Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 365

Day 365 We had a little scare there a couple days ago. When I woke up on the morning of the 28th with my back kinked out of place I was worried, frustrated and quite frankly really pissed off. Being so close to finishing the year, I didn't want to put forth a weak, half hearted effort for my last workout. Well, thankfully I felt great today. I woke up with no signs of any back pain, so my goal of finishing the year with a strong performance in the gym was still a go.

My goal today was to thoroughly crush myself. I wanted something that would tax the upper levels of my strength and my endurance. To do this I went back to some of my favourite workouts from earlier in the year and made some slight modifications to keep things interesting.

Today's Workout:

Part 1: Skipping (Double Unders) - 300 reps (150, 100, 50) less than 10 sec rest between breaks

I wanted to get to 300 without stopping but just made a couple mistakes when I lost a little bit of focus.

Part 2: The 300 Workout - I replaced the Deadlifts with Back Squats

1. 25 pull-ups (Unbroken)
2. 50 Back Squats - 135lbs (Unbroken)
3. 50 Push-ups (Unbroken)
4. 50 Box Jumps - 24 inches (25, 15, 10)
5. 50 Floor Wipers (25, 15, 10) - Lower back did not like these
6. 50 Single Arm Kettlebell Clean and Presses - 16 kg (25 per arm)
7. 25 Pull-ups (20, 5)

I replaced the deadlifts with back squats to save my lower back. This made things a little more difficult from a muscular perspective but it saved my forearms quite a bit. Going from pull-ups to deadlifts is murder on the forearms. Overall this was really tough but it went better than the last time I did the 300 workout. The floor wipers didn't feel great on my lower back but I managed to get through them.

Part 3: Battleropes + Leg Circuit

20 minutes Continuous (Shoulder Height Alternating Wave)

This was one of the hardest things I've ever done. The first 5 minutes and last 5 minutes are probably the worst. At about minute 3 you want to give up so badly. Your arms and shoulders are on fire and you still have so far to go. By the time you get to the 10 minute mark, you're kind of numb. You've established a rhythm and the fact that you have less to go than you've done, makes it mentally a little easier. By the time you get to minute 15, everything starts to hurt. I was a little worried I might let go by accident but I managed to hang on. The sweat dripping into your eyes, and not being able to wiped it away makes things extra uncomfortable. In the end I finished pretty strong. I know I can do 20 minutes, I can't say I have any desire to try it again anytime soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRtpe8TYNpk

Leg Circuit

• Squats x 20
• Lunges x 20 per side
• Squat Jumps x 20
• Split Jumps x 20 per side
• Burpees x 6

I still had a bit of gas in the tank after the battle ropes, so I decided to tack on a little extra leg work at the end. I don't normally find the circuit I used overly difficult but today it was pretty tough. The 300  workout took a bigger toll on my legs than I had thought. My squat jumps weren't too pretty.

Well it happened. 365 days have past and in that same time I completed 365 workouts. I really don't know what to feel at this point. When I started I really didn't think I would be able to do it. Yes it was a challenge that involved a huge amount of physical effort but overall it was really all about testing my mind.

A year ago I set a goal that I thought was unrealistic so that it might push me a little bit beyond what I thought was realistic. In the end I really surprised myself. There were a few times that I really wanted to quit, and there were a few times when I thought I wasn't going to be able to get a workout in, but I guess I found out that my perception of what is realistic was inaccurate.

I really owe a lot to my friends and family. All the words of encouragement on facebook really helped me when I was feeling tired. There's no way I could have done this without knowing I had so many people rooting for me. At times I thought people had stopped reading or paying attention, and then out of the blue I would run into someone I hadn't seen for awhile and they would tell me to keep up the good work, that they loved my blog. Even my relatives in Ireland did their best to accomomdate me when Nicole and I were visiting this summer, by suggesting running routes and even looking into local gyms for me.

My client David Little (probably my number one liker on Facebook) told me I should take a few days to take stock of my year before I post a true summary of what I've done. I think I'm going to take his advice. However, I feel comfortable in saying that it was a pretty amazing year. My body changed in a way I didn't expect. I had to take my suit in to the tailors to get the pants taken in, yet my jacket got tighter. Being a long life long insomniac, I actually started sleeping through the night (not every night but, a lot more than before). A big life moment happened. This summer when I was in Ireland, I promised to Nicole. This time next year we plan on being married. Overall, it was an amazing year. I'm not sure how I'm going to follow up in 2014. All I know is I did 365 workouts in a row and I feel awesome.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 364

Day 364 My lower back really turned the corner last night. When I woke up this morning I felt substantially better. I wasn't completely out of the woods but I felt well enough to push things pretty hard in the gym today. I still didn't want to lift anything too heavy. Tomorrow is the finale. No sense in wrecking things with one day left. That being said, I wasn't about to phone it in today. I may not have been moving anything heavy today, but I still made a point of lining myself up for a good hard sweat.

