Lunch!

“My favorite exercise is a cross between a crunch and the lunge. It’s LUNCH!”

Anonymous

Shortly after we arrived in Canada three years ago the Kickass Canada Girl persuaded me that we should join a fitness class. Mercifully she found one at our local leisure centre entitled “Fabulous over Fifty“, so was able to convince me that there was a chance that we (or to be more specific, I) might not actually die as a result of our efforts. The class was run by a fearsome female Japanese Ninja who also works out the Canadian women’s rugby sevens squad in her spare time.

What could possibly go wrong?

Well – three years later I am still doing the class, though I and the indomitable group of ladies who have somehow agreed to put up with my solo male presence are now categorised as ‘advanced’ (clearly only in relative terms!).

The Girl – being now gainfully employed – no longer has time for these sessions, though she does undergo her own rigorous regimen of Pilates, Yoga and her own fitness training in the early evenings.

It cannot – in all fairness – be said that I like or enjoy exercise. I do, however, like being alive and this seems a pretty good way of remaining so for as long as possible.

As part of a recent progress assessment I was able to record the following:

• holding plank position for 3 minutes and 17 seconds
• performing 34 squats in 30 seconds
• managing 36 press-ups in 30 seconds

The InterWebNet suggests that – for a man in his mid-sixties – this does demonstrate that I am still alive and kicking (to quote the song).

Having said which – I am now about to take the summer months off from my regular visits to the gym. I find that I need to let my body recover from repeated exercise every now and again and besides, there are things of a nautical nature upon which to focus.

In the meantime I will happily raise a glass and wish you all ‘good health’…