family – Page 9 – Never Give Up PT

Starting Your Week The Right Way

Our days are often played out at a hundred miles an hour. When we begin our working week it speeds through so quickly we can look back and regret not having time to commit to your workouts, talk to friends, give your granny a call or prepare nutritious food.

We can make it slightly easier for ourselves if we plan our week. Going into a new week without a plan could be the reason why you don’t stick to a nutrition plan or an exercise routine. Here’s my top tips to get you focussed on your week ahead!

1. Batch Cook.

I would recommend dedicating a couple of hours a week to batch cooking. In this time you can make two or three different sauces that can be used at a later date. I have plenty of takeaway tubs that have been saved over the years that make perfect containers for this. It means that, even after a busy day, you can still create a nutritious meal with little fuss. Just defrost your sauce and add the veg, meat, pasta etc. My favourites are bolognese, curry, chilli and macaroni cheese.

2. Plan Your Workouts And Stick To It.

“I might go to the gym if I have time” usually means you don’t have time. Something crops up or you create a reason not to go, so you don’t get round to going. Make it easier for yourself. A workout doesn’t have to be in a gym. I often post 10 minute workouts on my training app and run programmes that work around an individuals lifestyle. https://www.trainerize.me/profile/nevergiveup2/?planGUI

Planning workouts with a partner or friend with similar fitness goals works because you are able to keep each other motivated and you are less likely to cancel and let them down. Hiring a good PT also adds accountability.

Also, never underestimate going for a walk. This might be the perfect way to start a fitness journey if you can plan and stick to regular walks throughout your week.

3. Avoid A Sunday Night Syndrome.

Sunday night syndrome is also known as anticipatory anxiety. It’s a very real thing to many people. If you get the feeling of dread as you think about entering a new week then try these techniques…

a) Practice meditation on the Sunday evening (or whenever your week is starting). You don’t have to be a Buddhist Monk or spiritual to be good at it. There are some very good apps or YouTube guides that will talk you through it. Just find a quiet place and think about controlling your breathing. Visualize the positives in your life and how these can contribute to your week ahead.

b) Look forward to an event by booking a treatment such as a massage or a spa. Having an enjoyable activity to focus on can get you over difficult times in your week.

c) Avoid alcohol before your week begins. Although you might think that a few drinks on your Sunday evening is relaxing and helps you cope with your anxieties, it actually has the opposite effect. Sleep can be more unsettled, your food choices are not as good and your emotions are in less control. Alcohol can lead to you believing that things are worse than they actually are.

4. Give your granny a call as part of a Sunday night routine. Once you’ve prepped your meals, put the lycra in your gym kit and had a moment of calm, not only will your granny appreciate the call but you will feel a whole lot better for doing it. After all, once you’ve heard about Derek from number 63’s dodgy hip and Maureen from bingos arthritis you’ll feel so much better about yourself!

It’s Time To Print Out The Score Sheets!

It’s that time of year again. The snacks come out, the score sheets get printed, the kids stay up later, the bunting goes up, I get to wear a blonde wig and we complain about nobody liking the UK.

It’s Eurovision time!

My wife and I were always an unlikely couple. I was the gym rat who went to mainstream clubs and watched football with my mates in my spare time. My wife had an alternative dress style, went to indie bars and loved arts and crafts. We met whilst working together and I don’t think our colleagues ever thought it would last. But we had a secret connection and it was our love our Eurovision.

Ok, ok, maybe that’s not entirely true. Our similar interests also included Japanese horror movies, Pearl Jam and Nirvana, pool and darts, food and Desperate Housewives (the American TV series, not just desperate housewives).

But whilst these interests have ebbed and flowed between us over the years, our love of Eurovision has grown. Maybe this is what makes our marriage complete. Well, that and our two kids. And food probably.

