So having become a little obsessed with the gym, I've decided to stop winging it and actually follow a plan. I think I know what I'm doing in most areas now, I just need to get more organised and split my workouts evenly to distribute my time and muscle exhaustion!
I found a sample female weight-lifting workout plan online and I've tailored it to my abilities and schedule. I never - never ever ever - thought I would find myself in the gym 6 days a week but apparently it's happening. I'm not going to be super strict on myself as I think I'd be setting myself up for failure and disappointment if I didn't manage to stick to an impossible routine.
I'm allowing myself a day off here and there, for socialising or just plain laziness but I'm going to try and keep to it as much as possible. As we all know, dedication and determination equals results!
Below is my new workout plan. I'm going to follow it for the next 4 weeks (in theory) and then spice it up after that so my body doesn't get too used to it all and plateau. I'm aiming to be using higher weights by the end of week 4 than I currently am too, which will be a nice challenge to myself!
I'll be starting each weights session off with a little cardio too (even though I utterly despise it). It'll be simple HIIT on the bike or crosstrainer, for around 15-20 minutes. Hopefully this will get the fat burning started and will get my body nice and warm to lift heavy!
I'm aiming to blog each Wednesday about my week's workouts and how it's all going. This scares the life out of me but I'll also be making a note of whether I'm up or down any kgs / lbs / inches and keeping track of my bodyfat percentage. I'm hoping that having it all written down in a public domain will make me more determined to improve on it all!
Monday – Upper
Body A
All 3 X 8-12
Bench Press
Bent over row
Dumbbell shoulder press
Lying tricep extension
Barbell or dumbbell bicep curl
Tuesday – Yoga
Wednesday – Lower
Body A
All 3 X 8-12
Squat
Stiff leg dead lift
Leg extension
Leg curl
Standing Calf Raise
Abs – All 3 X 15
Lying leg raise
Swiss ball crunch
Thursday – Upper
Body B
All 3 X 8-12
Tricep Dips
Lat pull downs
Dumbbell rotor raises
Tricep cable pressdown
Cable curl
Friday – Lower
Body B
All 3 X 8-12
Deadlift
Leg press
Lunges
Seated calf raise machine
Dumbbell shrugs
Abs – All 3 X 15
Incline crunch
Back extension (superman)
Saturday – Yoga
Sunday – Rest!
My geographical knowledge is shocking. I really struggle with knowing where things are in the world. I just about know where the major countries are (UK, US, Aus) but that's the most of my knowledge.
Every week I discover that a place isn't anywhere near where I thought it was so I thought I'd create a regular theme for one of my posts each week - a geography lesson! For me but also for you lovely readers too!
I'll find out as much as I can about each featured place and [try to] make it interesting. I love a random fact so you'll likely find a couple of those in there too!
So this week, I discovered that Pentonville is NOT in the dirty South of the States, as I previously thought. Evidence (the groans of annoyance from my colleagues and a quick Google) would show that it's actually a place in London and is also the name of a prison! Who'd have thought.
HMP Pentonville (commonly known as The Ville) isn't actually in the Pentonville area but on Caledonian Road in the Borough of Islington, a little further north of Angel. It was created not just for the detention of convicts but also as a holding place for those who had been sentenced to penal transportation to Australia.
From 1902, prisoners under sentence of death were housed at The Ville until the final execution there. Edwin Bush was the last condemned man to be hung at Pentonville in 1961 after he had stabbed to death a shop assistant with an antique dagger. There would only be 11 more criminals executed after Bush before it capital punishment was outlawed in the United Kingdom.
Pentonville (the place) has been part the Borough of Islington since 1965. In 1902, Vladimir Lenin - the Russian communist - and his wife lived just off Pentonville Road. Some 20 years on, he would become the Premier of the Soviet Union until his death 2 years later.
It would appear there is little of note in the Pentonville area. A google search lead to no mysterious bars or cute local restaurants but apparently there is a well-renowned shop called Pentonville Rubber who provide foam & rubber to a wide variety of industries, as well as to the home consumer.
