My Newest Hobby – The Gym

A couple of years ago I started going to the gym – and I loved it. I lost weight, got fitter and was in a really nice routine. But, when I gave up my day job to blog full time my work/life balance shifted massively and I was so focused on making sure I put enough hours into blogging that the gym slipped off my radar hugely.

But now, 18 months after becoming fully self employed I have found my rhythm again. And I know that if I don’t prioritise things like the gym then I won’t end up fitting them in around work, home and day to day family life. So, last month I made a plan to start going to the gym as often as I could after dropping the children off at school.

This means that I can spend up to an hour in the gym, go home, have a shower and get ready to work, all by 10:30am. Which still gives me four whole hours to work each day whilst the children are at school.

So that is what I’ve been doing. Excell Sports sent me a new set of gym gear which I have been wearing regularly – and the sports bra may be the best one I have ever used. The top and bottoms are perfect for everything I do at the gym, fit me well and let me move freely. Plus, it’s so nice to get ready in the morning, feeling gym-ready.

I did book some spin classes in the evenings too but I hurt my foot at the end of April and so have had to cut back on the level of exercise I’ve been doing until that heals fully. But, in the mean time I’ve been working on a 30 Day Abs Challenge – through an app – that I did a couple of years ago too. I can do it at home and it only takes a few minutes a day. As much as I love going to the gym, rowing, running and using the weight machines, the abs challenge is a completely different type of exercise and one I really enjoy – although it hurts, I can definitely tell it’s working.

So I am back to the gym and it feels pretty good. It’s nice to have a hobby that I really enjoy, one I can fit around family life and work and one that is always there whenever I have the urge to go. I’m not losing too much weight now but I feel healthier and stronger that I have in years – and it’s a really nice feeling.

Now, I have a few aims at the gym. I want to be able to row further – I tend to do 3k at a time and would love to get up to 5k, and quicker too. I run for about twenty minutes but never get very far – I still haven’t run 5k in one go and I would love to get there and then start doing Park Runs on a weekend too. So, little goals but generally I’m just happy exercising regularly and making the gym a real part of my routine. I wish I’d been this motivated about it sooner!