Today's Workout:

Cardio 1: Versa Climber 100 feet x 10 intervals (35 seconds per interval / rest period based off perceived recovery - 45 to 60 sec typically)

Cardio 2: Rowing 200 metres x 5 intervals (40 - 45 seconds per interval / 45 seconds rest between intervals)

Cardio 3: 400 metre Repeats (Treadmill) 400 metres x 2 intervals (1:15 per interval / 1:15 rest between intervals)

I was really happy overall with how my lower back held up. The versa was no problem and the rowing, although I had to adjust my technique a little bit (I didn't feel too good if I leaned back too far), went really well as well. I wanted to do more 400s but I decided I had pushed things enough. My back was feeling really good but I could tell it wasn't super keen on the running. Hopefully tomorrow the improvement continues.

Well tomorrow is the big day, my 365th consecutive day of working out. I was worried that my back was going to get in the way and make tomorrow's workout somewhat anti-climactic. That is not going to happen. Tonight as I write this I feel great. I don't care if I can't get out of bed on January first, tomorrow's workout is going to be huge.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 363

Day 363 Well my back didn't feel much better when I woke up this morning. It's not completely debilitating, just very frustrating. I can stand up pretty straight but once I start moving I feel like I have one leg longer than the other. However, moving around and not spending much time sitting seems to make me feel better.

Although I wasn't feeling the way I had hoped today, I did make my way to the gym. I made a point of avoiding anything that would stress my lower back or put in a position that irritated my back. I decided that some upper body strength work would be a good idea.

Today's Workout:

Superset 1 (Alternate Exercise 1 and 2)

Exercise 1: Inclined Barbell Press 3 sets / 10 - 12 reps / no rest

Exercise 2: Wide Grip Chin-ups 3 sets / 10 - 12 reps / no rest

Superset 2 (Alternate Exercise 3 and 4)

Exercise 3: Tricep Dips 3 sets / 12 - 15 reps / no rest

Exercise 4: TRX Inverted Row 3 sets / 12 - 15 reps / no rest

Tri-Set (Do exercises 5 through 7 in sequence)

Exercise 5: Lateral Dumbbell Raise 3 sets / 12 - 15 reps / no rest

Exercise 6: Alternating Dumbbell Bicep Curl 3 sets / 12 per side / no rest

Exercise 7: Tricep Rope Pulldowns 3 sets / 15 reps / no rest

I made a point of not resting between sets. I wanted to elicit a bit of a heart rate response on top of the muscular fatigue. I did use the largest of muscle groups but by keeping the pace up I definitely increase the level of difficulty. After the weights I planned on doing a little bit of cardio. I thought about using the versa climber but changed my mind and did some swimming instead.

Swimming: 15 minutes - used a mix of breast stroke and front crawl (mostly breast stroke)

I absolutely suck at swimming. I've mentioned it before. No matter what pace I use, I feel like I'm sprinting as fast as I can. After 15 minutes of flailing I was exhausted. The good news was that my lower back didn't hurt me at all. This was kind of the idea behind deciding to get in the pool. I figured that the weightlessness of being in the water would take some of the pressure off my lower back.

I feel better about my efforts today. I did what I could. I'm hoping that tomorrow yields an even better effort. I have 2 days left until day 365. I'll play things by ear tomorrow. If I'm feeling great I'll push things pretty hard. If I'm still feeling off, I'll play it a bit safer so that I can give it everything I've got.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 362

Day 362 It would appear that my plans of avoiding a lower back issue after my long drive yesterday were unsuccessful. My hips and back felt a bit stiff last night, but I was confident that today I would feel fine. However, when I woke up this morning my back was totally kinked. I was hoping that if I got walking around, things would start to loosen up. Unfortunately I didn't feel any better.

I was really hoping for a hard lifting session today, but it just wasn't in the cards. I got to the gym today, around 3:30. I thought that maybe if I got some blood pumping with some cardio that I might loosed up enough to try some form of strength training. However, when I got to the gym I found out that the facility was closing at 4:00 due to some scheduled electrical maintenance. This left me with very little time to get anything done.

