6 Week Project: End of Week 1

The first thing I noticed this week was that my subject was not very happy when she arrived. I didn't want to pry so we just got on with the programme.
After an hour of intense exercise and some noticeable gains all round, she left with a big smile on her face.
Lesson learned: If training does nothing else, it will help you relieve stress!


Now on with the fitness side of things.

This week was the start of our training after last weeks introduction.
As it was the start of our project I took some measurements:
Waist: 35"
Thigh: 24.5"
Upper Arm: 13.5"

Now that she was more familiar and comfortable with the exercises I was able to push her out of her comfort zone a little more.

We aimed to simply complete the same workout as last week but push things a little harder:

Pulling exercises for pole dancing strength:

3 x 3reps pull ups (unable to pull up, so jumped up and performed a slow descent)

3 x 5reps 12kg ball slams

3 x 3reps Band lat pull

3 x 5reps Assisted high pull up

The pulling exercises are already a struggle for her, so we stayed as before on these. 

At week 3 I'll be asking for any feedback on how our training is reflecting in her pole dancing.

Heavy Lifts:

3 x 5reps Barbell squat @ 40kg

3 x 5reps Deadlift @ 50kg

3 x 5reps Kettlebell bent over row @ 24kg (2x 12kg)

3 x 5reps Lateral raise @ 5kg

3 x 5 reps Front raise, straight arms @ 10kg (2x 5kg plates)

Now here we made some superb gains. Simply by being more comfortable lifting weight, we were able to add 5kg to both the barbell squat (now 45kg) and the deadlift (now 55kg). 

Absolutely superb! But I can see that these exercises still aren't pushing her to overload, so we'll be making more small additions as we go. 

She'll have to be comfortable or she won't believe that she can make it, and at this stage there's a lot of it still in the mind. 

Circuit to finish off

3 rounds of:

10 low bar pull ups (feet on floor in front)

10 press ups

10 Medicine ball squat & throw @ 6kg (Crossfit 'Wall Ball')

10 Kettlebell swings @ 16kg

Superb effort on the circuits this week. Last week she finished in 4:44, this week in 4:18, massive improvement just from having the Eye of the Tiger.

After our main training we looked at the techniques involved in putting together one complex movement pattern that we will start to use next week.

The complex we'll be using is: Deadlift from floor, hang clean, overhead press, front squat, repeat X5 without letting go of the bar.

She easily picked up the hang clean technique and was able to put the movements together. 

Now I need to decide what weight will challenge her but be manageable.

It really goes to show that when you first start out your comfort and confidence in the exercise can hold you back.

Although I don't believe that she is any 'stronger' this week than last, I do think she's more comfortable and 'better' at the exercise and therefore able to push that little bit harder.

Starting out with a deadlift at 50kg