Workout Wednesday... Gloves galore!

I've made a promise to myself that I'm going to try new things more often. Not just in fitness but in every day life too. I'm very aware of my comfort zone and nowadays am not too keen on breaking out of it. I've been spending time rebuilding my self-esteem these last few months and I think trying new classes at my gym is a good way to start branching out.

 
The only class I really do at my gym is yoga, two or three times a week. The classes are with three different teachers but I still don't think that counts as variety! So I made a promise to try a new class whenever the gym's schedule and mine combine to create an opportunity.
 
This week, a wonderful opportunity arose - kickboxing! Turns out I had no idea what I was letting myself in for but I really enjoyed it in the end! Most of the other people in the class were hardcore veterans and really good at it but luckily there was another newbie girl and we were paired together so it wasn't too embarrassing!
 
The class involved almost no basic cardio which is great news for me as I hate it. The cardiovascular workout came from resisting the other person; little did I know how much it would entail! We took it in turns to have the gloves or the pads evenly and the class did not get boring or repetitive at any point.
 
I know it's not everyone's idea of a good time, to be kicked and punched at for 30 minutes but I found it good for my mind; focusing on not getting hurt & blocking punches meant my mind was clear of all other thoughts. Then when it was my turn to wear the gloves, any frustrations and anxieties I had were released into the mitts of my opponent.
 
The DOMs weren't as intense as I thought they'd be in the following days but I think I was holding back a little as my opponent was smaller in stature than me and I was a little scared of breaking her!

Apparently Sunday wasn't enough and I'm going again tonight! Which leads me to the second part of this post... Gloves!
 
Wearing stale sweaty boxing gloves that have been worn by a hundred sweaty people before me sets my OCD off a treat. It's revolting. I don't care if I'm being a princess about it, it's unsanitary and makes my skin crawl.
 
So this week my Lust List is comprised of two sets of gloves; boxing gloves and weight lifting gloves. I lift weights to look pretty, not to have horrid scabby hands. I have one pair of gloves and I love them but I like to change my outfits up so am going to start building my glove collection too now!
 
So I have discovered these little beauties and need them immediately! They match most of my other workout gear and aren't boring and black. Though I doubt all the hardcore MMA people in my class will appreciate them!
 

I have discovered an absolute plethora of girly weightlifting gloves online but unfortunately most of the cool customising companies are US based and I can't afford that level of shipping costs. I have, however, found this jazzy pair that will be ordered as soon as I get paid on Friday!

Workout Wednesdays... New Year, New Me?

Happy New Year to you all!

This is a brutally honest post. I'm slightly ashamed but I'm only human and can't succeed all the time. I know I'll be judged but some of the harsher "fitties" out there but I hope the fit gods will forgive me and appreciate my new abundance of enthusiasm.

Christmas entirely sabotaged everything in my health and fitness journey. I only exercised once a week, only stuck to about 10% of my diet and ate total junk a lot. Apparently I'm not yet strong-willed enough or well-enough equipped to cope with being out of my routine. I did gain weight but not as much as The Metro says the average Brit does so all is not entirely lost.

My attitude is that this journey of mine is not a diet, but changing lifestyles for a permanent, healthy future. I don't believe I'll ever bee 100% 'clean' all of the time but life is too short to deprive yourself of the fun things in life like cocktails.

I'm not weighing myself again until the end of January. I think it'll make me too sad and demotivate me!

On a brighter note, I am back into my clean eating and routine and loving my new gym! Plus, my yoga teacher has moved to my new gym with me so I can still have my hour of heavenly sanity every week!

My proudest moment so far happened yesterday... I flexed my biceps and actually saw something appear! I couldn't be prouder.

This week my challenge is to incorporate a new exercise / move into each of my workouts.

My most recent fit purchase is this little beauty - a Beurer heart rate monitor watch. I'm still learning all about heart rate and different zones and things but this is a great motivation tool, right on my wrist. At the end of a session, it also tells me how many calories I've burnt which is such a satisfying little nugget to end a workout on!

Workout Wednesday... So far, so good!

This week I started following my new bible - the LDN Muscle bikini guide. Honestly, I thought it was going to be expensive, boring and a struggle. Eating prescribed foods at pre-determined times, 7 times a day? Yawn.

I'd eat my hat if I had one. I don't feel like I'm being dictated to and I'm not bored. I'm eating more than usual but I don't feel gross and full and stodgy. I feel satisfied, have very rare cravings and have a continuous flow of energy. My workouts have more pump and I'm sleeping better.

Technically, I'm not supposed to eat gluten (IBS etc) but often give in and eat it and feel awful. Eating this healthy, natural diet leaves my digestive system feeling happy. Too much info? Sorry.

Having the guide and living by it religiously is a little boring, yes. But it's also making me be creative and research ways to spice up the food, healthy recipes, perfect techniques for the workouts, all sorts!

At first, the food preparation and organising is a little time consuming but as I get into a routine and get more knowledgeable, it'll become easier and more natural, just another part of every day life.

On the 1st December, I took photos of my body as it is now, in my underwear. I'd strongly suggest anyone looking to transform to do this.  Seeing yourself in your least favourable light is inspiration to work hard. Also, it'll be great motivation to continue with the dedication when you start to see results. Or so I hope.

I also recorded my measurements (arms, legs, hips, waist, chest) and will do so again on the 1st of each month and, hopefully, track my progress.

I will weigh myself fortnightly, on the same machine and also track this. I'm not so fussed about pounds or kilos, more about dropping my body fat percentage and how I look.

My aim isn't to be "skinny" or look like a certain celebrity. My aim is to become the healthiest version of me. Whatever body shape is hiding under here, I'll embrace. I'm excited to see my development and become stronger, both physically and emotionally.

Wish me luck!

Workout Wednesday... Back on the grind

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!

Workout Wednesday... Weekly update

I thought I'd give you a little update about the events of my week, mostly fitness related but also some fun too!

Last week I started my new workout plan. I missed Thursday's workout due to gorging on food and entertainment at Kingston's night StocktMarkt and then an open mic night at the Rose Theatre.

 

My housemate (Conny) and I went on a little gourmet adventure. To start we devoured a mixed cheese and meat plate from the Social Club van. For mains, we had the world's most beautiful burger from the lovely lads at RareStr'eat and naturally for dessert we simply had to share some churros from these lovely Spaniards.

 

We then went to Mosaic at The Rose Theatre Cafe where we were thoroughly entertained by the brilliant Bits & Box lads and of course the ever beautifully crazy Tankus the Henge gracing us with their eclectic mix of gypsy funk jazz!

 

From the fun to the hard work...

 



As I had the day off on Friday, I went on a mega gym session and did Thursday and Friday's workout back to back. I then discovered that after the two of those, both washing my hair and walking down the stairs were nearly impossible!

I also discovered that I simply cannot do tricep dips due to a wrist injury so I had to modify a lateral pull-down to work my triceps but it went OK. Additionally, watching me attempt to do an incline crunch is about as hilarious as watching a fish try to climb a mountain; I failed miserably. So I got a trainer to show me how to do some ab exercises on the TRX equipment and definitely felt the burn on Saturday!

As I said before, this workout regime is going to be a work in progress and hopefully each week I'll be able to tweak it to make it harder for me and challenge myself.

I'm feeling under the weather this week (read - man flu of death) so may not make it to the gym as much as I'd like but such is life.

And also it's my BIRTHDAY this week so I'll definitely be overindulging in too much food and booze at the end of the week!

Workout Wednesday.... New plan

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!