I meant to write this last night, but I was too tired to get to it! Yesterday was double workout day for me. I went to my usual gym in the morning and did:
Hip Adductor Machine – 4 sets of 15 at 90kg
Hip Abductor Machine – 4 sets of 15 at 70kg
Leg Press Machine – 4 sets of 15 at 140kg
Squats – 3 sets of 20
Swim – 20 minutes breaststroke
Then after work I went to the man gym for boxing, where Richard met me with a scary look on his face and went “Ok, circuits!” He took great pleasure in telling me what hard work it was going to be and how much other people had struggled with it before setting me off on a mini circuit. Now please bear with me, since I don’t know what any of it is called: I’m hoping one of my more athletic readers might translate for me! After my 1000m on the rowing machine to warm up I did:
Galumphing 3 steps sideways and then touching the floor, then repeat in the other direction.
Hands on a low (shin height) bar with my legs in a lunge type position, then jump (sort of) to switch legs.
Lifting a 5kg weight bag over my head and flinging it to the floor as hard as I can.
For a minute each, supposedly with a 20 second rest, but I needed longer ones unfortunately, and then repeat the full set.
I followed this up with 3 one-minute punchbag rounds.
This doesn’t sound like very much but it completely floored me. Richard and I were talking afterwards, and we both agreed that my fitness should now have improved to a point where I need less recovery time than I currently do. He recommended that I push myself a little harder when I do cardio, and I have to admit that I do go a little easy on myself when I exercise alone. But I am starting to realise that if I do that too much then my fitness will never improve.
I was exhausted when I cam home last night, but full of a great post-workout buzz. I don’t get that when I go to easy – maybe when I want to stop pushing myself I should try to remember how good the buzz feels! So, as I head off into day 7, that’s day 6/31 completed.
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May 7, 2014 at 7:54 am
You should definitely try HIIT stuff like tabata, it really improves fitness quickly… or intervals on the bike or cross trainer (not the treadmill because treadmills are terrifying :-p)
Well done on circuit training 😀 that sounds excellent
the first one…galumphing is definitely the right word… 😀 It explains it perfectly!!!
the second ones are mountain climbers
and the third thing is called flinging a weight at the floor as hard as you can…
ok…you have read my descriptions of exercises…I am not big on technical terms a lot of the time :-p
well done on today (yesterday) it looks like an awesome workout day… 😀
Keep it up…and yes…push yourself…it will be worth it 😀
May 7, 2014 at 8:19 am
Is there a “tabata for dummies” guide anywhere? I MIGHT try it, it sounds terrifying though! I did intervals on the cross trainer today as part of my Day 7 workout, I’m no good with the bike though (except the recline bike and my gym seems to be doing away with those)
So… galumphing, mountain climbers and weight flinging? I think they all sound like technical terms! 😀
May 7, 2014 at 8:33 am
http://www.tabatatraining.com/
http://www.active.com/fitness/articles/tabata-for-beginners
these sites seem to have quite a bit of info, you can also download timers for your phone.
basically…pick an exercise eg Galumphing 😉 do it for 20s at maximum effort…then rest for 10s. repeat this 8 times.
then pick a different exercise and do it again…
or pick two exercises and alternate them…
you will find that you go all out on the first one, but by cycle 8 you can barely move at first…but keep moving!
I think they are definitely technical terms 😀
May 7, 2014 at 10:14 am
Thank you, I think that’s going to be my lunchtime reading sorted!! “Galumphing” now makes me laugh every time I read it. Definitely the most descriptive exercise word I’ve ever used!
Cycle 8 sounds like it might be an issue. I need to work out if it is possible to kick myself up the bum to keep going!!
May 7, 2014 at 10:17 am
even if you only manage one rep of your chosen exercise keep going, and don’t rest for more than 10s…
even if for the whole thing you only do 3 reps per 20s or 2 reps… write down how many you do each cycle and then do the same workout a gain in a couple of days and see if you can improve 🙂
You can keep going!! 😀
May 7, 2014 at 10:24 am
When I get to cycle 8 (assuming I’m still vertical) do I rest and then go again? I haven’t got as far as the reading yet, but I’m getting kind of psyched to try this – your enthusiasm is contagious!!
May 7, 2014 at 10:28 am
it is up to you…
I repeat the cycle 5 or 6 times with different exercises, if that is going to be my whole workout.
I think id depends on how broken you feel at the end…
I normally alternate a high intensity cardio round (like jumping jacks or mountain climbers) with a bodyweight exercise like squats or press ups… then I get an active rest..although the bodyweight cycle is still pretty cardio because of the way you are doing it, it is not as intense as the others…
woohoo I have infectious enthusiasm 😀
or madness…
May 7, 2014 at 9:03 am
THis seems pretty good too…
http://www.dailyhiit.com/
not tabata but HIIT which is awesome too…
May 7, 2014 at 11:43 am
Fitnessblender.com does HIIT workouts n Tabata format. They are awesome!
May 7, 2014 at 8:39 am
That is some awesome weight on the leg press! We call that thing where you throw the weighted ball/bag on the ground a throw down 🙂
May 7, 2014 at 10:15 am
Thank you! Haha “throw down” sounds more technical than the way I phrased it – thanks 😀
May 7, 2014 at 11:42 am
Well done Helen! The second move is a modified mountain climber. Original version would have you right on the floor and not on a bar. Your trainer will work you up to that, I’m sure. 😉 lucky you!
For HIIT and Tabata workouts that you can do at home, go to Fitnessblender.com. Full length workouts, free. I just did a HIIT one last night where they used Tabata timing – and they manage the click for you. Highly recommend it!
May 7, 2014 at 12:22 pm
Awesome, thanks Nancy! I’ve been reading up at lunchtime and I think I’m definitely going to give it a go – maybe this weekend… Eek!!
May 7, 2014 at 2:11 pm
You’ll do great! Best to use a class or that online workout site I gave you or else you’ll end up faffing around with the Timer and less time focusing on sweating. 🙂
May 7, 2014 at 2:59 pm
I had a quick look at that site, I think I might give that a go, I’m definitely not ready to do something like that in a class setting!!
May 7, 2014 at 3:01 pm
I use the online workouts all the time. I’m a big fan! Just use the search button to put in your parameters and it’ll serve up a number of different workouts you can choose from.
May 7, 2014 at 6:59 pm
I’m still getting over how strong your legs are! 140 kg leg press? I was pleased with 80 kg! To increase your cardio fitness, as well as tabata you could try doing intervals in your swimming – I don’t know what you usually do but you could try swimming 4 lengths slow followed by 1 fast, then rest for 30s to a minute and repeat.
May 8, 2014 at 9:03 am
It was pretty hard work, but not too bad. I had no idea that was a high weight to use though! I used to do intervals in swimming, I’ve been really lazy in my swimming lately though – I think I need to push myself harder in general, but especially in the pool. Because swimming is the thing I’m fairly good at, I have got a bit complacent perhaps.