The Sikh Geek

I did something remarkable last week and started going to the gym! Like many people I’m sure, I’d been paying for a local gym but never using it. I managed 3 sessions last week and plan to keep this up. I started all this by going running with my son who is 8.5 years old on a mile long run and it was hell (for me at least) and I had to keep stopping. That’s pretty pathetic as I have in the past run a couple of half marathons at about just under the 2 hour mark and a 10K in about 47 mins. I know I’m not going to break any world records as I’m not really a distance runner. I only ever did it because I was playing rugby (before I broke my arm and had to have a metal plate in it) and five-a-side league football. The training was a means to an end i.e. to play competitive sports. Training and keeping fit for it’s own sake was never my thing.

After the initial pain and just wanting to give up I’m starting to enjoy it and even within a week and a half I’m feeling much better and enjoying it. There’s no competitive end to it now, so it’s just about getting fit and staying healthy. It’s easy in the jobs we do to be just stuck sitting down and eating rubbish food, that is when we actually grab any lunch.

The gym sessions are for fitness are split in two. The first bit is all aerobic with a 10 min run on treadmill (approx 1.5km), 6 min (1000m) rowing, 6 min cyling. The second bit is weights (not heavy weights) with 12 x 3 reps of each and ending with situps. I could see from the heart rate monitor on the bikes my heart rate was high at about 170, meaning my body was having to work quite hard but in this week that has started to come down with doing the same intensity a sign  that my body is adjusting. Already, I’m thinking of mixing this up with some circuit training and running in between the gym sessions. I’m trying to make time to do this and not make excuses as to why I shouldn’t go.

One of my motivations is my wife who been getting up at 6.00am and going running for quite a few months which is very impressive and made me get off my backside. The kids keep trying to check for my six pack but that’s never going to come!

As they say, a healthy body a healthy mind.