Gym - AnnaTheApple

July 13, 2016September 17, 2020

What I’m loving lately

Over the past few weeks there have been a few new things that I’ve discovered and have been loving. Some of them I have been sent to review, and others are items that I’ve bought myself.

Ab Roller

I’ve seen these all over the place at the gym and online. Though at the gym people just use barbells to roll out with (my gym’s not that fancy). I’ve tried the barbell method and it’s alright but a bit awkward, especially as the bar tends not to be very smooth and quite hard so can hurt the hands a bit (yes, I’m a pansy).

I’ve been tempted to buy one online but never got round to it. Then I was in Whiteley the other day in a quirky Scandinavian shop, Tiger, and found one of £5 – bargain! It’s a great core workout – from the shoulders to the abdominals, helping increase stability and strength. So far I’m doing it from my knees and it is tough.

Grip Strengthener

I also found, in the Tiger shop, a grip strengthener, which you basically just squeeze open and close with your hand.

There were different strengths and I chose the 25kg one (not entirely sure what that means – but the bigger the weight the harder it was to close the grip). I’m not sure how effectively this is going to be but I can use it when I’m watching TV or in traffic. It was only £2 so it’s not breaking the bank.

Anything to make lifting weights, pull ups and bouldering easier!

Resistance Band

I’m a big fan of resistance bands. I currently have one that I use to go around my ankles to do monster walks to help increase my glute strength and activation. It’s more of a ribbon-style band though. When I was at the fitness retreat they showed us a lot of mobility work that you should do before you lift weights. They used a thin, longer and very strong resistance bands. So I picked one up from Amazon very cheaply so I could continue on my own at my gym.

It’s great for shoulder mobility work as it loosens up your muscles and yours joints before you start lifting.

It’s very simple and really only takes 5 minutes but it works wonders. My lifting afterwards felt a lot more smooth and in control – less clunky. As I work out in the morning this is super helpful as I haven’t had chance to fully get my body into gear. Normally I would just get on a machine for 3-4 minutes as my warm-up but now I’m trying to do more mobility work like this and some dynamic warm-ups, like eagles, some yoga moves and glute activation – it just depends what I’m going to be doing for my workout. This way I get a more focused warm-up.

Benefit Eyebrow Pencil

OK I don’t really wear make-up. If I go on a night out or somewhere fancy I might put on some eye liner and mascara. Anything else seems like suffocating my skin or too much effort. However, my friend did do my make up for me before the wedding the other week and it looked really good. I still looked like my, just an enhanced version. It was a Bare Minerals powder set. I was very tempted to buy it but in the end didn’t as I wasn’t sure when I’d wear it. I wouldn’t wear it for work or just a regular day so it seemed a bit expensive. But my interests have been raised for make up in general. I’d love to be able to know how to use it. And let’s be honest, I ain’t getting any younger nor any less single!!

I went out shopping with my mum the other day and we went to Boots to have a mosey at the make up. The pair of us are ridiculous as we have no idea what different make ups do (concealer? Foundation? BB cream? Tinted moisturiser? Powder? Clueless!). Anyway we found a few products and asked the lady (not caked in make up – she looked like an normal human being for once! A rarity for the Boots make up people…) to help.

I saw the eyebrow pencil and was intrigued. I have very dark eyebrows and I pluck them regularly. But there are a few gaps…The lady applied the eyebrow brush and my eyebrows suddenly looked super neat and tidy. Sold!

It doesn’t make me look like my eyebrows are drawn on or vastly different, just a bit more consistent. It didn’t look like I was wearing anything but it did make my eyebrows look better. As I have such dark features, it worked well to enhance the features I already have. So I treated myself

One baby step at a time!

Protein Cheese

I’m still persevering with eggs for breakfast. I like the protein in the morning and have found I can last a lot longer past midday without needing to EAT LUNCH IMMEDIATELY. My jam so far has been three eggs, kale and some sort of fish but I recently found a new cheese in Tesco called EatLean Protein Cheese. Yes, sounds weird I give you that. Basically it’s low in fat but higher in protein and it seems to be like regular cheddar. So I had some of that with some black olives and it was delicious!

