Upper body(ish)

My right adductor seems to have healed completely, but there's still a slight twinge in my left, so I asked Cosmo if we could lay off the leg work for this week. Today's PT session - which started a bit late, so was truncated - was based around mostly upper body routines.

Bench press drop sets x 3; 45 seconds rest between rounds
120lb x 8, 100lb x 8, 80lb x 10

I needed a few assists in the last set, but this was surprisingly tough at only 80lb.

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Deadlifts; 45 seconds rest between sets
115lb x 8
165lb x 8
205lb x 8

Almost all of these were touch and go - with perfect form - except the last three reps at 205lb. My form was a bit dicey with the final two reps, as my back came up too soon before my legs had straightened.

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Supersets x 3:
Upright rows: 75lb x 10
Push-ups x 15

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Supersets x 3:
Standing alternating dumbbell curls: 20lb x 10
Standing alternating hammer curls: 15lb x 10

Vein-popping fun!

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Cable rows; drop sets
120lb x 10, 80lb x 10, 60lb x 10

Conditioning

Feels like ages since I was at the gym, but it's only been a week. I definitely needed a (mental) break, though, and I was able to push myself hard today. The conditioning circuits were done in the parking lot.

3 x circuit:
30 kettlebell swings
20 kettlebell squat and press
15 kettlebell lateral swings per arm
20 kettlebell swing and squat

Jog to the small park behind the gym, then sprint up the hill three times, and jog back to the parking lot.

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2 sets of 10 kettlebell / bodyweight crunches (straight and each side counts as 1 rep)

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3 sets of 15 barbell twists

Cosmo kicked my butt today, but it felt good to be training hard again. Clearly, the week-long break paid off.

Conditioning

Very poor performance in my personal training session today, due to a throbbing headache caused by my sinuses. While I was training, I felt like my left eye was going to explode as the pressure built up in my nose had spread. The discomfort today might have been caused by the humid weather and/or a shitload of water entering my nose while swimming yesterday. I took a decongestant a couple of hours before my workout, but it had no effect whatsoever. Nothing I could do about it, but I'm always disappointed when I can't give 100%, especially in a PT session. That being said, it's been a long time since I've been unable to give it everything.

Circuits:
2 minutes skipping
15 inverted rows off parallettes
15 kettlebell lateral swings per arm
2 minutes lateral jumps over small bench
15 dips off parallettes
20 ball squats (lifting ball to top of punch bag)
25 burpees

I'm not sure how many sets Cosmo wanted me to do, but I was only able to finish two. The burpees were a bit of a challenge because I kept slipping in my own sweat!

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2 sets:
20 barbell twists @ 80lb
20 leg raises

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2 sets:
20 sit-ups/ball throws (straight sit-ups and alternate sides)

Conditioning and upper body

Christie Phillips

Another ass-kicking conditioning session to start the workout. Cosmo reckons I probably burned about 700 calories. Only 700?!

Circuit x 3; 60 seconds rest in between each
15 x inverted rows off parallettes
90 seconds skipping
10 x kettlebell swings per arm (alternating each rep)
12 x box jumps
2 x lengths of the yoga room, traveling lunges with 75lb barbell
2 minutes shuttle runs, starting from push up position

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Pyramid bench presses:
2 sets of 10 x 115lb, 8 x 125lb, 6 x 135lb, 10 x push-ups
30 seconds rest between each weight change; 1 minute rest between sets.

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Pyramid dips: 10, 8, 6
30 seconds rest between each round.

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Cosmo gave me a body fat test after today's session, and mine came out at 15.3%. That places me in the "Fitness" category, so I need to drop another 1.3% to sneak into "Athlete". That's a little bit higher than I expected, based on previous measurements and my regular "mirror test". I don't think I've put on any unwanted fat, so perhaps the discrepancy might be due to different measuring techniques (like weighing yourself on different scales). I'm not too bothered, as I feel great and I definitely feel like I'm getting stronger and fitter.

Conditioning

Another punishing conditioning routine, this time in the hot sun, as we trained in the parking lot.

4 circuits with roughly 90 seconds rest in between:
30 x kettlebell swings and squats
20 x kettlebell deadlifts and presses
15 x kettlebell lateral raises per side
20 x kettlebell crunches
Run around the block

When I looked in the mirror afterward, the combination of exercise and the hot sun made it look like my head was going to pop.

Conditioning / chest

Circuit x 3; 90 seconds rest between each

20 x parallette jumps
Figure of 8 shuttle runs* - 2 minutes
30 x kettlebell squat and press
Ball lifts - 1 minute @ 30lb; 1 minute @ 20lb

* Run forwards diagonally, then backwards in a straight line

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Bench press drop sets
1 set of 10 x 135lb, 115lb, 95lb
2 sets of 8 x 130lb, 110lb, 95lb

Finished off with 15 bench supported push-ups.

My chest was toast and I had nothing left during this routine, hence plenty of assists for the bench presses.

While walking to the bench press station after the conditioning portion, Cosmo told me I was sweating more than everyone else in the gym combined. Well, duh! When I got home, I had to wait more than an hour before I could remove my shirt because it was caked on with sweat. Cold, cold, sweat. Ew.

@#$*ing Legs

Dem quads...

