Stand Up To Cancer Sweat Every Day in November Challenge

 I've always half fancied the idea of doing one of the charity fundraiser for a month thingies when I see them on facebook but the right challenge and the right cause never quite seemed to gel until I saw the Stand Up To Cancers "sweat every day in November" challenge in aid of cancer research.  The idea is to do 30 minutes of exercise every single day in November, seems to be pretty easy but even though I try to get to a class at the gym or kickboxing every day sometimes life just gets in the way or you feel so crappy no amount of cajoling will get your arse off the sofa and into leggings ready to hit the gym.  I've looked back through my fitbit and in the last couple of years there's only been one month that I managed to exercise every day, and one of those days was literally just a 10 minute walk so this isnt going to be as easy as you would assume, specially as I have several things on over each weekend this month.  First one tomorrow is an all day workshop about teaching circuit training.  Gym will be closed by the time I finish, and it's going to be dark and most likely wet

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/suzannes-giving-page-7633  is my jus t giving page if anyone wants to donate and I'm going to add an edit to this post every day this week with my progress, one again next week and so on.

So November 1st (I just happen to weigh 85.7kg this am, be interesting to see if it changes):  40 minutes of spin class 396 calories burnt, avg heart rate 121bpm  (85.3kg at the end of the week)

48 mins ladies only kickboxing, partnering a very shy newbie so punches were pulled right back but I still managed to burn 425 calories, 118bpm average

Nov 2nd:  Circuit Trainer Course, exercising on & off from 11 until 4.30, largest single block was 57 minutes, 33minutes, then a few 15s & 10 minutes plus some that I forgot to switch the fitbit on for,  taking just the largest 2 sections I burnt 699 cals with an average heart beat of 122bpm.  That doesnt sound as good as Saturdays but my cardio load was 147 against yesterdays 119 so lots of little worked me harder than 2 45 minute workouts.

Nov 3rd.  No car for me tonight as Ades borrowing it while he's working so heading down to the gym on shanks pony.  Going to aim for a Lift class, with even more admiration for Donna after yesterdays course, will the why later.  And if Ade gets back in time he'll pop me to kickboxing, if not I'll do a yoga class after lift.  Lift class done, 434 cals avg heart rate 129.  After yesterday this was not a fun work out, my arms and legs hurt but I got it done.  The 14 min walk to the gym was respectable,avg heart rate 121, although it reached 177 as I was powering up the tiny hill section. 146 cals.

Nov 4th, easy day today as Laura is on holiday so I wasn't going to be doing an lbt class.  Instead I did 21 minutes of walking up and down the pool and a 45 minute aqua class using my aqua dumbbells throughout both.  Fitbit had a bit of a brain fart and didn't record the class anywhere near properly as it should have with my heart rate as 99bpm average and not going above 125bpm.  That was pretty much impossible, aqua is way more than that on a day when I'm taking it easy and today I went for it during the cardio section (30 seconds of tuck jumps with no middle hop or pauses are a killer for heart rate let alone double leg pendulums).  Oddly the walk in the pool followed by jumping leg kick outs recorded fine, average heart rate of 112, reaching a high of 155 is what I'd have expected.  Fitbit had me down as burning 667 calories.

Nov 5th, after taking Ade around his programme I spent 65 minutes on the gym floor using weights and machines, 429 cals burnt, followed by aqua aerobics and general pool work, 75 minutes 620calories before heading home on foot. not sure why fitbit has me burning 447 calories for that as its only 10/15 minutes depending on how fast I go up the hill.

Nov 6th was a big day for classes, 45 each of spin, LBT, Aqua then pilates, one after another after another with no time in between to rest just nip a couple of minutes of the stretches on one and a minute or 2 of the nexts warm up to rush between rooms or to quickly shower the chlorine off before dashing up to the pilates studio with my hair still wrapped with a towel.  Calories burnt, lbt 300, spin 417, aqua 382 and pilates 311.  Not bad but I had to do the shopping after before going home and cooking tea.

Nov 7th  Nothing too fancy today, 45 minutes of Lift with Georgia, lots of shoulder work with 3kg dumbbells so not a massive cardio workout but I still managed a respectable 257 calories.  Going to have breakfast now then headout with Boz for a good walk this afternoon.  The good walk ended up being a massively quick walk, the weather turned and although Boz doesnt mind drizzle he doesnt like proper rain very much.  Instead of him asking to go on each of the longer options on his regular route he chose to go on each of the shorter options, didn't want to hunt for squirrels, no nagging me to throw his ball, just a cursory glance at the stream. head down lets get home mum.  His normal route is about 60-90 minutes, we did this one in 27 lol.  My fitbit has registered 12 hours and 16 minutes of exercise this week.

