Feeling strong?

To be honest, the heading for this blog is meant as a joke.  I was feeling far from strong when this plan was put together – I was jet-lagged worse than ever before and, as it turned out, was developing a horrible cold and fever.  Welcome home!

I initially thought I was just feeling a bit sluggish, so headed out for fresh air and strength training.  Training outside really does seem to have a more positive effect on my mood than training indoors.  I haven’t come across any research to prove this, but my personal recommendation is to train outside whenever possible.

There is a lot of moving around in Day 25, so leave your valuables at home.  Walking lunges are just one example.  Moving strength exercises will get your heart rate up more than staying in one spot, which we know brings a multitude of benefits.  Train well.

Coastal cardio

I believe in a weather God.  After a cold, wet miserable winter, the type that kept Australians tied to the couch and eating stew, the sun came out to welcome us back to town.  Brilliant!

And what better way to feel happy to be back in Australia, than to head to the beach.  It definitely reduces chances of developing the post holiday blues (and obviously exercising helps, we all know that now).

It’s a Saturday training plan, so is another ‘go out, move, and have a good time’ plan.  I chose to do the Coogee-Bondi coastal path, walking most of the way and running the stairs and uphills.  Here I am, at North Bondi, within a few steps of my finish line.  Time for breakfast!

Day 23 – Yoga with Buddha

It had to come sometime, the final day of our holiday.  A bit sad, but at least it had a great start.  Doing yoga up in the village of Ngong Ping was gorgeous, we were almost up in the clouds.  And managed to get it done before the crowds of tourists descended on us.

This is another quite simple yoga plan, with a lot of focus on holding positions and breathing slowly.  Counting breathes is a great way to time a yoga pose – much more relaxing than checking time or counting rough seconds.

And make sure that you enjoy the stretching for the last 10 minutes.  After 23 days of training, you should need it!

Day 22 – Lots of legs

Another boring training shot – sorry!  At this stage, I was till hooked on training at the gym, so set up this shot after I wrote your Day 22 training plan.  Are you ready for it?

Lots of legs!  Squats, lunges, isometric work, these kneeling squats, slow kicks… anything and everything that will make your legs work.  We’ve talked about this before – big muscles take more energy to run them.  So by focusing on the big muscles in your legs and butt, you get more benefits out of training today.  You just might hurt a little tomorrow….

Day 21 – Climbing to Buddha

After a 5.7km glass-bottomed gondola ride over water, roads, mountains and valleys, we arrived at Ngong Ping Village to visit Buddha. But no-one told us the gondola didn’t go all the way, so it made sense to incorporate stair climbing into this training plan.  And we all know that I love hill and stair intervals to get fitter, faster.

If you don’t have stairs nearby, you can use a hill.  Just try to use a different location to the one you’ve used on other Wednesdays, we need to keep training varied so that your body keeps progressing.

The number of times you climb your stairs will depend on how long it takes you.  A great motivational tool is a stop watch – time your first set, then try to beat it each time.  Good luck!

Days 19 & 20 in the making….

Ok, so I’m not exactly training in this photo.  Once we got to Hong Kong, I was so excited to finally have access to a gym and pool that I just couldn’t help training there.  Air-conditioned bliss!

So in this photo I’m taking in the view of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak and thinking about what to do with you for September 19th and 20th – core and circuit training.

For the core plan, day 19, we’ll keep progressing and introduce a few new moves.  A little something to keep you on your toes!  But remember, if you feel abdominal exercises in your lower back, take it back a few steps.  Only back exercises are for backs.

And day 20 – super circuit!  There’s tonnes of cardio in this circuit and the strength work is all isometric, meaning that you hold the exercises still.  It’s tough, especially if you’re shaky from the cardio.  A little bit of a change, which is always a good thing!

Day 18 – Sunday strength

OK, so I cheated.  I knew that I had no time at all to train on my Day 18, as it was a travelling day for us, so I planned day 18 at the end of my day 17 walk.

Here I am with Lac Bourget behind me, trying to decide what to encourage you all to do on Sunday, September 18th.  And then I got it – only one set of each exercise.  That means 1 BIG set!  It’s hard, really hard, but you also get a lot more rest that you do in most training plans.

See how you go – I’m especially intrigued to hear how you all cope with the push-ups…..