The burn is unreal!
So I did it! I went to the gym for the first time in years. I'm pretty sure I drove as slowly as possible, trying to maximize the time before I actually walk in, but I did it, we got there for just after 9pm. The Pure Gym app has this really cool feature that tells you how many people are in the gym, and it told us that there were about 90 people in, 90 people aaargh! In reality, though, it was much less. After composing myself in the car for 10 minutes, we finally went in and in all honesty, it was mostly fine. You could tell that we had no idea where anything was because we spent about 5 minutes just looking around like lost sheep. First thing I did was buy a padlock, why are those things so bloody complicated? It took me about 15 minutes to figure out how to change the code, not user-friendly at all. I was sat in the changing rooms for a little longer than I think was needed, again composing myself to actually go out and get something done. I did feel a bit intimidated as there were several lads in the changing rooms in close proximity, the best way to describe them is to say that they were chavs, Nuff said. One of them who happened to be really slender said 'Here man, I'm so fat', I'm not really sure if that was a blatant dig at the fat man sitting in the corner (me) or if he genuinely thought he was fat, my guess is the former. Anyway, I know this is bad but this is a sign of how unconfident I am, I waited until they left before I left the room, Kirsty was slightly annoyed for making her stand around like a lemon for ages #SozPet.
First Impressions...
So there was certainly a lot of equipment, there are plenty of Treadmills, Cross-Trainers, Bikes, Ellipticals, Steppers, rowing machines, etc. They are all evenly spaced out and there would be plenty of choice for a busy gym. The gym is split into two parts, Cardio is in one section, with weights being in another, as far as I can see for the weights section, it pretty much has everything you could need, including monkey bars, free weights, benches I don't even know what half of the stuff is, but it all looks well maintained and there's plenty of it. There's a small cycle studio and another studio, for some of the classes that are carried out, like step aerobics or something like that, there's also a couple of sections where you can rest, accessible water and vending machines, etc. The water isn't the best, it's room temperature at best, and it's a water fountain rather so it's awkward to fill up bottles, almost makes me feel like they deliberately don't have chilled water and make it as awkward as possible so you use the vending machines, but I'm not spending £1.50 a time on a bottle of water, so it's something I'll just have to put up with.
The Workout (if you would call it that)...
Going from having basically zero activity to trying to complete a full workout is theoretically hard, but in practice, it's even bloody harder. My Pure Gym app has a couple of walkthrough programs, and the first is an introductory one, it starts you off with a 20-minute exercise, 5 minutes of walking on the treadmill with an incline of 4-10%, then 5 minutes on a bike at level 6-12, then 5 minutes on the Cross Trainer between levels 8-15 finished off with another walk on the treadmill for 5 minutes again on an incline of 4-10%. It's pretty easy to change incline/resistance level, it's just one tap of a button either on the handlebars or on the display on the front of the machine. Soooo... I started off on the treadmill as advised, and I was like yeaaaah this is fine, oh how wrong was I, I changed the incline to 4 after a few seconds, and my legs felt like they were trudging through 50cm of mud climbing up the steepest hill in the world, you might think that's an exaggeration, but it wasn't. I did manage to hold on for the full 5 minutes, in fact, I managed around 7, other people around me were like running full pelt for 20 minutes straight... how in the world. So legs like jelly it was time to move onto the bikes. Due to a broken hip, I've had pins in it since early 2006, so I naturally have restricted movement, I am also flat-footed and have one leg shorter than the other, so I feel the pinch probably a bit more than others, for this reason, I can't manage the upright bikes (just yet), so I opted for the ones where you extend your legs, I managed around 5 minutes on this, but only at a level 3 difficulty, half of what the 'Beginner' course expects you to do. Cross trainer time yay! When I went to the gym back in like the pre-historic days, I was an absolute beast on the cross-trainer, I could easily go full pelt for 5 minutes on a fairly difficult resistance. So I step onto it and my brain has an instant meltdown and I can't figure out how to go clockwise instead of anti-clockwise, so I kind of end up just looking like a bit of a muppet trying to find my feet, but I get there and I can only manage 2 minutes, the burn in my legs are unreal, 2 minutes at a slow-steady pace and then the machine beeps at me and says 'Please Pedal Faster' it's at this point that I know I'm done, I could barely even step of the thing my legs were wobbling like Mr. Blobby rolling on the floor, but with a bit more wobble, sit down time it is. Workout over. I suppose for a first time back at the gym and being a bit on the large side you could classify it as good, but naturally, I was disappointed, for the first time I realise how unfit I am and in that moment, I can't see it improving, but I know these things take time. The app told me I should aim for 'Moderate' activity level, which is the equivalent of being able to ask a question but not hold a conversation, let me tell you I couldn't even let out a squeak, so it was full intensity all the way and the sweat, oh the sweat! After resting and being blasted by the Air-Con in the car, I felt amazing, as small as it is the accomplishment and the feeling is just something else, it's worth doing it for that alone, definitely something I want to continue, but I'd be lying if I told you that I didn't ache.
So that's day one done of exercise at least, I want to develop my confidence at the gym before I go full pelt with the diet changes as well, we are still being careful with what we eat, but I just want to get a feel for it and try to develop a routine, so I know I'll stick to it.
Anyway, I'm sure you're sick of my waffle, so here's to tomorrow!
Flabs Away!
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