Hi all! After last week’s almost summer-like conditions, this week we’re totally back to the Irish reality of mixed weather and close to all seasons in one day. It’s April after all!
In these posts I join a weekly link-up to share my weekly fitness routine and the ups and downs during the week with barbells, walking shoes or else. This is good for accountability, for my own documentation, the fitness/running blogger community is lovely, and I hope these posts might inspire someone to start lifting weights and generally getting more active. I usually also add in some bits from everyday life as well as some photos. Let’s get into it!
This was a week of cooler weather and fewer walks, but at least I got out a few times. I photographed more cows, and did some exciting things in the gym.
Monday – walking 4 km + gym
I woke up and felt like my body wasn’t happy anywhere. There were various niggles – my left elbow, left shoulder (felt like I had been sleeping in a bad posture), something around the right knee, you name it.
I used all the TLC tools I have with heat lotion, shoulder movements and dusted off some rehab exercises for the arm. Then I went for a walk. It was a lot cooler than last week but still ok-ish after a while when I was warmed up. It was sunny, and as the Irish say, at least it was dry!
My body felt better after moving for a bit, and the flowers cheered me up. The shrub/tree in the second photo is my new favourite plant, because it blooms in the late winter to early spring before everything else comes alive and you need some colour in your life. I’ve bought two for my own garden now, they are supposed to be very tolerant so I hope to have some flowers there next year.
After walking, my knee niggle was gone but my shoulder and arm were still angry. I took myself to the gym. Movement is medicine, isn’t it?
New week, new program, with fewer reps – and we all know that also means heavier weights. Not all exercises were increased in weight, but some were and I did a good session including a new squat PB, and my arm and shoulder felt much better afterwards.
3 sets x 10 reps
- Back squats, barbell 62,5 kgs
- Lunges, barbell 35 kg
- Flyes, 8 kg dumbbells
- Barbell row, 35 kgs
- Chest press, barbell 37,5 kgs
- Straight arm pullovers, one 17,5 kg dumbbell
- Upright row, barbell 22,5 kgs
- Shoulder press, 7 kg dumbbells
Earlier I’ve squatted almost my bodyweight, but now I certainly squat my bodyweight. I didn’t know the weight to begin with but felt it was different. Even if an increase with 2,5 kgs isn’t a lot, it was a GREAT feeling. When I came home, before stepping into the shower I got onto the scale and my bodyweight today was exactly 62,5 kgs. Ha!
I also enjoyed being back up to 22,5 kgs with the upright row!
Tuesday
It was much windier than forecasted, and I stayed inside to continue the work of testing design & photo editing software.
Wednesday – gym
I was still cold and I prioritised work, but in the afternoon I went back to the gym.
3 sets x 10 reps
- Deadlifts, barbell 45 kgs
- Side step-ups
- Renegade row, 10 kg dumbbells
- Inclined flyes, 8 kg dumbbells
- Good mornings, barbell 35 kgs
- Parachutes
- Forward raise, 7 kg dumbbells
- Shoulder shrugs, 10 kg dumbbells
Deadlifts are working well again, and I loved these side step-ups! They’re a good quad burner but also good for working on the hips and many other muscle groups. I felt much stronger than the last time I did them.
Overall it was a good session, the slightly heavier Renegade row didn’t feel much of a difference compared to 9 kgs, and they went quite well.
Thursday – walking, 4 km
We were expecting rain so I went out for a walk while the weather was nice. I had planned to do a smooth walk, but went up the hill because I saw a herd of cows up there. I found an opening in the hedge, zoomed in and took some photos. After a while I started attracting a lot of attention.
A bit too much attention! When I continued up the hill, the cows followed me on the other side of the fence. That was a bit scary! Of course there was a fence between us but I don’t know cow behaviour enough to know if they’re just being interested and friendly, and they are big animals worthy of respect (but still cute!).
Friday – gym
Today was a rainy, foggy day and I continued exploring Affinity Designer. It’s really growing on me, and it has turned out to be a very worthy replacement of Adobe Illustrator. This means that I can now cancel my subscription and when it expires in September, it’s bye bye to Adobe.
In the afternoon I went to the gym, and today my body was feeling good. Even the elbow! It was a great session with new PBs and good achievements.
3 sets x 10 reps
- Sumo squats, barbell 57,5 kgs
- Bulgarian split squats, barbell 37,5 kgs
- Straight arm pullovers, 9 kg dumbbells
- Dumbbell row, 17,5 kgs
- Chest press, 12,5 kg dumbbells
- Chest press, barbell 37,5 kgs
- Bent-over lateral raise, 7 kg dumbbells
- Cuban press, 4 kg dumbbells
A big yes to some heavier sumo squats!
Early last year I attempted 40 kg Bulgarian squats which were a big fail. That triggered me to start a Bulgarian split squat challenge for the month of March (some of you will remember this). I developed some useful strategies and likely built some extra hip strength, but even if there were some improvements, I still haven’t been able to do them confidently. Last time I did them I tricked my brain by starting on the problematic leg, which worked quite well. I was now very curious about how I would feel doing them with this quite decent weight increase.
37,5 kgs didn’t seem more challenging than 30. I did some quite good sets and even if I had some trouble finding stability in the beginning of the last set, it would probably have been the same with a lower weight, and when I got started with the actual squats, I could do some proper reps too. This was a big win – I’m getting there!
Saturday
The weather forecast was rain until lunchtime, then clear and quite nice. This was wrong, it rained all day and I stayed inside working. In the evening we went to the new place to play music. This will be a monthly session which I don’t mind because weekly is a bit much if you want to add some variety with new songs and tunes. We had a great night! The next time we hope to get some other musicians with us too.
Sadly, the 2025 edition of painful elbow is on the left arm, which is much more problematic than what I had last year. The left arm is my fretting arm with the guitar and it just HAS TO work. I had some pain when playing yesterday and this is not ok. It could simply have been that there was some DOMS involved but… we’ll see.
Sunday – walking, 7 km
The morning started rainy and cold but it turned into a very nice day. It’s also Easter Sunday and I should do something else than fiddling with fonts, curves and photo editing. Also, working too much on the computer isn’t a good thing for elbow and shoulder health, so a good walk was called for.
The weather went cloudy, but this is a good thing for photography! Sunshine is lovely but colours are more vibrant with less harsh contrast.
I walked 7 km and it was a lovely walk. My legs felt great, my feet were happy all the time (I was wearing my Altra hiking shoes) and it was nice and mild. I took quite a few photos too.
That’s all for today. Next week we’re expecting some very mixed weather but I’ll go walking when I can and keep up the good work in the gym. We have no specific plans for a while which is quite relaxing! But my husband is getting close to his pre-marathon taper, and I need to figure out how to get around in Limerick and where is the best spot(s) to take photos. AND hope for good enough weather.
Happy Easter everyone, and all my best wishes to Catrina who is running the Boston marathon tomorrow!
Thanks to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly rundown link-up! This is a meeting place for fitness-related bloggers to share our fitness happenings and achievements during the week. I very much enjoy this community and getting inspiration from the other bloggers. You can visit the link-up here.
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