Wednesday 30th September 2009

20:35 - 21:10 Session at Lanark Gym

Cross trainer - 11 minutes (split between levels 8 and 12, including two minutes backwards)

Stepper - 5 minutes at four floors per minute (but managed to beat that time !)

1 set of 30 at 20lbs, 1 set of 30 at 25lbs on the abominable abdominal wotsit

2 sets of 15 at 20lbs on the weights machine

Treadmill - 10 minutes, 2 at 6km/h, 6 at 8.5km/h, 2 at 7km/h - all at a 2% gradient

Gym pretty busy tonight - three or four people in for inductions by the sound of it - but managed to get a reasonably varied set of exercises in. First time experimenting with gradients on the treadmill - certainly made a difference ! Also tried to keep the training to keep my heart rate level maxing at about 150bpm - didn't manage it though - peaked out over 160bpm :(

Monday 28th September 2009

20:10 - 21:05 Session at Lanark Gym

Treadmill: 5 mins @ 6km/h, 10 mins @ 8.5 km/h, 1 min @ 9km/h

Cross trainer : 3 mins forwards/2 mins backwards/3 mins forwards at level 13

Stepping machine : 17 floors at 3.5 floors per minute pace

2 sets of 30 @ 25lbs on the abominable abdominal machine

2 sets of 15 @ 20lbs on the weights machine

Rowing machine : 5 minutes (digital readout broken, so no idea how far I went !!)

Because the car is out of action, started with a 0.6 mile walk from home to the gym (downhill !), stopped early to shower at the gym rather than at home then walked the 0.6 mile back up (uphill). Not a bad workout all round, but while my shirt was soaked through it still didn't *feel* like I'd worked that hard ?

I was talking about how, when I run outdoors, I don't seem able to keep going for the amount of time I can in the gym because my legs just got too sore to keep going, and it was commented that I might be hitting anaerobic levels of exercise very quickly. Watching the monitor in the gym, even restraining myself to 8.4 km/h the heart rate went up to about 160, so I was getting close - and I have a bad tendency to run faster than that when outdoors - oh well, best get a non-hard disk iPod and subscribe to to running podcasts that help control your BPM !

Sunday 27th September 2009

12:00 - 12:30 Stretching Session

Decided to have another go with the aerobic bands. Half hour session of the various exercises suggested in the set, plus a few more leg stretches - surprisingly hard work :-o Arms are still only on the yellow (light) band, but legs are on the purple (medium) band - seems to make things work a little harder :)

Must try for either a run or a trip to the gym tomorrow though...

Thursday 24th September 2009

Another hour of 5-a-sides. Got through it ok (no goals, again :( but hips are giving me some real gyp after nearly a week of not doing any proper exercise (had other things - like a self-destructing car !) to try sorting out this week !

Back to normal soon though, hopefully.

Friday 18th September 2009

20:30 - 21:25 Session at Lanark Gym

Longer session tonight ...

5 mins at 6km/h, then 10 mins at 9.0/8.5 km/h then 1 min at 7km/h on the treadmill (2.1 km ?)

8 mins on the reclining bike, did about 3.7km, with a lot at resistance level 8

1 set of 30 reps at 25 lbs, 1 set of 30 reps at 30 lbs on the abominable abdominal thingy

2 sets of 15 at 20 lbs on the weights watcher

5 mins forwards at level 12, then 1 min at level 12 and 1 min at level 8 backwards on the cross trainer

8 mins on the rowing machine = 1645m

Did a lot, worked a lot, but don't quite feel as well exercised as I did on the short sessions for some reason... and I think I need to get back to running a bit more, as the session on the treadmill felt like very hard work, even though I only did 10 mins at any sort of pace on it. Mind you, that's three days in a row, between a short session, football and tonight, so maybe it was just a step too far - but hey. Oh, and the gym scales are back to reading 100kg !! Bah...

Thursday 17th September 2009

Hour of five-a-side football at lunchtime in Glasgow - not a stellar performance by any stretch of the imagination, but I did my damndest to keep up with play. Now all I have to do is become semi competent when I *do* keep up with play... even less likely ... (sob) Strangely I think my team actually won by a goal, but I did come off the pitch thinking we had conspired to lose... :s

Wednesday 16th September 2009

20:55 - 21:25 Session at Lanark Gym

Another late arrival home, and another abbreviated session at the gym. Tonight's fun :

11 minutes on the cross trainer - 2 at L5, 2 at L8, 4 at L12, 3 at L8 - inc. 1 at L12 & 2 at L8 backwards

2 sets of 30 at 25lbs on the abominable abdominal exercise wotsit

2 sets of 15 at 20lbs on the weights machine

10 minutes on the rowing machine - 2120 metres :)

Not bad - better than nothing, but Friday is a public holiday at work so hopefully I'll be able to put in a full hour's exercise, and get a decent run on the treadmill...