At 6.45am I head into Les Mills gym to meet up with Janet and do the final fitness test for our 6 week challenge. I am nervous and a bit excited.

I know I have done the work but we had a couple of upsets on the way, week three I hit the wall and had to back off a bit. Christmas came and Janet had a family issue to work through and being holidays it was hard for me to keep myself going without a trainer. The result was a lot of beer and ham was eaten over those couple of holiday weeks (maybe three holiday weeks) anyway we got it back together in January and soldiered on. So here I am and it’s time for the truth.

We tested out over a range of exercises, measured body weight to see what all this work would deliver. The results were very good and I will list them out.

Heres the stats from the test

PAUL SOUTHWORTH FITNESS TESTING RESULTS NOVEMBER 2011

WEIGHT was 89.9KG now 86.6KG

Body Fat% was 27 now 24.4

AGE 45 ha I’m still 45 :-)

HEIGHT 183CM yep, same height.

STRENGTH

Upper body

Max number of push ups (full) - was 34 now 40

Time to complete 20 push ups with medicine ball under arm

Right – was 20 seconds now 18sec slight pause

Left - was 21 seconds with two pauses now 21 no pause

Lat pull down was 62kg now 69kg

Lying leg press was 160kg now 190kg

Bicep curls was 31.5kg (note technique elbows locked to side of body) now 36kg

CORE

Max back ext was 1min 40seconds (plate under chest ) now 2min 35secs

Max prone hold was 1min 30sec (no clasping of hands) now 2min 13seconds

Crunches in 30 seconds:

Arms reaching 9 now 12

Arms by ears 8 now 11

Biceps by ears 7 now 9

FITNESS

Shuttles completed in 5mins - was 15 now 18.1

I was very happy with the result it just shows you if you do the work you get the result.

So what did I learn?

  1. Get a trainer - a trainer will help you go way beyond where you would go yourself. You have to push hard for a result.
  2. Surround yourself - I’m lucky I have several groups of friends that like to be active, cyclists, walkers, swimmers etc. I found if I can make an activity social I have more fun and get out and do more.
  3. Make it a lifestyle - I had hicups on the way, it would have been very easy to give up, but the truth is there is ups and downs, if you can keep some consitancy you find your own groove and it all comes together.
  4. I eat to much - yep it’s true if you eat for two people you are going to be the size of two people. My problem is portion size for every meal, i just hoover every thing going, every meal is huge. I am slowly getting my head around a reasonable sized meal and trying to eat more vegetables.
  5. Get Trainer - That’s right I will say it twice, a trainer will make all the difference, without Janet i would not have got to where i am now.

Next stop - www.lakehaweaepic.co.nz I have my base fitness, and I am going to see how far I can push myself. Keep checking back for updates.

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http://www.fitforlifecoaches.co.nz Personal Training with Janet Cox from Fit For Life Coaches. I (Paul Southworth) give a quick round up of todays session in the gym. With the fitness test loomimg for next week we pushed a bit harder than usual with a pretty good result.

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Quick review of progress after a session at the gym with Janet.

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Mt Cargill Trot Jan 9th 2012

Headed out for a run walk up Mt Cargil with Gerk, Speed and Kahu. We went pretty good once everyone had fessed up to being a bit slack over the Christmas period.

Anyway Steve and Gerk made good time with Kahu and I bringing up the rear. I highly reccomend the Mt Cargill track from Bethunes Gully it’s a beautiful walk with a good elevation.

Heres the map


View 9th jan mt cargill in a larger map

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Wk 4 - Sat 3rd Dec - Epic, Hot Bike Ride

Kirsten, Speed and I met up at 11am at my place to head off on a decent ride, we had discussed it the day before via email and noted we all were going to have a few drinks on the Friday night.

After a quick check in we noted we were all okay but a bit suspect about the drinking and that fact it was the hottest day of the year. Anyway with caution to the wind we headed out on our bikes.

 

We punched our way up over Mornington and down Stone Street into Kaikorai Valley, turned right and started to head for Taieri Road. Once getting to Taieri Road we started the big climb up to the Bullring as the carpark to the Pineapple Track is known. That climb is 5.96 km uphill. This is when the heat and the drinks started to kick in a little. Not that much fun! On the way a up a woman was jogging and she passed me and headed of into the sunset. Anyway we ground our way up there to collapse in a heap and refuel with a little lunch.

