Program End Report | Operation 健康アップ Week 12

It has been a tough 12 weeks of fitness training and I won't lie, there were times of defeat, anger, pain and plain exhaustion. Juggling 4 workouts a week with work, family, blogging and other random things that life throws at you can be rather tiring, even more so when you don't get to sleep well at night.

But results are in, and I'm quite pleased with it even though there was a point I thought I wouldn't even make it here.

Gym Workouts
I went down on Tuesday {trained by Superman & random trainers} and Friday {trained mainly by Justin}. Actually I had half a mind to not go in this week since the previous week was so crappy and I thought a break would do me good but then there was just one more week to the end of the program!!! Arggh.. oh well, they say the only bad workout is the one you didn't do.

I was supposed to start on a different program for Superset B on Tuesday but since Justin wasn't there {and no one else knew about the change?} and my knees seemed slightly better, I continued on with the old exercises. Just trudged through the workout and at least I completed all the sets and exercises.

Friday, my knees were same old same old and Justin said "I'm going to heal your knees today." Quite unbelievable since they have been hurting for about 2.5 weeks but they he wrapped some tight rubber wraps around my thighs and calves for a few minutes while I did my deadlifts and leg press. It felt like my blood supply was cut off and hurt like crazy for a bit but when we released the bands.. goodness! My knees really felt much better!!

Quite erm... magical, and he said something like it works like Vodoo wraps {??} so I went home to read up more on it. So apparently what we did was called "flossing" and Voodoo Compression Floss Bands helps break up intramuscular junk to allow for greater mobility and blood supply to an area. By squeezing the muscle in a tight wrap, then forcing it through a full range of motion {ROM}, friction between muscle fibers helps break up fuzz, scar tissue, lactic acid and other junk in those tiny places that foam rolling and lacrosse ball techniques can’t address.

It's like tying a rubber band around your finger. It feels all right and uncomfortable then when you release it a sudden rush of blood goes through and it feels better again. a rush of blood washes through the muscle; this not only brings nutrients for growth and healing but also clearing out all that junk you just broke up. It can be used to aid the healing of strained tissue and swollen areas to promote lymphatic drainage.

You can read up more on how Voodoo Floss works here. I like how this writer learns through trying it {creating an experience-based lens through which to view it}, reading about it {look it at through other peoples’ lenses} then writing about it {as a way of digesting it all of the above} because that's my usual learning process too for many things.

This is my latest gym workout plan with weights I'm using:

A1. Barbell Deadlift {Double Progression}, 4 sets, 6 reps - 56kg
A2. Flat Dumb-bell Bench Press {Pronating, Double Progression}, 6 reps - 14.5kg
B1. Trap Bar Deadlift, 4 sets, 6 reps - 53kg
B2. Leg Press, 4 sets, 12 reps - 50kg
B3. Prowler, 4 sets, 4 laps - 25kg
C1. Dumb-bell Chest Supported Row to Chest {Pronating}, 4 sets, 6 reps - 14+12kg
C2. Incline Ring Row, 4 sets, 12 reps - bodyweight
C3. Battling Ropes - 60sec

So Friday was a combination of better knees plus new shoes {my Nike Studio Wraps finally arrived!!} plus my *ahem* favourite trainer was around so the workout went much better. Barbell deadlifts still felt kinda uneven so I've to try and prevent my right knee from caving in and try to concentrate on my left leg... dumb-bell bench press has improved {one of my fave exercises}, and I've increased the leg press weight up again. Previously, I'd to scrap that exercise or lessen the weight because of my hurt knees.

Jen told me to do it next time with a bit more hamstring and glute emphasis, by shifting my feet higher up on the leg press platform, as well as turning my feet out more, making a bigger V.

Home Workouts
I went in to the club gym on Wednesday and Saturday. My main goal this week was just to make sure I exercised without aggravating my knees so I did not follow my home workout plans, and did the leg "conditioning" with low weights high reps {100+} and upper body exercises - Pec Deck, Dumb-bell Bench Press etc.

The boy ordered in some new massage tools and they came in this week. He helped me to get the MuscleTrac Pro to help massage deeply and stretch the muscles... kinda like foam rolling but smaller and more precise? Justin used it on my leg once and it left blue-black marks for about 1 week plus! I was thinking of bringing this when I travel since its pretty compact.

The boy got the Body Back Body which is a trigger point massage tool with 11 uniquely positioned therapy knobs to stimulate blood flow to muscles also generate oxygen and nutrients. This aids in faster muscle recovery. I used it on my upper back and it helped to relief some pain.

My whole body is aching so bad though, especially my upper back and neck area. The self-massaging tools help to some extent but I need to go in for a full-body massage soon. Not just any massage, but one to really get into my knots and rub my muscles deep. I read up on Active Release Techniques {ART} and it sounds like exactly what I need.

12 Weeks Progress Report
So my first personal training session was on 29 Jul 15 and since then, I've lost 9cm off my waist and around 10% of body fat in 12 weeks. Weight-wise, I dropped 2kg. Technically, I didn't reach my fitness goal {which was to drop 10kg of fat} but that's ok as I didn't focus on the correct thing and shouldn't have made a goal based on weight lost when I first started.