Nov 8th  40 minute Spin class with Emily, her class is always cardio intense with lots of fast climbs plus she played my favourite song, Male Stripper.  My heart rate averaged 138bpm and reached 178!  Calories burnt 408.  From there it was a quick dash around Asda before heading to Bristol Martial Arts for a 45 minute Ladies only kick boxing class.  Sensai Josh had us doing several us versus a partner cardio games so it wasnt a shock that at one point my heart rate was 185 but the average was 133 and I burnt 449 calories.  In case anyone ever reads this and wonders why I burnt more in this class, it was 8 minutes longer as I switch off the fitbit at spin when we get off the bike to do stretches.

Nov 9th much less hectic day today, 2nd Sunday is always my craft group day but I left and went straight to the gym after picking Ade up and had a go on the TRX suspension for 40 minutes before spending half hour in the pool.  332 and 263 calories burnt.  TRX is a nasty beast, couldn't believe how hard some of the exercises are and I now have an ouchy hamstring trying to do a hamstring curl on it.

Nov 10th  Mondays are early at the gym to train Ade then when he goes home I stay and start over.  Today was 30 mins on the gym floor, bike & trx mainly, then 45 min lift class, 30 min stretch class followed by a final 60 minutes of pilates.  In total the morning workout burnt 1050 calories.  

Nov 11th  Just 2 45 minute classes this am, LBT with Laura and Aqua with Donna.  Laura was her normal taskmaster 446 calories is a lot for an lbt class as it's not normally something that has your cardio up to peak levels but Laura is a bugger for giving us burn outs.  Aqua was a very respectable 503 but that did include quite a few lengths after the class.

Nov 12th  Started off as a bit of a quiet day, gentle half hour in the gym, 10 min walk and 75 mins in the pool doing Aqua but come the evening I was feeling a bit cooped up and headed for my normal wed ladies only kick boxing class but on a whim I added my full sparring kit, just in case.  (Ladies only is 45 minutes and we don't pad up and spar fully, it's torso only touch sparring).  Class ended and the young girl I partnered asked if I was going to stay on for mixed adults, at the time she was the only female staying, she's only just about to turn 13 and I still had a fair bit of energy to burn so I stayed on to keep her company and did the double.  Not sure whats up with my fitbit as it switched off minutes in to both classes and didnt recognise aqua effort properly again but it;s saying I burnt off about 1300 calories but it should have been about double that.  Tomorrow I'm going to have a rest day with just aqua and lbt.

Nov 13th

Relatively quiet today, BLT and Aqua on the evening with a respectable 258 and 680 calories burnt.

Nov 14th Very odd day today, youngest daughter has gone away for a few nights so we're looking after her very tiny Boston Terrier and Ade is filming Bargain Hunt with our other daughter so I was housebound until he got home at 730pm. Too late for kickboxing so I headed to the pool for 50 minutes of practising my kicks as I walked up and down. 358 calories burnt

Nov 15th  Stress is at top notch as today is my first Fitness Instructor in person assessment so I'm wound up to breaking point.  45 minutes of spin with Emily helped get it under control before I headed up to cheltenham (after a shower I hasten to add) with my friend and neighbour Tara who kindly played stooge while I put her through her paces.  Bit of a yikes when we got there as they didnt have the machines I wanted to demo so I had to pivot quickly.  Still managed to pass and spin burnt 454 calories.  You can tell I was stressed though as my cardio load for the day was 135 (61 was spin) and my entire days target was supposed to be 6 - 43.  I still passed so yippee, just portfolio to write now.  I'm now half way through Novembers challenge, I've racked up 26 hours and 10 minutes of exercise.  My weight is down to 85.1kg

Nov 16th  Its my grandsons bday today and he's having tea and cake at mine with all the family so it's just a quick Lift class this am.  408 calories.

Nov 17th  Lift with Laura today followed by a stretch class, 389 and 156 calories burnt,  Lauras lift can be less cardio heavy than Donnas but she is a stickler for form over speed, so much so that each of the assessors at the courses I've done have all been quite complimentary about my squat technique and the coaching I give with it.  I confess that's all 100% down to Laura, even down to her weight on your little toes and big toes up to stop your knees collapsing in.  Cheers Laura.

