Time for a Maxine’s Challenge update. I can’t believe we’re at Day 3 of Week 8 already.

As usual I’m  loving the exercise programs, and have been following them almost to the letter. Have been doing weight training three times each week. As for cardio, it’s on the program three times each week. But I prefer to do cardio most days. I always give myself one day exercise free eachcweek. It varies which day that is, depending on my work schedule.

For the past 8 weeks, cardio has been mostly bushwalking and walking. I’m currently also training for The Bloody Long Walk in Melbourne, later in the year, so trying to get as much walking into my legs as possible.

Some of the weights exercises that I have been doing in my home include:

•  Bench Press
• Shoulder Press
• Lat Pull down
• Bicep Curls
• Tricep Pushbacks
• Flies
• Upright Rows

These are just a few of the regular exercises. On leg days, the program includes lots of squats, sumo squats and lunges.  The sports physio has outlawed these for me at the moment, due to my ongoing knee problem. He’s given me replacement exercises, which at first I was unhappy about, but I’m finding them just as challenging, when performing multi sets of them. Happily my weights have increased in each four week block. In recent months, I have been struggling with increasing my weights, after breaking my arm in late 2016. Since then, there has been a weakness in my arm, and particularly in my wrist, that has concerned me. But  I’m confident that I now have close to my full strength back.

I have to say, that even though I’ve been following the program, I’ve become a bit lazy since Christmas. For years, my preferred gym time is the early hours of the morning, starting at about 5.30 or 6am. I’m not sure of the reason, but something has switched in my head to make me not want to get moving at that time. So most days I’ve been starting at 7am.

I am committing here to reverting back to the earlier starts. It just works better for me to get into the gym before the day starts. It puts me in a better headspace and I don’t feel I have to rush or stress about not having enough time. I definitely enjoy my workouts more in the earlier hours. Now is a good time to become accustomed to the earlier starts again, before the dreaded winter is upon us.

Now to the nutrition program. I have to admit honestly, that I have not followed it at all. However, I do intend to do so for the final four weeks. I’ve spent my entire adult life dieting, and now I’m in the space of just wanting to concentrate on feeling fit and healthy. I find that I mostly make healthy choices just by habit. I’ve been a bit hesitant to follow a planned program again, until now. But I have committed to giving it a go for a few weeks, just to see how I feel at the end. I’m sure there will be hints and tips in the nutrition program that I can incorporate permanently into my every day choices. Will report back on that in the next update.

I’ve just taken a peek at the training programs for weeks 9-12 and notice that the intensity will definitely be increased. I’m very much looking forward to the challenge of the final 4 weeks of the program and plan to throw myself into it completely, My particular challenges in the final four weeks will be:

•  Follow the nutritional program
•  Earlier starts in the gym
•  Continue to increase weights
•  Reintroduce spin classes and outdoor cycling

A sneak peek into my home gym: