Week 1

Favorite quote

“There will be Haters

There will be Doubters

There will be Non believers

And then

There will be you

Proving them wrong.”

-Saksham Aggarwal

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Inspirational video from YouTube

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Time-lapsed video of the front plank

Fitness and nutrition goals for the semester

My fitness goals are pretty simple, but I will have to stay committed to it not only for the semester, but also going past it. My goal is to work out at the gym a minimum of 3 times a week, but my ideal number would be 4 times a week, as I am doing so at this moment, so that i could work each muscle group twice a week, while also giving them enough time to rest and grow. I would like to increase my muscular strength by focusing on doing at least one big compound movement every workout whether it’s the bench press, dead lift, squat or overhead press.

One of my main goals, however, has to do with improving my cardiovascular endurance by implementing more cardiovascular exercises into my workout routine.

Another goal i have is to increase my body weight by at least 15 pounds because i would like to go into my baseball season coming up as healthy and as strong as possible to maximize my abilities. I will be measuring and tracking this process by using an app called “MyFitnessPal” and i truly believe it is a great tool to track all of your progress for not only your activity level, but also your nutrition.

As for my nutrition goals, I am recording everything I eat into the “MyFitnessPal” app after every meal. I have implemented a minimum calories of 2200 and a maximum of 2800 calories into the app, depending on the days i workout, so that I know when i am over or under. This app is a great tool because it also let’s you know the proportion of macro nutrients(protein, carbohydrates and fats) that you put into your body. I have set up a 25% protein, 25% fats and 50% carbohydrates reminder every day. It also shows all the nutrients that you have put into your body after you add your food into the app.

During the semester, I would really want to increase my protein intake, since it hasn’t been close to its maximum lately. However, having to go to school 5 days a week, it is hard for me to get enough protein since I usually eat something quick for lunch like a sandwich. One thing I could start doing is to prepare good lunches, but usually homework takes over at night even though that shouldn’t even be an excuse.

Overall, I have many small yet detailed oriented goals and the only way they all go the right way is for me to be committed and stay committed.

Week 2

Videos of workout

Workout Questions

a.       What did your workout entail?

My workout involved myself going to workout at the fitness center of Vanier College in G-201. I spent approximately 30 minutes there and my workout included three sets of bench press, three sets of pectoral chest flyes and two sets of triceps push downs. I would have liked to do a full chest and triceps workout, but I was already planning to go to EconoFitness after our gym class to do a full leg day which i did do after filming this. This was the only time I could go to the gym to film it because it was during UB where everyone is off.

b.       What’s the schedule for the two Vanier fitness centres?

d.       What time did you attend and with whom

I started the workout at 12:20 because I had to go to the library to get the yellow sticker before they let us into the gym. I attended the gym with my friend Kwame, as you can see in the video above.

e.       How did you feel before, during, and after?

Before the workout, I felt pretty tired considering we did a workout in class and some small games of Ultimate Frisbee. During the workout, I felt amazing and had more energy than i did before the workout. The bench press is an exercise that i love to perform, which made me pumped up a bit more. After the workout, I wasn’t tired, but I know I didn’t have enough energy as I would have wanted to have before a full leg day.

f.        What did you learn, like, and dislike?

I learned to keep pushing through a workout even though I was tired before the workout. By doing exercises that I love like the bench press, it gave me a sense of excitement that pushed me through it. I liked that there weren’t many people waiting to do the bench press, so that I could take my time and take a breather before starting each set. I also learned that a yellow sticker from the library is needed to access the gym on the second floor. However, I dislike almost every machine equipment in the fitness center. Maybe I am too used to the machines at EconoFitness, but I found that they are very different from other gyms. I worked out in the fitness center a couple of times last semester as well, and I completely avoided most of the machines. I also wish that the gym was a little bit less crowded and that the machines and free weights had more space between each other because it felt really small and crowded.

g.       What were some machines and equipment that you used during your workout?

I used the bench press, the pectoral chest fly machine and the cable triceps push downs with the straight bar.

h.       Were you glad you went and would you recommend it to a friend?

Yes, I was happy I went because I got my bench press reps in and because i was able to do a short chest and triceps workout. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend this fitness center to a friend or many friends of mine because the couple of times that I have worked out at this gym, I never really enjoyed it. Most of my friends who have gone with me to this fitness center would agree that the gym is not that great, but this is just my and my friends opinion on it.

Questions

a.       List three specific examples of what would motivate you to participate in and stick to a regular exercise routine.

1. A friend who is just as committed as I am to come workout with me and spot me on heavy compound lifts.
2. A good night of rest would also help me commit to working out the next day.
3. Eating enough clean foods to help me have enough energy to complete the workout.

b.        List three specific barriers or excuses which would prevent you from doing so.

1. Not getting enough sleep
2. Eating junk food
3. Having a friend that says they’ll come, but then tells you they won’t right before, which makes you less hungry to work out

c.       What type of workouts and physical activities do you like?

