Nadine - i've been running 4 days in a row now! LOL. I'd LOVE to go out again today but unfortunately i did a 7k yesterday afternoon and started to feel tight in my hips which is what happens when i overdo it. So today is a complete rest day, and tomorrow i'm gonna try for either a 5k at race speed or a 7k nice and steady again.

Dee - HI! Welcome to the thread. I have to agree that to get energy to exercise....you exercise! Contrary to logical reasoning, exercising GIVES you energy (within reason, obviously if you exercise instead of eating or sleeping that's not good). I think everyone should exercise, whatever build they are. You can be thin and slight and incredibly unhealthy, just as you can be overweight but active and healthy. Your body accumulates fat around the heart and liver you can't see from the outside but that can be a real health risk. I also (having recovered from depression myself) think far less people would need their anti-depressant drugs if they were able to exercise more. When you exercise your body rewards you with endorphins and if you regularly exercise those endorphins keep on coming, lifting your mood all the time. I exercise for fun and stress relief, i'm never going to be skinny or an athlete - the one thing i'm really good at (long distance swimming) i actually find a bit dull! Finding something you enjoy is the key, once you have something you love you will WANT to go out there and get that feeling. Exercise in your body's instincts is about getting food, physiologically we were fit to hunt. So your body will always reward you a little with the endorphins but if you hate what you do it won't be enough to keep your mind "into" it. Your body WANTS to exercise, you just have to find a way to do it that lets your mind enjoy it too.

I find exercise gives me so much. Stress relief - i'm a single SAHM with DD 24/6 (she goes to her dads for 24 hours a week) and i really need to escape sometimes. Fitness - i FEEL better in my body. THere's something great about being able to run up stairs and not even feel it. I'm like a dynamo i have SO much more energy now! Mental health- i feel good all the time, partly to do with the endorphins but partly because my exercise routines give me something to work towards and achieve that, unlike the rest of things i do/have done in life, are not to do with money, duty or necessity. I run because i can and when i run a 10k because i could i feel so proud of myself. And i was 40lbs heavier and completely unfit 2 years ago, i am living, running proof that ANYONE can exercise and enjoy it. Physical - it gives me satisfaction to see my strong calves, or my rounder bum. I will never be skinny but i look and feel so HEALTHY, and the better i feel about my body the more confident i am, the more confident i am the more sexy i am, the sexier i am the more head over heels DP is with me, and that makes me feel even BETTER. It's all good hun. I totally recommend it

Rachel - i demand a description of the new moves I figure we're on the last release, a lot of up for 2, down for 2, then 2 singles throughout the whole hour and the triceps is the crazy edge of bench then french press, then with the bar one (which i quite like because you don't get that feeling at the end of the second set where you think "OMG i have to do all that again!?!" LOL).

I'm midway through my second release, been going since the start of October last year. I lift 5kg to warm up, 10kg for squats, 7kg for chest, 10kg for back, 5kg for triceps, 7kg for biceps, 7kg for shoulders, 7kg (if we use the bar) for lunges, and a 2.5kg plate (if we're using one) on my chest during crunches/abs. How do you guys up your weight? DP, who's been doing it years, told me to wait until i was finishing with a little more in the tank and then go up a bit, but my body doesn't work like that. I'm very efficient, so if i lift 10kg my body will adjust to lifting 10kg but it never feels "easy" and i never feel i have enough left to lift more so i just arbitrarily jack a few groups up every few weeks. I just went from 9kg to 10kg with my squats and back which made me feel great as it meant i could use 2 5-plates instead of two 2.5's and 4 donuts . I felt so proud taking those 5's off the rack! LOL. I've been running for about 2 years now and that builds lean but not hugely strong thighs. I thought when i first started that i'd be great with squats because of the running, but though i could run 12miles continuously i could only lift 7kg! LOL.

I think i'm going to move to 9kg for my lunges and shoulders soon. One i've done that i might move to 12kg for my squats. Do you guys focus on one muscle group for a release or move it all forward incrementally? I want to get up to 12kg squats and back, 10kg lunges, 9kg shoulders and chest and 7kg triceps by the start of summer (end of May?) i think... Hmmm maybe i should write a plan?

Bx