Wellness Wednesdays: My Weekly Exercise Routine
For this week’s Wellness Wednesday feature, I’m going to reveal my usual weekly exercise routine and talk about the many benefits of regular exercise!
What started as a ‘pre-wedding’ fitness routine, I am pleased to say has well and truly stuck; thanks mostly to finding exercises that I actually, genuinely, seriously enjoy – and I am one million perfect ‘that person’ who actually scoffed at the idea of enjoying exercise a few years ago. If you’re in need of a nudge in the right direction for finding your exercise mojo, then read on!
Monday
I usually start the week with a 1 hour session of Reformer Pilates at Bamford, Reformer has been the exercise that has changed the game for me because I hand on heart absolutely LOVE the classes. I feel eternally grateful that we have Bamford on our doorstep, because the studio is truly sensational. A bright white washed space, huge windows and background noises that range from cows mooing to tractors grunting! The teachers at Bamford are fabulous; I have Chloe (Chloes Pilates) to thank for getting me hooked on reformer, and I also absolutely adore Alex and CJs classes too; I try to book at least 2 reformer classes each week.
Often, I double up on classes at Bamford (classes are included in the price I pay for my Bamford membership and there’s no limit on how many you can take) and do a barre class straight after reformer, which is tough – but worth it – and seriously fun thanks to the hilarious instructor; Alex!
Tuesday
On Tuesdays, our PT Simon, arrives at 7am and both Charlie and I do 1 hour workouts with him. These usually consist of weights based exercises; and it’s been really incredible to note my performance improvement since we began working together just a year ago; I’m able to lift more than double the amount that I could manage when we began training together, and weights which were impossible to lift up are now my ‘warm up’ weights during more challenging exercises.
Wednesday
A freestyle day; sometimes I’m in London on Wednesdays so walking instead of taking the tube or a taxi is my only real movement, but if it’s a home day, I’ll try to sneak another Reformer pilates session in, at 8.30am. If I’m tight on time and want to move, this is when I’ll do a Peloton at home.
Thursday
Another PT session in our home gym with Simon, this will be weights again, but maybe focusing on legs or glutes – whichever we didn’t focus on so much earlier in the week.
Friday
On Fridays I often do my second Reformer Pilates session of the week – or third depending on my Wednesday morning! Fridays are a little more relaxed usually from a work perspective, so I might play Padel, or go for a swim and cold plunge at Bamford after my reformer class.
Saturday
Often Charlie and I will go to the Bamford gym and do a workout together on Saturday mornings; usually following a TABATA style routine with weights and cardio.
Sunday
Sundays are usually rest days for me. Rest days are super important for the recovery of your body, and particularly of your muscles, so don’t skip your rest day! I may do a bit of yoga or stretching, perhaps a dog walk – but nothing strenuous!
The Benefits of Regular Exercise
In the latest episode of the Diary of a CEO podcast, Steven Bartlett and Dr Lieberman were talking about some of the benefits of exercise; and they were also debunking some common exercise and health myths. Read on for the key benefits of regular exercise!
1 – Exercise improves your mood
When you take part in physical activity such as pilates, weight training or even walking, endorphins are released which positively impact on your mood, and can even reduce your perception of pain. Exercise also decreases stress, as well as feelings of anxiety and depression. As anyone who has watched Legally Blonde will know; “Exercise gives you endorphins, endorphins make you happy! Happy people don’t shoot their husbands…. they just don’t!”
2 – Exercise is good for your microbiome
The way in which exercise benefits the microbiome is not yet fully understood by scientists, but studies have shown that people who exercise regularly have a greater proportion of healthy microbes in their gut compared with those who don’t (keeping all other factors such as diet constant)
3 – Exercising after eating reduces your glucose spike
If you’ve read my blog post on controlling your glucose levels, you’ll know that exercising after you eat a meal actually reduces the amount of glucose in your blood, as some of it is used up by your muscles, meaning that less insulin is released in response to your meal; which is beneficial for your health
4 – Exercise reduces your risk of chronic diseases
Exercise is beneficial for a huge number of diseases, but is particularly effective for reducing your chance of developing Type-2 Diabetes, Heart Disease and many Cancers
5 – Exercise helps maintain the strength of your muscles and bones
Exercising acts as a stressor for your body, and being exposed to a certain level of stress is actually beneficial for your body. The stress of exercise encourages your body to repair and even improve itself, for example by increasing your bone density
Do you have a current workout routine, or are you looking at stepping up your fitness? Let me know on Threads or down below!
