Internet works! (Exclamations again!) Body broken. Cleaned neighbours’. 5.5 hours. Vacuumed ceilings. Back ruined. Going to bed. More tomorrow.
Wishing you a wonderful day.
fitfor15in15
March 23: Sprint training
Clouds over the Alps but a great day to be outdoors
I’ve never done sprint training before, but have often thought how inviting and perfect that long stretch of grass is in our garden. So today, I donned the sneakers and went about giving myself an earache and nearly twisting an ankle.
The ‘track”, which is about 80m long, isn’t flat at all, with lots of holes and divots, from who knows what, making it harder than running on a road or flat track. I suppose it could be like trail running but without the rocks and roots to bring you undone. The grass was quite soft too, from yesterday’s rain, which possibly made it a bit harder. (Can you tell I’m looking for any excuse? I’m appalled by how hard it was!)
With the timer on my MapMyRun app going, it took me, on average, about one minute to walk the 80m, at a very leisurely pace, and then 20 seconds to run back. I did this for 17 minutes, which means I sprinted 12 times. I haven’t sprinted like that – full-on, flat out running as fast as possible – since, well, most likely, primary school. Ahh, fitfor15in15 is stretching my boundaries!
Afterwards I felt a bit woozy; I still feel a bit odd more than half an hour later. I must have looked an absolute treat too, sprinting and wobbling all over the place, trying not to roll an ankle but focussed on making it to the end. And of course, like any kid in a running race, I had to touch the road before turning around, and touch the caravan at the other end to make it feel legit.
I walked from here to the bitumen road just before the white building …
… and then ran from this spot back to the caravan underneath the trees
Now that I know it can be done, I’ll definitely do it again. I was aiming for 20 minutes, but had to stop – it felt like both middle ears were going to explode. Does anyone ever feel that pain after hard-ish exercise? I’ll try for 20 minutes next time and hopefully up the walking pace a bit too.
Do you do sprint training? Do you have any tips for a novice?
Wishing you a wonderful day.
March 22: Standing at a different kind of barre
Ballet was never on my radar when I was young. Gymnastics, skipping ropes and scraped knees were more my scene. Hence, I have no grace at all and still race any kid to a trampoline. So if I told my friends I was interested in barre work, they would instantly assume I was looking for a job in a jovial drinking establishment.
Since Freda from livesimplysimplylive mentioned she had happily rediscovered her ballet DVDs, ballet has been at the back of my mind. Why not have a go?! fitfor15in15 is all about trying new things. Sadly, this link to the Ballet Body Sculpture website has been floating around in my fitfor15in15 plans for quite a while – neglected. From memory, the website seemed quite good and worthy of further exploration.
Today I felt the need for something different (I bore easily and decided against another yoga class, as much as I enjoy them), so when this article popped up after googling “exercise at home”, it was finally time to try Ballet Barre exercises. Bring on the inner diva!
The two short Barre3 classes I managed to take felt good. The third one I’ll have to try another time as our internet connection kept dropping out and I lost my patience with the stop/start video. You’ll need hand weights, a ball (if you have one) to go between your thighs, and a chair to lean on. Even without the ball, I could feel the inner and outer thighs working, so if you concentrate on squeezing your legs together, I don’t think you’ll miss out on too much.
The three classes, which link together with an annoying American vitamin advertisement (sorry), are 10 Minute Long Lean Arms, 10 Minute Leg Shaper and 10 Minute Defined Seat and Core (this is the one I didn’t get to do). The first two actually only run eight minutes, just so you know.
Having ballet dancers’ long arms and legs will never be a goal – genes play a massive part in that! – but to stand straighter and hold myself with a bit more poise could be. Much to friends’ and family’s amusement, I already stand at 10 and 2 naturally, so could this be easier than expected?!
There’s an elegance and composure to ballet which I find intriguing. Maybe some of it will rub off on my tomboy ways? I know it won’t make me a lady – my turn of phrase would never allow that! – but here’s to better posture and balance while standing at the bar … I mean barre … ohhhhh, I don’t knowwwww.
Wishing you a wonderful day.
March 21: Interesting stuff, food for thought, I wonder …
I don’t read any women’s or fitness magazines, but after searching for today’s 15 minute workout, I saw an article from Women’s Health Magazine which caught my eye. It endorses the benefits of an intense 15 minute workout four to six times a week.
The online course I’m currently studying states 30 minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking, five times a week (a total of 150 minutes) is enough to keep you fit. One of the lecturers says you could cut that time in half by doing intense workouts instead. So 15 minutes of intense exercise, such as running or HIIT training, for a total of 75 minutes a week would also work just as well.
