Notes by Nectar

I had my seventh session with Trevor on Sunday morning. I started with a 5-minute warm-up on the cross-trainer. He asked me how I was feeling and what I’d had for breakfast. I told him I’d decided to switch my breakfast as the porridge was making me feel heavy and bloated. I told him I’d had a banana and a cup of tea for breakfast. And then I did the following circuit:

• Combined squat/curl/press (3-kg weights) x 10
• Combined curtsey lunge/shoulder press (3-kg weights) x 10 (5 on each side)
• Combined pelvic lift/skull crushers (3-kg weights) x 10
• Combined sumo squat/dead lift (15-lb weight) x 10
• Backward lunge/forward kick x 5 on each side
• Cardio x 4 minutes (bike/treadmill/cross-trainer)

I did that circuit three times. I couldn’t find a video of the combined pelvic lift/skull crushers. I lay on the floor, knees bent and raised my hips. I then did one skull crusher while my hips were raised. I lowered my hips, raised them and did another skull crusher. And so on. For the cardio, I used the bike in the first set (resistance 7), treadmill in the second set (speed of 6.0 km/h with a 3% incline) and the cross-trainer in the last set.

I then did an abs circuit:

• Sit-ups x 10
• Reverse crunches x 10
• Side plank with hip lifts x 15 (on each side)
• Plank hip twists x 5 on each side (8 on each side in second set)
• Lower back extensions x 15

I did that circuit twice. The hardest exercise in that circuit was the lower back extensions. Even the plank hip twists weren’t too bad and Trevor asked me to increase it in the second set. After that I did some stretching and I was done.

During my session Trevor asked me if I’d be interested in being a guinea pig for his website. He was asking eight to ten clients if they’d be interested in completing a 90-day transformation challenge which would include daily emails, eating plans, workouts and other motivational information. Of course I’d be interested!

I woke up on Monday with very sore obliques! I thought my legs would ache as much of the session with Trevor the day before had been focused on my legs – but no, the obliques was where I felt it the most.

On Tuesday I did my 20/20/20 workout. Trevor told me to take the abs section up a notch – so instead of doing 30 seconds of exercise and 30 seconds of rest, I did 40 seconds of exercise and 20 seconds of rest. That extra 10 seconds makes a huge difference! By the end of the third round I was exhausted and forced myself to finish the fourth round!

I had my eighth session with Trevor on Thursday morning. I did my 5-minute warm-up on the cross-trainer and then did the following circuit:

• Sumo squats (10-lb weight) x 15
• Combined squat/curl/press (3-kg weights) x 15
• Push-ups x 15
• Combined deadlift/row/reverse curl/shoulder press (fit-bar) x 10
• Hamstring extensions x 15
• Side plank raises x 15 (on each side)
• Treadmill x 4 minutes

During the 4 minutes on the treadmill I walked at a speed of 5.5 km/h. After 1 minute I increased the incline to 4% for the remaining 3 minutes. I did that circuit twice and had a short break. I remembered later that in the first set Trevor made me do an exercise: a squat with 3-kg weights jabbing twice as I went up and down – 15 times. It hurt my shoulders and my legs and I hated it. I’m not sure whether he forgot about it during the second set, but I certainly did!

I then did a 4-minute Tabata circuit.

• Squats x 20 seconds
• Rest x 10 seconds
• Wall squat x 20 seconds
• Rest x 10 seconds
• Squats x 20 seconds
• Rest x 10 seconds
• Wall squat x 20 seconds
• Rest x 10 seconds
• Toe touches x 20 seconds
• Rest x 10 seconds
• Plank x 20 seconds
• Rest x 10 seconds
• Toe touches x 20 seconds
• Rest x 10 seconds
• Plank x 20 seconds
• Rest x 10 seconds

I did that twice – so 8 minutes in total – and it was hard! The 10 seconds of ‘rest’ is barely enough time to get ready for the next exercise and I barely caught my breath. Trevor asked me which hurt more – my abs or my legs? I told him my abs ached when I was in the plank position but I could hold it. During the wall squat, however, I could feel myself inching up against the wall trying to lessen the pain! He told me we’d focus more on my legs – doing more squats and lunges. Hurrah (not)!

After the Tabata circuit I spent 5 minutes on the cross-trainer at resistance 8 and then I did some exercises for my glutes:

• Lower back extensions (using legs only) x 15
• Lower back extensions (arms and legs) x 15
• Three table top glutes exercises x 10 each

Trevor told me my stomach looked flatter than the last time he saw me. I told him that a woman at the salon also told me I looked like I’d lost weight. So something is working!

I was supposed to do another 20/20/20 workout on Saturday morning but was so exhausted from the week/weekend that I stayed in bed until 12.30pm and then went out for lunch.

Low point of the week? I was out for drinks/dinner on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I was also out for brunch on Friday – which started at 2pm and we didn’t finish until 9.30pm. We drank all day. Wine, vodka and champagne – and a couple of shots too.

High point of the week? In spite of all the eating and drinking I do look like I’ve lost some weight!

Weight loss? I managed to stay at or under 75 kg for most of the week.

Read more updates here.