Week #2

Day 1 (Sunday)- For this week I started off with a slightly more simple HIIT. Last week was not good for me. I don’t know if it’s my age or the fact that I’m pushing myself too hard, but I did not recover well at all. There’s also the fact that I donated blood half-way through the week so that didn’t help either. For today I changed up my routine in hopes of not having a repeat of last week. I decreased my HIIT duration to eighteen minutes, but this time instead of being finished for the day, did five sets of pull-ups and dips afterwards. Much like last week I felt the urge to pass out shortly into the workout, however, ending sooner definitely improved my recovery and I actually felt great while doing the pull-ups and dips.

Day 2– Monday was an easy 3.6 mile run around my neighborhood. It’s amazing how compared to a HIIT, a normally moderate workout now seems easy, and so soon. I say this because even though 3.6 miles to some people is a walk in the park, add in the fact that most of the run is uphill and it was a hot and humid day, that run was anything but easy.

Day 3/4– Tuesday was a rest day although I can honestly say it didn’t feel needed. Wednesday was another HIIT almost identical to what I did on Monday. Eighteen minutes consisting of sprints, burpees, push-ups, jump squats, mountain climbers, and planks. This time the dizziness and shortness of breath came on rather quickly, five or six minutes into the workout which felt like I was regressing from how I felt earlier in the week. There are so many factors that come in to play with these intense workouts though; diet, sleep, hydration, stress. Additionally, I feel my body is still adjusting to the frequency at which I’m putting it through these more vigorous exercises. One good thing to note is the fact my recovery was once again timely.

Day 5– Thursday was the exact same exercises I did the previous day for my HIIT, minus the sprints. Instead of sprinting I went with a jog between exercises and I felt like I was floating, like I could sustain for hours. A benefit of conducting these HIIT’s was finally being felt. I’m excited to see what progresses in the coming weeks. Just for good measure I ended the visit to the gym with five sets of barbell squats; pyramiding the weight.