BritMilFit

Gentlemen. If, on the other hand, you would prefer rolling around in the grass with the pendulous testicles of another gentleman hanging in your face while you hold up their legs and they do press-ups on top of you… come along on a Thursday night. :)

All right, maybe the testicles weren’t actually hanging in my face. It wasn’t Nude Night, after all. But a “partner press-up” is a new one on me. Basically, one person lies on their back, the other climbs on their… well, face, really… then straddles them, allows the other person to lift their feet off the floor and then proceeds to do press-ups in this position.

We followed this with some “partner incline press-ups”, where one partner had to bend down, the other had to rest their feet on the poor partner’s back, and then do press-ups in this decidedly odd position.

These were just two of the things we did tonight. Tonight was definitely the most punishing session I’ve been to yet. There were lots of “shuttle run” exercises, where one partner would run to one set of markers while the other would be doing squats, squat thrusts, burpees or something else to kill off any last bit of feeling in their legs.

It was hard work, but it was satisfying to get through it. Different set of instructors and people there tonight, too, so it was nice to see “another side” to the group.

BritMilFit

Gentlemen. If you would like to spend your Saturday mornings (and/or weeknight evenings) rolling around in the grass and wrestling with ladies, BritMilFit is for you.

I’m not sure if it was just today’s session or not, but thinking about it in the last couple of sessions I’ve been to (one of which I forgot to blog - sorry, Pheasey) it has been largely girl-dominated. Curious. I would have thought the chaps would be all over the “military” thang, though maybe that’s just my stereotypical views talking.

Today involved a lot of running, much to the chagrin of one participant who was a bit hung over. It also involved some bizarre partner exercises where we had to stand back-to-back, link arms and then run in one direction, then the other. And yes, wrestling. Well, grabbing each others’ wrists and trying to touch each others’ ears while resisting your partner’s attempts to do the same.

There was a lot of pressup and situp type activities today. I hadn’t realised there were so many variations on both. Still, they each seem to work a slightly different bit of the body so I see the benefit. We did kneeling pressups, normal pressups, wide-arm pressups, crossed-arm pressups, half situps, half situp twists, toe touches and crunches. All on some slightly-damp grass, just to get that authentic “rolling around in a field” feeling.

Good session today. I enjoyed it. Can feel the aches starting already!

Gym

Finally stopped aching from the BritMilFit stuff so went to the gym today with determination on the brain.

Since a lot of the BMF workout involves running/jogging, I thought I’d concentrate on that for a while in an attempt to build up some stamina. I can keep going on bikes and rowing for a while but for some reason I find running a lot more difficult.

Set myself a target to manage ten minutes of non-stop running on the treadmill - I normally do ten minutes of uphill walking - and actually managed it without too much difficulty. I think I will try and build up my time on there gradually and see what happens.

Also did a few bits of muscle stuff. Did three sets of twelve reps at the higher weight I was doing before on each. Going well, getting back into the swing of things. Need to find the rhythm of a routine again to feel the benefit.

Next target is to attend BritMilFit on Thursday night at 7pm on the Common. If you see me tweeting inanities around that time, kindly kick my ass.

Sir yes sir!

BritMilFit

I woke up super-early this morning to make sure I had time for some breakfast before what my buddies James and Ross had assured me was a pretty punishing experience.

I had some last-minute second thoughts when I woke up feeling knackered but then I thought to myself that was clearly just evidence that I needed to do this. So I pushed myself out the door and caught the bus to the Common, not sure what to expect.

It is punishing. The “warmup” today was a fairly lengthy jog with plenty of knee and heel lifts along the way. This then segued into a non-stop routine alternating jogs between various locations on the Common and stopping for either some body exercises or some physical games. We played Stuck-in-the-Mud. It was awesome.

I was pretty wiped out by about halfway through and took a short break but managed to jump back in before the end. The instructor said I’d done pretty well for a first session - some people give up and stop completely by partway through.

The whole thing had a pleasantly supportive atmosphere. The people were friendly and civil and there wasn’t a trace of chavdom to be seen. There’s also a house rule for no swearing so it meant conversations didn’t go down the “f-word-as-punctuation” route. There was plenty of banter though.

