I always try to finish the last year with a workout and start the new year with a workout.

I didn’t do my normal workout at home yesterday but I did have a good weight workout at the gym to finish up 2007. Even though I was doing high rep sets of 20, the weight felt really light and my muscles felt strong.

To start out the new year with a bang, I did the following workout:

Arm circles – 19 both forward and backward
Arm swings in and out – 19
Arm swings up and down – 19
Trunk twists – 19 each side
Weighted side bends – 20lbs x 19 each side
Glute ham raises – 19
Reverse crunches – 19
Crunches – 19
Pushups – 19
Plank – 45 seconds
Lying side leg raises – 19 each leg
Medicine ball squats – 4lbs x 19

Kata:

One each of Heian Shodan, Heian Nidan and Jion.

I really plan in stepping up my Karate workouts this year. Since I became a 3rd Kyu, I feel that I need to work even harder going forward. I plan on dropping another 20 to 25 pounds over the next six months to help improve my moves.

I think that things are starting to improve, at least related to my hips. Since I have been doing these workouts, my hips and knees are not as sore as they were just a week or so ago.

Arm circles – 18 both forward and backward
Trunk twists – 18 each side
Weighted side bends – 20lbs x 18 each side
Glute ham raises – 18
Reverse crunches – 18
Crunches – 18
Pushups – 18
Plank – 40 seconds
Lying side leg raises – 18 each leg
Medicine ball squats – 4lbs x 18

Kicks to the Front, side and back – 8 each leg

Arm circles – 17 both forward and backward
Trunk twists – 17 each side
Weighted side bends – 20lbs x 17 each side
Glute ham raises – 17
Reverse crunches – 17
Crunches – 17
Pushups – 17
Plank – 35 seconds
Lying side leg raises – 17 each leg
Medicine ball squats – 4lbs x 17

Stance training:

Front stance – 30 seconds each leg
Back stance – 30 seconds each leg
Horse stance – 30 seconds each leg