Today's Workout:

Cardio: Stepmill 15 minutes / Level 10

Push-ups x 100

20 minutes of deep hip and lower back related stretching

After the gym, Nicole and I drove out to the mountains to have dinner with my parents and sister at the Post Hotel in Lake Louise. as I mentioned yesterday, the roads have been really bad so we wanted to take our time. This combined with my injury, and gym closing earlier than expected, made for a frustrating day of trying to get my exercise.

I'm really quite annoyed that this lower back issue has showed up at this point. I have only 3 days left and I really wanted to make them count. I didn't want to limp my way to finishing this year. I wanted to smash my way into 2014. I don't think the next few days will be a total waste. I'm pretty sure I can work around things. I just hope I don't have to work around things too much.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 361

Day 361 Today, I had to drive back to Calgary from Edmonton. The other day when we Nicole and I drove up to Edmonton the weather and the roads were great. Today the roads were pretty bad. The wind was blowing tons of fresh snow across the highway. When we had day light it wasn't too bad, but when the sun went down it was really hard to see. The drive usually takes about 2 and half hrs. Tonight it took close to 4.

When we got to Calgary, I still had to get my workout in. I was really not in the mood to workout. My back was really stiff from sitting so long. It was dinner time and I was hungry, but I had to get it done. I was originally hoping to do some weightlifting today, but the last time I did some lifting after a long drive, I through out my back. So instead of hitting the weights I tried something a little more heart rate focused.

Today's Workout:

Warm-up: 10 minutes of skipping (Singles)

Workout:

Skipping Double Unders - 50 reps Pull-ups - 10 reps

x 5 rounds

It was a pretty short and sweet workout but it did the trick. After 3 and a half hrs in a car, I really didn't feel like working out, but I had to get it done. This workout got me working hard but at least it didn't take very long.

Tomorrow, when I have more time and enthusiasm I'll get back to the gym and do some lifting. My back and hips should have loosened up by then and pushing the weights should be no problem.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 360

Day 360 After a night of catching up with friends last night I got up to a slow, yet relaxing start this morning. Netflix and Christmas vacation were made for each other. I didn't manage to post my workout yesterday so this is what I did for #360.

Today's Workout:

20 minute time limit As many burpees as possible.

Total: 152

I wanted to get 200. I started with a good pace but started to slow down around halfway. Yet another mark to work towards.

Driving back to Calgary now. The gym at work is open now, so I'll make a point of popping in and utilizing the equipment. You can only do so many push ups and burpees before getting a little bored

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 359

Day 359 Christmas Day is know all across the world as probably the laziest, and most glutinous day  of the year. My Christmas day certainly lived up to this theory. I woke up to a nice big breakfast, then promptly after Nicole and I hopped in my car and drove 3 hrs to see my parents in Edmonton. Then about 20 minutes after arriving at my parents house we sat down for a massive feast. This made for a wonderful day of food and quality time with my loved ones, but it made getting in a workout a little trickier, something that made things even harder was the fact that I couldn't resist the need to fall into a coma after dinner.

Today's Workout

Push-up / V-sit Superset:

Push-ups x 10 reps V-Sits x 10 reps - 10 rounds with no breaks

Air Squats: 100 reps

After Christmas dinner I could have stayed in bed for the rest of the night, but I forced myself to get up and workout. I was worried I was going to fall further asleep and wake up tomorrow without having gotten my workout.

As I mentioned, I didn't have many options. I was pretty much relegated to just body weight exercises. I thought about doing burpees or squat jumps but my stomach was still so full, and I thought I'd probably throw up if I did. I skipped anything too jumpy and decided to do some push-up and v-sits instead. It took me less than 10 minutes and it was quite a bit harder than I thought it would be. For a moment I thought my plan of avoiding throwing up was going to fail. I guess 100 v-sits with a belly full of turkey, ham, yams, potatoes, and Christmas pudding was probably not a good idea,

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 358

Day 358 Today being Christmas eve, meant that some of my day would obviously be taken up with family time and festivities. Work was closed, so I would have to go to another facility to workout or try to find a different form of workout.

The first activity of my day turned out to be helping out another one of my neighbours get out of the snow. It seems that every time the city plows our streets it pushed a wall of snow up against the cars parked on the side of the street. I woke up this morning to sound of a car spinning it's tires. After about an hour of this I went outside to help. Nicole's sister Clare was coming over to help me wrap presents. She was coming up my driveway when I was got outside. Together we spent about 30 - 35 minutes trying to dig this guy out of the snow. We managed to get a good amount of snow shovelled out of the way but he was just too stuck. In the end a tow truck had to pull him out.

