Fitness this week, #5 2026

This week I've tried to get into some more activity on my "off" days. It will be a work in progress to see what fits and what doesn't around my program in the gym (like, I want to let my feet rest and recover the day after heavy lunges, and similar). In the next coming weeks it'll likely be easier to plan since I'm going into a heavier program in the gym which means split sessions and I can plan a tougher bike ride if I'm not having leg day the day after, and so on.
Otherwise it's been a quite uneventful week, as usual at this time of the year. I celebrated my birthday (or... didn't really), started testing another operating system, and not much else.

Monday - gym day

My legs were sore for some reason. After lunch I did arch doming and single leg heel raises. Later I went to the gym.

I certainly don't feel "normal" in performance yet. Whatever that means! But, I've increased weights after Christmas and now I do 12 reps instead of 10 so I certainly haven't lost strength, it's likely just... an effect of increased load. Absolutely normal, and can I now stop the overthinking please.
I did reverse lunges, back squats, barbell row, parachutes with resistance bands, dumbbell chest press, inclined flyes, upright rows and barbell shoulder presses. It was a good session! Those parachutes - ouch! That was SO much harder than you'd expect with "only" resistance bands. When I got the form somewhat right (my total focus was to keep those bands activated and still do the movement) I got some serious burn in the entire glute/hip region. I hope to do this soon again, and can always do it at home too.

Tuesday - cycling and other good things

It was a busy day because miss Elsa has discovered the top shelves in my office and I had to spend some time emptying some of the shelves earlier than planned - we've already made some plans to rearrange things but are waiting for some stuff from IKEA. Ideally, you do the decluttering BEFORE getting a kitten!
She was also a bit exta edgy today because yesterday she got her first batch of vaccines and probably didn't feel great.

I got some activity done later in the day - I did my pogo hops, three sets on spot, and one set sideways, then three sets of the slow march holding 12,5 kg dumbbells before getting on the Zwift bike. I wasn't feeling great today myself with upset stomach of sorts, but after the hopping I actually felt much better. I chose an easy ride just in case, 16,5 km, flat, and afterwards I felt good again so I also did a plank and toe extensions with resistance band.

Wednesday - gym day

I'm so not into my new routine and today I "only" went to the gym. I did deadlifts, step-ups with 6 kg dumbbells, flyes, Renegade rows, dumbbell rows, one-dumbbell pullovers, lateral raises and forward raises. Yet again, my energy levels dropped a lot during and after the Renegade rows and while the rest of the session was decent, it was much tougher than it should be. I've been changing things up a bit with food lately, and apparently I'm not getting enough carbs so I need to look into this again. I want to keep a balance between eating enough to train and build muscle and smart enough to not accumulate fat, but in the end, my top priority is to be fuelled to be able to train hard and get the results so that needs to always be the focus.

Thursday - cycling and mixed

Today was my birthday! I don't celebrate much these days and hadn't planned anything in partcular. I'm not one of those who say "I'm so old, it's nothing to celebrate" - the older we get, the more we have to celebrate! I got to live another year, I got to live another HEALTHY year, I'm still able to lift weights and do good things. That's something to celebrate no matter how you feel about getting older! But I had decided to take it easy this year, really I only care about being with good people and doing something I enjoy.

My husband gave me some really fine bottles of scotch, and a friend came over for coffee. It was a nice, quiet day. The weather wasn't bad but it was cold and I stayed indoors.
In the afternoon I did some pogo hops and heel bops and then hopped on the Zwift bike for a ride. I went 12 km on what was called London flat, but it included a lot of hills, although short ones - a good workout for a "between" day.

My husband got me this heart rate monitor a while ago, as he has one and it's very good.

I much prefer that you just put it around your arm instead of the chest - and, finally one that easily connects to the bike!

In the evening I went to the slow session (basically a class to learn Irish tunes), and when we got home we had a scare - Elsa hasn't shown any interest in going outdoors, but this time while we were entering, she sneaked out. Those little babies are so fast! My husband managed to grab her, but only by the tail. Poor Elsa! At least we got her inside. She's quite big for her age but still very young and small and can be killed by adult cats. Plus she isn't fully vaccinated against the cat nasties and needs to be neutered too.

I think Elsa had a scare too because as soon as I sat down, she jumped upon my lap, cuddled up near my chest and fell asleep. Very unlike her when we just arrived home!

Friday - gym day and another freeze

Today our temperatures dropped and we had 2C with wind gusts up to 70 km/h and feels-like -7C. How, eh, nice? In February, in Ireland? Weather like this is a big offense after what we've had recently.
I put on hiking pants on top of my 3/4 leggings to go to the gym. The gym session was good! After topping up my carbs the last few days I felt much more energised (or whatever the reason was, because who really knows? There are too many variables!). I did sumo deadlifts, lunges, barbell row, two-dumbbell pullovers, barbell chest press, inclined flyes, dumbbell shoulder presses and bent-over lateral raise.

Everything went ok today, those lunges seemed much more manageable, than the last time, I did better with the barbell rows than I have recently, and I LOVE sumo deadlifts!
When I was about to leave I was informed that next week we're going into a heavier strength program. Well sure, why not! Some heavy weights usually solve a lot of my problems. But I'd better keep my sh** together over the weekend to be in top shape for heavy leg day.

Weekend

We were supposed to go to a bluegrass session on the Friday night but with the weather we weren't sure if the roads would be icy, and we much preferred sitting in front of the fire sipping my birthday whisky so that's what we did. The rest of the weekend has been all about rearranging things in my office and in the sitting room (the IKEA pieces came on Thursday). The weather has been everything between sideways rain and near freezing temperatures to beautiful sunshine and possible walking weather but I still have too much to do in my office. Some low-key foot exercises might happen between the sorting of stuff.

What's with this lack of walking? It's simply the season. It's possible I've become too comfortable but with constant strong winds and low temperatures I can't enjoy or even make myself go walking when I know I have indoor options. That's it. I do need more weight-bearing activities outside the gym, and that's why I'm adding plyometrics. I'm sure the roads will still be there when it gets warmer!

Thanks to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly rundown!