Louisa's Weight Loss Blog

I’ve been a bit lax with the Versaclimber lately. I could make excuses about how much I’ve been working lately and how tired I’ve been. I’ve not felt this exhausted since I had chronic fatigue in late 2007 and most of 2008 but with a bit more effort, I could probably manage it. Nope, I have an hour between when I get home and when Jonny comes home.  Instead of putting some time in exercising then, I lie on the sofa watching repeats of Friends on E4 and cuddling with our new pet rabbit, Stewie. Before anyone asks, we do not have any intention of putting him in a stew.

I could easily pop the radio on and forget about how hard my body is working before putting dinner on. Having a goal and people relying on you can certainly help with the motivation so the people at Versaclimber have given me a new challenge – how much can I improve my time climbing 1/4 mile over one month. Bearing in mind that after 100 feet my quads are feeling the burn, 1320 feet is certainly going to be a challenge.

Week one: Stewie has chewed through the wii sensor bar wire so I can’t use the wii fit to weigh myself. I deliberately don’t keep bathroom scales as I’d torture myself over daily and monthly fluctuations. I will have to judge my weight loss by how my clothes feel. At the moment, the verdict is tight and uncomfortable. My size 14 jeans are comfortable and I can’t even get my Kate Moss jeans up to my bum. Yuck.

Like I said, as I’ve been so tired this week I’ve only been using the Versaclimber for two minute bursts during the adverts on the days I’ve had time to watch tv. I thought that eight 2 minute burst on ‘step harder’ settings would prepare me for trying to register my first 1/4 time. Boy, was I wrong!

Saturday: The Versaclimber was staring at me and I knew I had to give it a go eventually. So I procrastinated and cleaned the house. At 6pm I knew it was time to attempt my challenge so I shut Jonny and Stewie out of the bedroom and climbed up on to the Versaclimber and realised that trying to use it for more than 4 minutes is bloody difficult!

The Versaclimber is designed to make you work hard  as you are essentially working against your own weight. Because you’re working so many muscle groups so hard, you’re burning off loads more calories than you would doing 30 mins on a treadmill. I know which I’d rather do!

I lasted 4 mins 30 seconds (covering 320 feet) before my quads were burning and I had to take a break. After a short recovery time, I got back on and managed another 150 feet but felt like a complete failure for not doing 1320 feet. I felt like I’d worked harder than I’ve ever worked in a gym and when I walked my leg muscles felt a very good kind of strange.

Sunday: Determined to try and register a time for the 1/4 mile I put some music on this time and I am pleased to announce that I managed to use the Versaclimber for the whole 1320 feet in three sections. I did the first 500 feet in 7 minutes 18 seconds, the next 500 feet in 7 mins 9 seconds and the final 320 feet in 4 mins and 59 seconds. That is a total of 19 minutes and 26 seconds. I’m hoping that over the next week I can manage to do the whole 1320 feet in one go rather than in chunks and a bit quicker. Wish me luck!