A little later, I decided to go for a run. The weather was beautiful today. The sun was out and the temperatures were above 5 degrees. Plus Nicole needed some coffee cream, so I used that as an excuse to go for a run. Instead of driving to the grocery store I decided to run. However, once again as I stepped outside, another one of my neighbours was stuck in the snow. Once again, I grabbed my shovel and went to work. This time we were more successful. After about 20 minutes of digging we managed to clear enough sun to get the car free and I was felt free to head out on my run.

Today's Workout:

35 minute run (Moderate Pace)

Preceded by two separate sessions of digging my neighbour's cars out of the snow.

The grocery store was reasonably far away, so I had to run a decent distance. I got the coffee cream without issue and made my way back home. It was a little awkward running with a carton cream in my hand but I made due. I also stopped into best buy and a tea shop. I figured while I was out that I might as well pick a couple more christmas presents. This meant that I had another couple items to contend with while running. This made things really awkward but I still managed to finish my run home.

It was really quite nice to get outside for a workout. With the weather recently I haven't been up to getting outside for a run. Today was a nice change of pace. Tomorrow is Christmas day. Every is closed and I'm driving up to Edmonton to spend the some quality time with my parents. Finding the time to workout will be interesting but I think I'll manage.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days Of Fitness: Day 357

Day 357 With work being closed tomorrow, I decided that it would be a good idea to get in a good lift Today. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get gym access over the next couple days. I might be able to go to a public facility but with Christmas plans on the go you never know what could happen. I've been really loading up on the Christmas calories so I want to make sure that I take advantage of the extra fuel in my system and put it to good use. I don't want to finish my year looking like Santa.

Today's Workout:

Exercise 1: Bench Press 5 sets / 8 - 10 reps / 2 min rest Set 1: 135lbs x 10 reps Set 2: 185lbs x 10 reps Set 3: 185lbs x 9 reps Set 4: 185lbs x 9 reps Set 5: 185lbs x 9 reps

Superset 1

Exercise 2: Barbell Overhead Press 4 sets / 8 - 10 reps / 60 seconds rest Set 1: 115lbs x 8 reps Set 2: 115lbs x 8 reps Set 3: 115lbs x 8 reps Set 4: 115lbs x 8 reps

Exercise 3: Wide Grip Chin-ups 4 sets / 8 - 10 reps / 60 seconds rest *Slow Negatives Set 1: Body Weight x 10 reps Set 2: Body Weight x 10 reps Set 3: Body Weight x 10 reps Set 4: Body Weight x 10 reps

Superset 2:

Exercise 4: Single Arm Dumbbell Row: 3 sets / 10 reps per side / no rest Set 1: 80lbs x 10 reps per side Set 2: 80lbs x 10 reps per side Set 3: 80lbs x 10 reps per side

Exercise 5: Tricep Dips 3 sets / 10 - 12 reps / 60 seconds rest *Slow Negatives Set 1: Body Weight x 12 reps Set 2: Body Weight x 12 reps Set 3: Body Weight x 12 reps

Superset 3:

Exercise 6: Cable Chest Fly 3 sets / 12 - 15 reps / no rest Set 1: 30lbs x 15 reps Set 2: 35lbs x 15 reps Set 3: 40lbs x 15 reps

Exercise 7: Reverse Cable Fly 3 sets / 12 - 15 reps / 60 seconds rest Set 1: 30lbs x 12 reps Set 2: 30lbs x 12 reps Set 3: 30lbs x 12 reps

I didn't feel that strong when I started. I found my upper strength was limited but as the workout wore on I felt better and better. I think my body was still a little tired from the weekend, but at the same time, I don't typically workout with a ton of extra carbohydrate in my system, which made my gas tank a lot bigger than usual.

Well we're down to single digits now. Only 8 days left. I'm feeling really good. No injuries, no sicknesses (knock on wood). Tomorrow, if I have time I might try and hit the Talisman centre, a public facility, to use their track. If I can't make that work, I think I'll try go for a run. The weather was really nice today. If it continues, going for a run tomorrow will a nice change of pace. With the weather over the last few weeks, running hasn't really been that appealing. I know some people run all the time, no matter what the weather, but some people are crazy.

Richard Gibney's 365 Day's of Fitness: Day 354

Day 354 Today was the day before my big charity workout challenge, "The Ultimate Angel". The task ahead of me will be pretty challenging so I've backed off a bit over the last couple days. Yesterday I hit the bike for a 30 minute light ride. My muscles felt loosened up afterward but I also felt like something was missing a bit. I think my body has gotten used to a certain threshold of work. It just doesn't feel the same unless I push it enough. So today instead of another bike ride like I had planned I decided to push a little harder. I'd keep the duration and volume low but I throw in a little more intensity.

