Well done! The general rule of thumb is that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. Today is the 21st day. By now your mind and body should both be willing and keen to continue.
In fact, you may well feel guilty if you have missed a day or two. t's amazing how addictive healthy eating and exercise can be.
This is our final week of the cardiovascular only exercise routines. Therefore it's a week to prepare us.
From next week onwards we are beginning to incorporate body weight resistance exercises and more intense shorter term cardiovascular interval drills to compliment the longer duration exercises we have been completing to date.
Friday: Stair routine choose a stair case that has 100 stairs or more if there is no stair case nearby then you can choose a hill that is 40 degrees or steeper.
Complete 10 repeats of this working at 7/10 on the way up and walk back down at a slow pace (if you are feeling good each time you reach the top then make sure you walk back down at a faster pace).
After completing this, walk for 20-40 minutes at a moderate pace (6/10).
Remember to have a 5 minute walk warm up before starting the stair routine. f you are working on the hill then make sure the hill is 100 metres in length.
Saturday: Easy but long flat walk of 70-100 minutes duration. This will be at 5/10 on our scale of effort.
Try using the same walking track as you used on week one of our programme and compare the difference in your fitness level. You will notice that you will be covering more ground now and that you are recovering a lot faster after completing the exercise.
Sunday: Rest day if you are feeling good and feel that doing no exercise today will be detrimental to your motivation levels then complete an easy walk like yesterday but reduce the duration to 45 60 minutes.
Another great opportunity to have the family with you. Remember to use the arms when walking and keep your body in an upright and vertical position.
Contract the abdominal muscles about 25% when walking a great way to tone the tummy.
Monday: Repeat Fridays routine again. Try timing yourself this time measure how long it takes to get up and measure how long you are taking to come back down.
Have a go at working at a 2:1 work to recovery ratio. This means you double the time it takes to get back down as it takes to get up.
Tuesday: Repeat Saturdays long walk.
Work at 6/10 on the scale of effort and measure how much further you go today than on Saturdays walk. Measuring your performance against prior weeks is great for your motivation.
Wednesday: Walk for a fast 30 minutes at an effort level of 8/10 and on flat terrain. Repeat another walk of 30 minutes at this same effort level at least 4 hours later.
This is fast! You can use the pavement, park or beach on the hard sand.
Thursday: I want us to have a light day today in preparation for tomorrows new resistance format.
Repeat the walk you completed on Saturday at a nice cruise pace. Take in the scenery and remind yourself how well you have done so far.