on Fridays at 9-10pm anymore. WHY!!! WHY change the schedule!! They're going to move it "earlier" to 5-something. Yeah, way to alienate the people who have to WORK in offices. Like that, you won't see me in Taipan anymore on Fridays... I rather drive to Jaya 33 and workout there! Blehk!!

Day 192

... and I'm back from Laos!! And very, very eager to restart my gym training and all... what with it being the new year. Still fresh with resolutions and a general need to get rid of my gut. :D

My aims are very humble... just to lose 5kg by 30 June 09 and hopefully another 2kg by the end of 31 Dec 09. Time flies, so don't be aghasted by the huge time frame. :)

My colleague at work who is also a semi-gym rat (I say semi because we are shackled to our cubicles... like, the only thing missing is the physical chains) and I have a weight loss goal for 2009. He wants to lose 8kg (from 83kg to 75kg) and I want to lose 7kg (from 5xkg to 4xkg, hahaha).

Started with cardio only today.... get the heart rate up again. Took serious discipline (and a constant reminder that I've already paid for parking so I might as well stay @ the gym longer) to go through 25 minutes of Cardio Wave, 20 minutes of the strider (at "Fat Burn" level) and 15 minutes on the threadmill at a gradient of 6.5, walking speed 5.8kph. Not bad... didn't die at the end of the training and I feel really refreshed. Especially when I got home and had a really nice Italian salad as well. Healthy living doesn't really sound so bad. Heh heh.

Anyway, I want to complain about the "Fat Burn" level on the strider. I think it's a load of crap. You key in your age and your weight, and you're given this "ideal heart rate" for burning fat. Apparently that ideal heart rate for me is 126. I achieved that heart rate within ... 5 minutes on the strider, and I think it only took that long because the machine is screwed up. (Think about it, I was already on the Cardio Wave for 25 minutes beforehand). The strider starts you off at high resistance until you've achieved the "ideal heart rate", and after that, the resistance just tapers off for you to "maintain" at that heart rate.

So you can imagine lah.. after 5 minutes I kept getting these scrolling messages telling me to slow down because my heart rate is already at a constant 156 and the resistance was practically 0. If I slowed down any more, the machine actually went into "pause" mode. Hahahhhaa. Damn stupid. Seriously, maybe I have heart problems? I don't think I'm that easily "exhausted", because if I really push myself, the heart rate can go up to 171 or something like that. 156 is actually my ideal rate because it shows that I'm going strong and not breathing too hard. My own measurements. But based on the chart at the gym, even a 10 yr old kid is not expected to have such heart rate on the machine. The highest they go to is 130 I think. Or 140.

Legs are a bit sore at the moment, think I'll take a breather tomorrow with some Hot Yoga. Was quite sad to see that Kishore is no longer an instructor... so I don't have to specifically go for Hot Yoga on Wednesdays only.