Fitness Update

Hello! Yes, I'm still here. I've had an extended blogging break and i've no excuse other than i've been really busy with life. Well, mostly work and being at the gym, and then you're tired when you come home and the last thing you want to do after you've showered and fed yourself is fire up the laptop. So there it is...

Anyway, since I've been spending most of my non-work time at the gym, I thought I'd do a fitness update post about what I've been up to.

After Christmas I made a conscious decision that I was going to mix up my training a bit. Rewind. When I say training, I just mean my fitness classes and gym sessions because I'm not actually in training for anything as such. So yeah, i wanted to mix up my training routine because I felt I'd been stuck at a plateau for a few months and wasn't seeing any changes in my body that I want. I want to be stronger, a little bit leaner and fitter - although I am pretty fit. Losing weight is not my goal since I haven't actually lost or put on any weight for about 6 months. Apart from 2 weeks ago when i lost 2 lbs, but that aside I'm the same weight as I was 6 months ago.

My routine went a little something like this:
Monday - Circuits
Tuesday - Shockfit circuit (weights, body weight exercises)
Wednesday - morning Metafit - HIIT; then gym session
Thursday - insanity OR Metafit - HIIT
Friday - Spin class
Saturday - insanity - HIIT
Sunday - spin (every other Sunday)

But then i started to get bored. After I got my MyZone belt and was getting readings after each class, I realised that my Monday night circuits weren't giving the results I thought they were. I wanted more. My Tuesday shockfit class is all about strength with a little bit of cardio. It's mostly body weight and heavy weight lifting techniques and again my calories burned reading wasn't that high. Now it could be said that I may not be working hard enough but trust me, I am. Wednesday morning class gets the blood pumping then we do a little session in the gym afterwards. Thursday again, high intensity. Friday is my favourite spin class. I've been doing Friday night spin for about 3 years now and boy has it been getting tougher recently. Saturday was a half hour insanity class which is great and Sunday is spin. And so all of that wasn't producing the results I was after.

Then I mixed it up a little. And now my routine looked a little like this:
Monday - Circuits, then Spin
Tuesday - Shockfit
Wednesday - morning Metafit, then gym session; evening Spin
Thursday - Metafit, then Body Pump
Friday - Spin
Saturday - Metafit
Sunday - Spin (every other Sunday).

I've been doing that for about 6 weeks now and my legs are really starting to show good definition. My upper arms have great shape as well as my upper back and my abs are coming along nicely too. My butt is still a bit wobbly and bigger than I'd like but slowly does it. I can see change and that's a good thing. There was nearly a set back though when I accidentally dropped a 20kg weight plate on my foot the other night at Shockfit. Right on my left metatarsal. Luckily there's no break but it is quite bruised now. Wowsers.

I love a nice bright trainer and tight - Nike Free trainers, Nike Legend capri tight

To shake things up a little bit more I've booked a session with a personal trainer at the gym to see where i can improve and get tips and tomorrow I'm going to start the Kayla Itsines BBG workout guide. I'm committing to those 12 weeks because i believe it will add to my routine or I can substitute a class for the BBG workout in the gym. I'm inspired by all those women who post amazing transformations on Instagram. So much so this morning I posted the picture at the top of this post on Instagram and immediately got great support from a good few people. Hopefully that community will push me through.

Aside from all of the fitness stuff above, I've been really trying to watch my eating. Eating healthier than i have done in years but not denying myself a pancake or a burger if i want it. Everything in moderation. Need to up my protein though, that's a fact.

My real struggle comes with sweeties. Chocolate. I have about 1 can of Coke a week, but still drink little Irn Bru bottles. Only 1 a day mind - I know, I shouldn't. Maybe I'm hoping that if I write it down here it'll kick me into really trying to give. Really making that final effort to cut out the sugary stuff.

We can only hope. I'll update in a few weeks when I'm further into my new routine but feel free to leave any tips, comments below.

Angela x