Paulopadopalos
Just a tea drinking geek from the north of England. Any views expressed are mine and mine alone yada yada...
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Tweets
- @wezlee Randomly on my trip to Philly I've been invited out to dinner by a bunch of folks from Denver.
- RT @EmergencyPuppy: Hey @CocaCola, there's something wrong with my can of coke... http://t.co/LAJn4DW4ea
- @gaes_elskhugi Haha... have you seen the video of that>
- Many thanks to the lorry driver who chipped my windscreen this morning as he spilled his gravel load on the A177 at 60mph.
- @jonzo1 Senility is when you think they're answering back.
- RT @mtthwhgn: Added to the blacklist: people who sit in the aisle seat on rush hour trains leaving window seats empty
- I wonder if @box_andrew recognises this view? http://t.co/mlOPT4TScL
- @wezlee I'm on your side of the ocean in two weeks.
- @wezlee meh. A million dollars doesn't make them a British millionaire.
- Not sure what happened to Nelly, but I kinda like his new song... https://t.co/1RtedHD3VT
- RT @EmergencyPuppy: Gonna get that lady a leaf; ladies love leaves, right? http://t.co/v0Y9t11mpx
- RT @TheHouseOfWTF: The Wizard of Oz is just about two women trying to kill each other over a pair of shoes really, isn't it?
- Weak and pathetic but annoying and persistent snow. https://t.co/FuxMJhtu4O
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Checkins
- ArgosUnit 6, Durham City Retail Park
- Queen's Campus Holliday BuildingUniversity Boulevard
- Queen's Campus Holliday BuildingUniversity Boulevard
- Queen's Campus Holliday BuildingUniversity Boulevard
- Queen's Campus Holliday BuildingUniversity Boulevard
- Queen's Campus Holliday BuildingUniversity Boulevard
- Showcase Cinema TeessideAintree Oval
- Palatine CentreStockton Road
- Durham CathedralThe College
- Sainsbury'sSt. Helen Auckland
- Tebay Northbound Motorway Services (Westmorland)Btw Jct 38 & 39, M6
- Killington Lake Southbound Motorway Services (Roadchef)Btw Jct 36 & 37, M6
- Hatfield CollegeNorth Bailey
- Palatine CentreStockton Road
- Palatine CentreStockton Road
- Mountjoy Research CentreHollingside Ln.
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Posts
- March Progress Update
Have I fallen off the wagon, or am I cleverly working a new system? Probably somewhere between the two. It’s clear to say that I’m not following the Insanity 60 day regime. Instead, I’m trying to hit at least 3 workouts per week - typically one each of Pure Cardio, Cardio Power and Resistance and Plyometric Cardio Circuit. However, I would be lying if I didn’t admit that sometimes I’m only managing one a week. However, I worked out on Friday and today, so I’m currently in the clear workout-wise.
Stats-wise, I’m currently the heaviest I’ve ever been in my life. I currently weigh 67.5kg (148lbs for you Americans; 10 stone 9 for Brits) and have a body fat percentage of 11.3%. In my head, I thought this was actually a high fat percentage but having read up on the matter it seems that it’s actually pretty darn good. It seems that male models get lower percentages (~8%) but they’re difficult to sustain, and much below that results in lots of veins showing through - not a good look. So whilst originally I’d hoped to reduce my body fat percentage I think I’m OK with this number now.
I also now have some measurable improvements in stats: my chest is about 3cm bigger than when I began this journey, my thigh circumference has increased by 5cm. There are other measurements which have increased, but frankly I’m so crap at measuring them that the error bars are probably bigger than Shaun T’s pecs.
But the basic message is this - working out and trying to eat sensibly have improved my body shape and statistics. Not exactly rocket science, but I can actually be proud when I look in a mirror. All the more reason to keep it up!
- Day 11 or Thereabouts
My swapping of days and throwing in an odd extra rest day have completely thrown my track of where I am in this programme. But at the very least, I did Pure Cardio today. Nothing special. Move along.
Afterwards, I decided to take my measurements, and this has shown that I’m definitely back on track towards a decent body. Since starting this latest burst of Insanity:
- My overall weight is down by 0.3kg;
- Body fat has fallen from 12.8% to 11.3% (not bad!);
- Bone mass up from 2.9kg to 3.0kg;
- Visceral fat down from 2.5kg to 2.0kg.
Not a shabby performance, and it puts me pretty much back where I was when I finished my last full round of Insanity in summer 2012. But my biggest (and yet still quite tiny) achievement is that my biceps are now the largest they have EVER been. They’re at 28cm, which still puts them in pre-pubescent school girl territory but given that my twiglet arms were originally 26cm at the biceps, this feels like a massive accomplishment!
