Up and at them (always early)

It’s been nearly 2 months since I joined the best gym in my area (Centurion Health Club) and I thought it was time to reflect back on how far I’ve come and what I’ve learned in the form of a listicle since my last blog:

The stair master can be conquered, you just have to pace yourself. Currently I’m on 42 floors (each floor has 16 steps) and on Day 1 I nearly died at 10 floors. I’ve only fallen foul to its delayed speed increase once when I kept hitting the up arrow and it nearly threw me off and onto a fellow gym member.
Do not try to demonstrate your splits (yes splits) to complete strangers who strike up conversation with you. This will almost certainly result in a pulled hamstring (high probability).
This by far the most sociable gym I’ve ever been to. Everyone likes a chat…… with the exception of the bloke I tried to strike up a funny conversation about my near death experience on the static mountain bike (which I thought was a spin bike – I careered off a cliff) – he wasn’t having any of it.
If you get stuck in the solarium and press the red button – IT DOES NOT SUMMON THE COAST GUARD….. or the fire brigade…. sad times……
The stretching bit at the start and finish of your programme…. I’m not sold
I think at a ‘muscle’ gym it may be acceptable behaviour to cheer yourself on – audibly….. otherwise…. it’s awkward
If you pick a gym where the reception is part of a hotel you will get extremely professional customer service
We are not all created equal…. some people will always have flatter tummies, smaller butts, more definition in their arms, no bingo wings…. yes it’s true…. no bingo wings
I’ve still not managed to catch someone ‘accidentally’ naked in the mixed changing rooms. I have it on good authority it’s normally hotel guests who fall foul of this and ‘forget’ that it’s mixed….
There really isn’t an elegant way to get in or out of the jacuzzi although pointing your toes helps
Sweating = bad hair, as does anytime spent in either the steam room or sauna.
The Programme: two weeks in and I dislike bits of it, six weeks in and I have it rewritten. This isn’t good, apparently one should try to push through for three months before changing it.
There is never a right time to try to shave seconds off your mile. At 0630 in the morning it feels way too early to be having what effectively is a running race (albeit it a solo one) and last weekend I had the brain wave of doing 30 mins of spin followed by my mile and managed 0.5km before I thought my legs were going to cause a treadmill incident. Currently I am 2 minutes off my starting time so honestly I’m pleased with that.
Still not had an awkward sauna or steam moment yet with a stranger.
I have come to terms with the fact that I will never do a pull up.
I think every gym would benefit from a cafe…. somewhere to recuperate after…. currently mine doesn’t but does have a bar…… mmmmm wine!
Cease and desist from daily weighing. When I joined this gym as part of the VERY thorough induction I was weighed and then had my body composition measured. It’s very alarming to find out what percentage of fat makes up your pie chart but good to know (it really is…. I keep telling myself that). The weight on the scales gives you a snap shot of what you weigh in that tiny fragment of time and it can be so deceptive and really ruin your day/week/month if the results are not going in your favour. So here is my plan….. stop weighing daily and have more regular body composition measurements taken, that way I can find out if I am turning my fat to muscle (to put it bluntly)
Fitballs. Make use of these for arm exercises (or just having a sit down). I’m all for saving time and not boring myself or others. Doing your fly arm things while resting your head and shoulders on one of these means you are engaging your core at the same time. WIN WIN
Telling someone your goals means you commit to them which is why I am going to sign up for the next 8 week boot camp (horror)
The fact that cycling does not count towards Fitbit‘s workweek hustle is a tragedy and needs rectifying sharpish.