You know your fat percentage is low when........
Your heart rate monitor chest strap is more prominent than your boobs! No joke I was watching my self in the mirror at the gym (to keep form you understand) and all I could focus on was the little 'wedge' of my HRM like a third nipple on my chest. Now I have seriously lost my boobs since dieting but this is ridiculous. To add insult to injury when asking my eldest to take some shots of me in my underwear for comparison purposes she asked 'do you think you'll get a boob job mum?' Luckily I have a very positive body image and so can laugh as such things - but honestly you'd think they could make these chest straps a little less obvious for us less than 'endowed' women :-)
Friday, 7 August 2009
Thursday, 6 August 2009
A good start to the day
Swimming Sensations
2 things to make my day start in a good way.
1) The new googles worked a treat. Completely watertight and comfortable and gives great vision - much, MUCH better than standard goggles - my thanks to that anonymous lady at the gym :-)
2) I decided that I needed a focus for my swimmng. So far I had just been doing 60 lenths (of a 25 metre pool) in an hour and as long as I did, I didn't have any other focus. Now I have changed it to gradually increase my speed and distance. Current program:
Heart rate not to go below 60%
20 lengths - 5 x 4 lengths
26 lengths - 4 x 6 lengths
16 lengths - 2 x 8 lengths
10 lengths - 1 x 10 lengths
72 lengths in total.
I will look to improve on this possibly every 2 weeks - see how I go.
Feel great that I have done this - you see, goal setting is sooo important :-)
2 things to make my day start in a good way.
1) The new googles worked a treat. Completely watertight and comfortable and gives great vision - much, MUCH better than standard goggles - my thanks to that anonymous lady at the gym :-)
2) I decided that I needed a focus for my swimmng. So far I had just been doing 60 lenths (of a 25 metre pool) in an hour and as long as I did, I didn't have any other focus. Now I have changed it to gradually increase my speed and distance. Current program:
Heart rate not to go below 60%
20 lengths - 5 x 4 lengths
26 lengths - 4 x 6 lengths
16 lengths - 2 x 8 lengths
10 lengths - 1 x 10 lengths
72 lengths in total.
I will look to improve on this possibly every 2 weeks - see how I go.
Feel great that I have done this - you see, goal setting is sooo important :-)
Wednesday, 5 August 2009
Disappointed Me
N N N N N N N nineteen!
I don't mean to be agest but I was so disappointed yesterday evening when I arrived at the gym, excited by the fact I was having an induction at the new gym which included a free fitness assessment to find out that my 'senior member of staff' was a 19 year old girl with less maturity and knowledge that my own daughter!! It was hopeless. She acknowledged that I knew my way around a gym and said 'we can skip that part' but I wanted to be shown a couple of cardio machines that I hadn't tried before and she proceeded to tell me what a waste of time they were and if that was what I wanted I should stay at home and run up and down the stairs - OMG! I also wanted to be shown a couple of chest exercises and she said 'I wouldn't bother, the time of day you come you'll never get a chance on those weights all the men are on them'. I felt very deflated and I also saw that my beloved Smith Machine had red 'danger' tapes across it so I assume that is out of action as well - woe is me :-(
The good part was I had my body fat measured properly and it is 18.8% which I am very pleased about as I have been working very hard on this. The machine they used, I was told, can be used anytime I like, so I think I'm going to check this every couple of weeks.
After my woefully inadequate assessment I was told I had to have another one on Friday to be shown the weights (apparently essential for H&S) but at least it won't take long. I then proceeded to get on with my first ever split body session with the exercises I listed yesterday. Afterwards it felt a bit strange not to have aching legs but my chest/shoulders/abs did feel tired and worked. I need to make a couple of adjustments to my routine as I found some things uncomfortable but all in all a good start.
Black Eyes and Swimming Goggles
I had been swimming yesterday morning and had suffered with black, puffy and wrinkled eyes for several hours afterwards due to my fantastic, but unflattering swim goggles. I thought that I must do something about it because it made me look so old/beaten up (I don't know which is worse :-)) and I felt very self conci0us. I made a mental note to look into some different types. By sheer coincidence. When I arrived at the gym changing room a lady in there was about to go swimming and had the exact style I was thinking of. We got chatting (I love a reason to start up a chat with a stranger) and she said she bought them at the gym and they were wonderful. £16.99 later (I know, a bit pricey) and I now have a lovely pair of goggles that I can't wait to try tomorrow.