It occurred to me that since so many of the images we see in the media are edited, airbrushed and photoshopped, that it was possible to create a similar illusion myself using lighting. The two photos above were taken just 2 days apart, but one is lit from above and the other is lit from the side. Despite the second photo being worse quality, you can see that my stomach looks more defined when lit from the side, and my chest looks a bit better too.
I remember reading once that Men’s Health cover models “pumped themselves up” for their photoshoots by doing lots of push ups. In other words, if you bumped into them they wouldn’t normally look quite so big and defined. The effect above could probably be amplified by taking the second shot straight after a workout.
Moral of this story? Don’t be disheartened by images you see in the media. Whilst a leaner and more toned shape is perfectly possible, the idealised versions we see in photoshoots are not always what they appear to be.
- Days 9 and 10
I’ve been naughty and taken 2 extra rest days this week, but this was because of a horrible work schedule.
Thursday was “day 9” Plyometric Cardio Circuit and today was “day 10” but instead of Cardio Recovery I did Cardio Power and Resistance because I thought I should push myself after such a lax week.
I’m really liking Power ad Resistance more this time round. I can really feel the moves working on my chest and arms in a way which I haven’t before. My arms are pretty puny, but after my first round of Insanity I had felt most of the impact on my legs. It seems that now my legs and cardio are improved, I’m able to last long enough to see some results elsewhere.
Persistence pays off!
Time for a progress update. Still basically just a skinny white boy, but I’m feeling better in myself and there are improvements - even if they’re not visible to 99.9% of people!
- Days 5 - 8
A chance to catch up… I’m still at the Insanity, albeit with some minor tweaks
Day 5 was Cardio Recovery which I’m not hugely keen on but it makes a nice contrast to other days.
Day 6 I took my recovery day early because of other commitments. But then I was cheeky and took another rest day. I finally did Cardio Power And Resistance to make day 7. Today’s Day 8 and I did my Pure Cardio as planned.
One of the toughest parts of Insanity is fitting it into your routine. I’m taking a slightly more relaxed approach this time and it seems to be helping me to stick to it.
For motivation I’m focussing on a couple of things - a forthcoming conference in Philadelphia where I want to be able to confidently use the pool in the hotel without worrying about my body image is helping a lot.
- Day 4
Oh hi Pure Cardio, nice to see you again.
Or, strangely, not. Pure Cardio was my favourite Insanity workout for a long time but for some reason I didn’t enjoy it as much today. It’s like I’ve flipped - I’m now looking forward to Cardio Power and Resistance which I used to hate.
Pure Cardio is always tough. One of the guys in the video, Mario, takes several fairly lengthy breaks during it. He’s clearly in good shape and has a much better body than I do. However, I can now make it through this workout without such long breaks. And that feels ridiculously good.
- Days 2 and 3
I began this round of Insanity on Sunday with a blast of Cardio Plyo, but then I took Monday off - this was a planned thing, an after work event and I knew in advance I wouldn’t have time to do the day’s routine and was OK with that. But I knew that it meant I really, really couldn’t miss the following day.
The next days was Cardio Power and Resistance. Traditionally this was my least favourite workout of Month 1 - all those jumps and squats are really tough on the legs, and as I’ve complained many times before that’s the part of my body where I’ve felt Insanity the most. For some reason though, it didn’t seem as bad this time - maybe I’ve just built it up so much in my head, the reality was better than my fears. Hell, I even managed the power jumps and globe jumps.
Today was Cardio Recovery. I’m not a huge fan of this one either, but my sore shoulders from all those V-push ups yesterday aren’t complaining about it.
- Back to it... day 1
After illness broke off my previous Insanity run, it’s been hard to get motivated to start again. Yet again I’d been trying to fool myself into thinking that I would get fit with Pilates and push ups. There’s no denying that they’re good for you, but without a programme I just don’t stick to it.
So today was Cardio Plyometric Circuit. Day 1. Again. It was a struggle to make myself do it, but weirdly when I started I found myself pushing harder than I have done in quite a while. By the end of the routine my legs and arms were trembling - Shaun T would have been proud.
Question is, will I keep it up?
- A Spot of Pure Cardio
It’s taken me a long time to get back to exercise because after my illness I really badly pulled a muscle in my side - push ups are pretty much completely out; I used to be able to do 100 - 200, now I can only manage 10 or 20 before my side gives out.
So today I decided to give Pure Cardio a go - from memory, it didn’t have as many push ups in it and the non-repeating nature of the moves made me think that I’d get away with it: if a move hurt, I could just move on to the next one.
I did about 25 minutes of the workout and then gave up… not because I couldn’t go on, but because a) there were more push ups than I remembered and b) my boyfriend came home and I don’t like working out with an audience.
