90 Days of Action - Beginner's journey

[Cathulhu]

So, i started and finished my first program, Foundation, in July and switched over to 90 Days of Action

Did Day 1 yesterday, which was a full body circuit. I'm surprised to report that i'm not really sore, tiny bit in the shoulder blades, but that's it.
Additionally i did 17k steps yesterday, including a walk of ~8.4km with an average of 9'52"/km. So slightly above 6km/h. I do that walk every day.

07/07

My goal is burning fat and building some muscle and stamina.

I also use a slight calorie deficit to encourage burning fat, although i do watch my protein intake so it is about 1.2g per kg bodyweight.

Will use this thread as a bit of a diary, so it gets daily updates on how the previous day went in terms of how i perceived the workout and how my walks went.

Constructive criticism and suggestions/ideas are welcome.

 

[astro_lizard]

Congrats on finishing Foundation and best of luck with 90 Days of Action!! I hope you enjoy it, and it sounds like you've got a great plan! Welcome to The Hive

 

[aku-chan]

Hello and good luck with 90 Days of Action!

 

[NightWolf714]

Hello! Congrats on Foundation! And good luck with this newest one!

 

[Fremen]

Welcome and congrats

 

[AuntPolgara]

Welcome!

 

[Anek]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Mamatigerj]

Cheers for Foundation!
Welcome to the Hive!

 

[graoumia]

Welcome, and congrats

 

[Cathulhu]

Totally forgot to actually write this diary, so let's fix that.

Day 2:
Considering it was a cardio workout, it was rather taxing. Shows how much room for improvement there is. Did all seven sets though.

14/14

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 3:
Legs were a bit sore after Day 1 & Day 2.
As Day 3 was an Abs day, i had my first encounter (in a very, very long time) with sit-ups. Didn't do very well with those. Went as far as i could though. Other exercises were done without much problem, although admittedly in the last set i did struggle quite a bit raising my legs. Once again, did all sets so far. But definitely much room for improvement in regards to sit-ups.

A total of 21/21 sets.

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 4:
Upper Body Circuit
Despite my abs being a bit sore from Day 3, the workout felt ... too easy. I'm sure that will change in the near future. For now i take it as a day to regenerate from the previous days.

28/28

Was a bit busy yesterday, so came to a total of 17k steps

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 5:
Stretching
Kinda struggled with that for two reasons.
1. Not as limber as i'd like.
2. The images could have been more detailed to know which position i exactly need.
Did it as best as i could under the circumstances.

30/30
as it was one set done twice for each side.

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 6:
Side Leg Raises Challenge

Split into seven sets as that's what i'm used to.
So 10x7
Again, felt rather easy as Foundation already challenged me harder than that.

37/37

Did a walk of ~8.4km with an average of 9'07"/km, new personal best.

Got some new scales with added muscle and fat analysis. According to that (Withings Body Smart) i have 73.6% muscle and 22.5% fat, which are better values than i was expecting.

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 7:
Abs

Now we're talking. New exercises i haven't done before and i found it challenging. Although i suspect some sadist developed those reverse crunches. Couldn't really do them as shown in the images as i have still too much belly in the way. Which is also kind of an excuse for my abs not being strong enough to really pull my legs far enough.

44/44

After the new PB walk the day before i decided to take it a bit easier on my newest walk, still did a 10'/km, so about 6km/h, and was surprised when my heart rate monitoring revealed i had an average of 98BPM during that walk. Looks like my daily walks and the cardio exercises from Foundation and 90 Days of Action had some pretty good effect.

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 8:
Noticed i did a little oopsie, was supposed to do Abs on Day 8, not Day 7. Well, did missing Cardio in place of Abs then. Normal procedure will return with Day 9, the next full body circuit.

Cardio / HIIT
My first encounter with a HIIT workout. To reduce interruptions i used a timer app to setup all seven sets to be launched with one button.
I was already familiar with the exercises from the Foundation workout so it went rather smoothly.
Got me rather sweaty too.

