RenFengge's 2021 Fitness PPR

[RenFengge 1,041]

6/5/2021 Workout

Squat Clean Workshop

 

Find new 1 rep max --> 135lbs (10lb increase)

 

Thoughts: I semi-intentionally took this week off from working out. It was a combination of a high-stress work week, really wanting to sleep, and knowing I needed to be at my most rested if I was going to make a new PR for squat cleans.

 

My goal today was to hit 130lbs. Just 5lbs more than my original PR of 125lbs.

 

I started to worry at 105lbs as it was feeling heavy. But, that's what the correct form is for, right? To lift better and heavier. Fixing my extensions and when to really high pull the bar made all the difference. The first time I did 130lbs, it was sloppy. It counted. But, I wasn't happy with it. So, I did it again. One of the gym guys, we call him Big Dave, was lifting next to me today. He tends to sometimes jump in and "gently" give out pointers. My second lift at 130lbs he said, "Damn. That looked perfect!" Yay me! Time to slap on 5 more pounds.

 

Dave was also going for a high PR. Seems he and I have the same mistakes. It's in our high pull to catch. He missed his lift. I don't know what he was at. 100 more pounds than me lol.

 

My turn to go. I failed at the same place he did. So he came over and said, "We have the same problem. What do you front squat? Over 200lbs, right? From what I remember? So, I think you and I, we just need to not rush the racking of the bar. Because this weight is nothing. Take the half second to adjust and just stand up."

 

And, look at that. I took his advice and nailed it lol. I said to him, "Your turn to take your own advice."

 

He did his lift and also nailed it.

 

We were at the end of our session. It was hot. Humid. And, we were all getting tired. But, why not try to go another 5lbs heavier and see if I can do 140lbs? Go to failure. Make sure you can't hit the weight.

 

So, I tried. I failed twice. I almost got it. It was catching the weight that was getting me. I have this fear of breaking my fingers lol. All in all, a 10 pound increase in my PR is still something to be proud of. I'm still the strongest woman in the gym in terms of weightlifting numbers. Only Juliana is close. She made 130lbs today. She's built like me in height and form. She just has a better body composition. But, I'm getting there. I've taken it easy the last month on my food. Seeing where my weight settles. Net loss even with the massive muscle increase is 10lbs down. The next 10, which I already hit once this year, will not being during an extended caloric restriction period. It's going to be the usual quick drop from the month of low-carb/high-carb cycle. I'll go down the 10lbs. I'll settle again. Then, I'll probably really just be done. My body likes to stay at the next weight point. It does not enjoy going lower. It gets super difficult. So, we'll call it a win, and go from there.

[RenFengge 1,041]

6/7/2021 Workout

5 Rounds

• 7 Deadlifts (155lbs)
• 30 high single-unders
• 7 Ring Rows
• 30 high single-unders
• 7 Burpees
• 30 high single-unders

THEN

 

Rest - 5 mins

 

Tabata Row for 8 rounds

 

Thoughts: I jolted out of bed this morning. I hate be startled by my alarm lol. But cherry cake means I need to make an effort today. Luckily, deadlifts were programmed.

 

My younger self must have been the one who looked at today's workout and went, "Oh, this is fine. 7 burpees? This is fine. 35 total burpees. This is fine."

 

 

This is not fine lol. Because doing high jump ropes then 7 burpees is not fine.

 

There used to be a time I could bang out 10 burpees quickly. I may want to die, but I could spit them out 10 at a time.

 

I am not 28 anymore lol.

 

Anyway. As always, I intended to only do like 135lbs for deadlift. Partially because I didn't want to grab more plates (I only took a pair of 45lbs), partially because I thought, "why not make it mostly cardio?"

 

But, as usual, I was met with a glare and was instructed to put more on. I slapped on the 10lb pair. I said, "Compromise? It's Monday. It's disgusting out." Lol.

 

I scaled the pull-ups down to ring rows. I knew I needed to find something to use as rest time. That would be the deadlifts and the ring rows. My energy was going to be spent in burpees and the high jumps.

