My Workout Split for Chronic Illness
Watch here: https://youtu.be/bEHPFGlAxjQ
Hello lovelies and welcome back to the podcast. I hope you’re all enjoying the beginning of spring if you’re here in New England. I’ve already set up my beach calendar for the summer and can’t wait to incorporate beach mornings back into my routine.
Today I want to chat about my workout split. As someone with chronic illness, it can be hard to stick to a routine. Some weeks I feel on it and like I want to go every day, and some weeks I can barely go once. If you’re into health and wellness, you know consistency is key. Staying consistent and building discipline helps your mind to start trusting that you have your best interests in mind and can help you cultivate a positive relationship to self. It’s how I gained 30 pounds and got back to my healthiest, and heaviest – yay muscle! So I wanted to share what I do to maintain that even if I’m not doing well, have my period, or am just plain tired.
First I like to plan out my week. Every Friday I set myself up for Monday because I know that while I’d like to get some things done over the weekend, it probably won’t happen. So I make sure I can’t fail by listing out what I want to do. For example, I usually like to do legs on Monday because I feel the most powerful and ready to start the week, back on Tuesday, Wednesday I’ll do a little less and do cardio and abs, Thursday I’m at the barn so it’s more active rest or if I ride, then I consider that full body. Friday I will try to get in and do legs again or a full body if I don’t ride. On the weekends Mike and I try to go for walks or go to the sauna or swim.
Second, what helped me get into the gym and get started and confident was having my boyfriend Mike show me a couple of the best exercises that hit a lot of different areas I want to work on. For example, I love using a squat rack because it not only works my legs, but my back and posture… something I really want to improve. Having a few go-to exercises and knowing how to do them well made me not overthink being in the gym and feeling insecure. I can just go and do my thing. This also helps with figuring out exercises that get a lot done, but that are low impact and reduce the need for a bunch of different exercises. There’s nothing I hate more than feeling like I have to do 500 different things to get the most out of my leg workout.
This leads me into variation: I change my leg workout every week depending on how I’m feeling. No matter what though, it’s low impact, in fact, all my workouts are. I don’t listen to crazy music. I listen to a podcast or something very calming and work on my breathing to slow my heart rate and maintain energy. This is so important for those with low energy. Working out can improve energy levels, but not if you’re expending too much energy. Raising your heart rate is important for the average person, but just be mindful that you don’t need to go crazy. Maintaining a lower heart rate also helps with fat loss and blood sugar because you’re not pushing yourself into fight or flight or feeling hungry immediately afterwards.
Third, I will only do about 3-5 exercises and 2-3 sets of 6-10. I will start at 10 reps per set, then go to 8, then 6 typically. This helps me maintain energy but still create those microtears in my muscle that help me gain muscle.
After your workout, it’s important to fuel up with protein to help your body recover. If you have gut issues, or just in general want to repair muscle and your gut lining, L-Glutamine can be super helpful with this. I love adding it to my smoothies. I also love magnesium for energy and improving my sleep and recovery.
Assignment
Your assignment this week is to evaluate your workout routine and ask yourself if you’re starving or anxious after your workouts. If you’re starving, you may have pushed yourself too hard and if you’re anxious, you may have pushed your body into fight or flight. Instead, think about how to make your next workout more low impact. Take out intense cardio in combination with weight lifting and instead go for a 5-10 minute brisk walk to warm up, or try the stair climber. Listen to a podcast instead of intense music. If you’re not feeling well, go outside and just sit or go for a light walk. Moving your body can help stimulate digestion and fresh air can help improve your mental health, helping healing. Sending so much love and let me know if you learned anything from today’s episode!
Show Notes
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