This week I taught Mr Deadball all about interval training!  We did some Over Shoulders, and some Slams – work for one minute, rest for one minute, rinse and repeat for 20 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of stretching in the quiet corner of the gym.  These exercises with the deadball are great functional movements and I’m feeling it now in my core, hamstrings, quads, and shoulders and I think next week when we do it again, I’ll go for a heavier deadball because I do what I want. 

I try to mix things up a bit when it comes to exercise because I can get bored pretty easily and then start negotiating with myself about going to the gym or not going.  I go 5 days a week most weeks – Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I do weight training.  Tuesdays and Thursdays I do some variation on interval training followed up with deep stretching. 

If you are sedentary, I want to encourage you to do some kind of movement if it is at all possible.  Most of you have heard of the saying “If you don’t use it, you lose it” and that is the truest of truths when it comes to muscle mass!  I have lymphoedema and lipoedema and exercise is vital to preventing progression of these diseases and improve quality of life.  I’ve also struggled with anxiety and depression in the past and exercise is one thing I know I can do to bring balance to the neurotransmitters in my brain. 

If you are intimidated by the thought of going to the gym, give yourself permission to go there every day for a week without any purpose other than to find out what you CAN do and what you LIKE to do. 

This is how I got back into my routine of going to the gym again after some time away.  My job in the first week was solely to see where I was at with the level of my strength and with what I enjoyed without any judgement on my part as to what I could do compared to what I used to be able to do.  I did not apply any pressure on myself to perform at all – it was an investigation activity only with my notepad and pen so I didn’t forget anything on my way round the gym.

I quickly determined that I did not like doing barbell squats, and I also didn’t like most of the cardio equipment that I played with that week. 

What I really loved were a lot of the weight machines, and some free-weight movements.  I also REALLY liked deadlifts.

So at the end of that week, I had a pretty good list of things I could do at the gym that made me really happy and I factored them into a little list and order of execution.  The following week I got started on my new gym routine, with confidence that it would be something that I could adjust if I needed to AND something that I would really looked forward to doing 5 days a week. 

Every now and again I see an exercise on Instagram that I think I’d like to try, and I pop it in my notepad to give it a go next time I’m at the gym to see how it feels.  Today, that exercise was picking up Mr Deadball and

· throwing him to the floor over my shoulder, over and over again for one minute,

· then rest for one minute,

· then pick him up and slam him on the ground real hard over and over again for another minute,

· then rest for one minute,

· rinse and repeat for 20 minutes.

I totally loved it!  Don’t be afraid to look for and try new things to see how they feel to you!

Be encouraged to give yourself permission to do some investigation on what YOU can do to start or kick up your movement program!  And if it’s been a while, or you have some mobility problems, get professional advice to help you figure out what is going to be appropriate for you.