I do love my protein and having something so filling in the morning is important to me, especially after doing a workout at the gym (muscle repair and all that jazz). Don’t get me wrong though, porridge will always be my first love and when my running gets back on track and into marathon training I will most likely be back on it.

Red Kooga – review

I was recently sent a herbal product called Red Kooga. It’s apparently supposed to enhance energy and sports performance because of the herbs it contains. These include Panax ginseng (a herb that has been used for thousands of years to promote vitality and maintain mental alertness) and Guarana (which helps provide a natural source of caffeine). It also contains a daily allowance of B Complex Vitamins, which helps maintain a healthy nervous system and helps release energy from food. And furthermore it has no artificial flavours or preservatives and is suitable for vegetarians or vegans.

I was obviously a bit dubious and sceptical about this. I’m not a natural remedy type person. I started taking two a day with breakfast and, hand on heart, I genuinely think it made me feel a bit more awake. Perhaps this was entirely a placebo effect – who knows, but I honestly did feel like it helped. Not in a huge “WOW I have so much energy, let’s run a marathon immediately” type ways, but in a subtle “I’m yawning a bit less and not feeling so sleepy in my morning meetings”.

It’s available in Boots for £7.99 and I would actually purchase some to help me through days I know I need to concentrate a bit more. I’d definitely have used these during my revision and exams at university! I didn’t feel any difference in the gym or running though but then for me I don’t think that’s a problem area.

Enerton Full Insoles – review

I’ve also been sent some Enerton Performance Full Insoles. They’re to put into your trainers in place of your regular insoles in order to help reduce injury and support your feet when running. They apparently give a good “energy rebound”, which over long distances can be invaluable. They are made up of “D3O technology”, which is basically a special substance that’s putty soft when you’re not moving, but hardens as you put more pressure on it and produces a higher energy return.

I have recently started using them when running so will do a full review shortly, but so far they’re very comfortable. For someone who is super injury prone and often uses insoles, these are definitely right up my street!

So keep your eyes open for a full review on these bad boys soon!

Do you use any energy boosting supplements?

Do you like a carb-based breakfast or a protein-based breakfast?

How do you warm-up at the gym or for running?

**Full Disclosure: I was sent the Red Kooga and Enerton Insoles for free to review. All opinions are my own honest ones.**

June 16, 2016

What I do when I can’t run

My hamstring is, fingers crossed, definitely getting better. It’s tough because I’ve had to strengthen the tendon in order for it to get back to normal but strengthening it can aggravate it further and delays it feeling normal.

However, I had a really good deep massage again on Tuesday night and I woke up the next day with huge improvements. The sports therapist also tested my hamstring strength and found it had improved a lot since previously. So for now I’m just letting it calm down a bit. Tendons are tricky business!

Anyway, I’m still actually OK with not running at the moment. As I’ve said before, I have no races coming up and I have no urgency to start training again. All is well! Clearly shows I needed a break. Don’t get me wrong, I would like to do the odd run for the mental freshness it brings but I’m not feeling the panic and sadness I might previously have felt in the past.

So what does a runner do I do when I can’t run? I’m not a big fan of cardio machines at the gym it has to be said. I know I can get my fitness back when I get back to running so I’m not stressed about being slow (for me) when I do start again. Spinning has always been a good fall back for me but I’m not really feeling the urge to go and I’ve convinced myself it wouldn’t be a good idea with a hamstring issue anyway

My only annoyance with my hamstring is that because I’m trying to be super careful not to aggravate it, I’ve been avoiding heavy squats and deadlifts. I find these really don’t help the matter and probably contributed to it going from a slight niggle post-marathon to a very annoying persistent nag. So going to the gym has required a bit more thought.

Though I am still lifting heavy weights when it comes to upper body (arms, back and shoulders), I now incorporate more running-specific dynamic strength workouts so when I go into marathon training I will hopefully have a strength conducive to running injury-free.

Here are a few of the things I’ve been doing at the gym.

For legs:

Side sliding lunges

This uses the rowing machine’s seat. You can use those floor disc things that slide around but I prefer the rowing machine. At first I was a bit nervous doing this as it’s a bit odd I guess to use the rowing machine in this way but no one batted an eyelid (and to be fair, the gym is quite empty at 5.30am).

