"SEC-S25W3: Building Strength (Increased Intensity"

If I tell you that after this programme, I danced, you won't believe me. Why? Because to you, this must have been the hardest of all. Yes, it was the hardest; my legs and hands went numb at some point. But I enjoyed the activities because rain fell. You seriously need to do workout programmes in the evening when the air is thin and it rains heavily.

You won't feel pain at all. That's exactly how I felt for the first time. The pain was initial, but as I absorbed the thin air into my nostrils, I felt alive. Now which programmes am I talking about? Programmes for building strengths, and they include:

• dumbbell deadlift

• inclined Pushups

• dumbbell shoulder flys

• side plank

These are the programmes to be done in the course of this week's challenge. We're being challenged to build our strength. I started with warm-ups, and my warm-ups included imaginary rope jump as stated in the criteria. This felt more like jumping jacks, but my shoulders weren't stretched. After doing warm-ups, I moved to the first programme, which I felt would rack my whole body. Inclined Push-ups

This isn't just any programme done by leaning carelessly against a surface. The muscle's reflexes were put into food use. This is how I did the programme. From the name inclined, it means you must attain a position like that of a right-angle triangle, where you're the hypotenuse in this case. You place your body inclined against a surface, hold it firm and then push forward and downward.

Challenges

Going down seemed like a big problem because strength was needed to raise up straight without curvature. It was in this exercise I felt the most strength leave my body. Anyways, despite the challenge of putting in more effort to go up, I conquered it.

Achievement

I completed the challenge and beat this programme hands down, 3 sets of 8 repetitions each. Like I said, it was the hardest for me; that's why I started the programme first. That initial strength was used to complete the programme.

Inclined Push-ups	3 sets of 10 reps. each	Completed

Dumbbell Deadlift

This was another programme that tended to make me improve my focus. Throughout the activity, my focus was in shape. It was also about strength – that's if you know how to position well. You need to bend in such a way that your legs are upright with your knees slightly bent and your hands with two dumbbells.. These dumbbells are lifted up and taken down. As you're going down, your butt should still be permissible and not bent as if you're sitting down completely. This was where my focus was struck because I had to be extra careful not to allow my butt to go below my knees.

Challenges

My challenge was focusing on how my body is being positioned, and the drop down of the dumbbell was as if my hands were being stretched far from my whole body. It was as if it would cut. But nevertheless, there's nothing unachievable if there's determination.

Achievement

I was determined to remain in my position and keep my hands and glute in place until i completed the programme.

Dumbbell deadlift	3 sets of 12 reps each	Completed

Side Plank

I made sure I did all the difficult programmes before going to the simplest. Side plank was somehow simpler for me compared to normal plank. I've been used to placing my hands on a mat when using my phone to type. So placing one of my hands with my body inclined to my foot didn't ring a bell, though I was shaky at some point, but I programmed my mind and completed it. I used a mat to support my hand, as placing it on a rough surface may cause injury and inability to complete the programme because of pain. While one of my hands was bent on the yoga mat, the other was placed on my waist for support.

Challenges

I didn't really have much challenge in this programme. Just that of being balanced to prevent falling to my side.

Achievement

I completed the programme on both hands, two sets each at 20 seconds. In total, I got 80 seconds for the 2 sets of 2 hands.

Dumbbell Shoulder Fly

This was one of the simplest and, in fact, the simplest because I didn't have to use my dumbbells. I was wondering how I would use such dumbbells for this programme. I filled my bottles with water and used it for the programme. My body was bent, making my butt protrude while my hands did the flapping. My challenge was the reflexes in my shoulder muscles. I heard crackling sounds between my shoulder bones. My shoulders were put into serious tedious work. I completed the programme, though.