Wednesday 18-03-14 Gym Bunny

I’ve never thought of myself as a gym bunny. I was a member of the gym at work a number of years ago, but after a few months I developed a serious cold that knocked me out of action for a couple of weeks, and I never went back.

TW has offered to get me membership of Worthing Leisure, or Southdowns Leisure for some time, and each time I’ve said yes, I am interested, but she never followed through and actually signed me up. Until a couple of weeks ago, that is, when there was a free signing up Saturday.

As a concession member (the kids had already signed up, so TW & I signed up separately and because we live at the same address we get a partial discount), it costs £39 per month for each of us. If we are still using the membership at the end of the year, when the kids’ membership lapses, we’ll probably sign up for a family membership.

The first class I went to was a “weight loss boot camp”. There were about seven or eight of us doing 50 seconds of exercise with a ten second changeover. It was overwhelming; the exercises were done at quite a pace and there wasn’t much time to pick up the correct way to perform the exercises. Luckily TW was there to see me straight. It was quite a shock, and certainly different from running; with running, I can set my own pace, and just detach myself, not really thinking about much at all except the rhythm of running. With short sharp bursts of exercise, I was worried whether I was doing the right sort of bends, were my hips supposed to stay face on?, was I supposed to stretch behind my head?, could I balance like that? But I made it through, and actually felt good for doing it.

I can’t think what happened then, but I didn’t do any classes or go running for the rest of the week. I think it was due to the snow and extreme cold. Then I cricked my neck, so I missed the next week. But by Saturday I was ready for another class, and so we signed up for Body Balance. I think I mentioned this in a post last week. It’s a mix of tai chi, yoga and pilates. The class was quite full, and we were standing in front of a mirror wall. Some of the class were obviously experts and able to pull off the poses and stretches effortlessly, striking an aesthetically pleasing and solid stance. They were a most impressive sight in the mirror. Unfortunately, as the class went on, the pleasing zen-like movements were marred by my sweaty red-faced wobbling in the background. The class did get harder as it went on, and although I found it tough, I did enjoy it and we are going back. I have discovered though, that my body leaves a lot to be desired and I have no balance.

Next time I think I’ll cover the circuits class I went to on Monday night. It was a lot harder than I was expecting, but again, I think I am going to go back. I do ache a bit, I’ve done three classes in five days, which is quite intense for me, but they’ve been enjoyable so far. If I can build the classes into my routine, I may even keep it up, who knows?

TTFN.

Friday 18-03-09 Friday Night - The End of the Week

Here we are then, Friday night. The girls are upstairs applying make-up to each other, by the sounds of it, and I am down here with my trusty laptop and a glass of orange juice & lemonade. It is full fat lemonade, mind; none of that diet stuff for me.

This week has whizzed by in a flash. Not much has really happened, except that I got a crick in my neck which gave me a couple of really bad nights’ sleep on Wednesday and Thursday. I was going to go to a class at the gym on Wednesday night, but really didn’t think it was appropriate. TW did suggest I go for a steam and sauna instead, which would have been nice, but by the time Wednesday night rolled around I was really quite tired and so didn’t even manage to get around to that.

The rest of the week was mostly taken up with watching catch-up TV: TW and I steamed through the second series of “Delicious” which was on Sky One, starring Dawn French and Emilia Fox. It was only a four-parter, but it was good. While TW was away last weekend I did finish watching the second series of “The Expanse” as well last weekend, and I am looking forward to more of the same. It’s excellent stuff; just the right mix of drama and sci-fi. I started watching the new Star Trek series on Netflix, but since I’d had a few drinks I’ll probably benefit from watching it again.

This weekend I shall mostly be following the Six Nations, and I’m looking forward to getting back to it. A bit of Body Balance in the morning, and then spectating in the afternoon is just what the doctor ordered. Sunday, of course, is Mother’s Day, so Mum and Dad are coming over for lunch – which will be nice.

TTFN.