Notes by Nectar

Once again, I woke up on Sunday feeling absolutely drained. I’d been out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and I was exhausted. I had wanted to go to the gym but it wasn’t going to happen. Instead I went for a massage!

I had a session with Pete on Monday morning. He was able to make it at 10am which was great. I’d been out the night before and it wasn’t a late night but I was feeling really tired.

I did a 10-minute walking warmup on the treadmill at 5.5 km/h. I started with an incline of 1% and Pete increased it each minute by 1% so by the 10th minute I was at an incline of 10%.

After some stretching, I did the following circuit:

• Upright row x 12 (10-lb weights)
• Sumo squats x 12 (20-lb weight)
• Low row x 12 (resistance bands)
• Bulgarian squats x 12 (6 on each side, no weights)
• Rolling plank x 30s
• Single leg V ups x 30 s (alternating legs)
• Treadmill x 4 min (alternating 30 s at 5.5 km/h and 30 s at 7.5 km/h
• Rest x 1 min

I did that circuit three times. In the second set, I did 10 reps of the first four exercises but the abs and treadmill times stayed the same. By the time I got to the treadmill part of the second set, the sweat was dripping off my eyelashes. In the third set, I did 8 reps of the first four exercises, but again the abs and treadmill times stayed the same. Just as I was finishing with the abs in the third set, someone else came into the gym and started using the only working treadmill. So instead of the treadmill, Pete told me to do the following:

• High knees x 30 s
• Walk around the gym x 30 s
• Butt kickers x 30 s
• Walk around the gym x 30 s
• High knees x 30 s
• Walk around the gym x 30 s
• Butt kickers x 30 s
• Walk around the gym x 30 s

When I was done I did some stretching and was finished. At that point I decided I was going to go home, shower and get back into my pajamas. I even considered having a nap after lunch.

I was sore when I woke up on Tuesday – my glutes in particular (those awful Bulgarian squats!). I had my usual yoga class on Tuesday morning which was good but I woke up on Wednesday feeling even sorer than the day before.

Pete texted me on Wednesday morning to see how I was. I didn’t mention the wine hangover but told him I was still sore. He said he’d take it a bit easier but that it would still be a tough workout. I was ready for that. I started with a 10-minute warmup on the treadmill – walking at a speed of 5.5 km/h and increasing the incline by 1% each minute. I did some stretches and went back on the treadmill for 4 minutes, alternating walking and running every 30 seconds.

After that I did the first circuit:

• Mountain climbers x 30 s
• Rest x 30 s
• Knee-ins x 30 s
• Rest x 30 s
• Russian twists x 30 s
• Rest x 30 s
• Toe touches x 30 s
• Rest x 30 s
• Treadmill x 4 min (alternating walking and running every 30 s)

I had a water break and did the second circuit:

• Reverse crunches x 30 s
• Rest x 30 s
• Elbow to knee crunches x 30 s (on one side only)
• Rest x 30 s
• Elbow to knee crunches x 30 s (on the other side)
• Rest x 30 s
• Plank x 30 s
• Rest x 30 s
• Treadmill x 4 min (alternating walking and running every 30 s)

I had another water break and did the third circuit:

• Wood chopper x 30 s (on one side only)
• Rest x 30 s
• Wood chopper x 30 s (on the other side)
• Rest x 30 s
• Reverse crunches x 30 s
• Rest x 30 s
• Long-arm situps x 30 s
• Rest x 30 s
• Treadmill x 4 min (alternating walking and running every 30 s)

I’d had enough of the treadmill! After the third circuit, I did some stretching and was done for the day.

I didn’t work out again in the week and all I did over the weekend was eat!

Low point of the week? Only managing three workouts this week. And eating out all weekend.

High point of the week? Not aching as much as I thought I would after my sessions with Pete.

Weight loss? Again, I managed to lose 1 kg over the week and then put it on again at the weekend.

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