So there it is. Most of what there is to know about Pentonville. If I'm honest, I'm a little disappointed that it's not as exotic as I had created in my mind but I love learning things about all these little pockets of London and its fascinating and lengthy history!
An isometric drawing of Pentonville prison, from an 1844 report by Joshua Jebb, Royal Engineers.
Although I have dark hair and features, I naturally have pale skin. Not
beautiful, porcelain English rose skin. Not ‘interestingly pale’ skin. Not
interesting at all. Dull, colourless skin over my entire body. Except on my face
where it’s patchy and red and a bit grey and generally blah.
I just want a little more colour. Despite exfoliating and moisturising (and
exercising and eating fairly well), my skin is still dull and disinteresting.
My wish for [slightly] tanned skin is not just vanity, I think I genuinely
look healthier and it suits my hair etc more.
I confess, I’m slightly lazy and frugal. I have neither the time, energy, nor
money to buy St Tropez (or similar products of equal quality) and apply it every
other day. Nor do I really need that level of colour. I just need a little
vitality in my skin.
So I chose Garnier summer body lotion. I went for the ‘deeper’ hue as the
lighter ones tend to make me orange, whereas this one gives me a little brown,
more natural colour.
Although it takes quite a while to dry - cue lots of wafting about my room -
I love this product! It smells fabulous and doesn’t smell awful in the morning.
It really does moisturise your skin! I apply with a tanning mitt, so as to avoid
coloured palms. It doesn’t go patchy and doesn’t fade in patches after a few
days.
I apply every other day (when I remember) and it’s giving me a great,
consistent colour. I feel I look healthier and people have noticed too and a
compliment is always a nice little boost to your day.
The only downside this product has it that it does not fare well against a
swimming pool, jacuzzi or steam room but that’s quite understandable
really.
It's often on offer in the shops (I last found a bargain in Wilkinson's!) and well worth it if you can remember to do it!
I recently decided (for no logical reason) to watch every single episode of Sex & The City, in chronological order. I'm not sure what prompted me to embark on this fabulous journey. Maybe my 'eternally single' status or a shift in some of my friendships recently? Who knows!
Whatever my inspiration was for this, I'm so glad it happened! I've just finished the first series and discovered I've never seen any of those episodes before, strangely. I'm not overly keen on Carrie narrating to the camera every few minutes but everything has its flaws in the beginning.
Having watched the later series' and the two films, it's so much fun to see how they started out, know where they end up, and watch them evolve during their journey.
Although I can't exactly apply the stories to my life (oh, how I long to live in New York!), it's amazing how relevant the storylines are! Even over a decade later, men are still behaving the same, women are still having the same issues, the world just goes round. The only things that have changed are the fashion and the technology!
Anyone who wants some escapism, some laughs, some emotions, some inspiration in fabulousness, some sex tips and to waste half an hour should definitely indulge in the shenanigans of these four beautiful ladies!
Welcome to Holly's little corner of the internet.
I've been blogging over on tumblr for a while now but I've been quite inconsistent with my posting and it's mostly my instagram pictures. I've decided I want to get more dedicated to blogging and tumblr doesn't really offer me much. It's also mostly full of emotional teenagers and pro anorexia pictures, neither of which I particularly enjoy.
So here I am, a brand new Blogger. Or is it Bloggerer?
So a little about me... if I were in XFactor, I'd be in the "Overs" category yet I'm still under 30. I work in the PR / Marketing world and dream of being a Beauty PR Exec. My humble abode is in SW London and I live with a German who is awesome. I have the best nephew ever (who I'm sure I will blog about a lot, not sorry) and a hanful of lovely family and friends to keep me entertained.
I know that the most succesful blogs have a specific topic / purpose but I've yet to find my niche so this will be a scramble of the things in the world that entertain me: music; food; the gym / exercise; things I think are beautiful; things who annoy me (of which there are many, I'm afraid); whatever else comes across my life.
If anyone has any blogs they can't live without (beauty / fitness / entertainment preferably), please share! I'd love feedback and comments on my posts. The social media world is amazing and I love the interaction!
You can also find me here on Twitter and my instagram is 23HRH too.
This is my face...