Nov 18th  LBT  (373 cals)with Laura today, as always its a killer, followed by aqua (404 cals) with Donna.  Tonight is grading at kickboxing and as the first of the advanced belts its going to be 2 hours long.  It was suitably hard and tiring but I am now the proud owner of an orange belt and so is my Grandson Nate.  1122 calories burnt at the grading, not surprising as my heart rate pretty  much didn't go below moderate.  (I will post a screen shot of it and some pics at the end of the challenge.)

Nov 19th  Im aching today, woke up several times in the night with tight aching legs and feet and my knees arent enjoying going downstairs.  Ades back to being trained today so off to the gym but later than normal.  I'd normally do an hour in the gym followed by some kick drills in the pool then aqua but instead I did a gentle spin class (not as much tension or effort as I'd normally put in) then aqua.  By the evening I'm back to normal so turned left after getting some milk at Aldi and headed to the dojo for a 45 minute ladies only class.  I'm half wishing I'd taken my sparring kit as when class ended I was still up for a bit more.  All together 339 calories, 425 then 308 burnt.

Nov 20th  I'm aiming for recovery today, Aqua with Donna later 682 calories over 1hr 42 mins.

Nov 21st  LBT (331 cals)  with Georgia, 75 minute walk (498 cals) with Boz and Ade plus an hours kickboxing on the evening 439 cals burnt.  My weight is 85.1kg still.

21 days in and fitbit has recorded 52 sessions of exercise and 38 hours and 41 minutes.  I'm having patches of being absolutely drained then other times like Wed evening when I've still plenty of energy and well up for a tad more exercise, thankfully sense is kicking in at those times and saying not to overdo it.

Nov 22nd  Spin with Emily as always was crazy hard (418 calories) and I headed over to kickboxing for a 45 min ladies only class 464 calories

Nov 23rd  I'm heading out for lunch with the aqua ladies today so it's just yoga today, 162 cals

Nov 24th I was booked in for my usual lift, flex and pilates today but instead headed down towards Southampton to visit my nieces ashes with my sister and parents.  A long long day spent laughing and crying in the car but the sun shone when we got to the beach.  By the time I got home I was too late for all of the classes bar yoga (which I dont normally do on a monday) 92 calories so it was a very pleasant change and the stretch was most welcome after 6+ hours sat in a car.

Nov 25th  I'm aching and stiff today, my shoulder in particular is really hurting which is probably from full out punching the big heavy bag hard on Saturday.  Still managed LBT with Laura (killer butt class today 317 calories)  and an hour in the pool with Donnas Aqua.451 calories

Nov 26th  Thought today was going to be a quiet one but I ended up doing 72 mins in the pool (687 cals) followed by an hour of yoga 204 cals and 45 minute ladies kick boxing class 349 calson the evening.  I really wasnt feeling the love to go back out on the evening in the cold and dark when I was still so achy but I was glad I did.

Nov 27th  Had a bit of a cock up with keys tonight, totally absorbed in writing my gym instructor portfolio, forgot the time then in the rush couldnt find my keys, left stuff at home and had to do a quick half hour weight workout (261 cals) in the gym instead of a class but I made up for it with 70 minutes in the pool,  336 cals.

Nov 28th  No classes today at the gym so big inroads into the portfolio before adults kickboxing.  550 cals in an hour.

Nov 29th, nearly finished on the challenge and today is my last classes because tomorrow I'm at Filton doing suspension training.  Spin with Emily was as brutal as normal, love it but I am really tired, so much so I had to sit during a jumps track, still a very respectable 408 cals.  Home for a quick change as my shirt really showed the sweat down my chest, ladies only class.  361 cals.

Nov 30th, final day.  TRX training was bloody hard at times but most of the day was spent stood watching, trying the exercises then coaching the others on the course.  Fantastic bit of kit that I know I'm going to use at the gym for myself.  Not much in the way of steps or cardio though so I stopped off at my gym and did a quick half hour weights, mainly focusing on some of the muscles not used much today and on my shoulders and chest as I'm really unbalanced with my push exercises compared to the pull (rows, assisted chin ups, flyes etc)

Fitbit has recorded 68 separate classes/exercise sessions this month, 51 hours 28 minutes, and 24290 calories burnt.  To put into perspective a chip shop fish and chips is between 600 & 1000 calories and in a normal person that's 7lb fat burnt. I will hop on the scales tomorrow but I dont think I've lost weight this month but my arms are definitely looking a bit more defined on top and the sag underneath is definitely thinner.