Fitness

We are actually getting some rain here which is good, been ten days since our last rain and the garden has been surviving on dew (we still haven’t replaced the bore pump yet). It is not wet season rain but still rain.

I think our computer/internet problems are sorted now (I think) though some pictures aren’t coming up but at least I can read the news each morning. Don’t know how people can go about their day ignorant of what is going on in the world, locally or globally, each to their own I suppose.

I had an achievement this week in that I climbed five metres up a rope. My foot is now very sore with a bruise and a bit of skin off but it was worth it. I go to a fitness class at least once a week at a gymnastics club (twice when they have it on) and at the same time there is teenagers group on that our number one and only son does.

The adult’s class is very full on, lots of fitnessy stuff push ups, sit ups, bit of running, strength and flexibility stuff, the usual. We also use the gymnastics equipment, as in the bars, trampolines, beam and rope (for climbing up), we also do handstands, cartwheels, rolls etc as well. I find it an interesting class and well rounded, I can still do a mean cartwheel even though I am 43 years old :)

The teenagers mostly do their own thing, so they are flipping over mats and on trampolines, shimmying up the ropes, lots of flipping and leaping around, they love and it works well for them. Doing lots of fun things, trying new things on the equipment, socialising but with a very loose structure under supervision but the freedom to do what they want, it is popular and there is never any trouble, all behave.

It is important to keep fit though sometimes it seems that it is being pushed for an all or nothing scenario, you can go the middle road. People tend to go all out and then burn out, or do nothing at all, not everyone but you do see it a lot. We also have to have the time for fitness stuff but we also have to realise that even doing a little is good, small amounts regularly, and some things don’t look like fitness stuff but are.

I can only do fitness stuff if it interesting otherwise I stop real quick. We have done BMX racing, we have kayaks (which don’t come out often enough), my partner in crime and life plays squash with me as often as we can. All the things we do on our property contribute to our fitness, even if in small way, just getting out and moving.

Thing is, you don’t have to keeping fit so you can run marathons or to climb mountains or to survive the end of the world as we know it, though keeping fit for those things is good too, I do want to climb mountains.

You need to be fit for everyday situations, the car breaks down and you need to walk to get help (some out of town areas have no mobile phone reception), you need to be able to get your place ready for cyclones, roping things down, moving things under cover, pushing trailers and boats to better protected spots (I know, that is our thing but you get the point), the power goes out in the shopping centre and you have to walk down the stairs, or you need to be able to quickly take a step backwards as car comes too close to the kerb you are standing on. Every day situations but some people can’t walk the distance.

I try not to feel too guilty when I hear about people who go to three or four fitness classes a week (actually, I don’t know where they find the time or funds) plus they walk for an hour a day and play a sport. It is not for us all, but we have to keep up some sort of fitness level just to get ourselves out of an everyday situation at least.

So I do this fitness class once or twice a week, play squash (was once a week and now it is once a fortnight), Tai Chi, gardening, walking all over our five acre block (it adds up when you constantly walk to the chook pen and down to the creek) and of course the extras that happen every now and again. Those things include kayaking and bushwalking, using my step machine and mini tramp, so it all adds up.

I really want to know that I can get out of any every day situation, that I have the strength to get the tyre off the car, that I can walk to get help (don’t forget to keep walking shoes in the car), that I can get out of the way quickly or I can just impress my friends with my rope climbing skills even if I can’t think of how that would be handy, it makes for interesting conversation.

So we all need to improve our fitness levels and it doesn’t take much. So let’s go walking down the road, gardening or whatever takes your fancy, but improve your fitness just so you can cope with everyday situations that come along.

ON OTHER MATTERS

This post at Zen Habits is particularly good I thought, and while it is about how we should teach our kids to be, they are things we need to work on too. Being compassionate, I see a lot of compassion out there but also a complete lack of too, having passion, so important, being able to solve problems and being able to ask questions (and not being made to feel stupid about it). Anyway, it is food for thought.

I have just started going to a casual art group (of very talented women)which I am enjoying very much, don’t know if I will ever post a photo of anything I do but go over to Art Finds Kate and look at hers, love it, I enjoy her blog immensely.

I love Down to Earth blog, it is a lovely blog with lovely ideas about living simply and is a pleasure to read. I have just ordered her book and am really looking forward to that arriving, it actually isn’t due out for a few more days but then it will be sent, can’t wait.