51/51

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 9:
Not sure it was a great idea to pick up a second workout on this particular day, but i managed both.
As i recently discovered/noticed, i lack flexibility in my back. Can't touch my feet while standing.
So i added the Spine mobility exercises to my workout.
Declaring that as lowest difficulty, not so sure about. It did feel rather challenging. Did all three sets of those though.
May do that on alternating days to get my back to regenerate a bit before put through that again.
Let's see when i get results from that.

Back to the main course, this time it was a Full Body Circuit with an emphasis on arms and shoulders.
Which i am noticing today. They are a bit sore, enough to be noticeable, not enough to limit my actions.

58/58

On a side note, went a bit of shopping yesterday as there was a good deal on non-alcoholic beverages (sugar free).
So i got three six packs with a total weight of 22.5kg. One in a backpack, the other two in bags. Carried them for about 1.5km home.
My body coped surprisingly well with that. Nice to see that my efforts do show an impact, not just in having less fat.

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 10: Balance & Coordination
A rather light workout, very welcome after day 9, as i still feel that one. Especially my shoulder blades.
Anyway, execution wasn't perfect, a bit wobbly. But as i did that one for the first time, i think i performed adequately.
As i decided to do it on alternating days, i didn't to the Spine mobility workout, that will be on Day 11 again.

63/63

I did take a look at the hand&wrist workout called The Thing:

The Thing Workout

The Thing is a Darebee home-fitness wrist strength and tendon strength workout that will help your wrists stay strong and healthy.

darebee.com

and may add that to the daily roster. It's a fast and light workout which can easily be done when there's a few minutes of off-time.
Tried it and found it easy to execute.

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 11:
As planned i did the spine mobility exercises again and i'm already making progress, i was able to touch my ankles standing up. Better than just the shins. So, yay me!
But i did change it up so i do spine mobility in the late morning.

Apropos shins, i had a small issue yesterday with the cardio workout asking for jumping jacks. On my first jumping jack i noticed a pain in my right shin. As i didn't want to aggravate that and it not happening while walking, i changed from jumping jacks to step jacks. Admittedly less demanding and less effective in a cardio but better than not doing any workout at all.
Doing all 350 was a SERIOUS challenge for me, i was so very, very close to stopping early multiple times. That really pushed my arms and shoulders to their limits. Notice it mostly in the area between the shoulder blades now (writing the next morning as usual to also write down soreness related to the workout).

Still, i did all seven sets and felt great after that achievement, although it took a bit before my arms stopped feeling like wet noodles and/or falling off at any moment.

70/70

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 12:
Abs&Core
Not the best idea to do that at about 29°C in the room, but i haven't had much choice.
Anyway, i did all seven sets, the planks were more taxing than the other exercises. Flutter kicks are now rather easy compared to my first time during Foundation, so there is some sense of progress. And yes, i did them without my legs touching the ground for a bit higher difficulty.
Reverse crunches worked a bit better, seems the spine mobility exercises helped with that.
Had to take a shower after that.

77/77

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 13:
Hottest day of the week. Did the Spine mobility workout in the late morning and the main workout in the afternoon.
It was 31°C in the room, even hotter outside. And that wasn't even the peak temperature, got up to 33°C inside!

I was sweating buckets. And yes, i did watch my hydration. Over the day it was slightly above 4 liters of water, not counting water ingested through food.
This time it was a full body circuit again, with an emphasis on legs this time.
Squats are a lot easier than a month ago.
Planks are still taxing though.

Had a nice surprise on the scale this morning as it told me my weight dropped below 90kg.

84/84

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 14:
Again as hot as yesterday, but this time also humid as well. So, felt a lot worse
Am i glad it was a challenge day with 70 back leg raises. Which was so easy i did it without breaks.
Was sweating all day and lost even more weight. This morning down to 89.1. Hydration is fine though. That is something i carefully monitor in general.