 

5 rounds of this. At least I wasn't the last one done. But, it meant that I actually had to finish a round. When I finished my jumps, I just fell and laid on the floor lol. 5 minutes before we do the Tabata row for 8 rounds. Should be fine. Right? Should be fine. If anything, the Rowing Class has made this part mentally bearable. I know that originally I would have been crying after round 3 of it hah. So, there's some improvement.

 

All in all, I'm feeling the soreness in my right shoulder as my body is now able to use those muscles fully for the first time in years. Working out the imbalance. Still really cool to not feel the giant "knots" that I use to feel there when I'm taking a lacrosse ball to the area.

 

Rest day tomorrow. Back for the gym on Wednesday and Thursday.

 

This Saturday is going to be my first Saturday off in 2 months. We're transitioning to the next weightlifting workshop. Means this coming Sunday will be my first Sunday sore-free at MMA.

[RenFengge 1,041]

6/13/2021 Workout

MMA

 

Thoughts: Apparently, the stress of getting through my work's board meeting last Friday took such a mental toll on me that I couldn't muster the motivation to go to the gym. Which was fine. But, I questioned on how much damage I did to my little amount of stamina I had gained by not really being active for 2 weeks.

 

So, here we are at session 8 with Jonesly. I think it's 8. My calendar says eight. But, I'm not entirely sure lol. He tells me, "For today's session, not only are we keeping up with the intensity, but I'm going to start teaching you clinches."

 

My response, "Oh joy! The part of martials arts that I actively try to avoid!" I don't intentionally mean to make him laugh throughout our sessions... I just do.

 

But, before we got to clinches, we had to do 10 rounds of combos with only 30 seconds of rest in-between each 3 minute round. Oh, and fun story. He didn't actually tell me we were going to start getting into sparring. Which, again, fine, but then I want to be able to throw things when I want lol.

 

I did enjoy the session yesterday. Punches, elbows, kicks, knees, blocks, and checks. I don't necessarily do well with slips to begin with. Unfortunately, my initial training has always been about countering. So, it's always a block or a check to move to a disarm or elbow or take down. Need to work on my slips. As for the sparring, I feel most... alive when I spar. Reacting to each situation, picking up the tempo, feeling each move connect, some odd satisfaction when I block or check and move to throw a kick or elbow.

 

Then it was onto the clinches. I am highly uncomfortable with close quarters combat. It gets nasty. It can trigger my PTSD. But, for the most part, I just hate when we get to bending joints in ways they aren't supposed to bend lol. We started with a common self-defense move involving grabbing the head, how to counter and position yourself to break the hold, create space, then create an opportunity to hit back. This is probably where the work is going to be in sessions 21- 30 for me. 

 

The MMA session is what I needed to get re-motivated to work out for the week instead of giving into skipping again. So, here we go for another week!

[RenFengge 1,041]

6/14/2021 Workout

12 minute AMRAP

• 15 Wallballs @14lbs
• 10 Medball Squat Tucks
• 15 Medball Sit-ups @14lbs

THEN

 

Rest - 5 mins

 

Tabata Row for 8 rounds

 

Thoughts: My thinking yesterday, after MMA and after the week's workouts were posted, was that I would be at the HIIT gym on Monday and Tuesday, rest Wednesday, Row on Thursday.

 

Oh, silly silly me.

 

I sit here, typing this, while my shoulders and abs are a bit wrecked. And, not in that "Oh, it's just a bit sore" feeling... in a "here's that pain where it feels like you completely shredded every single muscle fibre and motrin might be your friend later" pain.

 

Coach Liz threw me a 14lb medball for today's workout. I looked at her and said, "Um... last I checked, I did 10lb for Wallballs."

 

She retorted with, "Last I checked, you're here to be at least 1% better each day."

 

Me: "Could we compromise with .5%? And, I'll actually try during the rowing part?" 😄

 

To be honest, I totally forgot about the rowing part while doing the workout. I got 5 rounds in. Then, while I was on the ground gasping for air, I turned my head and saw the rowers and said, "Oh damnit... we still have to row."

 

For the rowing, since my brain is all about surviving the overall time, I never go all out immediately, or ever. Always trying to make sure I have enough in the tank to keep going. Didn't even realize I did my 8 rounds. I was about to go for another when the counter just stopped lol. Oh thank goodness. 

