Hey fellow blenders, I am done with the first week of FB Strong and I wrote a little diary entry for each workout day. Originally I intended to keep my whole diary in the comments of last week's thread, but since this thread disappears further and further in the back of the forum, I will make some kind of a conclusion thread at the end of every week, getting all the daily comments together and commenting in this thread for next week. Gonna be a pretty long text, but maybe it's still interesting for those of you who consider starting FB Strong.
Day 1:
Wow, this one was brutal! I did this very workout round about a month ago and remembered it being a bit too easy with the weights I have availible for my dumbells, so today I wanted to challenge myself. I used my heaviest dumbells (29 lbs per hand) for all of the exercises and instead of doing the decreasing numbers, I did 12 repetitions for most exercised and 10 repetitions for the double-sided exercises during all sets. Still tried to get along with the video, so I had to drastically cut the breaks between the exercises, turning this workout into a massive sweat fest :) Not 100% how the workout was intended, with such a high cardio factor, but it was reeeeeally fun and at several points I really struggled with my endurance, having to push really hard to get to the end.
I added a 10 minutes abs workout for extra credit and it was super interesting to see how much the lower body workout demanded my hip flexers and abs. The core exercises defintiely felt alot tougher than they usually do.
Now I am glad that my lower body gets a little break... massive soreness incoming I guess xD
Day 2:
Really nice one, again! And again a workout that I did a couple of times during the last months. I focussed on extra-clean form and slow movements, which made the exercises particularly challenging.
I used 29 lbs per hand for the chest fly, 4.5 lbs per hand, for reverse fly and lateral raises, 18 pounds for the pullovers and a single 29 lbs dumbell for the triceps extensions. For the curls, I did the first set with 29 lbs per hand and changed to 18 for the second and third set. (just tracking this for myself, so I can compare it to the next time I do this program :) ).
Still not 100% sure if I'm doing the pull overs correctly. They are pretty hard and demanding, but I am not entirely sure if the main focus is really on the lats for me. Guess I will rewatch the video one more time and really pay attention how Daniel does the exercise.
After the regular strength part, my arms and chest were jelly, so for the burnout exercises I couldn't do more than 6-10 repetitions. That was definitely better than the last time I did this workout... I remember doing like 20 push ups in the burnout round back then.
I added three sets of face pulls with a gymnast band in the end, as well as a 10 minutes abs routine. Trying out all these short abs workouts at the moment. The one I did today was actually a bit too easy for me. With it's very short Tabata style intervals, I hardly got to the point where it really started to burn.
Anyways, I am pretty positive that I will get some sore arms tomorrow in addition to my completely sore legs. Great start into the program :D
Day 3:
Hmmm, today there was a core routine on the callender, and just like the short one I did yesterday, this one did not really get me to my limits. I used a small 4.5 lbs dumbell as extra weight, sometimes just one, sometimes one per hand.
What I missed in comparison to my favorite short core workouts is several consecutive exercises targeting the same muscle, so it gets really burned out.I find it pretty hard to overload the core muscles, so continuous stress over a longer time is most effective for me. Today's workout rather switched quickly between abs, obliques and lower back, so I didn't really reach that point
In the end, this was clearly the easiest day of the first week so far. Maybe I will do a bit of additional core work later this evening.
Well, what I was really happy about are the results from yesterday's training. Got really sore shoulders, chest, upper back and triceps and even a bit in the biceps. As a result, I couldn't do today's oblique exercises balancing on my hand, which made my arms shake way too much and would definitely have resulted in a mighty crash onto the ground x) Instead I did them on my elbows, which luckiely worked fine.
Day 4:
Wahooo, lower body again, and again full power challenge!
Don't wanna track every weight seperately today, since I switched quite alot. But just as a short reminder for next time: Start with lighter weights, Mr. P.! The combination with the static exercises in the end was reeeeally hard and I had to take short breaks several times during these. In the end I felt completely pumped out and happy. :)
One exercise that is still tough for me to do is side launges. I am just super unflexible with my legs to the sides, so it's really hard to get deep down. I want to put more focus on fitting stretches since a while now, but even getting a proper strech is pretty hard with this lack of flexibility.