I follow a push, pull, leg split where I work chest, triceps and shoulder on push days, back, and bicep on pull days, and every part of my legs on leg day. As for physical activities, I play basketball, floor and ball hockey, soccer, flag football and tennis just for fun. But my main physical activity that I play is baseball which takes up most my time in the summer, whether I have practices, games or tournaments outside of town.

d.       Do you prefer going to the gym or working out at home? Weights, yoga, biking, or running; functional movements; HIIT workouts.

I prefer going to the gym because I don’t have any equipment at home except a pull up bar and a bicycle. However, on the days where I do not go workout at the gym, I do my push-ups workout at home where I do not need any equipment for it. I’ve been doing my push-ups workout for awhile now at home and it showed during my fitness appraisal, but I am still not satisfied with it and I will keep pushing to reach my goal of 50 push-ups by next fitness appraisal.

e.       What could you see yourself doing through college and university to improve fitness, wellness, and health?

I could see myself preparing meal preps for the whole week on Sunday nights. This will make sure I don’t go over or under my caloric intake, while eating well. Throughout college, I will keep my workout routine the same and try to go to EconoFitness at least three times a week. I do imagine myself continuing to go to the gym in university, but maybe less depending on the path I decide to choose. Nonetheless, I could see myself working out at home if I do not have enough time to travel to the gym.

f.        What could you see yourself doing as exercise for the remainder of your life?

If i had to choose one, I would probably choose to do the deadlift for the rest of my life because it almost engages every muscle in your body. However, exercise in general, I would say either going to the gym and doing compound movements or playing baseball at an even higher level where I will be playing year round for the rest of my life. I would not choose running or jogging for the rest of my life because I despise doing cardio.

Week 3

Video of Workout 1

Video of Workout 2

Questions

1. On a scale of 1-10, what effort did you give the workouts this week?

For the first workout, on a scale of 1-10, I would say I gave it a 10 because my perspective when doing workouts that are given to me are to give it your all or else what is the point of doing them. This workout was tougher than I expected because I thought this workout was going to be my warm-up before I jumped into doing barbell squats during my leg day. I performed this workout on Wednesday after our Ultimate Frisbee class. As for the second workout, I performed it on Saturday at EconoFitness. However, I would say I gave this workout a 7 or 8 because I didn’t really feel well for the past two days. I felt weaker than usual, but I knew I had to get this workout done at some time. When comparing both workouts, I would consider the first one to be tougher since you are trying to finish it in 15 minutes. In the first workout, I felt like I pushed myself more than the second one.

2.What are the ACSM guidelines for effective cardiovascular training (cardio)?

One should perform moderate intensity exercises for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week or more. Moderate meaning 40-60% of your maximum heart rate. If not, one should perform vigorous intensity exercises for 20-25 minutes 3 days a week or more. These exercises should use 60-85% of your maximum heart rate. To figure out your maximum heart rate, we use the equation: 220 – age times 0.6 or 0.85 or whatever your aiming for. One should do exercises for at least 3-5 days a week and between 20-60 minutes per session. As for the type of exercises or activities, one should perform aerobic exercises. This could include running, swimming, cycling, dancing, cross-country skiing, stationary bike, etc.

3. How long and how intense should a session be for health benefits? 

Moderately intense exercises 30 minutes a day for 5 days or vigorously intense exercises 20 minutes a day for 3 days a week.

4. Give an example of something that counts as cardio and something that doesn’t (but some people might think it does)? 

One easy example of cardio is running. Some people might think that yoga is a form of cardio. There are some kinds of yoga that count as cardio, and others that don’t. The best way to see if the type of yoga one is performing is cardio or not, one should wear a heart rate monitor to constantly monitor ones heart rate. If your heart rate stays in the cardio zone about 60% of your maximum heart rate for 10 continuous minutes, then it can be considered a cardio exercise.

5. How many glasses of water should you drink each day? 

One should drink 8 ounce glasses of water a day which equals about 2 liters daily.

6. What is progressive overload and how does it work?

Progressive overload is when you force your body to change to a tension and intensity surpassing what it has previously experienced. Whether you want to improve your performance for some exercise or you want more muscle to grow, you should implement progressive overload to your exercises. For example, I currently alternate bicep curl with 40lbs dumbbells for 8 reps and if I were to do the same 8 reps at the same weight for the next 5 years, I will not gain any new muscle or strength. My body will already adapt to the tension and this will continue on for a regular basis. However, if I were to apply progressive overload, then I would do 40lbs for 9 reps instead of 8 reps. This is because that one extra rep will increase the tension, the demand and the work my body has to do to do that extra rep. This may seem like a tiny improvement, but this is what you need to show your body that it needs to improve.

7. Which component(s) of fitness were trained in the two workouts?

Cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance.

8. How was your nutrition over the course of this week? What were some positive aspects and aspects that still require better choices?

