Sue's Sports Starter by Sue_Thearle

Hey fitness friends. How goes? All much better here as I am now a hardcore fitness warrior. Oh ho yes. No more Mrs chesty cough..... okay well actually I am still slightly Mrs rumbly hack, but not enough to stop me marching triumphant back into the gym. Yee har. I have been slightly kind to myself. I haven’t inflicted spinning on my aching limbs, simply because I think I genuinely would need hospital treatment if I attempted that. But I have done a couple of very sweaty cross trainer sessions which were hugely enjoyable. In fact I went slightly berserk today and after my 35 minutes gym session, I hurtled home and threw myself straight into another of the Fit In 5 To 20 Minutes DVD’s.

Today’s selection of choice was Belly Fat Blitz. Why, I hear you all cry with borderline disinterest? Well notwithstanding the fact that my baby/beer belly was strapped securely in place by my heavy duty lycra training bottoms, I felt like it needed some urgent attention after such a prolonged period of enforced inactivity. I was also mildly curious about what could possibly give me abs like Davina McCall (apart from her own exercise DVD of course). I must admit I had imagined an exercise mat and plenty of sit-ups, but I could not have been more wrong. Instead it was 15 minutes (you can do 5, 10, 15 mins or 20 mins if you so wish) of fairly non-stop boxing exercises. The slip of a thing who was in charge of this particular workout was kind and encouraging, notwithstanding the long, lingering shots of her ripped abs. But she delivered the routine at fairly breakneck speed.

I made sure I picked a quiet moment in the house when the kids were at school, so only my bewildered cat, who maintained a discreet yet inquisitive distance, was there to bear witness to my boxing shapes. To be brutally honest I am pleased I closed the front room curtains because I must have looked a right state. Hot, sweaty, uncoordinated and anything but light on my feet. I caught sight of myself in the mirror about 7 minutes into my workout and a beetroot heffalump returned my rather despondent gaze. Having said all of that, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I sort of wish I’d opted for 20 minutes now, although as ever, the key words in that sentence are ‘sort of’. So the highlights. Tons of punches thrown, including hooks and uppercuts (Amir Khan eat your heart out). But my arms now ache. A lot.

There’s bouncing and lunging, which is pretty brutal, oh and some squat swaying, which I think was my favourite bit. (You have to squat down, stick your bum out, sway a bit and throw punches, all at the same time. Marvellous). And my god did I get a sweat on. Which was nice, because the sweat from my 35 minute step routine had barely dried. So yes. There was a lot of sweat. But it felt really good I must admit. And I think I will do it again, tomorrow. The 20 minute version. Yes, I will… Apparently if I keep this up, I’ll soon be able to shout at random people; “Go on, punch me.” And then see their surprise as I brace my abs of iron and deflect the blow without a flinch.....I hasten to add that is my prediction, not a promise made by the DVD. Still it would be nice, wouldn’t it. Ho hum.

Right I am off to be fit and things. To be honest I have so much paperwork to do, I might ignore it all and opt for another home workout DVD. I am getting slightly addicted to them and let’s face it, it beats sitting on your arse and eating cake..... although hold on, hang on a minute, let’s not be too hasty here. Oh and speaking of cake, I shall be abandoning it all next week for the Dukan Diet. Oh yes. Dear god no. Oh arse.