Today's Workout:

Dynamic Warm-up

Mini-Band Series

• External Hip Rotations (10 per side)
• Forward / Backward Walk (10 steps each direction)
• Lateral Shuffle (10 steps each direction)
• Skater (10 per side)

Dynamic Stretches

• Walking Knee Hugs 3 per side
• Reverse Reaching Lunge 3 per side
• Lateral Lunge 4 per side
• Inverted Hamstring 3 per side
• Handwalk 4 reps
• World's Greatest Stretch 3 per side

Activation

• Forward Skip
• Forward Bound (Double Contact)
• Forward Bound (Single Contact)
• High Knees

Exercise 1: Box Jump (48 inches) 2 sets / 5 reps / 60 seconds rest - I wanted to do 3 sets, but I hit my shin on the plyo box on one of my second set reps. It wasn't bad but I didn't want to tempt fate so I cut it short at 2 sets.

Exercise 2: Power Snatch 4 sets / 5 reps / 60 seconds rest - 95lbs for all sets

Exercise 3: Skipping Double Unders 4 sets / 50 reps / 30 seconds rest

Exercise 4: Rowing Machine 3 sets / 200 metres / 60 seconds rest Set 1: 38 seconds Set 2: 37 seconds Set 3: 36 seconds

Save for banging my shin on the plyo box, this workout did exactly what I wanted it to. Keeping the volume low but still using challenging exercises allowed me to wake up my body without tapping too deep into my energy stores. I have a feeling I'm going to need a full tank tomorrow. I'm not going in to the club until the early afternoon. So I sleep in and nice big breakfast and I should be ready to go.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 353

Day 353 With my fitness challenge looming this weekend, I took it pretty easy today. As I mentioned yesterday I want to feel fresh for Saturday so that I can be at my best. My legs were feeling a bit stiff today from last night's workout, so I decided flushing some of the junk out of my muscles would be a good idea.

Today's Workout:

Stationary Bike: 30 minutes / Light to Moderate Intensity

It felt strange to go so light. The last couple weeks I've been pushing pretty hard. However, it was probably good for me to back off a little bit. It wasn't a tough ride but it was enough to get me sweating and push some blood through my quads.

Our fitness challenge is shaping up really nicely. I know Philip will be ready to go come Saturday, so I'm going to have to bring my A-game. Whatever happens, it's for a great cause. In the end the kids from the Boy's and Girl's club will be the real winners.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 352

Day 352 Tonight was the last workout of 2013 for my conditioning group. I wanted to make it a good one, so that the guys can feel good about taking a break over the next couple weeks. They've been working really hard for most of the year. I think they've earned a break.

The plan tonight was to tax both strength and cardio. My group has gotten quite strong but there's still a little bit of variability how much weight they can work with. With that in mind the workout focused on muscular endurance rather than upper levels of strength. That being said, even though the weights aren't overly heavy, it's still really hard work.

Today's Workout:

Part 1: Chin-ups w Plank Row Round 1: 10 chins / 10 plank rows per side Round 2: 8 chins / 8 plank rows per side Round 3: 6 chins / 6 plank rows per side

Part 2: Treadmill 1/2 Mile Sprint (9 mph)

Part 3: Back Squats 135 lbs / 50 reps in as few attempts as possible - I managed to do all 50 in a row.

Part 4: Bench Press 135lbs / 50 reps in as few attempts as possible - 30 to 60 seconds between attempts Attempt 1: 25 reps Attempt 2: 10 reps Attempt 3: 10 reps Attempt 4: 5 reps

Part 5: Versa Climber + Burpees Versa Climber / 500 feet (5:45) Burpees x 30

This workout felt good. I'm really happy with how I did tonight. The squats were a definite improvement from the last time I tried 135lbs for 50 reps. However, with my fitness charity challenge this coming weekend, I have to back off over the next few days. I'll probably focus on some core and light to moderate cardio between now and then. I need to recoup my strength and energy so that I can be a my best for Saturday.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 351

Day 351 Last night's group session was pretty tough. My body felt thoroughly worked over when I woke up this morning. I wasn't wrecked, but just enough to know that I had pushed myself. This week my schedule is really busy, making my workout options limited. Considering how hard I worked yesterday, I felt I didn't need a big workout today, but I still wanted enough time to do something worthwhile. it wasn't looking like I was going to have enough time, but I had a last minute cancellation. I had waited around for about 20 minutes, so some of my hour had been eaten up, but I had about half hour to sneak in some lifting before my next session.

