Category: 4. Go to the gym at least twice a week throughout 2018

Gym update

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Work gym

A short update to confirm I am still doing 2 – 3 gym sessions each week! So far this year I have been to the gym on every single day that I’ve been in the London office. As I work from home a couple of random days a week, have the odd flexi day and occasionally work away from London I never do more than 3 days in the office.

The gym is often quiet and there is usually no more than 4 or 5 people using it at the same time. We have TV screens with subtitles which helps to relieve the boredom of 25 minutes on a cross trainer or tread mill!

My routine is still fairly similar:

  • 25 minutes on the cross trainer
  • 10 minutes of weights (focussing on arms and shoulders)
  • 25 minutes on the treadmill

I haven’t done as much on the rowing machine lately as these are not located near the TV’s… so they are boring…

And I am still burning off around 450 calories each time.

This morning there was nobody in the gym at the end of my session so I took the opportunity to take the above photo!

 

 

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July gym progress

Just a short progress update to mention that I’ve completed a session at my work gym every day that I’ve been in the office so far this year. This means getting up at 5:30 am each time I commute into London in order to do my gym session before work. I work in London 2 – 3 days a week so other than when I’ve been away I’ve kept this up and am on track to complete this challenge by the end of 2018!

My hour long gym routine hasn’t changed much as follows:

  • Cross trainer: 20 mins
  • Rowing machine: 10 mins
  • Weights (shoulders and arms): 10 mins
  • Treadmill: 20 mins

I usually burn 450 calories each time and this, together with an average of walking another 6 or 7 miles each day and swimming once or twice a week is really helping me to maintain my weight!

 

 

Gym update

Today is 1st May and I’ve now been attending the gym on a regular basis for 5 months (having joined during the first week of December 2017). This is probably the longest I’ve kept up a gym membership for… ever…!

I am still attending the gym 2 or 3 times a week and have got into a routine of spending an hour each time before starting work in the mornings. I vary my routine slightly and haven’t yet missed a session.

I am feeling incredibly fit now and the buzz I feel when I’ve completed each session is huge meaning I feel positive and ready to face anything throughout the day!

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February gym progress

The last day of the month and I am pleased to report good progress throughout February. As in January I’ve completed a session at my work gym every time I’ve been into work  so I’m still averaging at least two sessions a week.

I’m fortunate the work gym is never busy and even during peak times in the mornings, there is usually only a handful of other people. Going to the gym before I start work has a number of benefits and I’ve found puts me in a positive mood for the rest of the day.

After nearly 3 months of regular gym sessions, together with swimming and hiking I am noticing real differences in my fitness levels. It is great to be able to climb several flights of stairs or a steep hill without having to stop and catch my breath!

I haven’t had any personal trainer sessions and at the moment, my one hour routine is something like this:

  • 10 minutes rowing
  • 15 minutes cross trainer (alternating between fast/high intensity and slower/lower intensity)
  • 15 minutes weights (mainly shoulders and arms)
  • 20 minutes treadmill (5 mins running; 10 mins steep incline; 5 mins warm down)

This varied routine stops me from becoming bored and hopefully exercises most muscle groups!

And now, at home, I spend 5 minutes each day laying on the floor doing stomach exercises, those I learned during my Maldives yoga sessions…

 

 

 

January gym progress

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So far so good…

Having joined the gym we have at work on 4th December 2017, and having completed my induction on 5th December I have since then attended a gym session on each occasion that I’ve been into the office.

This has averaged at 2 x gym sessions per week although as I didn’t go into my main office during the third week of January (Mon – Wed I was in Portugal; Thu in a different office and Fri I worked at home) I had no choice other than to miss this week…

I did however compensate by walking an extra 39 miles so was able to maintain my programme of fitness and activity.

As I combine the gym with walking and swimming I tend to focus more on weight training while in the gym, particularly exercises for my upper arms and shoulders… as I approach 50 I need to try to prevent the appearance of the dreaded ‘bingo wings’… heaven forbid!

Incidentally… on the matter of bingo wings… I found this article which suggests that women who lack the male hormone testosterone are more prone to bingo wings! It says you can boost your testosterone levels by consuming more protein and less cakes and biscuits. This is a little worrying too… if you eat more protein you might reduce the likelihood of bingo wings… but does this mean you end up with a moustache? I’m not sure I like the idea of increased testosterone levels so will focus on exercise to combat the bingo wing effect…

Anyway… the good thing is that I have now been a gym member for just over two months. After about 6 or 7 weeks I began to notice a significant difference. I had a bit of a fitness breakthrough and found myself increasing all of the weights on each piece of equipment together with increasing the resistance levels on each of the cardio machines. This is incredibly motivating… I’m really starting to feel so much fitter and more energetic.

 

 

First week at the gym

Yeah!

I did my two gym sessions this week!

As mentioned in challenge 3 I joined the gym at work about a month ago and started a gym routine before Christmas. As I didn’t go into work during Christmas I had a break of about 10 days (but went swimming and did a 12 mile walk during the Christmas break).

I got straight back into the gym this week and did my two sessions. OK, this isn’t a big deal for many people but I’m hoping that posting updates from time to time will keep me motivated…

The main reason for limiting my gym sessions to two per week is because I work from home a couple of days a week so I’m often only in work for 2 – 3 days. On my work at home days I’ve taken up swimming at lunchtime as otherwise I spend 8 hours sitting in the same spot and barely moving (and feeling like a cross between a wallowing hippo and a sloth…)

At the moment my gym routine is fairly basic:

  • Rowing machine: 10 minutes
  • Cross trainer: 10 minutes
  • Cycle: 5 minutes
  • Weight exercises: 20 minutes
  • Treadmill: 15 minutes

A cardio warm up at the beginning, followed by a weight session and ending with a warm down. Mixing several exercise machines throughout the session stops me from getting bored and also exercises different muscle groups.

My swimming routine:

  • Fast walk to the pool: 15 minutes
  • Swimming (a mix of breast stroke and back stroke): 30 minutes
  • Fast walk back from the pool: 15 minutes

Rather than take the car and swim for an hour, again so I don’t get bored with the monotonous up and down the pool swimming lengths I prefer to gain the full hour of exercise from a combination of fast walking and swimming!

I hope I can keep this up throughout 2018… I am certainly feeling much more energetic even after 4 weeks!