I have mentioned before that I used to be fit, probably to the point regular readers are starting to get sick of it – but this week’s app has showed me that, even in my prime, I was doing some things wrong .
I am referring, primarily, to abdominal work. I always did it, and core strength was always important. After a few weeks with Runtastic Six Pack Abs Workout , however, it is becoming clear that general enthusiasm for the exercises may not have been the best route to the desired results.
Whether performing planks, leg raises, table tops with a twist, crunches, or just good old sit ups, my old technique was to use speed and momentum to get through my exercises as quickly as possible. What Rutnastic Six Pack forces me to do is slow my execution of each repetition down to a (painful) crawl .
Not only has it altered my speed; it also offers set routines to perform to a daily schedule. This regularity, and more importantly the slowly increasingly difficulty, has completely changed to way I approach my stomach workouts.
It’s a gradual thing. The first day had me performing three sets of three exercise eight times. Each rep was paced, and I had 30 seconds to recover between sets. It was easy, and I began to ponder the value. Day two changed the order of the exercises and added two further reps to each. It was a bit tougher, but it wasn’t until day three, when the reps went up to twelve, when I really began to feel that there may be something to the program .
It was phenomenal how the fractional increases to the workouts exponentially increased their difficult . By day five I was actually grateful to see a rest day. Coming back off this break the routines changed, altering from three sets of three exercises to two sets of four, while also changing the exercises. Suddenly I was performing 18 repetitions a total of eight times, and my abs felt like they were burning from the very first set.
To put that in perspective, in my infrequent visits to the gym over the past few years, 20 reps was my standard number of repetitions for any abdominal work. With poor technique, and at a speed of my own choosing, I would regularly repeat this six times with ease. Now I was feeling it after just 18 thanks to improved form and pace.
A day’s routine lasts around ten minutes for the first couple of weeks – but you feel you are doing something for every minute of that time.
I have currently only completed the first ten day program (Level 1). But I am about the start the second plan , and find myself equal parts excited and scared. I can feel it doing something, albeit under several layers of fat.
So, Runtastic Six Pack is joining Noom and Zombies, Run! on the growing list of apps that I am sticking with – at least until I find something better. Hopefully not to many more will join the list, I am running out of time in my day.
Related Stories
Diary of a fat man – Runtastic Road Bike
Diary of a fat man: MyFitnessPal (the training wheels are off)
Diary of a fat man: Zombies, Run! (the undead are good for you)
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