 

I overheard 2 of the other athletes saying that they made the mistake of sprinting in their first sets and being far too exhausted in their last 3 sets. I said, "Oh-ho! Look who's winning now! The chonky slow one of the group who did 1 less round than everyone else!" I mean.. where's the fun in working out in a group like this if you can't poke some fun.

 

(P.S. I also ordered some Pre-workout stuff to deal with my MMA sessions... and, I generally hate pre-workout drinks)

[RenFengge 1,041]

6/17/2021 Workout

21-15-9-9-15-21 (reps)

Front Squats @65lbs

Toes-to-Bar (scaled to Knees to Chest)

 

Thoughts: Do you ever just... start warming up... then find a position on the ground and almost fall asleep? That was my energy level this morning when I got to the gym this morning at 4:45AM. I thought to myself "It's just front squats and toes-to-bar... should be fine."

 

Then, I did the math. It's 90 reps of both movements. And, it's not like the front squats are going to be on the rack. Have to clean it from the floor first. So, we're going light, I guess.

 

I treated the "toes-to-bar" as more of a grip exercise because getting older means I have no grip strength? So, knees to chest and holding on as long as possible while controlling the swing.

 

Front squats is where I would blast by everyone. The TTBs is where I would end up being on pace with everyone else. Pretty sure my weightlifting coach was eyeballing me during the workout and wanted to throw on more weight on my bar lol. The last round of 15 reps and 21 reps is where it all started to hurt. Jelly legs. Tender hands. Getting through the 15 and 21 reps meant breaking it up into 2 sets or 3 sets.

 

I enjoyed the workout. However, if I wasn't concerned so much on time (finished at 14:52), I probably would have gone heavier. I think I want to save this workout and do it another day at home with a heavy weight. Maybe tomorrow since I don't have weightlifting on Saturday. Let's see how sore I feel. I'm considering doing this at 95lbs or 115lbs. Because. Why not.

[RenFengge 1,041]

6/20/2021 Workout

MMA

 

Thoughts: I took some pre-workout prior to my MMA session today. And, it didn't taste disgusting. It was like a Tang, orange, creamiscle thing. Creamiscle because I blended it, and that made it frothy. Not terrible at all. However, because I don't really do supplements (I do but not like these), I was unaware of certain side effects lol. Like the weird tingling and itchiness that you get from certain pre-workout formulas. Instantly went away once I was moving at MMA.

 

To be honest, I'm sort of impressed by how much of a difference it made in my session. I didn't actually want to die. I think I kept up better this time. I only really stopped once, and that was because I needed to run to the bathroom. But, it was also the time to switch from MMA stuff to building strength (50 push ups with alternating hand taps). I'm half debating taking it before every workout, but I think it wouldn't be helpful to how I like to nap right before starting work after I hit the gym. We'll see. Plus, I don't necessarily like jugging down 8oz of flavored, frothy water before I'm at the gym at 4:30AM.

 

Jonesly had one of his star students watch the whole session and do some recording. I wasn't necessarily thrilled about it. But, it was sort of nice to have him say that my combos were really sharp and smooth.

 

We focused about 10 minutes of the session today on some clinches and grappling. I was definitely uncomfortable with it. My whole thing is that I intend to keep people as far away from me as possible. I do not want to get to wrestling. But, I know it's inevitable when you understand actual fights and street fights. I just prefer to avoid it lol.

 

Calendar says this was session 9. Next Sunday will be my 10th session. I will definitely be re-upping with Jonesly since I think the progress made warrants it. And, I want him to get me to the point where he's comfortable with me dropping down to MMA gloves and not wear boxing gloves anymore.

[RenFengge 1,041]

6/21/2021 Workout

6 Rounds

20 Box Jumps

15 Weighted Hand Release Push Ups @20lbs

10 Sit-up Press @20lbs

 

THEN

 

Rest - 5 mins

 

Tabata Row for 8 rounds

 

Thoughts: Well, if my shoulders and arms weren't wrecked enough from yesterday's MMA and push-ups, they definitely are now.