Again I added a 10 minutes core workout, this time a Pilates-based on, which was really fun! Directly added it to my faves.
Day 5:
Hey, this workout was completely new to me! Actually I did it really late at night (almost 1 a.m.), because I spend a great evening with my wife earlier and didn't have the time to train during the day. I really enjoyed the format, alternating between an isolated lift on the one side, an isolated lift on the other side and then both sides together. Got a good burn during all exercises, while using relatively heavy weights and keeping the form clean. During burnout round, the only exercise I had to take a little break in the middle was the triceps dips... really nasty to do them right after the push ups x)
Again I added some face pulls (2 x 15) and a short core routine, which was again a really cool one, focussing heaviely on the abs.
Now that the first week is practically over, I can alrady say that I really enjoy this program! The only workout that felt a bit too easy was the core workout on Wednesday. The lower and upper body workouts really challenged me in different ways and I am super positive that this will give great results! Don't feel anything from yesterday's workout yet, but at least the first upper body day and both lower body days gave me a really nice amount of soreness, too.
Before week 2 starts, there is one more thing I am really looking forward to. I wanna do the recovery workout (35 minutes Yoga and Pilates) together with my wife tomorrow! I am really excited because that's gonna be the first time we do a workout together :)
Weekend:
The weekend was pretty relaxed and under the sign of regeneration. No sore muscles from Friday's upper body workout, but the quads still remembered Thursday x)
Still I did a little bit of activity at least. Short core workout of 10 minutes on Saturday, 35 minutes yoga and pilates on Sunday. Especially the Sunday workout was sooo much fun, since my wife actually joined me and this was the first time we worked out together. We had a really great time and I am positive it won't be the last time :D I also did some short posture exercises with the gymnast band, that I consider including into my daily routine.
My bottom line for the first week is really positive! If the program can hold this level for the next three weeks, it definitely keeps it's promises! :)
FB Strong diary: Week 1
Hey fellow blenders, I am done with the first week of FB Strong and I wrote a little diary entry for each workout day. Originally I intended to keep my whole diary in the comments of last week's thread, but since this thread disappears further and further in the back of the forum, I will make some kind of a conclusion thread at the end of every week, getting all the daily comments together and commenting in this thread for next week. Gonna be a pretty long text, but maybe it's still interesting for those of you who consider starting FB Strong.
Day 1:
Wow, this one was brutal! I did this very workout round about a month ago and remembered it being a bit too easy with the weights I have availible for my dumbells, so today I wanted to challenge myself. I used my heaviest dumbells (29 lbs per hand) for all of the exercises and instead of doing the decreasing numbers, I did 12 repetitions for most exercised and 10 repetitions for the double-sided exercises during all sets. Still tried to get along with the video, so I had to drastically cut the breaks between the exercises, turning this workout into a massive sweat fest :) Not 100% how the workout was intended, with such a high cardio factor, but it was reeeeeally fun and at several points I really struggled with my endurance, having to push really hard to get to the end.
I added a 10 minutes abs workout for extra credit and it was super interesting to see how much the lower body workout demanded my hip flexers and abs. The core exercises defintiely felt alot tougher than they usually do.
Now I am glad that my lower body gets a little break... massive soreness incoming I guess xD
Day 2:
Really nice one, again! And again a workout that I did a couple of times during the last months. I focussed on extra-clean form and slow movements, which made the exercises particularly challenging.
I used 29 lbs per hand for the chest fly, 4.5 lbs per hand, for reverse fly and lateral raises, 18 pounds for the pullovers and a single 29 lbs dumbell for the triceps extensions. For the curls, I did the first set with 29 lbs per hand and changed to 18 for the second and third set. (just tracking this for myself, so I can compare it to the next time I do this program :) ).
Still not 100% sure if I'm doing the pull overs correctly. They are pretty hard and demanding, but I am not entirely sure if the main focus is really on the lats for me. Guess I will rewatch the video one more time and really pay attention how Daniel does the exercise.
