Things to do before I’m 40

I feel like I’m mainly using this blog as a way of trying to motivate myself to train. Most of my posts these days are about me feeling like I’m not making the most of Freeletics, not training enough, not seeing results etc etc

And here I am again.

Here in the UK the clocks have gone forward, the nights will be getting lighter and the weather warmer. Out go the carbs and the red wine, in comes salads and gin and tonics.

And today, Sunday, I’m at the end of a week off, ready to go back to work and I noticed that my Freeletics coach has just renewed for another year.

So in the spirit of using this blog as some kind of accountability, here’s where I’m at:

1. Switching up the diet again and focusing on fewer carbs, less calorific booze and more vegetables
2. I’ve been consisent with my running so I’m going to keep up with that and continue trying to run further, faster. I’m also going to research getting a new training programme for running as that tends to keep me on track
3. I’ve been consistently doing Freeletics twice a week. Needs to be three times minimum. Fridays have slipped so I’m bringing them back
4. Need to build strength again so I’ve started this Men’s Health Pushup Programme which is tougher than it looks.
5. Lots of water
6. Less sugar
7. Good sleep

I’m 40 in July. My goal is to have lost the lockdown belly and feel healthy and full of energy by then.

Let’s go.

Staying consistent, but stuck in a rut

Yesterday’s workout was horrible. Took ages and just felt unsatisfying. Mainly down to this:

5 sets of…
2x 10m Bear Walk
24 Sprawls
2x 20m Crab Walk
12x left and right hip raises

All of that puts a fair bit of pressure on the wrists, and just feels a little ungainly. And then I also had to do 16x pistol squats, 50x Climbers and 20x Burpee Squat Jumps. Gross.

I’ve only been doing Freeletics twice a week for the past few weeks. I always seem to skip Fridays. But I have been running at least twice a week so I’m still exercising four out of seven days. But I think Coach might be loading a lot onto those two days. Now the days are getting brighter and the weather a bit better maybe I need to push myself to train on Fridays too. But probably in the morning rather than the evening as it just never seems to happen at the end of a working week.

I also set myself a goal at the beginning of the year to lose a bit of weight. I’m not really seeing that happen yet. A mix of lockdown (less moving about, maybe eating and drinking a little too much) and not feeling like I’m particularly pushing myself when I run or do Freeletics. It all feels a bit sluggish.

But I am pleased that I’ve been consistent. Usually at this time of year there are a couple of weeks where I don’t exercise at all, but I’ve been making sure I stick to it even if I don’t want to.

Also I noticed that since I’ve stopped practicing pull-ups I’ve pretty much lost all the ability to do them. Need to get back on that.

I am enjoying Freeletics’ new features though. Good to be using foam rollers for example as part of warm-ups and cool-downs. It feels like they’re really investing into the app. And that keeps it interesting.