- In Recovery
Warning: this post contains grim references to phlegm. Because I’m classy like that.
I’d planned to resume Insanity just over a week ago, but I’ve still not managed it. This illness has really hit me hard - whilst I’m over the worst of it, it’s left me with an awful cough; the slightest bit of physical exertion sets me off coughing. On top of that, I’ve coughed so much that I’ve pulled muscles in my sides and the area around my ribs is actually sore to the touch.
On the plus side, the cough is easing and what I’m coughing up is clear so there’s no sign of a chest infection. Another good thing has been that the cough hasn’t been keeping me awake, but the phlegm on my chest and my reluctance to cough because of the pain have left me with a bit of an asthmatic feel… my breathing has been slightly restricted but again that it improving now.
Given this disruption to my fitness plans, I’m planning on a gradual return to exercise. I’ve downloaded the Fitocracy iPhone app and am planning on using that as a motivation to gradually build back up to a decent level of exercise.
- Insanity Round 2: Interval
So last Friday was supposed to be the first day of week 2, but I awoke in the morning with a cough. As the day went on it got worse, and then the shivering began. I had to leave work early and by the time I got home I could barely stand. I spent the next 2 days in bed with no appetite, and then was off work on Monday and Tuesday recovering. I’m back at work now, but still not feeling 100% - I’ve got a very bad cough and get exhausted pretty easily… I think I’ve had a mild strain of flu which lots of other people seem to be suffering from at the moment.
My plan at present is to resume Insanity on Saturday - no work to distract me, and time to recover if it really whacks me (more than normal).
Keep eating your fruit and veg kids, or this bug may knock you out!
- Insanity Round 2: Day 6
I was trying to decide whether or not to take today as my rest day; in the end, fate decided for me. My partner is ill and was up all night coughing and sneezing – unable to sleep, I went to sleep on the sofa, so didn’t get a particularly good night’s rest. I awoke groggy and stiff from being squeezed onto a sofa which is too short for me, so I took today as my rest day.
I thought it would be interesting for folks who haven’t tried Insanity if I used today to give an idea of how the workouts are structured. Most of them follow a pretty standard formula:
- Overall length is about 45 minutes in month 1 and an hour in month 2.
- The first 10 minutes are the warm up - 7 different exercises, each for 30 seconds. When you finish the seven, you go back and run through them but at a higher pace, and ultimately go through the cycle three times.
- Next follows the warm up - this is about 5 minutes of stretching in various yoga like poses. Good for a warm up, but I’m fed up of the phrase “go into a hip flexor stretch”.
- Then comes the main workout. In month 1, it comes in two chunks; in month 2 it comes in three chunks. Each chunk consists of a circuit of about 4 exercises and you do each exercise for about 30 - 60 seconds. After one circuit, you take a 30 second break, then repeat the circuit again. You do the circuit three times. The main workout lasts about 20 minutes in month 1.
- Finally, there’s the cool down stretch - more like a traditional stretch and less focus on yoga poses. This lasts about 5 minutes.
The big surprise to a lot of people is that (in month 1) the “main” workout is just under half of the video, but don’t let that deceive you - it’s all pretty hardcore, even the stretches are demanding.
Some variation comes in the different sessions - Cardio Recovery takes out the high energy intervals and focuses on slower moves; Pure Cardio removes all the breaks and has no repetition of moves - you’re encouraged to take a break when you feel you need it, rather than at set times.
Insanity is tough. There is a fair bit of repetition in the moves. But it’s also structured enough to give you a sense of purpose and progression, and you can’t argue with the results.
- Insanity Round 2: Day 5
Back to Plyometric Cardio Circuit today. Considering it’s just week 1 and the amount of time which has elapsed since I finished Insanity in August, I’m surprised at how few breaks I’m having to take during the workouts. Also, at long last, the muscle aches are beginning to pass.
There are a few moves in this workout which I don’t like - notably basketball drills - but some of the other moves I hate like frog jumps and globe jumps are thankfully absent. I’m glad it’s my recovery day tomorrow though (remember, I’m skipping the ‘Fit Tests’ so my day 1 was technically day 2 of the programme). Not sure I’ll keep up the early morning workouts once I’m back at work though… I head back on Friday so I’m tempted to move my rest day to Friday to give me a few more days to try and get into a love for morning workouts. Somehow I don’t think it will happen though.
A wise man once said that it didn’t matter whether you worked out in the morning, afternoon or evening - the most important thing was to pick a time when you were likely to do it, rather than skip the workout. I’m trying to keep that in mind.
- Insanity Round 2: Day 4
Happy New Year everyone!
