Some ups, some downs, and some middlings

Um, right, it's been a few days.
Morning sets have been continuing - there might have been one day off somewhere in the mix I'm not sure.
Levelled up and adjusted them today: the weights have gone up, so from next week (day off tomorrow due to early train) it will be
Bicep curl - 5.5kg
Skull Crucher - 7.5kg
So far - so go me.

As regular readers may remember my goal was 10 full pressups by the end of May - well I did 10 this morning, about six weeks ahead of schedule. This is good. Now by the end of May I would like to be doing 10 comfortably, and we'll see about adding some more. For the next couple of weeks I'm going to stick at 9 full, 6 girly as I won't have the verbal encouragement I had this morning.

The abs regime I have changed, from now on I will do 20 reverse crunches and 20 sit up twists. This works a different range of muscles to the last abs section, and will include work on my obliques, which have not been a part of the morning program until now. I may play with the type of abdominal exercise I do in the future if I get bored, but I think I'll stick with that one for now.

So much for the ups...
The downs...

Running
Completed my 5 x 3and2 today. Well, I completed 7x 3and2. Which is, to be fair a sort of up. However I had a running partner for the first time today. This meant I had, in my mind, someone I had to beat. Given today's partner runs 5miles in half an hour, I was never going to do this, but I set off at too fast a pace anyway, got knackered and burst into tears for being useless.
This was a down.
It was also sunny today - so I could see my shadow, and I didn't like it one little bit. I felt I looked weak and girly rather than strong in the way my running partner looked (yes, I am comparing myself unfavourably to a bloke three times my size).
This was also a down.
At this point I was mostly of the opinion I might as well save everyone the trouble of looking after me come Z-Day and just shoot myself at the first sign of an outbreak.

So positive mental attitude - well it comes and goes. What I don't have is the ability to tell myself I'm doing 'better' a lot of the time, particularly when I'm actually training. Generally I'm a results-orientated person, my worth is measured in how high I turn up on the league table. My 'league-table' at the moment is made up of stronger, fitter, men - which isn't ideal to say the least. Hmmm - expect more ponderings on this in the future.

So - to the middlings
Middlings are sometimes worst of all, not sure why.
I thought I'd do an old core stability workout tonight, that I hadn't done for ages in order to redeem my earlier failings.
It goes a little something like this:


Plank: lie in the press-up position, supporting your body weight on your elbows rather than your arms; Hold for 30s keeping you back straight, your bum down and you stomach tight; Try and increase time with practice.

Calf raises: stand on an elevated surface, such as a box or step; Allow your heels to drop as low as possible with your heels over hanging the step, then stretch up on to your tip toes; Repeat 20 times; Try to avoid using any support.

Power 5 press-ups: lower yourself down to one inch of the deck over a count of 5seconds, hold for a count of 5 seconds, then return to the upright with explosive power; Repeat in sets of 5 (or as many as you can manage high quality reps, at least sets of two) (currently being done against a wall as I can't get explosive power even from a girly press-up yet)

Back arches: lie on your front then arch your back to draw your head up and your heels towards your bum, keeping your legs strait

Power 5 squats: as for power 5 press-ups ensuring that you squat down to the deepest possible range of travel before the hold and again exploding up.  Repeat for 20 reps.

Rotator cuff developers; hold yourself in the normal press-up position and allow your body to lower without bending your elbows, then raise your body back up for 1 rep, repeat 20 times.

Sit up twists x 20 (was supposed to be a sideways plank exercise, but my ankles don't support me)

Scap setters: Lie on your front with your hands by your side; Raise them by 10-20 degrease and rotate in small circles, first inwards then outwards for 20 reps each way.

Flutters: lie on your back with your legs out stretched, feet 6” off the ground; Kick up and down as for back stroke kick, for 20 reps, where one rep is both legs up and down.

Twice through tonight. It was mostly alright, most of it has got a bit easier since I last did it. However plank is still a bug-bear - I managed a new personal best of 50 seconds tonight, but progress is very slow - a couple of seconds improvement at best. Am I pushing myself as hard as I can do on this one or am I just loosing interest (I've tried counting, trying loud music with my eyes shut - any other bright ideas gratefully accepted)...Pass...but it ends the day on frankly a bit of a disappointment. Which is generally less than ideal