My nutrition for the first couple of days of the week were kind of dirty. My mom bought cinnamon buns with a bunch of melted sugar on top and i couldn’t stop eating them. Usually, I could stop myself from eating junk food for the most part, but for some reason, these were just too good to let my siblings eat it all and not leave me any. However, my carbs, proteins and fats ratio for each day was close to my goal of 50%,25%,25% respectively. Some aspects that I am not too happy about is the fact that I put more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats into my body than usual. Those cinnamon buns really had a lot of it in it haha. However, the good thing is that my mom only buys these like once every two-three months which stops me from eating them continuously.

Additional comments on this week’s workouts

I didn’t enjoy these workouts this week because it demanded a lot of cardiovascular endurance, but I would love to do these more often. By doing more of these, it will increase my cardiovascular endurance which is a goal of mine. These two workouts really made me sweat and even more than I would when I work on strength at the gym unless i dead lift. I hope that I will perform more of these types of workouts in the coming weeks because even though I didn’t enjoy doing them, it will benefit me for the better.

Week 4

Video of workout 1

Questions

1. How does your exercise program fit into your weekly schedule? 

My exercise program obviously comes after my education, but I do push myself do exercise at least 4 times a week. My schedule as of now is to go to the gym on Monday and Wednesday after my classes and then I will either go Saturday or Sunday since my baseball season has just started and practices are on Saturday or Sunday or even both depending on the week. Some weeks I will be doing exercise 4 times, other times 5 times a week. At the gym, I focus on improving my strength rather than doing conditioning which is what I do at my baseball practices.

2. Comment on how easy or hard it is to find the time to exercise.

At times, if i don’t have any tests or exams during the week, it is pretty easy to find time to do exercise. However, like this specific week, I only did the first workout that was posted for us because I had baseball this weekend and when I came home from it, I have to study for two midterms coming up this week. As i said in the firs question, I try my best to push myself to do exercise, but there are times where school work and studying gets in the way.

3. What are your stress levels before and after exercise? 

I rarely have any stress before and after any type of exercises that I would do. Before doing any type of exercise, I am usually excited to do them because I know if i do them, my body will feel much better. After doing the exercise, i will feel pumped up because my body will feel amazing and I will probably feel a bit fatigued since i give everything i have while doing the exercise. I try my best not to workout when let’s say I am stressed out about school or something because then my workouts are usually not as effective. So when i am stress, i usually do more relaxing things like watch YouTube or listen to music to get my stress levels down and then go to do some exercises once i feel better.

4. What was your nutritional habit change that you chose to do for the week? Did you follow it consistently? 

This week, I challenged myself to eat less sugar in particular, cinnamon buns with a bunch of melted sugar on top like I did last week. Luckily, they were all finished last week, so I didn’t have the urge to eat them this week. However, sugar in general, I would say i am very proud of myself for not having many other sugars this week. I stuck to my normal plan of focusing on eating more protein. On some days, I had the protein I implemented to my fitness pal, however on others days, my protein intake was rather low.

5. Identify what will be your next nutritional goal to add, keeping your Week 1 nutritional change as well, to try to make it a habit.

One of my week 1 nutritional changes was to increase protein intake. In addition to this, I would like to lower my sugar and unhealthy snacks intake. For the past few months, I haven’t had many unhealthy snacks like chips or cookies with butter, but ever since I decided to go on a small bulk, I’ve been eating chips and cookies many times in a week. I have to make sure that my bulk is cleaner than what is it now, so that muscle can still grow while my unhealthy fats intake is low.

Week 5

Video of workout 1

Video of workout 2

Questions

1. Do you feel different this week… more energy, better sleep, better mood, or increased self-confidence?

I do feel a bit different this week. Some days I woke up and my energy levels were great while other days i had little energy and little motivation to do anything. Usually when spring approaches, I have more energy to do stuff and over the weekend, I did indeed have a lot of energy. As for sleep, I usually got my normal 7 hours of sleep during the week even though this week has been filled with a bunch of midterm exams. I wished I could get more sleep but 7 is the average one human should get every night so i am satisfied.

2. What effect is the activity plan having on you? 

Having to do two workouts that are given to us each week has changed my exercise routine. I try to do one of them every week before or after my workout at EconoFitness on Wednesday’s after class, but sometimes the area I would do the workouts in are always full. The second workout, I try to do it on the weekend, but as baseball has started for me, it is at times hard for me to balance baseball, studying, working out and doing these planned workouts. Going into doing these workouts, I look at them as warm ups for my real workout after, but these workouts have shown to be more than just a warm up. They challenge me which makes me have less energy for other exercises i planned to do after.

3. What have been some major barriers so far in your activity plan? How have you adapted your plan to overcome these barriers?

Time and the lack of energy have been the two main barriers for myself. On some days i will have the energy to do anything and everything while other days i’ll be exhausted. To overcome these barriers, I try to workout before I go home to do my homework for how many hours straight. As for energy levels, I sometimes take pre-workout which gives me some energy boost. I don’t drink coffee which has caffeine in it to give people energy for the day, so I decided to try pre-workout and it has helped so far.

