had my second session at the gym today with my trainer and I am well knackered. We did some interval training and supersets (pretty fancy “I think I know what I am talking about” words). 

Supersets are where you go from one exercise to another without a rest. This can be done for the same muscle group or for different muscle groups. By getting rid of the rest period between exercises, you are not only saving time, but adding intensity to the workout.

Performing supersets on opposing muscle groups helps create good muscle balance.

Performing supersets on the same muscle group gives the muscles an intense workout. For example, instead of doing your usual 12 reps on that muscle group you are now doing 24 reps.

We started with interval training on the treadmill As I havent been exercising for a couple of months we started slowly by running for 60 sec at 13kph, then walking for 60sec at 5.5kph. We repeated this four times, after which I was ready to collapse in a heap. My heart rate maxed out at 180bpm!

Then I did 3 sets of 12 squat jump type things where you jump from squat position and land in squat position on a bench. You really feel like a frog doing this.

The first superset was the chest press on the swiss ball followed by pushups. (first time I have done push ups in years and it was absolute agony. I grizzled and whinged and pleaded for mercy but she made me complete 3 sets of 12. )

Next superset was a shoulder exercise with my hips draped over the swiss ball and my legs up against the wall. This also worked hamstrings and glutes. Then the cable machine for squats and back work. Then those dreaded one legged squats (these are the hardest things I think I have ever done) All of the above was done for 3 sets of 12 reps.

The weird thing with doing weights is you don’t expect your heart rate to get too high, but mine was up to 165bpm (thanks to my polar heart rate monitor) for most of these exercises.

Now I am expected to be dedicated enough  to try all of this all on my own for two more sessions before seeing the trainer again next Tuesday. I’ll be sure to cheat a bit.