For the past 15 years we have scored every event of Eurovision. We even have a folder each with our score sheets in them. In the past we have had house parties on Eurovision night, but that was a disaster. Everyone wanted to talk over the songs as they mocked the artists. We dropped theses mates and found better ones, of course. But they can’t come around on Eurovision night. We won’t make that mistake again.

This year it will be an alcohol free event too. It just so happens our abstinence for the foreseeable has fallen on the date of Eurovision. It’s also fallen on the dates of the FA Cup final, the last couple of games of the Premier League and the Champions League final!

Ah well. We do like to prove to ourselves that we can go a few weeks without a tipple. We enjoy a drink at the weekend to unwind, but actually the feeling of being fresh and lighter from the habitual weekend drinking is very empowering. It’s our reset button, Eurovision or not.

So we will be dancing and wearing Abba wigs totally sober tonight, which might make us sound even more weird! But one thing’s for sure, with events in the world being as they are, an evening of countries coming together to stage the campest event ever is a very welcome sight.

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

My eldest must think I’m obsessed. At 8 he has certainly got a natural talent for football and he is always keen to have a kick about in the garden in-between matches and team training. He will often just want to take shots at me which is fine as I firmly believe that doing the bits that you enjoy the most is what keeps us interested. But I do try to get him to do the bits that aren’t really coached yet at his age.

Throw ins at under 8’s is a classic example. A throw in is usually a foul throw (which the ref allows due to their age), the length of the throw is week due to poor technique and the decision making in who to throw it to is questionable.

Passing is another example. Instead of trying to ‘Messi’ it past 5 opposing players in his own penalty area (8 year olds don’t like to pass) I want him to make good, confident decisions on when to pass and create openings.

To master these he needs coaching and, although I’m not an FA coach, I do know how to coach.

One piece of advice that I can take into any type of coaching, expert at it or not, is to repeat the process over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. And when you think you’ve mastered it, repeat it again.

We move on too quickly. Either because we think something is accomplished or because we haven’t discovered a purpose for continuing.

https://www.trainerize.me/profile/nevergiveup2/?planGUI

My eldest also brings home words to learn for a spelling test at the end of each week. It’s the same process. Tying his own show laces, eating foods that are nutritious but he doesn’t yet like the taste of, crossing a road, learning French all need repeating to be good at it. Despite some freakish ability by some people to have a natural talent at something, the rest of us have to work bloody hard to be good at it. And even then, don’t think that those with a natural talent don’t practice hard at what they do. They do, but what they do is just their knack. Their ‘thing’. We’ve all got a ‘thing’, we just need to find it. But if we are to persue different interests or to progress in certain areas then the chances are you will need to practice like mad to be any good at it. My son has a tendency to move on too quickly. Perhaps most kids do. Just because he has read his ten words for his spelling test doesn’t mean that he knows them.

I’d love to play guitar. I’ve even bought a couple in the past that look great as ornaments. Actually playing it will require time, patience, practice and repeating. I don’t do that. My excuses are time, my natural abilities aren’t good enough and getting blisters on my fingers. I know that I would be able to play a little if I stopped with the excuses. Maybe I’d never be Ed Sheeran, but I would learn the chords and be able to enjoy playing the guitar and far quicker if I hired a teacher.

My excuses for not playing guitar are exactly the same excuses that I hear on a daily basis in the gym.

Time, not good enough and injuries.

But me playing guitar or not isn’t affecting my health. Learning the chords won’t help my body fat percentage go down. Breaking into the intro to Smells like Teen Spirit won’t make me look and feel better in my clothes and my mental health won’t be any clearer if I can play the theme tune to Coranation Street. So I haven’t found my ‘why’. I haven’t found my purpose to playing guitar, therefore my motivation for doing it, as great as it would be, just isn’t there.