Yet again I lay in bed trying to postpone getting up to exercise. Working out in the morning is good in many ways, but I’m really struggling with the motivation to do it when I get up, exaccerbated by a late night and some alcohol!
Today was Pure Cardio, which was always my favourite month 1 workout - there’s so much more variety than the other days, it’s (fractionally) shorter and there isn’t as much jumping as, say Cardio Power and Resistance.
I held up surprisingly well through this workout - it would suggest that whilst some of the strength gains of my previous Insanity workout may have been lost, some of the cardio benefits remain. This is particularly pleasing because one of my reasons for doing Insanity is that I’ve done a fair bit of family history research and realised that heart disease is an issue in some branches of my family, so hopefully this will be a good protection against it
- Insanity Round 2: Day 3
Today was Cardio Recovery and could not have been more welcome!
My muscle soreness is really bad at the moment, to the point where my calves and thighs are actually sore to the touch: I’d completely forgotten how bad this was the first time I did Insanity! I’m glad that I’m doing these first few days whilst at home for the holidays so that I don’t have to hobble around the office with it! Cardio Recovery is a good opportunity to let the muscles recover a bit, and I’m not too worried because I know it’s only temporary.
In the past, I hated Cardio Recovery. It seemed pointless and the squat holds and lunge holds were beyond me. Strangely, I found myself much better able to sustain them this time round. I guess that Month 2 of Insanity built enough strength which I haven’t completely lost, so that was a nice positive.
It’s on with the rest of New Year’s Eve now. I’m really glad that I started my new year’s resolution early this year because I’m going into the new year on a roll, rather than sitting here waiting to begin living a healthy life.
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Photos
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Info
- Banner Support & Development Manager at Durham UniversityHigher Education | Durham, United Kingdom, GBSummary
Higher Education professional with strong interests in the application and use of technology within the University sector to improve efficiency and services to students. I am a Titanium Certified Application Developer and have particular interest in the use of mobile technologies to higher education.
Specialties: Project management, Process mapping, Higher Education Management, Student Records, Timetabling, iPhone and Mac OS X programming, Data manipulation.Experience- Oct 2011 - PresentSelf Employed / Freelance Mobile App Development
I've worked on a number of mobile applications for various purposes:
•DU Guide (iOS and Android) is a mapping app for visitors to Durham University, giving accurate locations for all departments, buildings and venues around the University's two campuses.
• Bladder Prognosis Calculator (iOS and Android) assists healthcare professionals with cancer treatments.
• SEUG 2011 and EEUG 2012 (iOS) apps for Ellucian (formerly SunGard HE) European User group conferences.
• North East Castles (iOS) is a guide for tourists in the north east of England who want to explore the history of the area.Additionally I have also worked on a number of apps for private companies which are not available in the iTunes store.
- Mar 2009 - PresentBanner Support & Development Manager / Durham University
I am primarily responsible for the strategic development of the Student System (Ellucian Banner) at Durham University. This involves liaising with users across the University and identifying ways in which the product can be used or customised to fulfil business needs. Over time the role has developed to cover wider student systems such as the Syllabus+ timetabling system. My role involves process mapping and review, business change management and project management elements as systems and processes change within the organisation.
- Aug 2007 - Mar 2009Examinations & Assessment Manager / Durham University
Manager of the examinations team, organising the annual examinations process, publication of results, production and distribution of degree certificates and liaising with departments over examination issues. Oversaw major changes in office duties with marked increase in areas of responsibility following University internal restructuring.
- Aug 2006 - Aug 2007Timetabling Manager / Durham University
Manager of a team handling a business critical function. Responsible for the day to day running and management of the project, communication and negotiation with stakeholders as well as long term planning and refinement of the process.
- Oct 2005 - Aug 2006Timetabling Officer / Durham University
Responsible for producing a timetable covering 10,000 activities across 400 locations. The role required sophisticated data handling skills, working to strict deadlines and the ability to handle conflicting requests from multiple stakeholders.
- Feb 2005 - Oct 2005Analyst (Consulting) / Accenture
Worked as part of a configuration management team for a large government software project. Day to day duties involved Unix shell scripting, managing a code repository and administration of an issue tracking system.
- Aug 2004 - Feb 2005Sales Partner / John Lewis
Specialist selling partner for Apple products within Audio & Television.
- Sept 2002 - Jul 2004Nanoscale Magnetism Research / Durham University
Worked in nanoscale magnetism research lab, working with scanning electron microscope, atomic force microscope and MOKE. Conducted work with electron beam lithography and thermal evaporation deposition of thin films.
Education-
1998 - 2002University of DurhamMSci in Physics
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1996 - 1998Cardinal Newman College
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