You can also stand in front of the seat and push your foot backwards for a backwards lunge as well and this will work the glutes a bit more.

Squat with medicine ball drop

Though I’m avoiding heavy squats, I find normal body weight squats don’t impact my hamstring (especially I don’t try and go too deep). These squats are really good for the entire body as you lift the medicine ball in the air as you come out of the squat and then throw it down. It’s quite an explosive exercise. You then squat to pick it up and begin again. I tend to do about 20-30 reps depending on the weight of the ball.

Squat on a Bosu ball

This is a good isometric exercise – where you hold the squat position, or you can squat up and down while attempting to maintain good form. It’s tricky because you’re wobbling the entire time. It’s a great exercise though as it recruits lots of stabilising muscles that might ordinarily not come into play.

For core:

Battle ropes

Obviously these work the arms and shoulders quite a lot, but the core is also engaged to keep you grounded and to help with the movement. I try and do these for one minute – it’s tough!

TRX suspension

I do a few different exercises using the TRX ropes. You can do mountain climbers (alternating bringing one leg forward to your chest) or (as in the photo) both legs at the same time for a crunch. A good one for the abductor muscles is getting into the plank position with your legs held in the suspension and then opening and closing your legs while maintaining a stable plank position.

Source

For glutes:

Donkey kickbacks

A fairly standard glute workout that you’ve probably seen countless of times. I try and keep the movement controlled and slow rather than launching my leg back quickly. I also wear ankle weights to make it a bit more tricky. Then after doing a certain number of reps I pulse my leg when it’s in the raised position to really work the glute.

Resistance band walking

This is a favourite of mine. I use a resistance band around my ankles and then step (while maintaining tightness in the band) to the side, like a crab, then change directions to work the other side. I then walk forwards and do it that direction (monster walk – again trying to maintain the resistance). Another good one is the “wet pant walk” which is basically standing on your tip toes and walking forwards, like you’ve just wet your pants

Plank with leg lifts

While planking, slowly lift one leg up (maintaining a strong core) and bring it back down, without touching the ground, and then lifting it again. I do this for about 10 reps per leg and repeat this a few times.

For how I structure things at the gym, what I tend to do is do heavier weights at the start (after a warm-up) and then follow with a circuit-style routine. For example, this is what I did on Tuesday:

– Heavy: Pull-ups (using the assisted pull-up machine)
– Heavy: Standing press

– Press-ups
– Battle ropes
– Kettle bell swing
– Eccentric box jumps
– Leg curtsy squats
– Russian twists
– Burpees

After I’ve finished the more heavy stuff, I set up all the bits I need for my circuit and then go through each exercise once for a number of reps, and then repeat the entire circuit three times. I enjoy doing this as it stops me getting bored and it allows my muscles to recover while I do something else before I get back to it.

I tend to find my exercises on the Internet, Instagram or in magazines. I’m always looking out for ways to make things interesting and not get samey. I hope these help anyone who needs a bit of inspiration!

What do you do in the gym?

What do you enjoy most at the gym?

What’s your favourite area to work on?

June 15, 2016

Rants and Raves #32

I feel like I’ve been sleepwalking through this week. I’m really struggling with getting proper night’s sleep with hay fever. Humidity and rain makes it so much once I think. It’s the itchy eyes and throat that kill me. A trip to the pharmacist is required I think! Some random rants and raves then…

Rave: As most of you know I get up ridiculously early (5am) to be at the gym for 5.30am four times a week. Sometimes it drops down to two or three visits depending on my running and the races I have coming up, but recently it’s been four times during the week days and then once at the weekend. I enjoy the gym but it is hard getting up so early.

Anyway, I like to listen to BBC Radio 1 as I like the presenter, Adele Roberts, and I like the music. She has a feature on her show at 5.55am every day called “Resident DJ” where each day a listener has a chat with Adele and picks a song that corresponds with the theme (Top of the Charts Tuesday, Workout Wednesday, etc.).

I always hear it and then last week I thought “I should apply for a laugh”. I went online and applied. Then two days later I got a call from the radio to say could I come on the next week. Oh god… So I said yes. They said they’d call me at 5.50am on Monday to be ready to go on air for 5.55am.