Passing a football through cones isn’t as exciting as smashing a ball into the top bins past his dad, but my son will develop and understand the game much quicker. And if he sees his work pay off on the pitch in a game then he will want to practice even more. He will want to repeat the process that allowed him to make the pass, shot, dribble or throw that won the game. Hopefully he discovers his reason for playing football. It might make him feel good. He might enjoy being part of a team. He might enjoy the buzz and excitement on match day or he might know how important exercise is to his physical and mental health. As long as he knows why he keeps going back for more he will keep progressing.

For best results I can’t help repeating certain movements for my clients to perform. Yet despite the repatition it is important to keep the reason for doing it fresh in their minds and also creating new challenges.

Yes you can squat, now can you squat deeper?

That is a good bench press, now create a slower eccentric movement for time under tension.

You can perform 10 reps, now do 12 reps.

Exactly the same for my eldest at football. You scored with your left foot, now can you kick the ball with you right foot. It is still football. It is still repeating the process, but now we have a new challenge to consider. And it will take time. Practice and time. Lots of it.

Remember your reasons for doing something. If it is so important to you then you will continue the process and you must repeat, repeat, repeat until your body and mind knows exactly what it is that you are wanting from it.

If it’s important enough to you then you will achieve it. You’ll never give up!

Bouncebackability

Throughout my articles I have sometimes quoted the likes of Shakespeare and Einstein to highlight my point. Words or phrases, certainly by those who can articulate it much better than I, can resonate with people.

So I never thought that I would be quoting a word invented by ex footballer Iain Dowie. Bouncebackability was said by Dowie in 2003 to describe his team’s ability to…well, bounce back from defeat. It eventually made the dictionary. And we all have the ability to have it.

Never giving up when you feel at your lowest point, coming back from a desperate situation or bouncing back from a bad day are all within your capabilities. I just need you to realize it.

Things can spiral quickly or maybe it just feels like that. In my experience it can be something brewing inside that creeps out over time. Some days it feels like your head is just above water, but some days it feels like you’re drowning.

Your bouncebackability might be that you missed a gym session or two and, instead of quitting, you got back in there when the time was right for you.

Your bouncebackability could be that you had a week of poor meal choices and, instead of giving up on your health goals, you brushed the week off and started again with better choices.

Your bouncebackability might when you recognize that your alcohol consumption is beginning to affect your mindset and your health, but you make the decision to not bring any into the house for a week or two to reset.

Your bouncebackability could be a difficult time at home but you seek help from friends or somebody who will listen.

You have bouncebackability. You are resilient and strong. And sometimes to be able to show this strength you need to admit to your struggles. That, in itself, is the first sign of your resilience and strength.

What is put on the socials doesn’t impress me much. The guy who seems to have it all or the female who poses to her millions of followers have their low points too. They have struggles. Your friend who you think is always happy-go-lucky will have times of sadness or depression. Be kind to them. Cut them some slack if they haven’t got back to your message or they seemed a bit off with you.

They’ll bounce back. Just like you do.

Why?

Why…adverb…for what cause, reason or purpose. Why did you do it?

Merriam-webster.com gave me the meaning of the word why on their website. Nothing that we didn’t already know really, is it?

And yet I’m not sure that many of us use it enough. I hear lots of motivational speakers and psychologists telling their audience to say ‘yes’ more or sometimes even ‘no’. But maybe we should be saying ‘why’ more.

My kids are very good at this. ‘Don’t do that.’ I’ll say. ‘Why?’ Is often the reply.

‘Because it is dangerous.’

‘Why?’

‘Because you might fall.’

‘Why?’

‘Because it is not safe.’

‘Why?’

‘Because the tree branch is 200 years old and ready to snap and the rain has caused bacterial wetwood that makes it slippy. Plus, you don’t have the appropriate footwear and the A&E waiting times are horrendous at the moment and I don’t fancy a day in the hospital sitting with the all day drinkers.’

I never get to say that last bit. It’s usually more like ‘Just get down!’

