#ntcchallenge

App: Nike Training Club

Chosen Challenge: “Get Lean”, “Advanced”

Day: 10

Week: 2 of 4

Day 10 and the NTC exercises have become part of my daily routine. With the Shakedown programme and a fast run ahead of me on a Sunday afternoon. Having a session that takes up 30 minutes and a short fast run means you can break up your exercising to fit into your day.

Sometimes breaking up exercising throughout the day keeps you from stagnating at your desk during the week. I like to exercise for an hour every day,  either three 20 minute workouts or two 30 minute workouts. Exercising helps reset my stress levels and allows me to go back to work with a fresh mind.

I am completing a programme that the NTC app assigned to me after I chose my level of fitness and how difficult I wanted the programme to be. However, if you wanted to target different areas or have a 15-30 minute workout routine you can choose from 100 different workouts. 

Being able to favourite workouts on the app allows you to read through the exercise list when you have time and then when you are in gym or at home for your sweat time and just search for it under favourites.

If you would prefer to spend a longer session in the gym once a day NTC has routines for you too.

App: Nike Training Club 

Chosen Challenge: “Get Lean”, “Advanced” 

Day: 7 

Week: 2 of 4 

Razor Sharp is a routine I completed during week 1 of the Get Lean programme. With the equipment in hand I found a space and began. To my disappointment the routine hadn't increased in difficulty. 

All the exercises were still either 30 seconds long or 1 minute long. I wasn't being challenged by the exercises any more even when I increased the weights. I think the NTC app could become more user interactive by including options to increase the amount of time each exercise is completed. 

If the user has a choice of increasing the repetitions or length of an exercise the app would become more versatile towards incorporating another tier than just beginner, intermediate and advanced. It would allow you to challenge yourself. Muscles learn so quickly that by completing the exact same routine every week without increasing the difficulty is almost like starting a car but leaving the hand brake up, capable of movement but being held back. 

Muscles need challenges and by increasing the amount or difficulty of exercises, you are challenging them. Don't hold your muscles back, but don't increase your exercises too dramatically. I found that increasing timed exercises such as the plank by 10 to 15 seconds was a great starting point. With exercises such as V-ups I challenged myself to do 5 more than the previous week. 

App: Nike Training Club 


Chosen Challenge: “Get Lean”, “Advanced”


Day: 5


Week: 1 of 4

Today, the NTC app challenged me with a 60 minute light jog. I am already an active runner and try run between 15-20km every week. I live in a suburb in Johannesburg that is safe and quiet enough to run on the road and there is a huge park in the middle of our suburb. I’m divulging these details because having a good area to run in is half of the challenge of running.I don’t have to drive elsewhere to run, I can step outside and plod along. 

If your area is not somewhere you would like to spend a lot of time running alone, it’s best you do what you do best and ask Google to help you find running club. Some running clubs are free and just consist of people in your neighbourhood with the same caution towards running alone, so why not run together? If you are shy and are nervous you will be forced to talk to people whilst you’re running, just politely sprint away! NO! Everyone has social anxieties sometimes, I find it easy now to simply and politely say, “Sorry, I can’t run and talk”  to Mr/Ms Chatterbox. If that doesn’t work, smile creepily… I’m also a firm believer in the phrase,

“if you can talk whilst you’re running, you’re doing it wrong…”

If social anxiety holds you back from running with other people, you should stop thinking about only yourself, you’ll see that everyone is running together because they want to be safe and motivated, not because they want to make fun of you. You’re not that strange, you’re beautiful and you want to be fit!

The other half of the challenge is disciplining yourself to run. When I was starting to run for longer distances I used to run until I got tired and then walk, until I ran with someone who was in better shape than I was. I’d say we had probably run about 3km and I decided it was time for a little walk, pleased I had run so much. I was beginning to take in my surroundings and think about dinner when a fierce voice said, “Don’t stop running! Even if its a light slow jog, don’t stop running!”. Taken aback, I started lifting my feet and swaying my arms until I was slowly jogging along up the road.

Since then, I have never stopped running during training and events. When I do get tired and irritated and the sun stinging my eyes, I slow down and breathe deeply whilst I jog along, one step at a time. I usually look at my feet and watch them push me one step further with every stride. When I have distracted myself from the sun, I have calmed my gasps to deep breaths and my legs feel lighter I feel ready to speed up to a decent run again. Running looks easy. Discipline is what you lack.

Decide on a distance, the NTC app in conjunction with the Nike Running app allow you to choose several different distances or even the amount of time you want to run. What motivates you? Knowing you’ll run for exactly 20 minutes without focusing on the distance or are you more excited by the fact you can brag about running 3km, no matter how long it took you?

By using the app to help you focus on a time or a distance, you are building the foundations for discipline. Choose a challenge based on what you think you can manage. I found a 2km or a 15 minute run was a good start for absolute beginners. If you run a little, just challenge yourself to a 4km or 20 minutes. Once you have challenged yourself to a set time or distance, tie your shoes laces and start running and DON’T STOP RUNNING. If you are running for 60 minutes DON’T STOP RUNNING. If you are tired, jog and even drag your feet along whilst your arms flop to your sides, until you feel stronger and speed up a little but you may not stop until you have gotten to your target.

App: Nike Training Club 

Chosen Challenge: "Get Lean", "Advanced" 

Day: 3 

Week: 1 

Day three and I opened the app to reveal a routine by the name of Fast + Fierce which is exactly how I felt when I was one of the few people to enter the gym on a Saturday afternoon. 

 Surrounded by mirrors I listened to the Nike lady telling me what exercises were in store for me and I thought I was doing a good job because I was sweating and panting. Until, I heard Nike lady say, "watch your form", I turned to the mirror on my right and saw that whilst I was squatting my back had curled, as if I was a bowl ready to recipe the contents of a crisp packet... So, wrong. 

 There is just no long term point of exercising with the wrong form. Which is exactly what personal trainers help you with and what people would argue an app can't provide you with. However, I was reminded of key areas that I should watch out for with my stances by the NTC app. 

The NTC lady voice over had reminded me during my work out to make sure my back was straight and to hinge at the hips during a single leg deadlift and to be in control of movements. You could always argue that a personal trainer is going to be present and help you correct your form during exercises as it becomes ineffective and dangerous because you get tired. I found the NTC app to provide enough advice on common mistakes to be helpful. 

I also thought that if you really were motivated to get fit the motivation would come within to do the exercises correctly because you want results and you want them as quickly as possible.