Hobbies

For years I have wanted to find a hobby that I actually stuck to and looked forward to. My husband has football at least 3 nights a week and I never understood how he got the motivation to go week in week out without fail. Now I understand.

Years ago I saw some footage of a P!nk concert and she was doing some crazy acrobatic stuff and I thought it looked amazing. Since then I have been looking for somewhere that teaches ‘Ariel Hoop’ classes. I was told that a class was opening up close to where I live and so I looked into it. Unfortunately I procrastinated just enough to let the class get full before I could sign up but was talked into trying ‘Pole Dancing’ at the same place instead. 

I have been going to Pole class for 5 weeks now and have been to Ariel Hoop twice. I am hooked! I look forward to every Monday and getting back to Pole class and trying new things. The girls that go are so much fun and really nice and Gemma, our teacher, is brilliant. Every week you do more than you thought you could and it feels like such an achievement. I would recommend taking a look at her site and giving Pole a go, it is fun but you work hard.

Hoop is completely different to Pole. It is harder and I am not finding I take to it as well as Pole but I still love it as it is a challenge. I go to Hoop alone but the girls are so friendly it is fine. My second week we were taking pictures of each other and when you finally manage to do a tricky move everyone is so happy for you. There is no jealousy, no bitchiness and it is just a really nice atmosphere.

For me, like most people, starting something new is scary especially if you are going alone but I went to that first Hoop class on my own without hesitation and that is how I knew I was really interested in it. I was always someone who would quit something I really enjoyed if the person I did it with quit. I have never been independent and always thought of myself as a ‘quitter’. I now know that I can do things alone and I won’t get laughed at or be looked at as weird and it is a great feeling. I feel excited about things to come and progressing in my classes. Not sure if this is corny or not but I feel like I have a new lease of life - I feel really happy.

Next for me is a ‘make me bendy’ workshop that works on flexibility and a ‘Pole Aria’ workshop that is Silks and Pole combined. I am so excited to start all these new things, I love that I am doing something fun and different that is also a workout and helping improve my fitness. 

I knew I'd find a hobby I love, I didn't know I'd find two and possibly more! :)

xx 

Ps this is me in my second 'hoop' class

No Exercise

This is hell! I have gone 4 days without exercise apart from a brisk walk on Tuesday to and from the station which is just over a mile away. The last bit of actual exercise I did was Monday night at 'Pole' class and I felt shattered in it so it wasn't my best lesson...

I have caught a weird bug and I just feel sick and tired all the time so decided to be sensible and give the gym a miss until I felt better but I am not sure it was a good idea! For me going to the gym makes me feel better when I am tired, have a bad belly, have a headache... anything really. I get myself down there and by the time I am done my ailment has passed and I feel great. My decision to not go down was probably more down to a slight worry that I might throw up if I did work out and that would make sense but as I haven’t actually been sick this week I feel really frustrated that I have stopped myself exercising when there was probably no real need for the break.

I definitely notice the difference to how tired I feel when I do go to the gym during the day and when I don’t. Not going all week has left me completely wiped out. I have no energy or motivation and I feel like when I get to work on Monday I am going to find it SO hard to get myself back into the gym routine. I can really understand people starting up at a gym, going on holiday and then not going back to train once they are back from hols - it is really hard to get over that hurdle. I think that not only do you find it hard to get down there but once you do every exercise seems 10 times harder... it’s like you have taken a huge step backwards by having a break.

HOWEVER I do think those are the times when you feel better about getting down there. I think it is all about the challenge. If you get down there and do a class or go for a run then you have got past that first hurdle and have achieved something. Every day is an achievement when you do more than you thought you could, lift more weights or run further. I think the feeling at the end is the reason you go back again. You may hate it while you do it but if you push yourself and you finish then it feels unbelievable. And I have noticed the lack of that just in these past 4 days. I also have noticed my mood is lower and I guess that is down to the lack of motivation etc but I feel like I am a bit grey at the moment.....

 I know that might sound slightly mad and people probably read this thinking that I need a break every now and then. I would agree because I don’t think people should go mad and never give their body time to rest but the weekends are normally my break and the week is my time to push myself. For me, the positive results I get from exercise are so high that I feel it when I don’t exercise and it gets me down.

I guess the best thing for me to do is to get through the weekend, focus on resting and being ready to force myself back on Monday. I am sure it will be hard and hurt like hell but, hey, it’s well worth it!

‘I’m not telling you it is going to be easy, I’m telling you it is going to be worth it’ – little quote I found on the internet about fitness :) 

xx