And into Week 4...

11:58 Unknown 0 Comments

It is gettting easier... slowly but surely I am getting there (I think).

I didn't get to do as much exercise as I had wanted this week - this is not an attempt at making an excuse, there isn't one, it is me saying that this week I failed to do my homework as much as I should have!

But... School has finished for the summer - so I only have 2 weeks of summer camp to go before I finally get a week off (heading to Japan... possibly the most expensive place on the planet!!! DOH!) before being thrown back into school again.  The good side of camp is that I don't start school until 11am and hopefully will be finished by around 4pm (fingers crossed) so I have more time to do exercise!

So, Week 4's homework, this week it is delivered by Portia Freno:

Week 3 has started!

12:31 Unknown 0 Comments

I missed the chance to post on Thursday... an old project of mine has come back into life a little and I am using my spare time to try and kick start it again - its mainly for male salsa dancers (though there is a bit for females too)... but this blog isn't about that stuff so I'll move on.
The planks I am looking forward to... I know I need to lose the weight over all of my body but the bit that stands out to me is my belly and I want to increase my core strength and tone that bit up! AHhooooO!

I am becoming a bit more optimistic about this whole process too - and as the school term is dragging to a close and I will have a little more free time (especially in the mornings) I hope that I will be able to really take full advantage of the nice weather (albeit rainy season for the next week or so and getting every more hotter [no lower than 23oC at night!!!]).

I'd love to have Chaka shouting in my ear though to keep me going even more!

Ouch... think I might have damaged myself!

16:21 Unknown 0 Comments

Yes... from the title you'd easily be able to guess that I am in a little pain today but it is self-inflicted which makes it even worse!

I was going to put it down to the 'Walk-to-Press-up' move which is ten times harder than doing a straight 15 press-ups - but it isn't its fault. Its from my activities on Saturday.

I guess I can't really just leave it there! lol! I might have to elaborate a little (though some people might scream, "No, Colm... Stop! No... we don't need the details!", but it isn't quite what you might think! lol!

The weather here in South Korea is glorious at this time of year and during the working week you miss most of the beautiful sunshine as you are locked up teaching - so at weekends you are supposed of makes the most of it!  So, on Saturday we headed south of our little city to go to a shooting range just inside the remit of the next province.

We packed some drinks into the car, got some fuel and then headed off - not really knowing where we were going or how much it would cost but it was a lovely afternoon out!

We got to shoot Korean Police issued handguns, did some air-rifle shooting (very sensitive triggers!) and I ended the day with some clay pigeon shooting... ergo the pain!  The kick from the shotgun didn't feel that bad at the time but by bedtime I had to put Deepheat on it (actually it was Tiger Balm) to ease the tight muscles.

Jumping back to today then... well the aforementioned 'Walk-to-Push-up's are virtually impossible and although I've tried to work through the pain it virtually locks out my shoulder at times too.  If I was at home I would consider getting a quick massage but out here it is tantamount to endorsing someone to deliver GBH on you so it isn't an option.

Burpees and Squats are becoming easier (still a little dizzy after them) but otherwise grand! No visual improvements that I can see yet... but it is only the second week and with both a change in diet and doing these exercises I hope that by the end of the summer I might have visibly improved a little.

By the way... Coconut Water isn't nice - or at least to my Irish palette anyway! Real coconut milk - YES - but the water stuff isn't easy to drink at all, even mixed with berries and oj!  It might be the brand I have (I hope it is) which is from Australia but I'm not going to find out until I finish the 10 bottles we have left! lol!

To upload or not to upload... that is the question.

10:17 Unknown 0 Comments

I'm on my 5th day of the Spartanfam method and to be honest I am feeling it!

I can really feel my muscles getting tighter - especially in my upper arms; specifically the back of my arms and on the side of my chest up at my armpits.  Girls - I think if you have 'bingo-wings' then this may help work it off a bit!
I am definitely finding the Burpees and Squat Jumps the hardest part - not for difficulty but because I get dizzy doing them... though it is starting to go away as I become more concentrated on them and am choosing points to focus on rather than panning my whole vision from the ground up and down again.

My wife had asked me whether I was going to post a before pic for readers to view - and I did think about this for quite a while (though admittedly I was leaning towards a No from the outset).
I came to the conclusion that since I want this to be an honest blog about my progress I would openly admit that I don't want to put a picture of myself right now up online! At least, not one that shows my flabby belly in all its undefined glory! But that's not a cop out...

I don't want to post an image which basically says, "Look at me and my fat", because I am embarrassed by it and I don't want to show the world me... right now... just as I am trying to do something about it.

Instead I think I will post the pic when I feel I can show clear, visible results - or at least when I don't feel ashamed about what I have done to myself.

So, I will post 'before' and 'after' pics later down the line - possibly by the end of the summer (if I can keep working hard at this).


As for the exercises themselves - they are easy (bar the dizziness) though the Pull-ups are proving small challenge to me... doing them in the doorway is quite easy, no matter how far forward I put my feet without falling. Yet trying to do full Pull-ups is a killer, I just can't do more than 2 before something just giving out.
I think I might do a double dose of them in a doorway to see if I feel something... (after the Press-ups and Bench-dips I almost feel as if my arms are getting bigger so I want to feel something from the Pull-ups too to help me know that I am doing them correctly).
Or maybe I am bonkers and missing something... perseverance at the full Pull-ups might be a better option (and I have found a doorway in school to allow me to do them there too!).

Ok... 3 days of Workout Week 1 left... lets push it!