My Current Fitness Routine & How I’m Sticking To It

I will admit that my fitness routine this year has been a bit all over the shop, when you compare it to the previous 12 months. Last year I didn’t travel much, got into a flow with personal training and happily trundled down to the gym three times a week to gossip with my PT who put me through my paces and made me do squats with a weight that almost made my eyeballs pop out of my head. I loved it, was consistent and I saw results. This year has been a different story. With trips peppered throughout the months I’ve been unable to stick to my Monday, Wednesday, Friday routine and when my time management faltered when big events like the wedding loomed, I stripped back all sweat sessions out of my diary and have since struggled to get back into the swing of things.

However, in the past month I have been officially BACK ON IT. Mad for it, some would say. When things have popped up last minute and I’ve have to reschedule I have been adamant at finding a slot to get the blood pumping; which has meant that I’ve been forced to try new classes and workout at home when the thought of slogging my butt to the gym at 5am made me want to vom (I’ll pop up an ‘at-home’ workout best of next week). Here’s how I’ve kept my motivation up for a four weeks…

Write it down. I thought back to how I got into this whole fitness shebang in the first place and remembered that at the beginning of each month I used to write myself down a workout schedule that I’d pin above my desk and tick off each day and workout as it came. You know me, I love a good tick box and find that just the thought of putting a line through through a monthly grid is enough to get me in the mood to haul my behind off the sofa. So that’s exactly what I did. I knew that it was six weeks until my next trip (HELLO GREECE!) and so collaborated with my calendar, my PT’s availably and the schedule at my local pilates studio to see if it was possible to get some kind of workout in Monday to Friday with the odd at-home workout or yoga video in the front room in there, and IT WORKED! I’ve missed the odd day due to a last minute meeting or a birthday night-out induced hangover, but for the most part I’ve done some kind of sweaty thing at least five times a week, which is much more than what I was doing before.

Be realistic. Whilst the idea of gymming, showering and being at my desk by 9am sounds like a dream, the 5.30am wake-up call and drive to the gym is pretty painful. So I’ve realised through trial and error (and having the shakes at the gym because I need 4 bowls of cereal to function first thing) that early, early morning workouts just aren’t for me. In order to be realistic and tie-in with my schedule I know that a lunchtime class or gym session is sympathetic to my workload and means that I can make the most out of the AM which is when I’m naturally at my most productive. Night owl I am not. I’m also a person who fiercely guards their weekends and so pencilling in a leg routine on a Sunday just ain’t gonna happen. Instead, at the weekend I opt for a pilates class which Mark normally trundles along to with me (I live for watching his face during the hamstring stretch bits) or some kind of yin yoga routine that I can do in my front room in my PJs with a candle on.

Try something new. Although my local pilates studio has a fair amount of classes, sometimes their reformer ones just don’t fit into my available slot, so this month I have given some classes a go that I have never tried before and actually that made me quite excited. Firstly I tried Barre, which from what I’ve seen online and on Instagram can mean a million and one different things in the fitness world. The class that I went to was very ballet focused and seeing as I have the elegance of an elephant attempting to prance around in Gianvitto Rossi’s, I wouldn’t say that I was cut out for it, although my inner thighs did sing to me the morning after. I also tried Mat Pilates for the first time and was kind of amazed at just how taxing it could be without the use of weights. That squishy ball is my new nemesis. I’m still a sucker for reformer and a classic resistance session at the gym, but it’s nice to know that I can try different things and not completely suck at them.

Find what you love. I know, real groundbreaking stuff here. But at the end of the day if you don’t love it, then you aren’t going to prioritise it. I’ve realised that right now I really bloomin’ love Reformer Pilates; mainly for the fact that I find it relaxing, whilst being challenging and my local studio is so darn easy to get to. I still enjoy going to the gym, but it’s definitely a runner-up right now. So I’ve adjusted my routine accordingly, skewing more towards reformer and less to the gym, which is not only better for my budget but is also better for my routine because I’m much less likely to cancel because I’m working out in a  way that I really enjoy. Yes it’s made my progress at the gym slower and stunted because I’m now only dropping in there twice a week, but it’s given me a chance to really improve at reformer and give myself a bit of toning and TLC (I can now touch my toes!). Routine locked down. FINALLY.

Photos by Lauren Shipley

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