Week 41 and 42: The Plan

So I am starting this post a little bit ahead of time. These last weeks, months have been a little hectic. Yondan exam is now complete so I have time to focus once again on this. (Was I using my Yondan exam as an excuse to slack off, probably, but I am okay with that.)

Unfortunately during the last little bit I have managed to put on some weight. Not an insane amount but enough that I was like “B*tch, get yourself together!” So here I am getting myself together yet again. There are a couple of things I have learned during this brief and stressful reprieve.

Staring Off Points:

Weight:

Body Fat:

VO₂ Max:

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The Plan:

Movement:

Resistance Training:

I have a newish 5 day workout routine I had started prior to super exam prep. Each day focused on a different aspect of weight training, i.e., hypertrophy, endurance, power, explosivity, etc. So I will be focused there. My rest days are Tuesdays and Fridays. I am hoping it will not kill me too much after a two week break, but so far it has been pretty good to me. Fire in my calves and hamstrings but that is to be expected.

Cardio:

I would like a minimum of 20 minutes higher intensity cardio. As previously stated the walking is not doing enough for my heart and I would like to get it pumping a little bit more. The good part about my resistance training program at the moment is that it does have a certain cardiovascular component but I would like to add a little more. Especially with the weight gain, I would like to burn that out sooner rather than later. If I thought I could manage to run everyday I would. But I seem to be very prone to straining muscles during jogs, so I need another plan as well.

Step:

We are set back to the 10,000 steps, I missed a few days and decided that my streak did not need to be for 12,000. Went back to 10,000.

Walking:

I will add in some walk-jog intervals, and the days without jogging I will continue to aim for 5km of walking. I think this number works the best for me. Shorter and I feel like I have not accomplished anything. I don’t know why. Maybe my psyche is too attached to spreadsheets.

Jogging:

The goal here is three times a week. It will replace my walk for that day. It will be in intervals as I still cannot go straight jogging for any extended period of time. Instead of time intervals, I am focusing on distance. 500 meters jogging, 500 meters walking. Repeat 5 times. I will be slow increasing the jogging distance and decreasing the walking/recovery distance.

Karate:

The goal continues to be a daily practice. Unlike exam preparation though, this will be more focused on readying my kata for demonstration. I figure 15 minutes daily should be good for the moment. I will add more material when time permits.

Beyond teaching classes, I have my own weekly 90 minute class. This tends to be rather intense.

Yoga and Stretching:

Again, I want this to be a habit so badly. One of these days I will get it! I am going to start each day with a 10ish minute session of yoga. Before coffee… Should be interesting. I will add a post workout stretching routine and on occasion add in a longer session of yoga.

Fuel:

Calories:

Aiming for between 1500 and 1800 calories a day. Recording everything I am eating, I have been a bit lazy in this regard.

Water:

Aim is 3L per day.

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Plan by Day