Interesting stuff. Food for thought. I wonder … Could this fitfor15in15 plan to raise a daily sweat by exercising for a minimum of 15 minutes each day work just as well if it was for only 15 minutes a day? I’m not about to try this out, as I enjoy the longer walks and exercise videos, but if you were really, really, really strapped for time, could you achieve just as much if you went hard for 15 minutes every day as someone who went for a 30 minute walk each day?
Once again, interesting stuff. Food for thought. I wonder … if I only did 15 minutes per day, really going for it, like doing sprints and burpees, or one of the workouts from these two amazingly fit women at TwoBadBodies, for one month, would I feel the benefits just as much as I have over the past month? Would the time benefits be that noticeable? Maybe when I have a job, I can put this theory to the test, to see if I feel just as healthy and happy as I do now by varying the workout styles and durations in less time.
I’d always have to have variety. But if it could really all be done in 15 minutes … wow! Would people be more likely to do it regularly? Interesting … food … wonder …
Sooooo … back to the task at hand – finding a 15 minute workout, because my body’s tired from yesterday and it’s a horrible, grey, rainy day here today. Time to curl up on the couch with a bowl of Leo’s chili and watch a Scandinavian murder mystery.
Using the article from Women’s Health, I chose The Superfast Total-Body Workout, which focuses on four moves which hit all the key muscle groups in 15 minutes. Squats, chest press, bent-over row (all of those with hand weights) and bicycle. You do the four exercises in a row, then pause for a minute, then do two more run-throughs to make 15 minutes. I finished a bit faster, so did some more squats. I raised a slight sweat, but nothing too heavy. Maybe if my weights were heavier it would be a different story, but for now the 1kg pair are fantastic.
That Women’s Health Magazine link also has Belly-Blasting, Arm-Sculpting and Skinny Jeans Workouts too, if you fancy.
Wishing you a wonderful day.
March 13: Lots of tripping doing 30 minutes skipping
Another Friday the 13th rolls along and, thankfully, I’ve stayed out of trouble again.
After yesterday’s run, I thought I’d keep the pace high by doing 30 minutes of skipping on the terrace. It’s going to take me years to master the art, but jumping around in this stop-start way is the only way to learn (check out the video from my previous skipping day to see how it can be done by an expert!).
It’s really noticeable that when my concentration’s gone I can only manage a few rotations before snagging my foot on the rope. But when I focus on something in the distance, with my head and neck at the right angle, then it can be a good few minutes before anything goes wrong.
Previously, I’ve only ever done 15 minutes of skipping, but knew it was time to go harder. I stopped after 15 to kick the football with my neighbour’s daughter for a few minutes in the sun, then resumed the final 15. That little break probably helped a lot.
Happily, I can report there’s less tummy bounce happening these days. Well, one would hope so after 10 weeks of daily exercise! It’s been an amazing experience and I’m so glad I’ve stuck with it.
Worked up a bit of a sweat!
Bit misty, but thankfully not as windy as yesterday
Today has been a day of study. I had to let go of one of the online courses – the nutrition one – because I fell too far behind, but I hope to pick it up again in summer, because I find the topic very interesting (and luckily it’s free!). So now my full attention is with the Body Matters course, which is all about exercise and how it … um, well … affects your body, believe it or not.
One of the lecturers, Dr Steven Blair, stated inactivity and low fitness are the major public health problems of the 20th century. Dr Blair (and others) say 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise – such as walking – is required per week in order to maintain a healthy fitness level. Or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercise. Of course, nutrition is important too. He said too many people have a positive caloric balance on too many days – ie we’re consuming more than we’re burning. Factors include increases in sedentary jobs and transport options. We sit more at work and can be delivered closer to the door. He also has the scientific proof that you can still be overweight and fit, and that your fitness level is much more important than your fatness level.
I won’t rabbit on too much, other than to say it’s been a very productive day and I’m looking forward to catching up on the rest of the course (I’m about two weeks behind already!). All good stuff for being mentally and physically fit in 2105.
Also, if you missed it, here’s another little post from today about woodpeckers.
Wishing you a wonderful day.
March 11: 15 minutes with the tins … and gardening
Sums up today perfectly. Thanks Charles.
Very happy to not pull up too sore after yesterday’s walk into Bern. Iva called me out on the time it took – we were underway for six hours, but I didn’t count the three pauses, so she’s right. We walked from 9am-3pm (but only five hours of that was actual walking).
My arms were sore last night from The 7-Minute Workout which was a nice surprise. There were a few sets of push ups and planks which really did the job.
