Tag Archive: Physical exercise


MY SUMMER FITNESS PLAN – MAINLY PAIN AND MINIMAL GAIN

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August 3, 2013

runner in fieldSummer is officially the time to celebrate the great outdoors, so sport and exercise are frequently promoted as fun ‘al fresco’ activities for all the family.

I’m not a fitness fanatic but in recent years I’m become more proactive in fighting the flab that is the inevitable consequence of entering middle-age and beyond.

Aside from being more careful with my diet, I aim to do at least an hour’s exercise every day through a combination of power walking, light jogging, leisurely swimming and gentle workouts in the gym.

All of these could, in theory, be done in the company of others, but my independent (read anti-social) streak means that for the most part I sweat and strain alone.

I find that August is the cruellest month in which to pursue my modest programme of fitness related activities in and around my home in Northern Italy. Continue reading →

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YOGA IN THE PARK

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June 7, 2013

This was a civilised (and healthy) way to end a busy working week. The local council in my home town of Cesena in Emilia-Romagna have sponsored a series of free initiatives to encourage people to get out and engage in gentle physical activity. They have proved very popular.

You can do tai chi, go on organised walks and tonight I joined about 150 others for an hour and a half of light yoga.

Getting my ageing limbs into some of the poses was nigh on impossible,  but since there were all ages and sizes I didn’t feel embarrassed. A very relaxing way to spend a warm evening.

It’s officially summer!

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WHY I RUN

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July 3, 2011

 

marathon man

Me running my first marathon in September 2018

This post is prompted by  The Guardian article yesterday on this topic.

My running career started late.

At school I hated cross-country and would always join the smokers and skivers as soon as I was out not within eyeshot of the teachers. The trick was to run the last two or three minutes gasping as if you had exerted yourself for the complete course.

This implanted the firm belief that running was a form of torture rather than a means of pleasure, an opinion I maintained until well into adulthood.

What changed was that on reaching my mid-40s I realised that the consequence of zero exercise and a pasta-pizza-red wine diet  would result in my entering the third age in the shape of a barrel.

I think you can get away with minimal exercise until you hit 40 and then the onset of middle age spread can take hold if you don’t do battle with it.

The original incentive to get of my ass and move was to lose weight. The other reason was that I realised that I got morose and bear-like if I sat around all day.

I now jog now on average two or three times a week. The most I run is for an hour on a path by the river, otherwise 20 minutes in the park is enough to set me up for the day.

Even with this fairly leisurely programme,  I feel 100% better even though my weight has stabilised rather than dropping dramatically. My argument is  that the fat has been replaced by muscle!

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