My Current Exercise Routine

I can take one positive of being in lockdown - I have gained a better and more well structured exercise routine. Before the pandemic, I was doing the same routine everyday and it was becoming very monotonous. With the extra time I (as well as everybody else) was given when lockdown commenced, I decided to test what I could do to make my exercise routine a little, well, less monotonous. 

I didn't want to be in the position of completing the same workouts everyday on YouTube. It worked for a little while, but it got to a point where I wasn't feeling any real benefits. When you feel like that about your exercise schedule, you know its time for a change. 

I wanted to introduce more cardio based workouts to my weekly regime, introduce Pilates into the mix and even use my treadmill to its advantage. I do use the treadmill everyday, but I wanted to start doing interval workouts on there again as they do keep me on my toes and get my lungs feeling breathless. 

After careful planning and trying to figure out when hair washing day would come into the mix (you know, that is a priority) here is what my current exercise routine looks like - 

 DAY ONE - TONING 

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This day comes the day after hair washing day. This is the day I focus on my core, arms and legs and do a variety of toning videos to keep each of those areas in shape. I tend to do Blogilates workouts (prepare for a lot of Woo-Wooing) for toning as I have seen the best results from attempting those videos. I usually do 30 minutes on the treadmill before loading my laptop up and searching for the Blogilates video I want to do that session. I would have to say that I hate working on my core the most, it's the one I least enjoy and the core workout is the one I need the most encouragement to do (well, self-encouragement). One consolation is that it's easier to hide your belly than your arms and legs, especially in the Summer! 

DAY TWO - POSTURE 

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I like this day. It's a day where I can work on my posture. Since lockdown (kind of) ended, I've not noticed a noticeable sort of hunch in my shoulders. That's down to being sat on my arse for about six months (even though I exercised almost everyday) and not really mobilising much. So I've dedicated one day in the week to get my posture sorted. I wish there were more posture related workout videos online, but I'm keeping to the same 2-3 (alternate each week) and I'm hoping to see a difference in the coming weeks! 

DAY THREE - TREADMILL INTERVAL WORKOUT 

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Treadmill interval/HIIT workouts are easy to find through Pinterest. There's so many options on which ones you can try, they all range by intensity and can last between 20 - 60 minutes. The only issue I'm having with this is that I haven't got the incline option on my treadmill so I have to do them without the option of being on a slope. That's ok though, the vigorousness and different speeds get my lungs working and it does keep me attentive! You can't slack on these workouts, full concentration is needed! 

DAY FOUR - PILATES

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I tried, I really did try to stick to yoga, but I just found it wasn't helping me and I just wasn't enjoying the downward dog. I switched to Pilates recently and I enjoy that so much more! I tend to do Lottie Murphy videos as her Pilates videos are so simple but effective. I've definitely felt a difference since completing Lottie's videos. She's made so many videos so I'm never stuck for choice! 

DAY FIVE - INTENSE CARDIO

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Ah, it's hair washing day! Which means it's the day to go all out with an intense cardio workout! It's time to get my sweat on and work my lungs to their utmost with a Joe Wicks cardio workout. Joe Wick's workouts never fail to make me sweat, breathless and make me as red as a beetroot afterwards. Usually his videos last 20 minutes, I try to do all 20 minutes but if I need to, I will hit the pause button and have a little minute or two rest until I've stopped hacking my lungs up and hit the play button again. Then it's time to drudge upstairs and wash my salty, sweaty hair. 

I have stuck to this regime religiously since I created it and I hope to keep doing so now I'm back in work. I'm really thriving and enjoying exercise now thanks to this routine and I am starting to feel the benefits of it. Something which I haven't felt during exercising for a long time. 

Do you have an exercise routine? What's your favourite type of exercise to do?