Bench presses for the win!

Ariel and I hit the gym again today, same routine as the other day but with added bench presses. The bar itself weighs 45lb and we did have to get a random buff man to show us what to do, but we did it!
I managed to do 5 sets of 45lb (my absolute limit; it's heavier than you think!). All these squats and deadlifts and bench presses have also got me some quests...check it out!

HanAsh Tracked a Workout for 693 pts Today

• Barbell Squat:
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
• Barbell Deadlift:
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • 18.1 kg x 10 reps (+53 pts)
• Barbell Bench Press:
  • 20.4 kg x 5 reps (+46 pts)
  • 20.4 kg x 5 reps (+46 pts)
  • 20.4 kg x 5 reps (+46 pts)
  • Felt like a right girl lifting only the bar!
• Dumbbell Side Bend:
  • 9.1 kg x 10 reps (+35 pts)
  • 9.1 kg x 10 reps (+35 pts)
  • 9.1 kg x 10 reps (+35 pts)
• Weighted Crunch:
  • 4.5 kg x 10 reps (+9 pts)
  • 4.5 kg x 10 reps (+9 pts)
  • 4.5 kg x 10 reps (+9 pts)
  • Cable machine was busy so grabbed a plate and did it like that. There were only 10lb or 20lb plates, so went down rather than up on the weight.
• Plank:
  • 54 sec (+24 pts)
  • 34 sec (+15 pts)
  • 26 sec (+11 pts)
• Walking:
• 0:20:00 || 2.4 km (+75 pts)
• Turns out I walk 1.2km to the gym and then back again, so figured I should track that too!

Everybody's Doing It...

• Perform Barbell Bench Press 1 times

The Squat Isn't So Scary!

• Perform Barbell Squat 1 times

I <3 The Bench Press

• Perform Barbell Bench Press 3 times in a week

Squat, Bench, Deadlift club

• Perform Barbell Squat 1 times
• Perform Barbell Bench Press 1 times
• Perform Barbell Deadlift 1 time

Strength, Hiking and Levelling up!

Saturday saw me and a group of friends tackle stages 1 and 2 of the MacLehose Trail, a 24km hike which somehow ended up being 28km. Took us just under 8 hours and I was shattered by the end! The first part was ok, quite easy but stage two was a lot of going uphill. I got terribly, terribly sunburned :(

I took a rest for a few days and then today went to the gym to meet my friend Ariel who wanted to get started with the weights. I made her promise not to sue me if she hurt herself and explained that I'm in no way qualified to teach her, but if she wanted to come along and see what I do, I'd be more than happy to show her. Best part of the session? Turning up and finding we had to wait because the fixed-weight barbell we needed was being used by a big burly man. Girl power!

As for food, I've been a bit rubbish at keeping my new year's resolutions (no surprise there, really), but I've been easting ok-ish. I will admit to the odd Subway sandwich and pizza, but I've cut down on the drinking and dairy. I'm actually very interested in the Paleo diet at the moment (not as a diet but as a lifestyle change) and have been looking up loads of recipes to try out. I like the idea; eat only what humans ate between 2.5 million years and 10,000 years ago. So that means no legumes, grains, wheat or dairy, basically. Suits me fine, as I'd like to cut out wheat as I bloat a lot when I eat it and I can deal with the rest. I'll definitely still have the odd pizza or cheese sarnie once in a while though ;)

Here are my last couple of workouts!

HanAsh Tracked a Workout for 881 pts 22 Jan, 2013

• Hiking:
  • 7:42:00 || 28.2 km || 16:22 min/km || moderate hills || 3 kg (+881 pts)
  • 
    

HanAsh Tracked a Workout for 491 pts Today

• Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift:
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
• Barbell Squat:
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • 13.6 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
• Cable Crunch:
  • 6.8 kg x 10 reps (+11 pts)
  • 6.8 kg x 10 reps (+11 pts)
  • 6.8 kg x 10 reps (+11 pts)
• Dumbbell Side Bend:
  • 6.8 kg x 10 reps (+33 pts)
  • 9 kg x 10 reps (+34 pts)
  • 9 kg x 10 reps (+34 pts)
  • 5 each side per set.
• Plank:
• 43 sec (+19 pts)
• 49 sec (+22 pts)
• 50 sec (+22 pts)
• 
  
• HanAsh Leveled up Today
  
  

  Level 12

  
  

Ariel and I have agreed to meet on Friday to get back in the weights section....little does she know just how much she's gonna ache for the next couple of days *mwahahaha*

As always, here's a link to Fitocracy if you feel like joining and starting on your own journey of points, quests and awesomeness! 

