Yesterday saw a significant step on the overall path towards uber-fitness (well, being a bit fitter than I am now anyway)… I drove the 40km or so to Malaga for my very first DJ Clubfit session, where I subsequently discovered the full extent of just how out of shape I am… I am grateful that Britt didn’t get me to do one of these sessions 2 weeks ago!
setting a baseline
The reality is that I’m neither excited nor disappointed with my results last night. The basic format of the evening is a circuit, with a DJ pumping out some “choons” (as I believe the cool cats say – actually I think that word died when the 90s came to an end). You get 1 minute per activity/station and simply do as many of each activity within that 60 second period.
Activities include exercise bike, rowing machine, push-ups (or if you’re crap at them like me, half push-ups), step-ups, bicep curls, tricep curls, boxing, ab crunches and more. If you approach it correctly it’s not easy, however Britt encourages you to take as much time as needed for recovery, in between activities.
Each activity count is marked against your name on a large whiteboard. So now I have my first set of results down, which establishes the starting position against which progress and improvements can be measured.
stiffer than stiffy mc’stiff after a stiff drink
It came as no huge surprise to me that one of my main issues is a lack of flexibility, in pretty much every muscle group. The stretching activities were challenging, with thigh muscles locking, cramping and burning after only a few seconds.
I don’t know if I’ve ever been particularly flexible (body-wise) though years of sitting at a desk (and in an armchair), with little or no regular exercise, have certainly taken their toll. I lack movement and flexibility in my legs and back – a fact that can be verified by anyone who has seen my very poor imitation of a golf swing!
i really really enjoyed it!
Despite the fact that all my physical shortcomings were being dragged out, and despite the fact that I found it hard-going at times… I really did enjoy the DJ Clubfit session last night. There was a good atmosphere about the place (everyone there seemed to be having fun, and there was no sense of anyone being the typical “poseur” you might find at your local gym).
I love music, so having the DJ there was brilliant. It’s amazing how music can make things seem much less of a chore.
At the end of it all I recovered very quickly – mainly because my muscles are so out of shape that they’d had enough well before my internal engine had burned out. Once I’d got my breath back, absorbed plenty of water and cooled off, I was positively buzzing!
That feeling lasted for the journey home – and then I was ready to sleep.
the morning after
I was dreading how I would feel this morning. Visions of being stiff and sore, a blog post along the lines of “Britt! What on earth have you f&*(%^ done to me!”… none of which really happened. I did feel a little sore and achy when I woke up (still do), and it took a little more effort than usual to get out of bed at 4am. However, once I was up I was raring to go and not feeling too shabby at all.
Then I did the walk and the impact of last night hit home – I added a whole minute to the walk time!
Not that I am bothered about that – it is what it is, and it’s also interesting to see how that morning walk really can be used to measure impacts and improvements. Apart from the obvious exercise benefits, the walk is a kind of personal barometer tracking downs as well as ups.
All in all I’m pretty pleased with things – the first DJ Clubfit session is done and dusted, the baseline is posted on the whiteboard (I will post results here once I get a copy from Britt) and it didn’t kill me.
Result!
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