Woo! All of the first 6 boxes of my training plan are highlighted (7th is a rest day) which means week one is done and dusted. Although I will write a ‘reflections post’ when I reach my goal, I thought I’d briefly recap about the first week and what I’m enjoying about it:
- Having a set schedule holds me accountable to completing each workout…I get a kick out of ticking things off 😀
- I’m enjoying the varied intensity of each workout
- It’s pushed me to go that extra mile…literally
- I can feel my body being challenged in a way it hasn’t in a long time
- It suits my hair-washing schedule perfectly 😉
Totally random picture but it made me smile 🙂
Like I said, 5 miles had been my max distance for a while now. When I was doing my long run of the week on Thursday (6 miles), I’ll admit that I felt pretty baller at about 5.3 miles in. More than the running aspect of the plan, I also like that my strength training has been split into separate upper & lower body workouts. Normally I prefer total body weights routine but with the former, I’ve noticed that:
- Recovery periods between sessions are longer
- Overall workout length is shorter, and hence moe efficient
- No 2 workouts in a row are the same
- The body part in question is able to be worked till fatigue because more part-specific exercises are being done
For my upper body workout yesterday, I tried to ensure I somehow worked my back, chest, shoulders, biceps, and triceps. Here’s what I came up with:
Upper-Body Workout
After a 20-minute warmup on the cross trainer (or cardio machine of your choice), do 2 sets of 15 of the following exercises, unless otherwise stated:
- Superset 1: Chest Press & Bicep Curls
- 1 set Clean & Press
- Superset 2: One-Handed Rows & Two-Handed Tricep Extensions
- 1 set Barbell Deadlift
- Superset 3: Overhead Press & Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows
- 1 set Barbell Deadlift
- Superset 4: Lateral Shoulder Raises & Dumbbell Shrugs
- 2 sets Lateral Pull-Downs
- Superset 5: Press-ups & Plank
GREAt workout! ilove supersets! i defs dont have any good workouts.. ive been unmotivated and knackered.. i need to get back on track!
I’m sure your mojo will be back soon enough 🙂
Keep it up girl! I really admire how motivated you are! You do an awesome job sticking to a schedule. I could learn a thing or two from you. 😉
Thanks Tracy, your comment means a lot! In fact I’m learning a lot from your blog, Ms. Half Marathon expert 🙂
i’d add in tricep dips and pull ups. 🙂
If only I could do a legit pull-up!
You have a hairwashing schedule too?! Haha I wash my hair every other day, usually in the morning so I hate if I have something to do early in the morning on a hair washing day because it means I have to wake up even EARLIER to complete wash & blowdry! As for workouts…my only workout this week was walking around downtown Portland in high heels.
Hahah I’m glad I’m not alone with hairwashing schedules! I can never wash and blow dry my hair in the morning..I wash it in the night (preferably Monday & Thursdays) and then do the next morning before breakfast! Any movement done in high heels definitely qualifies as a legit workout!
I don’t have any workouts to share with you (darn my unathletic genes) haha, but yours sounds great!
Pilates counts!
Your workout is great… I love supersets! I am going to copy and use this sometime this week… I shall let you know what I think 🙂
Great :-)! I get bored if I’m lifting weights for too long so supersets is ideal for me!
I normally don’t like doing exercise DVDs but if you find the right one, those sneaky little 30 minute workouts can pack a punch. I did a killer upper body workout this Wednesday and it was amazing.
I’m not a fan of exercise dvds either but I’m open to do one in a pinch.
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