I thought I’d do a short and snappy post on my new workout routine.
A few months back I used to do lots of longer runs every week (5 miles – which is quite long for me!) but then decided it would be better to vary things a bit more by doing shorter runs and more strength training (check this post out for a recap). I’ve been really enjoying this because it means I don’t get as bored. I do love running but I was finding that my runs were becoming very prescriptive and wearing. Same miles, same route, snorrrre.
Now I run no more than 3 miles and ensure I’m doing bursts of speeds and then recoveries throughout the run. This has been increasing my pace amazingly! I can now run 3 miles in under 23 mins.
I’m so chuffed! And running mainly at lunch-time rather than stupid o’clock in the morning is making me enjoy the runs more and push myself harder. I no longer think “I can’t run faster, I only woke up 10 minutes ago”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to get my run done in the morning as it’s done and dusted, but I much prefer running in actual day-light (granted, it’s grey, drizzly and cold daylight, but I’ll take what I can in Britain!)
I still do my strength training in the morning but I get to do this in the pleasure of my warm home, usually in my pyjamas. Alfie looks at me like I’ve gone mad when I do my routines in the living room. But as I said in a previous post, this means I get 30 minutes more sleep and can still do the workouts I want. It’s a win-win situation!
Previously my strength routines have been vary random. I would find a routine on YouTube, or whatever I could remember from various sources (years ago Pump classes, Internet, other blogs). Not very structured. Now I’m getting serious.
I devised three workout routines: core, upper body and lower body. They each pretty much take 30mins to complete. In about 6 weeks I’ll change the moves to continue challenging my body. Both Jemma and Laura do this and I thought I’d follow suit as it seems like a very good idea. Also it requires less brain power in a morning to work out what I’m doing – very important!
CORE ROUTINE:
| Core Workout | |
| Plank | 2.30-3mins |
| Side plank | 1 min |
| Sit-ups | 60-70 |
| Bicycle sit-ups | 60-70 |
| Reverse crunches (instruction) | 30-40 |
| Vertical leg-crunch (instruction) | 30-40 |
| Seated Russian twist (instruction) | 45 |
| Wiper Plank (instruction) | 46 |
UPPER BODY ROUTINE:
| Upper Body Workout Routine (instructions) | |
| Three sets of 12-14: | |
| Press ups | Chest |
| Flat chest flies | Chest |
| Triceps push | Triceps |
| French presses | Triceps |
| Lateral raises | Shoulders |
| Upright rows | Shoulders |
| Hammer curls | Biceps |
| Single arm row | Back |
LOWER BODY ROUTINE:
| Lower Body Workout Routine | |
| Three sets of 12-14: | |
| Dumbbell squats | Legs |
| Dumbbell sumo squat | Legs |
| Lunges | Legs |
| Side leg raise (instruction) | Thighs |
| Hip-lift progression (instruction) | Butt |
| Toe-Taps (1-2 minutes) (Instruction) | Butt |
| Single-Leg, Single-Arm Reach (instruction) | Butt & core |
[For the lower body squats and upper body moves I use dumbbells.]
So far these have been great. The upper body one absolutely kicked my butt. Well, it kicked my arms, shoulders, chest and back! Just opening doors was painful put it that way. As the weeks progress I’ll be upping my weights and/or repetitions to keep pushing myself.
So with running three times a week, these three routines every week and Pilates on Saturday I think I’m all set. Maybe this sounds a lot but I’m really enjoying it. I can’t not run, I know that much is true. But running alone didn’t give me a balanced workout. I’m a perfectionist, what can I say?
Soon this will all change though and I will be sticking to a training plan for the Reading Half Marathon. But this won’t be until after Christmas. Enough time for me to get bored of this routine! 
And HERE’S a great site for lots of “booty-focused” exercises too. Glute strength is something that tends to get forgotten about with runners and cyclists alike so it’s quite a handy list.
How do you keep in shape?
And I love it! It’s just nice to get all those niggling jobs done that have been driving me mad. I’m a bit of an obsessive cleaner so I’m in my element. 
