Gym Phobia..........
Eight months ago my fab friend Cindy Nuckols, a personal trainer, agreed to train me for the swim - I'm not sure either of us realised what we were taking on! The night before our first gym session I lay awake desperately searching for an escape - there was no way I could enter a gym! I had spent years studiously avoiding anything that could even vaguely come under the heading "exercise". Of course the result of this was that I was fat - not plump; not curvy; not big boned - but undeniably fat! And in case I ever forgot that fact, I live in India where it is seemingly sociably acceptable to stare, point, laugh and tell me I am fat (because I might not have I noticed?!). So I had spent 6 months hiding in the hotel for fear of causing a riot and now Cindy wanted me to appear in public, in a gym and I was suspicious that she may even ask me to take part in some exercise. The morning of our first training session my normally supportive husband point blank refused to write me a "Gill can't play in the gym today because...." note. He bundled me into the car and gave our driver instructions not to stop the car en route in case I bolted. He seemed to think I was going to enjoy it - pfft!! Cindy greeted me at the gym with a huge smile and a steely glint in her eye. There was no going back so I entered a world of scarey looking machines, jump ropes, enormous weights and the biggest beach ball I had ever seen. The first thing Cindy taught me was to stand tall and proud, head up, shoulders back, abs engaged and to tell myself that I belonged in the gym. This was where I was supposed to be - this is where I would make my body strong and fit; ready to take on the Loch Ness Monster. Cindy explained that I needed to build muscle strength in order to have the stamina necessary for the swim but first she had to determine my current fitness level. Hmmm, do they have a negative scale? So I was put through my paces and introduced to the delights of free weights. We did a lot of work on technique - Cindy's philosophy being that I had to make every lift count and work each muscle effectively so that I gained maximum results from every gym session. I agree entirely with this philosophy because if I am going to get hot, sweaty and red in the face I want results. At the end of the session I had an initial training plan to follow that involved using the elliptical trainer, doing upper and lower body free weights exercises, using the exercise bike and stretches. But, most importantly, I had started to have self- belief and had felt the first tiny stirrings of what was to become a passion for exercise!
5 Comments
Cindy
4/5/2013 04:56:04 am
And now, not only is there no dragging her up the stairs, she beats me to the gym! " I'll just go ahead and get started and see you there" she says.
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Gill Thomas
4/5/2013 10:47:08 pm
:)
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4/5/2013 07:54:07 am
We are very proud of you Gill and so would your Mum & Dad be
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Gill Thomas
4/5/2013 10:50:25 pm
Lynn I cried when I read your comment - it means so much to me. Thank you; I can literally feel the support of my fantastic family and friends pushing me onwards. Xxx
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12/10/2013 06:25:45 pm
The major reason for setting a goal is for what it makes of you to accomplish it. What it makes of you will always be the far greater value than what you get.
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