4. What solutions have you found? How long should you rest after completing a muscular strength or endurance workout? Why? What happens if you don’t?

I have found that I should rest at least one day before doing another workout. By doing so, I am giving time for my muscles to recover to enhance muscle growth and muscle repair. If I don’t have rest days then I will be training everyday non-stop which does not make me gain anything. (#allpainnogain) Research has also shown that strength and muscle gains occur outside the gym on rest days rather than inside the weight room.

5. Comment on your two nutrition habits. How have you done over the course of the two weeks? This week, keep those nutritional goals. We are going to try to include more sleeping. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep. I know you are all busy, but rest is just as important for healthy and alert functioning. Keep track of your hours of sleep each night for the next 7 days and comment what’s keeping you from the required amount of sleep and find a solution for it.

My two nutrition habits that i have implemented for my diet since week 1 was to increase protein intake and lower sugar and unhealthy fat intake. This week I have respected and I did not have anything with excessive amounts of sugar or fats. However, as for protein, I didn’t have the desired amount of protein this week. Instead I increased my carbs intake to make me more full during my bulk. I usually get between 6-7 hours of sleep during the week while 7-9 during the weekends. The past week, I got an average of 7 hours of sleep.Nothing really is preventing me from getting the required amount of sleep each night since i have a daily plan of when i go to bed which is the same almost every night. Even when I have exams the next day I plan my days and weeks before the exam to get the studying in while getting the sleep i need.

Week 6

Video of workout 1

Warm-up in the video: Leg press 5 sets of 5 reps (90 lbs, 180 lbs, 270 lbs, 270 lbs, 290 lbs) rest 3 minutes between sets

First exercise in the video: Barbell half squat 5 sets of 5 reps (95 lbs, 135 lbs, 135 lbs, 155 lbs, 155 lbs) rest 4 minutes between sets

Second exercise in the video: Seated calf raises 3 sets of 8 reps (45 lbs, 90 lbs, 115 lbs) rest 1 minute in between sets

I only filmed one set of each exercise I did and these exercises took longer than 20 minutes because of the longer rest I was taking. My goal in this workout was to work on strength which is why I did 5 sets of 5 reps instead of 3 sets of 8 reps. Also, as you can see in the leg press and squat video, I did half leg presses and half barbell squats because I wanted to focus on engaging my quadriceps more as research has shown that doing half squats or leg press engages them more than full ones. Since this workout was only meant to be 20 minutes I didn’t film my full leg day, but if you wanted to know what I did after, I basically did 3 sets of 8 reps of machine leg curls(80 lbs), and extensions(70 lbs), and I finished off by doing some arms because #armdayeveryday!! For my finisher, I did a trisuperset(if you want to call it that) of dumbbell bicep curl(40 lbs dumbbells), reverse barbell curl(40 lbs) and barbell isolated wrist curls(40 lbs) for 3 sets of 8 reps. I didn’t take a rest between the 3 exercises because I wanted to keep the tension in my forearm and biceps.

Video of workout 2

Part A: 22 push-ups, 51 curl ups in 1 minute, 1min45sec wall sit and 1min15 front plank

Part B: Finished in 4min45sec

Questions

1. Why did you choose what you did for workout 1? 

I chose this workout because I needed someone to film me doing it and since I go to the gym with a couple of my friends on Wednesday after class, I decided to film part of my leg day. I decided to work on strength rather than hypertrophy or endurance because my baseball season starts in a month or so and I have to keep strengthening my legs to be 110% ready to destroy competition. I finished with arms which is not shown in the video because you can’t go to the gym and not work arms because as the saying goes “arm day everyday.”

2. What was your effort in your workouts? 

In my first workout, I gave everything I had because i was increasing the weight after every set which demands a lot of effort from your body. As for the second workout, I gave it my all even though the results are not to my standards. This is because I made the huge mistake again by doing this workout after my push day at the gym. I went really hard on my chest and triceps and was gassed out by the 15th push-up for the max push-ups. I always forget to remind myself to do these blog workouts before any gym workout I choose to do, but I only realize it in the middle of my own workout. I wished I could have gotten at least 20 more push-ups at least but I guess that will have to wait for next time. Also, for the front plank I was so exhausted from the three exercises we had to do before it that I couldn’t hold it for longer. I held it for 2min20sec during the fitness appraisal where I had the time to rest while this one did not let us rest as much.

3. Do you need to revise your original goal(s)? Are/is your goal(s) still realistic? Why or why not? State your new goals if they’ve changed. 

