The week is almost over, at least for me, since I’m off on Friday, and as usual, I’m busy (I book the day off because I needed it, and I’m actually considering working for a few hours, type of busy).

The week started with rushing to catch the happy train. I almost missed it, but managed to reach my carriage just as the doors were opening (to be fair, I could have always jumped in a different carriage anyway). As it’s becoming customary, I was busy at work. Yesterday was chaotic. I spent my morning travelling across London to go to the hospital for an appointment (spoiler, I’m still not done and have to go two more times at least), and then hurrying back to the office, before going out again for a meeting (which was a bit of a waste of time, but that’s a different story).

Today has been very busy at work (can you start to see a pattern here?), as we’re trying to finalise two events, and time is pressing. I was supposed to go to a date after work, but we cancelled it in the end. It was clear it wasn’t going anywhere, anyway, so after my workout, I came back home.

This weekend is the (in)famous Valentine’s Day. When the charity house called me last week to ask me to cover one of the night shifts back then, I couldn’t, but I volunteered myself to cover V-Day, confident I wouldn’t have any plans. Won’t you have any plans?, the manager asked me. Yeah, no worries. Let’s give the night off to those people who are actually in couples and stuff, I replied. Sure enough, I don’t have any plans this Saturday. I could say that if nothing, I’m reliable… The truth is there’s one person I wouldn’t mind spending Saturday with, but that’s not happening, so we can put that time to a better use (and we all know I need more karma points anyway!).

So, let’s forget about Valentine’s Day, and let’s move on to more cheerful topics!

Squat party!

Yup, that was the name of today’s workout. It looked painful, I mean squat and party in the same sentence? Sounded like a trap! Luckily, it was only 30 minutes.

If I’m completely honest, it wasn’t that bad. Sure, it was tiring. Sure, my legs hurt, but there weren’t that many squats, I think. I had to do the circuit twice, and even though it was tough, it went very quickly. Here are the screenshots of some exercises of the circuit (I won’t be sharing all workouts and all screenshots all the time, it’s just that I’m feeling really pumped up at the moment, so let me know if it gets too much). Once again, the images below don’t belong to me and are screenshots of the N+TC app:

1. Walk outs.
   This is one of my favourite ones. You stand with your legs wide apart, and straight, and bend down to touch the floor and walk out until you reach a plank position. It’s awesome.



2. Wide leg deadlifts.
   Super easy one. Again, legs wide apart, bend down at the waist, back straight, and then back up again. You’re sort of lifting the weights with your core, although you have to engage the arms too.



3. Squats with shoulder press.
   Another cool one. Arms bent and weights by the shoulders, you squat down and when you stand up, you lift the weights up above your head. Super easy, but tough!



4. Plank row.
   I love to hate this one. For once, it’s hard, like very hard, but it’s also a bit dangerous at work. Since I started these workouts, I’ve been struggling to find a good way of doing it. In theory, you go to a plank position, but instead of putting your hands on the floor, you grab the dumbbells, and lift them alternatively. The problem at work is that the dumbbells are round, so I get very stressed and wobbly. Today, I finally figured out how to do it. I held only one weight and lifted that same arm for 30 seconds, switching arms for the other half of the exercise.



5. Full extensions.
   Lying on the floor, you stretch completely and crunch while holding a weight. My lower back doesn’t love this one…



6. Single leg clock squats.
   You know this one from the other day. Squats on one leg while rotating the weight at certain points. I do it with the back leg touching the floor, to avoid getting pain in my knees.



7. Wood chops.
   Ah, the funny one. It always makes me laugh (to myself, not out loud, that would be weird). You get into a sort of squat, and then pretend to be chopping wood with an axe, only you’re not chopping wood, and you don’t have an axe. I always get some sort of song in my head (think the seven dwarves and their Heigh-ho!



8. Kick downs.
   My lower back definitely hates this one. I can’t seem to find the right posture for my spine, and end up overarching. Anyway, lying down, legs up, and then you just kick ’em down.



9. Lateral squat.
   Does what it says on the tin. Starting with your feet together, step with one foot to the side, and squat.

As you can see, there weren’t that many squats to call it a party. I’m sure tomorrow I’m going to hurt in all the right places, but it felt a bit too easy (and when is training easy?).

Tomorrow is my rest day, and I can’t wait for it.

After work, I’m meeting Oummou to watch The Great British Sewing Bee. I’m happy because I have three favourite contestants this time, I hope they stay there for the whole series!

On Friday I’m off, and I also can’t wait. I’ll be running some errands in the morning, and then going to the charity in the evening. I will leave on Saturday morning (I think), have lunch with Sean (50% off at Ed’s Diner all February!!), and then go back to the charity. I want to bake at some point, but I just can’t find the time… February and March are looking very busy for me, I get tired only thinking about it, but since it seems it’s one of my higher energy moments, I might as well enjoy it while it lasts!

I hope the week is treating you alright. What are your plans for the second half?

(Did I make it before 12? I think I did!)