Last year, I, very optimistically, decided that I was going to get into shape and stick to a fitness and healthy eating routine. But, as usual I had no motivation or real desire to stick to my, probably over-ambitious goals.
Going into 2017, after hitting many road blocks last year, I have decided to keep it simple and set myself realistic targets for this year. Another change I've made is giving myself something to motive me; my first abroad holiday! Myself and my boyfriend are going to Malaga in July this year. This will make sure that I stick to my fitness and eating routine as I want to feel super confident in a bikini in six months!
GYM
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COUCH TO 5K
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SWIMMING
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CLASSES
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MONDAY
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ABS WORKOUT
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YES
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TUESDAY
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YES
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JIVING
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WEDNESDAY
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LEG WORKOUT
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YES
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THURSDAY
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ARMS WORKOUT
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ZUMBA
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FRIDAY
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FULL BODY
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YES
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SATURDAY
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YES
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SUNDAY
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MONDAY
I begin my week with a short walk/run using my Couch to 5K app before I head to school. This usually lasts for about 20-30 minutes. Its such a great way to start the morning as I find it really energises me, by having intervals between walking and running. I'm only on my second week, but so far so good! The app allows you to listen to instructions on when to walk and when to start running, while listening to your own music. As I am currently on my second week of using the app, I start off with a brisk 5 minute walk to warm up, then switch between 90 seconds of running and two minutes of walking. This allows my heart rate to rise, but also to recover before the next running section - and it feels great!
After school, I head to my local gym and do an abs workout. I have a couple of (hopefully) ab sculpting workouts that I've found that I like the most, so I just do my own thing to be honest! I mostly go for side crunches, planks, ballet-twists, basic crunches, right/left oblique crunches, bicycle crunches, and my favourite, seated Russian twists. I sometimes use an exercise ball or dumbbell.
TUESDAY
After school on a Tuesday, I go to my local swimming pool and go for a few lengths. Depending on buses and my families work arrangements, I try to spent at least an hour in the pool. Sometimes, on good days, I spend around 90 minutes of doing various water based exercises which help my all round fitness. I usually do lengths for as long as a feel like it, which comes to also an hour. Then I go into water resistance, which is walking/running (usually a jog for me, oops!) in the swallow end, then I tread water for a couple of minutes. I do these kinds of exercises until I can feel my stomach muscles starting to weaken.
At the minute, I also attend jiving lessons in my local town with my sister. Jiving is a moderate intensity type of dancing that keeps the heart rate going. I have been doing this for a couple of weeks, and am really enjoying it. I love that its another way of incorporating exercise into my week, without it feeling like exercising!
WEDNESDAY
Before school, usually at around 7.15am, I head out to do my 20 minute walk/run using Couch to 5K app. Again, this helps me energise and feel good about myself during the middle of the week, when I'm so tempted to call in sick and have a duvet day!
I head to the gym after school on a Wednesday to do my leg workout. This is my least favourite workout, so I really have to
THURSDAY
Time to hit the gym again! Thursdays are arm days. This lasts about an hour and again, I kind of do what I like the most. I usually do overhead presses, bicep curls, right/left triceps' extensions, bent over rows, front raises, reverse bridge dips, hammer curls, lateral raises, one arm push ups, hi-lo planks, chest presses and half push ups (I can't do a full one yet). I don't always do everything every time I have an arm workout, but just what I feel motivated to do.
On a Thursday night, I attend my favourite class; Zumba! I go to this with my friend Hollie, as without her, I wouldn't last the entire class. Zumba has got so many benefits, the number one being weight loss! I find that I burn 600-1000 calories in a 90 minute session. I love my Zumba classes mostly because it never feels like exercise (at the time, the next day is a killer) and its so much fun dancing and moving to music. I would seriously recommend joining a Zumba class to anyone!
FRIDAY
Even though its the end of the week and I'm exhausted, I sometimes manage to motivate myself to go to the gym for my full body workout. I try to spend about an hour doing this. I try to do a little bit of everything in my full body workouts; kind of like a 'best bits' of my entire workouts throughout the week and adding wee bits in to keep me going! In addition to what I've already listed from my Monday, Wednesday and Thursday workouts, I do deadlifts, glute drops, jump ropes, ski hops (one of my fav's!) and jumping lunges.
After this, or sometimes in the morning before school (if I can fall out of bed time in), I head to the pool for an hour. After doing a full body work out, I sometimes just feel up to doing lengths for an hour. There is something really relaxing about swimming; I feel like I'm in a wee world of my own when I'm concentrating on my strokes or the way my body moves. Sometimes I go to the pool just to think, its not necessarily all about the exercise for me.
SATURDAY
As a full time A-Level student, I don't work much during the week, so on Saturdays and Sundays, I work in my local shop. This in itself can be a workout sometimes! My 9am-6pm shift done, I head home to do my Couch to 5K walk/run. This can be a great destressor after a long day working with the, sometimes infuriating, public.
SUNDAY
Finally, a REST! (From workouts, not work unfortunately) I usually spend my Sunday evenings catching up with homework, or doing something with my family. This is my favourite day of the week, and sometimes the most important. The rest allows my body to recover and recuperate from the long week of activities.
Hopefully with a more goal orientated week of workouts, I can stick to my routine a little longer than I did in 2016! If you know of any good workout music that you love, make sure and let me know in the comments; I'm always looking for new ways to reinvent my exercises and keep interested.
Throughout the week, I use My Fitness Pal - its a great app that can be downloaded for free onto any android or iPhone. It helps me track not only what I eat, but what exercise I do and how much water I drink! It also has a target setter that lets me enter my weight on a weekly basis, which really helps me stay focused and determined.
Let me know what you think down in the comments
Love, Rach x
Let me know what you think down in the comments
Love, Rach x
Looks like you've got a great routine going on here with the perfect balance of rest and work! I've also used my fitness pal before and I think it's really useful to help with fitness!
ReplyDeleteHey! I love My Fitness Pal, it keeps me motivated! Glad you liked the post :)
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