I don't mean to be agest but I was so disappointed yesterday evening when I arrived at the gym, excited by the fact I was having an induction at the new gym which included a free fitness assessment to find out that my 'senior member of staff' was a 19 year old girl with less maturity and knowledge that my own daughter!! It was hopeless. She acknowledged that I knew my way around a gym and said 'we can skip that part' but I wanted to be shown a couple of cardio machines that I hadn't tried before and she proceeded to tell me what a waste of time they were and if that was what I wanted I should stay at home and run up and down the stairs - OMG! I also wanted to be shown a couple of chest exercises and she said 'I wouldn't bother, the time of day you come you'll never get a chance on those weights all the men are on them'. I felt very deflated and I also saw that my beloved Smith Machine had red 'danger' tapes across it so I assume that is out of action as well - woe is me :-(
The good part was I had my body fat measured properly and it is 18.8% which I am very pleased about as I have been working very hard on this. The machine they used, I was told, can be used anytime I like, so I think I'm going to check this every couple of weeks.
After my woefully inadequate assessment I was told I had to have another one on Friday to be shown the weights (apparently essential for H&S) but at least it won't take long. I then proceeded to get on with my first ever split body session with the exercises I listed yesterday. Afterwards it felt a bit strange not to have aching legs but my chest/shoulders/abs did feel tired and worked. I need to make a couple of adjustments to my routine as I found some things uncomfortable but all in all a good start.
Black Eyes and Swimming Goggles
I had been swimming yesterday morning and had suffered with black, puffy and wrinkled eyes for several hours afterwards due to my fantastic, but unflattering swim goggles. I thought that I must do something about it because it made me look so old/beaten up (I don't know which is worse :-)) and I felt very self conci0us. I made a mental note to look into some different types. By sheer coincidence. When I arrived at the gym changing room a lady in there was about to go swimming and had the exact style I was thinking of. We got chatting (I love a reason to start up a chat with a stranger) and she said she bought them at the gym and they were wonderful. £16.99 later (I know, a bit pricey) and I now have a lovely pair of goggles that I can't wait to try tomorrow.
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Tonight's Routine
Shoulders/Chest/Abs
From my list of exercises I put together last week I have slightly jigged them around before I started this week as the beginning of my split routine training. I have put together tonight's schedule for Shoulders/Chest/Abs. Whilst looking for good quality photographs of each exercise I came across a new website called 'FitTracker' and its got great colour photographs, a comprehensive list of exercise for each muscle group and good text explanations to ensure good form.
I'm off to my induction (again) at my new gym and apart from a couple of cardio machines I wouldn't mind demonstrating I would like 'Natasha' to show me the cable weights as I haven't used these before and you will see below I have one included in my routine tonight:
Chest
Dumbell Flyes
Barbell Bench Press
Cable Crossover
Push Ups
Shoulders
Incline 2 arm deltoid dumbell raises
Seated twisting dumbbel presses
Standing military press
Lying rear deltoid raises
Abs
Leg pull ins
Leg raises
Swiss ball ab crunches (legs on ball)
Swiss ball ab crunches (laying on ball)
Barbell oblique side bends
I put all this info using 'FitTracker' onto a sheet with space to write the weights I use with the photograph and explanation taken from the site. I've made a pdf of this file and was going to post it here but I can't find anywhere that facilitates uploading pdfs :-( I think I will be sore tomorrow - wish me luck!
From my list of exercises I put together last week I have slightly jigged them around before I started this week as the beginning of my split routine training. I have put together tonight's schedule for Shoulders/Chest/Abs. Whilst looking for good quality photographs of each exercise I came across a new website called 'FitTracker' and its got great colour photographs, a comprehensive list of exercise for each muscle group and good text explanations to ensure good form.
I'm off to my induction (again) at my new gym and apart from a couple of cardio machines I wouldn't mind demonstrating I would like 'Natasha' to show me the cable weights as I haven't used these before and you will see below I have one included in my routine tonight:
Chest
Dumbell Flyes
Barbell Bench Press
Cable Crossover
Push Ups
Shoulders
Incline 2 arm deltoid dumbell raises
Seated twisting dumbbel presses
Standing military press
Lying rear deltoid raises
Abs
Leg pull ins
Leg raises
Swiss ball ab crunches (legs on ball)
Swiss ball ab crunches (laying on ball)
Barbell oblique side bends
I put all this info using 'FitTracker' onto a sheet with space to write the weights I use with the photograph and explanation taken from the site. I've made a pdf of this file and was going to post it here but I can't find anywhere that facilitates uploading pdfs :-( I think I will be sore tomorrow - wish me luck!
New regime has started - yippee
A Rutt No More
I had got myself in a bit of a rutt. I had a dose of the typical holiday blues when I got back from Mallorca and needed to shake things up a bit, diet wise, exercise wise and work wise. I had devised my new split routine for my weights, I had started my new 5k-8k training and I just had my diet left to sort out. I decided to go for the 5 meals a day - I know I'm a bit late doing this 'common sense' approach to eating but I was just LAZY in having to think about 5 different meals/snacks as I'm not a big fan of meal replacements/shakes. So this weekend I've done a lot of reading, shopping and planning and I think I have the bare bones of my new diet sorted. Today's diet (yesterday's was a variation on this) is as follows:
Supplements
1 codliver oil capsule, 1 wellwoman multi-vit & min.