I was so nervous on Monday morning. I was at the gym, sat in the changing room with my phone waiting for them to call. I had to do a 30 seconds little bio of myself which obviously entailed me saying about how obsessed with running and food I was…Adele was lovely. She called me wonder woman which was nice

So far I’ve done three days. It’s fun but I do find it quite scary. It doesn’t last long but I get so flustered and honestly feel a bit like a knob with what I say. I wish I could be cooler, or sexier or just more interesting but there we go. I am who I am. I’m not built for radio. Today’s one was cool because it was Workout Wednesday so I felt on safe ground talking about my running and marathons.

What was also cool was when I finished on the phone on Tuesday a lady noticed what I was saying and came up to me afterwards and said “Oh wow are you the resident DJ for this week?”, I said I was and she went “yay I’ve met someone famous!” She was joking (obviously) but it was very sweet.

Rant: rain. That is all.

Rave: A little independent health-food style pet shop has opened up within walking distance from my office. I don’t usually buy Alfie treats or chews, mainly because he doesn’t seem to know what to do with them. With chews he just puts it in his mouth and then wonders around the place whimpering. I’ve tried cutting it up for him and then he’s sort of on board but otherwise he just doesn’t chew things. Anyway, I found some Alfie-friendly things at this new shop and they’re not full of rubbish (yes I do try and make sure Alfie eats well too!).

Peamutt Butter (though I think Peanut Mutter would have sounded better personally) and these Arden Grange crunchy bites that are free from any nasties. I figured that the peanut butter stuff could be on treats to encourage him to eat them. It’s funny because Alfie will eat chews and treats when he’s around my parent’s dogs because their dogs go mad for them and then want Alfie’s. But when he’s on his own he’s not bothered.

Rant: I paid £5 to be involved in my work’s sweepstakes for the Euro football.

Well, I waved goodbye to that money! Probably just as likely as England doing well I suppose My money’s on Germany…

Rave: Food is generally always a rave for me. I’ve found I can sort of recreate the Nando’s experience at home, but in a more small and normal portion size. I buy Gressingham Poussins, which are basically small young chickens.

I roast it whole and then have it with some tasty veggies. It’s not a regular meal I have in the week but it’s a nice meal to have on a Friday night when I want something a bit more interesting but don’t want to go out or get a takeaway. It satisfies the protein beast inside

Rant: Porridge has been my go-to breakfast of choice for over ten years now. I love it. I never have any toppings, just chia seeds and either almond milk, cow’s milk or goat’s milk. It fills me up and I enjoy it. I decided though to mix things up and try having something different for once. Everyone raves about eggs so I thought I’d give them a go. I like my protein so I figured it would be a good choice as I don’t tend to snack between breakfast and lunch.

So far I’ve tried three eggs scrambled with four rashers of turkey bacon (to be fair, each rasher is 21 calories so four seemed the right number!) and kale. It didn’t fill up my up for long at all and by 11am I was grumpy for food. I tried it instead with fish (river cobbler) and this is somewhat better. To be honest though, I still love my porridge and once I’ve got through my eggs I’ll be back to normal!

Rave: While at the gym I needed to use one of the boxes for my box jumps but a girl was using the one I wanted. I sort of hovered awkwardly nearby and between her sets I asked if I could use it when she was done, which she happily agreed to. She’s a regular early morning gym go-er too and often does some hard-core weight sessions. Saying that might imply (because of those oh so annoying stereotypes driven by the media and common misconceptions) that she might be bulky or mannish-looking girl, but far from it. She’s got a rocking body: strong but feminine. She can lift some heavy weights though!

Anyway, when she dragged the box over to me she asked my name and we chatted for a bit (normally I’m a bit of a gym ninja where I try not to speak to anyone as I want to get in and out fast and, well, its 5.30am). Anyway she said I should join her to workout (she has other girlfriends who she works out with sometimes) as I’m “good”. Ahh little fan girl moment though. Being told I’m “good” by someone as cool and strong as her made my day

What are you rants and raves this week?

Have you ever been on the radio or TV?

What’s your go-to breakfast?

