As you may have guessed by the top photo, this week included some outdoors time! We've had some decent weather, although still on the cool and/or windy side. We're not quite there yet with real spring weather, but perhaps slowly getting there. It's been a good, standard week with gym workouts, a bit of biking, walking, various TLC exercises and even some garden work.
This post is linked with the Weekly rundown link-up, hosted by Deborah and Kim. It’s where fitness bloggers get together to share their ups and downs with fitness and training, whether it’s about strength, running, cycling or something else. It’s great for accountability as well as inspiring and supporting each other. We also include some bits from everyday life if we want to. Let’s get into it!
Monday - gym
A quite standard gym session with squats, sumo deadlifts, flyes, inclined dumbbell chest press, pullovers, bilateral (standing) dumbbell row, forward raises and barbell shoulder press. For some reason I didn't feel particularly strong with the squats today, and likewise with the chest press but everything was good otherwise.
My lower back/glute acted up again with the deadlifts - so annoying! It was almost expected because I've had some stiffness lately on that side. It's nothing serious but I need to get back to some at-home exercises more regularly.
Tuesday - bike
So I got my sh** together and did all sorts of exercises that have helped or are supposed to help for that upset muscle in the glute area. I did the 4-point stretch, various hip mobility exercises and the piriformis glute bridge. I also squeezed in some jumping before getting on the bike. My legs felt so not in the mood for cycling, but decided to do what I could since I was mighty sore after the sumo deadlifts, it would be good to move the legs, and the otudoors offered pouring rain and strong winds. I started a Zwift ride and after a while I got into a good flow and completed the ride which was 10 km.
Wednesday - gym
I did hip rotations and the 4-point stretch, then had a good gym session with lunges, sumo squats, push-ups, barbell chest press, dumbbell rows, one-dumbbell pullovers, bent-over lateral raises and dumbbell shoulder presses. Everything was quite straightforward except the chest press but they also came straight after the push-ups. I don't have much to complain about. :)
Thursday
I did some hip rotations and didn't get much else done, because we needed to go to Cork for some shopping. Generally a quite soft day.
Friday - short walk and gym
I felt soo stiff in my hips today. I maxed hip rotations and stretches including hip flexor stretches and then went for a walk. The weather was nice but with a cold wind. I still quite enjoyed it - I put on the weighted vest and it felt a bit less awkward this time.
It's definitely getting more colourful out there!
Later it was time for the gym. It seemed like a soft session or maybe I just felt stronger than earlier in the week. I did reverse lunges, Romanian deadlifts, inclined flyes, dumbell chest presses, two-dumbbell pullovers, parachutes, lateral raises and shoulder shrugs. The lower back/glute muscle acted up a bit with the RDLs but settled down before it got bad.
Saturday - walking
Today I had big plans for the garden, since the weather finally looked good, quite warm and with a not-so-overwhelming breeze. First I went for a walk, to the pier and I had planned to continue to the village and do the loop, but when I got to the pier it was raining. :( I turned back, since it still would be a decent walk, about 7 km.
I enjoyed some nice views along the way, so much green, new flowers, and more bluebells!
Sadly, after I came home there were more clouds, several rain showers and I decided to postpone the garden work. Bummer.
Sunday - walking and gardening
This became a very active day! The weather was really good, and after breakfast and some hip rotations and lower back stretches, I went for a walk. I did the "old cow road" loop. It involves some nice hills andyou walk along some lovely farmlands. This loop is just below 7 km and I thorougly enjoyed it. After I turned onto the small road, I had a horse & carriage equipage after me and I had to keep track of where they were and if I had to step aside. It kind of stressed me but also forced me to keep a good pace! Whenlet I finally needed to step aside to let them pass, it was a group of lovely elderly gentlemen and one of them was our former postman! It was lovely to see him - he was the postman in our area when we first moved here, and retired last year. He was always so friendly and I think he knew all the people he delivered post to. I miss his friendly face and it was good to see him again!
There were some other living creatures around to keep me company along the way.
After lunch it was finally time, and weather, for cleaning up the garden. I got a LOT of work done! Fixing the border of the stone area with roses, cleaning up old debris and weeds from the planting boxes at the back, and planting Montbretia bulbs down by my husband's office. The sun was shining beautifully all the time and getting this done made my day! I really miss engaging in the garden.
Around the rockery with the roses, I removed the rocks along the edges and we'll just let the robot mower keep the grass cut around it, and even if the grass starts growing around the roses, that's ok too because Rugosa roses have the potential to take over and grow a LOT. At the bottom side there's super tiny Rugosa that you probably don't see in the picture, next to it there's a lady's mantle that grows quite big in the summer, and at the bottom right I need to plant another rose (I'd prefer another Rugosa than anything else so I might wait until I can get cuttings), or something else that grows large.
