I have no idea what I'm doing (But it's fun!)

Tea-a-Maria

Mon 29/08/16

5 min cross trainer warm up
Box Jump 3x12

Calf raise - 3x20 with 6kg Dumbbells
Stiff Leg Deadlift - 3x12 with 8kg Dumbbells
Lunges - 3x12 with 7kg Dumbbells
Squat - 3x12 with 7kg dumbbell
Leg Press -3x12 at 6 on machine

3 circuits of:
Leg raise X 20
Knee crunch x 20
Medicine v ball lift x15
25sec plank into 25 sec raised plank
50 sec side plank each side

Tea-a-Maria

The 30/08/16

5mins cross trainer warm up
Assisted press up 3x12

Seated Cable Row - 3x12 at 60
Shoulder Press - 3x12 with 6kg dumbbells

3 superset of:
Bicep Curl - 10 reps with 7kg dumbbells
Triceps dip - 12 reps

Chest press - 2x12, 1x10 with 7kg dumbbells
Lat pull down 2x12,1x10 at 50

Morning workout, not sure if that impacted on performance. Doing chest press after biceps and triceps was a bad idea. Struggling on some if the weights but I'm not sure if that's just that I do better on whatever weight I start with first!

Tea-a-Maria

Wed 31/08/16

5k run in 32.51

Tea-a-Maria

Welp, Electric Picnic blew a giant whole in my exercise regime and I have eaten a lot of ****e in the last week. Thankfully there doesn't seem to be too much damage on the scales, but I definitely feel sluggish.

Started back into exercise again with a 5km run. 32:58. Went too fast at the start and was suffering for it at the end! Probably didn't take on enough water either. Ah well.

Plan is to hit the gym tomorrow. Might try and mix up my routine a bit, finding it hard to get motivated to go back to what I was doing before. Think I need a concrete short/medium term goal to keep me motivated.

Tea-a-Maria

Mon 11/09/16

5 min cross trainer warm up
Box Jump 3x10

Lunges - 3x10with 7kg Dumbbells
Squat - 3x10 with 7kg dumbbell
Calf raise - 3x15 with 6kg Dumbbells
Stiff Leg Deadlift - 3x10 with 7.5kg Dumbbells
Leg Press -3x10 at 140 on machine

3 circuits of:
Leg raise X 20
Knee crunch x 20
Medicine v ball lift x15
20sec plank into 20sec raised plank
40 sec side plank each side

Was certainly not feeling it today. Didn't get the best nights sleep and was half asleep at the gym. Reminiscent of a new born calf while trying to do my lunges, losing my balance constantly.

Tea-a-Maria

Got pulled into a 5km race for work last minute. Chip time was 29:36.

Sub-30. Woo!

Tea-a-Maria

I had fallen off the wagon a bit in terms of going to the gym, due to lack of motivation. Decided to get a session with a trainer in the gym and get a new programme to get me back on track.

I'm keeping the legs/core and upper body/cardio split, but I've started some barbell work (just the bar,no weight) and some new machines. Basically it's all movements I haven't done before to mix things up. I did some leg work yesterday. Definitely need to practice a bit, my back was quite sore from squats rather than my legs so I think I need to work on form.

Tonight was upper body and core. I've had bad workouts where I wasn't feeling it, or just finding it tough going, but I've never been as close to bawling as I was tonight. Just felt completely inadequate trying out my new programme. Part of it was overestimating weights with the trainer, but mostly it's that I couldn't actually do some of the exercises I was given. I've a breakdown below.

10 minutes warm up cross trainer

Dumbbell Back Row - 4x8 with 8kg dumbbell This was fine
Cable Chest Press - 4x8 at 20lb - Tough going, struggled to finish my sets
Cable Shoulder Press - 4x8 at 20lb - Failed on the last set, found this hard
Cross Cable Machine Bicep Curl - 4x8 - Messed around with different heights and weights since I was getting used to this
Cross Cable Machine Tricep Extensions - 4x8 at 20lb - This was ok
Back row Machine - 2x8 at 30lb, 2x8 at 20lb - Starting weight was too much, but 20lb felt a bit light. I'm conscious of the fact that the lower reps means I should be going for higher weights, so having to drop made me feel a bit ****ty.

Core work - Arrrrrgh

Meant to be 3 sets of the following:

Fit ball Plank - 30secs - No issue here
Fit ball pass from head to legs - 10 reps. - Nope! Could barely manage 5 on my third attempt and performed this exercise with all the graze of a drunken elephant. I kept dropping the damn ball.
Side Plank with Crunches - 10 each side - In terms of strength, I could manage this, but my foot kept slipping so I was dropping halfway through the reps
Crunches with 5kg weight - 15 - Found this very tough going at the end.

So yeah, not the best start. Need to dust myself off and dial back on the weights. And look up a lot of videos for proper form!!

Tea-a-Maria

5km run - 37 minutes

Time for new shoes methinks. My current ones are giving me blisters.

Tea-a-Maria

Legs and core day on the new programme, went better than last time.