I don’t think I need to revise my goals from week 1 since I am still thriving to achieve them. One of my goals was to do some kind of exercise at least 4 times a week. During the next couple of weeks, this will be very hard since the gyms have closed and my baseball practices have all been cancelled. I will have to find new ways to do exercise at home and improvise with the little equipment i have at home(I’ll be performing mainly body weight exercises since I have no weights). My goal of increasing my muscular strength is now my main goal since I am bulking rather than increasing my cardiovascular endurance as I mentioned in my week 1 blog. Since I started wanting to increase my strength even more, I have almost completely stopped working on my cardiovascular endurance which is usually only trained at the beginning of our gym class. My goals are still realistic since these are goals that can be achieved if you put your mind and body into it.

4. What is working in your program? What do you need to change? 

I believe my workout program is working just fine. I try to train 4-6 times a week whether it’s at the gym or at baseball. For the gym, I plan my week so that i could hit every single body part at least 2 times a week and sometimes even 3 if i do some kind of full body workout. However, I believe i have to change the type of exercises I do at the gym which i have been doing for the past few days until they decided to close all gyms today. One exercise I’ve fallen in love with is the close-grip bench press because it is now my main compound movement for triceps.

5. How many servings of vegetables should you eat each day? Are you getting enough? If not, how could you ensure that you do? What are your three favorite vegetables?

We should all be getting from 5 to 9 servings of vegetables where 1 serving is about 75 g. I do believe i get enough vegetables each day and according to MyFitnessPal, i sometimes get over the range. Raw carrot sticks are my favourite which I eat almost every lunch or when i come back from school. As for dinner, I love any kind of vegetable depending on what I cook that night, but my favourite are cooked broccoli or cauliflower, sauteed peppers, cabbage, asparagus, etc.

6. Your nutritional challenge for this week is to have vegetables at least with two of your meals, if not all of your meals. For portion size, aim for your vegetables to take up half of your plate, protein should take about ¼ of our plate and carbs/starches, the last ¼ of your plate. Comment how this challenge went, in your blog. Keep those other nutritional habits going! Post pictures of your supper meals for five consecutive days. In your blog, identify the positives and negatives of your choices in food and portion size.

I didn’t read the questions when we got them so I didn’t know we had to take pictures of our suppers for 5 consecutive days. However, I did keep track of what I ate for the past week so I might just take screenshots of from MyFitnessPal and put it on here to show the amount of food I had every night. Almost every night my source of carbs was either rice or pasta which did indeed take up 1/4 of the plate. As for protein, I either had some kind of beef, fish, pork or chicken where on some days, took a bit more than 1/4 of the plate while on other days it took less. As for vegetables, as I mentioned above, I love to eat them which usually takes half the plate but on some days where my protein was high, I would eat less vegetables. I did not eat less carbs because while bulking, I am aiming for my carbs intake to be higher than usual so I keep it rather the same each night.

Positive(s): Half plate vegetables and a quarter carbs and protein

Positive(s): Half plate vegetables and a quarter carbs and protein

Positive(s): Half plate vegetables and a quarter carbs and protein

Postive(s): Half plate vegetables and a quarter carbs and protein

Negative(s): The fish sticks had a lot of unhealthy fats

Positive(s): Half plate vegetables and a quarter carbs and protein

Week 7

Video of workout 1 option 1

Video of workout 2 option 2

Questions

1. What’s the point of doing a warm up? 

The point of doing a warm up is to prepare your body for whatever exercise or activity you will be doing. By doing a warm up, it will increase your heart rate and body temperature while also psychologically prepare your body for exercise.

2. What constitutes a successful warm up? 

A good warm up involves doing movements that increase your heart rate and increasing the temperature of your muscles by a bit. A good indication to show that your warm up was successful is if you developed a light sweat where your muscles and joints are ready for the exercise. Warm up could involve light jog, dynamic stretches or joint rotations.

3. What’s the point of doing a cool down?

The goal of a cool down is to reduce heart and breathing rates while slowly cooling down your body temperature. The lack of cool down could lead to dizziness and even possible fainting which is caused by blood pooling in the lower extremities.

4. When is the best time to stretch and why? Why is stretching important?

Dynamic stretches should be done before your workout during your warm up after you have successfully made your muscles warm. Static stretches should be performed after exercising to reduce the chances of injury. Stretching is important to warm up your muscles and joints before exercising and reducing injury after exercising.

5. How much sleep should you be getting every night? Are you getting that much? If not, what could you do to ensure that you do get enough sleep? 

One should be getting from 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night but it could depend on each individual. On weekdays during school, I get around 6 to 7 hours of sleep while on weekends I sometimes get even more than 9 hours of sleep. By exercising the night before, it helps me get more sleep because my muscles are tired and they keep me asleep for longer.

6. What are there serious health effects related to insufficient sleep? 

Insufficient sleep can lead to many health effects and problems like increasing the the chances of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Insufficient sleep can also lead you to be more vulnerable to mental health issues like depression and anxiety.

7. Give two examples of healthy snacks that you can munch on while studying. What will motivate you to continue to be active in the future? 

