This mornings Guest blog is courtesy of Krista Kleinberg (@prunella_k). I met Krista via Twitter and the Gym at The Western Health and Racquets Club, here is her GinorGym Interview.
What kind of fitness routine / exercise / torture do you do?
My fitness routine changes every few months, but at the moment,
Work with a personal trainer GymGuyMark twice a week for weights. Every session is different and the various workouts we do include using kettle balls, free weights, metabolic and core stability exercises, or boxing.
Play tennis, averaging 3x a week. Usually doubles but singles sometimes as well.
At least 3 days of cardio in the gym, anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. At the moment my equipment of choice is the spin bike.
Walk to work and around town.
Why do the above over other forms of exercise?
I especially like tennis for the social aspects, plus it feels really good to hit a ball. Lifting weights is important to me for toning, and building muscle and bone strength. And cardio allows me to eat an extra cookie here and there.
How often are you mad enough to exercise?
At least once a week I take the day off completely from exercise. And sometimes two!
If you miss a session, bet you feel great eh?
When I miss a session, I definitely feel the consequences; a bit more restless, don’t sleep as well, and feel like my clothes are tighter. But I’m also learning that rest days are important too so when I miss a day I try to see it as a day of recovery.
Why were you mad enough to start any kind of fitness regime?
I’m not an athlete by any stretch of the imagination but I do try hard and like to participate in activities. I played team sports in junior high and high school and even though I was what we call in the States a benchwarmer, it felt great to belong to a team. I joined my first gym at age 18 and admit it was having various crushes on the guys who worked there that initially was my motivation to go but quickly the workouts became routine and I was in constant competition with myself to improve on how much weight I could lift or how long I could last on the Stair Master. Through the years I’ve worked out on my own and/or with a trainer. I’ve been a member of the Western Tennis Club in Glasgow for the past 8 years and have worked with GymGuyMark for the past 7. He is very motivating, full of interesting chat, and when it comes to exercise, he knows his stuff. Working out with him has completely changed my shape, my fitness level and my physical strength on the tennis court.
Have you ever been injured and had to motivate yourself to ‘fight back’ to fitness?
I’ve had a few minor injuries over the years but nothing major. At the moment, I’m coming back from posterior tibial tendonitis and have been on a long break from running. Once my exercise routine is broken, it can be hard to re-motivate again even after a short time away, especially from an illness. But I try to put it in my head to not to put too much pressure on myself and to increase the intensity and frequency of workouts gradually. It really doesn’t take that long to get back to where I was fitness wise before the time off.
And finally what motivates you to keep going when you just can’t be bothered?
Admittedly, the biggest motivation for me to hit the gym is vanity; added to the fact that I like to eat… a lot… especially Penguin biscuits. For me, having a trainer makes all the difference. Especially for exercise that I know I wouldn’t do on my own, i.e. lifting weights. There are times when I can’t be bothered to do cardio, or I do it but only last 10 min. For those times I realize not every workout is going to be fantastic but I accept that and know that the next day will usually be better. Once into the routine of exercise, it is very easy to keep going and the days when I skip are few and far between.
Thanks Krista for taking the time to answer my questions,
You can follow Krista on Twitter under @prunella_k