Jane's fitness blog - part 4

The Advertiser's commercial publications editor Jane Stevens is putting personal training to the test in a six-week fitness campaign which will feature in the next edition of our Berkshire Living magazine 

Keep up to date with her progress in Jane's fitness blog.


Monday, April 21

 After jogging on Saturday my foot was hurting quite a lot. 
Met Adam for the halfway test I've completed three weeks of the six. Had to repeat my run around the track to compare times.
What a struggle! My foot hurt a lot and my time was worse than the first time I did it. Very disheartening.

But Adam would not let me sink and I was determined not to be beaten. In my sit-up test I upped my best from 12 to 20 and my plank from 58 seconds to 1 minute and 17 seconds.

And there was other good news though the pounds aren't dropping off (according to those noisy scales in Boots) Adam measured me up and I've lost 2.5 inches from my waist and a measly half inch from my hips. But on the scale for motivation and fitness knowledge and lifestyle and self image I've improved no end. Despite the setback with the foot and feeling a bit down about it I generally feel so much better and my clothes are looser.

Went straight to the garage and bought ice for my foot (as directed by Adam). Sat with my foot in a container of ice under my desk on and off all afternoon and again in the evening.

This gimpy foot has put paid to my in-between jogging days so it was DNA Cycles in the High Street, Maidenhead, to the rescue. They very kindly lent me one of their hire bikes and I had a very enjoyable evening with the birds tweeting and so on along and around the country lanes near my home. 
40 minutes was prescribed by Adam I enjoyed it so much I did more than an hour.

 Wednesday, April 23

Felt really fired up today and Adam adapted the training session to take into account my 'gimpy' foot , as he likes to call it.

He calls it the 'living room special', so there's no running.

It was quite a full-on circuit training session with a step and boxing and some new things thrown in including the 'jump-step-squat-hook' manoeuvre, the full Turkish get-up (1kg) (not a fetching type of flowing robe but a rather nasty exercise which involves getting up and lying down on the mat in quick succession while raising a 1kg weight aloft above your head (then the same with the weight in the other hand. Not a favourite but v. good for muscles in the sides.

Other delights included a leapfrog squat, the push-up pyramid and burpees! I remembered these from school but not with any great pleasure. They are very hard to do and I struggled to managed just five.

Apparently, the technical term for these is 'plyometrics' and are more explosive jumping exercises that challenge both the cardio vascular system as well as providing good strengthening.

These are the sort of things you can do at home hence Œthe living room special¹ if no outdoor space is available or the weather is very bad. And I can testify it is very challenging and effective.
Felt great after all that and made up for Monday¹s disappointments.

Friday, April 25

Similar session to Wednesday. Still resting the foot.
But didn't feel I did as well as on Wednesday. So much of this is in the mind, I have discovered. We had to use the rugby pitch today which has quite a bumpy surface (because a local school invaded the running track) and that definitely took away my confidence. I was a bit worried about my foot turning on the uneven surface. 
Still felt good when it was over.

More cycling over the weekend.

Monday, April 28

After eating strictly by the rules and feeling much trimmer was slightly disappointed at my weekly Boots weigh in not have lost anything, not gained either, mind you.
But know I feel better. Don't even fancy the things I'm avoiding. Eat lots if fish, salad, vegetables and fruit over the weekend.

Met Adam at the park. For more circuit training but this time he brought out the big boys some seriously heavy weights.
After warming up with some stepping it was straight into the circuit training.

The weights came into play for a biceps exercise with my knee and one hand resting precariously on the large ball and my other foot propping the whole edifice up!
Managed to balance and lift the weights. A tough exercise!

We also did a new sideways squat and one with weights which really helps you keep the body¹s weight back on the heels and so work the bottom and thighs much more. Ouch (but in a good way)!

Adam deemed it was time for a full press-up - man-style. Struggled to do one and then a few more.
Back to the lady version which I find so much easier now. But 20 is still my limit. 
Then the plank-why was it quite easy today? Felt I could go on much longer. Maybe my back has got stronger.

That's it for the day. Stretches, which also means a lie down!
Am getting to love the smell of warm rubber from the mat (mixed with sweat) which signals the end of the session.
Only another week after this and I'm on my own!

Wednesday, April 30

We have an early meeting today at 8.30am. That suits me as I always have more energy in the morning. A steaming bowl of porridge sets me up for the session.

I arrive at Braywick Park just as the heavens opened and the rain continued relentlessly for the whole session. But in a way it made it more of a challenge. And at least Adam was getting soaked too!

Did a lap of jogging and my gimpy foot held out very well. Then we're into Adam's'boot-camp' circuits.

He increased the push-up pyramid a bit today which means I start off with one push-up, stand up and high-knee jog on the spot and then go down for two and so on until eight and then descend to one push-up. Managed 65 push-ups in total! The mat was squishy with rain and mud so lowering my nose into over and over was not a pleasant experience.

Despite being soaked and feeling absolutely worn out, I really enjoyed thus morning. There are rivulets of water running down my face and there¹s not a cm of me that isn¹t wet but I feel great. Really don¹t want his to end.

I see a whole new me emerging. My shoulders and the tops of my arms are definitely re-shaped and the new line continues down my torso. Thighs are trimmer wobbly inner bits wobbling a lot less and bottom overhang has got a lot less.

My skin looks better (that must be the no-wine rule and no coffee certainly no machine stuff) and the good diet generally. But most importantly I feel so much better and livelier. 
Have more energy in the evenings and wake up feeling fresh and ready for action rather than groggy.

Looking forward to Friday, But no rain...please!

To find the rest of Jane's blogs see our Mind and Body section here.