LIFESTYLE | Getting back into exercise

Source: thinkfit.tumblr.com via Shiloh on Pinterest

Unfortunately I am ill at the moment so am unable to go running, but in all truthfulness it has been a very long time since I last ran regularly. A part from the odd class or gym session, I have been very bad with exercise, which is a shame because I had got into a really good pattern last year.

With one of my New Years resolutions being to lose more weight, getting back into running and other exercise is a must! So what is going to keep me motivated, or even get me motivated? Well obviously my wedding is a big driving factor, but other things help.

I went for a run in December after months of not running and was very happy to see that I managed to run close to 3km, but had I not discovered Couchto5K I would never have thought that I could run at all.

One of my main issues is I workout better when I'm with people, unfortunately my old running partner is expecting her first baby and will shortly be moving away. So I need to learn to push myself, or distract myself when I hit 'the wall'. This is when the struggle comes in and after running for about 10 minutes it gets a bit harder. The truth is if you battle on it goes away, or if you reduce your speed or walk and then carry on it's not a problem.

Unfortunately this is where I turn back and go home when I'm on my own! So this is where an AWESOME playlist can help (if I'm in the gym I just run infront of a TV Channel that can keep me occupied). So I am having a revamp of my running playlist. So far it looks like this:

1. Sweet Dreams - Beyoncé
2. You got the love [Brit awards 2010] - Dizzee Rascal & Florence
3. You Need Me I Don't Need You - Ed Sheeran
4. Short Fuse Burning - Less Than Jake
5. She's Gonna Break Soon -Less Than Jake
6. Playing with fire Feat. Mr Hudson - N-Dubz
7. Work Work - N-Dubz
8. Super Bass-Nicki Minaj
9. Miami 2 Ibiza - Tinie Tempah & Swedish House Mafia
10. My First Kiss (feat. Ke$ha)-3OH!3
11. STARSTRUKK (feat. Katy Perry) 3OH!3
12. Rhythm Of The Night-Corona
13. Mr. Vain-Culture Beat
14. Party Up In Here-DMX
15. Holla back girl -Gwen Stefani
16. Undead-Hollywood Undead
17. Young-Hollywood Undead
18. Say Goodbye-I Killed The Prom Queen
19. Ridin' Solo-Jason Derülo
20. Run This Town [Ft. Kanye West & Rihanna]
21. Domino-Jessie J
22. Walking On Sunshine-Katrina & The Waves
23. Waking Up In Vegas-Katy Perry
24. Let It Rock (Feat. Lil' Wayne) -Kevin Rudolf
25. In For The Kill-La Roux
26. The Ghosts Of Me And You-Less Than Jake Anthem
27. Dirt off your shoulder/Lying from you- Linkin Park/ft-Jay z
28. Numb/Encore-Linkin Park/ft-Jay Z
29. Wings-Little Mix
30.  Control Myself-LL Cool J feat. Jlo
31. Pass that dutch -Missy Elliot
32. Lose Control-Missy Elliott
33. Strong Again-N-Dubz
34. Lapdance -N.E.R.D.
35. Starships (Explicit Edit)-Nicki Minaj
36. Don't Hold Your Breath-Nicole Scherzinger
37. Born For This- Paramore
38. R.I.P.-Rita Ora featuring Tinie Tempah
39. Don't Mug Yourself-The Streets
40. Date Rape-Sublime
41. Diamonds and Guns-Transplants
42. Hello-ZebraHead

Now I know this playlist is pretty long, currently it's over 2hours worth of music. But I like to put my music on shuffle when I run, otherwise if I know the order of the songs, I know how long until the end of my run and that demotivates me.

I also use the app MapMyRun so I know how far I have run, oddly this motivates me, because I only like to finish my run if I've hit a full or half km. It doesn't feel right to finish at 2.97 or what have you.

As well as running, I'm also going to regularly do Body Pump, Spin and Yogalates classes.

Body Pump is a work out with weights with repeated sets to music and includes squats and lunges etc. It is a real killer so if you are going to start don't over estimate the weights you can manage. It is hard, but it is satisfying. Also training with weights helps you tone, but also keeps body burning more calories a lot longer after your workout than a cardio workout such as running.

Spin is a resistance work out class on bikes. Again it's a killer, I don't particularly enjoy doing it, but it makes you sweat and the sense of achievement I feel for completing a class really makes it worth while. Not to mention, seeing how much I have improved since I first started spurs me on.

Finally Yogalates, which is a mixture of Pilates and Yoga, set to music and a bit faster. This is definitely a more relaxing workout than the others, but that's not to say I don't sweat or struggle! This sort of workout really helps strength the your core and helps with flexibility.

Do you workout? What do you do?

Lilla Loves xx