Today was a busy day but at the end I only had time for 15 minutes of various exercises with the chickpea tins. I did manage to do several hours worth of gardening around our house though, preparing the soil for future plants. Cleaned up lots of leaves as well, and finally (finally!) changed the kitchen window/entrance decoration.
Before the clean up …
… and after. Much better. My favourite succulent died off a lot but it was great to see new greenery
Leaves almost gone!
No more weeds!
Clean(ish) edges!
Yes, I’m one of those who leave the Christmas decorations up for too long. It looks so bare without anything, and the neighbours gave me two figurine sheep for my birthday, with Leo and Ange very neatly written on their bellies, so I had something to go in the space at last. I found some pussy willow in a pile of branch offcuts on the walk home from the bus yesterday, so pilfered them for the window too. When I was little, I used to stick the soft buds onto cards and draw tails on them so they became mice. Nice childhood memories. I’ve also added a small vase of them on my desk.
The new window display
Lovely soft things in a stark white vase
I’ve forgotten a thousand other things to write, but it’s late, so they’ll have to wait ’til tomorrow.
Wishing you a wonderful day.
March 9: The 7-Minute Workout
Quite a while ago, my friend Melissa told me about The 7-Minute Workout, so finally I’ve put it to the test (for reasons explained further below).
I’ve downloaded the app to my phone as well. The internet version I’ve linked to above makes a beep during the 30 seconds you’re doing the exercise and then goes silent to let you know when to rest, which doesn’t happen on the app.
There’s a 10 second pause between each of the 12 exercises. Within the seven minutes you do star jumps, a wall sit, push ups, abdominal crunches, step-ups onto a chair, squats, tricep dips on a chair, plank, high knees running in place, lunges, push ups with rotations and side planks. You’ll need space to rest against a wall, a stable chair or ledge to step up onto, and a stable chair or desk to lean on for the tricep dips.
Doing this workout twice, followed by a minute of leg stretches, gives you a fast and effective fitfor15in15 workout. I’m glad I had it up my sleeve as a backup (thanks Melissa!) because it wasn’t the plan for today – I thought I’d go running, but my social nature caught me out.
My neighbour (and owner of all the land and buildings here) started the ride-on mower, for the first time since autumn, so I went outside to say hello. And before you know it, I had a broom in hand and was sweeping leaves our of nooks and crannies so he could suck them up with the mower! There’s been a lot of leaves about the place since the snow’s melted, so there was plenty to do. Two hours worth of it! But I’m glad it’s done, it looks much neater now and feels a bit more like spring.
The grass looked brown from all the leaves covering it. Pretty much all gone (til the next big wind!)
The brooms we use here are so old school and would be perfect for witches. (They’re incredibly effective and make a great Harry Potter toy for visitors with kids!) Even the local councils still use this style of broom; a classic design that still holds its own.
My trusty steed
A simple and effective broom which looks the part too
So I’m back from my little holiday blogging break and will be writing daily again (until the next holiday perhaps?!). If you’d like to read about our weekend in Strasbourg, with a photo gallery, please click here.
Wishing you a wonderful day.
March 6-8: Writing while on holiday is tough!
There’s big trouble in little Strasbourg. The city is beautiful – there’s so much to see … and so little time. This ‘being on holiday and posting on fitfor15in15’ melarky is tougher than I thought. It’s the first time I’ve been away from home and tried to write.
But in order for this birthday extravaganza weekend holiday to be exactly that, and to be fair to Leo, who sits around twiddling his thumbs when I’m on the computer, I’m going to have to go against my my own wishes and not post anything more this weekend.
You can be safe in the knowledge I will be exercising every day. I have my gear here and my Thera-Band with a print out of exercises, and I’ll be doing them every morning in the hotel room.
Walking around the city is probably exercise enough – this afternoon we climbed the 66 metres to the viewing platform on the Catherdral de Notre-Dame for an amazing view in glorious sunshine, then walked around the city back to the hotel and again to dinner and so on and so on. It’s a wanderers paradise, and I’ll write a proper post about this lovely city, with lots of photos, next week.
Apologies again for reneging on my initial plan to blog every day this year. A change of plans that will keep Leo sane and give me the chance to be a tourist, 100 per cent.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and see you Monday!
March 5: fitfor15in15’s 43 for 43
I love a bit of a play on numbers so today, for my 43rd birthday, I’m going to do 43 various exercises for 43 seconds each! This, my friends, is the silliness I’ve been gearing up for over the past few days. Sorry if it’s a disappointment!
