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Ensure you take good care of yourself, if anything happens to you, the world will move on.

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Getting Back On Track – Part 2/5: Workouts

Just after nutrition, physical activity is what makes or breaks my weight loss journey. Yes, weight loss is mostly driven by what you eat. A workout alone won’t create a large enough calorie deficit to drive major fat loss. But exercise is still essential for other reasons:

• Helps regulate cravings through better blood sugar control and hormonal balance

• Improves consistency by sharpening focus, building discipline, and making you feel more empowered

• Increases resting metabolism and post-workout calorie burn

• Aids stress management, which supports sleep and reduces emotional eating (especially when done early in the day)

• Creates non-scale victories and keeps motivation alive (like improved endurance, strength, mobility, and flexibility)

🩵 Tips to get back into working out

• Start slow. If needed, start at home

• Focus on showing up at first, not on performance or results. Build the habit first

• Don’t expect 100% every session. Sometimes showing up is enough, even at 2 percent

• Try a challenge or guided program. I love Blogilates, Glow with Anna, and I used to do BodyBoss

• Get help. A good coach makes the gym less intimidating. I currently do Toned with Tina for guided workouts and community support

• Find a community. Whether it’s in-app chats (try Blogilates for example!), Reddit, or your gym. I’ve also been doing Toned With Tina, she coaches a group per month and we have chats where we share progress. Seeing others post workouts motivates me to do mine

• Keep it fun. Don’t force yourself to run or do Pilates if you hate it. Be curious. Try things until something clicks. I used to think I’d never like weightlifting. Now it’s what gets me out of bed

Like everybody else, I build my workout routine around four elements: strength training, cardio, stretching, and rest or active recovery.

1) Strength Training

I got serious about strength training when I realized how powerful it is for fat loss. It helps raise your resting metabolism and keeps burning calories long after the workout is done.

I focus more on lower body since those muscles are larger and more metabolically active, but I still work upper body and abs for balance, mobility, and injury prevention.

🩵 Favourite lower body exercises

• The OG: weighted squats (especially on the 45-degree lying squat machine)

• My MVP for the 🍑: Hip thrusts, Bulgarian split squats, Romanian deadlifts, back extensions

• Walking or reverse lunges

• Lying leg curls, leg extensions

• Cable kickbacks (for glute medius)

• Crab walks with resistance bands

• Standing or seated calf raises

🩵 Favourite upper body exercises

• Lateral pulldowns, seated rows (cable or machine), face pulls

• Chest press, incline dumbbell press, chest flys, push-ups

• Cable triceps pushdowns, dips, overhead triceps extensions

• Incline dumbbell curls

🩵 Favourite abs and core exercises

• Upper abs: Cable rope crunches, sit-ups, knee crunches

• Lower abs: Hanging leg raises, ab wheel rollouts, lying leg raises, scissors

• Deep core: Planks, knee-in twists

• Obliques: Russian twists, cross crunches, side planks

I usually pick 4 to 6 exercises per session, aim for 10 to 12 reps over 4 sets, and try to reach failure in the last 3 reps of each set.

2) Cardio

There are many ways to do cardio. You need to find what makes it sustainable and enjoyable for you. Here’s how I break it down:

🩵 LISS (Low-Intensity Steady-State)

Incline walking or swimming at a heart rate of 120 to 135 bpm. Ideal for fat burning, hormonal balance (especially with PCOS), and active recovery.

🩵 MISS (Moderate-Intensity Steady-State)

Jogging or dance workouts with heart rate around 130 to 145 bpm. Great for building endurance while still being relatively gentle on the body.

🩵 HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)

Short bursts of intense effort (like sprints or jump rope) with rest periods. Heart rate often reaches 160+. High fat-burn potential, but demanding on the nervous system if overused.

