Find out how Charlie got on during her second week of the #trysomethingactive challenge (which she’s named the ‘bear walk’) and join in by sharing your photos on social media…
Today I have come away with a new found respect for my 6yr old. The bear walk is as gruelling and tiresome as it sounds. Don’t worry we weren’t completely impersonating a bear – amateur dramatics style, roars and all, (but there were piggy, grunting noises coming from the girls on the dumbbells station).
With hands on the ground, bum in the air stepping forward with the opposite foot, we had to crawl around the palm tree island for 3 minutes. This left me heaving and wheezing, and my son Jacob does this countless times a day…for fun.
After the pain of last week’s session (I couldn’t drive or shampoo my hair without complaining for about four days), I made it back to Fitness Wild. Partly from being committed to this challenge, but also because this week my good friend begins a long, life-changing journey of chemotherapy to beat cancer.
I came to realise that this challenge of mine is a choice, and if I’m going to do it, then I’m going to do it. I physically owe this to myself to be the best I can be. It’s given me energy and the fire in my belly to push harder and be stronger.
So with that in mind, I quickly take in the amazing beach backdrop, take a deep breath and get ready for the second round of circuits. The main thing that I really love about the Fitness Wild classes is that we use our natural surroundings to assist us in our exercises. If it’s not the fence for push ups, it’s the curb for ‘prisoner squats’ (I know…), a tree for one-legged balancing or the grass as our mat. There’s something very grounding, quite literally, about being connected to the earth whilst working out.
The dogs are tied up and the kids are snacking from their pushchairs watching with bemusement and curiosity. Today I lifted 5kg. This is a vast improvement from last week’s pathetic attempt of the ‘bar’. I think I was egged on by Fitness Wild’s Amy, who was one of our instructors today. I thought she was the usual buff-looking instructor who’d been doing this forever. But I later learned that Amy had recently won the South-West Power Lifting championships after only 3 months of training, and better still is contemplating entering the British championships in February. Her story, composure and confidence was impressive. I dared to daydream of being strong and courageous like her, and then awoke to the reality of the one-armed plank.
With grass in my hair and mud in my nails I walk away feeling the endorphin rush, smiling and cautiously chatting to my fellow warriors about how much better I feel than last week.
Bring on next week, I’m starting to enjoy this sooner than I thought. 🙂
Fancy joining in the challenge? All you need to do is share photos of your new active hobby experience with #trysomethingactive on social media for your chance to win some Bounce balls! It’s not too late to get involved!
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