The Wag Doll Protocol: Fitness Regime Update. The Brainless Motivation Technique

So how is my fitness regime going? It's been 5 weeks since I started the the Eat Clean & Look Lean programme and it's time for an update. I'll be doing this regularly to say what's working, what I've struggled with, what progress I've made and what I've learnt.

Let's start with what I've struggled with....myself, to put it bluntly!

One of the main things I've learnt since starting The Wag Doll Protocol is that a fitness regime is mind over body. My body is a complete wimp and will do whatever it's told, my brain has a mind of it's own....obviously, and sometimes doesn't want to play, and that's when I struggle.

So I've stopped giving my brain a choice, I don't decide to work out, I don't even think "I've got to do it"...I just don't think at all.

I immediately get changed into my gym gear as soon as I get home from work, before any distractions kick in, and I make a start. I've been doing this for almost 3 weeks now and it's starting to become an ingrained routine. I'm calling it the Brainless Motivation Technique!

I'd love to hear how you motivate yourself to work out, when you have a million and one other things calling your name?

So down to workout routines, those of you who follow me on Twitter will know I tweet a basic summary of my workout most days. But 140 characters isn't much space to explain what I'm doing so here's a bit more detail.

Click here to read more




The Wag Doll Protocol Classic Workout


This workout has evolved into my go-to routine. It's short and snappy and can be done in under 30 mins.

• 10 minutes treadmill run, fast pace slight incline.
• 12x1 minute HIT bodyweight exercises (20 seconds rest between each round)
• stretches

The first part of the workout is basically a good blast of cardio, to get the heart pumping, lungs working, oxygen flowing round the body and a good sweat going, warming all the muscles up.

When I first started working out 4 weeks ago I couldn't run at that pace and incline for ten minutes, but I didn't want to get into the habit of slow jogging, that's not the workout I want to do. Despite having a small build I'm much more of a sprinter than a long distance runner, both in terms of what my body does best and the sheer boredom of jogging for an hour.

So I ran for 2 minutes, walked fast for 2 minutes, for a total of ten minutes. Gradually I've upped the running and reduced the amount of walking, and can now run for ten minutes, it's still not easy but my cardio fitness was sadly lacking as shown in the fit test I did. I'm really proud of myself for that amount of improvement in 4 weeks.

The 12 minutes of High Intensity Training is where the fat-loss and body sculpting comes into play....*pause to smile at this point*....because that's a far bigger motivator to me than the health benefits of exercise....there, I've said it, might sound vain but if I'm working this hard I sure as hell want to see some results!

The point of HIT is to work as hard as possible for a short time, really push yourself. In this Wag Doll Protocol Classic routine I vary the exercises, doing 12 different moves, each for a minute. There are endless variations of exercises you can do with minimal equipment, some just require your own bodyweight to provide the resistance, some exercises use weights or basic gym equipment.

So for example this is Mondays selection of 12 different exercises, 20 seconds rest between each round.

Weighted squats holding dumbbells
Hanging knee raises
High knees
Burpees
Dumbbell bicep curl
Plank
Wide squats
Push-ups
Lunges
Mountain climbs
Dumbbell shoulder press
Elevated sit-ups.

And really go for it, you have to push to your limit for the whole minute, if you're not panting, sweating and grunting, then you're not working hard enough. But that's it, done and dusted in less than 30 minutes and you've worked your whole body, kickstarting some serious fat burning and cardio improvement.

I'm working out 4 or 5 times a week, and I do this style of routine around 3 times a week, although I do vary the HIT exercises every time.

There are numerous explanations and examples of HIT bodyweight exercises on the web. Check out Zuzka Light's Youtube channel where she offers workout routines and explains each exercise in detail. I don't follow these workouts to the letter, just get inspiration and mix and match.

I'm going to be posting more of my workouts in the coming weeks, and also the repeat of the fit-test is coming up together with the updated body stats..... eeek!
I'm really nervous about doing the fit test and measurements, I *think* I can sense progress on both fronts...well my jeans are baggy and that's always a good sign!