🩵 LIIT (Low-Intensity Interval Training)

Brisk walking alternated with slower walking. Easier than HIIT, still effective and low stress. Usually longer lasting than HIIT, around 45-60min. The exercise part is moderate and you’re not out of breath by the end. The recovery part is also longer. Most efficient when alternating with HIIT, can help in active recovery, when fatigued or for beginners.

🩵 MetCon (Metabolic Conditioning)

High-intensity strength-cardio circuits, like CrossFit. Very effective for fat loss and endurance but intense and best for more advanced fitness levels.

I usually prefer alternating between MISS and LISS. For MISS I usually do incline walking or the stairmaster. For LISS outdoor walks, treadmill walking (with an incline around 4-5% max sometime no incline), elliptical or swimming at a low intensity. Sometimes I’ll throw in a dance class or a cardio-pilates/hatha hot yoga in the mix. HIIT is a bit rarer for me, I do it for outdoor jogging and a goal is to increase my frequency of HIIT jogging by the fall.

3) Stretching

Stretching is essential for mobility, posture, and recovery.

🩵 Key muscle groups I stretch

• Hamstrings, glutes, quads, calves, hip flexors

• Shoulders, chest, traps, lats

• Spine and back: cat-cow, spinal twists, child’s pose

• Core: cobra stretches, seated side bends

• Neck: side tilts, chin tucks

I do stretch sessions at least twice per week, usually on recovery or rest days. I also stretch 3-5 min when waking up and currently trying to implement 5-10 min stretching post workouts. Sometimes I do it before bed, mostly when I’m “tired but wired” or feel restless or too sore to sleep. YouTube videos help keep me consistent:

💕10 min Morning Stretch by Yoga With Kassandra

💕15 min Full Body Stretch by Growingwithananas

💕Stretches for Splits by Blogilates

💕5 min Pre-Workout Warm Up by Kaleigh Cohen Strength

💕6 min Leg Day Stretch by MadFit

💕Pre & Post Workout Upper Body by SquatCouple

💕5 min Full Body Cool Down by MadFit

💕Stretch and destress by Blogilates

💕Bedtime Stretches by Blogilates

💕Bedtime Yoga Stretch by Yoga With Bird

4) Rest and Active Recovery

On non-training days, I try to move gently to reduce soreness, stay consistent, and support recovery without adding stress.

🩵 Favourite active recovery activities

Yin yoga (🩵🩵🩵)

Walking outdoors or flat treadmill

Leisurely swimming

Gentle Pilates or stretching reformer class

Foam rolling and mobility flows

Light bodyweight circuits

My all-time favourite video is Yin Yoga for Burnout by Yoga With Cassandra. I do it when I feel depleted, and it completely resets me. I usually nap or sleep right after.

5) Workout Plans

🩵 Current Weekly Workout Plan

Sunday: Incline walk (12/5/30) and Lower Body A

Monday: LISS cardio (60 min, HR around 140) and Upper Body A

Tuesday: Incline walk (12/5/30) and Lower Body B

Wednesday: LISS cardio (60 min, HR around 140) and Upper Body B

Thursday: Incline walk (12/5/30) and core circuit

Friday: Active recovery LISS and full-body stretching

Saturday: Rest with optional stretching or meditation

🩵 Contingency Workout Plan (for fatigue or busy weeks)

Sunday: Incline walk and lower body

Monday: Rest or active recovery

Tuesday: Incline walk and upper body

Wednesday: Rest or active recovery

Thursday: Total body with core circuit

Friday: Rest

Saturday: LISS

Sunday: Active recovery

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GUYS HEAR ME OUT…

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Boxer briefs in public 🩲💪

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Just wanted to say "Hi" to all my recent new followers (and of course my old ones, too). Feel free to hit my inbox if you feel like it. Also, my asks are open if you want to know or request or show me something.

On another note, I am working on a new drawing. This time, it's a more... spicy... one of Maxim Horvath... 😏

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Shark!Ricky

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found out i wasn't born with any skills and the things i'm actually good at are the things i do a lot and didn't quit on. this sucks

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“You don’t know what I was…”