Ok, first the good news. Weighed in on Sunday after the first 4 weeks of the program (its split into 4x4 week sections) and I was down two kg for the week, giving me a 4 week reduction of 2.5kg. Nice result after the whoopsie of putting on weight last week, and makes me back on track to meet my goal of 10kg over the 16 weeks. In fact with 2.5 weeks to christmas I even have a shot at hitting my interim goal of 87 by then with a current weight of 90.
Last week went well. My work capacity was much improved, workouts were still hard, but my rest periods were almost always on time, my tempo was good for almost all exercises, and the weight kept going up on most exercises, especially deadlifts/military press and pullovers. I missed my last HIIT session. I did a weights workout in the morning then spent most of the day shovelling sand around the backyard building a couple of tank bases, I was just wrecked by the end of the day. Eating back on track now I'm tracking cals on Fitday.
So how about a 4 week summary:
Summary - weeks 1-4
A tough start to the program. 20 rep sets for most exercises brings a special kind of pain, if you're not in shape, this will really kick things along. My work capacity improved immensely over this period. Not only that, but I seemed to get some really nice muscle growth as well. High reps like this are normally seen more as muscle endurance, but I guess a combination of not having lifted much lately, and just flat out hard work made a difference. I dont think I've ever pushed so hard in the gym before.
The program is super balanced, especially for a guy like me whos had a few niggles along the way. My body just feels great. My posture is just naturally good now, requiring few conscious corrections.
The HIIT is balanced nicely to begin with. Only 3 1 minute sprints per session and only 3 sessions per week allows you to work into it a bit. Its still hard, but basically it gets tough then you stop. I usually did my HIIT sessions a few hours after my weights sessions, allowing me a day off between each one (even my basketball I would do on the first day of a 2 day break). This helped me get through the whole thing with frequent rests.
Nutrition wise I think the advice and targets work a treat, I just allowed myself to go off them which set back my progress. If you're not going to setup a specific diet to follow, I really think you need to at least track your calories to stay on track. It can be very easy to go over when you dont have some kind of system to keep you in check.
Overall it was a tough four weeks, or at least the first three. I was so exchausted early on, but by now I'm finding myself bursting with energy. I really just feel great. My weights down about 6lbs which is a healthy 1.5 lbs per week, but I think I've lost more fat than that and put on some muscle. My bodies starting to look better already, and I'm enjoying myself
. So far I couldnt be happier with the program, just wish I'd stuck to the nutrition side a bit better. I missed one weight workout and 2 HIIT sessions for the 4 weeks, which at this time of the year isnt too bad, but I'd like to improve on that for the next 4 weeks.