Breakfast
'All Bran Porridge' - made with 50g All Bran. 25g Impact Whey Protein (choc this morning) and 160ml water. 1 Starchy Carb 1 Protein
Mid-morning snack
Tuna, peas and sweetcorn. 1 Fibrous Carb 1 Protein
Lunch
'Risotto' - made with Brown Rice, River Cobbler and Red Peppers. 1 Starchy Carb, 1 Fibrous Carb, 1 Protein.
Mid-afternoon snack
Sweet potato chunks & cottage cheese. 1 Starchy Carb, 1 Protein
Dinner
Turkey breast, Courgettes and Broccoli. 2 Fibrous Carbs, 1 Protein
Drinks
2L Water
1 de-caf tea
5 de-caf coffee (I know but I can't give it up!)
200ml skimmed milk (for tea & coffee)
Now this is all very plain at the moment (though I love this sort of food) and my plan is to use this as a frame work and start adding different foods and being a bit more creative with my presentation and mixing. The big step - getting it all nutritionally balanced and calorie counted to as close to perfect for me as I can make it, is now done - yippee! My big challenge to cut out sugar completely. I'm a real 'sweet sucker'. Only a couple a day and often in the car but I can't claim to be eating 'clean' if I'm still sneaking the odd sugar fix so I'm going to stop doing it. I have a pot of travel sweets in the car and a bag of gums at home and I'm going to throw them out tonight.
5k to 8k
I'm on my second week of my 'Gateway to 8k' training (Podrunner Intervals). The music this week is supposed to be 'house' and I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as last week. Here is a printable version of the training program. It was my first run at my new gym and I LOVE their treadmills. They have a leaver on each side of the machine that you can just tap up or down to increase/decrease the speed and incline. So much better than having to try and tap a touch sensitive screen when your running full pelt. Week 2 sees you running for 8 minutes and walking for 1 x 4 with a 5 minute warmup/cooldown. The idea is to keep your pace in time with the beat of the music so that you are covering the correct amount of distance, though I think, I have such short legs surely I don't cover as much as someone who is 6ft odd with long legs. Still, I continue to enjoy.....
I had got myself in a bit of a rutt. I had a dose of the typical holiday blues when I got back from Mallorca and needed to shake things up a bit, diet wise, exercise wise and work wise. I had devised my new split routine for my weights, I had started my new 5k-8k training and I just had my diet left to sort out. I decided to go for the 5 meals a day - I know I'm a bit late doing this 'common sense' approach to eating but I was just LAZY in having to think about 5 different meals/snacks as I'm not a big fan of meal replacements/shakes. So this weekend I've done a lot of reading, shopping and planning and I think I have the bare bones of my new diet sorted. Today's diet (yesterday's was a variation on this) is as follows:
Supplements
1 codliver oil capsule, 1 wellwoman multi-vit & min.
Breakfast
'All Bran Porridge' - made with 50g All Bran. 25g Impact Whey Protein (choc this morning) and 160ml water. 1 Starchy Carb 1 Protein
Mid-morning snack
Tuna, peas and sweetcorn. 1 Fibrous Carb 1 Protein
Lunch
'Risotto' - made with Brown Rice, River Cobbler and Red Peppers. 1 Starchy Carb, 1 Fibrous Carb, 1 Protein.
Mid-afternoon snack
Sweet potato chunks & cottage cheese. 1 Starchy Carb, 1 Protein
Dinner
Turkey breast, Courgettes and Broccoli. 2 Fibrous Carbs, 1 Protein
Drinks
2L Water
1 de-caf tea
5 de-caf coffee (I know but I can't give it up!)
200ml skimmed milk (for tea & coffee)
Now this is all very plain at the moment (though I love this sort of food) and my plan is to use this as a frame work and start adding different foods and being a bit more creative with my presentation and mixing. The big step - getting it all nutritionally balanced and calorie counted to as close to perfect for me as I can make it, is now done - yippee! My big challenge to cut out sugar completely. I'm a real 'sweet sucker'. Only a couple a day and often in the car but I can't claim to be eating 'clean' if I'm still sneaking the odd sugar fix so I'm going to stop doing it. I have a pot of travel sweets in the car and a bag of gums at home and I'm going to throw them out tonight.
5k to 8k
I'm on my second week of my 'Gateway to 8k' training (Podrunner Intervals). The music this week is supposed to be 'house' and I definitely didn't enjoy it as much as last week. Here is a printable version of the training program. It was my first run at my new gym and I LOVE their treadmills. They have a leaver on each side of the machine that you can just tap up or down to increase/decrease the speed and incline. So much better than having to try and tap a touch sensitive screen when your running full pelt. Week 2 sees you running for 8 minutes and walking for 1 x 4 with a 5 minute warmup/cooldown. The idea is to keep your pace in time with the beat of the music so that you are covering the correct amount of distance, though I think, I have such short legs surely I don't cover as much as someone who is 6ft odd with long legs. Still, I continue to enjoy.....
