A Week in Fitness

Welcome to my week in fitness! I guess that you could call this a diary entry of sorts, but today I thought I'd share my week with you. This week saw me trying lots of new classes so who knows, maybe this post will inspire some of you to try something new and get that body moving. Reading posts like this helps to motivate me, as you may already know if you read my fitness motivation (post here) I’m a firm believer in mixing things up when it comes to fitness. Doing the same workout repeatedly not only becomes a chore, but I also find that I stop seeing results. Pushing yourself to try something new not only works new areas of your body (that you otherwise neglected) it also keeps exercise fun, which in return makes you more motivated!

Here's what I got up to this week - 

Monday – Run to gym/home (5.49km) + Spinning class

Lesson learnt, running after a spin class is crazy (don't do it!) What is spinning I hear you ask?  Spinning is a high intensity exercise that involves peddling as hard as you can whilst adding/subtracting resistance. Spinning makes me sweat in places that I’ve never sweated before! Possibly TMI, but spinning well and truly hurts my tooshi - maybe it's just me I don't know!? Tooshi pain aside, spin class is great for burning fat fast, this 45 minute class certainly isn't for the faint hearted, but I enjoy it none the less! 

Tuesday – Box Fit + Intro to free weights session

Tuesday was a day for something new. I booked onto a Box Fit class, I didn’t really know what to expect, if I'm honest, I assumed it would be a few punches with aerobic moves (nothing too strenuous.) So, you can imagine my surprise when I arrived to a 10kg barbell, dumbbells and a step box! This class involved lots of punching (with weights) burpees, squats and push ups - I'd say this was more like a circuit training session with weights. My arms and shoulders burned so bad after this class, which is great for me as I'm working hard on my upper body at the moment - #weenyarms! If your goal is to achieve a strong upper body give this class (or something similar) a try! 

I also attended an Intro to free weights session, it lasted for around 15 - 20 minutes, I can't recommend it enough! I've always lacked confidence when it comes to free weights maybe it's just me, but the free weights section can be very intimidating. There’s always sweaty guys in groups, pumping 50kg, grunting in the mirrors, hogging every piece of equipment! Anyway, this intro to free weights gave me lots of new workout ideas….I feel a lot more confident with my weights, and turns out my form actually isn’t as terrible as I thought!

Wednesday – Rest Day

I ended up having a bad case of Vertigo on Wednesday, so annoyingly exercise was out of the question. I did however do some reps at home with 5kg weights. Bicep curls and trip dips for around 15 minutes.

Thursday – Kettlebells & Abs session

A new class for me, I've heard a lot about Kettlebells though, apparently you can burn a lot of calories in 30 minutes! I didn't enjoy Kettlebells quite as much as I thought I would, there's a lot more to this class than just swinging a kettlebell, there's a technique to it and a lot of things to think about. The instructor corrected our forms and talked a lot about technique - which I can understand as we don't want any injuries. But for me this class was all talk, no action and for a 30 minute class I want to be working hard and have a real sweat on which I didn't find with this class. Maybe it was the instructor, maybe it was the class but I'm not keen on trying Kettlebells again. 

I followed Kettlebells with an abs session. It was in this abs class that I discovered just how much I hate Russian twists, my stomach burned. I had such a sweat on, it was 30 minutes of pure hell but worth it for a toned tummy. If you don't have a membership, but fancy 30 minutes of pure ab hell at home, I recommend this Fitness blender video here - it kills so bad! 

Friday - Bootcamp 

Hell. Yup, if I was to describe bootcamp in one word, it would be hell. I'll be honest though there's something about getting shouted at that makes me work 10x harder. Bootcamp is military style workout, with very harsh discipline. You get a fast paced class that burn real bad. I'd love to find more bootcamp classes in Sheffield, as sadly this was the last time I'll be able to attend this as I'm back full time next week (scary times!) 

So, there we have it! I'd love to know what you got up to this week (I'm nosey like that.) Are you a fan of Kettlebells or is spinning your favourite? Are you a fan of bootcamp sessions? What are your favourite fitness accounts on Youtube?