On Sunday the 20th of November I skipped the gym. We’d had a late night at home and my mum and I were also taking my sister-in-law and nephew to the airport in the morning. I think I’d mentally written off the week already though.
I had a session with Pete on Monday morning. I did some stretches and 400 m on the cross-trainer, had some water and began the workout. The first group of exercises consisted of:
- Glute bridges x 20 (20-lb weights)
- Goblet squats x 12 (25-lb weight)
- Romanian deadlifts x 12 (20-lb weights)
- Quick feet (stepping out and in quickly) x 20 s
- Rest and repeat two more times
I had some water and did an abs circuit:
- Mountain climbers x 30 s
- High to low V-sit x 30 s
- Weighted crunches x 30 (10-lb weights)
- Reverse wood chop x 10 on each knee (10-lb weight)
- Hanging knee raises x 10
The next group of exercises consisted of:
- Pushups x 12
- Fly x 12 (15/10-lb weights)
- Chest press x 12 (4 bars)
- Jumping jacks x 20
- Rest and repeat two more times
In the first set, I used 15-lb weights when doing the fly, but it was just too heavy for me so Pete gave me the 10-lb dumbbells for the next two sets. After those three sets, I did another round of the abs circuit.
The next group of exercises were:
- Bent over row x 12 (15-lb weights)
- Prone fly x 12 (3-kg weights)
- Lateral pulldown x 12 (narrow underhand grip)
- Butt kickers x 20
- Rest and repeat two more times
And I was done! I did some stretches and went home.
I skipped Tuesday. I told Pete I was going to take a few days off as I was just feeling unmotivated and tired… So apart from my sessions with Pete, I didn’t do much.
I had a session with him on Wednesday. I began with some stretches, 10 minutes on the treadmill (walking x 3 min, walk/run x 4 min, run x 3 min) and more stretching. The second group of stretches is more dynamic now – it includes lunges, walkouts, pushups, back extensions, airplanes – some of it is so tedious.
Anyway… after stretching for what seemed like forever, I did 8 minutes on the cross-trainer, sprinting for 20 s and then going a bit more easy for 10 s. Next came an abs circuit:
- Single leg lowering x 20, alternating
- Elbow to knee crunches x 10 on each side
- Butterfly situps x 10
I had some water and did the next Tabata circuit for 4 minutes:
- Reverse lunges, alternating x 20 s
- Rest x 10 s
- Jumping jacks x 20 s
- Rest x 10 s
- Combined squat/press x 20 s (15-lb weights)
- Rest x 10 s
- Quick feet x 20 s
- Rest x 10 s
- Repeat
I did the same abs circuit as before, had some more water and then moved on to the next Tabata circuit for 4 minutes:
- Combined lunge/bent over row x 20 s (15-lb weight)
- Rest x 10 s
- Butt kickers x 20 s
- Rest x 10 s
- Combined lunge/bent over row x 20 s (15-lb weight), the other side
- Rest x 10 s
- High knees x 20 s
- Rest x 10 s
- Repeat
I did the same abs circuit again and finished off with some stretches.
I didn’t work out again over the weekend.
I had intended to go to the gym on Sunday the 27th but I’d been at an all-day barbecue the day before and woke up with a terrible hangover!
I had a session with Pete on Monday morning. I began with some stretches, a 400-m run on the treadmill and then some more stretches. I had some water and began the first group of exercises:
- Deep squat x 12
- Squat pulses x 10 (20-lb weight)
- Romanian deadlift x 10 (20-lb weights)
- Combined curtsey lunge/side lunge x 5 on each side
I was supposed to do three sets of that, but I could feel my knee starting to twinge when I was doing the curtsey lunges. In the end, I only did two sets. I had a short break and did an abs circuit:
- Leg sweeps x 30 s
- Russian twists x 20 (10-lb weight)
- Hip rolls x 30 s
- Butterfly situps x 15 (10-lb weight)
I had some water and did the next group of exercises:
- Pushups x 12
- Upward raise x 10 (10-lb weights)
- Tricep kickbacks x 10 (10-lb weights)
- Rest and repeat two more times
I did another set of the abs circuit and moved on to the next group of exercises:
- Lateral pulldown x 12 (narrow underhand grip)
- Pullovers x 10 (10-lb weights)
- Bicep curls x 10 (10-lb weights)
- Rest and repeat two more times
I did one more set of abs and finished off by stretching.
I skipped the gym on Tuesday and had another session with Pete on Wednesday morning. I began with stretching, a 400-m run on the treadmill and more stretching. I had some water and then did 7 minutes of the following exercises:
- Kettlebell swings x 20
- Skaters x 20
- Combined bicep curl/press x 10 (10-lb weights)
I had to do that circuit as many times as I could in 7 minutes. After a short break, I did an abs circuit:
- Crab lifts x 20
- Single leg raise x 10 on each side
- Russian twists x 20
- Toe touches x 20
I did another group of exercises for 7 minutes:
- Tricep dips x 12
- Bent over row x 12 (10-lb weights)
- Side step shuttle run x 30 s
- Rest x 10 s
- Side step shuttle run x 20 s
- Rest x 10 s
- Side step shuttle run x 10 s
- Continue from the beginning, no rest
I had a short rest and did another set of the abs circuit. Then, there was another 7-minute group of exercises:
- Prone fly x 12 (10-lb weights)
- Incline pushups x 12
- Cross-trainer x 400 m
There was one more set of abs and I finished off with stretches.
I didn’t work out again over the weekend.
Distance covered? 0 km.
Low point of the two weeks? Not being very motivated at all. If I could have stayed in bed for two weeks, I would have. November was a weird month – I’m glad it’s over.
High point of the week? My knees had stopped aching by the end of my gym break.
Weight loss? Meh.
Read more updates here.
Notes by Nectar 