 

I debated until 4AM this morning on whether it was a good idea to go to the gym based on today's workout, my quality of sleep, and current (at the time) level of soreness. It boiled down to the fact that 1) I need to build more strength for upcoming Sunday, and 2) I knew if I didn't go today, I probably wouldn't work out until Thursday. So, I got up, made some pre-workout to make sure I was awake and in a better "situation" than just going in sore and tired, and headed to the gym.

 

The Pre-Workout works. I'll probably be cutting down my coffee consumption to balance out the caffeine. And, I still got my post-workout nap in (because I'm still tired).

 

My arms were totally giving out around minute 7 of this for the push-ups and presses. I just couldn't hold on or support via my arms. Box jumps were tiring, but they are supposed to be. Sit ups weren't an issue until I had to press the weight lol.

 

Oh, then there was the Tabata Row. How I hate pure cardio. Literally and gently fell on the ground after my 8 rounds were up. I told myself to make 80m each round. I made 80m each round at a 36 stroke rate. Oh my arms.

 

Now, I'm gonna sit here while I work, drinking my whey shake, for the sake of my soreness, that I unintentionally made taste like a Starbucks Vanilla Bean Frappucino/McDonald's Vanilla Milkshake.

[RenFengge 1,041]

First Half of 2021 Wrap Up

3 more workouts done since the last post in here. I'll be taking a breaking from logging for a bit. Let's see if I can stick to my overall goal this way.

 

Wrapping up the last 6 months of my health and fitness journey. In terms of the scale, I'm only down 12lbs. In terms of my clothes and overall fitness, I'm in a pretty solid place of progress. No one can guess my actual weight or come close as they tend to guess about 40lbs lighter. Again, I'm just built differently. I've always been the strongest female in any of my gyms. Never the fastest. But, I'll happily sit here in clothes that I used to wear about 10 years ago without a struggle... knowing that when I can do the last of my "shape up" it will be the most healthy slim body I've had... ever. My slimmest days are behind me in a sense that I was skinny and fit into the typical Asian standard but also weak. I'll take my additional muscle weight happily.

 

Today was my last MMA session in my original pack. It was a good wrap up. Last week was a lot of shoulder work push-ups, pull-ups, strict presses, push presses, push jerks, split jerks), and I knew I had overworked my right shoulder - especially knowing that's the one I have to strengthen after getting the mass removed. Luckily, Jonesly is a doctor specializing in these sort of things lol. Went in the gym today, told him my shoulder was wonky. We did an assessment and agreed that today's session would be another without much use of my arm. So, we focused on a new block and check.

 

Hilarious thing when we got into sparring. My body just did not want to use the new moves. Just revert back into what I learned in Eskrima, which is avoidance lol.

 

Anyway, at the end, we did some breathing techniques then discussed what my week is going to look like. Which is rest and soft muscle work. No exertion.

 

I looked at the workouts for the week at my HIIT gym, and so much of it is arms based. I guess it really it is a rest week for me then.

 

So, there it is. 6 months down, and we'll end on a nice, relaxing note of a rest week. Back at it on Saturday with my weightlifting again, and Sunday with MMA. 🙂 Here's to the second half of 2021, and now it's time to pick a tattoo artist to work me me on my year-end tattoo!

[GazzaGarratt 11,051]

On 6/27/2021 at 8:57 PM, RenFengge said:

I'm only down 12lbs

 

I personally think thats a huge achievement. Many people haven't got the drive to lose any weight even though they moan about it. You went and smashed some training, had fun in what you eat, etc and still lost a large amount of weight. Thats how I read that 🤘

 

On 6/27/2021 at 8:57 PM, RenFengge said:

we did some breathing techniques then discussed what my week is going to look like. Which is rest and soft muscle work. No exertion.

 

I like the idea of finishing any week with this sort of stuff to help you switch from work to life mode.

 

On 6/27/2021 at 8:57 PM, RenFengge said:

Here's to the second half of 2021, and now it's time to pick a tattoo artist to work me me on my year-end tattoo!

 

Make sure you share the ideas what you're thinking of getting mate! A great read and awesome to see how well you're doing! 😎

[Plumbers Crack 4,062]

FG logo would make a nice, discrete tattoo 😎