A few months ago, if someone had asked if I even knew 43 different exercises, I would have struggled. But now, thanks to all the different fitness videos from the past two months, I had a ball choosing which ones I wanted to do. Decisions were made on the fly, so it probably doesn’t flow very well, but I didn’t want to do all arms first and then all legs etc; the focus changes regularly.
Here’s a table of what I did and how many repetitions (in brackets) I could manage within the 43 second time frame set aside for each exercise:
- Normal crunches – lying on the back and small pulses up (26)
- Crunches to the left – with the left arm low, bending to touch outside of left foot (24)
- Crunches to the right – with the right arm low, bending to touch outside of right foot (25)
- Star jumps (43)
- Standing bent knees to alternate elbow (40)
- Standing like a star, touch right hand to left foot, straight legged, stand straight, alternate (17)
- Deep squats – legs and feet together, squat deep then up to standing position (19)
- Deep squats – feet hip width apart, toes out, squat deep to standing (17)
- Angel wings – holding weights, standing tall, move arms straight up and down in arc (18)
- Straight arm dead lifts – straight arms in front of body, lift to eye level and back down (17)
- Bicep curls with tins – bending at elbows, arms close to body (28)
- Tricep curls with tins – arms bent backwards, bending at elbows, forward and back (29)
- Left jab with tin – left foot forward in boxer pose, sharp, quick punches (54)
- Right cross with tin – still with left foot forward, twist through the oblique on extension (43)
- Right jab with tin – right foot forward in boxer pose, sharp, quick punches (54)
- Left cross with tin – still with right foot forward, twist through the oblique on extension (43)
- Skipping with single feet
- Skipping with feet together, more like a jump
- Forward lunges on both sides (forgot to count)
- Backwards lunges on both sides (14)
- Right side lunges – taking right foot wide and sinking low, from centre stance (16)
- Left side lunges – from centre standing position, place foot wide to left, then back (16)
- Plank
- Swimming – lying on stomach, slightly lift arms and legs, beating alternately
- Back bow – like swimming pose, but lift arms and legs all at same time (23)
- Calf raises – using a door frame, sink low and raise to tip-toe
- Pulse squats – sink low with legs together, at lowest point start small pulses (46)
- Pulse squats – sink low with legs wide apart, toes facing out, at lowest point pulse (56)
- Push-ups on knees (22)
- Standing butterfly swim with tins – in a squat position, push hands out, sweep back (22)
- Wide squat and low punches with tins – back bent, punch opposite hand to foot (forgot!)
- Straight leg toe tap – using tins, straight leg march, opposite hand to foot (33)
- Mountain climbers (MC) normal – alternate foot tap (not jumping) (45)
- MC right – tapping right foot lightly to floor, close to elbow (12 on toes, 12 on knees)
- MC left – tapping left foot lightly (12 on toes, 15 on knees)
- Rowing balance V pose – balancing on bum, arms come back like a rower as legs go out (21)
- Back baby bend – lying on back, with legs bent, knees to side, reach arms through and curl (23)
- Standing upper cuts with tins – upper cut boxer punches, nice and fast
- Shoulder press with tins – reach both arms over head, elbows come back to shoulder height (22)
- Camel pose pulses – sitting high on knees, lean back and pulse to stretch quads (30)
- Butt kickers – running on spot as fast as you can with feet trying to touch your bum
- Hook punches – standing in loose squat, elbows shoulder height, swing arms round
- Burpees (11)
Yep I saved the best for last. I hate burpees! If you don’t know how to do them have a look here. I didn’t do the push up in her version, just the legs out and in and jumping up.
I’m really pleased I managed the entire plank on my feet and didn’t sink to my knees. This means my core is getting stronger!
So that’s my birthday fitfor15in15 for you! It’s been a great day so far – Leo served prosecco and cake as breakfast in bed, then I spent a few hours responding to emails and messages which was great (my family and most of my friends are in Australia, so the time difference meant they’d messaged me while I was asleep) and now it’s time to get ready for dinner. We’re going to a fancy steak restaurant in the city, where I’m sure I’ll have a few beers and maybe a glass of red as well. And maybe cake … but probably not (never say never!) because I’ll be full from dinner … and as I must keep reminding myself, I’ve already had cake today!
And before you go, please check out fitfor15in15s fourth guest contributor post from outdoor enthusiast Kate Lehmann. Kate thought she’d never stop being a hiker, but a new challenge came along and has been grabbed with both hands, literally.
Wishing you a wonderful day.
Leo bringing the cake upstairs for breakfast
I took it from the angle that switched the numbers! Ha! Not sure why, I don’t mind being 43!