Run for your lives!

I have a tendency to over think things. Case in point: I knew I wanted to start weight lifting but had no idea how/what the best program was. It took me 3 months of looking at it all online before I actually started. 
I'm now looking to run a 10k race (the Race for Life). I've asked a few questions on the Fitocracy forum & have been given loads of (sometimes conflicting advice). I have no idea what I should be doing/which program to follow/how to train for 10k. But you know what I did? I just went for a run.

• Running (treadmill):
  • 0:10:00 || 1.5 km || 9 km/hr || 0.5 % (+65 pts)
  • 0:04:25 || 1 km || 9.5 km/hr || 0.5 % (+68 pts)
  • Can't find a way to say that I increased my speed when I hit the 10 mark. This technically wasn't in 2 sets, it was one run; 10 minutes at 9kph then 5 minutes at 9.5kph.
• Stretching:
• 0:10:00 (+2 pts)

Tomorrow I've organised a 24km hike in the stunning Sai Kung countryside. It makes up sections 1 and 2 of the MacLehose trail and there's a solid 20 or so of us going. It should be great fun!

Race for Life!

So in 2011, I did the 10k Race for Life with my Mum in memory of our cousin Peter who sadly passed away from cancer at the far-too-young age of 40. We did a mixture of jogging and walking and finished in a respectable 1 hour and around 25 minutes. 

This year, I've signed up for the same 10k race. Mum won't be joining me this time unfortunately, so I've decided to attempt to run the whole thing. Now I'm currently able to run at around 8.5kph for about 15 minutes (which is about 2.1km give or take). My aim is to finish the 10k in under an hour, but preferably in 50 minutes or less, which is a scary goal! To that end, I'll be swapping out some of my pilates sessions for running sessions and training, training, training!

I'd really love it if you could spare a few pounds (or dollars, or whatever) to sponsor me and show your support, not to mention help me raise money for this fantastic charity! You can do so over at my JustGiving page, here (click it!). My target is just £100, so with just a couple of quid from everyone who reads this I should get there in no time!

In other news, I've got the fitness bug! I never thought I'd be the kind of person who'd be annoyed if I couldn't get to the gym for one reason or another, but it's happened. I must remember to give my body some rest days though, to let it recover between workouts, and to load up on more protein to help it along the way! I've actually heard that chocolate milk is a good thing to drink after a workout, which is good since I managed to buy a 1.3kg box of chocolate Nesquik powder a little while ago...oops!

Here are my recent workouts, by the way. Today is a rest day (though I might do some stretching on my left achillies). I've got a friend coming into the gym with me tomorrow to spot my weights routine, so I fully expect to ache like a bitch on Friday, then I've organised a 24km hike for Saturday! Busy, busy, busy!

14 Jan, 2013

• Pilates:
• 0:50:00 (+195 pts)
• 10 minute solutions Pilates DVD - all 5 segments.

15 Jan, 2013

• Rowing (machine):
  • 0:05:00 || 946 m || 6 % (+75 pts)
• Running (treadmill):
  • 0:15:00 || 2.1 km || 8.5 km/hr || 0.5 % (+92 pts)
• Stretching:
• 0:10:00 (+2 pts)
• 
  

Kam Sheung - Tai Lam Chung Country Trail

So today Ras, my friend Lorna and I met with a group of fellow expats for a hike around the north of the New Territories called the Kam Sheung - Tai Lam Chung Country Trail. It was sold to us as a 13.5km hike, but either that was incorrect or we decided half way through to take the longer hike, as we ended up walking 23km in the end!
There was about 20 of us in all but I only knew Ras and Lorna, so it was a great opportunity to meet new people as well as get some fresh air and exercise!

