Notes by Nectar

I went to the Shangri-La gym on Sunday morning and decided to do Week 3 Day 3 of the 5k Runner app by Fitness22. I had done it the week before, but is there any point in moving on to the next level when you’re struggling with the earlier ones?

• Warmup x 5 min
• Run x 2 min (7.5 km/h)
• Walk x 2 min (5.5 km/h)
• Run x 3 min (7.5 km/h)
• Walk x 3 min (5.5 km/h)
• Run x 3 min (7.5 km/h)
• Walk x 3 min (5.5 km/h)
• Run x 2 min (7.5 km/h)
• Walk x 2 min (5.5 km/h)
• Cooldown x 5 min

It was still bloody hard – especially the 3 min runs. I did Week 3 Day 3 of the squats app:

• Squats x 12
• Rest x 45 s
• Squats x 16
• Rest x 45 s
• Squats x 14
• Rest x 45 s
• Squats x 10
• Rest

That’s 52 squats! And I did Week 3 Day 3 of the situps app:

• Situps x 6
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 8
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 10
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 8
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 6
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 5
• Rest

That’s 43 situps! I did a few stretches after that and went home.

I had a session with Pete on Monday. He told me it was going to be a very ‘active’ session. I began with a 10-minute uphill walk (starting with an incline of 1% and increasing it every minute). I did the warmup stretches after that. The warmup stretches are quite thorough and there are a lot of them! It goes like this:

• Neck turn x 4 on each side
• Neck roll x 4 on each side
• Shoulder rotation x 4 in both directions
• Hands on shoulder rotation x 4 in both directions
• Arm swings x 4 in both directions
• Upper body circles x 4 in both directions
• Hula hoop x 4 in both directions
• Knee circles x 4 in both directions
• Ankle circles x 4 in both directions (one ankle at a time!)
• Walking knee to chest stretch (stretch on every third step)
• Walking heel to butt stretch (stretch on every third step)
• Inner thigh stretch x 4 on each side
• Walking straight leg stretch (touching the opposite toe on every third step)
• Walking ‘superman’ stretch (leaning forward on one leg with the other leg straight out behind you)
• Walking lunge and twist (lunge on every third step)
• Deep squat x 2 (held for 10 s)
• Walking on tiptoes
• Walking on heels
• ‘Wedding’ walk (walking from heel to tiptoe)

That’s a lot of stretches! The walking stretches are done walking across the gym.

After all those stretches, Pete told me I was going to do the ‘110’ workout. Oh god. I’d done it before and it wasn’t fun. It went like this:

• Treadmill x 100 m
• Forward and backward lunge x 10
• Treadmill x 100 m
• Lateral pulldown x 10
• Treadmill x 100 m
• Uneven squats x 10 on each side (one foot on the treadmill)
• Treadmill x 100 m
• Bent over row x 10 (10-lb weights)
• Treadmill x 100 m
• Step-ups (on to the treadmill) x 10 on each side
• Treadmill x 100 m
• Standing cable row x 10
• Treadmill x 100 m
• Jumping jacks x 10

Phew – it was over! I had a short break and did the following circuit:

• Side step squats x 7 on each side (with a resistance band above my knees)
• Pushups x 10
• Tricep dips to failure
• Rest

I did that circuit three times. In the first set I could do 13 tricep dips, in the second set I did 8 and in the third set I did 7.

After some more water, I did an abs circuit:

• Crunches x 10
• Toe touches x 10
• Reverse crunches x 10
• Rest

I did some stretches after that set and was done for the day. Pete told me my shoulders and triceps might be a bit sore the next morning but when I woke up on Tuesday I was absolutely fine.

I had yoga on Tuesday – nothing new to report there!

I had another session with Pete on Wednesday morning. I started with a warmup on the treadmill:

• Walking x 2 min
• Running x 30 s/walking x 30 s x 5 min
• Running x 3 min

After stretching, it was weights for the rest of the session. I began with the first superset:

• Front squat x 14 (10-lb weights)
• Deadlifts x 14 (15-lb weights)
• Rest x 1 min

I did that three times. Pete told me my form during the front squats needed improving so for the second and third sets I used only one 10-lb weight.

I then did the next superset:

• Dumbbell chest fly x 14 (10-lb weights)
• Prone fly x 14 (10-lb weights)
• Rest x 1 min

I found both of those exercises tough and was struggling by the third set! After some water, I did one set of an abs circuit:

• Plank x 30 s
• Crunches x 10 (hands raised by my hips)
• Crunches x 10 (hands above my knees)
• Crunches x 10 (hands overhead)

I dreaded the plank but I found it much easier than I expected!

The next superset consisted of:

• Lateral pulldown x 14
• Shoulder press x 14 (10-lb weights)
• Rest x 1 min

I found the shoulder press really hard – in the second and third sets I did 8 reps using both weights and then 6 reps with just one 10-lb weight.

I did another abs circuit:

• Standing oblique crunches x 30 s
• Crunches x 30 (as before)

And another abs circuit:

• Wood chopper x 30 s (15 s on each side with a 10-lb weight)
• Crunches x 30 (as before)

I did some stretches after that and was done.

By Wednesday evening I could feel some soreness in my left knee and hoped it would disappear overnight. I expected to have sore shoulders the following morning too.

On Thursday morning my knee was still a little sore, but not as bad as the day before, and I wasn’t sore anywhere else. I was tired though and running for 30 minutes didn’t appeal to me at all. I soon realised that I didn’t have to run, I could just walk and see how I felt. I got to the gym, got on the treadmill and aimed to do 30 minutes. For the first 5 minutes I walked at 5.5 km/h and for the next 25 minutes I varied the speed between 6 km/h and 6.5 km/h. I did 3.03 km in 30 minutes, which I’m sure is better than sitting on the sofa at home doing nothing. I decided to skip the squats app because I didn’t want to make my knee worse and did Week 4 Day 1 of the situps app:

• Situps x 7
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 8
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 10
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 8
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 7
• Rest x 30 s
• Situps x 6

I did a few stretches after that and came back home.

I really like the Fitness22 apps – I like the way you can switch from the running app to the squats app to the situps app without having to exit the app and look for the other ones you want. The only issue I have is that once your workout has ended, the music stops. So if I’m done with the running app and switch to the squats app I have to start the music all over again. Does anyone else use these apps and do you know something I don’t??

I didn’t work out again at the weekend.

Low point of the week? I drank a lot on Friday – I was out for brunch and also went to see Take That in the evening.

High point of the week? Five workouts done this week!

Weight loss? Still going up and down.

Read more updates here.