 

Above left: The Jogger  Above Right: Destroyed at the Bullring

After some serious debate about whether or not I could make it we headed off to go to Swampy Summit via Donaldsons Road. We dropped into the Silverpeaks Whare Flat valley and had a smoking downhill run to donaldsons road. It was fun and refreshing to get a bit of air after that mean grind. On the way down some guy past us on a mountain bike and boy was he humming, I caught it on video so keep an eye out on my next video post.

We turned right into Donaldson Road and then started climbing again to Swampy Summit it was scorching with not a bit of shade to shelter anywhere. I started to really struggle and had to get off my bike and walk a few times just to get some recovery in.

 

We make it up to the top at Swampy where the big radar airplane tracking station is, fuel up and begin the ride across the top back to the bullring. It’s a bumpy ride and technically challenging as we wind our way across different types of terrain. There is loose boulders, deep ruts and stabby little sticks to contend with. The odd little up hill reminds us just how far we have gone today. Steve and Gert both take a tumble probably due to being clipped in on the pedals. I’m just using toe clips so I’m a bit more cautious.

We make it back to the Bullring and then start the 6km down hill into town, this time we turn right into Dalziel Road and drop down through Brockville. Getting back to the bottom of Stone Street means we have the last hill of the day to climb and it’s a beast of a thing after all we have been through with a grovelling effort we summit and head down through mornington and back home for a good cup of tea.

The round up of the day… don’t drink the night before and don’t ride on the hottest day of the year!


View Mt Bike 3rd Dec 2011 in a larger map

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W4 - Thurs 1st Dec - Gym Session

7am session with Janet starts with a 10 minute warm up on the bike and a bit of a chat with my mate Brett about his brewing endeavours. Janet turns up and we are into it. Start off with a dual leg extention. Janet tells me our sets are now reps of 20 as we are half way through the program and we need to step up the intensity.

Round One

Dual leg extention

Toe Taps

The first set of exercises is the Dual leg extension and then Toe Taps which is like a hopping prone hold and then an Adduction, I havent go a photo but you sit on a mchine and press outwards with your legs (it’s pretty serious!) I chop though three rounds of that and head on downstairs for the next set.

Round 2

Round two starts with a Dumbell roll out which I find a bit tough on the toes and have to back off to the knees. You need to reach right out with the dumbell and get that core working.

Next up Swiss Ball Decline Flys, I guess the picture below best describes how it works.

We then move into the third exercise of round two and do a straight leg deadlift while standing on a half swissball.

We go through round two, three times and then move on to round 3.

Round 3

Round 3 takes to the arm muscles and starts with a Dual Cable Lateral Pull then a more focused Tri pull and finish with a leg press on the machine. Once again three sets of 20 reps for each exercise.

Lateral Pull and Leg Press

Round 4 TVA Activation

This set is truley my worst, I’m just weak in the ab’s, we rip into 30 crunches with a clap under the legs (see photo), then do a side plank with dips, I fail due to a dodgy shoulder and move on to the back extension machine to do oblique raises.

All in all it was a great workout and a good start to the day. Janet and I finished with a quick video which I will post later to round up how things are looking halfway through the program.

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Week 4 Mon 28th Group Training

After a bit of a false start I managed to get to Behtunes gully at the bottom of Mt Cargill about 15 minutes late.

It was a pretty sweet climb up the hill today. The exercise is paying it dividends!

I was feeling pretty good on the way up making reasonable progress, my stamina is moving right up there, not much speed at the moment but I feel good under pressure and can keep going where a few weeks ago I had to stop. Who would have thought this was possible?

Anyway, did not manage to summit I met the other just before the big evil steps to the summit. But all in all a pretty good trot up the hill.

Stats 7km, 460m climb.

View 28th Nov Mt Cargill in a larger map

Wk3 - Monday

I have managed to come unstuck last week I think I pushed to hard and haven’t had the right food to eat. I am dead tired can’t make the Gym in the morning and Group traingin has been cancelled as well. It ends up being a rest day for me. I think deep down I needed it.

I’m worried that I am falling off the momentum.