Hi all,
I was cursing myself, telling myself I was useless and weak, that there's no point if I'm going to be that bad. I really wondered if I would be able to keep it up.
This was me in a training session back in January
I had quite a long break from doing much exercise in the second half of last year.
I broke my wrist, then had a minor operation...then if I'm being honest I extended the break a bit due to feeling sorry for myself!
When I started back I actually still felt quite “fit” in that it took a lot to get me out of breath, but I felt weak, stiff and my body had gone a bit soft
Perhaps you've felt that way too?
We often work with people who haven't done much exercise for years - let alone a few months - so this was a real insight into how they must feel when they decide it's time to work on their health and fitness
So in January I decided I didn't want to feel weak, stiff and soft anymore, and enlisted Ollie to train me and help me get back into shape.
It may surprise you that despite what I do for a living, often I don't actually enjoy “training” that much - I've always preferred playing sport - training is a means to an end for me.
The first 2 weeks were hard: I was a bit sore, it was hard work, and surprise surprise I was nowhere near how strong I had been 6 months ago.
That's when all the negative voices started.
Then something weird happened: I started making progress - and quite quickly too. Weights that were difficult were suddenly comfortable, I felt I could do more.
My body started feeling firmer and I started to get that feeling of strength back - mentally as well as physically - which had been missing for a while.
Since then I've got some momentum and I feel I can do more each week.
Progress is a great feeling.
And you will never make progress as quickly as when you are starting out or starting back.
This is what we call “beginners body”
So if you've been out of routine or haven't exercised in a while (or a long while!), one of the best pieces of advice I could give you would be to focus on how quickly you are progressing rather than comparing where you think you should be or where you used to be.
It can be quite daunting, but we're here to help…
Darren