Little side note, when i came back from my walk my shirt was drenched with sweat. Out of curiosity i weighed it before and after drying. The difference was pretty much on the dot 200g, so a glass of water. And that was only the sweat in the shirt @.@.

For convenience reasons i will count challenge days as seven sets.

91/91

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 15:
It is Badge Day! Got the 15 Days of Consecutive Exercise badge. While i have done Foundation last month, i broke the streak by declaring July 31st as a rest day and did no workout on that day. Wanted a clean start anyway.

Was another hot and humid day. Did the Spine mobility workout again and had the impression that some exercises, in particular the reverse flutter kicks, already show signs of improvement as i can raise the leg higher.

After a break i went over to do Day 15 of 90 Days of Action
Two sets of leg tendon exercises. Looked easy on the display. Wasn't that easy actually. But i've done them, and needed a shower afterwards.
Temps are supposed to drop now for the next few days.

93/93

 

[astro_lizard]

happy badge day!!!! nice work!

 

[graoumia]

happy badge day

 

[aku-chan]

Congrats on reaching 15 days again!

 

[Mamatigerj]

Happy Badge Day!

 

[Anek]

Congrats on 15 days!

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 16:
Was a rather busy day, resulting in about 18k steps, including my daily walk.
Weather was okay-ish. Temps were down to 20°C, but the air was humid and air pressure was high so it felt rather thick.

Was another HIIT this day, but i had to switch jumping jacks for step jacks again as me right leg is still a bit stinging when i jump with it.
Was able to use a new workout mat i bought the same day, which is larger and thicker than my previous one. Not as grippy on the ground though, gotta think about what to do about that.

100/100

 

[NightWolf714]

Congrats on the 15 days badge!

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 17:
Weather was delightful. Peak of 22°C, not humid, slight breeze. Walk was very enjoyable even if the sky got overcast on the last quarter.

Spine Mobility and Abs were today's workouts. Didn't really want to do the same body region twice in a day, but it happened.

The last time i tried sit ups, it didn't end well. This time i've managed to fully do them, although i still "cheated" a bit using my arms (swinging from vertical to horizontal to get some momentum) to get over the initial start on the first sit up of the set. The rest i did exactly as required. So, yay progress!
The last three exercises i did without my legs touching the ground at all for some extra difficulty. As it was Flutter Kicks -> Leg Scissors -> Leg Raises it was easy to manage, but not necessarily easy to do.

Still, once again, all seven sets and "cheated" on only 7 reps out of 35 sit ups.

107/107

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 18:
Got a bit warm, but bearable. Walk was ok, got some of my speed back i lost due to the leg issue. Which has reduced it's present to a dull ache under certain conditions.

Full Body Circuit with a focus on legs it seems. First time i encountered side to side lunges and had a visit from my old frenemy the reverse lunges.
Went a bit easier overall than expected. So yeah, there is definitive progress.

114/114

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 19:
First encounter with Endurance and i got wrecked, hard!

Squat Hold:
1:00/2:00

Raised Arm Hold:
2:00/2:00

Elbow Plank Hold:
1:30/200

Superman Stretch Hold
1:00/2:00

Only managed to do one task fully. I consider reaching 50% (1 Minute) as Level 1, 75% (1 Minute 30 Seconds) as Level 2 and the full 2 Minutes as Level 3.


Which means i at least reached Level 1 in all aspects, but did not do as good as i hoped. Well, it seems i was due to a reality check and got served a portion of humble pie.
Shows i have still a long way ahead of me. I will keep going forwards though.

118/118

Edit:
Forgot to mention, i changed from Spine Mobility Exercises to the Ultimate Morning Stretch Part 1&2 for a full body approach to stretching to improve flexibility and limberness.
I am feeling that today.

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 20:
Mainly a regeneration to recover from Day 19. Still did my daily walk though, which felt like it even helped a little. I think that was the most sore i was since Foundation Day 2 Squats.

