Last Wednesday, I came home from work to a letter from my gym saying they are going to close permanently as of the 20th December! There's two VA gyms in my area, "not financially viable", "we regret", blah blah blah.
I was devastated. I love my little gym. It's not huge and it's not over-subscribed. It's full of friendly staff and members and there's almost always something that you want free. The yoga classes have become a staple in my life and part of what keeps me sane. The facilities are well-kept and the luxury of having a jacuzzi etc is a lovely bonus in a somewhat dreary world.
I struggle to adjust to changes that I don't initiate so I was worried that the loss of my life line was going to make my world fall apart. I am also a drama queen, occasionally.
Luckily, the lovely bods at Virgin Active realised that this would ruin several people's lives and have created a special transfer membership for us to the other, swankier, bigger VA gym in Kingston. For only a slight increase in price, I get access to almost twice as much as before; two jaccuzzis, double the size of gym, double the size of the pool, twice as many classes and more.
So I don't think my world is going to fall apart. I think it's going to be a challenge getting myself into a new routine with the classes etc but there's more classes that will help me to achieve my cardio goals as I really fail at it on my own! Plus a friend of mine trains there so he's gonna be my buddy from time to time and help me when I've lost motivation! I'm almost at the point of being excited about starting at the new gym too and I'm hoping the change will create fresh motivation in me!
Back to the current routine...
I was still poorly with a chest infection last week so I decided to give myself a good rest to recover and not hit hardcore cardio or weights. I went to a lovely Dynamic Yoga class as a tester at the new gym and for a really gentle swim after but that's literally all I did all week!
Sunday afternoon came; I was fully recovered and itching to get my hands on some heavy metal so I took the opportunity and went so hard my arms still ache today!
I definitely noticed the setback that the sickness and time off caused. I'm weaker than I was two weeks ago and quite annoyed about it but it's made me more determined to get back to where I was and progress from there.
Sunday was biceps / chest day and I definitely felt the burn! Monday was legs day and I squatted hard and, magically, at a deeper angle than I have before! Tuesday was yoga and a good chance to stretch out the burn and clear my head.
I've set myself a challenge for the next week: attempt a spin class! I'm a little scared but I definitely need to up the cardio and the fat burn!
What challenges do you set yourselves? I'd love to try more challenges and shake things up sometimes!
So having become a little obsessed with the gym, I've decided to stop winging it and actually follow a plan. I think I know what I'm doing in most areas now, I just need to get more organised and split my workouts evenly to distribute my time and muscle exhaustion!
I found a sample female weight-lifting workout plan online and I've tailored it to my abilities and schedule. I never - never ever ever - thought I would find myself in the gym 6 days a week but apparently it's happening. I'm not going to be super strict on myself as I think I'd be setting myself up for failure and disappointment if I didn't manage to stick to an impossible routine.
I'm allowing myself a day off here and there, for socialising or just plain laziness but I'm going to try and keep to it as much as possible. As we all know, dedication and determination equals results!
Below is my new workout plan. I'm going to follow it for the next 4 weeks (in theory) and then spice it up after that so my body doesn't get too used to it all and plateau. I'm aiming to be using higher weights by the end of week 4 than I currently am too, which will be a nice challenge to myself!
I'll be starting each weights session off with a little cardio too (even though I utterly despise it). It'll be simple HIIT on the bike or crosstrainer, for around 15-20 minutes. Hopefully this will get the fat burning started and will get my body nice and warm to lift heavy!
I'm aiming to blog each Wednesday about my week's workouts and how it's all going. This scares the life out of me but I'll also be making a note of whether I'm up or down any kgs / lbs / inches and keeping track of my bodyfat percentage. I'm hoping that having it all written down in a public domain will make me more determined to improve on it all!
Monday – Upper
Body A
All 3 X 8-12
Bench Press
Bent over row
Dumbbell shoulder press
Lying tricep extension
Barbell or dumbbell bicep curl
Tuesday – Yoga
Wednesday – Lower
Body A
All 3 X 8-12
Squat
Stiff leg dead lift
Leg extension
Leg curl
Standing Calf Raise
Abs – All 3 X 15
Lying leg raise
Swiss ball crunch
Thursday – Upper
Body B
All 3 X 8-12
Tricep Dips
Lat pull downs
Dumbbell rotor raises
Tricep cable pressdown
Cable curl
Friday – Lower
Body B
All 3 X 8-12
Deadlift
Leg press
Lunges
Seated calf raise machine
Dumbbell shrugs
Abs – All 3 X 15
Incline crunch
Back extension (superman)
Saturday – Yoga
Sunday – Rest!
I recently decided (for no logical reason) to watch every single episode of Sex & The City, in chronological order. I'm not sure what prompted me to embark on this fabulous journey. Maybe my 'eternally single' status or a shift in some of my friendships recently? Who knows!
Whatever my inspiration was for this, I'm so glad it happened! I've just finished the first series and discovered I've never seen any of those episodes before, strangely. I'm not overly keen on Carrie narrating to the camera every few minutes but everything has its flaws in the beginning.
Having watched the later series' and the two films, it's so much fun to see how they started out, know where they end up, and watch them evolve during their journey.
Although I can't exactly apply the stories to my life (oh, how I long to live in New York!), it's amazing how relevant the storylines are! Even over a decade later, men are still behaving the same, women are still having the same issues, the world just goes round. The only things that have changed are the fashion and the technology!
Anyone who wants some escapism, some laughs, some emotions, some inspiration in fabulousness, some sex tips and to waste half an hour should definitely indulge in the shenanigans of these four beautiful ladies!
