Week 4 - Tabata, Tests and Other Blogs

This week I've been introduced to the training concept known as Tabata. For those that don't know what this is here is a definition:
Any exercise can be incorporated into the Tabata training. However the basic outline of the Tabata training methods are as follows:
• 4 minutes long (whole Tabata Session)
• 20 seconds of intense training
• 10 seconds of rest
• Total of 8 sessions or rounds
Now mine wasn't so structured as above but I did 2 exercises for 20 seconds each followed by 20 seconds rest and I did 6 rounds. But 6 minutes of that was enough to have me holding the wall for support such was my exhaustion.
On Monday the 2 exercises were squats with a medicine ball thrusting it up above my shoulders as I powered up then this was immediately followed by shoulder presses. On the first set of shoulder presses I thought Lee had given me too light a weight as they were quite easy. But by the third set I was wishing for a lighter weight. The 6th set were an absolute killer. In addition to this I did interval training on the bike and treadmill. The bike was at the end of the session and involved me keeping the speed over 70 rpm for 2 minutes followed by full beans over 100 rpm for a minute. This was on Level 12 but for the 6th sprint Lee put the level up every 10 seconds so at the end I was cycling on empty at 110 rpm on Level 18. Now I know people go to Spinning classes and probably do a lot more than that but where I'm at right now that is a tough ask. I was totally spent!!
Today was a similar routine but with squats followed by press-ups. Equally sapping. But the treadmill stuff was hard too as it was 6 sets of 30 seconds brisk walking followed by 30 seconds sprinting. Then onto the rower to row 100 metres in under 23 seconds followed by 50 seconds rest. I did 7 sets of this and almost fell off the seat at the end.
But what I'm finding now is that I don't dread the sessions quite as much. Certainly I know they are going to hurt - a lot - but I also know I will give it my all and keep going. And afterwards I can relax knowing I've achieved something. I am adding in at least one more training session a week on my own so went to the gym on Sunday too. I want to build up my cardio and endurance so did an hour on a cross trainer. This is nothing like my training with Lee but I impressed myself all the same as previously I could only manage 30 minutes and that was on a lower level. Once again I couldn't do this without the help of Lee and Exeter University Sports Faculty.
http://sport.exeter.ac.uk/aboutus/

Something I've noticed whilst training is the concept of relativity of time.
"Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour," Einstein said. "Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity."
Well I'd rather put my hand on a hot stove for 30 seconds than be told "come on David, last 30 seconds. Don't stop now. Keep it going." It's amazing time isn't it? I work to a 20 minute appointment time. I have a clock on the wall. I'll be nearing the end of my consultation and a glance will tell me I have 5 minutes until my next appointment. The next thing I know, in what seems like seconds later, I've overran by a couple of minutes. Time in this situation runs away so quickly. But get on a treadmill, bike or rower and see how long 10 seconds lasts!!! I swear the timers on gym equipment run slower than real time.
As part of my challenge I want to see what health benefits I get from the nutritional changes to my diet and from exercise. With this in mind I saw the practice nurse this morning for blood pressure and blood tests. My BP is 130 over 73 which is the best reading I've had in a long time. According to British Heart Foundation guidelines for a man my age it should be 133 over 76 so I'm happy with that. I will get diabetes, cholesterol, kidney and thyroid results in a few days so will post next time.
I've found that through posting this on Twitter I'm getting a lot of follows from like-minded people on their own journey to lose weight. It's great to have a network of other people and to be able to follow their ups and downs through their blogs. Some are training for competitions so talk a lot about "clean food" and "not cheating". I'm dedicated to my goal but need to have occasional cheats otherwise I won't last the course. But I'm sat here tonight writing this thinking I could just eat some chocolate but, fortunately, I didn't buy any when I went shopping because if I did I would be sat here eating it now so its best not to have it in the house full stop. Saturday night is treat and cheat night. I allow myself some 70% dark chocolate which is a good compromise from the old routine of large pizza and 2 bottles of red wine!!!
Finally I've been able to wear some shirts for work that, lets just say a couple of months ago would have been testing the buttons. I've lost count this week of how many colleagues have come up to me to say that they can see that I have lost weight. It's difficult to describe how good that feels to know that your efforts are paying off. It helps to keep the motivation strong and reminds me why I want to do this. And I'm so very grateful to the many people who are now following my journey through this blog.
Remember the date people. Saturday March 16 2013.
www.rocksolidrace.com

I pinched this photo from a RockSolidRace tweet but sums it up pretty well.
Regards
A hopefully ever-decreasing Dave
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Location:Yew Tree Close,Exeter,United Kingdom