I had my usual session with Trevor on Sunday morning. I was hungover and 15 minutes late – and he found that amusing. Instead of 5 minutes on the cross-trainer he told me to do my warm-up on the bike as we were going to use the cross-trainer during the session. I did my warm-up at resistance 7 and then got on the treadmill.
I started with an easy pace of 5 km/h and an incline of 4%. Trevor told me I was going to do the following circuit:
- Jog at 7 km/h x 1 minute
- Squats x 1 minute (not on the treadmill, obviously)
- Jog x 1 minute
- Lunges x 1 minute
- Jog x 1 minute
- Squats off a bench x 1 minute (he’d actually told me to do step-ups onto the bench but I told him that if he made me do that I’d throw up)
- Jog x 1 minute
- Mountain-climbers x 1 minute
It doesn’t sound hard – and normally I’d have been OK – but I felt like shit after that. I then got on the cross-trainer and did this circuit:
- Resistance 4 x 1 minute
- Resistance 8 x 1 minute
- Resistance 12 x 1 minute
- Repeat (total 6 minutes)
Ugh. Everything was a huge effort. I think Trevor realised I was starting to fade (my constant whining may have given it away) and I moved onto the mat for some abs. I did a 4-minute circuit twice:
- Toe touches x 40 seconds
- Rest x 20 seconds
- Legs in and out x 40 seconds
- Rest x 20 seconds
- Russian twists x 40 seconds
- Rest x 20 seconds
- Plank x 40 seconds
- Rest x 20 seconds
Torture. And then it was over! I did some stretching, stumbled to my feet and went home – where I collapsed on the sofa in a miserable heap.
On Monday morning I had my first yoga class in a long time. I’d contacted my old teacher and he managed to give me a morning slot. It was hard! I could still touch my toes but I could definitely feel that I was less flexible than when I’d last had a lesson with him. A good reason to keep going!
I had a really good session on Wednesday with Trevor. My triceps were still aching after my yoga class and I knew my legs would be aching on Thursday. After my 5-minute warm-up on the cross-trainer, I got on the treadmill:
- 5 km/h x 2 min
- 7 km/h x 2 min
- 5 km/h x 1 min
- 7 km/h x 2 min
- 5 km/h x 1 min
- 7 km/h x 2 min
- 5 km/h x 1 min
- 5 km/h at 6% incline x 1 min
- 5 km/h at 4% incline x 1 min
- 5 km/h at 2% incline x 1 min
- 5 km/h x 1 min
Then came this circuit:
- Deadlifts (with the weighted bar) x 16
- Combined good mornings/alternating reverse lunges (with the weighted bar on my shoulders) x 16 (one good morning, one reverse lunge on the right, one good morning, reverse lunge on the left, and so on – 16 times)
- Torso twists (with the weighted bar on my shoulders) x 10
- Combined dead lifts/bent over row (with 10-lb weights) x 16
I asked Trevor how heavy he thought the weighted bar was (I had no idea). He said it weighed about 7-8 kg. After the weights circuit I did 8 minutes of cardio on the bike:
- Resistance 4 x 1 min
- Resistance 12 x 1 min
- Repeat
I repeated the weighs circuit and then did 8 more minutes on the treadmill:
- 5 km/h at 8% incline x 1 min
- 5.2 km/h at 7% incline x 1 min
- 5.4 km/h at 6% incline x 1 min
- 5.6 km/h at 5% incline x 1 min
- 5.8 km/h at 4% incline x 1 min
- 6 km/h at 3% incline x 1 min
- 6.2 km/h at 2% incline x 1 min
- 6.4 km/h at 1% incline x 1 min
While I was on the treadmill Trevor asked me if it was getting easier. Er – yes. And also no. If that makes any sense.
Low point of the week? I was out on Thursday night and was at an all-day champagne brunch on Friday. I dread to think how many calories I consumed! I think I didn’t eat too badly but all the alcohol couldn’t have been good – champagne, mojitos, two cokes, margaritas and a vodka to top it off. It sounds like a lot (OK, it is a lot) but spaced out over seven hours I don’t think that’s too bad.
High point of the week? Starting yoga again.
Weight loss? I’ve lost 1 kg since I’ve been back. A good start!
Read more updates here.
Notes by Nectar 