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SA Lockdown - Days 1-4

So we have made it 4 days into lockdown... yippeee :)

I thought I would recap my first 4 days into lockdown.
To start off, I am still working, from home of course, so I still need to be available from about 7am to about 4pm. As such, I try get my workouts in before and after this time except on the weekend and the pre-lunch workouts (which are nice and quick).

Day 1

Friday, 27 March

My dads birthday - we were planning on going to craft beer library in Linden but of course with the lockdown we were not able to (something to do once we are out of lockdown).
I decided to make one of my favorite cakes, an almond cake, but I made it gluten free as I am trying to be 80-90% gluten free following doctors orders.
I started nice and early, so that it would be ready for my dads teatime break.

The recipe can be found here, but I doubled up because it looked on the thin side:
  • 230g Butter
  • 4 Eggs
  • 2 cup gluten free flour
  • 2 cups castor sugar
  • 4 tsp almond extract
  • Sliced almonds for the top
  1. Heat up oven to 180
  2. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately before combining
  3. Grease a cake try and place batter inside
  4. Sprinkle almonds
  5. Put in oven and bake for 20-30 minutes
  6. Enjoy!


For Dinner I made chicken pot pie, using this recipe roughly (except I used a can of creamed chicken soup instead of broth)

I honestly didnt do much in the form of exercise - just the Africa Marathons Day 1 Challenge:
3 Sets:
  • 15 Jump Squats
  • 12 Lunges
  • 20 Bridge
  • 1 Minute Plank

Day 2

Saturday, 28 March

A little bit of a later sleep this morning, but Dakota had to go through to work so I got up with him.
After coffee, I got my body moving, against much resistance.

I found a routine from Africa Marathons that I decided to include in my morning routine - you can find the routine here. I did this after my pre-run warm-up drills, followed by 5 minutes of mini hurdle drills.

For my first HIIT I did:
2 Sets: 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off of:
  • Speed Band High Knees against the wall
  • Skipping
  • Shuttle Runs
  • Banded Lateral Shuffle
  • High Knees
  • Mountain Climber 
  • Skip
Breakfast: Fried Egg and half an avo - and coffee of course.
Lunch: Zucchini Noodles, Woolworths Cauli-Rice and spinach with half an avo and tuna

In the afternoon I did my Bio exercises, followed by the Africa Marathons day 2 challenge:

Africa Marathons Day 2 Challenge:
4 Sets:
  • 15 Squats
  • 10 Fire Hydrants each leg
  • 40 Mountain Climbers
  • 15 Sit ups
  • 10 Push ups



 Dinner: I made a lentil and spinach curry, over protein pasta.

I ended off the day with a game of trivia pursuit, which I won - not sure how as I was zoned out for most of it.

Day 3

Sunday, 29 March

No alarm clock day, but I was still up at 7.
I had coffee in bed and watched an episode of The Witcher with Dakota before he headed out to the shops.

I made a egg coffee before I started by first round of exercise.

Warm-Up Drills, Morning Exercises (from Africa Marathons) and 5 minutes of trampoline running - this trampoline thing is harder than I thought.
I then did the USN challenge:
  • 50 sit ups
  • 40 star jumps
  • 30 squat jumps
  • 20 push ups
  • 10 burpees



I finished off with 20 minutes stationary bike and foam rolling.

And then off to the shops I went (first time I had been out since Thursday). I got my shopping for my breakfast and lunch for the week, and Tuesday and Friday dinner - meaning I dont need to go out again until Saturday or Sunday. 

Lunch: Braai and salad

We played a few rounds of rummikub, before I started on my second round of exercises.

Bio Exercises (Prehab), 20 Minutes stationary bike and Africa Marathons Day 3 Challenge:
3 Sets:
  • 10 Burpees
  • 40 bicycle crunch
  • 16 commandos
  • 16 single leg lunge (8 each side)


Dinner: Flapjack made from 2 tablespoon Simple Truth cereal (gluten free) + 1 egg, topped with a fried banana and bacon.

Day 4

Monday, 30 March

Started my morning off with a quick meditation and a yoga flow, followed by the morning exercises.

I was done by 7am and got to enjoy some green tea with a shot of apple cider vinegar - a new habit I am trying to create. Time for work to start... bring on my many cups of coffee,

Breakfast: just after 10am I had a frittata (made with 4 eggs, spinach and 1 cup lactose free milk) I had made the night before.

Just before lunch I did the Africa Marathons Day 4 Challenge, featuring Midnight:
4 Sets:
  • 10 jack knives
  • 12 tricep dips
  • 8 jump lunges each leg

Lunch: Smoothie Bowl (as part of the USN Day 4 Challenge)
  • Frozen Cauliflower
  • Frozen Kale
  • Frozen Raspberries
  • 1 scoop protein
  • 1/2 cup almond milk
  • 1 cup water
  • goodies to sprinkle on
Afternoon snack: Rice cake and nut butter

Afternoon workout: Warm Up drills and Bio exercises (bodyweight), whilst avoiding the birds pooping on me when I was under the tree

HIIT: 2 Sets, 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, 1 Minute skipping, 30 seconds recovery
  1. speed band high knees on wall
  2. skipping
  3. shuttle runs
  4. skipping
  5. banded lateral shuffle
  6. skipping
  7. frog jumps
  8. skipping



Dinner: Sausages (yesss my favorite), mashed potato (I asked my mom to use lactose free milk) and veggies.
I also made a 'tea' with grated ginger, cinnamon (I left my sticks at work so had to use powder), turmeric (powder), squeezed 1 slice of lemon and half a teaspoon honey.

Overall I think it's been a good start, still finding my feet and working out a good routine that challenges my body and hopefully keeps it free of injury, without tiring it out too much (no gains can be made if your body is constantly fatigued or fighting inflammation).

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