My two favorite snacks to munch on while studying are any kind of fruits mainly apple slices and oranges or Greek yogurt with some kind of nuts like chia seeds which raise good cholesterol. The feeling of how good I feel after every workout will continue to motivate me to stay active in the future. Also having a specific goal in mind will help me stay active and take steps to achieve that goal bit by bit everyday.

8. How do you see yourself living an active lifestyle? What are three negative health aspects that will change if you are sedentary.

I see myself living an active lifestyle by implementing 30 minutes of any type of activity each day. This could include walking, jogging, skipping rope, workout out at the gym, doing body weight exercises at home. Also, by making exercises fun, it will increase my active lifestyle and keep me doing at least 30 minutes of exercise each day. Three negative health aspects of a sedentary life includes lower metabolism, increase certain risks of cancer, higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels, etc.

9. Give two examples of healthy fats.

Eggs and avocados.

Week 8

Video of workout 1

Video of workout 2

Questions

1. Describe the aspect of your goal(s) you were most successful in achieving to date and the benefits experienced throughout the program.

The goals I was most successful in achieving since the start of this semester was that I worked out 4 times a week every week whether it was at the gym, during baseball practice or during gym class. When I was at the gym, I was successful to focus on compound movements. I did really enjoy doing these blogs and doing specific workouts given to us because it pushed me to do these workouts every week even though sometimes it interfered with school or my own workouts. The benefits of writing down everything whether it’s goals or what you ate is crucial to continue progressing on them and to stay mentally committed to your plan.

2. Describe the aspect of your goal(s) you were least successful to date in achieving and why you felt you were not successful.

One aspect of my goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the semester was to also focus on getting my cardiovascular endurance better. I did stick to it for the first couple of week, but then when I decided to go on a bulk, increasing my cardiovascular endurance was not one of my priorities. However, even though it wasn’t my priority, I should have continued to work on it even if it meant doing something small. I believe I should have stayed committed to it throughout this whole semester while adding other goals with it.

3. Did your nutrition change during the course of your program? Why and how?

My nutrition more or less stayed the same during the semester. My goal was to increase protein intake and have 50% carbs, 25% protein and fats. While it was pretty hard to increase my protein during school days, with this virus going on, I’ve been having more.

4. What was the most important thing you learned about yourself? 

One thing I learned about myself is that my endurance is better than I imagined and way better than what it was in my first semester. Even though it is still not the best, I hope to continue to tell myself to work on cardiovascular endurance moving on in the future. Another thing i learned about myself is that if I gave everything I had for every workout, they would be ten times more effective. I started giving everything I had about 9 months ago when I first decided I was going to start training for real. By giving everything I had, it challenged my body and myself mentally to keep going because it will pay off in the future. #keeppushingandnevergiveup

5. Describe any physical and psychological changes that have happened over the course of these weeks of workouts.

Physically, these workouts really added more exercises to my exercise routine which is great because most of the workouts challenge your body and your endurance to finish them at a specific time. These workouts also showed me a bunch of new exercises that I could now do because they were assigned to us. Psychologically, these workouts really made me have less stress in some cases while also increasing my energy levels since I wanted to do these workouts knowing that they would be good for me.

6. Describe the level of difficulty you had in adding a little more physical activity to your days?

During some weeks, they were hard to squeeze them into my week because of school, school work, and my own gym training days. However, most of the weeks, the workouts were done either before or after one of my workouts or sometimes on an off day. Most of the weeks, it wasn’t very hard to incorporate these workouts into my week because I planned my usual workouts to be shorter and more efficient to have some energy less for these.

7. During these unpredictable times, how has physical activity impacted your dimensions of health (physical, psychological, spiritual, environmental, intellectual, environmental).

During these past couple weeks, physical activity has been really hard for me to do because my sleep schedule has been messed up while also not having a lot of equipment at my home also made it tough for me to workout. Nonetheless, I told myself that I have to try and maintain everything my body has worked for the past 10 months by working out every day at home. I only have a stationary bike, an abs roller, a foam roller and a pull-up bar and therefore I don’t have access to dumbbells which are one of my favorites to use at the gym. Therefore by improvising, I’m using two buckets that anyone could find at Home Depot or something and filling them up with water or books depending on what i do. I work my abs every two days, but workout every day with my two buckets whether it’s working biceps, shoulders, back, legs. I also do daily push-ups which includes decline, incline, narrow, diamond and wide ones. Psychologically, it’s been pretty tough but I keep reminding me to keep working out somehow because I do not want to lose everything I’ve worked on so hard. Even though these workouts might not be as effective like compound movements, any kind of exercise is good for you. Environmentally, I’ve been seeing a lot of people take advantage of empty streets to go run and even parks to go do their workouts there. In the middle of April, when it gets a little warmer, I’ll be at the park playing baseball by myself to work on some things so that i don’t become rusty when the season eventually will start. If i don’t push myself to go out there and practice whatever i have to do, then when the season starts, I’ll have to get back into the small little details which takes time.

