Congratulations. We have nearly completed the last week of our first 10-week introduction fitness programme. One week to go, and what a journey it has been.
Where do we go from here? After this week's programme, we can look forward to four weeks of maintenance - this phase is important for both the body and mind.
Working off 10-week programmes is long enough to generate great results and short enough to prevent burn-out.
Use the next four weeks to catch up on other commitments and assess how well you have done to date. Reflecting and celebrating on success is a vital part of our programme.
And remember, celebrating does not need to mean four weeks of partying.
We will begin our second 2009 10-week programme after this break. During the next four weeks we will be moving between week 9 and week 10 of our first 10-week programme. This is our maintenance phase programme.
Friday: Body weight. Lunge at beach. Stationary lunges: Complete 20 to 30 repetitions and then change legs. Complete four sets of this (20 to 30 repetitions, four times). Rest 30 seconds between each set.
1. Walking lunges at beach: Complete 20 to 26 walking lunges, rest 30 seconds and repeat this another four times. Try doing these in the soft sand.
2. Press ups on hard sand: Complete four sets of 18 to 30 repetitions with 20 seconds rest between each set - see week five programme for technique.
3. Now complete zigzags (walk on an angle from the hard sand up to the soft sand and recover as you walk back down on an angle to the hard sand again) for 20 minutes.
Saturday:
Long distance walk: 70 to 85 minutes at 7/10 effort level. This time try to make it on undulating terrain, with lots of hills
Sunday: Time to go back to the staircase. Start with a five-minute warm up walk. Climb the staircase (100-200 stairs) as fast as you can - make sure you step on every step. How ever long it took you to get to the top, take the same amount of time to recover on the way down. Complete 9-12 repeats of these climbs.
Monday: A fast 30-minute walk in the morning at 8/10 effort level and flat terrain. Another fast 30-minute walk later in the afternoon at 8/10 effort level.
Tuesday: Walk to park: 15 minutes moderate pace.
1. Lunge at park: stationary lunges. Complete 15 to 25 repetitions and then change legs. Complete three sets of this (15-25 repetitions three times).
2. Press ups on grass: Complete three sets of 20-35 repetitions with 20 seconds rest between each set: look at week 5 programme for technique (if these are becoming too easy on your knees, then try doing a portion of them as full press ups).
3. Squats: complete 3 sets of 35-45 with 30 seconds rest between each set: look at week 5 programme for technique
Wednesday: Long distance walk: 70-85 minutes at 7/10 effort level. This time try to make it on flat terrain.
Thursday: Rest day.