Ah, gym, how I love thee.... no, wait, not the battle ropes, they just suck, lol!! Anyway, before work this morning I had another fab session in the gym. As far as I remember, as I didn't write it down, it went like this...
1) cross-trainer warm-up, 5½ mins, level 5
Circuit:
2) Walking lunges with 2 x 6kg kettlebells, alternate legs - 45 secs
3) Press-ups, incline onto powerplate (vibrating), modified knees on floor - 45 secs
4) Goblet squats w/ kettlebell held to chest (12kg? can't remember) - 45 secs
5) Plank, on vibrating powerplate - 45 secs
6) Repeat circuit, two more times.
7) Lunges (in place) with a two-handed 3kg dumbbell shoulder press - alternating legs - 20 reps
8) Squat-to-shoulder-press with two 6kg kettlebells - 10 reps
9) Repeat 7 and 8, same reps, then repeat again with half reps.
10) Battle ropes - alternating 10 single arm waves, and 10 double, for 45 seconds.
11) Weighted bag clean to shoulder, squat and press then slamming the bag to floor - 45 seconds.
12) Repeat 10 and 11, two more times.
13) Rower - 3 x 200m row, 20s rest.
14) Upper body stretches to finish.
Feeling my shoulders a lot more today, think they were very slightly sore from Tuesday's session, because I was definitely feeling them early on today, doing that two-handed single dumbbell press, owww!! Good stuff, though. I feel like I shold be better than I am, but I know I'm carrying a LOT of excess weight, and my skill, balance, ability and endurance will only improve the more I do. I really have to sort out my food though, I know I'm like a stuck record but honestly, I HAVE to sort it. What's interested me very recently is reading a very thorough and fascinating blog post by Robert (the Trossachs Trail Runner who you often see commenting insightfully on my blog) where he concludes from an analysis of his training records etc. that he spent one year sorting out his nutrition, and the following year sorting out his training. I can't expect to do everything at once, you simply can't focus in too many places at the same time, so the nutrition really has to get locked down.
Sadly, for me, it's not as easy as figuring out what to eat, when. I'm stupidly well-read on the subject, and I think I know exactly what I should be eating. I just... don't. So, really, my head needs sorting out first, and - coming in a broad full circle - it ends up being a bit like this: The better my training becomes, the more self-confidence I get. The more self-confidence I get, the stronger my ability to stick to healthy eating. The stronger my ability to stick to healthy eating, the more weight I lose. The more weight I lose, the better my training becomes!!! In the past, I've seen this as a vicious circle, a battle I can't win because in order to achieve any of those steps, I have to find a way to achieve the one before it, and so on, but actually, if I look at it the other way, ANY tiny progress I make in any of those steps, has a knock on effect to the next, and then it'll start going round and round getting bigger each loop, and eventually, things will just 'work'. It's all about how you approach things, and since I'm currently giving these wee challenging circuits such a go in the gym, why not see if THIS other circuit is one I can get moving too? Little steps...
Another great training session. Sounds like you are starting to enjoy it. The walk yesterday might actually be more impressive though - it's when your tired, when it's uninviting outside, is when you need to push through, dig deep and get it done.
ReplyDeleteAs for the food. I think just like exercise, it's consistency that makes you healthy long term. Avoiding the really crap stuff (edible but not food) is probably more important than the eating lots of "healthy" stuff.
The really crap stuff is anything with a high Glycemic Index. Cakes, biscuits, white bread/pasta, white rice. Rice and pasta are typically eaten with lots of low GI foods like protiens, acids, fibre and fats that can render an unhealthy food on it's own healthy part of balanced meal. If you are going to treat oneself with a Cake etc. eating it after a meal is the safest time to do it.
As a rule though, always avoid eating things high in carbs on their own. If you want to snack then something which is balanced mix of protien, carbs, fibre and fat is best. Non citrus fruit is a great snack as it's packed with plenty of fibre so is both filling and has low GI. Homemade Yoghurt sweetened with fruit or honey is a brilliant snake too as it's a great balance of nutrients and low GI. Oats cakes are low GI as well, so a great substitute for bread/crackers/biscuits. Oooh dark chocolate (70% cocoa) is also a great wee snack ;-)
I was really please with Wednesday's walk, you're right - it's about making sure I don't let tiredness or work stress stop me from getting exercise etc. and I'm glad I made my step count target. I'll get back on board with hitting the daily 10,000 step mark, but it takes some effort to reach it on an average day.
DeleteYep. Like I say, I know what I should be eating, I just... don't. I'm trying to come at it a little differently, with small incremental changes, and trying to have more of an awareness around mindless decision-making. One of the things I'm trying to do is consciously 'congratulate myself' when I cook myself a tasty meal from good ingredients, rather than eat junk. In the distant past, I ate better when I made it a game to find ways to cook new things I'd never tried before - veg like fennel bulbs or kohlrabi, fruit like persimmon or physillis, meat like venison or rabbit, fowl like wild pigeon, and fish like red snapper or swordfish. It was a brilliant year, and I lost loads of weight, but I lost the love of cooking and the weight went back on when other issues in my life reared their heads. Need to rediscover the joy of cooking, so I think tomorrow monring I'll head to the farmers market, instead of parkrun. Buy something I've not eaten before, and start being a little more adventurous again.