GraceFit Guide week 5 update: phase 2
Wooohooo I’ve completed the first phase of GraceFit Guide workouts!
In my last post, I mentioned that I had lost my mojo and had given up with the guide for the week. I would love to say that I’m a completely changed woman and all I needed was a break from it for a week but that’s not strictly true. However, from doing week 5 I have noticed significant progress and that has motivated me to keep going.
Before I jump into the differences in the new guide I want to highlight some things I’ve noticed from doing phase one.
I am stronger – this may not seem like a lot to some people, but I used to only manage to do arm weights using 3kg dumb bells; I can now use 7kg or even 8kg dumbbells! When I started the Gracefit guide, I was leg pressing 50kg both legs and now I am pressing 90kg both legs and single legs has gone from 20kg to 50kg! I am really proud of myself for getting stronger.
My balance and co-ordination has improved – I didn’t realise this would change, but by incorporating moves like single leg lunges and step ups I have improved my balance and co-ordination. I used to wobble all over the place and now I can keep myself balanced. I have also strengthened my core which helps with stability.
I’ve gained weight– I have technically gained a few pounds, but I feel a lot leaner in myself and my clothes are loser so I must be losing fat and gaining muscle.
I’ve fallen in love with HIIT again – On an upper body day, I add in 10 minutes of treadmill sprints and then 10 minutes of incline walking. And on lower body days I do one or the other because my legs are just too tired afterwards. I feel like this has really helped me to get a bit leaner and has made me realise how fun HIIT can be in small doses.
I still need to replace my resistance band – As some lovely person stole my brand new RB, I’ve been doing the exercises without one which I’m sure defeats the point as some of them are specific RB exercises. I need to order another band but I keep forgetting!
What’s different in the new phase?
The workouts are more challenging and contain many new exercises which I haven’t tried before. The rep range is relatively the same and it doesn’t include suggested weights weight (what a mouthful) but you are meant to build upon this from the last phase. I had stopped getting as sore after doing the phase one leg workout, but after completing the phase two leg day I could barely walk down the stairs on the same day, let alone the next couple of days, so it must be a lot more challenging.
Learning new exercises is challenging and I do feel like I’ve gone back to square one in terms of my confidence, simply because I had gotten used to following a set routine. I’m still not sure if I’m performing all the exercises in the new phase and using the equipment correctly but I guess that will happen in time. As this is my first week I have been substituting some of the new exercises for older ones that I’m familiar with while I get my bearings.
Aflete app
I’ve only just learnt about the Aflete app, even though loads of the girls in the Facebook group have been using it from the beginning of the guide. It’s a smartphone app that’s free to download (and use if you have purchased the GraceFit Guide) and it automatically loads the Guide and tracks your progress. It allows you to log how much weight you’ve done and any notes on the exercises so it’s useful to review progress. If you’re just starting the guide I would recommend downloading Aflete, however, if like me, you’ll be missing a whole month it might not be as valuable to you. You can find it here.
Hope you’re enjoying my updates, if you want to learn more feel free to follow me on twitter where I talk about it quite a lot @hannahgetshench and follow me on Bloglovin so you don’t miss a post 🙂
