Taking action, long may it last!

July

July wrote: »

I'm in the healthy weight range (just about I'd say- female, late 20s, 5' 4'' 10stone) for my height but I could shed a stone to look better -and I suppose feel better.

However, I seem to be on a see-saw of thoughts where half the time I think it's only a stone, have a bit of willpower and you'll have it lost in a month or two. The other half of the time (actually truth be told 99%) of the time, I think to myself arah sure amn't I grand!

Trouble is, this stone I think about now used to be a half a stone and I wonder where it will end if I don't take action..

I'm beginning to wonder am I going to let myself go to the point where I'm really unhappy about my body before I do anything about it? I don't want this to happen but I seem to keep putting it off for another day.

I might make the effort one day and eat well and go for a walk or a swim. The next day I can end up in McDonalds!! Who am I kidding?!!

Anyone else feel like this?

I think I'm looking for a bit of a kick up the a**e really cos I know it's just pure laziness that has me this way and all the information I need is right here in the stickies.

I posted the above in early September and I'm finally taking action!

I have started to cut down on junk, don't think I can go cold turkey or I'll end up bingeing. I have increased my fruit and veg intake and am aware of getting protein in at every meal - I'm not doing it all the time but I am getting better e.g. having a boiled egg along with my morning toast and snacking on nuts.

The diet could be better but I am definitely taking steps in the right direction.

Regarding exercise, I have taken up badminton again (3weeks ago) and train 2-3 nights a week. It's not very strenuous though as the numbers are too high to get much play and I usually end up playing mixed doubles so there isn't much movement for a female in mixed doubles. But, it's better than not playing at all.

Arising from taking up badminton again and realising that my upper body strength is not what it used to be and that I feel too heavy on my feet to be 'bothered' to move, I have joined a gym. I was given a programme based on the previous statement and a desire to lose weight.

I went Friday and again today. I'm posting mostly to keep a record for myself and to help motivate myself but any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Stats: 5' 4'', 65 kg, 27yo female, body fat taken by machine - 27.2%
Measurements, in inches, taken by pear-shaped self! They may not be taken in the correct way or at the correct place or whatever but they should be consistent as I'll do them in the same way each time.
Bust: 36
Under bust: 30
Waist (narrowest point): 29
Hips: 35
Bum: 39
Left Thigh: 22.5
Right Thigh: 23
Both upper arms: 10.25


The plan that was made out put all the cardio first and weights after. That is what I did on Friday. However, today I warmed up, did the weights and left the cardio til last. Somewhere along the lines, I think I picked up that it's better to do the weights first. I'm open to correction.

Regarding the weights machines, I don't actually know what weights I was using - I know how many but I don't know how much each weighs so I'll have to ask the next time I'm there. I'll post the number of weights for the moment. Here's what I did.

Warm up: 5mins on crosstrainer in quickstart mode

Chest press: 3 weights - 2x15

Lat pull down: 4 weights - 2x15

Abductor: 4 weights - 2x15

Adductor: 3 weights - 2x15

Bicep curls: 5lbs - 2x15

Tricep kickbacks: 5lbs - 2x15

Tricep dips - own bodyweight - 1x15

Shoulder press: 10 lbs (5 in each hand) - 2x15 Should I say 5 or 10 lbs if I have 5lbs in each hand?

Medial raise: 5lbs - 2x15

Lunges: 10lbs (5 in each hand) - 2x15

Squats with ball, no weights - 2x15

Sit ups on ball - 2x15

Oblique crossover - 1x15

Leg raises - 1x8

Treadmill: 10mins interval training, brisk walk and slow jog (am quite unfit!)

Crosstrainer: 10 mins manual programme, level 5 (sometimes 6) - kept rpm over 60

Rower: 10 mins, level 7. Am I supposed to keep track of rpms or something?

Stretches

Sorry for the long post, they won't be as long from now on!:)

July

1 hour's constant badminton training. No major drills but played mixed doubles. Broke a nice sweat (if it's possible to call sweat nice)!

justsomebloke

just a quick note. ye do weights first before cardio.

In relation to the weights programme I have to say in truth it doesn't look great at all and I doubt you will get the results you both want and deserve. In truth drop the machines and get using free weights. Also in my opinion there are too many exercises in it as well

Here is a link to a basic programme done up by one of the personal trainers on the site

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055054745

July

Thanks jsb. I'll have a look at that link.