Stretching
Nothing special, was a bit easy so it helped with the regeneration. Body feels a lot better this morning.

120/120

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 21:
Two workouts, one Ultimate Morning Stretch Part 1&2 and the workout from 90 Days of Action.
May have overdone the stretching in my right shoulder a bit as it smarts this morning.

This time i got Abs&Core with three new exercises. All of them evil.
Plank Walkouts, Plank Rotations and High Crunches.
The slightly improved flexibility came in handy though, especially for the Plank Walkouts.
High Crunches felt challenging but still good as i could feel the whole shoulder including the shoulder blades rising and not having contact with the ground.

127/127

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 22:
This day was kinda rough, not due to exercise but i was running the whole day on fumes. Lacked energy all day. Not sure why. Maybe coming down with something.
Still did my walk with a good pace (9'18"/km) and all seven sets of the Cardio workout, which was a total of 350 High Knees and 140 Knee to Elbows.

Still feel tired this morning, despite a good 8 hours of sleep, including sleep quality. Hope i don't get sick or something, not in the mood for that.

134/134

 

[graoumia]

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 23:
Kinda a slog. Did my daily walk but in the afternoon as i had no energy in the morning.
Additionally did my stretching exercises i do every two days.

Today's workout was an upper body circuit, which felt very easy to do.

Not much to say today. But i do feel a bit better this morning.

141/141

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 24:
Getting better, did my walk in the morning again. Not sure it was the best idea, it was 10°C/50°F outside. Bit fresh.

Today's workout was challenging although i'm not 100% sure it was the exercises alone. Still, all seven sets of the full body circuit done.
Getting better at doing Plank rotations smoothly.

148/148

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 25:
Yeah, the last exercise was harder than i thought. Took a bit for the soreness to kick in, but lasted almost the whole day. Especially my arms.

The exercise today was something completely new, while i had tendon exercises before, those particular exercises i haven't done before. And dang, i was surprised it was only two sets (one leg each), but after i done it with the first leg i knew why. Looked deceptively simple, but wasn't. Was barely able to do it.

Still feeling a bit off, which is why i take it somewhat slower on my walks with only 10 minutes per kilometer instead of pushing for 9. It still is a decent pace.

150/150

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 26:
Feeling almost normal again. Had a busy day and it got warm again. Supposed to get warm the next day too, added with rain and even thunderstorms later in the day.

As it was a challenge day, tasking me with 100 shoulder taps and my arms still being slightly sore i wasn't fully confident i'd be able to do it. Well, should have been, as i did it in 5x20 sets. Have to admit my arms felt somewhat noodly afterwards and were definitely complaining.

Weight made another improvement. Looks like it is "hold a few days at the same level, then just drop and hold again" time. Weight dropped below 89kg. BMI is now at exactly 26. Yeah i know, BMI isn't all that accurate, but i like numbers. I am looking more closely at stuff like muscle and fat percentage as that is a better indicator of how i'm doing.

As i said during my previous challenge, a completed one i count as seven sets. So i do that again.

157/157

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 27: Warm and humid, but at least my body feels normal again. No rain or thunderstorms yet.

I think this was the first time an Abs&Core workout really challenged me. I feel it in my back this morning. Seems the back/core is kinda my weakspot right now.
Anyway, still did the seven sets.

164/164

P.S.: Forgot to send it this morning. Oopsie!

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 28: Yeah, the soreness of the Abs&Core workout took a bit to kick in, but i really noticed it a day later.

Whatever slump i was in, seems i got out. Got a bit of a lightshow yesterday in the evening and some rain.

Full Body Circuit, got me sweaty, but i think it was more down to the humidity than the actual workout. Didn't feel that challenging. Usually not something i associate with full body workouts. They generally provide a good challenge.