June 8, 2016

Rants and Raves #31

Kind of a mishmash of randomness today as I don’t really have anything specific to talk about!

Rave: Though I’m not running, I am still going to the gym. Annoyingly though I’m avoiding heavy squats and deadlifts to be on the absolute safe side with my hamstring. It’s frustrating but hey ho I can still do lots of other heavier weight stuff, like focusing on my upper body. And I like do about a 30 minute routine of different strength and plyometric exercises.

It’s similar to the strength workouts I was doing last year during the lead-up to Liverpool marathon. I enjoy having variation and it involves a lot of running-specific exercises which will help when it comes to marathon training in the autumn. I have a mega spreadsheet that I track all my running and workouts that I use as a resource for what exercises I’m going to do at the gym. I’ve basically stolen ideas from the Internet, other bloggers, magazines and classes I’ve been to. I like it because I get bored very easily at the gym so mixing it up each day helps. An example of a routine I did on Monday:

– Press-ups
– Eccentric weighted lunge drop
– Box toe taps
– Scorpions
– Eccentric box jumps (jumping off a box into a squat)
– Medicine ball squat:
– Burpees
And I repeated it three times.

Rant: HAY FEVER. I’m being savaged by pollen, despite taking anti-histamines. I wake up with a blocked nose, I sneeze consistently through the day (I’m not a one sneeze girl either, I’m one of those “at least three times” kinda sneezer) and the absolute worst: the itchy eyes. *Shakes fist* damn you, Mother Nature!

Rave: But I will take that pain for the sunshine we’ve been given. Waking up, even at 5am (yes, really), and seeing the sunlight pouring through my windows just makes me wonder how the hell I was able to do that during the cold, bitter, dark months of winter. Walking Alfie at 5.15am without a coat on – what is this dream??

Rant: I’m very lucky that I live in a quite nice area right next to a beautiful park. There are lots of paths through the park, a play area for kids, picnic benches and a large pond.

Every morning I take Alfie for a good walk and, like 95% of the dog owners, let him off his lead to run about. Generally Alfie is very good, he comes back when I call him and he gets separation anxieties if he can’t find me (sometimes I’ll walk ahead while he’s sniffing around and if I go out of his sight he gets panicked and starts running about looking for me…when he notices me he charges over. It’s adorable).

Unfortunately one morning Alfie spotted two ducks near the path we were on – the rest of the ducks were down the slope near the pond. Before I could stop him he ran towards them and chased them down to the pond. He then spotted all the other ducks that were out of the water being fed bread by a lady and ran at them too, causing them to head back to the pond.

The lady yelled up to me “oh well done”. I got Alfie under control and said I was sorry. By way of explanation I said he was a dog and it’s in their nature to chase. To be honest I wasn’t really sure what to say as I felt a bit embarrassed. I know I’m in the wrong of course – the ducks did not deserve to be chased and frightened but the lady was really quite aggressive. She then proceeded to tell me Alfie should be on a lead and that I was a “stupid cow”. I felt a bit affronted. Alfie has never chased the ducks before and has always been quite good off his lead. I think it was just the two loan ducks that caught his attention and then seeing the others nearby.

Anyway the lady carried on yelling at me saying there was a sign saying dogs shouldn’t chase the wildfowl and that I was being irresponsible. At this point (7am by the way) my back was up. Could she stop yelling at me please? I understand I’m in the wrong already! But Alfie was back with me and, as I said to her, “the ducks would come back again”. None of them had been savaged to death or scared into having a heart attack.

She then told me to “f*** off”. At this point I was done. I (perhaps somewhat sarcastically it must be said) said “well good morning to you too” and walked off. She continued to yell that I was a stupid cow and “f*** off”.

Again, I know I was in the wrong. It was a tricky situation that short of rugby tackling Alfie to the ground or foreseeing him chasing the ducks in the first place and putting him on his lead (though, again, he’s never bothered the ducks before), I did what I could. She didn’t have to be abusive or rude!

And on a lighter note…Things that made me chuckle: this is fairly true for me. Even without running my appetite is crazy. Luckily I’m quite savvy with my snacks (think high protein, sustaining nibbles over empty sugar).

