I’ve spent the last two or three years without doing ANY exercise at all and it’s starting to show, although I’m feeling it more than its showing. I don’t have as much energy as I used to and I miss that a little. Yes I AM carrying a little extra padding around the middle compared to my younger years. But being the “glass half full” sort of bloke I am I’ve been looking at it as something extra to hold onto for the next lucky lady I end up with…
It was always a point of pride for me that I was pretty fit when I was growing up thanks largely to the several sports I was involved in each week. But I’m sure you’re probably don’t want to read another “I’m starting exercise again, wish me luck” post so I won’t turn this into one.
Suffice to say I AM starting to make an effort to become more active and I’m also starting to eat better. But I’ll always enjoy a feed of “greasy dump chook” once in a while and, until the doc tells me otherwise, a couple of drinks on the weekend.
I never plan on trying to reach the heights of my youth again. Even if I did I doubt my knees and ankles would let me. But now that I’ve started to try and be more active again I’ve come to realize something that I never really considered before.
The sports themselves were always fun but it was the mateship that I enjoyed the most. Even the hard slog that we called training was fun for me because I got to hang out and muck around with my mates.
I don’t think I ever could have excelled in solo sports that required individual training mostly because I would have lost interest very quickly. For me it was all about being part of a team.
Today I’m thankful for all the friendships I’ve gained through the different sports and the teams I’ve been a part of over the years. It’s great to be able to walk into one of the local pubs and more often than not I’ll run into someone from my sporting past that I can say g’day too.
These days there aren’t many sports I could jump into thanks to my gammy knees but those I could join cost money in some shape or form and truth be told, money is tight for me at the moment.
I’d join a gym but I have a small home gym of my own so there’s no need to spend extra money on gym memberships, even though I’m sure the sales guys could give me plenty of reasons why I should.
To be completely honest I’d rather spend any small amount of spare cash I have left at the end of the week on a bottle of rum or a carton of beer. I won’t lie, I get more enjoyment from having a few drinks with my mates and watching the footy than I would by having the physique I had when I was younger again.
So it’s going to be hard to keep finding the motivation to get and stay active but I’ll go through the motions of what’s available to me and see what happens. I’d say “wish me luck” but I’d rather you sit down, have a drink and a chin wag with me instead.
But for anyone that isn’t active and is struggling to start (and has working knees) I’d definitely suggest anything that involves a team. The extra motivation you need to keep turning up week after week is that being part of something and not wanting to let your mates down. You’ll get fit, have heaps of fun and hopefully make some great friends in the process…and THEN come and have a drink with me