Today's Workout:

Olympic Lifting: Snatch Focus Set 1: Hang Snatch: 95lbs x 5 Set 2: Hang Snatch: 95lbs x 5 Set 3: Hang Snatch: 115lbs x 4 Set 4: Snatch (Floor): 125lbs x 4 Set 5: Snatch (Floor): 125lbs x 4

I wasn't very happy with how much I got done. My back was a little sore after the second set of snatches from the floor. I could have fit in another couple sets but I decided to back off. I'm close to the end and don't want to ruin everything by throwing back out, plus I have my charity fitness competition this weekend. I think it's going to be big success and I don't want to be anything less than my best for it.

After work I ended up getting into some unexpected physical exercise. Nicole needed to get her winter tires put on her car. A friend of hers who is a mechanic offered to put them on for her, which was really nice. The only thing was, his neighborhood happened to be the most snow covered area of the whole city. As we were trying to get her car to her friend's garage, it got stuck in the snow. After multiple attempts and a lot of pushing we got the car moving and into the garage. Then as we were leaving, we came across someone else who was stuck in the snow. He was really stuck. His Jaguar was really nice, but rear wheel drive and all season tires are a bad idea in this climate. The best we could do was move his car away from the middle of the street. We thought our car pushing was done for the evening only to turn around and see another guy stuck. We managed to get him going, but not without a little shoveling and some more pushing.

The workout may not have been very satisfying, but I think I made up for it pretty well with 30 minutes of shoveling snow and pushing cars. My lower back is feeling fine. I think stopping the lifting when I did was a good idea. I expect tomorrow to be feeling pretty good. I have my last conditioning group session of 2013 tomorrow night. I think I'll join in again for one last little bit of fun.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 350

Day 350 Tonight I decided to join my conditioning group for a workout. I hadn't joined them for a couple weeks. I've been pushing them pretty hard as of late and it's starting to show. They're quite fit at the moment. In the past when I've joined them for workouts, particularly circuit style workouts, I've tended to finish my exercises a little faster. Tonight, it seemed like I was the one trying to keep up.

Today's Workout:

Metabolic Circuit: 60 seconds per exercise / 2 rounds

• Push-ups
• TRX Sprinter
• Switch Back Lunges (30 sec per side)
• Rowing Machine (Max Effort)
• Side to Side Jam Ball Slam (30lbs)
• Farmers Walk (26 kg per hand)
• Dumbbell Jumping Jack (10lbs)
• Chin-up x 5 / Box Jump x 5 / Burpee x 5
• Rowing Machine (Max Effort)
• Skater Jump x 10 / Skier jump x 10 / Split Jump x 10
• Treadmill 8% / 6 mph
• TRX Single Arm Row (30 sec per side)
• Single Arm Kettlebell Row (30 sec per side)
• Versa Climber

It was really cool to see my group doing so well. We started running classes back in the beginning of may. They were always a fit bunch, but the strides they've made are quite impressive. One of the guys in my group is a diabetic. At the beginning of the session the guy produced some pretty epic pukes. Now 9 months later, he's 20 lbs lighter, doing treadmill sprints at 12 mph, and using 1/3 of the insulin that he used to. I'm very proud of him. I love my job, and get enjoyment from working with all my clients, but when I see people getting benefits from training with me it gives me a sense of reward that's hard to describe.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 349

Day 349 Today my friend and Co-worker Philip was shooting a series of exercise videos for the tip of the week he posts on his website ndugga.com . He needed some other trainers and participants to help demonstrate the exercises. Philip asked me to help out, which I was more than happy to do.

The filming of instructional exercise videos takes a lot more time than you would think. Very often, multiple takes are required. I felt sorry for Philip. I was only part of a couple exercise sequences, whereas he was involved in every single one. He was basically working out continuously from 2:00 pm until 6:00 pm.

While I was waiting for my turn to be involved in a video, I put myself through a functional core circuit. I thought about just claiming the video filming as part of my workout but I didn't feel I did quite enough work overall to claim it as a workout.

Today's Workout:

Core Circuit: 4 sets / 60 seconds rest

• Barbell Overhead Squats x 8 reps (95lbs)
• Bubka Leg Raises x 8
• Downward Cable Chop x 8 per side (120lbs)

This core circuit fit in with the schedule quite well today. The filming was taking place in a group exercise studio. Just outside was a full weight room. I was able to sneak out into the gym and do my sets while I waiting for my time to film.