5 mins cross trainer warm up

Leg Press - 4x8 at 25kg
Hamstring Curl - 4x8 at 20lb
Back squat - 4x8 with bar
Deadlift - 4x8 with bar

3 sets of:
Fit ball plank - 30secs
Arm to leg fit ball raise -5ish (was meant to aim for 10!)
Side plank with crunch - 10 each side
Knee crunches with 5kg weight - 15

Form felt better on the squats today, but still a bit dodgy on the deadlift. Not really feeling the burn in the right places to make me think I'm doing it right.

Also, fit ball passes can die in a fire. They require a level of coordination that I do not have and am not inclined to practice. Any alt ab exercise suggestions welcome.

Tea-a-Maria

10 minutes warm up cross trainer

Dumbbell Back Row - 4x8 with 8kg dumbbell
Cable Chest Press - 4x8 at 20lb
Cable Shoulder Press - 4x8 at 15lb
Cross Cable Machine Bicep Curl - 4x8 at 20lb
Cross Cable Machine Tricep Extensions - 1x8 at 20lb, 1x8 at 22.5, 2x8 at 25lb
Back row Machine - 4x8 at 30lb

Getting in to the swing of the new programme. Weights are feeling good, but the back row is tough going.

Tried a bit of interval training on a bike at the end, was going to aim for 15 mins, but gave up after 5. The extra resistance was too much. Pints last night probably didn't help either! My goal was to get the upper body stuff in though so overall I'm happy.

Tea-a-Maria

6.5km run in 43.10

Bought new runners today and gave them a test run.

Wasn't planning on doing a long run today, but felt really good, this evening, in an everything's clicked kind of way, so I decided to extend it a bit. Honestly felt I could have gone further, but I didn't want to overdo things.

Tea-a-Maria

5 mins cross trainer warm up

Leg Press - 4x8 at 50kg
Hamstring Curl - 4x8 at 20lb
Back squat - 4x8 with bar
Deadlift - 4x8 with bar

3 sets of:
Fit ball plank - 30secs
Arm to leg fit ball raise -8
Side plank with crunch - 10 each side
Knee crunches with 5kg weight - 15

Deadlifts are great. Nice to have an exercise ae that works so many areas. Whacked my head off the bar when finishing my third squat set. A kind soul helped put it back and asked if I was alright.

Thought to swap out the fit ball passes and try something else, but stuck with them. Managed to get 8. While I'm still not doing them 100% right, at least I have the basic coordination down now! Progress!

Tea-a-Maria

5 minutes warm up cross trainer

Dumbbell Back Row - 4x8 with 8kg dumbbell
Cable Chest Press - 4x8 at 20lb
Cable Shoulder Press - 4x8 at 15lb
Cross Cable Machine Bicep Curl - 4x8 at 20lb
Cross Cable Machine Tricep Extensions - 1x8 at 20lb, 4x8 at 22.5lb
Back row Machine - 4x8 at 30lb

10 mins interval training on a spin bike. 20secs fast, 40secs slow.

Tea-a-Maria

5.5km run in 38:56

Tea-a-Maria

5 mins cross trainer warm up

Leg Press - 4x8 at 50kg
Hamstring Curl - 4x8 at 20lb
Back squat - 4x8 with bar
Deadlift - 4x8 with bar

3 sets of:
Fit ball plank - 30secs
Arm to leg fit ball raise -8
Side plank with crunch - 10 each side
Knee crunches with 5kg weight - 15

Tea-a-Maria

5 minutes warm up cross trainer

Dumbbell Back Row - 4x8 with 8kg dumbbell
Cable Chest Press - 4x8 at 20lb
Cable Shoulder Press - 4x8 at 15lb
Cross Cable Machine Bicep Curl - 4x8 at 20lb
Cross Cable Machine Tricep Extensions - 1x8 at 22.5lb, 4x8 at 25lb
Back row Machine - 4x8 at 30lb

15 mins interval training on a treadmill - 30secs fast 1 min slow

Squat rack was free so I also did 4x8 with just the bar. Think the issue before was that I wasn't keeping my feet far enough apart. Starting to feel the strain now, so I can finally get the hang of it and hopefully start adding weight on a few weeks.

Tea-a-Maria

7.08km/4.32 mile run (so Google maps tells me anyway) in 44.28

5miles is within sight!

Tea-a-Maria

5 mins cross trainer warm up

Leg Press - 4x8 at 50kg
Hamstring Curl - 4x8 at 20lb
Back squat - 4x8 with bar
Deadlift - 4x8 with bar

3 sets of:
Fit ball plank - 30secs
Arm to leg fit ball raise -8
Side plank with crunch - 10 each side
Knee crunches with 5kg weight - 15

Tea-a-Maria

5 minutes warm up cross trainer

Dumbbell Back Row - 4x8 with 8kg dumbbell
Cable Chest Press - 4x8 at 20lb
Cable Shoulder Press - 4x8 at 15lb
Cross Cable Machine Bicep Curl - 4x8 at 20lb
Cross Cable Machine Tricep Extensions - 4x8 at 25lb
Back row Machine - 4x8 at 30lb

20 mins interval training on a treadmill. 30secs fast, 1 min slow

Think I'll be able to up the weights on the back work next week. Tried back rows with a 9kg dumbbell and felt ok. Shoulders and chest however will need a bit more practice before progression!