I'm not awfully shocked to hear someone who doesn't think too much of the programme because I got the impression that the instructor wasn't that great e.g. showing me the rower, I asked him is there a technique I should do regarding straightening legs/shoulder positioning and he said something like "ah just belt away at it like, it will come naturally to you":eek:

BossArky

July wrote: »

.... I got the impression that the instructor wasn't that great e.g. showing me the rower, I asked him is there a technique I should do regarding straightening legs/shoulder positioning and he said something like "ah just belt away at it like, it will come naturally to you":eek:

Muppetry of the highest order :eek:

This describes the rowing process and is an interesting site for bits and pieces.

karry1412

Well done for taking action! I hope you start seeing some results soon Starting taking action myself today so fingers crossed for us both!!

ali.c

BossArky wrote: »

Muppetry of the highest order :eek:

This describes the rowing process and is an interesting site for bits and pieces.

Thats a really good article thanks for posting it bossArky.

Op good luck with your endeavours!!

July

karry1412 wrote: »

Well done for taking action! I hope you start seeing some results soon Starting taking action myself today so fingers crossed for us both!!

Best of luck Karry!

---

Tues 27 Nov

I kept things pretty much the same today as I didn't get a chance to read that other thread properly before I went to the gym. Also, I'm still getting used to going to the gym and had memorised my programme so I did it again today - I'm not disregarding the advice given to me, just haven't taken it fully on board yet if that makes sense:)

Regarding the number of machines, I only actually use four, the rest is free weights. I'll label them below.

Warm up: Crosstrainer, 5 mins, level 4 quickstart, rpm >60

Weights Machines:
1. Adductor: 25kg - 3 x 10
2. Abductor: 25kg - 1 x 10, 30kg - 1 x 10, 25kg - 1 x 10
3. Lat pull down: 30kg - 1 x 10, 37.5kg - 1 x 10, 30kg - 1 x 10
4. Chest press: 30kg - 3 x 10

Free weights:

Bicep curls: 5lbs - 2x15 Will increase weight next time

Tricep kickbacks: 5lbs - 2x15 Will increase weight next time

Shoulder press: 5 lbs - 2x15

Medial raise: 5lbs - 2x15

Lunges: 10lbs - 2x15

Squats with ball, 10lbs - 2x15

Core:

Sit ups, on ball - 2x15

Obliques, on floor - 2x15

Cardio:

Crosstrainer: 10 mins manual programme, level 5 - rpm > 60

Treadmill: 10mins interval training, brisk walk and slow jog

Rower: 5 mins, level 7

Stretches: I did all the stretches on the chart, giving each one at least 30 secs

July

July wrote: »

Lunges: 10lbs - 2x15

Squats with ball, 10lbs - 2x15

The above is 5lbs in each hand. Should I be saying 5lbs instead of 10lbs? If you can let me know please do and I can edit my post.

karry1412

July wrote: »

Best of luck Karry!

Thanks! And glad to see you're still going strong - keep it up!

July

Fri 30 Nov

Warm up: Crosstrainer, 5 mins, level 5 quickstart, rpm >65

Weights Machines:
1. Adductor: 25kg - 2 x 15
2. Abductor: 25kg - 2 x 15
3. Lat pull down: 30kg - 2 x 15
4. Chest press: 30kg - 2 x 15

Free weights:

Bicep curls: 3kgs - 2x15

Tricep kickbacks: 3kgs - 2x15

Medial raise: 3kgs - 2x15

Lunges: 6kgs - 2x15

Squats with ball, 6kgs - 2x15

Core:

Sit ups, on ball - 1 x 40

Cardio:

Treadmill: 15mins interval training, brisk walk and slow jog

Stretches: Throrough stretching

July

Badminton. Not very strenuous though!

July

Warm up: Crosstrainer, 5 mins, level 6-7 quickstart, rpm >65

Weights Machines:
1. Adductor: 25kg - 2 x 15
2. Abductor: 30kg - 2 x 15
3. Lat pull down: 30kg - 1 x 15, 1 x 8, 25kg - 1 x 8
4. Chest press: 30kg - 2 x 15

Free weights:

Bicep curls: 8lbs - 2x15

Tricep kickbacks: 3kgs - 1x15
Tricep dips: 1 x 15

Medial raise: 3kgs - 2x15

Lunges: 6kgs - 2x15

Squats with ball, 6kgs - 2x15

Core:

Crunches 2 x 15
Obliques 2 x 15
Reverse crunch 2 x 15

Cardio:

Treadmill: 15mins interval training, brisk walk and slow jog (7kph/9.5kph)

Stretches: Throrough stretching

My thights feel like flippin' tree trunks!

