Whew! Can someone explain to me how in the eff we are already 11 days into February? Honestly, I’m not entirely sure where exactly January went, but it sure seemed to fly by. At any rate, I believe I mentioned in last month’s update post that I joined a gym! I went pretty regularly throughout the month (let’s not get into this month!) and to keep myself accountable, I figured I would share what I did here with you. So let’s jump right into January’s workout recaps.
I don’t know if I mentioned it or not, but I picked Planet Fitness for my gym. With a couple of different options, I signed up for their Black Card membership, which is about $25 a month once you figure in taxes and such. I could have chosen the cheaper option, ringing in around $10 a month, but there are some perks with the higher membership fee. Come on, who doesn’t want unlimited access to the massage chairs and hydrobeds? Plus, with the Black Card you get access to any of the Planet Fitness gyms, so I can take advantage of all the different locations.
January’s Workout Recaps
Originally I joined the gym for access to the cardio equipment. With work, I wouldn’t get to most trails until close to dark, leaving me with limited time to walk or run. Also, safety is a concern for me. It’s probably not the best idea to be wandering around some of these trailhead parking lots in the dark. Plus, the weather can be iffy here in the Midwest. Sure, today it’s going to be in the 50’s, but with rain. Tomorrow’s high? Try 30°! So yeah, I might be wanting to get back into a fitness routine, but let’s be honest. I need all the motivational help I can get!
After a few trips to the gym, however, those weight machines pulled me in! I got into a bit of a routine with doing some cardio then hitting the machines. I’m not knowledgeable enough at the moment to do a ton of free weight work, so the machines are a comfortable spot for me. Maybe it’s “cheating”, but I could not care less.
Total Days of Activity=16
I joined the gym on January 5th, with my first actual day being the 6th. As I said, I mostly did cardio for the first week or so, before adding strength training into the mix.
Total Activities for January=30
Breaking those down:
-Cardio=17
-Strength Training=11
-Yoga=2
Cardio consisted of mostly walking on the treadmill, with the occasional attempt at the stairmill and rowing machine. I added in cycling and the last week of January I started running a bit on the treadmill as well. Strength training was done mostly on the various machine, with occasional free weights mixed in. I typically did an upper-body day, lower body day, and then a core-focused day twice a week.
Unfortunately, I only managed to go to yoga twice last month. I schedule several classes, but then forgot about them or had to cancel because of inclement weather. And that wraps up January’s workout recaps! Let me know if you want more details on exactly what I’m doing for each workout in the future.
Planning For February
While I haven’t made it to the gym or yoga yet this month (I know!), I am doing a bit of thinking on how I want to schedule my workouts in the future. At this point, I don’t think I need to strength train six times a week. It’s hard to hit the gym, get my cardio in, and then think about going to yoga all in one evening. I do work full-time on top of the blog and my Etsy shop, so I have to be decisive with my time. Also, I’m not training for anything in particular. I am just looking to get stronger and healthier. So I think moving forward, for the next couple of months, I will try to follow this schedule:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday-Strength Training and Cycling for cardio
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday-Running and Yoga
Sunday-Either a full-on rest day or an active rest day.
I’ll stick with the upper body, lower body, and core-focused workouts. Yoga with help with those as well. I’m excited to get back into running, and I love cycling! My plan is to find a running plan so I’m not just doing random bits here and there, but actually have something to focus on.
Let me know in the comments below some of your favorite workouts! And as always, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, and don’t forget to sign up below to receive the latest posts (and soon to come newsletter!) delivered straight to your inbox!
