Review of Week 7 - Belly Off

So the penultimate week and the Bodyweight 500 challenge! This is what it all comes down to! All those hard training session building up to an awesome finale!

I remember looking at the Bodyweight 500 just 7 weeks ago thinking… “there is no way I could do that”. But here I am 7 weeks later having completed the 7th Week and the Bodyweight 500… and I’m still standing… Just!

I started off the week with a real vigour! When I started the programme I set a goal of loosing 15lbs and with 2 weeks left I had only had 3 lbs to go to hit my target! So I made a commitment to myself to really give these last two weeks one last big push.

So I changed my approach slightly to the workouts. I decided to do the same with the workouts as I do with the Bodyweight challenges, which is to get the workouts finished in as quick a time as possible. So for instance for Workout A I can now comfortably finish the entire workout (except the Interval training) in just over 15mins.

I also added some additional weight and reps to each of the workouts so I am doing slightly more than the programme states. Why? Well, to be honest whilst I find the Bodyweight challenges extremely tough I feel that the workouts have now become more manageable. So adding weights and reps to the excercises helps increase the intensity and give me a better workout.

I have also added a couple of additional excercises. I have added an additional set of Hanging leg raises to target my abs and also some Prisoner Squat Jumps, which target my Glutes, Quadriceps and Calfs as well as giving a good aerobic workout.

I have also increased the intensity on my Interval training and instead of doing one 13 min and one 20 min I now do 2 x 20mins and an additional 30min session on Tuesday and Thursday. I have also increased the speed and intensity of the interval sessions.

At the same time I have added a lot more variation to my diet with fish, pork and vegetables and have stepped up my protein intake so I am now getting between 130g-150g of protein per day. I now have at least 1 protein shake a day to supplement my protein intake from lean meats etc. I did give myself a bit of a treat last week and went for Pizza with my wife and little boy! However, instead of going for my normal meat feast I went for Chicken & Spinach which was great and very satisfying.

Anyway, it all came down to Saturday and the Bodyweight 500 challenge! Let’s make this clear from the start… This was one of the toughest physical challenges I have ever done! It was tough… very tough! There is a huge step up from the 350 to the 500. Looking at the week 8 challenge (the 350/200) I actually think the 500 is the toughest of the lot. It’s down to the number of reps of each of the excercises. In particular the pull ups and chin ups represent a major increase in reps from the previous week.

The target time that Craig states is 45 mins and he mentioned that when he first did it he did it in 28mins and the unofficial world record is 22mins. Last week I did the 350/100 in just over 28 mins. So I was hoping for a pretty decent time of around 33-35mins.

The good news was I finished everything bar the final 25 chin ups in just over 31mins. However, it took me 5 mins to finish the last 25 chin ups as I literally had nothing left. By the end I was absolutely shattered! Of course, I had to break up a lot of the reps into sets in order to have a bit of a breather and give my body time to recover. So most of the press ups, rows, pull ups, chin ups etc I did in sets.

So in total it took me 36 mins, which is still a lot quicker than the recommended time but a little longer than I was hoping but I was just pleased to get through it! Would love to see the guy who did this in 22 mins! Man that is awesome!

So how much did I loose in week 7? The great news is I lost another 2lbs! So now after loosing a total of 14lbs in 7 weeks I am only 1lb away from hitting my target!

I went shopping on the weekend and for the first time in 10 years I had to by a pair of jeans with a waist 34 and a medium size top as opposed to a large. What a great feeling! I have now got to the stage where people can’t help but notice how much weight I have lost! I not only have I lost weight but the overall shape of my body has completely changed!

I’m looking forward to the final week but not because I can’t wait to finish, but more because I can’t wait to go onto the next training programme. So bring on week 8 and the final bodyweight challenge!