Notes by Nectar

I went to Shangri-La gym on Sunday morning. It was surprisingly empty – there were just three other people in there. did the Fitness22.com workout for Week 2, Day 1 which consisted of:

• Warmup x 5 min
• Run x 1.5 min
• Walk x  2 min
• Run x 1.5 min
• Walk x 2 min
• Run x 1.5 min
• Walk x 2 min
• Run x 1.5 min
• Walk x 2 min
• Run x 1 min
• Walk x 1.5 min
• Run x 1 min
• Walk x 1.5 min
• Cooldown x 5 min

I alternated between 5.5 km/h and 7.5 km/h and but I found it tough. I’d mentioned before that the speed on the treadmills in my building’s wasn’t the same as the speed on the app, but when I get to the end of the run on the Shangri-La treadmills they’re only out by 3-4 seconds, a vast improvement!

I then did Week 2, Day 1 of the squats app:

• Squats x 10
• Rest
• Squats x 10
• Rest
• Squats x 6
• Rest
• Squats x 6
• Rest

I got my shit together for the situps app and did Week 2, Day 1:

• Situps x 5
• Rest
• Situps x 6
• Rest
• Situps x 7
• Rest
• Situps x 6
• Rest
• Situps x 5
• Rest

I did some stretches after that and I was done. While I was working out in the mat area, there was a guy next to me really going for it – burpees, lunges, step-ups. It was quite intimidating!

I had a trial session with a new trainer on Monday. His name is Pete and he’s from the Czech Republic. I showed him the gym and we sat down to have a chat. He asked me what my goals were, how old I was (he thought I was 37 – clearly I’ve aged), what I weighed, what I did for a living. He wrote everything down – what I’d told him and what we did in the session. I told him that none of the treadmills were working properly (even though one was being used) so he suggested I warm up on the cross-trainer. There are two cross-trainers in the gym. I used to use one of them quite a lot, especially when I trained with Rama – but since it started rattling noises I stopped using it. Whenever I had to use a cross-trainer I’d use the other one – which just felt weird to me.

Anyway, I started warming up on the cross-trainer I didn’t like and a minute into the warmup it just stopped. It froze. I couldn’t even move it an inch. So I moved over to the next one. It sounded like a steam train as I was using it. I used it for the 10-minute warmup. Pete asked me if I could go any faster – and I told him I could but I was worried the whole thing might fall apart!

After the warmup he put me through some very thorough stretching exercises and then we began the real work:

• Combined deadlifts/shoulder press x 6 (with 10-lb weights)
• Jumping jacks x 20
• Run lengths of the gym x 8
• Abdominal in/out x 20
• Pushups x 12
• Rest x 1 min
• Repeat

Wow, that was exhausting! I had a short break and then we moved on to some abs exercises:

• Upper-body crunches x 20
• Rest x 20 s
• Upper-body crunches x 20
• Rest x 20 s
• Elbow to alternate knee x 10 on each side
• Rest x 20 s
• Elbow to alternate knee x 10 on each side
• Rest x 20 s
• Tabletop with spine stretch x 4 on each side
• Rest x 20 s
• Tabletop with spine stretch x 4 on each side
• Rest x 20 s
• Pelvic raises x 20
• Rest x 20 s
• Pelvic raises x 20
• Rest x 20 s
• Reverse crunches x 20
• Rest x 20 s
• Reverse crunches x 20
• Rest

And then we moved to my least favourite treadmill. Pete said that from what he could see so far, I had the strength and the muscle – I just needed to shed the fat. He asked me what speed I usually run at and almost laughed when I told him 7.5 km/h. So I spent 8 minutes on the treadmill, alternating between walking (6 km/h) and running (7.5-8 km/h) every 30 seconds. He asked me how I found the speed at 8 km/h – I told him it was fine because I knew it was just for 30 seconds!

I was so happy when it was over. He put me through another thorough stretch, gave me a high five and I was done for the day! I felt like I’d worked hard. By the time I went to bed I could feel my legs getting sore.

I had yoga on Tuesday. I’d woken up feeling like I was getting a cold but it was still a good class. My legs didn’t ache as much as I thought they would from the session the day before. Instead I could feel it more in my abs and shoulders. Pete texted me in the afternoon to see how I was feeling – I told him I wasn’t as bad as I thought I would be!

I had my first real session with Pete on Wednesday. I started with a 7-minute warmup on the treadmill:

• Walking x 1 min (5.5 km/h)
• Running x 30 s (7.5 km/h)
• Walking x 30 s (5.5 km/h)
• Running x 30 s (7.5 km/h)
• Walking x 30 s (5.5 km/h)
• Running x 30 s (7.5 km/h)
• Walking x 30 s (5.5 km/h
• Running x 1 min 30 s (7.5 km/h)
• Walking x 1 min 30 s (5.5 km/h)

The last three minutes were supposed to be continuous running but I’ve had a pain in my right ankle for the last few days. It comes and goes and I don’t know what causes it – I’ve been using the Air Salonpas spray which helps a bit. It doesn’t feel like a sprain but I’m not sure what it is.

After some thorough stretching I did the following:

• Lateral pulldowns x 6 (underhand grip)
• Side to side jumping x 20
• Side bends x 10 on each side (15-lb weight)
• High knee wall run x 20 s

I did that circuit three times – and for the second and third times I did the high knee wall runs for 30 seconds instead of 20 seconds. After a short water break, I did the next circuit:

• Front squat x 10 (15-lb weights)
• Dumbbell woodchops x 10 on each side
• Tricep dips x 14
• Butt kickers (with my hands against the wall) x 30 s

The squats were hard. The hardest part about them was lifting the dumbbells and holding them up while squatting. In the second set I did 8 squats and in the third set I did 6 squats. I had some more water and then did an abs circuit. Pete called it the ‘Holy Trinity’ of abs exercises and I wondered whether it was because I’d be praying for it to be over by the end of it! He said it targetted the three areas of the abs: lower abs, obliques and upper abs:

• Butt lifts x 10
• Elbow to alternate knee x 10 on each side
• Straight arm crunches x 10

I did two sets of that followed by some more thorough stretching. And then I was done! But oh, I was going to ache the next day! And I was right. I woke up on Thursday aching in places I’d completely forgotten about.

I did go to the gym at the Shangri-La though. I did Week 2 Day 2 of the 5k Runner app (which was the same as Week 2 Day 1). I then did the squats circuit:

• Squats x 10
• Rest
• Squats x 10
• Rest
• Squats x 8
• Rest
• Squats x 8

The situps routine was:

• Situps x 5
• Rest
• Situps x 5
• Rest
• Situps x 7
• Rest
• Situps x 5
• Rest
• Situps x 5
• Rest
• Situps x 3

I did some stretching after that and was done. I didn’t work out again over the long weekend.

Low point of the week? I ate and drank all weekend.

High point of the week? Five workouts again this week – pretty good!

Weight loss? None.

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