After the regular strength part, my arms and chest were jelly, so for the burnout exercises I couldn't do more than 6-10 repetitions. That was definitely better than the last time I did this workout... I remember doing like 20 push ups in the burnout round back then.
I added three sets of face pulls with a gymnast band in the end, as well as a 10 minutes abs routine. Trying out all these short abs workouts at the moment. The one I did today was actually a bit too easy for me. With it's very short Tabata style intervals, I hardly got to the point where it really started to burn.
Anyways, I am pretty positive that I will get some sore arms tomorrow in addition to my completely sore legs. Great start into the program :D
Day 3:
Hmmm, today there was a core routine on the callender, and just like the short one I did yesterday, this one did not really get me to my limits. I used a small 4.5 lbs dumbell as extra weight, sometimes just one, sometimes one per hand.
What I missed in comparison to my favorite short core workouts is several consecutive exercises targeting the same muscle, so it gets really burned out.I find it pretty hard to overload the core muscles, so continuous stress over a longer time is most effective for me. Today's workout rather switched quickly between abs, obliques and lower back, so I didn't really reach that point
In the end, this was clearly the easiest day of the first week so far. Maybe I will do a bit of additional core work later this evening.
Well, what I was really happy about are the results from yesterday's training. Got really sore shoulders, chest, upper back and triceps and even a bit in the biceps. As a result, I couldn't do today's oblique exercises balancing on my hand, which made my arms shake way too much and would definitely have resulted in a mighty crash onto the ground x) Instead I did them on my elbows, which luckiely worked fine.
Day 4:
Wahooo, lower body again, and again full power challenge!
Don't wanna track every weight seperately today, since I switched quite alot. But just as a short reminder for next time: Start with lighter weights, Mr. P.! The combination with the static exercises in the end was reeeeally hard and I had to take short breaks several times during these. In the end I felt completely pumped out and happy. :)
One exercise that is still tough for me to do is side launges. I am just super unflexible with my legs to the sides, so it's really hard to get deep down. I want to put more focus on fitting stretches since a while now, but even getting a proper strech is pretty hard with this lack of flexibility.
Again I added a 10 minutes core workout, this time a Pilates-based on, which was really fun! Directly added it to my faves.
Day 5:
Hey, this workout was completely new to me! Actually I did it really late at night (almost 1 a.m.), because I spend a great evening with my wife earlier and didn't have the time to train during the day. I really enjoyed the format, alternating between an isolated lift on the one side, an isolated lift on the other side and then both sides together. Got a good burn during all exercises, while using relatively heavy weights and keeping the form clean. During burnout round, the only exercise I had to take a little break in the middle was the triceps dips... really nasty to do them right after the push ups x)
Again I added some face pulls (2 x 15) and a short core routine, which was again a really cool one, focussing heaviely on the abs.
Now that the first week is practically over, I can alrady say that I really enjoy this program! The only workout that felt a bit too easy was the core workout on Wednesday. The lower and upper body workouts really challenged me in different ways and I am super positive that this will give great results! Don't feel anything from yesterday's workout yet, but at least the first upper body day and both lower body days gave me a really nice amount of soreness, too.
Before week 2 starts, there is one more thing I am really looking forward to. I wanna do the recovery workout (35 minutes Yoga and Pilates) together with my wife tomorrow! I am really excited because that's gonna be the first time we do a workout together :)
Weekend:
The weekend was pretty relaxed and under the sign of regeneration. No sore muscles from Friday's upper body workout, but the quads still remembered Thursday x)
Still I did a little bit of activity at least. Short core workout of 10 minutes on Saturday, 35 minutes yoga and pilates on Sunday. Especially the Sunday workout was sooo much fun, since my wife actually joined me and this was the first time we worked out together. We had a really great time and I am positive it won't be the last time :D I also did some short posture exercises with the gymnast band, that I consider including into my daily routine.
My bottom line for the first week is really positive! If the program can hold this level for the next three weeks, it definitely keeps it's promises! :)