But I don’t want to take their inquisitive nature away from them. And they’re kids who want to climb trees. I’m sure that there’s a grainy photo somewhere with me in my shell suit hanging from a branch. So asking ‘why’ is perfectly acceptable.

I ask myself ‘why?’ regularly. Sometimes it just gets me out of bed. Or it enables me to do the gym session I’ve been putting off that day. It makes me push myself in my work and I strive for better for my family’s future. It keeps me hungry. All because I reminded myself of my why.

When I am talking to a potential client wanting to train with me I ask them why they want to train. I get the usual type of answers which are totally acceptable to begin with.

‘Id like to lose a few pounds.’

‘I want to lose my belly.’

‘I want to gain some muscle.’

‘I am entering an event.’

All of these require another why. And perhaps another. And another.

I train to stay trim…why? To look good in a T-shirt this summer…why? Because I’m conscious that I’m not getting any younger…why? I have had injuries in the past and I know that age could cause these injuries to be painful in later life…why? I began training many years ago to fix my injuries which helped my mental health too…why? Because I felt more confident, strong, pain free and I became a better person…why? Because I knew that I was giving my future self a chance to live comfortably which would provide a happier life for my family too.

Because I knew that I was giving my future self a chance to live comfortably which would provide a happier life for my family too.

This became my why.

Mark Twain said,”The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

It is the most enlightening thing there is to find your why, your reason, your purpose, your trigger.

Losing a few pounds is a credible goal, but it happens so much easier if you know your why. Your why is the ultimate goal. And as long as you keep reminding yourself of it, good things happen along the way to achieving it.

You need a good reason to lose a few pounds. If you don’t have one, or if it’s to please somebody else for instance, you have no real motivation to lose a few pounds. Even if you do there’s a good chance that you won’t keep it off. Motivation is just a fleeting emotion, your why lasts forever.

Keep that child like inquisitive mind and keep asking ‘why?’

And keep asking. And asking. And asking. And when you find your why, you will find your way.

Skinnies

I feel that I might have been a little absent from y’all in the last couple of days. My wife and I managed to get away for an evening to a gig in York and, as much as I need my phone for my business, I managed to limit it to the necessities. Writing articles was not in my sights. However, plenty of inspiration for future blogs were always in my mind so here I am, back at home and back to real life. I enjoy my work and being daddy, but a couple of days away was a chance to recharge the batteries.

It was a chance to have a midlife crisis moment too! I bought some skinny jeans.

When skinny jeans first became fashionable for men I instantly said to my wife that I would never buy a pair. I liked straight leg, boot cut, baggy and even a daring grungy ripped look. But skinny was a bit 1980’s Axel Rose. Super cool at the time, but best left in the 80’s!

But yesterday I couldn’t resist trying on a pair. After all, I don’t do ‘leg day’ to keep my pins kept stored away like a Maradona world cup winning shirt. I’d like people to see them.

And seeing as I have an unfortunate tattoo on my calf from my youth days of a naked female I don’t feel like I can wear shorts. I must get that tattoo covered up one day. But, I thought as I held up the skinnies in the shop, this might do for now!

I have all of the insecurities of everyone else. Sometimes, even wearing the most normal clothes possible, I feel like a dick. I feel goofy, uncomfortable, different from those around me. I know by now that I’m not the only one. Every day I talk to people who want to be body confident. It’s what I do. I work on myself everyday just like I work on my clients. That’s what sets me apart from Jeremy in Berkshire telling Gav from Bradford that he needs to eat chicken and rice four times a day. I want to eat what I want AND fit into some skinnies. Gav should do the same too.

Gav can still stay within his calories and macros, eat the Pringles and wear the fuck out of those skinnies. It might not suit our Jeremy, but Gav is happy wearing what he wants and is in control of his life, so who gives a shit about Jeremy and his two grand ‘fit programme’ who prays on the insecurities of his clients. I want to be happy in what I wear. I want to shake my booty in a pair of skinnies. I want to eat a kebab occasionally and I want to do the windmill in front of my wife without being judged. Gav and his missus should do the same. If you are happy and confident, you’ll feel sexy and in control.

