See that blue ball in the picture? That is the image of HELL ON EARTH. You've probably used one. Maybe sat on one in the past? Difficult isn't it... well try doing a plank on one...
(picture is pixellated to protect the identity of the ball)
Two seconds into the plank, every muscle in your stomach tells you that something is seriously wrong and you need to stop whatever you are doing IMMEDIATELY. But as someone (no names mentioned) won't let you stop, the muscles in your back and then legs start screaming at you to stop...soon you can't breathe properly and the ball is wobbling all over the place. I am certainly not smiling like this lady in the top picture. Not sure what she's just done on this ball but it wasn't a plank.
This is my new daily exercise and I absolutely hate them! I foolishly purchased one from Gareth thinking I could sit on it while watching tv in the hope that just sitting on it each night will give me Britney Spears' abs...
But no such luck - every night I'm doing planks and bridges on the ball. It'll all be worth it if I have a stomach like this at the end.... (Gareth gulps as he realises that Claire has very unrealistic expectations).
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So far I've lost 21 lbs and am very happy with that! I've gone down two dress sizes and my new clothes, only bought about 5 weeks ago, are loose - MORE SHOPPING REQUIRED. Whoop, Whoop [Permission denied-Editor]. Last week I bought some new t-shirts for working out in, as my old ones can now fit at least two people simultaneously. The people lunching at the Common were glimpsing WAAY too much of my sports bra. Gareth breathed a sigh of relief at that purchase.
Another fitness test and measuring session has come around quickly and we will post the results at the end of this week. For once I'm not worried about the running bit because last week HE made me run around the Common. At first he told me that I was going to run an entire lap of the Common. At which point, I contemplated running off in the opposite direction through some trees when he wasn't looking, or hiding behind a tree trunk, but I couldn't find one big enough.
Thankfully he was just joking... H I larious! We only ran half way round but at least now I'm not worried about the treadmill part of the fitness test. I'm going to run the whole 12 minutes! That's a huge difference for me when I think back to my first fitness test when I didn't even trust myself to run, wasn't sure I could run at all, let alone for a few minutes or 12 minutes.
AND I've got another personal best at swimming my mile... 47 minutes 33 seconds. This is down from over an hour. Gareth (and I) have improved my fitness in such a short space of time, it's really quite incredible.
Moral of this story - Don't waste your money on a gym membership that you never use - get a personal trainer and see some real progress fast!
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P.S. While running around the Common last week, an older lady finished chatting with her friend, bid farewell, walking off into the park. Her dog didn't follow her so she called to him - 'Come on you, hurry up'.
At that exact moment, I looked over to her, for no reason. Just did. Don't know why. She chuckled and shouted 'Don't worry dear, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to that dog'... Did she just call me a dog?!
