Notes by Nectar

I woke up on Sunday determined to go to the gym. I’d been told about an app called Fitness22 and wanted to try it out. I’d already downloaded the 5k Runner app, the Squats app and the Situps app. The 5k Runner app claims that in eight weeks you’ll be able to run 5k after training for three days a week for 30 minutes.

So Week 1, Day 1 consisted of:

• Warmup x 5 min
• Walking/running for 15 min (1 min running, 1.5 min walking)
• Cooldown x 5 min

I could do that, right? Right?

I decided not to use the actual app while I was on the treadmill as I wanted to listen to my iPod and wouldn’t have been able to hear it anyway. You can still log the run though – as there’s a button on the app that says ‘did it’ and the run registers. I started at 5 km/h and at 2 minutes I took it up to 5.5 km/h and stayed there until I was supposed to start running. For the 1-minute runs I took the speed up to 7.5 km/h. During the cooldown I decreased the speed by 0.1 km/h each minute. Just as I was getting to 11 minutes, my left hand accidentally knocked the emergency stop button and the treadmill stopped. It was annoying – I’d never done that before! So I started the treadmill again and ran the first minute so that I could easily do the maths in my head about when to run/walk! Not very accurate, but there you go. So I managed the 25 minutes and then moved on to the squats app.

Week 1, Day 1 on the squats app consisted of:

• Stretching x 5 min
• Squats x 6
• Rest x 90 s
• Squats x 6
• Rest x 90s
• Squats x 4
• Rest x 90 s
• Squats x 2
• Rest x 90s
• Stretching x 5 min

Once you start the app, it’s possible to skip sections by clicking on the >> arrow. I didn’t stretch as I’d already been on the treadmill and I found the 90-s rests far too long after doing just six squats so after 30 s I’d hit the skip button. I didn’t stretch afterwards either as I was moving on to the situps.

Week 1, Day 1 of the situp app consisted of:

• Stretching x 5 min (which I skipped)
• Situps x 5
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 5
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 5
• Rest x 30 s
• Stretching x 5 min (which I did)

Simple. It’s just what I needed to ease myself back into a gym routine!

I went back to the gym on Monday and did Day 2 of Week 1 of the 5k Runner, squat and situp apps. Day 2 of the 5k Runner app consisted of:

• Warmup x 5 min
• Walking/running x 20 min (1 min running, 1.5 min walking)
• Cooldown x 5 min

Again, I started at 5 km/h, alternated between 5.5 km/h and 7.5 km/h while walking/running, and then cooled down from 6 km/h, decreasing it by 0.2 km/h each minute until I got to the end.

I decided to use the app while I was on the treadmill and started the app and the treadmill at the same time – their couldn’t have been more than a two-second difference in the times but as the 30 minutes progressed, that difference in time increased. By the end of the 30 minutes, the treadmill was 9-10 seconds faster than the app. I decided to stick to the app this time – but which one is right? Has the treadmill been wrong all these years?

After the treadmill I did Day 2 of the squats app:

• Stretching x 5 min (which I skipped)
• Squats x 6
• Rest x 90 s (I stuck to 30 s throughout)
• Squats x 6
• Rest
• Squats x 4
• Rest
• Squats x 4
• Stretching (which I skipped)

I then did Day 2 of the situps app:

• Stretching x 5 min (which I skipped)
• Situps x 5
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 5
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 5
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 5
• Stretching x 5 min (which I did)

Again, the squats and situps weren’t difficult but it’s good to be doing something!

I had a yoga class on Tuesday morning after ages. My teacher was on time and I felt like I needed it. But my teacher wanted to talk throughout the class and wasn’t really instructing me on what to do. It was quite annoying and I didn’t feel like I got anything out of it. What I did notice was how stiff I was – I’d also noticed it while stretching at the gym. I suppose that’s what happens when you don’t do much for a couple of months!

I had a session with Trevor on Wednesday morning. Just as I was leaving for the gym he texted to say he’d be 10-15 minutes late. I went ahead and got on the bike to warm up. He sent me a photo of a ridiculous amount of traffic and I told him I’d be very warmed up by the time he arrived! I ended up doing a thirty-minute warmup! I could have gone home after that as I was feeling so tired. Instead, Trevor told me to get on the treadmill but my favourite one was broken – there was a tear in the running belt.

So I went to my next favourite treadmill and did 10 minutes on it. I walked at a speed of 5-5.5 km/h with an incline of 3%. I did two runs at 7.5 km/h and I’m sure Trevor wanted me to alternate between walking and running for the whole ten minutes but I was telling him about my dad’s heart attack the week before and couldn’t do that while running.

I did the following circuit:

• Bench squat/shoulder press x 10 (10-lb weights)
• Lateral pulldown x 10
• Deadlifts x 10 (10-lb weights)
• Bentover rows x 10 (10-lb weights)
• Stepping machine x 2 minutes

I had a quick water break and then did the same circuit again, but with 15 reps of each exercise. I stuck to two minutes on the stepping machine though.

After a break I did the following circuit twice using the machines:

• Tricep extensions x 15
• Mountain climbers x 15 (not on a machine, obviously)
• Leg press x 15
• Chest press x 15

I found the chest press ridiculously difficult.

And then I did the following abs circuit twice:

• Crunches x 15
• Reverse crunches x 15
• Scissor circles x 15 (15 in one direction and then 15 in the other direction) – Trevor joined me for this one, as in the video at 0:25
• Plank x 45 s

I was dead. I’d worked out for 1.5 hours and could really feel the difference. I did a few stretches but my arms felt like jelly. I told Trevor I didn’t like him much that day and went home! By the time I went to bed, my body was aching – especially my arms and abs. And I woke up feeling even worse on Thursday.

I took Thursday and Friday off and it took a lot to get me off the sofa on Saturday and down to the gym. I was mentally ready to do Day 3 of the 5k Runner plan but when I got to the gym, none of the treadmills were working. Of course, my favourite one hadn’t been repaired, but the other two weren’t even on. The same thing had happened earlier in the year – all I had to do was find the fuse box and sort it out. I had no idea where it was so I called the guy at reception – he came to take a look but suggested I call the handyman. It was his day off and he told me that the fuse box was in the main office and the office was closed today and nothing could be done. Oh, great. I decided to do 30 minutes on the bike instead alternating my speed as I went along:

• Warmup x 5 min (resistance 5)
• Fast x 1 min (resistance 10), regular x 1.5 min (resistance 7) x 20 min
• Cooldown x 5 min (resistance 5)

I then did Day 3 of the squats app:

• Squats x 8
• Rest x 30 s
• Squats x 8
• Rest x 30 s
• Squats x 6
• Rest x 30 s
• Squats x 4

The situps app came next:

• Situps x 5
• Rest x 30 s
• Repeat four more times (25 situps in total)

I did some stretching after that and was done!

Low point of the week? My favourite treadmill is broken 😦

High point of the week? I worked out five times this week! I’m still off bread and we’re trying to eat healthier at home because of Dad’s requirements. My cousin told me I’d lost weight since we last met two weeks ago.

Weight loss? I seem to have lost 1.9 kg this week, but my weight has been fluctuating a lot. My trend weight has also gone down by 1.5 kg. Let’s hope this continues!

Read more updates here.