Swimming is great for aerobic exercise but my ageing body (and yes, it is ageing!) needs to do weight bearing exercise to try and ward off osteoporosis etc (I'm not sure what the etc refers to but I'm sure it's not very nice!) That is why I was at the gym first thing this morning trying to look keen and alert. The instructor had the measure of me in minutes. He took me down to the area that housed the bikes, treadmills and some curious 'bit of an escalator' machines. He said that we would ignore the upstairs which he referred to as 'testosterone land', with weights stacked on holders and machines that conjured up 'torture chamber' images.
My gym programme is simple and sensible - for a start. The bike only takes me up and down a few gentle hills, the treadmill is set to the mildest of undulations, then there's the 'bit of an escalator' machine. That may take me some time to get used to but I shall persevere.
Instead of 'testosterone land' he handed me a strip of bright pink rubber and a detailed printed sheet of exercises. "You can even do them at home," he said so if you'll excuse me, I'm off to do some hamstring curls followed by triceps extensions and reverse crunches......but first of all I'll have a coffee and donut because not only is it Chanukah when it is mandatory to eat donuts (we enjoy lots of fried foods this week to remember the miracle of the one-day's worth of oil that burned in the temple for eight days) but also, all this talk about curling, extending and crunching has given me quite an appetite.
