This week’s post comes just shy of a week after my elbow surgery, where I’m really missing my normal schedule of fitness & training. Since I can’t be participating in my routine I thought I’d share it with you! Do you have a weekly schedule that you stick to or do you make it up as you go?

My surgery was a routine elective op from an old injury to my elbow joint, and despite being a physiotherapist (specialising in orthopaedics and outpatients!) I thought my recovery would be faster. I gave myself different advice from that I’d advise my patients- I thought knowing so much about this area i’d recover much easier! Oops! Lesson learned. Things heal as the human body allows, not as you desire! This has given me a bit of an unexpected week where I haven’t been prepared for this journey. At all.

My weekly workout sessions

I go to an Ashtanga yoga class once a week and try to practise at home a few times a week. This class gives me time out of being the teacher and get back to being a student again, where I can focus purely on the routine rather than cues, corrections, and always thinking one step ahead. It may seem controversial- the Pilates teacher practising yoga? But I believe these two disciplines, although very different, compliment each other thoroughly and being a student of one makes me appreciate my teaching of the other. When I do my home yoga practise I also do my home Pilates practise and often end up flowing from one to the other.

My sporting love is ice skating. (click the image to see the video). My week basically revolves around my ice training because I can only train when there is ice time and when I can see my coach. I currently train 3 times per week, although the sport demands so much more! Skating has been a childhood passion that I’ve never grown out of. The physical and mental demands keep my competitive side striving for more. You need strength, flexibility, speed, skill, agility and performance- something that will continue to make me train harder and bring my other workouts collectively to an end result (hopefully!).

I am only getting to the gym 1-2 times per week, well before the op I was. I use my gym time to work purely on weights and strength training. I try to condition fully body for building strength and muscle and therefore aim to increase the weights I use as often as my body allows. This helps in my other workouts but yes the v-a-n-i-t-y of good muscles and the endorphins helps too!

Finally, my cardio sessions (not including skating) come from mainly running, but I am trying to get in to the cycling. This is going to take more time (and days in the week) to become routine. Running happens 1-2 times per week. I aim for a short, interval run mid week that involves sprints and hill runs and then a long run at the weekends. Because of where I live all my runs end up on hills at some point but this has been good training for races!

Phew! Writing this makes me feel even more lethargic to have spent the past week on the sofa, not even able to lift my cup of tea with my right arm! I am longing for that muscle ache and accomplished feeling of satisfaction! What’s your week of workouts look like? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!