Think I might switch back to Dumbbells on the biceps and triceps too. Don't really think I'm working the muscles as well as I could be with the machines,

Tea-a-Maria

5 mins cross trainer warm up

Barbell Back Squat -3x8 with bar, 1x8 with bar plus 5kg
Deadlift - 1x8 with bar, 3x8 with 5kg
Leg Press - 4x8 at 50kg
Hamstring Curl - 4x8 at 20lb

3 circuits of:
Fitball plank - 30secs
Fitball pass -10
Side plank with crunches - 10 each side
Knee crunches with 5kg weight - 15

Nice to finally add a bit of weight. Think the from is starting to come right so I'll ease into it. No idea if 5kg is a decent progression or not, but it definitely made it tougher so I'll work at that weight for a week or two and see how things go.

Tea-a-Maria

5 mins warm up cross trainer

Dumbbell back row - 4x8 with 8kg
Machine chest press - 4x8 at 20lb
Machine shoulder press - 4x8 at 15lb
Seated back row - 4x8 at 30lb
Tricep Dip - 4x10
Bicep curl - 2x8 with 7kg dumbbells, 2x8 with 6kg dumbbells

10 mins interval training on a treadmill - 30 secs fast, 1 min slow.

Weeny biceps..

Tea-a-Maria

(Hilly!) 5km run in 32:54

Tea-a-Maria

5 mins cross trainer warm up

Leg Press - 4x8 at 50kg
Barbell Back squat - 1x8 with bar, 3x8 with bar plus 5kg
Deadlifts - 4x8 with bar plus 5kg
Hamstring Curl - 4x8 at 30lb

3 circuits of:
Fit ball plank - 40 secs
Fit ball pass - 10
Side plank crunches - 12 each side
Knee crunches with 5kg weight - 18

Should really ask how much the bar weighs! I think it's 20kg...

Tea-a-Maria

5 mins cross trainer warm up

Dumbbell back row - 4x8 with 9kg
Machine Shoulder Press - 4x8 at 20lb
Tricep Dip 4x10
Bicep Curl 1x8 with 6kg Dumbbells, 3x8 with 7kg Dumbbells
Machine Chest Press - 4x8 at 25lb
Seated Back Row - 3x8 at 40lb, 1x5 at 40lb (failure)

15 mins interval training on a treadmill - 30 secs fast, 1 min slow.

Quite pleased that I manage to up the weights on everything this session. I'll live with a failure or two or sets and focus on mastering them for the next few weeks.

The upper/lower split days means it's taking me 3 weeks to be comfortable to up weights rather than 2 weeks as previously, but I feel I've a good routine going at the moment so I'm happy enough to take that hit.

Tea-a-Maria

5km run in 34:42

I had planned on doing a longer run, but my body is a bit tired this week so I just stuck to 5k. Thought I'd try and work on speed and it felt like a quick run, so not best pleased when I checked my time at the end!

Ah well. A few words of wisdom I read online come to mind: 'No matter how slow you're going, your still lapping someone on the couch."

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Tea-a-Maria

I love the fact that my gym is 3 minutes away and opens until midnight, so if I take the notion to go to the gym at half 10 after being lazy all evening I can.

5 mins cross trainer warm up

Barbell Back Squat - 1x8 with bar, 3x8 with bar plus 5kg
Deadlift - 1x8 with bar plus 5kg, 3x8 with bar plus 7.5kg
Leg Press - 4x8 at 50kg
Hamstring Curl - 4x8 at 30lb

Bit late in the day for core work so I'll do that tomorrow

Tea-a-Maria

5 mins cross trainer warm up

Dumbbell back row - 4x8 with 9kg
Tricep Dip - 4x10
Bicep Curl - 4x8 with 7kg Dumbbells
Machine Shoulder Press - 4x8 at 20lb
Machine Chest Press - 4x8 at 30lb
Seated Back Row - 1x8 at 30lb, 3x8 at 40lb

3 circuits of:
Fit ball plank - 40 secs
Fit ball pass - 10
Side plank crunches - 12 each side
Knee crunches with 5kg weight - 18

Tea-a-Maria

7.7km run in 48.41.

Kinda kicking myself that I didn't go for the full 8km, I was able for it.

I needed to stop into a shop to grab milk and it seemed like a good finishing point. :pac:

Tea-a-Maria

5 mins cross trainer warm up

Barbell Back Squat - 1x8 with bar, 1x8 with bar plus 5kg, 2x8 with bar plus 7.5kg
Deadlift - 2x8 with bar plus 7.5kg, 2x8 with bar plus 10kg
Leg Press - 2x8 at 50kg, 1x8 at 55kg, 1x8 at 60kg
Hamstring Curl - 4x8 at 30lb (struggled to complete reps at end)

3 circuits of:

Fitball plank - 40 secs
Fit ball pass - 10
Side plank crunches - 12 each side
Knee crunches with 5kg weight - 18

BorneTobyWilde