Was my first time doing hero squats, which do not feel as bad as normal squats. My punches got better though. Instead of noodly whiffes, there's now some oomph behind them.

171/171

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 29:
Still feeling a bit sore from the Abs&Core workout. Nothing bad, just enough to tell me it's there.
Did a new PB on my daily walk with a 9'02"/km, so close to the magic 9 minutes. Happy about the new PB, but still a bit gutted i still haven't managed to reach that goal.

Workout was HIIT today with jumping jacks, side jacks and squat jacks. Man, squat jacks are nasty. Who comes up with such stuff?
Did all seven sets and definitely needed a shower afterwards, and some dry clothes.

178/178

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 30: It's a badge day. I now have 30 consecutive days of Darebee exercise.

I was right about the squat jacks. They were nasty, felt my legs the whole day. Onto good news, as i said earlier this month i got a new smart scale to monitor my body composition through BIA.
According to my scale i lost 1.2% fat and gained 1.1% muscles this month.
I am now at 74.7% muscles and 21.3% fat, weight has gone down to 88.40kg as of this morning. Which means i lost 2.6kg this month, which is an average of 650gramm every week. Pretty good.
I have mentioned i like numbers, right? And i really like those numbers. Feels good to have some facts to back up your impression of feeling better.

Additionally, as i said earlier, one of my goals is better flexibility, which means i'll start adding the Unbound program as of Day 31. Of course i'll keep doing 90 Days of Action. Will do those programs at different times of day as i don't feel confident enough yet to do them consecutively.


Not much to say about the workout, as it was a rather relaxing stretching exercise. Counts as one set as each exercise was only done once.

179/179

 

[Fremen]

Congrats

 

[Mamatigerj]

Well done!

 

[aku-chan]

Congrats on reaching 30 days!

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 31:
As i said, i started the Unbound workout to improve my flexibility. Gotta say, 80 side leg raises (40 each leg) are definitely a warm-up.
The stretching exercises i already knew, so it went pretty ok.
01/30

90 Days of Action:
Seems Darebee wanted to say "Welcome to phase 2" by giving me a tough full body circuit and increasing the amount of reps.
It also had the return of the reverse lunges. I still don't like them, but i was surprised how easy they have become compared to back when i did Foundation. Shows that i really progressed. Side-to-side lunges are interesting, feel more like a stretching exercise to me though.

Anyway, having plank-walkouts and shoulder taps consecutively was nasty. I was literally dripping sweat. Had to wipe my mat afterwards to clean it. The humid weather only made it worse.
I got all seven sets. And to be fair, i get better at the walk-out planks. Doesn't mean i like 'em.

The hot shower afterwards felt really good. May have been under the water a bit more than necessary in terms of cleanliness, but i think i deserved a bit more shower time.

186/186

Edit:
I rarely do edits, but i think it's warranted this time. My knees are a tiny bit upset. I suspect the kneeling squats are at fault. Nothing bad, notice it mostly when walking stairs up or down.
Will take it a bit easier on my walks to improve regeneration.

 

[Cathulhu]

Day 32:
That's a new one, my knees were complaining. I guess the kneeling squats are to blame. Nothing bad. Pretty much only noticed it while going down or up stairs. Took it a bit easier on my walk though, just in case. Still below 10 minutes per kilometer on average though.

Unbound 02/30
Was again not hard due to having done such stuff already. This day was focused on my arms.

90 Days of Action
Still getting used to the higher intensity. Who came up with the up&down planks? Those i definitely struggled with, got them done though.
Additionally, i had the return of the situps. Regular readers may remember i had to use a tiny bit of help last time to get moving in the first situp.
That is no longer necessary. I can now do regular situps without any kind of "cheating"/assistance. Yay for progress.

Once again, all seven sets done. Don't feel much soreness this morning but past experiences has taught me it could take up to a full day to manifest fully.
Still, it was a challenging workout, especially those planks. Flutter kicks in comparison are now like childs play.

193/193