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Day 3: Oh. My. God

Feeling achy but not jet-laggy, finally. My legs hurt walking up the stairs at the station this morning, which was not a good sign considering I’d booked a circuit class for lunchtime.

I was a bit blasé, thinking that a ‘fast 20 minute circuit’ wouldn’t be too hard. Not that I’ve ever done a circuit before, so had no idea what to expect. Let’s just say I’d lulled myself into a false sense of security. It was awful.

There were only 2 of us in the class, so that meant maximum attention from the instructor and absolutely no hiding. There were 6 circuit stations, with 2 exercises for each. Each exercise lasted 20 seconds with a 10 second break between them, and they ranged from such horrors as jumping squats, ‘mountain climbers’, lunges, planks, something I couldn’t pronounce, dips, a press up thing against a box and steps ups onto a step the height of a table. I’m sure there were more, but my memory has blanked them out!

In reality I was definitely not ready for that type of class. I’ve not got enough strength yet in my arms or legs and both were aching from the previous two days of effort. I also don’t really like that being shouted at as encouragement thing that personal trainers do. I’d rather have a nice chat 🙂

IMG_6593Anyway, to keep this up for 90 days I’m going to have to try lots of things for variety, and there will be some I don’t like, or can’t do. I wonder if going on my own today made a difference.

The girls went to another spin class, but I wanted to do something at lunchtime, and it definitely wasn’t so much fun.

Tomorrow is a ‘rest day’ so I’m going to find some yoga or a light workout on YouTube I can do at home for half an hour, and look up some classes at the local council-run fitness centre that might work for Saturday and Sunday.

Daily exercise:     Fast Circuit
Venue:                      City University Gym
Type:                          Mix
Duration:                30 minutes

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Day 2: Wheels keep turnin’

Woke up this morning feeling a bit achy in the neck and mid-back, but to be honest, the continually brutal jet lag is far worse than the workout twinges. I’m also still dehydrated so I remembered to drink lots of water before I actually got the headache today.

Choosing from the list of classes at the gym, we booked the Virtual Cycle – a kind of spin class without an instructor. I was pretty concerned as I know you need to be super-fit to spin, but the idea that there was no one there to shout at me convinced me it would be OK.

After you set up the bike the video starts running on the big cinema screen. ‘Tom’, the virtual studio coach, leads you through a 30 minute cycle, which includes 2 climbs as well as the warm up and down.

I didn’t do any of the hill work, keeping my resistance at zero and concentrating on being able to complete 30 mins. I reckon there’s plenty of time to build up to that! The fist 15 minutes were fine, if not a bit uncomfortable (those saddles are hard!), and minutes 15-20 were the hardest. But just after 20 mins it seemed to get easier, almost like my body and mind were getting in the zone and it felt quite easy to get to the end. Obviously, that’s without any resistance, and an RPM of only about 80, but I was chuffed to finish something I was convinced I wouldn’t be able to do.

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Lauren, Nikki and Madge all did the class with me and once again having people to go with makes it much more fun. We’re already planning tomorrow’s session…I just need to fit it around meetings.

Daily exercise:     Virtual Cycle
Venue:                      City University Gym
Type:                          Cardio
Duration:                30 minutes

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My 30 for 90 challenge

While I was lounging around on the bed in the hotel in New York I watched a dreadful infomercial for a set of exercise DVD’s. The terrible ad went on for about a week, extolling the virtues of a very expensive set of fitness videos – but it did plant a seed of an idea in my head.

I flirt with exercise on and off, I have done for years. But since giving up martial arts I’ve never found anything I could stick with to replace it. I’d like to go back to some form of fighting sport, but I definitely couldn’t keep the pace these days, and my flirtation with other forms of exercise very rarely leads to a second date. I’ve lost count of the number of gyms I’ve joined over the years or the number of false starts. Or the number of excuses I’ve used to to not find a way to fit exercise into my day.

So, my plan is quite simple, though fairly ambitious for me. I’m going to fit in 30 minutes of any type of exercise for 90 days. Ninety days. It seems like quite a long time, but the duration of the experiment isn’t the important bit – it’s saying to myself ‘it’s only 30 minutes, you can make time for it’ that will be the biggest behaviour change. It feels achievable. It feels quick and it feels like something I can stick to. So I’ve joined the gym next door to work, I’ve downloaded My Fitness Pal and Day 1 is done!

Day 1: Body Pump

Daily exercise:        Body Pump
Venue:                         City University Gym
Type:                             Weights/strength
Duration:                   40 minutes

I decided to do a class as the first exercise, and I really enjoyed it. It’s a 40-minute class that they run straight after work. It’s mostly weights-based, with lots of work with a bar. It felt hard, I couldn’t quite do it all and my arms are still like jelly while I’m typing this, but I do feel good for getting started.

Thanks to Lauren and Nikki for taking up the challenge with me. It’s good to have other people to egg you on. Let’s go on this journey together.

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