My plan of walking every day quickly went down the drain this week. I had to stay home a few days this week to be around while builders worked on replacing doors and windows. The other days there were insane winds, and/or I needed to take time to prepare music for upcoming events. At least the latter was a good thing. Playing the guitar is a quite athletic activity, but does singing count as fitness? Maybe fitness for the soul!
Anyway, at least I went to the gym.
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!
Monday – gym & walk
Last day of March! And this was the day before the builders came, so I could still leave the house. It was foggy but mild, and a very pleasant walk until the drizzle came. After lunch the fog lifted but during my walk, this was the view.
I walked 3,6 km and really enjoyed the atmosphere. Yes, sunshine is good for the soul and more, but there’s something special about fog.
In the afternoon it was time to hit the gym.
3 sets x 12 reps
- Lunges, barbell 35 kgs
- Bulgarian split squats, barbell 30 kg
- Chest press, barbell 37,5 kgs
- Declined push-ups
- Straight arm pullovers, 9 kg dumbbells
- Good mornings, barbell 30 kgs
- Shoulder press, barbell 15 kgs
- Upright row, barbell 20 kgs
I haven’t had any great progress lately with the Bulgarians and I’m sure it’s all in my head, so today I tried a new strategy. Why do I always start on the right leg? The left is my weakest. Today I decided to start on the left, to get started before my brain knew what I was doing. It worked really well!
I don’t have a lot of other comments to add, it was a good solid session. I nearly crushed my face again with the push-ups! And I’m getting there with the barbell shoulder press.
Tuesday
Today I had to stay home for the builders.
Wednesday – gym
Again, I had to skip a walk to be home while the builder finished the work. It was very windy so I wasn’t too tempted to go out anyway, but I enjoyed a good gym session in the late afternoon.
3 sets x 12 reps
- Back squats, barbell 60 kgs
- Step-ups, 8 kg dumbbells
- Inclined flyes, 8 kg dumbbells
- Renegade row, 9 kg dumbbells
- Straight arm pullovers, 9 kg dumbbells
- Barbell row, 30 kgs
- Forward raise, 7 kg dumbbells
- Shoulder shrugs, 10 kg dumbbells
Today I had a major breakthrough, perhaps mentally more than anything else. In the past I’ve always chickened out from doing weighted step-ups. I just didn’t feel stable enough and was too afraid to fall and get injured. I have no idea why I would be less stable with dumbbells in my hands though? There’s so much s*** still going on in my head.
Today I decided to give it a try. My legs are strong, my balance is much better than it used to be, so there was no reason why I wouldn’t be able to do it, even with 8 kg dumbbells! The first set was VERY wobbly but I made it, and in the other two sets I got into a good flow. This is probably nothing for other people but for me it was a big deal, and it was such a good feeling to be able to do it.
Thursday – finally a walk
Yay, finally I took myself out to do some walking. And the weather was good, although quite windy. I walked 4 km.
There was a lovely view over the bay this day! High (or at least not low) tide is VERY uncommon at the time I usually go walking. I love this spot but it’s obviously more beautiful when the tide is in.
Friday – gym
Today it was cold and quite windy. I didn’t walk today since I needed to stay home to prepare music for our new gig. I did some good singing practice, started learning a new song (which is a great warm-up!) and made a song & tune list. My guitar playing is very mediocre after lack of proper practice lately but I can’t fix that in a few hours.
In the afternoon I went to the gym.
3 sets x 12 reps
- Deadlifts, barbell 45 kgs
- Reverse lunges, barbell 30 kg
- Dumbbell row, 17,5 kgs
- Parachutes
- Inclined chest press, 12,5 kg dumbbells
- Flyes, 8 kg dumbbells
- Bent-over lateral raise, 7 kg dumbbells
- Shoulder press, 7 kg dumbbells
It was good to go a bit heavier with the deadlifts again and I felt great doing them. At the end of the reverse lunges I started feeling the familiar strain in my right glute/lower back, nothing too bad but it was there and it was very annoying. I definitely didn’t overload anything but this muscle is causing me trouble on and off.
Outside the gym – all about music
We went to do our new gig! This Friday gig was the first, sort of a trial. We had no idea what to expect! It was quite busy when we arrived but we felt very welcome with a reserved table in the corner, and around 9 pm we kicked off, with a slowish waltz and then one of the “softer” bluesy songs. The pub was very busy and to begin with we only noticed one person who was truly enjoying the music, but later we realised that a lot of people expressed appreciation (to the bar staff!) and at the end a group of lovely elderly gentlemen sat down close to us. They were a lovely bunch and sang along with us on the more well-known country songs.
When you play in pubs like this it’s not always meant to be a big audience listening 100% to the band, in many cases it’s more like background music and I don’t mind that. Generally it was a great night and we’re going back next Saturday.
Yesterday was also a music night – we went to some friends who were hosting a house concert with an American bluegrass duo, followed by snacks and jam session. The music was great and it was lovely to see some of our local bluegrass friends and acquaintances again. We came home after 1 am – my goodness, I’m too old for this, haha! But I had a good music inspiration boost.
After two nights of poor sleep, today has been a slow day and the only activity I’ve done was to have an eye test and order new glasses. The pricing of this stuff nearly gives me a heart attack, but what do you do!
Next week the weather is supposed to be good and less windy, and there’s nothing special going on so I plan a LOT more walking and generally back to normal life.
Hope you are doing well and had a good week! Please share your highlights in the comments!
Thanks Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown link-up!
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