My current gym routine

I'm now 10 months post surgery and at the start of the new year had a bit of a 'review' of what I was doing to keep active. I felt I was almost coasting in terms of exercising and a large part of that was because I was still getting back into it after surgery and there were some things I was being careful with. I've introduced core exercises slowly, I've been mindful of my abdomen area when exercising and even now I've been advised not to use anything like a rowing machine or bike where I am sitting down or squatting too deeply due to the nature of the surgery. I can do these things again in time but I am not rushing into them to create complications.

I've recently changed gyms as the one I was going to just didn't provide the range or amount of classes to challenge me or help improve and maintain my fitness. It was ideal for me when I initially joined back in 2015 after recently having surgery and having a hernia. It was a small health club where I felt comfortable getting into exercising and attending classes to gradually build my strength up. I feel now however I should be ramping things up and have been getting back into classes I haven't done in a couple of years which I used to love and have really missed.

I'm trying to do a mix of high intensity and low intensity classes that provide a range of exercises from cardio and fat burning to weights as well as understanding the importance of stretching and being flexible.

I also remind myself of the need for 'rest days' as I do get fatigued and I don't beat myself up if I miss a gym class or want to catch up on other interests like reading or crafting.

Weekly high intensity classes I do and what I like about them:

• 2 x circuits classes - I find circuits are a great motivational class as there's almost a pressure (in a good way) to get the individual exercises done and move onto the next one, you have to as there is someone next to you waiting to do that exercise! If I am at home and doing something like a HIIT workout from YouTube, I find I take a break more and I probably don't get my heart rate up and work at the level I do in a circuits class. Like all the exercise classes I do you are only competing against yourself, if the person in front of you did more reps in the exercise nobody cares. The circuits classes I attend have a real mix of exercises and equipment and I really feel I've had a total body workout when my legs shakily take me out of there and a real sense of achievement that I made it through the whole class
• Boxercise - I've always loved boxercise as I'm a 'technique' person and most instructors that I've met that have a background in boxing have always said something to the class along the lines of  'I would rather you did 10 great reps of an exercise than 100 sloppy ones.' I find boxercise particularly works both my arms and my core as well as my posture and the class I attend is different each week. Sometimes we do a circuit session and sometimes we are in pairs with pads and gloves. I take my own set which I just got from a cheap high street sports shop.  Even when working with a partner, I find this class isn't competitive. Sometimes I have a partner who is much stronger than me and I can really feel the force of their punches on the pads but when it's my turn to wear the gloves, I just give it all I can and concentrate on my technique. You definitely do not need to be strong to do a boxercise class and we have a variety of ages in mine as well as abilities
• LBT - This pretty much does what it says! You work your legs, bum and tum...through a series of cardio moves and using equipment like weight plates, dumbbells and a step. 
• Combat - This is a really high energy class and part of the Les Mills range of classes. It's loosely based on martial arts moves but there is no contact and no equipment, you literally just use your own body to punch and kick. Although it's high energy, it's also a lot about technique too and our instructor will say things like 'kick in the same place each time to reach your target' for a move. This means I am also focusing on my posture and balance to ensure I am getting it right each time. Because there's no equipment, you're basically jumping around the sports hall to upbeat music for the class and I really enjoy it because it's a bit like going dancing. I don't have much co-ordination and can't really follow choreography so I haven't enjoyed classes like Sh'bam or zumba when I have tried them as much as something like combat. When everyone in the class is going left, I'm the one going right...now this doesn't matter as much for combat as you're still doing the move i.e. roundhouse kick to the front or back, as long as you're not actually kicking someone! 
• Pump - This is something I gave up when I had my first surgery and had a hernia as I had to be very careful with any lifting. I still have to be careful now as instead of  'hernia support watch' I'm now on 'hernia prevention watch' so I use low weights and take things really steadily. There are some exercises where I don't use a weight at all, like anything overhead or extended reaching like using a plate to lift overhead and back towards my back. I may be able to in time but it's still fairly early days since my surgery. Pump is not an intimidating class even though it is predominantly weights, you can choose what level you want to work at. Pump is a good class for me personally as I have strong legs but fairly weak arms that need strengthening and toning
• GRIT - This is a new class to me and one I was a bit tentative about as I thought it was something like Insanity that I haven't done as it's just a bit too high intensity for me at the moment. Another one from Les Mills, this class is still high intensity and is just 30 minutes of interval training. I think some weeks we only do about 4-5 exercises but we do a few rounds of each one and increase the intensity or weights as we do them. It focuses on strength and getting leaner and there's a mix of men and women in the class I go to. Some of my classes are back to back and I do this class after Pump, you're generally fairly static in pump and using weights and then you go up a gear in GRIT so it's good that Pump is a class I do first!

Weekly lower intensity classes I do:

• Balance - Again from Les Mills, this uses moves from tai-chi, yoga and pilates and really aims to help increase your flexibility. I use a long mat for this class as you're getting into all sorts of positions and really extending your body into full length stretches. Our instructor is very good at showing you various options for each movement including some stretches that I don't think I would be able to get myself out of without additional help! I really feel that this helps with my overall core strength as I think to build up a good core, you need to be flexible and have a good range of movement to do the exercises
• Pilates - Similar to balance but this just focuses on pilates moves. I do a 30 minute class and really feel the benefits both during and after. Although you are moving very slowly throughout the class and it's low intensity in terms of heart rate, you can feel the stretches having an affect. This is another important class for me as it helps improve my posture, I sit down for a lot of the day and am also fairly tall and have a habit of forgetting to sit/stand tall with my shoulders set back. This also really helps work your core and I'm finding some of the exercises difficult whilst I am rebuilding my core strength 
• Aqua - What I would say about aqua is do not underestimate the benefits of it! I've been doing this since advised by every nurse/consultant I saw when I had my first surgery and hernia as the water naturally supports your abdomen area. Like most people I had reservations and thought surely I am well under the average age for this class but it really is a total body workout and ideal for someone recovering from surgery or an injury. As well as cardio exercises, we also do strength exercises with dumbbell floats, mostly holding these under the water and you can really feel the resistance which is working your muscles

Other exercising:
Swimming (1-2 times a week,) jogging (5k on a Saturday and I will look to do more when it's light enough when I get home from work!) walking my dog, gym routine (I have a programme that incorporates cardio and some weights as well as some core exercises like crunches on an exercise ball) Follow my blog with Bloglovin