This week I started Phase 2 of the 9 Week Challenge. I’ll tell you more of exactly what that entails in a moment. First, I had to do my heart rate test again, but I don’t think it went quite the way it was supposed to. I had a long sleeve sweat jacket on, and I think that interfered with the heart rate monitor. My heart rate never went up very much, and it took me 15 seconds to cool down. I’m ninety percent sure that I’m not that fit. So just a word of advice, don’t wear long sleeves over the heart rate monitor. I know it tells you that in the setup, but I didn’t think it really meant it…it does.
So, on to Phase 2. Truthfully, I was a bit disappointed. I thought there would be a greater variety of exercises to enjoy in Phase 2, but that’s not really the case. While I did get to try a few new ones, mostly Phase 2 entails more reps and longer distances. However, I must admit that EA Sports Active had me prepared for all of this. The higher number of reps wasn’t a strain, but it also wasn’t quite as easy as what I was doing in Phase 1. The same is true of the distances I was running and biking. It was a bit longer, a bit more challenging, but no prohibitively so. I felt a good sense of progression with all of this, like my fitness level really was advancing even if all the sweets and cookies I continue to enjoy during the Christmas season meant the only direction my waistline was advancing was either outward or nowhere at all (I’ll settle for nowhere at this point). EA Sports Active 2 says each phase it to help keep your performance from platforming and to keep your workouts intense, and I believe it’s accomplishing just that.
I actually skipped my last workout in the week due to extenuating circumstances, so thus far I’ve missed three workouts. I’ll miss a whole week of them in a couple weeks when we go on vacation, but hopefully that won’t throw me off too much. But since I didn’t finish the week’s workouts, I also didn’t weigh myself. With all of the cookies we’ve been making, I can’t imagine that it’s good news. Meanwhile, through week four of the 9 Week Challenge I’ve completed 15 workouts, 5 hours and 48 minutes of workout time, I’ve burned 2381 calories, run 8.08 miles with an average heart rate 111 bpm and peak heart rate of 168.
I tell you what, it’s a challenge to do this sort of thing during the holidays, but I’m glad I am. EA Sports Active is a challenging if at times frustrating experience, but it’s definitely helping me burn calories.