Another wonderful bunch of flowers from Leo. Love the colours!
Feeling sweaty but good!
February 28: Yoga Cross Training arm workout
My stomach muscles are sore today from the previous two days, so I switched focus to my other ‘problem’ area by giving my arms a solid workout with this video from yoga instructor Sadie Nardini. I’ve mentioned her a few times before and really enjoy her style. This is the first time I’ve done this video. She also has workouts for core and legs if you fancy having a look at those (I may end up linking to them next week, so if you’re patient, I’ll do the searching for you soon enough!).
This wasn’t a normal yoga routine, rather what Nardini calls yoga ‘crosstrain’, with the main difference being the moves were done a little faster than normal yoga. And I have a major announcement to make … drumroll … I’ve replaced my two chickpea tin cans (Shock! No way! “They’ve been with you from the start!” I hear you say!) with two 1.5 litre bottles of water. I’m half expecting them to explode over the top of the computer because I squeeze them so hard. Maybe they’re not the best workout equipment because they’re quite hard to hold, but I need to ‘up the weight’ to do some serious damage on the chub!
Overall, once again, this was a workout that did what I expected and taught me some new moves and stretches as well (the forward lunge on the knee with the foot turned out and leaning in was a great inner thigh and hamstring stretch). It runs for over 26 minutes, but the actual workout part is about 24 minutes long. As much as I enjoy doing the videos, I’m really looking forward to going for a run soon. Come back sunny weather, please? Soon? Have I caught the running bug? Could I become a runner? I do like the outdoors aspect of it, definitely. Only time will tell!
We had a great day today, with my first trip to a famous Swiss biscuit factory called Kambly. It took an hour to drive there and I was a bit surprised we couldn’t actually tour the factory – I was fully expecting to put on white coats, hair nets and plastic covers over our shoes so we could walk around the factory floor. Instead, we could only watch a video of the production process, a live macaroon maker and taste all their biscuits and buy them cheaper in the factory shop.
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- Yay, we made it to the Kambly factory!
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- The signs mean “factory shop”
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- This is what greets you when you walk in the front door. Biscuits as far as the eye can see!
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- What would you have chosen?
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- Savoury choices?
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- Sweet treats?
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- Rows and rows of options
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- Leo perusing the wares
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- Gift box selections
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- Each year they release a special edition tin designed by a famous artist
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- There was even one by Aussie Ken Done!
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- I liked this one
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- And this blue one had funky texture. The only one with a lid like that
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- We watched a video comparing the time it takes to hand make the biscuits …
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- … to how fast it can be done by machines. Sad, but a fact of business life
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- I just missed getting a better shot of this commuter train going past. It’s the Bern to Luzern line, and the carriage externals (and internals, I know) are covered in pictures of Kambly biscuits. Cute!
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- The lovely macaroon maker, still doing things by hand
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- Another angle of the shop
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- The coffee shop area, where they make and sell handmade chocolates too
After we sampled ourselves sick, we decided on a few packets for us and some as gifts. Yummy, buttery, chocolatey biscuity goodness. They are not part of the nutritionally fit plan for 2015, I know, but as mentioned before, I haven’t changed my diet too much yet. Baby steps, baby steps. For now, I’ll continue to enjoy those naughty treats that come around once in a while …
Oh alright, alright … I have to confess I’ve been naughty two days in a row. Leo brought home custard doughnuts/donuts yesterday as a treat for doing all that cleaning and it was impossible to say no! So next week I have to be better. Damn, did we really buy all those biscuits? Did I mention they were yummy, buttery, chocolatey, biscuity goodness?
At home, we watched a replay of the Brit Music Awards and, boy, I felt for Madonna. What a professional, to get up and keep singing – she must have been in so much pain! I’m not going to put a link to it. She’s been all over the news. Poor Madge. On second throughts, I will add a link, because this lovely, funny story from The Guardian puts it all into a bit of perspective. She didn’t fall, she was pulled!
Wishing you a wonderful rest of the weekend.
And here are the links to some articles I found interesting this past week:
Bea from zerowastehome shared what’s in her wardrobe with us … now she’s a minimalist. Could you be like Bea? I’m trying to wheedle my stack down and would love to carry it all in a carry-on!
Someone made an amazing underground greenhouse to grow food all year round. Brilliant.
An article about foods that make us smarter … what? No doughnuts/donuts?
Do you have an anger issue? Here are some tips from a radio interview discussing how to react differently to stop a potential heart attack.
The gymnastic flips this guy can do are just amazing. What a skill. How fitfor15in15 fit must he be?!
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