I had to try a few sizes of skinnies on. They were either too long or too tight. But I eventually found some that made me think ‘yeah, I’ve still got it dude!’. Whatever stage you are at in your fitness goal right now, this second, always know that you’ve still got it too.

Everybody…I mean every BODY, is beautiful. It’s just society and our own individual insecurities that need to realize that. Change is good. Wanting to change is fine, just remember that you are beautiful to begin with. It’s so much easier to change if you respect what you want to change in the first place.

I wore my skinny jeans today. In fact I totally owned this fashion malarky. And one day I might even go for the ‘no socks’ look. If Gav from Bradford can, so can I!

Paella

I know that we will eventually have the big debate today. We will discuss with our guests if chorizo has any place in the traditional Spanish Paella dish. The tripod, burner and the paella pan were all ordered from Spain to keep our paella events as authentic as possible and the rice is always Valencia bomba rice. We love Paella days!

I remember a few years ago when Jamie Oliver shared a paella recipe that included chorizo and he was absolutely slaughtered by the traditionalists on social media because paella was never invented with the intention of adding chorizo! Adding chorizo, said some commentators, made it a ‘rice dish’ and not Paella. If this is the case then for all our attempts to create an authentic Spanish Paella we fail at the final hurdle by throwing in chorizo. The years of entertaining our friends and unveiling the evento principal and calling it paella might be a lie. But I still think that it deserves a little bit more of a build up than inviting friends round for a ‘rice dish’. Perhaps if we lived in Spain and we were to invite our Spanish friends round for paella we would leave out the chorizo, but I’m not so sure our English friends care too much as long as it is tasty!

I’d much prefer to get the paella pan burner out than the BBQ on a sunny day. Yes, there’s the traditional way of cooking paella, but you can be a little adventurous too. And with two kids that have different tastes and preferences it is difficult to stick to a recipe. One likes prawns and the other one doesn’t. One likes paprika and the other doesn’t. So a little bit of improvising is necessary. The BBQ will get a good run out over the summer as well of course. If I’m stood outside flipping burgers I’m happy too!

The last 6 months has been a long, grey and cold period on the North East coast of England and for all it’s surrounding beauty, i don’t appreciate it enough because I hate the cold, dark months so much that I don’t see enough of the natural beauty that I live amongst. So the first weekend where I could sit outside in a T-shirt and eat paella with friends was a celebration to me. It felt like the start of summer.

When I get asked why we plan to move to France I could spend all day discussing politics and business ideas, but the short answer would be for the weather. An older gentleman at the gym said to me that he can hardly walk the length of his street before he gets tired and needs to sit down. Yet when he went to Spain for 2 weeks he was walking the mountains. I understand this because I too feel much better when I’m in a warmer climate. My back pain, although I keep this under control with my training, is eased considerably in warm weather. And the research provides lots of evidence on the older gent in the gym and myself being accurate on our own health assessment.

Vasodilation, which is the dilation of blood vessels which improves blood flow, happens when the body is subjected to heat. This improves circulation in the affected areas and transfers deep into the muscles. I’m sure after a couple of days in the Spanish sun the older gent at my gym was like Charlie’s Grandpa Jo, skipping and whizz popping over the mountains. Back in blighty, the blood flow slows down, muscle and joints seize up and he can’t even get out of his street.

So I welcome this year’s British summer. I just hope that our paella day wasn’t the last of it! After all, I’ve bought all of the chorizo now.

