Victory Dance!!

Just managed to bench press 30kgs! This is a major achievement for me and I’m pretty certain I just skipped home from the gym. I really needed it as I went for a little road run earlier and to say I struggled is an understatement. I aimed for a measley 3k and ended up panting with a stitch at 2! Felt pretty low and deflated, and kept thinking about the major task of the 12 mile run at Tough Mudder. 

However, I’ve seen today that I can lift more, I can squat more, and I can do more upside down sit ups and 30kg pull ups. I’m already starting to see a difference and I just need to keep at my running because I’ll get better at that too. I know that I can do it and I just need to think more positively about my training. Results don’t come easy but life isn’t easy. That’s why I’ve signed up to tough mudder! 





I will do this.

Sally x

A beginner does burpees

As I’ve never really ventured far away from a standard cardio workout you can understand a lot of these gym terms fly right over my head. I’ve heard about dead lifts, splits, and arm hangs and I’ve always just nodded along unknowingly. 

Something that I was especially curious about was burpees. And wow they can be difficult for the uncoordinated like me. But with the help of a few YouTube videos I think I may have finally mastered them! 

The good thing about burpees is they work out so many different muscles and require no gym equipment! I’ve decided to add them to my daily squats (I’m currently on day 12 of the 30 day squat challenge which I highly recommend as I’m already starting to see results!). Stay at home workouts are perfect for me as I can’t always make it to the gym and it keeps me feeling strong and motivated at times when I could slip back into old habits. Burpees test endurance which is exactly what I’m looking for in the run up to tough mudder and although I can tell I have a long way to go I’m confident that with the same enthusiasm and will to succeed that I have now, I will be the tough, strong mudder I know I can be! 

Here is a particularly helpful video about how to do burpees and avoid injury by Funk Roberts –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJrdJBWBu08&sns=em

Now I’ve heard that as well as these ‘standard’ or chest to ground burpees there are an array of much more difficult ones encorporating manoeuvres such as pull ups and box jumps! (I think I’ll stick to these for now and leave the others to the pros!)

Sally x

We’re not all built to be the same shape

It may have taken me my whole life to figure it out, but it’s true. We are not all built to be the same shape. Quite often I’m the butt of the joke in the family because they are all so naturally tall and slim and I am less so. Being slim enough for it not to be cruel but still big enough for it to have been made in the first place. As a teenager I was once called ‘thunder thighs’ by a boy who described me as petite until you got to my legs and then it all went wrong. That stayed with me for a long time. 

Despite any of this, I don’t want to diet. I, like any girl have had my share of body issues. I’ve tried to ditch a few pounds before a night out or a birthday by trying to cut carbs and dairy and it has quite often worked if not for me piling it back on the morning after the night before. 

And I’ve had this revelation. I’m not meant to be as tall and slim as my family and who cares?! I am who I am and what I want now is to be healthy, happy, and strong. I want to build muscle and be able to tackle any of the obstacles put in front of me at Tough Mudder. During these next nine months I’m not adopting a strict diet either. A nutritionist may say otherwise but I don’t see the harm if your body is telling you it wants something to let it have it. I am however, going to drink more water, eat more greens, and aim to eat more protein to aid recovery but I’m also not going to be scared to eat a little of what I fancy. 

This isn’t going to be a weight orientated goal. Calorie counting can be quite obsessive, and then you run the risk of bouncing back to your original ways when you fancy a cheat day. I’d rather build my body to be healthy and strong in a manageable way. 

And it feels like a revelation. So let go of who you think you should be and be happy with who you are.

Sally x

Ladies who lift

I love the idea of being a lady who lifts. But how on earth are you meant to become one?! It seems you can either stick to the trusty cardio machines or you can plunge into the unknown depths of the weights room. 

I’ve stayed well away until now and the only form of weights I would do would be attached to a machine with a handy little diagram. Even then I just did what I thought and didn’t stick to a regime of sets and reps. 

Without the luxury of a personal trainer I’ve been lost. Luckily my best friend and boyfriend of three years volunteered to help me out and show me the ropes. So the journey of ordinary old me growing into the  stronger woman I know I can become began today at 9:00AM.

And it hurt. But I felt good. 

I stuck to the same routine, only with smaller weights. Barbell squats, pull ups and upside down sit ups were by far the hardest. And although I’m aching now I feel good for doing something I never thought I would be able to do. Depending on the type of weights, I lifted around 10kg, 20kg or 30kg with my arms, and I hope with each passing session I will grow to be able to lift more. To any seasoned gym goer I’m sure that my meagre weights are laughable, but I say you have to start somewhere. 

If I can do it so can you! Join me on this journey of making my paper dreams a reality.

Sally x

Can an ordinary girl really take on Tough Mudder?

I seem to have so many paper dreams. I’ve scribbled my hopes and wishes through countless notebooks and already made a sizeable bucket list. But how many of these are to come true and how many are to remain as a just that – a paper dream?

Of course, not having much money has held me back in areas such as travel, but for now and for the purpose of this blog I want to try and check off those dreams that can be achieved without money. 

Firstly, I should state that I am not athletic, I’m much more of a tv series and pizza sort of girl. But on my bucket list there it is the dreaded marathon. I know that this would not be achievable in any short space of time but hope to be able to complete 5k, 10k, half marathon, and eventually full. I have already started training for my 5k with the 5k runmeter app that I’ve found really useful! It paces you and trains you through a number of weeks by slowly increasing your endurance and stamina. 

Secondly, there is Tough Mudder. For those of you that don’t know…

Tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile obstacle course designed to test all-around strength, stamina, teamwork, and mental grit. Tough Mudder is Probably the Toughest Event on the Planet. Probably.

Oh and those obstacles include fire, ice, tear gas and electricity to name a few. 

Sounds crazy, right?

Would it sound even crazier if I said I’ve signed up for it and it’s in nine months time?  

A few years ago a marathon was the height of my aspirations for fitness, but something about tough mudder excites me. It’s about pushing yourself to the absolute limit and I want to know if I’ve got what it takes. Do you ever sit and watch an action film and wonder if you could survive? Well I do, and I feel like this is my chance to see if I can do it. I used to feel like tough mudders were crazy, over the top gym loons. But I’ve discovered I want to be one of them. I want to be strong. I want to challenge the perception that tough mudder isn’t for girls (I’ve heard every remark) and as my first day of weight training was today the looks I received in that male dominated part of the gym only made me want to succeed further.

But can an ordinary girl really take on tough mudder? Come with me as I document my progress in this next nine months. If you’re reading this I hope it can inspire you too to come along on this journey with me. 

 Sally x