Day 5 - shoulders and arms

Day 5 - shoulders and arms.

Body: let's start with the body shall we? Ok, you're call. It's pretty sore actually! My legs are much better and can feel little pain compared to Wednesday (which was bad), maybe the ice bath really helped. My chest and back aren't too bad actually even though I know I pushed myself hard. After today's exercises however my arms are pretty tired and my left arm, which is much weaker than my right, is quite tender in between the tricep and the elbow. I think I probably hurt it doing the dumbbell pulls on Wednesday but either way it's sore. I had a massage today which has really helped and I would recommend that if you do this program that you work out a way to have regular massages, if you have a generous girlfriend then great, otherwise pay for it! (I'm still on about massages by the way!)

Meals: I was told today that cereals, including special K, are high in sugar. Sugar is something that Chris Krueger says is bad during this program so you've got to start ignoring the marketing hype and read the packet! Cereals are almost entirely carbohydrate but the "of which sugars" is almost 100% of the carb. So I'm going to look at making my own muesli so I can control how much sugar is in it. I've also been told about something called quinoa which is almost entirely protein and apparently low on "the bad stuff". I'll let you know if it's any good.

Exercises: today was the shoulders and arms day. It's pretty tough and I was reduced to only lifting 2kg weights while working the triceps! It was tough but a good workout. It's really handy having someone to go to the gym with and I cannot recommend high enough that having a training partner is the way to go. Definitely ask a friend to join the program with you, that way you can motivate each other and share in the benefits of the experience.

One benefit I've noticed is in the mind. Yeah sure I'm generally in a better mood because of the daily release of endorphins and that is also in the mind, but I'm on about something else. You may find that your attitude changes for the better. There have been chores around my flat (apartment for US readers) that I kept on putting off because I couldn't be bothered, but I find now that I want to get them done straight away. It's odd but the procrastination ("putting it off" for UK readers) trigger is no longer there, I just want to deal with it now.

Later,
Lee