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Split Routine Sorted
So I've finally sorted out my new split routine. Not sure whether to start tonight or start it with a new week - I'll see how busy the gym is. Now I'm doing all of this without the advice of a trainer (Terry has left - boo!) and purely on what I've researched and tried out at the gym (with a bit of help from the grunting men!) For anyone interested this is what I have devised.
Day 1
Chest/Shoulders/Abs
Chest
Barbell Bench Press (wide arms)
Dumbbell Fly
Dumbbell Bench Press
Wide Hand Push Ups
Shoulders
Barbell Shoulder Press
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Upright Row
Bent-over Lateral Raise (on include bench)
Abs
Leg Raises (flat on bench)
V-Up
Knee in (on bench)
Pelvic Lift with Swiss Ball
Day 2
Legs
Quads
Squats (Smith)
Leg Press
Leg Extension
Deadlift
Hamstrings
Leg Curl
Good Morning
Dumbbell Straight Leg Dead Lift
Glute-Ham Raise
Calves
Standing Calf Raise
Day 3
Back/Arms
Arms
Biceps
Bicep Curl
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Concentrated Curl
Triceps
Lying Triceps Extension
Dumbbell Kick Backs
Cable Push Down
Close Hand Push Ups
Back
Dumbbell One Armed Row
Lateral Pull Down
Seated Cable Row
Deadlift
Day 1
Chest/Shoulders/Abs
Chest
Barbell Bench Press (wide arms)
Dumbbell Fly
Dumbbell Bench Press
Wide Hand Push Ups
Shoulders
Barbell Shoulder Press
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Upright Row
Bent-over Lateral Raise (on include bench)
Abs
Leg Raises (flat on bench)
V-Up
Knee in (on bench)
Pelvic Lift with Swiss Ball
Day 2
Legs
Quads
Squats (Smith)
Leg Press
Leg Extension
Deadlift
Hamstrings
Leg Curl
Good Morning
Dumbbell Straight Leg Dead Lift
Glute-Ham Raise
Calves
Standing Calf Raise
Day 3
Back/Arms
Arms
Biceps
Bicep Curl
Incline Dumbbell Curl
Concentrated Curl
Triceps
Lying Triceps Extension
Dumbbell Kick Backs
Cable Push Down
Close Hand Push Ups
Back
Dumbbell One Armed Row
Lateral Pull Down
Seated Cable Row
Deadlift
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Blackberry and Bannantynes
So I've finally caved in and bought myself a Blackberry - well not bought, upgraded my current phone contract and the Blackberry came free. They also gave me £85 for my old Nokia so I actually came out of Carphone Warehouse better off - hurray! Went to a conference in London yesterday and spent the train journey on WLR on the phone - very small type but easily do-able (until I'm old and loosing my eye sight that is!).
Went to have a look round my local Bannatynes Gym at the weekend and will be switching across to their from September when my current gym membership runs out. It means that during the month of August I will have membership at both gyms because at the moment Bannatynes are doing an offer where if you sign up in July you get August for free. My OH is joining with me as he is taking his first tentative steps towards fitness and hopefully I can encourage him with his cardio as he hates it.
Job Interview
I heard on Saturday that I have an interview for a job that I applied for a couple of weeks ago. I don't stand much chance of getting it as I am punching above my weight a bit but I'm very excited. Will be purchasing a new suit but will wait until just before as this morning my size 10 'Next' work trousers are feeling decidedly loose and I don't want to make any MORE expensive mistakes.
Weights
Today, if I have a quiet slot, I'm going to be devising a new weights regime for tonight as after 6 weeks I'm feeling a bit bored with my current one and want a bit more of a challenge. Better get started....................
Went to have a look round my local Bannatynes Gym at the weekend and will be switching across to their from September when my current gym membership runs out. It means that during the month of August I will have membership at both gyms because at the moment Bannatynes are doing an offer where if you sign up in July you get August for free. My OH is joining with me as he is taking his first tentative steps towards fitness and hopefully I can encourage him with his cardio as he hates it.
Job Interview
I heard on Saturday that I have an interview for a job that I applied for a couple of weeks ago. I don't stand much chance of getting it as I am punching above my weight a bit but I'm very excited. Will be purchasing a new suit but will wait until just before as this morning my size 10 'Next' work trousers are feeling decidedly loose and I don't want to make any MORE expensive mistakes.
Weights
Today, if I have a quiet slot, I'm going to be devising a new weights regime for tonight as after 6 weeks I'm feeling a bit bored with my current one and want a bit more of a challenge. Better get started....................
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