Fitness this week, #10 2026

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.

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 xxx that grows quite big in the summer, and at the bottom right I need to plant another rose, or something else.

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?

Thanks to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly rundown!