This morning I completed my January 2021 BOOTCAMP! 20 killer Joe Wick’s workouts and 8 POUND classes! It has been an adventure and I’ve achieved so much! I began on the 4th January and I’ve pushed on through every day and at the end of it, I can honestly say that I feel so energised and alive!
Of course, there have been the usual niggles: my right knee has groaned at some of the strain I’ve put it under, but I now know how to deal with it between workouts and how to minimise the strain on it during the workout. I also know that had I also run on it I would not have been able to complete the exercise sessions I have done.
My personal successes, physically, have to be the number of press ups I’m now able to achieve and also the increase in the number and quality of my chest to floor burpees. I’ve also mastered the bear crawl, having done it very badly in the past, I now know the correct technique: it makes it so much harder to do, but it’s worth it!
In addition to the 7am HIIT workouts five times each week, I’ve also continued to teach my two POUND classes on Monday and Friday evenings (all for free). My lovely POUND family consists of 15 people who join me for whichever sessions they can for…another cardio HIIT workout! Yes! you heard it! But, this time it’s to rock music using weighted drumsticks. We are now all experts at glute bridges in addition to the hundreds of squats and lunges we complete each session. Our balance is better, our flexibility is better and we are keeping each other sane during the year of lockdown after lockdown.
One of the things I have realised most, though, particularly over the past month, is the importance of stretching. In the past it has always felt like an add on – something you have to do when you really want to get going on the workout, or get going and on with your day. But I am now a complete convert to warming up and stretching out properly both before and after. I’ve suffered so many injuries in the past because of inflexible muscles and I know that the stretching has made the difference.
The other thing I have realised is that overworking can also lead to muscle fatigue and injury. Although it looks as if I’ve done an awful lot of workouts in January, most of them have been just 30 minutes long, and because they have been HIITT, each minute has had at least 20 seconds of rest in it, many with 30 seconds rest. This has also made a huge difference in the way my body has felt after a workout. My recovery time has been quick and I’ve never felt like I couldn’t do the next workout no matter how hard I’ve pushed myself for each 30, 35 or 40 seconds of intense activity.
All in all, it’s been a highly successful January on the fitness front and I’m ready to continue on into February with more weight-based training, plus a 3 x weekly Abs and Core challenge.
Physically, I feel good, mentally, I’m feeling good. I’m positive and looking forward to the next month of working out. It is certainly beating the winter lockdown blues.
Why not give it a go? If you fancy a POUND session, just message me – it’s free!!!
