My Gym Programme

It has been a couple of weeks since Kevin (YMCA Gym Instructor) put together my gym programme. So I thought I would let everyone know what exactly I do at the gym when I go - complete with pictures!

Firstly, I do a combination of weights and cardio 3x a week (usually Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) and on the other days I do straight cardio.

For cardio workouts I try to burn at least 500 calories. To give you an idea, I can usually burn 210 calories in 15 minutes on the crosstrainer (A). I really like the cross trainer and the treadmill (B), and on alternative days I take turns with the exercycle (D) and rowing machine (C)...which I hate! There is a rule that you can not use any of the machines for more than 15 minutes when it is busy...so I either sneakily do two lots of 15 minutes on a machine, or I take a break, do something else and return to that machine. On the treadmill, I run 15 minutes and to make it more like running on the ground, I add an incline of about 1-2. Cardio takes about an hour and a bit. When I do weights, I usually start with a 15 minute warm up using one of the cardio machines.

My weights programme:

Leg Press - this is where you sit in a seat, with feet up on a board. You push back to lift the weights (straightening your legs...but not fully straight). At the moment I do 2x12 sets of 60kgs with both legs, then 1x10 set of 30kgs with each leg.

Leg Curl - you lie down on a bench (face down) and hook your achilles part of ankle under a bar...lift that so that your feet come up near your bottom. Currently I do 2x10 sets of 35kgs.

Chest Press - here you sit on a seat and use your arms to push handles out in front of you. I find this hard! I am doing 2x10 sets of 20kgs.

Tricep Pushdown - here you stand with feet shoulder length apart and elbows tucked tightly into your sides. You push down a rope handle (which is split so that you can push your hands down to the side of your hips. This is horrible! I am doing 2x10 of 10kgs.

Calf Raises - are blimmin' awful! But they are working! Here you stand on the ball of your foot (on some sort of step) and raise so that you are almost on tip toe, then lower so your heel is below the ball of foot. Sounds easy??? Give it a go. On each foot, I am doing 8x two counts up, two counts down, then 4x three counts up, one down.

Dual Pulley - here you sit on a bench with legs out in front (slightly bent) and your arms are out in front holding handles attached to the weights (on a wire)...you simply pull your arms until your hands are on either side of you. I am doing 2x10 of 18kgs.

Floor Work - to loosen and strengthen my hips I am doing 2x10 side lying clam (lie on side, bend legs with feet together, raise top leg and lower it - with feet still touching), then 1x10 hip lifter (this one is a little embarrassing - lie on back, with feet near bottom, lift hips, hold for two counts, lower again), then just to strengthen my abs I am doing 20 crunches (using a swiss ball under legs and doing basic crunches - sit ups/curls).

After this I usually try to do 20-30 minutes of cardio, then stretches, then home.