So, there I was, Spinning my little legs off, three or four times a week. I’d tried a couple of other classes but shied away from them because, to be honest, I didn’t understand the terminology or the instructions! I had no idea what a Burpee was, and a Russian Twist sounded like it should be a cocktail not an exercise move!
I was far too embarrassed by my lack of knowledge and to self conscious.
I continued to hide myself away in the gym – on a treadmill.
By September 2018 I was regularly running 5km on the treadmill and I was pretty pleased with that.
Then came a message, whilst I was away on holiday: the gym was running a ‘Weights for Women’ course. It involved several sessions per week in a small group and obviously, lifting weights. Another step out of my comfort zone. Was I ready to take it?
Well, November 2018 saw yours truly enrolled and suddenly, I’m learning how to lift dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells – in fact every bell but a sleigh bell! I learned how to do a Shoulder press, Chest Press, Squat Press, Upright Row and Bent Over Row, Romanian deadlift, Sumo deadlift. It really was a whole new world.
What I didn’t account for, however, was the fact that I was the oldest there and all the others had already done a fair amount of lifting before. I often felt I was on the back foot. However, I’m not a quitter. I stuck with it and as the course came to a close I arranged to continue with a Personal Trainer. Over the course of the next few months, he was to push me beyond anything I’d ever believed this body could do. Now I also found myself doing press-ups, sit ups and planks. At sixty years old I learned how to use all the scary looking equipment in the gym and accepting the challenges to do things I’d never ever thought I would do.
However, I just wasn’t prepared for or expecting the next challenge…
