When venturing into something new, be it starting an essay, going cold turkey from social media around exam time or indeed beginning a new fitness regime, they always say the hardest part is taking the first step and jumping in. We’ve all said to ourselves at some point: next week, I’ll start. Well it’s November now, and winter is drawing in. I can’t delay it any longer. On that note, let me set the scene…
I’m a 21 year old final year student, who has just come back from a year abroad in Italy – the land of pasta, pizza and a thousand flavours of gelato. Having eaten my way through a, let’s face it, ‘year out of life’, I would say that my body is in dire need of a detox, starting with getting a sweat on and doing some good old exercise. Living with a girl as fit as a fiddle, who does at least three gym sessions a week, I feel compelled to give it a go and buy that gym membership.
At the University of Leeds, fitness seems to be a big thing. Campus is a sea of sports leggings and Nike trainers, showing off slender legs which shout a mix of ‘I look after myself / you’ll see me pumping iron at The Edge / Miss Fitness Leeds 2015′. Now, I am not small, not big. Not short, not particularly tall. Not super sporty, but not a fitness-phobe. I am pretty much your average girl with an average lifestyle, up for health kicks but partial to a good slab of cake once in a while. If this sounds like you, you’re in exactly the right place. After all, who doesn’t love a daily fitness update from Kayla Itsines’ Instagram page to give you a nice boost of self confidence…not!
To all the girls out there who are just like me, I don’t know about you, but solely going to the gym isn’t enough for me. In amongst the machines, you need self-motivation, drive and patience to wait in line for the different contraptions of torture. Personally, I need to be in the middle of a gym class, having a buff instructor eye-balling me, shouting to squat ONE MORE TIME! Or two more, or sixteen. Call it team spirit if you wish, but I need to have the fear of God put into me if I am to make it to the end of the track without beginning to dream of that wonderful Millionaire’s Shortbread from Miro’s across the road…
So here I am, ready to begin my social experiment. I present to you my ‘Fitness Files’!
My plan is simple: starting from today, I will go to one different class a week at The Edge, giving you an honest commentary of how it went, difficulty level, what was relatively enjoyable and what made me want to fall off the face of the Earth. I’m sure many of you out there feel the same as I do – amazed and slightly terrified at the prospect of Keiser Cycle, but also secretly wanting to hear how it actually goes and, better, how it feels in the aftermath.
Today, I begin my journey with my first class: Fitball! Join me next week to find out if bouncing around on a ball for 45 minutes is really as fun as it sounds…
Wish me luck and I’ll see you on the other side!
Image Sources:
Images 1-3: Author’s own
Image 4 –http://www.meetinleeds.co.uk/the-edge
Image 5 –https://www.facebook.com/k.itsines/
Image 6 – http://sport.leeds.ac.uk/the-edge/classes/class-timetable/
Image 7-8 – http://thefw.com/pitch-perfect-memes/