Stretching

It is December. New Resolutions and the like start, for me, now. I remember this time last year being fit to the point where I was able to run a 400m (albeit to the point where I collapsed.

I am back to 11 stone 9. Yet me legs are stronger. Flexibility is something I have have not considered so much. But without flexibility, without stretching every day, the gains I make to my fitness too easily evaporate. I have cut out some of my poor diet issues. I do not eat masses of chocolate. I perhaps eat too much meat. But not too much.

Something that comes to my mind with these issues is this: that real-life is trying to make routine and predictability from what seems to be essentially chaotic, and that the imaginative world is inherently more expansive and (seems) more meaningful. Yet less rewarding. As it stands now.

The goals I have for my fitness and my running have passed. I run without goals at the moment. A bit like this world...

A week of stretching?

And so that week went by reasonably fast. I failed miserably to stretch properly. The main reason why is because I simply do not have the time (read, inclination) to load the video of stretching up every single morning and evening.

I don't know what the stretches all mean. But at least if I print them, then there's a better chance of doing them. I know that the less information I provide for my students, the less chance there is for all of them completing the tasks I set adequately. Why should I be so different?

http://www.fit2fat2fit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/week_1_exercises.pdf

On a better note, I have played football twice recently at a canter with little ill-effects. Admittedly I am walking mostly (which shows how ridiculous my previous attempts were at positioning!)

I think that three weeks of stretching and core exercises should lead to the start of an impact related workout routine.

No exercise

I have neglected to exercise for something like three to four weeks. That has perhaps been necessary, but it would have been better planned. These are the reasons:

a) I had a toenail out. It was excruciating, and I can still see the parts of my foot where the nail was slicing. I could barely walk for a week, but managed some gentle running and football last Friday. Medieval torturers knew what they were doing...

b) I get to 8pm and 10pm and I am still hungry. Rather than eat something low in calories, I am eating sandwiches. I am also preparing my own food less and less.

c) My legs are tight to the point where I wonder if I have some sort of damage or scar tissue. My feet are no longer so tight that my calves feel as if they my snap. However, it is clear that my strength and my diligence in running will mean nothing without some flexibility.

Fat2Fit2Fat.com is a website from a man who wishes to practise what he preaches. He is an American personal trainer who has gained, purposefully, an enormous amount of weight. His waist alone has ballooned from 34" to 42-6". He is giving himself six months to slash his weight.



For the first 2-3 weeks, all he is recommending is stretching and core exercises. I'm sure that there is a diet with it, too. Seeing, though, as I have often hit the cardio and neglected the stretching and core exercise, I can see myself using three weeks of core and stretch (every day) in an attempt to get into the habit of doing so.

In terms of running, I think that getting into a certain level of fitness is essential before I begin running rather than jogging.

I am pleased, as with all things, with my spirit. With the days being understandable darker and shorter, I still feel motivated, and still feel purpose.