I’m going to go back. It was nice to do some stuff outdoors and meet some new people, even if the whole thing was somewhat grueling. It’ll be a good complement to my gym work, and the scheduled nature of it means it’ll be easier to get into a routine.

So, thumbs up for BMF. If I could move my arms. OUCH.

Gym

Went to the gym this morning. Trying to get into a routine of doing it in the morning at Jane’s suggestion, as since I stopped working it’s been a real effort to get out of bed. Probably exhaustion catching up with me or something.

Anyway, today I did most of my main routine but it was a bit hot and the aircon didn’t feel like it was on in the gym so I stopped before I passed out!

I’ve signed up for a free trial of British Military Fitness on Southampton Common for this Saturday morning at 9.30. A couple of friends have been doing this and said it’s a good, but tough, workout. Plus they have “milf” in their URL. (If you don’t know what that means, for heaven’s sake please DON’T Google it.) I’ll be interested to see if it’s for me - particularly the “working out with other people” part. I still have those memories of being the last kid picked for PE teams at school, though this lot’s beginners’ group claims to “cater to the weakest member”. Maybe it won’t even be me - I could be pleasantly surprised.

Anyway. Expect a full report (probably in a lot of pain) on Saturday. For now, adios.

Gym

Headed back to the gym today. Getting back into the swing of things now. Over the next few days and weeks I’ll hopefully be getting back on top of my game. I certainly have the time now, at least.

Did bike, treadmill and rowing followed by some weights work today. Hard work but felt good. Broke a sweat in cardio work today too.

Gym

Despite a mild hangover after some much-appreciated and hastily-assembled revelry with my workmates last night, Jane and I went to the gym today.

Did a mild-ish workout today involving bike, treadmill and some upper body resistance work. Going to try and get back into a good rhythm over the next few days while I’m off.

Swimming: 30 lengths

It’s been a while, but with the bizarreness that’s been going on in my life (which is pretty public knowledge by now I think) the whole fitness thing has fallen a bit by the wayside.

Well no longer! After being unceremoniously dumped by my employer I find myself with a glut of spare time. So I’m going to try and use it to get myself back into that awesome rhythm I had before. Wish me luck.

Kicked off today by going swimming in a chav-infested pool with Jane. Did 30 lengths today - am happy with that for now. If it’s anything like last time I should be able to build up again pretty quick.

Going to gym it tomorrow and see how things go.

Gym

Been in holiday so I freely confess some wagon-falling-off may have occurred. Went back to the gym for a short session today though. Didn’t do a full workout but did enough to break a sweat.

Going to pick the EA thing up again too. It was going well.

EASA: Day 4

Bring it, EA.

Actually, I’m wary of talking smack to EASA as it’s clearly trying to kill me. Each day of exercises has been getting tougher and tougher. Today was difficult to get through. There were a lot more of the “combination” exercises introduced yesterday, with some particularly brutal ones including squat jumps and alternating lunge jumps. These weren’t so much complicated to do as seriously demanding on the legs.

This is good, though. EASA consistently lets me work up a sweat and get out of breath, which is something that Wii Fit didn’t often do - only the jogging and my “modified Free Step” (Free Step with my own musical accompaniment - Space Channel 5 Part 2’s soundtrack was a particular favourite) came anywhere close, with the possible exception of some of the muscle exercises.

The thing I’m loving about EASA over Wii Fit, though, is the sense of structure. The fact the game generates a workout programme for you each day is a sign that it’s been properly designed as a fitness programme rather than simply giving the user the tools to create their own routine. One could argue that Wii Fit would have more benefit if one had more self-discipline - but let’s face it, many people who are coming to Wii Fit and EASA are doing so because they’ve tried other things and perhaps not had so much fun.

EASA’s reward and accomplishment system works well. Three goals are set at the outset - a calorie goal, a number of workouts goal and a total time goal. The calorie and number of workout goals are short-term (within the space of a week) and the total time goal is long term (over the course of 30 days). There are also 360/PS3-style “trophies” to unlock throughout the course of the routine for things such as running a certain number of times around the running track, burning a certain number of calories, successfully completing a number of workouts and the like. For a “vidcon” fan such as myself, it’s a good system. Anything which offers a videogame-like reward system is fine by me! (Geek. I know.)

Rest day scheduled on EASA for tomorrow. Out at work tomorrow, assuming I’m feeling better.