Hi there everyone!
We are just over half way through the September Pledge to get our training and eating back on track and things for me are going quite well. As expected I have rebelled a few times, but nothing too serious. After losing 2lbs the first week, I lost nothing the this last week, but I still have a few weeks to go before I have some photos to get taken. It’s funny, I thought my training pledge would stick easier than it has; I actually only made it to one measly strength session, and I really need to do better! I think I am just feeling a bit de-motivated this week in general – I have been spreading myself too thin on things and I need to tighten up my attitude and just get on with it. I sometimes catch my self writing list after list and getting nothing done, except actually writing the list – aka I am too busy letting myself become overwhelmed by my to-do’s, that they never become “done” 🙁
So what am I going to do about this (and will I add this to my list haha!)?? First of all I will stop writing so many lists and only think about the task I am doing at that time before moving on to the next thing. It’s so difficult to take my own advice sometimes! I feel terrible even admitting this, but I reckon we all have this issue sometimes? One of my biggest stumbling blocks is putting way too much pressure on myself by feeling that everything needs to be done RIGHT NOW, often to the point where I just stall completely. To use this week as an example: I posted on Facebook on Tuesday that I was filming a workout that day and to “stay tuned” (implying it would be up that day). Instead, I had 2 days of being distracted, totally drained (not sure why) and unproductive (which at first seems to make me mad inside, followed by another dose of being unproductive! Grrr). Then, Wednesday was much the same. Anyway, I have my act together a bit better today, so here we have the workout … “Yay!”
After all this, I hope you like it – it wasn’t a deliberate attempt to build excitement btw haha!
Anyone else dealing with similar feelings? I guess the trick is to just acknowledge the feelings and just get on with the tasks, right? Feelings can trip us up, so watch out – don’t let them control you like I have for the past 3 days! If you feel too tired to train, ask yourself a few testing questions to find out if you are being truthful! Sometimes “tiredness” is actually laziness! *guilty as charged*.
Anywho, the bright side is that I am really enjoying my walks (I have found a nice 40 min circuit with a hill) and the short conditioning workouts from home. I even downloaded a pedometer app for my iphone 😀 What a NERD!
Other News!!!
*Drum Roll* (for anyone who doesn’t already know) – The official Girls Gone Strong website is now up!
Final piece if news – don’t be mad, but I am seriously considering closing down the *forum* 🙁 I am going to think about it some more over the next 2 weeks (thinking will end on Oct 1st), and then I will act on my decision. In the meantime, you are free to leave your opinion on this here, or on the thread I put up in the Forum. Also, I would advise you to copy and save any information from the forum that you may want to keep (diaries etc) . As I said, I am still thinking over this as I weigh up all my other commitments and see if I can truly make the forum worth while and be a bigger part of it. I really do ask you to be honest with your feedback and just tell me what you would like to see from the forum.
**Please note, I am NOT talking about closing the main site! Just the forum “next-door” LOL. I actually have BIG plans to improve the main site and continue with workouts, new tutorials and more 🙂 **
Now on to the workout …
The Workout
Below are 3 Triplets (super-sets) of great exercises. This is a full body balanced routine that will cover just about everything, with a focus on conditioning (which happens to be excellent for burning a lot of calories and working on performance – a win win combination if you ask me).
What I did was set my Gymboss Interval Timer for 6 cycles of 15 seconds rest and 45 seconds effort. I completed 2 rounds of each Triplet (but I recommend 3 rounds, if you have the time and fitness to do it). You will notice that I am going lighter in some of the exercises – this is mostly in the single leg exercises to avoid any irritation of my SI Joint (not that it’s been too bad lately), and I also want to work on my vertical press by doing more volume at lighter weights before going heavy (this is a personal experiment because it’s one of my weaker lifts right now).
Remember, you don’t have to copy exactly what I do. I recommend you choose interval times that allow you to work for the entire interval without your form breaking down, and enough recovery time to let you resume when the beeper goes. 15 seconds is nothing btw, especially in the second and third Triplets!! eeek!
Below is a list of the exercises, my reps and the weights I used. Some of the exercises are more advanced, so I have suggested a regression in case you need it 🙂 I have also suggested some ideas for “Bridging” exercises.
Triplet 1
- Double KB Suitcase Deadlift Burpee (2x20kg) (11.5, 13) – Regress to just doing the Suitcase Deadlift with out the “burpee” part.
- KB Clean and Press (right) (First round 12kg, next 14kg) (10, 9) – Regress to just the clean, or just a press/push press
- Same on left (same results for me)
**Suggested Bridging exercises: Side Bends x 12 reps each side / Diagonal Knee Tucks x 45 seconds / Side Bridge Raises x 30 – 45 seconds each side **
Triplet 2
- Alternating High Deficit Reverse Lunges with KB (16kg) (14, 15) – regress by doing standard reverse lunges, or do the high deficit lunges without a KB
- Roundabout Swing (20kg) (didn’t count) – regress to alternating swing, or two-handed swing
- Feet-Elevated Plank Climber (19, 16) – regress to feet on the floor, or standard plank hold
**Suggested Bridging exercises: Side Bends x 12 reps each side / Diagonal Knee Tucks x 45 seconds / Side Bridge Raises x 30 – 45 seconds each side**
Triplet 3
- Curtsy Squat (right) (12kg) (16, 16) – regress by doing these without a weight
- Same on left (17, 16)
- Vertical Pull Burpee (20kg) (10.5, 9.5) – regress by doing a partial overhead pull (aka upright row), or just do normal burpees without the push up.
And that’s it!
Hope you enjoy the workout as much as I did 🙂 And I look forward to hearing your feedback on the forum dilemma.