The Feather In The Drawer

I walked up to my 8 year old son’s wardrobe with dread. I knew, as soon as I opened the double doors just very slightly a heap of clothes, football shirts, teddies and toys would spill out. As much as we ask him to tidy his bedroom we know that anything on the floor will get thrown into the wardrobe if he can’t find a home for it. We also tackle the cupboard often too. For some reason I’m the nominated football shirt sorter. My wife is the school uniform organizer. There are so many different football shirts so I feel like I’ve got the raw deal here . I put them in their correct place either folded for footy practice the next day by his bed, in his wardrobe or in his younger brothers drawer if they are small shirts. And if they have the shirts to match then the same procedure has to happen for them. The socks too.

But I can’t put all of the blame on our son’s lack of tidying up skills. Also inside of this wardrobe is loads of old clothes that no longer fit the boys. The tractor t-shirt that they both wore as babies, mittens, dungarees, shorts from their first summer holidays, coats from a few winters ago. I remember their first ever snowman that they built in those. I think that this wardrobe would be much more organized if mum and dad could just let go.

We’ve got so much better at not hoarding so much stuff. We’re both sentimental so selling or throwing our kids clothes can be tough but we do have periods in the year where we have clear outs. Certain coats, mittens and dungarees always remain though. They have special memories that we just can’t let go it seems. A tatty old Baby Jake book will always be remembered for the late nights getting our eldest to sleep as a baby. I knew the book by heart. How could we throw that?!

Funnily enough I’m not sentimental about the big, life changing stuff. I’m from Leeds and I moved away about 14 years ago. Apart from fleeting visits to see family occasionally I have no desire to go back. I have not once considered going back to the Corn Exchange for old times sake or standing at the steps of College of Technology all teary eyed. Stepping back in time seems daunting. But for some reason, the feather that my son picked up when he was one and a half remains at the bottom of the takeaway drawer in the kitchen. My mind pictures the moment every time I see it.

I have always wanted to reinvent myself in some way. Standing still or looking back doesn’t sit well with me. If I’m not happy with something I move on. I won’t dwell on the things that make me anxious. I didn’t like my birth name so I changed it. I don’t like where I live or work then I change it. And for the ultimate challenge if I don’t like my body, I change it. Selling up and moving on has come easily to my wife and I. In our 15 years together Scarborough has become our 5th town or city and we’re living in our 6th house. And that’s not necessarily because we disliked where we lived but because we found a new challenge elsewhere.

I have gone from a senior in a day center, restaurant manager, confectionery business owner, market stall holder, support worker, Personal Trainer and now Online Coach in the time that my wife and I have known each other and I know that she has played a huge part in those successes. She has her own success story. As for the failures we take them on the chin and move on.

I proposed to my wife in the Boboli Gardens in Florence. During that trip we created a travel journal and collected receipts, napkins and photos to put in it. Of course, we still have that. Looking back through that feels like a life time ago. I felt young and free spirited. Now, I often feel old with the occasional glimmer of free spirit! But that glimmer comes from my job as a husband, a dad and to my work and while I have those then that glimmer will always be there.

And if it’s an old tractor T-shirt in the wardrobe or a feather in the takeaway drawer that has to remind me, then they are worth keeping.

South Bay

My gym time is limited to just going in to train my clients during the Easter holidays and I’m enjoying the wind down from training myself. Luckily with two lively boys though I knew that I would remain active. So I might not be pushing, pulling and lifting my way to fitness but I’m sure feeling like I’ve had a good workout each day! Now into the second week of the holidays and my step count must be off the scale. And there’s a good reason for that.

Along with touring the numerous play parks, playing football in the garden and walking around every 2p machine that Scarborough’s South bay has to offer, at the beginning of the holiday I was informed that the trams to take us down do the beach weren’t working. If you’ve ever visited Scarborough you will know that there are either steep hills or steps to go up and down the cliff or there are the trams. And seeing as all the trams have been taken away for maintenance I now have buns of steel.