July

Have a rotten head cold for the past week that kept me from the gym and made me feel so sorry for myself that I've ate like a pig and slept loads.

Last night I had badminton. Played a tough singles and a so-so mixed game.

Didn't stretch. So sore today.

July

Warm up: Crosstrainer, 5 mins, level 6 quickstart, rpm >65

Weights Machines:
1. Adductor: 25kg - 2 x 15
2. Abductor: 25kg - 2 x 15 (forgot that I had been doing 30kg - thought I was just getting stronger! )
3. Chest press: 30kg - 2 x 15

Free weights:

Bicep curls: 8lbs - 2x15

Tricep kickbacks: 3kgs - 2x15

Medial raise: 3kgs - 2x15

Lunges: 6kgs - 2x15

Squats with ball, 6kgs - 1x15

Core:

Crunches 2 x 15
Obliques 2 x 15
Reverse crunch 2 x 15

Cardio:

Treadmill: 15mins interval training, brisk walk and slow jog (4mph/6mph)

Stretches: Throrough stretching


What a fat day. I saw myself in the mirror in the gym and thought I was someone else - someone much more out of shape than me!! Oh dear... Reality bites.

July

Crosstrainer, 5 mins, level 6 quickstart, rpm >65

Adductor: 25kg - 1 x 15, 30 kg - 1 x 15 (although not able to come all the way in for the last 5 or 6)

Abductor: 30kg - 1 x 15, 35 kg - 1 x 15

Chest press: 30kg - 1 x 15, 37.5kg - 1 x 6, 30 kg - 1 x 6

Bicep curls: 8lbs - 2x15

Tricep kickbacks: 3kgs - 1x15, 8lbs - 1 x 15

Medial raise: 3kgs - 2x15

Lunges: 6kgs - 2x15

Squats with ball, 6kgs - 2x15

Swiss ball crunches 1 x 30, 1 x 20

Obliques 2 x 15

Treadmill: 17mins interval training, brisk walk and slow jog (4mph/6mph)

Stretches

July

Swapped gym for shopping over the past week

Crosstrainer, 5 mins, level 6 quickstart, rpm >65

Adductor: 25kg - 1 x 15, 30 kg - 1 x 8, 25kg - 1 x 7

Abductor: 30kg - 2 x 15

Lateral Pull down: 30kg - 2 x 15

Chest press: 30kg - 1 x 15, 37.5kg - 1 x 6, 30 kg - 1 x 6

Bicep curls: 4kg - 2x15

Tricep kickbacks: 3kgs - 2x15,

Medial raise: 3kgs - 2x15 (couldn't raise arms all the way up for the last 3 of each set)

Lunges: 6kgs - 2x15

Swiss ball crunches 1 x 30, 1 x 20

Obliques 2 x 15

Treadmill: 15mins interval training, brisk walk and slow jog (7kph/9.5kph)

Stretches

July

Christmas + 5 week college placement involving 2hrs commute and a tonne of paperwork in the evenings + 'other' = my excuses!

It took me a while to find this long lost thread...

Quick trip to gym today, rushing for doc's appointment.

Weight is about the same as before following my neglect of exercise - 64.7kg

10 mins cross trainer

Adductor 30kg x 10 x 3

Abductor 25kg x 15 x 2

Lat pulldown 30kg x 15 x 2

Dumbell lunges 5lb x 15 x 2

Medial raises 5lb x 15 x 2

Ab mat work -crunches, obliques and reverse crunch 15 x 1 each

Stretches

July

Warm up: Crosstrainer, 15 mins, level 4 quickstart, rpm >65

Weights Machines:
1. Adductor: 25kg - 2 x 15
2. Abductor: 30kg - 3 x 8
3. Lat pull down: 30kg - 3 x 8
4. Chest press: 30kg - 3 x 8

Free weights:

