Well......I've done it!

Phew!  The relief is astounding.  I've just completed my first 40 minute program.  Well, actually, that's not quite true. I finished it and then dashed off to have a celebratory latte just to build up my strength (and more importantly to satisfy my caffeine addition!).

So, as planned, I came over to Mike's for both of us to do our respective work outs together.  I'm so glad that we did as it ensured that I committed to doing it, it would have been quite possible that had I been on my own, I probably would have got myself caught up with other things.  Procrastinator?  Me?  I suppose so, yes.

So, I cracked open the laptop, re read the program and started step by step.  It was so handy to have that available just to make sure that I was doing everything correctly and in the right order.  The stretches got me in the mood and then before I got into the main set of exercises, Mike suggested that we did 30 seconds of star jumps to get a bit of cardio in.  It's been a long time since I've done that and I have to say that I was astounded at how long 60 seconds felt but next time, I'll make it 75!

The program gave me a little bit of everything and whilst it was challenging (not least as I am a stranger to exercise), for the most part I could do them all.  No doubt my technique could probably vastly improve and if I am honest, I ran out of steam on a couple of them (I think that for my first attempt, using 2.5 kg dumbells may have been optimistic as I couldn't do as many reps as were suggested) but for my first time round, I'm quite pleased with what I was able to do.  I'm not the biggest fan of squat thrusts but I must admit that when I went for a walk to pick up my coffee, I can definitely say that I felt that I had done some good work on my legs.

By the time I came to the end of my cool down stretches, I have to say that I was really excited and pleased with myself.  To the point that I used up even more energy bouncing up and down with glee.  The relief I think is on three levels, one that I have finally done some proper exercise (the first time in years!), secondly that whilst there were elements that were challenging, I still completed the program without whingeing or totally tiring myself out and thirdly that I have finally been able to keep my promise and blog about my experience!

So, the next burst of exercise will be Friday when hopefully I can get that 75 seconds of star jumps under my belt and I won't have to keep referring to the laptop so frequently.  I'm feeling good and, honestly, looking forward to next time.  I thought that it may be helpful to share a few handy hints which certainly helped me.  Firstly, have a stopwatch available.  For the exercises that are set for a certain period of time (mostly 30 seconds), don't rely on yourself to keep count, use a stopwatch.  Also, I found it really helpful to do the program to music with a good beat to keep you going and drink lots of water (I certainly needed a few glasses!)  And finally, from my experience today, it is extremely helpful to have a friend at hand to hold on to your feet so you can do sit ups properly (that said, I am advised that a sofa with enough room to get your feet under is equally effective!)

A good long hot bath for me tonight I think and hopefully I'll still be bouncing tomorrow!