Notes by Nectar

Four workouts done this week!

I had my usual session with Trevor on Sunday morning. I started with a 5-minute warmup on the bike and then did the following weights circuit with a set of 3 kg weights before beginning the abs challenge:

• Bicep curls x 10
• Chest squeeze x 10
• Upright internal rotation (rotator cuff) x 10
• Shoulder press x 10

I then did a short squat circuit:

• Squats x 10
• Jump squats x 10
• Bounce squats x 10

Then came the 50-rep finisher (bicep curls, shoulder press, tricep extensions, tricep dips, press-ups). I had some water and spent 15 minutes on the treadmill – alternating between walking and running each minute (1.6 km). Then came the abs challenge for that day:

• Leg sweep (with my elbows on a bench) x 40 s
• Rest x 20 s
• Plank pulses x 40 s
• Rest x 20 s
• Reverse crunches x 40 s
• Rest x 20 s
• 1-2-3 situps x 40 s
• Rest x 20 s
• Rest x 1 min
• Repeat three more times

The hardest of those exercises were the leg sweeps (again). And the plank crunches were tough too. In the third and fourth sets, instead of doing the leg sweep, I did a cable to knee exercise using one of the machines. Balancing was hard enough without having to pull in a cable to an alternate knee! And then I was done.

On Monday I went back to the gym and did 5 minutes on the bike as a warmup. I did 20 minutes on the treadmill (2.30 km), alternating between walking and running. Then I did an abs circuit:

• Bicycle crunches x 40 s
• Rest x 20 s
• Reach through crunches x 40 s
• Rest x 20 s
• A-frame twists x 40 s
• Rest x 20 s
• Toe touch leg drops x 40 s
• Rest x 1 min 20 s
• Repeat three more times

I did the 50-rep finisher and did a few stretches after that and called it a day.

I had my usual yoga class on Tuesday morning.

I had my session with Trevor on Wednesday. I did a 5-minute warmup on the bike and then did the following circuit:

• Bench squats x 15
• Combined bicep curl/shoulder press x 15 (3-kg weights in the first set, 10-lb weights in the second and third sets)
• Deadlifts x 15 (15-lb weights)
• Press-ups x 15
• Bike x 4 min (30 s at level 5 – speed 70 rpm/30 s at level 10 – speed 90 rpm)
• Rest

In the second and third sets I increased the weights for the second exercise. I also increased the resistance on the bike, alternating between levels 6 and 12 every 30 seconds. In the third set, I didn’t have to do the 4 minutes on the bike.

I then did the abs challenge for the day:

• Mountain climbers x 40 s
• Rest x 20 s
• Side raises x 40 s (20 s on each side)
• Rest x 20 s
• Abdominal in and out x 40 s
• Rest x 20 s
• Abdominal toe touches x 40 s
• Rest x 1 min 20 s

I did some stretches after that, and was done.

I didn’t work out again the rest of the week. I was out for dinner on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday and was exhausted most of the time. I naively thought I might make it to the gym on Friday morning, but didn’t get home from the party I went to until 6am!

Low point of the week? Again, I had friends in town from London and Hong Kong over the weekend and it was crazy. I drank a lot of wine on Thursday, vodka on Friday, and wine and vodka (and even gin as they eventually ran out of vodka) on Saturday! It was great to see everyone here in Dubai though…

High point of the week? Working out four times this week. In spite of drinking a lot over the weekend there was also a lot of dancing – so that must count for something!

Weight loss? Still up and down – meh.

Read more updates here.