I didn't get anything done at the front today but that's work for another day, and it's mainly removing some weeds and debris which is a nice job to do in small portions during the mid-week when I just want to spend some time outdoors.
I hope you had a good week. What was the highlight of the week, fitness-wise or otherwise?
Comments
I admire all your gardening efforts. Gardening is something I just do not enjoy but I truly appreciate lovely gardens, so I guess I’m free-loading off my neighbor’s yard work.
I wouldn’t know who my mail deliverer is — they change all the time. Maybe Scooby knows. ;-)
Rural Ireland is very special with how you get to know people like the postman because they stop and chat. I suspect that's a dying tradition though, here too and it still comes down to personality. The new postman isn't like that at all.
I was so happy to do some gardening again! It boosted my mood for several days afterwards!
What a beautiful spring you are having! I'm not much of an outdoor gardener--the hubs does that--but I do have a hydroponic device where I grow indoor lettuce and herbs. I need to start some new seeds--it's cool here today, so I think that's on my to-do list!
Nice work in the gym--I hope you get that glute pain sorted out!
Oh how nice to grow lettuce and herbs like that, I hadn't heard of such a thing, very interesting. I tried to grow lettuce earlier and some worked but I had something eating on most of the crops. Herbs work fine, and some smaller salad leaves too. I might give it a try, I'd love to grown my own Bok Choi.
I've done a lot of hip mobility things over the weekend and a new stretch today, and didn't have any problems doing my deadlifts today so that's a good step towards the former glute happiness!
Your gardening reminds me that I need to get in gear and tackle some landscaping in my backyard. I have plants to buy, and grass to dig-up and some landscaping rocks/edging to install. Ugh…kind of overwhelming to think of, but also exciting. Thanks for the inspiration!
Oh, that sounds like quite a lot of work for you to do, but once you get started, time will fly and it will be so satisfying to have it done. I think borders and edges are so hard to maintain. I had planned to dig up an area around the rockery and fill up with gravel, but I also know it will be overgrown quite soon so now I'll just let the grass grow around it and our mower will hopefully keep it neat and tidy enough.
I've been working on some garden projects too. It always feels so great to take care of that stuff (well, when it's done). We can't plant any fragile flower or vegetables until early May, but I've been planning a few projects until then. We finally mowed the grass for the first time this year today. Our neighbors were making us look bad since they've already mowed their yards twice!
Good job getting your workouts done, and doing those exercises you were supposed to do :) Those are always the ones I need the most motivation to get done!
Not being able to enjoy my deadlifts and reverse lunges because they trigger glute pain is motivation enough for me to do all those exercises! But I'm also the very diligent one who did all the PT exercises EVERY single day to rehab my foot injuries. If I want to feel good and be able to do what I want (lift heavy and walk far) there's no way around it!
For the garden, we also need to wait until May to plant any veg. I moved a plant yesterday and maybe that wasn't a great idea either but I hope it'll work. It's recommended here to do pruning and moving plants quite early in the season. Which reminds me I have to cut the roses asap too.
I know the pain about the first grass cut of the year (well, unless you have a robot). That's always rough work and I'm so glad we bought our robot mower! It's very strong and resistant and can cut much earlier than I used to do.
I love that you saw your former postman! Such a nice treat, right? I’m also doing all sorts of glute and hip mobility and strengthening. I need to stay the course with them (vs just doing them when things get oof, haha!). Congrats on the great week!
I really miss the postman and it was so lovely to see him again. He used to always stop for a chat and ask about our music (and he did this time too). When he retired there was a party for him in the community hall. I couldn't go, but what a beautiful initiative! This is rural Ireland in a nutshell. He was appreciated by so many in the area.
I tend to forget about all those exercises until I get pain somewhere again, so frustrating! Now when I focus on the hips I tend to forget about heel raises and all those things. I'm going to write a strict at-home plan now.
Hope you are doing well!
Glad you had a good week in the gym!
Doesn't it feel wonderful to tackle a gardening project and get it completed? Like you, I break my projects into segments so I can check off getting a section completed so I at least have a little win for the day. The bluebells are so pretty! Sadly, this year I didn't get to our local park that's famous for its bluebells.
It was so satisfying to get all those things done in the garden! Especially the rockery was like a heavy burden every time I saw it.
I hope I'll get to the nearby forest while the bluebells are in action! I've never seen a bluebell forest IRL and all the photos I see are stunning.
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