Here's my Fitocracy  report! Yay for quests and points and levelling up!

HanAsh Leveled up Today

Level 11

HanAsh Completed a Quest for 800 pts Today

Lost in the Woods. [Casual]

• Go hiking for at least 12 miles on some light hills.

HanAsh Completed a Quest for 500 pts Today

The Scenic Route. [Casual]

• Go hiking for at least 8 miles on some light hills.

HanAsh Completed a Quest for 300 pts Today

A Weekend with Nature. [Casual]

• Go hiking for at least 6 miles on some light hills.

HanAsh Tracked a Workout for 653 pts Today

• Hiking:
• 6:00:00 || 23 km || light hills || 5 kg (+653 pts)

Strength, Day 1

So I went to the gym today and did the first day of my new strength training workout! Here are the details (you can see this on my Fitocracy page too!)

• Stiff-Legged Barbell Deadlift:
  • 9 kg x 10 reps (+46 pts)
  • 9 kg x 10 reps (+46 pts)
  • 13 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • Weights originally in lbs - 20lb and 30lb respectively.
• Barbell Squat:
  • 9 kg x 10 reps (+46 pts)
  • 9 kg x 10 reps (+46 pts)
  • 13 kg x 10 reps (+49 pts)
  • Found that 30lb (13kg) was my limit for this and so will continue with that until I can do it easily.
• Weighted Crunch:
  • 5 kg x 10 reps (+9 pts)
  • 5 kg x 10 reps (+9 pts)
  • 6.8 kg x 10 reps (+10 pts)
  • Actually done with a cable, kneeling, bending forward each time. Someone in the gym showed me that, as my spine tends to push too much into the floor and hurts when I'm doing a typical floor crunch.
• Dumbbell Side Bend:
  • 6.8 kg x 20 reps (+37 pts)
  • 6.8 kg x 20 reps (+37 pts)
  • 6.8 kg x 20 reps (+37 pts)
  • Holding dumbbells in each hand, one to the left, one to the right, etc.
• Plank:
  • 28 sec (+12 pts)
  • 32 sec (+14 pts)
  • 43 sec (+19 pts)

I need to work on my form for the squats; my short achilles tendon means I need a plate under each heel so that I can actually bend my knees. I'm hoping that the more I do it, the more my tendon will stretch :)

I feel good and I'm looking forward to heading back on Thursday to go again! I'll be using 13kg from the start on the deadlifts and squats next time (this was the first time I'd done any lifting, so there was some experimentation on how heavy I could go!).

Happy New Year!

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear!
Well, Christmas wad definitely a gym-free zone, as I don't have a membership to one in the U.K (where I was for about 3 weeks). I did take my running shoes, but it was too cold to go for a run (bbrrrrrr) and my pilates DVD, which I managed.....once.

Along with 2 Christmas dinners (at Ras' parent's and at mine the following day), wine, chocolate, home made mince pies, Christmas cake and general indulgence, I was pretty worried about stepping on the scales and getting my tape measure out this week! But as it happens, I had nothing to worry about. I've managed to stick exactly where I was before Christmas, which gives me a nice starting point for this year!

You already know my fitness goals (I'm meeting something this week hopefully who'll be taking me through the barbell workouts at the gym to ensure I don't injure myself), but my health/diet goals have changed, somewhat. I've been talking a lot to Anita De Bauch, who swears by a book called The Beauty Detox Solution and based on her results, a quick flick through the book and some internet research, I've decided to go vegan once a week, vegetarian twice a week and eat more fish on my 'carnivore' days.
I've started today (vegan day today) with some apple and cinnamon porridge and a banana for breakfast and corn on the cob for lunch. This evening I'm having a spaghetti bolognase minus the meat.

I'm very interested to see how this affects my body; apparently animal products are a lot harder to digest than raw fruits and vegetables, and so can leave you feeling lethargic. Hopefully a couple of days a week of vegan/vegetarianism will see my energy levels increase. Maybe I'll even see an improvement in my skin, hair and nails!

I'm off on a hunt for scrummy vegan and veggie recipes, so if you have any please send the links my way!

Hannah xx