The exercises I did for the videos were quite challenging. Each exercise was filmed for 30 seconds. Some of the more difficult ones seemed like they were a lot longer. Below is a list of the series of exercises we did.

Philip's Video Exercises

Series 1

• Fit Ball Dumbbell Bicep Curl to Press x 30 seconds
• Fit Ball Dumbbell Chest Fly x 30 seconds
• Fit Ball Dumbbell Chest Press x 30 seconds
• Fit Ball Ab Twist x 30 seconds

Series 2

• Slider Push-ups x 30 seconds
• Slider Mountain Climber x 30 seconds
• Alternating Single Arm Slider Push-ups x 30 seconds
• Knee Grab (single leg, single leg, double leg) x 30 seconds

Philip's tips of the week will likely be ready sometime in the new year. I will make sure to post them here and on my facebook. To watch some of Philip's previous exercise videos, you can visit his website (ndugga.com).

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 348

Day 348 Today, in an absolutely massive feat of physical effort, courage, and tenacity, Nicole achieved one of the highest standards in martial arts. It was a really tough last few weeks leading up to her belt test. 3 weeks ago, she dislocated a rib and was unable to train at any real capacity up until the moment she did her test. So with one of her arms slung up by a tensor bandage she fought with every ounce of strength and courage she had and earned her black belt. to say I'm proud would be a massive understatement

Because we, spent most of the day getting Nicole prepared for her test, which took two hours, I didn't get around to doing a workout until after the test. It was pretty late in the day, so instead of heading to the gym I pulled out my trusty 30 lb dumbbells from the basement and did some upper body work.

Today's Workout:

Superset 1:

Exercise 1: Dumbbell Shoulder Press 2 sets / 12 reps / no rest

Exercise 2: Alternating Dumbbell Bicep Curl 2 sets / 12 reps per side / 30 seconds rest

Superset 2:

Exercise 1: Alternating Fwd Dumbbell Raise 2 sets / 12 reps per side / no rest

Exercise 2: Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extension 2 sets / 12 reps / 30 seconds rest

Superset 3:

Exercise 1: Single Arm Upright Row to Overhead 2 sets / 12 reps per side / no rest

Exercise 2: Diamond Tricep Push-up 2 sets / 15 reps / 30 seconds rest

It was a pretty quick workout, but it did the trick. Nicole, her sister Clare and I are going to have a nice meal to celebrate, so I didn't want to spend too much time exercising. Besides after watching Nicole do her test, I was a wreck. The celebratory champagne we had afterward, was a most welcome treat.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 347

Day 347 A couple years ago, my co-worker Philip and I threw together a charity workout to raise money for the Boy's and Girl's Club. We had a blast, suffered through some physical exhaustion and raised a lot of money. This year we are doing the same thing, only with a slightly different spin. Two years ago, the challenge only involved the two of us. This time we've organized 2 teams of 10 people, team Ndugga versus team Gibney.

The event involves 4 different challenges. The first part is a team 4000 metre row, with each team member rowing 400 metres. The team that has all of their participants finish first, wins. The second part is a body weight circuit, where 3 rounds of a certain number of reps are completed for particular group of exercises.

Today's Workout:

1. 400 metre row: 80% Effort / 1:30

2. Body Weight Circuit: 3 rounds as fast as possible

• Chin-ups x 10
• Push-ups x 20
• V-Sits x 30
• Squats x 50

3. Death By Burpees - 45 second intervals. Starting with 1 burpee then adding an extra burpee every 45 seconds. The time left over after completing the required number of burpees is the rest period.

Number of Intervals completed: 10

4. 400 metre Treadmill Sprint - 11 mph / 1:16

This workout was quite difficult but I feel confident about how I"ll perform next week. I didn't push too hard on the rower, but I got a sense of what it will be like. The body weight circuit was hard. The first round isn't too bad but about 1/2 way through the second round it really starts to hurt. By the time I got to the 3rd I was slowing down a lot but still managed to finish strong. The death by burpees is pretty awful. The first 2 or 3 intervals are no problem, but then you realize it takes a lot longer to do 5 or more burpees than you would think. By the time you're up to 7 burpees it feel like you just doing them continuously. I decided to go up to 10. Doing more than that is going to be really hard.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 346

Day 346 I wasn't sure when I was going to do my workout today. My schedule was packed with one very small break in the afternoon. I had pretty much resigned myself to the idea that I was going to do some sort short intense cardio, but I had a couple unexpected cancellations that left me with a little more time. Instead of something sort and sweet, I decided to do some Olympic lifts instead.