At 6 weeks I lost 5cm and around 5.5% of body fat so that means in the last 6 weeks it was an improvement of 4cm off my waist and 4.5% of body fat. Rather consistent but of course, there's the feeling that hey, I could have done better! I will attribute this to not eating as well as I should, not sleeping as much as I could, and losing some motivation/steam in the last few weeks.

Also, my goal of improving my knowledge base has improved and I've learnt how to strategise, track and progress towards my goals, and form better fitness habits so that even if I personal training, I can still use these knowledge and habits for life.

I don't train much with Jen anymore but if there's anything I'd still email him and he'll email me some reminders, tips and advice. Had a good chat with him after training on Friday and confided in him some food and sleep problems I'm having.

He advised while that keeping to my calorie goals and maintaining sufficient protein will work to a large extent in getting results, but they are also thinking about long term health too as I don't eat enough whole food and real meat. And that will affect how I feel in general, as well as my performance in the gym. Life is busy for me right now, but I need to try when I can.

Touché.

Food Nutrition
Weekdays were still ok but I erm, kinda let loose during the weekend. Oops. I wanted to relieve some stress so I didn't count my calories or really note down what I ate. On Saturday I met Maryann and Susu at Udders, so can't go there without eating ice-cream, right? At night we celebrated my mum's birthday at Brewerkz with a pretty full meal {wagyu beef burger & pork knuckles!! yumm..}. On Sunday I met up with Douglas again and that usually means eating at the Ayam Pengyet restaurant.

I relish in the fact that you cannot realistically gain weight for just 1-2 days of overindulgence if you regularly stick to a healthy diet and exercise routine. I'll eat responsibly again in the new week and pay for it in my next gym workout (つД・)

Thoughts for the Week 
I've finished my 12 weeks fitness training program with Genesis Gym {actually still have one more session tomorrow} and received pretty good results but this is just the beginning.

I don't think I could have completed the program without the support and encouragement from my family. The boy who usually takes the brunt of my mood-swings {sorry!!} and will try to help me with meal-planning, getting the supplements, nutrients, tools I need, and Lil Pumpkin, who doesn't mind that I now have less time to play with her and will patiently wait to go home with me after my sessions at Genesis or the club gym. Sometimes I'd apologise to Lil Pumpkin for making her wait, and she'll reply" it's ok Mummy, as long as you exercise and improve." *sobs sobs*.. such a thoughtful and sweet girl. At least I know that when she sees both her parents living healthily, she will be influenced to do the same thing in her life too (｡◕ฺˇε ˇ◕ฺ｡）

Appreciate friends and readers who leave notes and words of encouragement as well to keep me going, or share that they are inspired to go but to exercise too when they see me do it. I realise some of you are from Genesis Gym as well {e.g. Baby Gal} so if you see me there, do pop by and say hi (｡◕‿◕｡) I have a resting b*tch face sometimes and look like I wanna punch someone when I'm very tired but am otherwise pretty friendly hahaha.

Many thanks as well to the Genesis Gym team, especially Justin, for constantly monitoring, coaching and improving my knowledge & foundation on fitness training. I've learnt a lot from you and if I didn't have your push I probably wouldn't have made the improvements I did. You're really good in what you do and I feel very blessed to know you from my first try at personal training, even though I didn't bother to research much into gyms or personal trainers. So serendipitous!

Jen as well for his advice and work-out plans and for always making sure I can rely on him to take prompt action or dish out tips on any trouble I have... as well as the other trainers like Farhan, Superman and Mark?? who have trained and helped me in one way or another.

No regrets signing up with them at all and yes, I'd do it all over again since I want to improve more and have decided to renew my membership for another 12 weeks {after a break to rest and recalibrate}. Let's try to see some abs in the next cycle ( #●´艸`)

Follow my Fitness Diary posts here or on Instagram {#AiFitnessDiary}.  

One-on-On Personal Training Updates:

The Beginning - First 4 Months
Girls Can Pull-Up Too!
Finally, I Have Visible Abs! 
Holiday Workout - No Gym No Problem! 
Lessons learnt from Being Injured
New 2 Months Challenge   
2 Months Challenge Results - Lowest Body Fat Composition Ever! 

Genesis Gym Personal Training Updates:
The Beginning - Signing Up for Personal Training

Week 1 - Getting the Right Form for Fitness

Week 2 - The Right Trainer Matters

Week 3 - Keeping Fit Needs Brain & Brawns
Week 4 - Reality Check
Week 5 - New Workout Programs, New Challenges
Week 6 - Program Progress Report

Week 7 - Training with a Weak Back
Week 8 - Keep Calm & Gym On 

Week 9 - Making Sense of Trap Lifts, TRX & Med Ball Slams
Week 10 - Workout Max Out
Week 11 - Rolling in the Deep
Week 12 - Program End Report 
Week 13 - Start of Cycle 2
Weeks 14 to 16 - Slow & Steady
Weeks 17 to 20 - Milos Giant Sets
Weeks 21 to 24 - Cycle 2 Program End Report
Weeks 25 to 28 - German Volume Training & MetCon Workouts
Weeks 29 to 32 - What Doesn't Kill You
Weeks 33 to 36 -  Cycle 3 Program End Report
Personal Training - Results 1 Year Later 

Wendler's 5/3/1 Program to Reach Strength Targets
15% Body Fat Target Reached!
Good Bye Genesis Gym

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