Week 9

Video of workout 1

Pictures of workout 2 running option 1

Video of workout 3

Smart goals

12 minute run:

S: I wish to improve my 12 minute run from above average to excellent

M: I will be able to complete the 12 minute run and get an excellent rating

A: I will train by walking/jogging 2/3 days a week for 30 minutes

R: I can presently jog for 30 minutes straight without walking intervals

T: By the end of summer

Max push-ups:

S: I wish to improve my max push-ups to over 50 or an excellent rating

M: I will be able to do over 50 push-ups

A: I am currently doing push-ups until failure everyday

R: I can presently do about 40 push-ups in one shot

T: By the beginning of summer

Sit-ups(1 minute):

S: I wish to maintain my sit-ups at an excellent rating or do even more

M: I will be able to constantly do 55 push-ups in 1 minute

A: I will keep training abs 3 times a week

R: I can presently do over 51 sit-ups in 1 minute

T: About one month

Side hops(1 minute):

S: I wish to improve my side-hops(agility) from poor to average

M: I will be able to do over 50 side hops in 1 minute

A: I will do them every week and try to be lighter on my feet

R: I can presently do over 30 but under 40

T: Beginning of summer

Plank(max time):

S: I wish to maintain my max plank at an excellent rating and hold it for even longer if possible

M: I will be able to constantly complete the front plank fro over 2 minutes and 45 seconds straight

A: I will keep training abs 3 times a week

R: I can presently hold the front plank for over 2min23s

T: About one month

Wall sit(max time):

S: I wish to improve my wall sit from average to above average

M: I will be able to hold the wall sit for over 2min15s

A: I will keep training legs 3 times a week

R: I can presently hold the wall sit for 2 minutes

T: By the end of summer

Balance(max time):

S: I wish to maintain my balance rating of excellent and hold it for even longer

M: I will be able to hold my balance for 60 seconds with my eyes closed for each leg

A: I will keep doing balance exercises weekly

R: I can presently hold my balance with my eyes closed for about 30 seconds on each leg

T: About one month

Week 10

Video of workout 1

Pictures of workout 2 running

Video of workout 3

Questions

1. If social distancing will continue until July, what are some things you should START doing to ensure and/or improve physical and emotional stability?

I believe I should start sleeping earlier so that I could wake up earlier which might make me feel better. My sleeping schedule has changed so much to the point where i’m only falling asleep at 2am in the morning and waking up at 11:30am. Even though I force myself to get to bed earlier, I never could fall asleep and instead just stare at the ceiling for hours. By sleeping earlier, it will make me have more energy during the day which could mean more effective home workouts.

2. If social distancing will continue until July, what are some things that you must STOP doing to ensure physical and/or improve emotional stability?

Like mentioned above, I must STOP sleeping some late and instead try to sleep earlier. Even though I’ve been working out everyday since quarantine started, my workouts are short because i just don’t have enough energy.

3. If social distancing will continue until July, what are some things that you must CONTINUE doing to ensure and/or improve physical and emotional stability?

I must continue to do some kind of workout everyday whether it’s working out at home with the things i have at home or going out to the park and running or practicing baseball. I can’t do much at home so my only priority is to workout everyday and try to maintain the muscle I’ve put on the last 9 months before quarantine. I know I’k losing strength so i prioritize muscle endurance when doing home workouts and going to failure for every exercise.

4. What is the one thing that is most shocking to you in these times of the pandemic?

How people are getting put down because they can’t do much with the pandemic in the way. Some of my friends had goals whether it was to lose weight or to get stronger, but they’ve decided to sit on the couch all day and play video games. I personally don’t like video games even though I play some sometimes mostly on my phone, but I told them to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal that they have. A pandemic like this shouldn’t stop anyone from achieving their goals just because we aren’t allowed to do much. #becreative

Week 11

Video of workout 1

Video of workout 2

Video of workout 3

Question/Reflection

Mom: Optimistic

Dad: Funny

Sister: Creative

Brother: Helpful

Older Brother: Thoughtful

I believe the strength that aligns with me the most is creativity because being creative helps me do things I wouldn’t have thought of. For example, during these tough times, it is very helpful to get creative because all the gyms are closed. Therefore, I have to find new exercises and with that create a new workout plan for myself.

Week 12

Workout 1

I did not do the 12 minute run nor did i complete the 3rd workout this week. I did the fitness appraisal exercises(workout 2) on Wednesday and was planning to do the run and the 3rd workout sometime during the end of the week. However, I started not feeling well on Thursday where I was shivering and felt pretty weak to do anything so I stayed in bed most of the day. Waking up on Friday and Saturday, I thought I was going to feel much better but I felt much worse and weaker than usual so my mom told me to stay in bed and take my medicine instead of going out to workout at the park like I do every week. Today is Sunday and I feel better but still not close to being 100%, so I’m still answering these questions in bed but I will without a doubt complete the 12 minute run either tomorrow(Monday) or Tuesday depending on when I feel 100% so that I could have something to compare my results to. In my opinion, there’s no point to do attempt at doing exercise if I will not give it my all since my health will always come before doing any type of activity.