Circuit x 3; 90 seconds rest between each set
12 x parallette jumps
45 x mountain climbers; hands on bosu
1 minute of lateral jumps over a bench
75lb barbell traveling lunges; 4 lengths of the yoga room

1 km run (outdoors)
3 supersets
10 x back squats @ 130lb
10 x leg presses @ 270lb

1 km run
Well, I say "run", but after what preceded it...

Legs

Sweet mother of God, that has to be the toughest PT session I've ever had. As usual with Cosmo, I started with a conditioning circuit.

3 circuits; 2 minutes rest in between each:

3 x 4 parallette jumps
15 burpees (I nearly had a heart attack when I thought Cosmo said 50)
30 mountain climbers
20 ball slams @ 30lb
20 kettle bell swings (see below)
12 shuttle runs (1 run is from one end of the yoga room and back)

With the kettlebells, 1 rep = starting from one side, swing the kb in front with one hand, bring it down between my legs, switch hands, swing in front again and back between my legs, then out in front and finish on the opposite side.

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3 x back squat drop sets; 1 minute(ish) rest in between each:
10 reps at 130lb, 110lb, and 90lb

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2 x leg press drop sets; 1 minute rest in between
8 reps at 270lb, 180lb, and 90lb

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Finished with a cool down cycle on the stationery bike, then some stretching.

Conditioning and upper body

Goddamn box jumps! Started today's PT session with a punishing circuit. I'm not sure of the proper name for some of these moves.

3 sets:
35 kettlebell swings
25 kettlebell figure of eights
20 kettlebell crunches
1 minute of kettlebell bicycles (lying down, holding the weight up while doing cycle movements with my legs)
10 box jumps @ 28"

I took breaks when I needed to, in order to catch my breath. The box jumps were going well until I took a breather after four reps in the third and final set. When I went to move again, I couldn't get my feet off the ground! My mental block resurfaced. Despite Cosmo telling me not to think too much, that, of course, is exactly what I did. I eventually removed one step from each side so that I could finish off the last six reps, but even that felt like a mental hurdle. 

2 sets: Bench press pyramid
8 reps each @ 135lb, 115lb and 95lb

Lots of assists were needed!

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Concentration curls @ 25lb

That might seem light, but slooooow movements are a killer.

Conditioning and Legs

I can't even describe what I did today with Cosmo. I don't even know what fucking day it is. It hurt during the workout; it hurt after the workout; and it's going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow.

I did a conditioning routine for the first half hour or so, followed by two sets of this leg circuit:

Back squats - 135lb x 10
Leg presses - 230lb x 12
Straight leg deadlifts - 135lb x 10 (broken up as necessary)
Calf raises on a step - 135lb x 10

Conditioning and shoulders

A little bit heavier than the one I used...

Dayum! The first part if today's session was a killer! I knew I was in for a treat because Chris was laughing while Cosmo was telling me what he had planned.

Circuit:
3 x jumping over 4 parallettes
20 x 30lb ball slams
30 x kettlebell swings (don't know what the blue one weighs)
10 x 40lb punchbag shuttle runs

4 rounds; 90 seconds rest between rounds

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Seated dumbbell shoulder presses @ 30lb

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3 supersets:
10 x lateral raises @ 20lb
12 x front raises @ 15lb

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Resistance band punches - 5 minute burn

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Stretching

Quads, hamstrings and calves

Once again, I'm not looking forward to getting out of bed tomorrow morning...

Back squats @ 135lb - 3 x 10

70 mountain climbers

Leg presses @ 180 - 3 x 10

60 mountain climbers

Air squats on a bosu ball 3 x 20

50 mountain climbers

Leg extensions - 5 minute burn

Stiff leg deadlifts - 2 x 10 @ 115lb; 1 x 10 @ 95lb

40 mountain climbers

Leg curls - 5 minute burn

Standing calf raises on step @ 95lb - 3 x 10

30 mountain climbers

Seated calf raises @ 95lb - 5 minute burn

Shoulders

Had my second session with Cosmo this evening. I can't remember all the routines, so here's a picture of my shoulders.

Back and arms

Christy Phillips

I had my first session with a new trainer, Cosmo, today. About 15 minutes in I was calling for my mother. Most of the routines used fairly light weights, but high reps in each set.

Deadlifts 3 x 10 reps @ 220lb

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Not sure what it is really called, but for the first move I placed the kettlebell in front of one foot, then reached across to grab it with the opposite hand. These movements weren't timed, but were all continuous, resting briefly when required.

Kettlebell circuit x 2 sets:
Lateral swing and raises x 15 reps per side
Skull crushers / leg and hip raises x 20
Swings x 30
Clean and press (switched to goblet squat for the second set)

Cosmo asked me to check my pulse between sets; it was 180. Bloody hell!

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Wide grip pull-ups with legs raised in front - 2 x 10

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Lateral pull-downs - 2 x 10

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Cable rows for five minutes @ 20lb

Yeah, that's damn light, but these were strict form reps, for a burning five minutes. Cosmo said this is to "finish off the muscles". Well, it damn well worked.

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Cool down and stretching

I'm hoping I die in my sleep, because I know my whole body is going to hurt like hell if I wake up tomorrow.