Hello hello!

This last week was a huge improvement on my training for week one. If I can continue to incrementally increase my ninja warrior training efforts, I’ll definitely get there.

After a long week of training, we actually went hiking down at the coast. I was pretty sore and exhausted by that point… but we already really needed a break from the house.

I’ve always been a bit wary about adding extra activities into my training… I never want to interrupt my flow or disrupt my training with unplanned DOMS… but I’m slowly learning to get over that.

After all, what’s the point of being fit and strong if you don’t do anything to enjoy it… and since you can never know what a Ninja Warrior course is going to throw at you, I really need to embrace any opportunity to condition my body and work on my endurance. Also, I’ve got to remember these are the good bonding experiences that makes life worthwhile.

OUR SUNDAY HIKE

Our hike was hard and we were both pretty much devastated by the end… I should have taken a photo of the trail itself… but see the muddle puddle in the bottom left hand corner?

It was that… the whole way up and back. Just mud and puddles continuously.

It was all about problem solving… how do we get through this next muddy patch. I was in full ninja parkour mode… which was great training for the stepping obstacles you often see in courses…

Those steps are harder than they look, you really need Mega Legs to crush them.

While I was maxing out my Speed, Nimble and Balance stats, my partner had her walking poles, so she was just an consistent, unstoppable, 4 legged terminator that no obstacle could slow down… it was super fun.

We hiked up to the bit where they filmed the last scene in Point Break and the pirate ship bit in Goonies… so that was fun.

The only frustrating thing was that only about half the people on the trail were wearing masks. I know it’s outdoors in the fresh air, but you’re also squeezed together passing each other on narrow trails. People were constantly so considerate and so polite with letting us through a slim section first… but weren’t considerate to wear masks? It’s super weird and I didn’t love it.

ENDURANCE

I didn’t run as much this week as I did the previous week. Week 1 I ran 3kms twice, and in Week 2 I only ran 3kms once.

I ran the 3kms on Monday, and then on Wednesday and Saturday I did hill sprints instead.

Hill sprints are a great way to increase your lung capacity… and I can tell you they were working really hard.

My driveway is steep and winding… so I run as fast as I can up to the gate in about 30 seconds and then walk down and walk around for 4 minutes and 30 seconds… and then repeat so that I’m doing one sprint every 5 minutes.

On Wednesday I was pretty much gasping for air as I reached the gate, and it would take the full recovery time to get my breathe back.

I did 3 1/2 sprints on Wednesday and 3 sprints on Saturday.

My lungs didn’t feel as fire-y on Saturday, but my legs felt like lead… so I’m super curious to see how I go next Wednesday. I know in the past the feeling almost sick after a sprint disappears in a couple of sessions.

I completely forgot to do any abs or core workouts in Week 2. It totally skipped my mind.

UPPER BODY

I definitely amped up the upper body workouts this week.

On Tuesday I did this list of exercises 3 times:

• 6 pushups
• 6 tricep dips
• 6 pull ups
• 10 hammer curls
• 10 bicep curls
• farmers carry
• dead hang

On Thursday I threw down this list 4 times:

• 6 pullups
• 6 pushups
• 6 tricep dips
• 10 bicep curls
• 10 hammer curls

On Saturday I closed it out with:

• 6 pullups
• 6 push ups

My intention is not to work out so hard that I get sore and go through DOMS. If you want to build big muscles, go heavy and then rest. Work out one muscle group every 5 days.

I’m trying to build tough, strong, conditioned muscles, and so training the same muscles every couple of days should mean I can hang on longer…

I was pretty sore on Sunday though, but hopefully in a week or two my lats and forearms will be conditioned enough to be okay.

GRIP STRENGTH

My wrist is feeling a lot better and a lot stronger… my wrist injury isn’t 100% healed, but maybe a good 90%. There aren’t many movements that cause it pain.

I still can’t quite do a push up normally, but I’ve found a way to work through them with strange hand placement.

CHANGES

The introduction of the hill sprints was a great inclusion last week.

This next week I want to further develop my grip strength… so on my Tuesday and Thursday upper body workout sessions I’m going to include a new exercise.

I’m not sure what it’s called, but you basically jump up to a bar, catch yourself, hold for a second and let go. I’m going to do ten in a set for every set of pull ups that I do.

It’s a super quick exercise, but really works the forearms well.

INJURIES

My wrist injury has been recovering nicely. I get the occasional twang but nothing alarming.

My hip flexor injury has been way more strange. I’ve basically had a hip flexor strain for 10 months It’s a constant dull ache where my leg meets my pelvis. Things like hill sprints make it slightly more sore, but not in any real way.

I’ve been trying all this time to roll it out and strengthen it with no real success. I did a video chat with a doctor who actually thought it was a medical issue. She referred me to a Urologist which took weeks and weeks to see.

I did see them this week… and they totally disagree with my GP. So we’re back to having no clue with what’s going on. I’m going in for some ultrasound fun this coming week, so we’ll see if anything comes out of it.

If I have this dull ache for the rest of my life, I’m honestly fine with that, it’s not stopping me from doing anything… but I just don’t want to be causing myself any irreparable damage while continuing to train.

Thanks for reading! This blog has already helped me stay on track… I’m not sure I would have done 4 sets for a couple of those exercises if I didn’t have to write about it.

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below… or you can reply to this tweet:

Thanks so much for reading!