My Fitness Basics

A suitable place to start would be to explain my school sports career.

Oh yes, I remember now - it was non-existent.  I hated sport.  Hockey and athletics in particular were the methods of torture employed by my primary school to ensure that I became a team-sport-hating, PT-class-avoiding rebellious pre-teen.  Tennis in summer was passable as fun, until the powers that be made it important and prestigious for a child to be good at it.  External pressure for me to do something (and to do it well) immediately makes me think "how can I best get out of this situation".  I played tennis at the least competitive level possible, merely to avoid the spotlight that goes along with being a sporty pupil.  (I preferred the academic spotlight.)

Winter sports were, as mentioned, hockey and athletics.  Years of this have left me with vivid memories of sweaty shin guards, hockey sticks smashing into shins that were devoid of shin guards (not mine, as I always wore enormous shin guards and I tried as often as possible to be placed as a wing - out of the sweaty, stick-swinging skirmish), hockey balls breaking noses, the extremely well-padded goalie (who happened to be the shortest girl in my grade - she was a fine goalie though), being forced to do high jump and long jump barefoot on grass and gravel respectively, the dirty landing pad on the other side of the high jump pole...  I could go on, but I think that this is sufficient information to form a decent picture.

With all of this in mind, it is rather obvious as to why I avoided sports for most of my high school career and my entire university career.  During my year away from home, I was incredibly inactive.  I did try to engage in road running, but the surroundings were too unsafe for my comfort, so I abandoned that pursuit.  I bought a very thick yoga mat and downloaded a few exercise programmes from the Women's Health website that were mat-based, with the hope that I could engage in some form of exercise in the relative comfort of my flat.  Because I was very unfit, not flexible at all, and had no equipment in the form of dumbbells or free weights, this was also not a fruitful use of my time.

During my post-graduate studies, my family moved home and the gym became an option.  I signed up for a gym membership a week after the house move, and I was set.  I was going to commit to going to the gym as often as I could and do whatever looked appealing.  I took yoga classes, Pilates classes, Zumba classes and spinning classes.  These are wonderful for a gym novice and allow one to go to the gym with purpose.  I was afraid of not knowing what to do when I got to the gym - attending a class solves this problem.  So far, so good.  I developed a routine of class attendance and added the occasional weight lifting circuit (the kind that consists of machines strategically placed in a certain sequence to target one's entire body, including cardio, which is catered for with the step platform in the centre of the circuit arrangement).

I adjusted my diet carefully and began to drink a large amount of water.  My life away from the gym at the time consisted of sitting behind a computer for at least 8 hours each day (I was working on my post-graduate essays), - not exactly very active.  However, this did allow me to control my water and food intake and create an eating schedule (this is extremely valuable for reasons I'll go into in another post).

The biggest part(s) of my body is/are my thighs, and it was important to me to lose centimetres in that area.  What was almost immediately noticeable was that I started to feel better about my body and I became more careful about what I put into it.  I began to work harder at the gym and would sometimes attend two consecutive classes, for example, a Zumba class followed by a yoga class or a spinning class followed by a Pilates class.  I enjoyed this schedule as it allowed me to spend more than 2 hours in the gym on some days.

I then completed my university studies and found myself with a day job.  This put an abrupt stop to my attendance of fun classes.  I became concerned as to which direction to take my training but I also knew that I was only going to achieve a certain level of fitness if I continued to attend the same classes and perform the same exercise routines.

Someone close to me mentioned that I should look at a particular bodybuilding website for weight lifting programmes.  I did some research and created an account on the website.  I found a programme that looked doable (ie one with beginner-level exercises) and I took note of which exercises should be done together.  I added it to the personalised calendar and began weight training on 1 January 2014.

Thus began my fitness journey.  I went from "going to the gym" to "going to train", from being a "gym member" to a "gym bunny" (though I don't think I'd claim that label out loud).

xoxo

Foxy