The beauty of where we live is that we’re out of the tourist hot spot of South Bay enough to appreciate the quieter side of Scarborough but close enough to dip our toe into the packed beach and amusements to feel like a day tripper over the holidays. My favourite bays are by far the hidden gem of Cornelian Bay where we live and the calmer Cayton Bay, but the kids are attracted to the fun and games that South Bay has to offer and I must admit when the 2p’s start falling I get a little carried away myself!

I’ll look back fondly at the Easter holidays, but I’ll also breath a sigh of relief when I pack the boys off to school too. I need to go back to work full time for the rest!

But if the boys are like me they will look back at the amusements, the donkey rides and ice cream on the beach as fondly as I remember my childhood holidays at Scarborough. My days at Skipsea, Hornsea, Primrose Valley and Morcombe stay with me much more than the holidays abroad as a kid. The sun, food, culture and intrigue at being in a different country was always a wonderful experience, but having parents, grandparents, cousins, aunties and uncles all squeezing into a caravan to play cards on the coast of England was magical. I can still hear the laughter. And now with some of those family members no longer with us, those memories become even more special.

Our plan is to transfer our business ideas to France one day, but the more memories we can create here in England the better. I know that many memories can be created along the beaches of La Rochelle but I’m not sure it is famous for its fish and chips, joke shops, candy floss or saucy postcards. Perhaps if our business fails in France we could try selling Kiss Me Quick hats to the locals.

The cliffs at Scarborough are tough to get up and down but as a tight Yorkshire man even if the trams were working I’d be telling the family that we’re walking just to save a couple of quid! But also I don’t really want to pass on the opportunity to get the heart rate up a little and have a decent walk. As I always tell my clients, if you can’t get to the gym make sure that you manage a decent walk in the fresh air. Just make sure that if you ever walk down to the beach at Scarborough you can get back up again!

I Have No Idea Where He Gets It From!

I think I’d make a good Batman. I’m not rich and the Juke is nothing like the Batmobile, although a couple of shopping bags in either boot would be a struggle. My wife complains about the boot of the Juke after every shopping trip but I reckon she’d be disappointed just as much with the Batmobile’s boot. Does it even have one? Does Batman even need 20 ‘bags for life’ bags, de-icer spray, boxing pads and a torch stashed in his car boot?

I don’t have his house either. There’s no Bat Cave behind our bookcase. In fact the biggest secret behind it is that the colour of the wall doesn’t match the exposed wall seeing as we painted around the bookcase. If only lockdown three could have been a day longer we would have got that wall finished.

And I don’t have his suit either. Not unless you include the pyjama onesy but I don’t think that would frighten away the Joker. It’s cosy enough but it doesn’t demand authority. But, still, I think I’d make a good Batman.

One of my favourite past times in the gym is hanging around upside down on the gymnastic rings. It’s a cracking core workout, but my desire to do it simply comes from the fact that it’s rather fun to be suspended upside down! And I thought I was alone in my strange hobby but as it turns out my youngest has a real talent for it too! It takes a good lot of strength to be able to carry your body weight on parallel bars and rings and if you have seen the gymnasts that perform these moves in competition they are super ripped athletes.

I can’t claim to be a gymnast though. My ambition was always to perfect the ‘human flag’ technique until I damaged my shoulder which set me back a bit in my bench press. The bench press takes priority over the human flag so I had to put a stop to that. But my youngest son might just have the knack. At 5, if he continues hanging upside down and doing crazy things that have the other parents in the play park cringing then he could be a very good gymnast. I think we might have to revisit the gymnastic classes. We used to take him when he was two but he didn’t have the attention span for it.

My eldest is a little bit more cautious when it comes to climbing on frames and trees. He tends to keep his feet on the ground most likely kicking a football. But his younger brother will happily swing, jump and lift himself to the highest point of equipment in the play park. I look at the other parents and say “I have no idea where he gets it from”, knowing full well come tomorrow I’ll be hanging upside down in my very own play park at the gym!

I might not have the car, the money or the house but I’ve got a few moves of my own that would make Bruce Wayne jealous.