Bicep curls: 5lbs - 2 x 15

Tricep kickbacks: 5lbs - 1 x 15

Shoulder press: 5lbs - 1 x 15

Lunges: 5lbs - 2x15

Cardio:

Treadmill: 20 mins interval training, brisk walk and slow jog; one minute intervals (4mph/5.5mph)

Stretches: Throrough stretching

July

Warm up: Crosstrainer, 10 mins, level 4 quickstart, rpm >65

Weights Machines:
1. Adductor: 25kg - 1 x 15; 30kg - 2 x 8 improvement
2. Abductor: 30kg - 3 x 10
3. Lat pull down: 30kg - 3 x 8
4. Chest press: 30kg - 3 x 8

Free weights:

Bicep curls: 5lbs - 1 x 15

Medial raise: 5lbs - 1 x 15

Shoulder press: 5lbs - 1 x 15

Lunges: 5lbs - 2x15

Core:

1 x 20 of crunch, obliques, reverse crunch on floor

Cardio:

Treadmill: 20 mins interval training, brisk walk and slow run; 1.5 minute run, 1 min walk (4mph/5.5mph) improvemet

Stretches: Throrough stretching

July

So strange, I just posted this but no sign of it. I must have done somethin wrong.

Wed, 20 Feb

Warm up: Crosstrainer, 10 mins, level 5 quickstart, rpm >65

Weights Machines:
1. Adductor: 30kg - 3 x 8
2. Abductor: 30kg - 2 x 12 (must increase weight next time)
3. Chest press: 30kg - 2 x 8; 37.5 - 1 x 8 (tough)

Free weights:

Bicep curls: 3kgs - 1 x 15

Medial raise: 5lbs - 1 x 15

Lunges: 5lbs - 2 x 15

Core:

1 x 20 of crunch, obliques, reverse crunch on floor

Cardio:

Treadmill: 30 mins interval training, brisk walk and slow run; 1 min walk, 1.5 minute run (4mph/5.5mph) improvement

Stretches: Yes

Note: I was like a witch going into the gym - moody, headache, tired. Just wanted a shower and the leaba. Thankfully I made myself go and I came out buzzing!:D

July

Treadmill: 30 mins interval training, brisk walk and slow run; 1 min walk, 1.5 minute run (4mph/5.5mph)

To progress with the running, would I be better to stick with 20 mins but concentrate on increasing the interval time spent running and/or shorten the time walking?

I want to get to a point where I can run for about 15 minutes without stopping to walk in the middle!

xebec

To get up to running 15 mins without stopping you should concentrate on reducing your recovery periods while and/or increasing your running time. How long you keep that up for depends on how you feel, but 20 mins should really be a minimum. So next run, push it out to 2 mins running followed by 1 min rest. Then maybe a few runs after that go to 2 mins run and 45 secs rest.

As for getting up to being able to run a respectable time/distance, I and many others have found this plan helps:

Couch-to-5k

If the early weeks seem a bit easy then start a few weeks into it. It'll have you running 30 mins in no time!

July

xebec wrote: »

As for getting up to being able to run a respectable time/distance, I and many others have found this plan helps:

Couch-to-5k

If the early weeks seem a bit easy then start a few weeks into it. It'll have you running 30 mins in no time!

Thanks for that. Looks like I can start on Week 3. Will give that a go so.

July

Warm up: Crosstrainer, 10 mins, level 4/5 quickstart, rpm >65

Weights Machines:
1. Adductor: 30kg - 3 x 8
2. Abductor: 30kg - 1 x 8; 35kg - 2 x 8 (struggled with the 35kgs)
3. Lat pull down: 30kg - 3 x 8
4. Chest press: 30kg - 3 x 8 (left shoulder sore, have suffered with tendonitis before)

Free weights:

Bicep curls: 3kgs - 2 x 15

Tricep kickbacks : 3kgs - 2 x 15

Lunges: 3kgs - 2 x 15

Core:

1 x 20 of crunch, obliques, reverse crunch on floor

Cardio:

Treadmill: Starting on Wk3 of 'couch to 5k' programme. Have no idea if I'm walking/running at the correct pace but it's what feels right for me. The first 3min run was actually tougher than the second.
walk-4mph, run-5.5mph.

(90sec run, 90 sec walk, 3min run, 3min walk) x 2.

Stretches: Throrough stretching