Workout 2

I did 41 push-ups, 53 sit-ups in one minute, held the plank for 1min48s, held the front plank for 1min45s, 38 side hops and 36 second right leg hold and 33 second left leg hold.

Questions

1. What are things that you actually miss from your old normal? Give this some serious thought, then make a small list based on importance to you. Even better, go a little further and ask yourself what specifically you’re missing about each thing you write.

• Baseball: The one thing that I miss the most is playing and practicing baseball. At this time, the team would have been chosen already and we would already be outside practicing for the season and most likely playing exhibition games. Every day waking up, my parents see the sadness in me and they know exactly what I miss which is playing baseball. I’m sure my parents miss bringing and watching me play which made it into a road trip for them. My season will still go on but will only start in July which makes me keep working hard because we never know, the season could start even sooner if the government lets us.
• Going to the gym: One of the things that i miss is going to the gym every two days either alone or with a couple of my friends. Going to the gym made me forget everything that was happening around me and only focus on myself and the workout i was doing. When my friends came along with me, this gave me the chance to be with some of my friends who go to different schools and also help and motivate them with whatever goals they have.
• Seeing family members from out of town: Another thing I really miss is seeing my family members especially my aunt and uncle from Toronto. Every Easter they would come down and we would celebrate and have some fun, but this Easter they couldn’t because of the virus. I haven’t seen them since Christmas and it makes me wonder when they will actually come back if this pandemic will go on for a long time.
• Going downtown with friends: Spending time with my friends used to be part of my old normal especially going downtown for shopping or just to walk around and get some fresh air. I haven’t seen my friends in person for a month and a half and I’m sure many of us haven’t either. I really miss just having their positive attitudes around me.
• School: Going to school is another thing I miss a lot. Having classes with my friends and being able to have fun in some classes made my normal so much fun. Now with online classes, it makes everything boring and some classes like Calculus 2, is making me learn the material by myself.

1. What parts of your old normal are you coming to realize that you don’t really miss, or only miss a little?
   Understanding the things you didn’t miss is at least as important as understanding the things you do miss.It’s harder to make a formal list of things you don’t miss. Rather, try to focus on making a list of the things you really do miss and recognize that the many parts of your old normal that aren’t on that list are the things you don’t actually miss. 

• Waking up at 6 in the morning: I don’t really miss waking up really early in the morning to get ready for school because now I have time to sleep more. Even though many people say that by waking up early in the morning makes you more productive, all I would do is literally fall back asleep.
• Coming home at 7:00pm: Even though i miss going to school, I don’t really miss coming home very late at night. This is because I used to come home, eat, take a shower and then go straight into studying. Now with online classes, I have made my own schedule on when to do things and I could finally relax during the evening.
• Having overloaded days: I don’t miss my overloaded days because now I don’t have to stress on getting everything done at once while not having time to relax. With quarantine, it gives everyone so much free time which means time to relax.

1. As things return to normal, how can you bring back the things you do miss with as little of the things you don’t miss as possible?
   For example, how do I bring back time with friends and time with some of my hobbies without bringing back an overloaded life schedule, lots of forgettable filler “treats,” and unnecessary hobby spending?
   What kinds of changes do you need to make so that your return to “normal” includes as much of the parts you care about as possible and as little of the stuff you don’t miss as possible? How do you lean in specifically on the stuff you really care about without dragging in a bunch of forgettable and unnecessary spending or forgettable and unnecessary time use?

As things return to normal, I believe the main thing that I will focus on is baseball. With online school almost over, I don’t have to worry about bringing back overloaded days so i will have less stress. I also don’t have to worry about waking up at 6 and coming home at 7 since school will be done. A lot of friends have told me to send me my baseball schedule so that when everything becomes better, they will come watch me play and that will balance me playing and seeing my friends as well. Also, going to the gym with my friends if the gyms will be safe is another good way to have a mixture of working out while also spending time with friends. If things come back to normal, my family members from out of town should come back to Montreal in the beginning of July. By having an idea and strong mindset of what I want to focus on versus the unnecessary things, I will focus on what is important to me and forget or not do anything that is not necessary.

1. What can you do right now, in a practical sense, to make those changes into your new normal?
   Let’s say things return to some form of “normal” in a few months. What can you do, right now, so that when things go back to normal, you bring back the things you miss and leave behind the things you don’t miss?

I should prioritize the important things to focus on during these tough times which will make me have the same mindset when things come back to normal. By having a daily schedule, it makes me known approximately what to do without doing unnecessary things. Also, having a mindset that is not laziness will help me transition from these tough times to when things will go back to normal. If i’m lazy now, then I will be lazy later on and it will only end up in more stress for me.