Today's Workout:

Exercise 1: Squat Clean / 3- 5 minutes rest between sets Set 1: 155lbs x 3 Set 2: 155lbs x 3 Set 3: 175lbs x 3 Set 4: 175lbs x 3 Set 5: 195lbs x 2 Set 6: 195lbs x 2 Set 7: 215lbs x 1 Set 8: 225lbs (100 kg) x 1

My workouts this week are going really well. A couple weeks ago, I tried to do some heavy power cleans but was really disappointed with what I was able do. Today I felt really strong. The weight was going up really well, so after a few sets I felt trying for a one rep max.

When I was 23 I might have been able to lift 100 kilos with a clean, but over the last few years I haven't even been close. Today I was feeling really good, so I thought I'd see what I could do. I failed on my first attempt, but I was pissed off, so I tried again. To my surprise, I got the 100 kilos up pretty well. It wasn't the prettiest clean but I got under the bar and stood up. This was something I was working towards all year, so I felt like I achieved something today.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 345

Day 345 For today's workout I didn't manage to get a lot done. After the last couple workouts my lower body had undertaken a lot of work. To give my legs some rest, I decided to focus on some upper body strength. I didn't do a lot of exercises, but the work I did do was still productive.

Last week, I mentioned that I wanted to push myself a bit more with the weight. Today I think I made some strides in the right direction. I was recently reading an article on the many methods to increase muscle growth. Typically the focus for increasing the size of a muscle is on the volume of work. The more volume the more muscle growth. Usually and increase in volume requires and decrease in intensity. The method I tried today allowed for a high volume while still maintaining I relatively high intensity. I was quite interested to give it a try.

Today's Workout:

Exercise 1: Barbell Bench Press 8 sets / 5 reps (8 rep max) / 60 seconds rest Set 1: 195lbs x 5 Set 2: 195lbs x 5 Set 3: 195lbs x 5 Set 4: 195lbs x 5 Set 5: 195lbs x 5 Set 6: 195lbs x 5 Set 7: 195lbs x 5 Set 8: 195lbs x 5

Exercise 2: Seated Cable Row 8 sets / 5 reps (8 rep max) / 60 seconds rest Set 1: 160lbs x 5 Set 2: 160lbs x 5 Set 3: 180lbs x 5 Set 4: 180lbs x 5 Set 5: 180lbs x 5 Set 6: 180lbs x 5 Set 7: 180lbs x 5 Set 8: 180lbs x 5

I've done high volume strength protocols in the past but never any with quite same amount of intensity. It didn't present too much of a challenge in the beginning, but as I got deeper into the later sets I definitely got the sense that I was working quite hard. Using a heavier load for that many sets left me with a really deep muscular fatigue. I'm interested to see if I'm sore tomorrow. The workout was something new, so my body may or may not have been ready for it. I guess I'll know tomorrow.

I kind of feel guilty for not getting a decent sweat today, but I'll do my best to make up for it tomorrow. I officially have only 20 days left until I've completed my goal. Pretty crazy how fast this year has gone by. When you're actually keeping track of the days it's interesting how time seems to go quickly and slowly at the same time. That being said, I'm still not finished yet. Have to keep my head down and soldier through.

Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 344

Day 344 Yesterday, I pushed the weights around pretty well. I was expecting to pretty sore but surprisingly I felt fine. My traps were a little sore from the hexagon deadlifts but everything else was pretty fresh. This is good sign. It means, I'm recovering well.

Even though, I wasn't sore today. I decided to take a break from lifting any weight today and instead did a metabolic conditioning workout. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be sore from this one, but I was fully expecting to get really sweaty.

Today's Workout:

Part 1: Jam Ball Slams 45 seconds on / 15 seconds off (30lbs) x 5

Part 2: Versa Climber 5 sets / 100 feet (Max Effort) / 60 seconds rest

Part 3: Double Under Skips 50 reps / x 5 / 30 second rest

This workout was really hard. I had done the Versa Climber enough to know that it was going to suck, but I really didn't know what to expect with the Jam Ball intervals. I've done jam ball slams before as part of a circuit and by themselves but never with the amount of volume I used today. It was really hard. By the time I had completed the 3rd interval, every muscle in my body was tired. The double unders are usually pretty easy for me, but today after the other two components I was fried. Keeping the rope going at the high speed necessary was a lot harder than usual.

I feel pretty good about my efforts over the last couple days. I moved a good amount of weight yesterday with my strength session, and today's metabolic workout really pushed my limits. 21 more days to go. The goal is to finish strong. So far things are going as planned.