Source

And like so many other runners, I’ve had many a black toenail. As summer and flip flops is upon us, nail polish is used to hide the evidence (Not sure where I found this sorry!)

One last rave: I’ve been sent these very cool laces to try out.

They’re called Elastic Lace System by Phoenix Fit UK and basically stop the need for tying laces. I’ll do a full review of them in another post but so far I think they’re pretty good. Probably ideal for triathletes who need to transition quickly from one sport to the next during a race. And they come in lots of colours

What are your rants and raves lately?

What do you like to do in the gym?

Do you suffer from any allergies?

May 5, 2016

Rants and Raves #30

Well I haven’t done one of these in a while! And boy do I have a lot to get off my chest No not really to be honest. If only my life was that interesting!

Rave: After a successful second year of half marathon and 10k fun, Southampton ABP are considering hosting a full marathon in the future, possibly even next year. They’re getting feedback and seeing what the interest is like to begin with. This is very exciting. To have a road marathon so close to where I live and through a city I know so well – I love this idea. Some people are unhappy that it might be a two lapped course, but realistically I can’t see it being a full 26.2 mile loop. The cost and mayhem of road closures would probably prevent this from happening. Personally I don’t mind lapped courses (to some degree) so I’m not too bothered, even if it does mean twice over the Itchen Bridge and up Burgess Road.

Source

Rant: I can understand that as a non-runner the thought of having the city being disrupted for even more races in the centre of Southampton may not sound that appealing, but it’s only one weekend. Why are people so bloody grumpy? This was a comment on one of the local newspapers online:

For goodness sake, there are more marathons than just London. Thank God, because the chance of getting into London through the ballot is almost impossible! (Has anyone entered??) This just reminds me of the idiots at Littlestoke parkrun trying to charge for the use of the park. Let’s not pour water over ways to encourage people to exercises and get healthy.

Rave: Sunshine! But of course. Finally good weather seems to have arrived. It’s glorious. I don’t even mind being woken up super early by the sun streaming through my windows (I tend to keep my blinds slightly open so I’m not in a total blackout).

This was on n early morning walk with Alfie. I didn’t even need a coat!

Rant: People in the gym being inconsiderate. I mean this is a post in itself but specifically people not putting weights back after using them.

Four 25kg plates (plus a 10kg) on both sides of the leg press machine! This is just so ridiculously rude. To use that machine, as I’m actually not the Hulk, I have to take each of those plates off to then put the weights I want to use on. It was a bloody workout in itself!! Why can’t people just put things back? It really isn’t that hard – especially if you can press over 160kg (the machine already has 46kg default before you add any weights).

Rave: My parents have a furry little friend living in their garden.

They’ve been spotting this rabbit on and off for a few weeks now. Apparently it’s not that bothered by the dogs – or it has a great hiding space. We can’t work out if it’s wild or lost. My parents checked with nearby neighbours for any lost rabbits but no one is. It seems quite content for now anyway.

Rave: When I was at my parents house on Saturday evening I really needed to do some foam rolling but I’d forgotten to bring my roller or tennis ball with me. I hunted around but the only thing I could find that might be useful was a ball-shaped candle. My mum said I could use it but not to make a mess (i.e. ruin the candle) so I covered it in foil.

It worked perfectly! It was more firm than my tennis ball – a bit like a cricket ball. It manage to survive my rolling as well so my mum happily received her candle back in tact.

Rave: When I was working from home the other day I decided to put the Boston Marathon TV coverage on in the background (you can find it online). It was fascinating to watch the elites, especially when one of the females picked up a water bottle from a supporter at the side and then passed it around the entire elite group. It was a really nice show of comradeship despite everyone competition.

It was also amusing to see the volunteers on bikes high-fiving the crowd.

Rave: How talented is my friend Lou? She painted the entire wall of her son, Jacob’s, room.

You can see Jacob photo bombing at the bottom right

His furniture and shelves are all pirate-themed too. She’s so creative! Jacob is very lucky. As will be her little one on the way

Rave: Game of Thrones. Enough said.

What are your rants and rave this week?

Are you watching Game of Thrones?

Would you be interested in the Southampton Marathon?